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Thursday, October 16th, 2008
I just heard Chris Kofinis on Keith Olbermann's show, saying that this election year could see a realignment similar to that of 1980. Could this be? It seems like in 1980 (from my loose memory of the Reagan years), people who had previously identified themselves as "liberal" or as "Democrats" started thinking of themselves as "conservative" and as "Republicans". Will voting for Obama make people start thinking of themselves as "Democrats" going forward?
posted evening of October 16th, 2008: 4 responses
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Just found out: tomorrow at Kean College (close to here in Union, NJ), Turtle Island String Quartet and Sérgio and Odair Assad are going to be performing together. This should be fantastic. Tickets here: Kean Stage.
posted morning of October 16th, 2008: Respond
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Wednesday, October 15th, 2008
 This time with politics -- Unfunkked 8: That Ain't Gravy, Lady is available for download. (Also the Apostropher has archived volumes 1 - 7 in one place together, along with "Don't Bogart that Groove" and "Apomerica.")
I'm listening to the first track right now and swinging.
 Update (as of track 5): The mix is really smooth and consistent -- transitions from song to song make sense. Shake your bootie, baby. Update (as of track 10): Listening to this tape is highly recommended as an alternative to watching the debate. Way better use of your mind. I want you to know, exactly how I feel. Update (as of track 17): This tape saves the best for last. I have never heard of the Lafayette Afro Rock Band before just now. My mind has been expanded. (Some more Lafayette tunes are available at Dr. Okeh's FORREALHEADZ blog.)
posted evening of October 15th, 2008: 2 responses
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The fourth day of next month (a day I can hardly wait for!) will mark the second presidential election I've voted in while living in South Orange. Before that: - One election in Jackson Heights, 2000. I was disappointed about Bush winning but truth be told, I was pretty apathetic that year. Soon afterwards I had cause to feel bad about my apathy.
- One election in Sunnyside, 1996. I remember being really keyed up and excited about Clinton being re-elected.
- One election in Park Slope, 1992. Was not really very engaged that year, I can't remember what I thought about the election. Pretty sure I voted for Clinton.
- One election while a student at Columbia, 1988. I had no clue that year, IIRC I voted for Lenora Fulani or something equally ridiculous and lame. This was the first election I had ever voted in.
- All previous elections (that I can remember), I was living at my parents' house in Modesto. I think the earliest election I have any real memory of is 1980.
So: this is the longest I've spent living in one place since childhood! This is also true of Ellen. Wild.
 (Also, come to think of it: this is the second election since I started blogging. FWIW.)
posted morning of October 15th, 2008: Respond
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Awesome:
posted morning of October 15th, 2008: Respond
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Tuesday, October 14th, 2008
Here are three ways a novel can be good: It can appeal to the ear, with fluency of prose and well-chosen words; it can appeal to the mind, with elegant structure and finely crafted plot; and it can appeal to the heart, pulling the reader away from himself and into the personalities of its characters. The first part of In Hovering Flight was appealing mostly to my ear and my mind; but with the return to the present moment in part II and the focus on Scarlet's thoughts, it is starting to get to my heart as well.
posted evening of October 14th, 2008: 2 responses
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Monday, October 13th, 2008
 In Hovering Flight is making me dream of drawing birds and owls. The best-realized descriptions so far are of Addie sketching -- when she was in the first session of class, drawing the stuffed owl, was the first time I could begin to get a clear picture of her.
posted evening of October 13th, 2008: Respond
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Sunday, October 12th, 2008
I liked reading Zadie Smith's On Beauty, for the fluidity of the prose and for the nicely structured narrative; but in the end I was disappointed. Her other books really spoke to me, allowed me to enter into the story in spirit; here I was just me, sitting in front of the screen watching the action but with no way of identifying with the actors.
posted afternoon of October 12th, 2008: Respond
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Friday, October 10th, 2008
That story is not true.
You never sailed in the benched ships.
You never went to the city of Troy.
-- Stesichoros, "Palinode": quoted in Phædrus.
I've been reading some of the introductory material to Autobiography of Red this morning -- it is really interesting and makes me want to read this book sometime. Carson asserts (actually I am not sure if she is writing this introductory material in her own voice: maybe "Carson's narrator asserts") that "Stesichoros released being" by separating Homer's incantatory adjectives from the nouns to which they were attached, by inventing descriptive language.Here we touch the core of the question "What difference did Stesichoros make?" When Gertrude Stein had to sum up Picasso she said, "This one was working." So say of Stesichoros, "This one was making adjectives."
posted afternoon of October 10th, 2008: 1 response
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My brother showed me Anne Carson's Autobiography of Red -- I am interested right away just by the coincidental similarity of its title to My Name is Red -- but I just wanted to quote its opening sentence: He came after Homer and before Gertrude Stein, a difficult interval for a poet.
posted morning of October 10th, 2008: Respond
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