Of Course!

Bad Economy Pantoum

Our neighbors lost their home.
Their windows say “Do not enter.”
I remember that blue sedan -
when I was six years old,

and the windows had those same signs -
they pulled in slow – waving.
When I was six years old,
I didn’t know my friend would die.

They pulled in – him waving -
we ran through their new home – fast friends.
I didn’t know Gary would drown.
But that was years ago.

We ran through everything – best friends -
even dating his sister…
…But that was years ago
before she came into her own.

While I dated Julie,
our parents winked at each other.
After she became a beauty,
they knew I had no chance.

Our parents planned for the future,
watching us kids mature.
Thankful to have the chance
to live the American Dream.

Marking us kids grow tall
on the jamb, now painted over.
Awake from the American Dream,
suddenly nostalgic.

What else was painted over?
I remember that blue sedan,
suddenly nostalgic.
Our neighbors lost their home.

June 24, 2009

Organ Just Knocks Me Over

Folks, you’ve got to watch this with your sound up loud. But make sure to have a chair with a back because it’ll throw you off for sure. Qi Zhang’s performance of “Ridiculous Fellows” from Prokofiev’s “The Love for Three Oranges” orchestral suite caused me to forget about everything else in the world for three minutes. Go listen now.

Polycephaly

Re: the situation in Iran during this “election.”

The heavier the name, the more corrupt
a man becomes; the more he knows his place -
his mind is in the stones that helped construct
his throne – each brick will add another face
on posters made to claim that it’s the truth
so rarely seen on squares and avenues.
A country vanishes inside a booth
emerging holding hopes that light a fuse.
The wick is green – the students march in peace.
An army threatened cannot hold the line.
Khamenei orders that the protests cease,
atop a car, Moussavi must decline.
While sandstorms rage for policies that count on trust,
the heads of state are grinding ballots into dust.

When I Don’t Sleep…

when I don’t sleep, I un-dream
unseen, I un-seam
or on screen, I’m unscene -
unclean ream, grave robber,
obscene name dropper like rain droplets
a pain prophet, suspense is a main object,
we wait till the train’s stopping, strain –
track a thought a rock a pebble,
meddle with, it’s delicate, no gain
predicate, flow plain embellishment,
when snows came, intangible
static up in the canticle cocaine,
hum the hymn and clock the spot
till it blows brain, for shame…
…stack two o’s, I ate, I ain’t
side by side o’s know no gate,
grate the mind and matter prophecy
I’ve landed on the moon and found there’s still as much hypocrisy,

no space like grace inside the black box
cash stocks, stack props, mad shop -
I’m still not in the building,
the building of a lab, cot
experimental bed rock.
let turtles tender shell shock.
sleep now, a needle, need le, ne ed le,
spent a doll a day, slept. palette.

No more fluency for today. Good night.

10 Jobs I Won’t Take

So I’ll be graduating on June 13th with an MLIS (Master of Library and Information Science) and will have to find a job. Being a sprightly young man (though not this sprightly), I’m sure I can do many things. I won’t, however, be answering any of these ads:

1) Product Tester at Wasabi Factory

2) Parking Enforcement Officer at Muscle Beach

3) Animal Trainer at Flea Circus

4) Head of Complaint Department at the Department of Motor Vehicles

5) Stockbroker (just saying…)

6) Pirate Impersonator on cruise ship off Somalian coast

7) Jelly Bean Counter in Jar Full of Jelly Beans Store (”Oh no, I lost count…Empty it out again, Bubba.”)

8) Prison Comedian

9) Wetter of moist towelettes

10) Skull used by Shakespearean actor in production of Hamlet

…and for good luck, 11) Saddle Maker in two horse town

Advocacy is Important

from this article:

“Please keep my library open is all I say. Please keep it open everyday,” she went on. “If the library closes it will be all your fault.”

Blog Workshop Links

These links represent some of the websites I talked about in my Brown Bag Seminar, Blogging For Business, presented on May 5th at Moorpark Library:

Getting Started: What is, blog search engines, blogging platforms, rss aggregators(blog/RSS/feed readers).

• Wikipedia: Blog – Pretty good survey of blogs and blogging. But it’s Wikipedia, so read with care.
• PBS.org: What Exactly is a Blog, Anyway? – Casual post introducing blogs to novices. Intended for teachers, but useful for all. Be sure to read the comments.
• YouTube: Blogs in Plain English(leelefever) – Fast-paced video giving some background on blogs as “news”-feeds. Worthwhile for beginners.
• Harvard Weblogs: What makes a weblog a weblog? – 2003 article about how a blog is different from a conventional website. Goes in-depth with terms and concepts.
• Doug Williams’s Blogging Terms – A large glossary of blog-related terms. Be sure to bookmark this page for future reference.
• Google Blog Search – The biggie of regular search also has a targeted blog search.
• Technorati – Popular blog search using an interesting algorithm based on user tags and trackbacks for “Authority.”
• BlogScope – Blog search engine boasting a visualization feature.
• Bloglines – Blog search engine and popular RSS reader.
• WhosTalkin? – Searches different social media sources including blogs.
• WordPress – free, open-source blogging platform. Can be hosted on their server, or one of your choice.
• Blogger – Google’s blogging platform. Free. Gives you more design capability when hosted on their server.
• Typepad – Another popular blogging platform, though not free.
• Movable Type – Yet another blogging platform.
• Google Reader – The web-based RSS aggregator I use to read blogs. Requires a free Google account.
• Newsgator – Popular free RSS aggregator application, not web-based.
• FeedReader3 – Free RSS aggregator application that also requires you to download it onto your computer.
• About.com: Top 10 Windows RSS Feed Readers and News Aggregators – A listing of ten RSS readers, some of which are already mentioned here.
• Wikipedia: List of Aggregators – An overwhelming list of blog readers divided by categories. See it just to get a sense of how many choices one has.

How-To: build a better blog, basics of starting, blogging philosophy, analytic tools.

• The Simple Dollar Compilation: How to Build a Better Blog – One of my favorite personal finance bloggers, Trent Hamm, compiled this list of his articles pertaining to creating a better blog.
• Build a Better Blog – Short posts with useful tips abound in this aptly-titled blog.
• ProBlogger – Very popular blog about creating a better(read: more lucrative) blog.
• PC World: How to Build a Blog with WordPress – Comprehensive article about setting up and designing a WordPress blog. Not recommended for beginners.
• How to Build a Successful News Blog: 10 Information Sources You Can Use – List of sources that not only will help you find news leads, but also help the beginner get a better sense of the blogosphere.
• Starting a Blog(manaiakalani) – A decent slideshow that shows how to start a blog using Blogger.
• Also check out the help pages of popular blog platform sites for example: WordPress > Support and Blogger Help.
• BusinessWeek: Who Should Blog at a Company? – Short interview article by Stephen Baker that deals with the issues involved with a CEO blogging. Make sure to see the comments.
• The Corporate Weblog Manifesto – Unmatchable advice for starting a starting and running a business blog.
• FeedBurner – Very useful and easy to implement tools for measuring blog stats among other functions.
• Google Analytics – Google’s tool for measuring site statistics.
• 20 Analytics Tools For Blogs – Lee Odden of Online Marketing Blog compiled a list of twenty free and for-cost tools. The list looks up-to-date. Worth a try.

Notable Company Blogs – specific company blogs, pages that list company blogs.

• Google Blog – Of course the world’s foremost search engine must have one.
• Consumerist – Not actually a company blog. Instead one that makes questionable companies nervous. An example of how blogging empowers consumers.
• Inside Nike Running – Mostly adverts for Nike events with the occasional running tip thrown in.
• Your Friendly Neighborhood Computer Guy – Matt is starting a computer repair business. His blog is advertising his services, offering advice for fellow entrepreneurs, and helping him explore the ins-and-outs of being the computer guy. I’m a computer guy so I can relate.
• Kodak 1000 Words – Portrayed as almost a family blog of Kodak employees with, of course, lots of photos, and a definite ‘focus’ on Kodak(sorry, had to) the shaping the brand.
• Check-Out: Where the Lanes are All Open – Wal-Mart’s informal blog has individuals posting their views on Wal-Mart products and other random thoughts. Not necessarily reviews, either. This is one to look at for ideas for your company blog.
• Nuts About Southwest – The place to meet Southwest employees, see pictures of planes and other multimedia, and enjoy irreverent adverts for Southwest flights, etc.
• Fortune 500 Business Blogging Wiki – Links to Fortune 500 companies with blogs. Great place to go for examples of company blogs.
• ReadWriteWeb: Nine Company Blogs That Are Fun For Anyone to Read – List and review of nine(and some), mostly technology and web-related, companies with nice blogs.

These links are current as of April 21st, 2009. Feel free to…

…include other relevant and/or useful links with a small annotation in the comments.

…let me know if any of these are dead links.

…link to this list.

…e-mail me to let me know that you’re linking to the list or using it.

…inform me of other such lists.

Nightly Flirtation

Lots of things make a stripper blush.
I noticed a pause in her sway.
Don’t look away, it’s just a crush.

She knew his life at home was such
that he came to the club to pay.
Lots of things make a stripper blush,

it’s touching is all, mood so lush,
I tipped extra for her birthday.
Don’t look away, it’s just a crush,

I think. Love today? Not so much
unless I somehow make him stay,
lots of things make a stripper blush.

My wife hates when I’m in a rush,
slow down, she says, you’re turning grey.
Don’t look away, it’s just a crush,

just a hint when our gazes touch.
Should we go somewhere, come what may?
Lots of things make a stripper blush,
don’t look away, it’s just a crush.

Augh…The News!

Today’s Gill comic is delightful. I actually laughed out loud reading it. I hope I didn’t wake anybody up…It’s 1:15AM. ‘Course if I did, I’d ask them to come over and read that there comic strip.

Being Part of Something

It was a huge
he was new to the class
his hair was limelight
the quiver was visible
it was all written
she loved the curls
the eyes, the posture
lovely little tissue dances
a cool breeze like cheeks
maybe sometime a hug
when they spoke to each other
the microwave fell
it was a big needle
everything was a groove
worlds were merging
it was skin and foundation
he was wearing jeans
the floor was tiled brown
at the first wave, it pushed
they floated together above
even the special kids felt it
especially the special kids
loudspeakers spontaneously pierced
how could the class forget the shaking?
It was such a beautiful flush
when they met, walls danced
it’s all in the yearbook’s intention
from the first day of a collision
to when they spoke tunnels
and the rolling hills
sublime how two people
found home
and the whole school could know and be there.
They were married this August.

Finding and Losing

I just finished reading The Earth is the Lord’s by Abraham Joshua Heschel, and wanted to share a thoughtful story from the book, of which there are a few:

In the elementary school textbooks of Hebrew in use a quarter of a century ago, there was a story of a schoolboy who would be in great distress every morning, having forgotten where he put away his clothes and books before he went to bed. One evening he arrived at an answer to his problem. He wrote on a slip of paper: “The suit is on the chair, the hat is in the closet, the books on the desk, the shoes under the chair, and I am in bed.” Next morning he began to collect his things together. They were all in their places. When he came to the last item on the list, he went to look for himself in the bed – but his search was in vain. (pg. 106)

One is made to think: Is this a humorous story of an absent-minded little boy, or does it have a deeper symbolic value? My first impression of the story was similar to the inquisitive wonder I experience when I read or hear a Kōan.  A part of me wants to look at it realistically, to see the little boy’s note as a real catalog of the objects he needs for school and their location. On the other hand, when I un-examine this passage extra-rationally, I see the boy’s role as the creator of the note which demarcates his own existance as nullifying the Cartesian “I think, therefore I am” imperative. The self-consciousness by which we know that we exist unravels in the final line of the story; the cycle of referentiality that necessitates our ‘place’ in the world is broken. This explanation hit me at the moment that I finished the story and I chuckled, how post-modern, I thought continuing with the essay.

Phew! Finished!

It’s almost three in the morning, but I’m somewhere between smugly content and deliriously happy.

I have just sent in the last of the 57(literally, I just counted) pages I’ve had to write and turn in within the last two weeks.

Ashley will tell you that I was tearing my hair outmoderately stressed out about these papers in the last few weeks, but when I got to work things settled down considerably, especially if I met my writing goals for the day(otherwise I’d be grumpy).

The truth is that even though it’s not always easy, I enjoy writing. Graduate school or not, I’ve always been scribbling something or other. Nice to know that the practice has allowed me the fluency(a term I picked up from Larry McMurtry) to sit down and do a whole bunch of academic writing(with one personal essay thrown in) in a relatively short period of time.

Anyone want to pay me to write a novel in three weeks?

I meant to find a celebratory pic, but all I could find was this duck. Taken at Sea World, November 2008.

yellow cannonball umbrella

I scrape my consciousness with sand paper
medicine intestine grace defenses
manifold the yellow cannon balls
and catalog the wooden benches,

In the liquor-soaked umbrella lives
maroon and tingly bubble gumshoes
letting pistols fall from shrugging beasts
I’ve never had to learn to let loose,

but the panorama isn’t mountain-filled
we’re driving through the Cali-middleland
the car is hitting about ninety now
hundred magazines with contraband,

I’m nervous living like a text defender
stricken with a senseless child of passion
can I light the darkest standing room
with magic like a blonde Aladdin?

Doesn’t matter death is closer
farther to the rose in gardens
fragile languor stacks departing
bloody knuckle barely hardens

His momma turned to him and said, “Boy, that don’t make no sense.”
“I know,” he answered, “but it sure do cast a big shadow.”
“Now go wash your feet and get ready for bed.”
“Yes momma.”
And with clean feet he struck off to bed, head on a feather pillow, dreams unhinging themselves from their daily hooks. His mother watched Jay Leno, laughing not once, and had some ice cream before her own big shadows shushed her waking life.

The next morning it dawned on her that she had forgotten to bolt the front door. Probably no big deal.

Hey, I Want to Refuse Too!

Well, apparently people are suffering from the depression, or recession, or whatever we are in right now – at least that’s what we are hearing from all the major news media outlets; “analysts” on NPR, CNN, Fox News, etc. etc. are shouting doom and gloom – I look it all from a bit of a distance. The folks over at Unit Interactive are taking a stronger stance; according to Andy Rutledge(whose own blog is in my Google Reader), they refuse to let the recession mindset affect their business decisions. In fact, they refuse to participate in the whole shebang.

Well-played, Unit Interactive.

Don’t Think. Just Palm.

Laurie over at Glimpses of South Pasadena took a fascinating picture of two moody palm trees out of her sunroof which made me think. Don’t I also have a few palm tree pics? As a matter of fact…

I do.

Commonplace Book at lifeinoleg!

This photo of an actual 17th-century commonplace book comes from the James Marshall and Marie Louise Osborn Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

As you’ll have noticed if you visit my page, I have a new tab up on top. I’ve gathered and formatted a bunch of quotes that I’ve been transcribing for years and posted them online. I often use these quotes as inspiration for speeches, or just plain inspiration. Please do take a look.

The Deep Web

This article in the New York Times says that while the World Wide Web is already huge…

Beyond those trillion pages lies an even vaster Web of hidden data: financial information, shopping catalogs, flight schedules, medical research and all kinds of other material stored in databases that remain largely invisible to search engines.

Though the average person will probably never have accessed a database, the average librarian surely has. Do you need articles from an old newspaper? Reliable stock and business information? Safe health information? Visit the Los Angeles Public Libraries database page and see what libraries have to offer. As I’ve written in the past, not everything can be found on the WWW, furthermore, a lot of the information that can be found is not especially trustworthy. Databases, especially databases that organizations(like libraries, universities, and companies) pay for tend to be very accurate. So, while search engines cannot yet reach the “Deep Web,” you can. Need help? Ask a librarian.

I wonder who’s pulling the strings?

Just read the NY Times article: Gregg Ends Bid for Commerce Job, Citing Conflicts

Senator Gregg

Senator Gregg appears to be, correct me if I’m wrong, the 5th appointee that has been pulled or stepped down after being recognized as a viable candidate for a post in a relatively short amount of time. This trend leads me to believe that there are forces at work that the general public is not (yet?) aware of that are convincing top politicians not to join the Obama administration. I’m not sure whether this is a matter of, to be blunt, blackmail, or the administration doing a thorough job of vetting it’s appointees, but it does ring some sort of bell.

Maybe all of the politicians that have been almost appointed have some skeletons in their closets, but if this is the case, why is it only now that Tom Daschle and Governor Richardson are dinged for “questions about unpaid taxes” and “an investigation into state contracts,” respectively? Richardson could’ve been Vice-President, or President even, right? In an equally puzzling move, Senator Gregg steps down because of differences over economic philosophy. Are they serious? How can Mr. Gregg act as if he did not know that Barack Obama was a Democrat with economic policies in-line with his party thinking?

Lots of questions, not so many answers. Politics as usual.

p.s. – Meanwhile, where’s Joe Biden? At the Special Olympics!

A Poem for Our Time

One of the purposes of poetry specifically and art in general is to put into words what we know but cannot express. I think that if people could embrace the simple philosophy that is espoused by this poem, we would have less of what it was that has driven the United States into these troubled times. Don’t link this poem on your blog, or send it in an e-mail. Don’t do any of that. Just put it into practice and encourage those around you to do the same.

“We Alone” by Alice Walker

We alone can devalue gold
by not caring
if it falls or rises
in the marketplace.
Wherever there is gold
there is a chain, you know,
and if your chain
is gold
so much the worse
for you.

Feathers, shells,
and sea-shaped stones
are all as rare.

This could be our revolution:
to love what is plentiful
as much as
what’s scarce.

from Words with Wings: A Treasury of African-American Poetry and Art