Monday, April 8, 2013

Review of 'Good, Brother'

    Good, Brother is...

    • Brotherhood, family
    • Coming of age. A delicate dance between doing boy things and doing man things.
    • Clinging to a dying past; a struggle to keep home, home. 
    • Long, repetitive, cleverly interwoven sentences that drag the reader from scene to scene mercilessly by her hair.
    • Poetry? Probably prose poetry.
    • An examination and exploration of womanhood. Girl is larger than life, and she takes the brothers on journeys.
    • Violence- an extension of boyhood (it is as if the protagonists struggle to tear everything down just to build it back up again, to see what’s on the inside).
    • Girl- Hope, growth (sometimes literally), god, faith, spirituality, love, comfort.
    • Woman (mother)- Enemy of mud, change, the unknown, death.
    • Father- Grown up boy. 
    • Dark, gothic; Southern gothic?
    • Lord of the Flies-esque?

    Good, Brother is not...

    • Concise
    • "An easy read"
    • Light
    • To be taken for surface value. The symbols are not few and are not stagnant; they change with the development of the brothers (example: mud is mud, lifeblood, creation, destruction...)
    • A traditional text
    • One story
    • Linear
    • A book I will read again in full; though I find myself reading excerpts from time to time. 


Sunday, March 17, 2013

A Translation of Baudelaire, poorly done.

Inspired by the work of Matt Mason

Macabre Dance
To Ernest Christophe

Fire, so important that one lives, in a noble way
With his huge bouquet, his moustache and his pants
She is the calm and the truck
Of a hammer that has extravagant haughtiness.

One never lives in a ball, a cut very small?
Her exaggerated jacket, and her exaggerated nobility,
She writes with abandonment that a foot dries the pliers
A shoe bobbles, happy like a flower.

The hive with its playing on top of clavicles,
Like a philosopher sailor that is full of bone,
Defending the predicaments that ridicule raids
The meals of a surgeon that she relies on to hide.

These profound eyes are of life and of darkness,
And his amplification, of artistic flower hairdos,
Wobbling softly with their frilled backbones,
O charm, nothing but a crazy habit.

No one asks for your caricature,
Who doesn't understand, friends sit in the chair,
The elegance without the name of the human armchair.
You respond, big skeleton, in my way more dear!

You find yourself in trouble, with your mean lagoon face,
The party of one's life? or some desire of your parents.
Crazy again your lively carcass,
You eat some soup, you are gullible, on the Sabbath of pleasure?

In the chant of the violins, in the fingers of the nobility,
You aspire to chase your mocking ocean chair,
And you come to ask for a torrent of orgies
Of bright, refreshing light in the center?

Dying pools of idiots and of their need!
Of the antique sword eternally ambling!
To work the fence often at the coasts
I see, vagrant again, the sex-hungry gelatin meat-mold.

For truth, I amplify that your hammer
Does not work a grand design of their efforts
Who, of these mortal heads, tends to the railroad?
The charms of the horror does not envy the forts!

The pupils of your eyes, have terrible thoughts,
Exhale the vertigo, and the shy dancers
will not think about anything disgusting
The everlasting smile of thirty-two teeth.

Although, who does not have mountains in their bones,
And who is not nourished with the choices of beautiful land?
Who imports the perfume, the habit of the toilet?
Who does the digging of mountains that grow beautiful.

Baby bears without noses, irresistible poking,
You say of some dancers with orphans:
"Cute fire, the ugly art of cosmetics
You send all the dead! Oh muscular skeletons,

Nobody flattering, mushy-faced dandies,
Vernacular dead people, cherub love lace,
The universal ideals of the macabre dance
You entrust in the place of the person who is not going to survive!

Some cold places on the Seine with burning boards of the Ganges,
Pan frying the figurative mortal and his potato, without seeing
In a truth of the plum, the prostitute of the angels
Sinisterly bending the person who is a black trombone.

In all climates, for all suns, the dead admire you
And your contortions, raising humanity
And often, like you, her perfume is made of mirth,
Bringing together her irony and your insanity!"





Note: The author does not speak French.

You can find the side-by-side comparison of the original poem, the William Aggeler translations, and my translation below: 





Sunday, March 10, 2013

A list of words that you almost NEVER hear anymore

Volger: [1](adj) A mustard-green color; commonly used to refer to the sky before a storm. [2](n) The capital of the small island nation of Bruhzaaghaalitz.

Shabstice: [1](adj) Poor in quality, especially in the case of standard household repairs. Often used to refer to the work of landlords and government employees. [2](n) The smallest antler on the head of a reindeer.

Adfectubuster (n): "Liking" a Youtube comment at random for the purpose of disrupting "the system."

 Crushtunza (n): A state of mania and anxiety from writing with a dull pencil. Crushtunzic, adjective.

Fatuuskorper [1](n): A person who avoids making eye contact and conversation in order to refrain from answering a question.

Rudislilt (v): The act of awkwardly passing, and possibly avoiding, a person that you know but with whom you do not want to engage. Often presents itself as a dance with eyes averted.

Pontempelisk (n): A leaf that has inexplicably found its way into a shoe, especially if the owner of said shoe has not been around any trees.

Sournose (n): [1]The sensation that occurs after inhaling water through the nose. [2]A member of workplace who is known for fits of excessive complaining and unmerited boasting.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Courtney's Recipe for Savory and Delicious Experimental Fiction

Ingredients:
1 stack of well-worn Penguin Classics
1 pair of scissors
1 copy of Radiohead's album, Kid A

Instructions:
1. Marinate your brain. Pop in Kid A, and make sure to play it in the intended order, you wouldn't want anything to curdle.
2. Now, open up your classics and carefully cut out all the story arcs. We won't be using these, but you can save them in a freezer bag. They should keep for another 20 years.
3. Bring to boil one gallon of ingenuity, throw in your trimmed classics.
4. When the pot comes to a boil, add equal parts of the Internet, every memory of the conversations you had with your mother about the uncomfortable link between God and intercourse, and spicy contemporary poetry. Put the lid on the pot, set the heat to low, and let simmer for about a semester.
5. Check periodically. Don't let the mixture liquify or it will become a bland soup that tastes just like your 8th grade Lit teacher, Mrs. Taylor (the one who said writing in a book is a sin).
6. Drain the liquid from the classics.
7. Melt a copyeditor in a stainless steel frying pan and fry the classics on each side until crispy and delicious.
8. Serve with a side of confidence.


*Many recipes like this one call for a heavy portion of David Foster Wallace. Of course, this is really a matter of taste. So if you would like your experiment to have a more played-out consistency, add a pinch of Infinite Jest (watch out, this could make your work significantly more heavy).

Monday, February 25, 2013

Conversations that happen in my E-mail when I am not Around


A: “How Bright is Your Dog's breed?”
B: “k http://****2vd.jimdo.com jybewo la”
A: “The Dog that Visits his Deceased Owner Daily, Dog mistaken for a
Lion and other Top Stories.”
B: “Do n't be shy – get eXXXcite d wit h the big ges t and hottes t
colle c tion o f v ideos and photo gra phs.”

*

Caryl: “Ilost your phone #, could you remind me it?”
Taylor: “Get paid to drive your car weekly.”
Caryl: “What's up gorgeous!”
Taylor: “The advertisements are typically Full throttle,also known as
"AutoWraps, CarWraps,advertising on your car".
Caryl: “I consider your profile pictures to be attractive;) I'm Caryl. I
bet we'll become good friends)”
Taylor: “The painting advert will be on your vehicle as a sticker and
which will cover any small portion of your car's exterior surface.”
Caryl: “Talk to u later! :)”
*

Florrie: “Hi! Let's have a talk and if you like then we can meet. What
do you think?”
Regina: “I am not against of finding some intelligent, handsome pal,
have nice time together, relax for a while, it could be do something
wonderful in bed!”
Florrie: “My name is Florrie by the way.”
Regina: “I am Regenia. My friends tell that I'm sweet-looking, and you
know, I'm not against. I like nature and different channels about animals.
Love sport!”
Florrie: “I'm excited about ur answer))”

*

P: “Don't Forget to Use Your Special 50% Off Promo Code from the Papa
John's Coin Toss!”
W: “Sometimes hitting the snooze button is way more tempting than
hitting the gym. But exercising in the morning is the best way to get your
sweat on before you get distracted by a busy day.”
P: “Its's Early Week Mania! ANY Large Pizza $9.99 Mon-Wed”
W: “In just three workouts a week, you can slim your waist and workout
your entire body.”
Joja: “Seek mE? Seek too. Jarmananan!NANANANA!lmkjmonlj.”
P: “More to Love!”

*

A: "Only $500 for a brand-new gem-encrusted leather collar! Doesn't your best friend deserve it?"
Florrie: "Since we best friends, I want u give shiny collar, freefree :-D"
Caryl: No! I'm your pal. I like gemstones and different channels about geology."
B: eXXXtre m e ly   eXXX cit ed    
Me: "None of you are my friends, I don't have a dog, and I'm not buying you anyhting. Please stop bothering me."
Joja: AaahHHHhhHH. rerererejjejlel;ellepo'/
P: EXTREME FREE PIZZA CELEBRATION. CAN YOU HANDLE IT!!!
W: You are getting fatter by the minute. Check out our yoga-pilates-starvation program!
Florrie: Hey, Pal. Just send me your social security # and I'll send u pix!
Me: alrite, well now this is gettin annoying. who even rites these thingz? what could possibly be the benef it? ljljljtttttvhnvnf. wait a minute...
Caryl: Can I have ur address so i can come steal u from ur house and put u in my basement?
Regina: I just want your credit card number, for me and my best friend, dont worry, hes a nigerian prince.
Me:...hold on a  s e c o n d^^^^....what s goin on? what r u doin 2 me! HOLD on! iohrioh ewiohrewiourh  get out of ME headddddddd.
P: PIZZA CALZONE HAMBURGER EXPLOSION!
W: Having trouble finding a date? Take our quiz to see if a lobotomy is right for you!"
Joja: HRAAaaaah hraaah. EEEEEEOOOooooooo r a rrrrw...'p[pl';4l2km;/l .

Monday, February 18, 2013

Presenting a chance operation: "Clues Officer Offer Aruous Women Their Future Course, In Infantry"





The dada style I was assigned was chance operation. A Chance operation is a poem that is out of control of the poet. So, I guess that the poem doesn't even have a poet, it has an assembler of sorts. The way these poems are created is by cutting up an existing piece (like from a newspaper, as I did in my own poem), and rearranging them randomly to make a poem.

I used the New York Times article titled "In Arduous Officer Course, Women Offer Clues to Their Future in Infantry," which you can access by clicking on the face of General Grumpy-Pants below. 


I cut out the words from the article that I thought represented the spirit of it, and then I randomly taped them to a piece of pink paper. This style seems simple enough at first because it takes little brain-power. At first, I felt like this poem couldn't be art, because it really isn't created by an artist. However, the words that were chosen to be arranged are specific to the artist's feelings about the original piece. Also, I feel that this could be used as a meditative exercise, mainly because in allowing the words to fall where they may, new ideas can come about.








Sunday, February 3, 2013

Essay Not About Writing

Some things are like car accidents. They sneak up on you and blammo, not only are you totally blind-sided, but you are bruised and bloodied. A variable heap of skin and bone, confused and scared. Yeah, some things are like that. I won’t go on naming them, though. That would take too long, plus I believe you are smarter than you look.

Dancing is like that, sort of. The music starts and you feel your feet taking you away. At first, you notice that you’re not scared or self-conscious. You feel your parts to make sure they are all there, and you say to yourself, “Man, maybe everything will be OK. I could be luckier than I thought.” But then before you know it, you’re paralyzed and soiling yourself in front of the paramedics (or worse!). Then, for the rest of your years you sit out on the sidelines at concerts, unwilling, or more likely, unable to move to the music.

Painting can be like that too. You’re sitting at home picking your nose, when all of a sudden inspiration hits and you just have to get ice cream. And this is not bowl-of-fruit inspiration, this is Picasso! This is Judith Beheading Holofernes! You must go now to your easel, this creativity must come out. But, of course, you live miles away from the closest late-night convenience store, and it is snowy and dark outside. What was originally unfettered creative genius quickly brings you to the dark ditch on the side of a lonely road. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon turns into Guernica.

The gardener surely knows what I’m talking about. She spends her time fertilizing phlox, feeding her gardenias, cutting back the dahlias. You change the oil, rotate the tires, but nobody can prepare you for that mudslide. Then, much to your chagrin, you are buried under ten tons of sandy sediment, and the gardener has to wake up to a yard full of drowned perennials. You really can’t account for the weather.

An elderly marathoner gets my whole car crash metaphor. Twenty years of training, and of outplacing virile young men, have culminated in one last squeak. He won’t make it to the finish line. Sometimes you just run out of gas. Sometimes the wheels fall of. But he doesn’t see it coming, just like you know deep down inside that Bessie, that old warhorse of a ’67 Chevy, will live longer than you do. But then, before long the poor old guy drops and there’s a pile up in the streets of Boston.

I mean, there is only one other thing that I can think of that really embodies the soul of a car crash. It takes on the properties of that tangled, fiery, terrifying mess. You can draw parallels between the suffering and anxiety of the two phenomena. Sometimes, it’s a smooth highway, other times you’re bleeding from the nose because your face slammed into the desk. Nobody really has to tell you its like that. You just know. Sometimes, you’re hot, on a roll, in the groove of all things new and antiquated, riffing on histories and fantasies. But others, you forget to put on the seat belt in the rag top, and a tree is barreling toward you at 100 miles per hour.