A man attached to the ground,
table hockey with no particular goal,
stares at the ground.
Caretaking. Taking care. Take. Care.
Stone upon stone, stick from path, caretaking.
In a glade, a small, stone bowl
Mud, leaves, muck.
Bend, scrape, pluck.
Clean. Water. Flows.
Blue, cold,warmth, thirst, gone.
A man attached to the ground,
table hockey with no particular goal,
looks up at the sky. A leaf falls.
Into the fountain.
Caretaking.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Assignments to be sorted/edited
Interactive Poetry. Interactive Art.
I’m sure that all of you are familiar with haiku. While there are few hard and fast rules, usually haiku has the following:
1) Three lines
2) 17 syllables
3) An arrangement of 5, 7 and 5 syllables.
Your task as a group is to write haiku to illustrate each of the attached pictures. Please go crazy. While refraining from any inappropriate themes. There will be a second part, but you can’t get to it until you’ve done the first.
Please put each haiku on a separate sheet of typing paper. Thanks.
Also, please focus on the picture not the words. Thanks.
New Century; New Millennium; New Stuff
You were lucky enough to be born into the end of the twentieth century. Instead of outhouses, we have port-a-potties; instead of watching the fire burn at night, we have MTV; instead of public executions, we have Jack Kevorkian on 60 minutes.
Wait a second. I can see I'm starting out wrong. Let me begin again. You have been lucky enough to be born into the end of the twentieth century. We have many inventions that have made our lives easier. The downside to being born so late in the game is that it is a lot harder to be truly original today. Sometimes it seems that all the great thoughts have been thought and the great songs sung.
NONSENSE! In fact, today we will prove that originality and creativity are still possible. Today, each and every one of us will
do something never thought of or seen in
the history of
the funky western civilization!
Each person will choose an activity that has never before been attempted in history, and perform this activity on camera. You may involve as many people as you like, but each of us must come up with an idea. This project may be turned into a weekly public abscess television. Or not.
Some examples:
--Singing the Alphabet Song with your head underwater in the sink.
--Calling the operator to get directions to Detroit
--Telling the story of the three little pigs in Pig Latin
--Cutting your fingernails while playing Hacky Sack
You get the idea. If there is one.
Oh, yes. There is a prize for the most creative and original idea. The prize is cash.
Capping the Quote
Each of the following is the beginning of a not-so-well-known phrase or quotation. As a group, please complete the quote, with as much flair, originality and creativity as possible. We will read the answers at the end; if your group recognizes the correct answer, you will get a point. If other groups choose yours, you will get a point. Capiche?
1. It is easier to fight for one's principles than
2. The most important things to do in the world are to get something to eat, something to drink and
3. Friendship is like money,
4. He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask
5. Don't talk unless you
6. Nothing is particularly hard if
7. In times like these, it is helpful to remember that there have always been
8. In the fight between you and the world,
9. Conscience is the inner voice that warns us
10. The trouble with the rat-race is that
11. It is better to die on your feet than
It is easier to fight for one's principles than
to live up to them—Alfred Adler
The most important things to do in the world are to get something to eat, something to drink and
somebody to love you. - Brendan Behan
Friendship is like money,
easier made than kept. - Samuel Butler
He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask
remains a fool forever. - Chinese proverb
Don't talk unless you
can improve the silence. - Laurence Coughlin
Nothing is particularly hard if
you divide it into small jobs. - Henry Ford
In times like these, it is helpful to remember that there have always been
times like these. - Paul Harvey
In the fight between you and the world,
back the world. - Franz Kafka
Conscience is the inner voice that warns us
that someone might be looking. - H. L. Mencken
The trouble with the rat-race is that
even if you win, you're still a rat. - Lily Tomlin
It is better to die on your feet than
to live on your knees! - Emiliano Zapata
Fanning the Flames of Poetry
Please finish each of these sentences. Once you have completed this, we will talk in small groups about what we have written. After this discussion, each person will create one poem in any format.
When I was little
The first time I ever
If I hadn't done that, then I'd still be
I wish my mother had told me about
The last time I
Once I brush my teeth and get dressed, I've got to
If my father had only
If I were a teacher
If I had a million dollars
One night when the lights went out
It wastwo minutes after blastoff when
I couldn't open the door because
My hair stood on end as
I feel proud when
I hope I'll never
I often worry about
I feel bad when
I was never so embarrassed as when
I wish people wouldn't...
Viva Las Vegas
P.T. Barnum said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Today is your chance to prove it. Each person has been given $50 in KSOFA bucks—Three tens, three fives and five ones. For the next 15 minutes, you will have a chance to take other suckers’ money through bets in the following five areas:
Rock, Paper, Scissors Flipping a coin
Thumb wrestling Holding breath the longest
Tic-tac-toe Standing on one leg the longest
There are only a few rules:
1) You must accept any challenge
2) All bets are sudden death; no best two out of three
3) In the coin toss, the challenger must have a coin and is always “heads”
4) In tic-tac-toe, a tie goes to the person who was challenged
10 Bucks 10 Bucks 10 Bucks
5 Bucks 5 Bucks 5 Bucks
1 Buck 1 Buck 1 Buck
1 Buck 1 Buck
I’m sure that all of you are familiar with haiku. While there are few hard and fast rules, usually haiku has the following:
1) Three lines
2) 17 syllables
3) An arrangement of 5, 7 and 5 syllables.
Your task as a group is to write haiku to illustrate each of the attached pictures. Please go crazy. While refraining from any inappropriate themes. There will be a second part, but you can’t get to it until you’ve done the first.
Please put each haiku on a separate sheet of typing paper. Thanks.
Also, please focus on the picture not the words. Thanks.
New Century; New Millennium; New Stuff
You were lucky enough to be born into the end of the twentieth century. Instead of outhouses, we have port-a-potties; instead of watching the fire burn at night, we have MTV; instead of public executions, we have Jack Kevorkian on 60 minutes.
Wait a second. I can see I'm starting out wrong. Let me begin again. You have been lucky enough to be born into the end of the twentieth century. We have many inventions that have made our lives easier. The downside to being born so late in the game is that it is a lot harder to be truly original today. Sometimes it seems that all the great thoughts have been thought and the great songs sung.
NONSENSE! In fact, today we will prove that originality and creativity are still possible. Today, each and every one of us will
do something never thought of or seen in
the history of
the funky western civilization!
Each person will choose an activity that has never before been attempted in history, and perform this activity on camera. You may involve as many people as you like, but each of us must come up with an idea. This project may be turned into a weekly public abscess television. Or not.
Some examples:
--Singing the Alphabet Song with your head underwater in the sink.
--Calling the operator to get directions to Detroit
--Telling the story of the three little pigs in Pig Latin
--Cutting your fingernails while playing Hacky Sack
You get the idea. If there is one.
Oh, yes. There is a prize for the most creative and original idea. The prize is cash.
Capping the Quote
Each of the following is the beginning of a not-so-well-known phrase or quotation. As a group, please complete the quote, with as much flair, originality and creativity as possible. We will read the answers at the end; if your group recognizes the correct answer, you will get a point. If other groups choose yours, you will get a point. Capiche?
1. It is easier to fight for one's principles than
2. The most important things to do in the world are to get something to eat, something to drink and
3. Friendship is like money,
4. He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask
5. Don't talk unless you
6. Nothing is particularly hard if
7. In times like these, it is helpful to remember that there have always been
8. In the fight between you and the world,
9. Conscience is the inner voice that warns us
10. The trouble with the rat-race is that
11. It is better to die on your feet than
It is easier to fight for one's principles than
to live up to them—Alfred Adler
The most important things to do in the world are to get something to eat, something to drink and
somebody to love you. - Brendan Behan
Friendship is like money,
easier made than kept. - Samuel Butler
He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask
remains a fool forever. - Chinese proverb
Don't talk unless you
can improve the silence. - Laurence Coughlin
Nothing is particularly hard if
you divide it into small jobs. - Henry Ford
In times like these, it is helpful to remember that there have always been
times like these. - Paul Harvey
In the fight between you and the world,
back the world. - Franz Kafka
Conscience is the inner voice that warns us
that someone might be looking. - H. L. Mencken
The trouble with the rat-race is that
even if you win, you're still a rat. - Lily Tomlin
It is better to die on your feet than
to live on your knees! - Emiliano Zapata
Fanning the Flames of Poetry
Please finish each of these sentences. Once you have completed this, we will talk in small groups about what we have written. After this discussion, each person will create one poem in any format.
When I was little
The first time I ever
If I hadn't done that, then I'd still be
I wish my mother had told me about
The last time I
Once I brush my teeth and get dressed, I've got to
If my father had only
If I were a teacher
If I had a million dollars
One night when the lights went out
It wastwo minutes after blastoff when
I couldn't open the door because
My hair stood on end as
I feel proud when
I hope I'll never
I often worry about
I feel bad when
I was never so embarrassed as when
I wish people wouldn't...
Viva Las Vegas
P.T. Barnum said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Today is your chance to prove it. Each person has been given $50 in KSOFA bucks—Three tens, three fives and five ones. For the next 15 minutes, you will have a chance to take other suckers’ money through bets in the following five areas:
Rock, Paper, Scissors Flipping a coin
Thumb wrestling Holding breath the longest
Tic-tac-toe Standing on one leg the longest
There are only a few rules:
1) You must accept any challenge
2) All bets are sudden death; no best two out of three
3) In the coin toss, the challenger must have a coin and is always “heads”
4) In tic-tac-toe, a tie goes to the person who was challenged
10 Bucks 10 Bucks 10 Bucks
5 Bucks 5 Bucks 5 Bucks
1 Buck 1 Buck 1 Buck
1 Buck 1 Buck
New Traditions
Traditions
K-SOFA means welcoming new students and helping them understand their place in history.
As you know, we have a number of traditions which each and every new student has lived through. To review a few of them:
➢ New students are required to tell about the last time they cried in public
➢ New students are required to provide snacks for staff and old students on their second day in the program
➢ New students are required to sing a favorite song
➢ New students are required to tell the rest of the group something they have never told anyone else
➢ New students are required to dance the “Dance of Newness”
Unfortunately, I can’t remember all of the traditions, so I need your help. Please write down, in the space below, between one and three traditions which have been left out.
If you are a new student, please add a tradition of your own.
K-SOFA means welcoming new students and helping them understand their place in history.
As you know, we have a number of traditions which each and every new student has lived through. To review a few of them:
➢ New students are required to tell about the last time they cried in public
➢ New students are required to provide snacks for staff and old students on their second day in the program
➢ New students are required to sing a favorite song
➢ New students are required to tell the rest of the group something they have never told anyone else
➢ New students are required to dance the “Dance of Newness”
Unfortunately, I can’t remember all of the traditions, so I need your help. Please write down, in the space below, between one and three traditions which have been left out.
If you are a new student, please add a tradition of your own.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Where are all the Greeenland Readers?
I know I'm not being reasonable, but I'd really like someone in Greenland to read my words and, I hope, respond. I know the Golden Age of Greenland ended a few centuries ago, but there must be dial-up access or something. If any reader can find me a Greenlander to read and respond, I will buy the reader and the responder a cup of coffee. Really.
Name that Poet--and Poem--and Win a Cup of Coffee
Using Babelfish, I translated this poem from English to German and back. It was written by a well-known American poet. Name her or him and the title of the poem and I'll buy you a cup of coffee. Really.
I was, which knows the night. I have expired in rains -- and back in the rain. I have outwalked the furthest city light. I have down the saddest city way geschauen. I exceeded by the protection on its effect and mean eyes, which were dropped, in order to explain averse. I become still and the clay/tone of the feet, as far cry houses of another road behind stopped, away interrupted, went, but I not back call or legends good-bye well-known; And you still promote on one unearthly height, were O Luminarytaktgeber against the sky, which was proclaimed the time, neither still quite wrongly. I was, which knows the night.
I was, which knows the night. I have expired in rains -- and back in the rain. I have outwalked the furthest city light. I have down the saddest city way geschauen. I exceeded by the protection on its effect and mean eyes, which were dropped, in order to explain averse. I become still and the clay/tone of the feet, as far cry houses of another road behind stopped, away interrupted, went, but I not back call or legends good-bye well-known; And you still promote on one unearthly height, were O Luminarytaktgeber against the sky, which was proclaimed the time, neither still quite wrongly. I was, which knows the night.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
BOYCOTT STAPLES, BIGELOW TEA AND PROCTOR AND GAMBLE!
Now that Staples has announced it's pulling its advertising from the Imus in the Morning show, I propose a boycott of the office-supplies giant. Please, please, please, buy all technology, paper clips, etc. from Office Depot.
Please drink Imus Brothers Coffee.
Finally, if your digestive system bothers you, please try herbal remedies rather than boing to the proctorlogist.
Please drink Imus Brothers Coffee.
Finally, if your digestive system bothers you, please try herbal remedies rather than boing to the proctorlogist.
Vivian Stringer's Cheerleader Anecdote--Imus Part Two
In an earlier post, http://novelistador.blogspot.com/2007/04/don-imus-personal-hero-of-my-formerly.html, I made my (and my formerly three year old's) feelings apparent. Still, I must respond to Vivian Stringer's performance today. The Rutgers University basketball coach started off well, unattributedly quoting Eleanor Roosevelt's dictum, "No one can make you feel inferior without your permission." She then launched into a long, and as far as I can see pointless, anecdote about being the first minority cheerleader at her high school. This "story" included a late-night visit to her father from an official who said that little Vivian had been the best cheerleader at tryouts. Vivian's dad then came up to her in her bed and said she should become a cheerleader because, "If you don't stand up for something, you'll fall for anything."
A free cup of coffee to the first reader who can find some kind of purpose to this anecdote.
A free cup of coffee to the first reader who can find some kind of purpose to this anecdote.
Frog Pond Poems
Frog Ponds I
In this life,
the choice, ultimately,
is what size frog
in what size pond
do you want to be?
Then ribbut like hell
until the gig impales you
or the snapper crushes you.
Frog Pond II
Some frogs are too small
for even the smallest pond.
They need a creek,
a swamp,
a puddle.
In even the ugliest family,
there is the prettiest girl.
In even the stupidest family
there is the family scholar.
In even the smallest pond,
there is a largest frog.
Frog Pond III
Control is not the issue,
although it is always an issue.
Power is not the issue,
although it is an issue.
Freedom to have an impact on the world,
no matter how small an impact,
or how small a world,
is the issue.
In this life,
the choice, ultimately,
is what size frog
in what size pond
do you want to be?
Then ribbut like hell
until the gig impales you
or the snapper crushes you.
Frog Pond II
Some frogs are too small
for even the smallest pond.
They need a creek,
a swamp,
a puddle.
In even the ugliest family,
there is the prettiest girl.
In even the stupidest family
there is the family scholar.
In even the smallest pond,
there is a largest frog.
Frog Pond III
Control is not the issue,
although it is always an issue.
Power is not the issue,
although it is an issue.
Freedom to have an impact on the world,
no matter how small an impact,
or how small a world,
is the issue.
Monday, April 9, 2007
Don Imus--A Personal Hero of My (formerly) Three-Year-Old Daughter
Years ago, my youngest daughter, Elizabeth, who is now 10, fell in love for the first time. Not with Barny. Not with the four-year-old boy next door. Not even with me. Instead, she fell in love with a, by his own admission, "wrinkled-up old fool" named Don Imus.
Libby fell in love with him because of two things: mild salsa and kids who were dying. As I drove her and her older sisters around in the morning, the voice of the I-Man was nearly always with us. Libby first expressed her feelings in the supermarket when she saw the turqoise buffalo on a jar of salsa.
"I-Man, I-Man, I-Man," she called out, pointing a chubby little fist. Being a sucker for fat fists, I immediately put the Imus Brothers Salsa in the cart. It was and is, I must admit, damn good salsa. Still, the kicker for Libbby was that, to her little mind, the money we spent on salsa was going directly to help little kids who were dying.
Sure, as a family we had supported the Make-A-Wish Foundation, with its visits to Disney World or autograph sessions from football stars, all directed at terminally-ill kids. The Imus Ranch, thgouh, was different. Kids didn't go there to be treated like hothouse flowers; they went there to learn to be real, live cowboys. To Libby, who still would give up five years of her own life (and ten years of either of her sister's lives) for a pony, this sounded like a perfect culmination for a life cut short.
I understand that Don Imus said some dumb and inflammatory things last week. Don Imus says some dumb and inflammatory things every day. Still, the work he has done for children regardless of race should be entered in the equation. If the good works of Don Imus' life were to be set next to those of, say, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Howard Stern, Keith Olbermann or any other entertaining bloviater, I am certain his pile would be bigger than that of the others combined.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "By their fruits shall you know them." Don Imus has planted, and helped dying kids harvest, some pretty damn good fruit. Please don't throw them out in any rush to judgement.
Libby fell in love with him because of two things: mild salsa and kids who were dying. As I drove her and her older sisters around in the morning, the voice of the I-Man was nearly always with us. Libby first expressed her feelings in the supermarket when she saw the turqoise buffalo on a jar of salsa.
"I-Man, I-Man, I-Man," she called out, pointing a chubby little fist. Being a sucker for fat fists, I immediately put the Imus Brothers Salsa in the cart. It was and is, I must admit, damn good salsa. Still, the kicker for Libbby was that, to her little mind, the money we spent on salsa was going directly to help little kids who were dying.
Sure, as a family we had supported the Make-A-Wish Foundation, with its visits to Disney World or autograph sessions from football stars, all directed at terminally-ill kids. The Imus Ranch, thgouh, was different. Kids didn't go there to be treated like hothouse flowers; they went there to learn to be real, live cowboys. To Libby, who still would give up five years of her own life (and ten years of either of her sister's lives) for a pony, this sounded like a perfect culmination for a life cut short.
I understand that Don Imus said some dumb and inflammatory things last week. Don Imus says some dumb and inflammatory things every day. Still, the work he has done for children regardless of race should be entered in the equation. If the good works of Don Imus' life were to be set next to those of, say, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Howard Stern, Keith Olbermann or any other entertaining bloviater, I am certain his pile would be bigger than that of the others combined.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "By their fruits shall you know them." Don Imus has planted, and helped dying kids harvest, some pretty damn good fruit. Please don't throw them out in any rush to judgement.
Monday, April 2, 2007
Mea Culpa--I Was Wrong and Want More Information
In writing this kind of blog, it’s easy to believe that those who write to agree with me are good, kind, decent, salt-of-the-earth types, while those who disagree are close-minded, cranky, hobby-horse riding nut jobs. This may well be true, but not in a recent case.
I was wrong in a recent posting, and my readers made this clear to me.
In http://novelistador.blogspot.com/2007/03/chosen-child-adoption-book-proposal.html, I claimed to have no interest in my biological family, writing as an automaton. A number of readers wrote to me and about me, using language which got through to me and made me recognize my desire to find out more about my past.
While many of the reader’s comments were mean-tempered, sometimes it does take a sharp stick to get a rise out of a sleeping dog. (Please strike that last image--it’s late. The last thing I need is to be set upon by animal-rights activists.)
Anyway, this is a long way of saying I’m sorry, and that I’d like to learn more about adoption and the search for biological families.
I was wrong in a recent posting, and my readers made this clear to me.
In http://novelistador.blogspot.com/2007/03/chosen-child-adoption-book-proposal.html, I claimed to have no interest in my biological family, writing as an automaton. A number of readers wrote to me and about me, using language which got through to me and made me recognize my desire to find out more about my past.
While many of the reader’s comments were mean-tempered, sometimes it does take a sharp stick to get a rise out of a sleeping dog. (Please strike that last image--it’s late. The last thing I need is to be set upon by animal-rights activists.)
Anyway, this is a long way of saying I’m sorry, and that I’d like to learn more about adoption and the search for biological families.
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