As one of the most American of holidays, thanksgiving continues to be a time of celebration between family and friends. Some holidays have other deeper meanings, maybe the birth or death of a historical figure or even a celebration of victory in war. Instead I believe that thanksgiving is more a time of reconnecting with those people in your life who are there to help you through the tough times that arise in your life. For the pilgrims that could have been the Native Americans that helped them to survive those first tough winters, but for me thanksgiving is all about spending quality time with my family and friends. Since I am so far away from home and don’t get many chances to actually connect with them I really like to spend as much time as possible hanging out with my family when I am finally home. This includes sitting up in my little brothers room and trying to spend quality time with him talking about school while he plays video games or even watches the television that I gave him. Or another activity I enjoy when I am home is just sitting at the kitchen table with my mom playing cards while she tells me the latest hijinxs that her students are getting into during class. The best thing about coming home for Thanksgiving is helping my dad cook the turkey and all the fixings that go along with it. Well that and the all day football that follows the turkey spirit.
A couple things happened differently this thanksgiving; this is the first thanksgiving that I have had a serious girlfriend around for the holiday and for some reasons it just made the holidays go by much faster. Also every single flipping football game this thanksgiving was a total blow-out. That was probably the worst thing that could have happened to me, sitting down and nodding off to football while digesting a mass of turkey that could have put a giant to sleep is one of the highlights of my holiday but for some reason even though the games kept getting blown out I couldn’t fall asleep. Now this throws off my entire game plan for the night, because if I don’t sleep and get that nap in I have no energy to go out at night and party with my older sister. So what could I do? Well like any good American would do in the Thanksgiving spirit, I sucked it up, drank some coffee, went downtown and made some bad decisions with my sister. But it was fun, taking pictures, taking shots, and shooting some pool. Just spending quality time with another fun member of my family. However the thanksgiving could not be complete without going to the ol’ gf’s house and meeting her entire family tree all at once. This could be a time that goes terrible or a time that serves to further cement the relationship. Luckily for me it was the cementing and not the terrible time that happened. When you factor in the turkey, football, family, friends, and significant others Thanksgiving in one of the most American of holidays.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Experimental Poem
The Acrostic Chance method (number 8) of experimental poetry
Chill Factor by Sandra Brown
3 8 9 12 12 6 1 3 20 15 18
Chill Factor
Collar up to his ears, which were
Here simply to escape
In the general direction of the
Load these boxes into your trunk
Load these boxes into your trunk
Fingertips. The latex gloves had
A record
Collar up to his ears, which were
The road. She
Of the relief that
Right shoul-
Doing a poem in the Acrostic method for me was enjoyable because I didn’t really know what was going to come of the poem. The first book I was going to use this method on was The Stars My Destination; it did not work for me because the book started on page seven instead of the necessary page one. However this was quickly remedied when I grabbed Chill Factor by Sandra Brown. While this book was my girlfriends, it did have the added bonus of starting on page one so it would work for this experimental poetry assignment. Going through the title and finding the corresponding lines was almost like putting together a puzzle that you have never seen before. I was anxious at first to see if the poem would actually make sense until it clicked in my brainium cranium that this poem was supposed to be experimental and it did not have to make sense. After that I just skimmed through the book writing down the lines with an understanding to how it was going to work out at the end. After finishing the poem and reading over the finished project I was very happy with how it turned out. The only thing I would have changed is the last two lines because, as weird as this process was the rest of the poem actually worked. My favorite part of the poem was the last two lines of the first stanza, which read: “Load these boxes into your trunk.” I still cheese out when I read those because I think of Steve Carrell’s line from 40 year old virgin, “I hope you have a big trunk because I am putting my bike into it.”
For many mainstream critics that do not like the idea of this kind of experimental poetry I say to them, “Sit down, shut up, and mind your own business.” Who is to say or decide what in the end constitutes poetry? I believe that the final and finished product and what they release to the public in the end is up to the poet. It is the poet’s creation, not the critics that is released to the public. Language is not something you can nail down, and since this is true (in my opinion) poetry is also not something that can be cut and dried. The poem that I wrote for this experimental exercise doesn’t even necessarily have kind of deeper meaning. And while I know this poem doesn’t really mean anything that does not necessarily mean that the reader won’t get some kind of deeper meaning or connection from the poem. The basic idea that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”; I believe can be applied to any poem experimental or otherwise. As long as someone gets something from the poem it is worth the work of either writing the poem or in my case paging through the book and finding lines. I do believe in the end that this poem is successful in challenging the notions of mainstream language or ideology because it leaves the meaning and understanding up to the reader, who in the end is actually (in my opinion) the final judge of the work. And as the poet, and the reader of the poem I must say that I enjoyed writing the poem just as I enjoyed reading it and trying to figure out what it actually meant.
Chill Factor by Sandra Brown
3 8 9 12 12 6 1 3 20 15 18
Chill Factor
Collar up to his ears, which were
Here simply to escape
In the general direction of the
Load these boxes into your trunk
Load these boxes into your trunk
Fingertips. The latex gloves had
A record
Collar up to his ears, which were
The road. She
Of the relief that
Right shoul-
Doing a poem in the Acrostic method for me was enjoyable because I didn’t really know what was going to come of the poem. The first book I was going to use this method on was The Stars My Destination; it did not work for me because the book started on page seven instead of the necessary page one. However this was quickly remedied when I grabbed Chill Factor by Sandra Brown. While this book was my girlfriends, it did have the added bonus of starting on page one so it would work for this experimental poetry assignment. Going through the title and finding the corresponding lines was almost like putting together a puzzle that you have never seen before. I was anxious at first to see if the poem would actually make sense until it clicked in my brainium cranium that this poem was supposed to be experimental and it did not have to make sense. After that I just skimmed through the book writing down the lines with an understanding to how it was going to work out at the end. After finishing the poem and reading over the finished project I was very happy with how it turned out. The only thing I would have changed is the last two lines because, as weird as this process was the rest of the poem actually worked. My favorite part of the poem was the last two lines of the first stanza, which read: “Load these boxes into your trunk.” I still cheese out when I read those because I think of Steve Carrell’s line from 40 year old virgin, “I hope you have a big trunk because I am putting my bike into it.”
For many mainstream critics that do not like the idea of this kind of experimental poetry I say to them, “Sit down, shut up, and mind your own business.” Who is to say or decide what in the end constitutes poetry? I believe that the final and finished product and what they release to the public in the end is up to the poet. It is the poet’s creation, not the critics that is released to the public. Language is not something you can nail down, and since this is true (in my opinion) poetry is also not something that can be cut and dried. The poem that I wrote for this experimental exercise doesn’t even necessarily have kind of deeper meaning. And while I know this poem doesn’t really mean anything that does not necessarily mean that the reader won’t get some kind of deeper meaning or connection from the poem. The basic idea that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”; I believe can be applied to any poem experimental or otherwise. As long as someone gets something from the poem it is worth the work of either writing the poem or in my case paging through the book and finding lines. I do believe in the end that this poem is successful in challenging the notions of mainstream language or ideology because it leaves the meaning and understanding up to the reader, who in the end is actually (in my opinion) the final judge of the work. And as the poet, and the reader of the poem I must say that I enjoyed writing the poem just as I enjoyed reading it and trying to figure out what it actually meant.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
11/02/08
This past weekend amazing things happened. One such thing was one of the better holidays, Halloween. For me Halloween is on the same level as saint patricks day. In both holidays outrageous clothing is worn, and ridiculous drinking ensues. I guess in the case of Halloween however the girls get to dress up in sexy outfits so that is usually pretty awesome. I bet when Jorie Graham goes out for Halloween she dresses up as a sexy nurse or something fun like that. Speaking of Jorie Graham, she has some very interesting poems that a person could read. One that struck me in particular is entitled “The Surface” and to me it seemed to be about Jorie Graham and either her imagination or maybe about the unconscious part of a person’s being. She uses the analogy throughout the poem of a twisting and spiraling river that seems to carry in it either the or messages that a person has in the form of fallen leaves that are carried on down the river. This poem could also be about the writing process in that she draws from someplace inside her self, the words, ideas or messages that she in turn sets free down the river. I could see that being the case in the last few lines of the poem Jorie wirtes “I say iridescent and I look down. The leaves very still as they are carried.” Or maybe I am completely off and it’s a poem about her fishing for a catfish or something. I did like how often Jorie uses the idea of a “Big Question” in her poems. It can be hard for a poet to write about the big questions because they really have no set or only true response, so in a way you are expecting more from the reader when you use those questions.
A lot of her poetry however is not really my cup of tea. The form that she uses for some of the poems seems a bit off to me. I am not completely sure what it is about the rhythm but it doesn’t seem to me to flow as well as some of the other authors. I also feel that some of the stuff is a little bit forced. I did not really like the poem “Fission” but I did think it was nice and retro when she writes so well about the early times before instant messaging and 24 hour news. That must have been a huge deal to the people of the 60’s when the President got shot. If any thing like that happened nowadays a person would be able to find out about it almost before the tragedy was completely done. No need to go to the electronics store to watch tv, instead just get on the internet with your phone or other mobile device, and almost instantly you have the ability to get the updated news. This class has been interesting in regards to the variety of poets we have already convered, I really enjoy being able to read all the various styles that we have already covered.
A lot of her poetry however is not really my cup of tea. The form that she uses for some of the poems seems a bit off to me. I am not completely sure what it is about the rhythm but it doesn’t seem to me to flow as well as some of the other authors. I also feel that some of the stuff is a little bit forced. I did not really like the poem “Fission” but I did think it was nice and retro when she writes so well about the early times before instant messaging and 24 hour news. That must have been a huge deal to the people of the 60’s when the President got shot. If any thing like that happened nowadays a person would be able to find out about it almost before the tragedy was completely done. No need to go to the electronics store to watch tv, instead just get on the internet with your phone or other mobile device, and almost instantly you have the ability to get the updated news. This class has been interesting in regards to the variety of poets we have already convered, I really enjoy being able to read all the various styles that we have already covered.
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