wishverse

ANNOUNCEMENT

2009-07-16T15:12:00.000-04:00

announcements

2009-07-15T22:56:00.002-04:00

1. moving to wordpress. sorry, blogger. i really tried.

2. somehow, screenwriters have forgotten the basic rule of writing. when your character looks like walking sex, they need to get laid within a ten minute time frame of the looking-of-sex. re: sawyer (lost) and charlie (the listener).
2a. I'M SO MAD SHE DIDN'T DO BRIAN AND THEN SHE WENT AND DID NOT DO TOBY!!!
2b. yes, i prostitute characters. deal with it.

Obsessed Review: Cupid Shuffle

2009-07-15T10:07:00.001-04:00

Because I clearly have nothing better to do, I have started a new project: review the songs I'm obssessed with in an effort to de-obsess. Un-obsess? Whichever.

Today's pick is the song that's probably going to leave the obsess list soon: the Cupid Shuffle.

Yes. Cupid Shuffle. Go on now. Walk it by yourself.

It's on the list because of Commencement/Reunion; S put it on when we... invaded... someone else's tent, L went and looked a damn fool doing the dance and we all had a fantastic time. So it's on the list for sentimental purposes (because I not-so-secretly miss the A sometimes).

The song has already gotten its due; the biggest line dance since the Cha-Cha Slide. It even has a "Latin" remix featuring--of course--Pitbull. (Haven't heard it yet. #1 priority when I get home.) So, being a line dance, there's not much in the way of lyrical content. And, of course, the beat has to be pretty cyclical, otherwise people will think it's appropriate to freestyle, which it most definitely is not.

All of the above indicates that I should both a: despise it and b: ADORE it. Clearly, there's adoration, although it's a recent product. When I first heard it back in... when did it come out? 07?... I was less than enamored. I was also on my PCD kick so my judgment is suspect.

It's repetitive, it's dumb, but it is anything but flat and you know that every time you hear it, you smile like a fool.

Final verdict on the Cupid Shuffle: if you're having a party, it had better be on the playlist.

GRRR. ARGH.

2009-07-14T14:35:00.000-04:00

A: personal life

and why doesn't Blogger have the option to lock posts? No "readmore" cuts unless you install them yourself and then they're on every post even when it's a one sentence post and no lock posts? i'm about to move back to LJ.

B. Sotomayor

C. Reflections on the office of President

D. AC's FinAid debate which I must refuse to take part in because it's so heavily tied in to:

E. Classism/Racism in America

F. ISMS. FUCKING ISMS.

That is all.

About Sessions

2009-07-13T13:28:00.004-04:00

After reading up on him a little, I have decided that whatever respect I had for his statements before is to be trampled, spat on and shat on. Deathmatch between him and Kyl, and the winner gets deported to Antartica. Or, better yet, Alaska; they can get nice and cozy with Palin.

I guess I really need to be listening to what they're saying... a watered down transcript will not communicate the disgust with which some of the committee seems to be addressing Sotomayor (acc. to other bloggers). Freakin' work.

The Sotomayor Hearings

2009-07-13T10:41:00.004-04:00

I'll try and update as the day continues, but I can't make a promise.

I see this hearing getting very, very dirty, very quickly. The committee seems polarized from the outset: Leahy seems to worship Sotomayor while Sessions went in, deep.

He said he was worried by President Obama’s decision to include empathy as a qualification for the Supreme Court.

“Like the American people I have watched this process for a number of years,” he said, “and I fear this empathy standards is another step down the road to a liberal activist, results-oriented and relativistic world where – laws lose their fixed meaning, unelected judges set policy; Americans are seen as members of separate groups rather than simply Americans, and where the constitutional limits on government power are ignored when politicians want to buy out private companies. ….

“… Call it empathy, call it prejudice, but whatever it is, it is not law. In truth, it is more akin to politics. And politics has no place in the courtroom.”

That is a YIKES of a start.

NOON

Since the court brought it up, I figured it'd be appropriate to link to this interview of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (my new hero) by the NYTimes Magazine.

Important quote that links to a lot of discussions I've had about being any type of "other" at Amherst:

JUSTICE GINSBURG: I feel great that I don’t have to be the lone woman around this place.
Q: What has that been like?
JUSTICE GINSBURG: It’s almost like being back in law school in 1956, when there were 9 of us in a class of over 500, so that meant most sections had just 2 women, and you felt that every eye was on you. Every time you went to answer a question, you were answering for your entire sex. It may not have been true, but certainly you felt that way. You were different and the object of curiosity.

There is that one scene in Freedom Writers, where the honors kid drops to the "problem" class because the (absolute dickhead) honors teacher asks her, "Why don't you give us the black perspective on the book?" (which, I think, was Uncle Tom's Cabin). Most of the professors at Amherst are too well versed in tact to pull something like that, but it gets to feel that way--that subtle pressure, that tension every time *you* speak as opposed to that white guy on the left.

Of course, some of us have dealt with professors and other students with considerably less tact.

Anyway, all that is irrelevant to Sotomayor. I knew Sessions was going to keep chipping:

He asks in conclusion, “Do I want a judge that allows his or her social, political, or religious views to change the outcome? Or do I want a judge that impartially applies to the facts, and fairly rules on the merits, without bias or prejudice?
“It is our job to determine on which side of that fundamental divide the nominee stands.”

I don't know much about him, but he's eloquent and although he's being quite bold, he's got a point--a clear, non-negotiable point that on almost any day I would agree with. It's just the background of his point that makes me squick.

Feinstein getting interrupted by the pro-lifer... hmm. Guess that indicates what I think should happen to that individual: LIFER. As to Sotomayor, I'm very interested to hear what she has to say about abortion. Liberal female vs. Catholic... whatever her final stance, it will not have come easily.

Feingold, old friend... I didn't know he was going to be on the committee. He, at least, can balance out the supreme idiocy of Kyl:

Senator Jon Kyl, the Republican from Arizona, outlined what he hopes to hear during the sessions, what Judge Sotomayor’s definition is of the role of an appellate judge. He said that he was concerned about remarks she had made in speeches, where she indicated that American judges should use “good ideas” found in foreign law. “The laws and practices of foreign nations are simply irrelevant to interpreting the will of the American people as expressed through our Constitution,” Senator Kyl said.

Absolute moron. How do you think we got our Constitution, genius--plucked it out of thin air? We pulled from the Magna Carta, from the basics of Athenian law, from French legal philosophers and even from Native American law. (YES, IROQUOIS CONFEDERATION LAW) American law is and has always been an amalgamation of the best (usually) of international law.
Get him off the panel, NOW.

because I feel it's about time that people started understanding what a real Indian looks like

2009-07-12T20:34:00.004-04:00

Not to suggest that the light-skinned, straight-haired Indians in America are not Indian, but they are a particular class/creed/gradation of Indian that is completely misrepresentative of the sub-continent.

Behold: my dude is DARK.

In other news:

Lupe Fiasco released a new mixtape, Super Fiasco Bros. featuring a few new tracks, a few old tracks and some remixes. The lead track, Shining Down, is quite amazing. However, most sources of the mixtape have the tracks cut up poorly (is that Lupe's fault?) so I had to go into GarageBand and re-set the tracks. I've only gotten through Shining Down for now, because I'm so addicted to it. Everytime Lupe pairs with Matthew Santos, greatness explodes.
Sarah Green is on a remix of Superstar that I hadn't heard before and she kills it, Jazmine Sullivan style. (Oh, man, a duet between those two?)

Mariah Carey released her newest single Obsessed on Tuesday. And, as most critics are saying, it is an addictive summer jam (although I would categorize it more as early fall--a little too cool-toned to be summer). Heavy on the autotune, stuttering and light on lyrical complexity, Obsessed is... yet another disappointment for a long-time Mariah fan. It's a great song given the current climate of music, but to know what MC is capable of and to hear a pathetic approximation time and time again... it's painful.
To thoroughly present the contrast, a few videos from YouTube:

Emotions, presented by Arsenio Hall (the end is the important part):

2009: Mariah and Trey Lorenz at Michael Jackson's tribute:

1991: Mariah & Trey Lorenz performing on MTV unplugged:

I always tend to get long-winded about Mariah. Slightly problematic.

Personal life:
Work is going really well. I got assigned overtime hours, so I'm actually getting paid (although only for two hours of work so far). Home life is... not worth the discussion. Thursday I met up with T and her cousins... headed out to Webster Hall (free entry on Thursdays!) and were wild and reckless. Got back to the apt at 5 am... went to work at 8 am... It was a pathetically bad idea and I will definitely do it again. Heading out to DC this weekend to chill with my cousins. Hopefully my sister will join me as it is the Official Drunken Initiation Weekend, but we'll see.

In the meantime: vote for national healthcare, keep track of what's going on in the world, expand your stereotypes (don't eliminate; they're necesssary), use small words in big conversation and big words to make plans with your friends, listen to Lupe, pray for Mariah and dance whenever you can.

An endless march of martyrs...

2009-07-06T13:15:00.001-04:00

It never fails to amaze me how absolutely crazy the world can get in 24 hours... and how it inevitably gets that crazy, every single day.

This, however, is starting to scare me: Muslim women all over the world are dying, needlessly... and then becoming martyrs.

Neda Agha-Soltan is a rare type of martyr because, unlike other martyrs whose deaths are heard of, exaggerated, fabricated, etc... we all saw her die. We all saw her die. Her death amidst a flurry of new images of Iranian women--manicured, made-up, highlighted women with designer sunglasses and loose, almost defiant headscarves--created a space for redefinition.

A different type of martyr, and a haunting one. Roger Cohen includes her in his op-ed on why Iran is his journalistic stumbling block--an op-ed that I think represents what journalistic standards should be.

He brings up the idea of witness. To be a journalist is to be a witness; to report is to testify in the world's courtroom as to the timeline of events or character of people.

So the violence in China [BBC, NYTimes] becomes doubly petrifying because there is no witness besides the Chinese government. Government as witness is always, always false; every government must tell a story for its own preservation. These stories are like the origin stories of early societies--they explain the intriguing, they smooth over the inexplicable. They function on an areligious approximation of a leap of faith; you buy the story a government spins because it tends to go down smooth and it makes for a good retell.

The death count in Urumqi is provided by the Chinese government. The timeline of events--the existence of events--is provided by the Chinese government. There are no witnesses besides the government because that government has made all others blind and mute. In Iran, the witnesses were driven out--bad, but at least there were some to start with. In China, there were none to start with.

Somewhere in Urumqi, they are digging graves for mute Muslim women.

In Alexandria they are burying Marwa Sherbini. She's being called "The Headscarf Martyr"; she went to court in Germany to sue the ignorant fool "Axel W" for calling her a terrorist because she wore her headscarf. He took the opportunity to stab her 18 times in open court. She was 3 months pregnant. Her 3-year-old son was in the courtroom when "Axel" killed her. Her husband was injured in the attack--although whether by "Axel" or by a police officer who opened fire is uncertain.

Her story makes my stomach churn and yet it isn't her who I find myself focusing on, or even her little boy who watched her die. I want to know why the man who murdered her is being protected. His name is semi-confidential: Axel W. He is being held in Dresden on suspected murder charges despite the fact that his crime took place in open court.

Egyptian papers are calling her shahida, martyr, of the hijab. The New York Times has yet to run her story--I suspect from lack of witnesses. WorldBulletin.net tells me that no acknowledgement of the crime occured for 24 hours and German officials declined to inform Marwa's family or even the Egyptian embassy that she had died. WorldBulletin also says that they've placed the 3-year-old, Mostapha, in a German orphanage rather than hand him over to family. Her husband is in critical condition in a (German?) hospital.

Egypt is using her, Germany is at best ignoring her and at worst mocking her and America, as usual, has nothing to say.

It's been a bit...

2009-07-05T14:21:00.006-04:00

Work has been quite hectic, and there was the bit with the removal of teeth last weekend... yeah. MJ died, Farah died, Bob the product man died, and I discovered that penicillin drops my blood pressure low enough to fool most non-commercial BP monitors into thinking I'm dead.

All of the above? of the serious bad.

Family--as in the direct blood kind--completely sucks. The diluted blood kind rocks, and the no-blood at all are the bomb.com. Because my family always does things bass-ackwards, we went out to a fancy dinner at the Highlawn Pavilion for the Fourth. Who does that? The 4th is about barbeques, pool parties and beer. Instead, we went for shrimp cocktails, lobster tail and, okay, the best fucking entree I've ever had in my life. But the entire urban population of Hudson County was chillin on the lawn and I wanted to be out there SO BAD.

Stupid family.

Here's some good:

Kidron keeps explosively blooming in my head, which is a little inconvenient because I don't have time to write anything. I did, however, randomly stumble across a real location on 39th street to use as the penthouse. It's been abandoned for a minute, used to be a Salvation Army drop off and has a rooftop terrace in the style of old Italian gardens. It's PERFECT.

Exit Seraphim etc. is being extremely problematic because I forgot that stories need real conclusions and not just my protagonist looking like walking sex after being blown up. Damn you, plot! I need to figure out what Bouchard did to San---whatever the name of the town he razed was. Hmm. Maybe I need to actually remember my research.

Anthony Lemke is back on TV in this Canadian show The Listener which NBC is showing this summer. I squee-ed so hard the first time I saw him again that I woke up the whole house. It was slightly embarassing. He has children now. ::sigh:: And he's fluent in French? Wtf??

Threadbared talks Iran

2009-06-23T14:09:00.001-04:00

I think this may be one of the smartest analyses of what's going on in Iran right now.

As such I would issue two cautions. The first, we cannot necessarily know from how a woman ties her headscarf what the shape of her politics might be, even though clothing clearly does matter politically. And second, we might commit further violence (refusing her complex personhood, for instance) in assuming that we can.

Brilliant.

Here is another brief if pointed commentary from Jezebel. Which prompted this from me: Twitter and nailpolish are changing the world.

I have yet to listen to Obama's speech about Iran--work got in the way--but I expect to have plenty to say that will go right here: __________________.

Finally, Neda Soltani. To quote Liz Marcs, who is herself quoting (perhaps quoting herself): "If an innocent girl gets shot halfway across the world, does she make a sound?

Yes. And the whole world hears her."

This video is GRAPHIC.

Drive By: Iran

2009-06-22T16:24:00.000-04:00

Posting just a few lines to remind myself to continue when I get home... as blogging @ work is soooo unacceptable.

What is happening in Iran is both petrifying and inspiring. It is stunning. I want to do something but there's about jackshit anyone in America can/should do. This is the moment for Iranian women and Iranian children and Iranian men to take their lives back.

That said, it's getting very ugly and very complicated. I'm scared of Ahmedinejad starting some sort of secret genocide and all these women [I have to focus on the women, because it's too amazing to take my eyes away] will end up dead or worse.

Blessings to the peaceful and blessings to the outspoken. Most of all, blessings to the just.

So let's talk about my insanely crappy luck.

2009-06-11T21:29:00.000-04:00

also known as, "Fuck you, Grassroots Campaigns."

So job lined up with Grassroots. Job falls through because they fail to acknowledge my training day as an audition day. I do not do well on audition day, mostly because everything they told me about the job was a lie. The minimum $4000 promised to me... no longer exists.
So, it was June 1st and I had no job. Instead, I had a breakdown.

Thankfully, the good people at AC [Career Center, you rock my socks!] had my back and the hookup. So I now have an unpaid internship in Midtown.

Now I just need to find a part-time that is not Macy's (never again!! never never never again!!) so that I can maybe kind of sort of buy a cheap-ass car by the end of the summer.

Fingers crossed that the rest of my life works out... and major thanks to the PTB for two fantastic friends who took it personally and helped me with the job search and mood recovery.

If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino: craziness.

2009-06-11T21:14:00.003-04:00

Since Plinky kind of fails at formatting for blogs: If you had to report for jury duty today, which book would you take with you?

Why is this a good book to help pass the time while you wait...and wait...to do your civic duty?

Well, it might not be. But I'm about halfway through this mind-twisting, semi-psychotic book and it will definitely pass the time.

shit, i'm vulgar!

2009-06-05T17:45:00.002-04:00

What words do you love?
We know which ones you hate – this time lets share the love. List the words that sing to you.

Fuck
it's both vulgar and cliche, but fuck is my favorite word--aesthetically. the explosion of sound it creates is a second-long embodiment of every possible meaning it has. it's a fantastic word.

paradise
although toni morisson killed it a little bit, paradise (or the romantic paradiso) is a smooth, rolling word... the way i imagine paradise to be.

love
because in sanskrit, it's lubh, which is lust. the small touches of humor in linguistics kill me dead.

BBC NEWS | In pictures: Afghanistan attacks

2009-05-06T15:20:00.001-04:00

BBC NEWS | In Pictures | In pictures: Afghanistan attacks

I have no words.

Ardor

2009-05-04T02:48:00.002-04:00

A combination of random numerical input from a friend and a curtal sonnet.
Based very strongly on Shadows by Mary Oliver.

Regardless if the mountains move,
if the stars stutter in the skies,
if the waters rise equally
on all shores: our lives improve.
Love still glimmers like fireflies
in the darkest eyes, like mercy
on the brightest sea.

Agni

2009-05-02T14:19:00.003-04:00

Agni is the Hindu god of fire. Appapan is a Malayalam term for grandfather.

As for heaven, where might it lie?
Deep in the jungle, Appapan
lies still. The pyre will purify
as best it can. As for goodbye,

the dead don’t offer lessons in
penitence, don’t give reasons why.
In the fire, something akin
to hope picks up, begins to sing.

Kindness

2009-05-02T14:18:00.001-04:00

In a vague imitation of a rondeau, rhyme AABBA.
Also in response to "Ardella" by Langston Hughes.

I dreamt oceans, loneliness, no airflow.
I dreamt surrender to your undertow
and smile. I dreamt of your body above
me. I dreamt minefields, explosions, and love
dancing in ever-widening halos.

lolcat

2009-05-01T14:58:00.000-04:00

not really, i promise. but the humor is un-missable. :)

(shout-out to AC! handle that swine flu!)

Is it even an ethical question?

2009-04-27T13:02:00.004-04:00

How are you supposed to respond when you feel that your professor has just said something incredibly intolerant or, worse, ignorant?

Maybe it's racist, maybe it's classist, maybe it's religiously intolerant. Maybe it's just ignorant. But your professor has tossed out a comment that makes you cringe.

Of course, at Amherst College, it's more than likely that you are the only person in the room to have felt that way. Maybe one or two others could understand your reactions. Does it fall upon you to raise your hand and a: correct your professor b: claim offense? Should you do that at all? After all, nothing could be more detrimental to your academic career than to be "the kid who takes offense".

Do you walk out? Was it bad enough? How bad is bad enough?

Do you quietly talk to your professor after class and tell them that they need to watch what they say? Is that your responsibility--to educate your professor in propriety?

Or do you let it slide, the way you've let everything slide? Because deep down you know that the professor won't get it, and that even if they do it won't change the fact that the 20 other people in the room didn't see any problem at all.

iskcon.com - ISKCON Communications Journal - ICJ

2009-04-25T16:02:00.001-04:00

iskcon.com - ISKCON Communications Journal - ICJ

I haven't fully read it yet, but maybe this is everything I've ever wanted to say.

In other new, writing a paper thoroughly infused with the Bible. Damn you, Toni Morrison.

and this will only make sense if you've read Jurassic Park

2009-04-22T18:03:00.003-04:00

The squirrels at Amherst College are rapidly evolving. They attack human beings both with their own bodies and with nuts. They stalk prey. They have convinced the grounds staff to dig holes for their nut caches. And, most terrifyingly of all, THEY HUNT IN PACKS. (raptors, anyone?)

"Cheney enters 'torture' memos row" via BBC

2009-04-21T10:37:00.003-04:00

"Former US Vice-President Dick Cheney has urged the CIA to release memos which he says show harsh interrogation techniques such as water-boarding work."

Of course they *work*. Their efficacy isn't the issue at all. The UDHR states that torture is a war crime. Water-boarding--or, as Cheney so lovingly puts it, "harsh interrogation techniques"--is torture. The US is engaging in torture.

That much, I know, is not American.

As for the issue of working... well, hell. Psychologically, torture is hit or miss. If the result according to Cheney is "success", then the victims are either entirely useless (as in without information that could be of use) or newbies to their cause.

The finding via the Justice dept. that waterboarding does not leave lasting psychological damage is actually bullshit. There really is no other word for it. It is, essentially, simulated drowning. Drowning is traumatic. Those who waterboard other human beings are inflicting trauma on them again and again. That is torture. Don't parse it. It's torture.

If you're still uncertain, take Kiriakou's own words: it might be torture but it "broke" Abu Zubaydah in seconds. To break someone in seconds--someone who is most likely one fiercely twisted devotee of bin Laden--means that the techniques used are inhuman. Not inhumane; inhuman.

Yes, I said it. Inhuman. (Blame Faulkner and Morrison.)

I'm not sure how I feel about Obama's semi-pardon of agents who've used waterboarding. I think it may come back to bite him in the ass, even in the midst of all of his dramatic changes.

Further readings are here, here and here. All are from the BBC.

yessss

2009-04-20T23:16:00.001-04:00

and the gooseberries were so very bitter to me...

2009-04-20T21:55:00.005-04:00

Sometimes I wish that I was less of a brat as a kid, because brat-memories of heaven are less than real-person memories.

There are islands with gooseberries on the shoreline. There are small, red elephants who swim between the islands. There are trees that could blot out the sky and don't. There are soft winds and clean water.

THE RECESSION IS OVER!!!

2009-04-14T15:20:00.002-04:00

AC has brought cucumbers back!

Now, I know. I am a carnivore. What do I care about cucumbers? (And the secret irony of still having pickles?) But now that cucumbers are back, all the healthy people at school are kinder. Like their souls have been restored.

I personally feel that their kindness is a result of poisoning, because the cucumbers that have come back are considerably riper than they used to be. Hint hint.

Oh, AC. Love love love.

So, in sum, Lupe Fiasco is the love of my life (or, how glib can I get in one post title?)

2009-04-09T14:23:00.006-04:00

I need to start by clarifying what I mean when I say that I am "anti-Christian."

If you are Christian and private about it, if you are Christian and respectful of your own and other faiths, if you are Christian in that deeply passionate way that makes it a faith and not a country club, then I have no problem with you.

Faith is a personal affair. This may be a uniquely American stance (oh, the irony), or perhaps uniquely modern, but it is my stance. Faith is the intimate relationship between you and a higher power--whatever/whoever/how-many ever you regard that power to be. (Faith, as opposed to religion, which is a series of rituals designed to get you closer to your higher power.)

My problem with Christianity surfaces in 5 main instances:
A. when faith is confused with religion, or vice-versa. The expulsion of certain people who do have faith--beautiful, shimmering, divine faith--because they do not adopt the (let's face it) limiting rituals of one church or another is actually the dumbest thing in the world.
B. The trappings of one church do not make it radically different from another. At the end of the day, your faith is placed in a trinity composed of Jesus, God (Father) and God (Holy Spirit). Rules about confession/sin, divorce, etc., fall under denominational differences.
B1. They fall under denominational differences because Judaism exists. Yahweh/Jehovah/etc. is the higher power of two religions, each of which have infinite denominations.
C. Christianity is one of the world's newest religions. Therefore, the teachings of Christianity are actually not that unique. Get over it.
D. There are other ways of interpreting higher power. Accept it. Some of these ways involve polytheism. Again, accept it and move on.
E. Of all the religions in the world, Christianity is historically the most violent. My personal idea is that this violence stems from the principles of conversion (namely, that it is possible in Christianity).
E1. If you really want to embrace the teachings of Jesus, be nonviolent. Stop trying to convert people.
E2. Get off your high horse about radical Islam. Is it horrific? Yes, in that some twisted individuals have taken a beautiful system of thought and twisted it to justify murder. Is it anything twisted Christians haven't done before? Absolutely not.
E2.5. Islam, Judaism and Christianity are all Abrahamic religions. Therefore, they have certain things in common. A Christian, a Jew and a Muslim are cousins. Brothers, even.

What I have discovered is that in America (and the UK) a lack of religious diversity--specifically, a lack of polytheism--has created an environment in which everyday life functions on the assumption of monotheism, especially Judaism and, of course, Christianity.

These discoveries have come to a head this semester (while the conversion discoveries came to the forefront last semester, and at the age of 6) with three separate instances.
1. (Shopping period) In a psychology class on memory, the professor thought it scientifically acceptable to approach brain function and memory patterns through Genesis. Yes, Genesis, the book of the Bible. Specifically, the beginning of Genesis, as in Adam, Eve, Cain & Abel. There were about 40 people in the class. Of all of them, I was the only one who was not monotheistic. Therefore, I walked out.
2. (Mid-semester) In a class on Roman dietary habits, a professor thought it acceptable to dismiss beliefs in reincarnation (as justification for vegetarianism) as "kooky" and "crazy". Once again, I found myself singularly offended because I was the only person in a room of about 50 whose heritage centers on kharma and reincarnation. Although absolutely furious, I found myself completely impotent.
3. (Today) In the same class on Rome, I was given a quiz with a question about the fundamental differences between Roman perspectives on religion and "our" perspectives on religion. I tried to answer the question, I really did. It had a three part answer, according to the professor, and the first part I could excuse as an American-Roman divide: Roman religion was a state affair, a division of government. But every other division lies on the polytheistic-monotheistic line. And even the idea of state religion is not uniquely Roman, as pretty much all of India's social norms stem from Hinduism. So I wrote that I was unable to answer the question as Roman perspectives are my perspectives. (I then immediately called my mother to make sure I'd done the right thing.)

Yes, I know that I'm being somewhat hypocritical. "Faith is private" and here I am justifying public faith. It's complicated and I'm getting lazy. But this is my Americanism coming out strong. There is no state religion in America. (There is in the UK, although British society is becoming, for the most part, agnostic.) Moreover, there is no precedent for a state religion. Historically, yes, the country is composed of Christians. Historically, other religions have been stamped out in favor of Christianity (re: slavery, African traditions of polytheism).

In sum:

It would be really great if the most diverse country in the world could open its mind a little to the wonders of polytheistic traditions instead of using them as fodder for camp TV shows and discrimination--much as it has used skin color, and gender, and ethnicity.
I find it miraculous that the world's most popular monotheistic traditions find it impossible to exist within 500 miles of each other, when roughly 3.5 billion people split somewhat evenly between several different polytheistic traditions are just fine with each other.
It really pisses me off that me & Lupe Fiasco seem to be the only people in the country who remember the common heritage of Islam & Christianity.

Now playing: Lupe Fiasco - Muhammad walks

ETA: I don't mean to dismiss the problems Jews in America have faced; I find it inexplicable and completely illogical, as well as deplorable. But my divide is, right now, monotheism versus polytheism. The internal splintering of monotheism is more than I can handle right now.

Italy, UK, Vermont, Iowa

2009-04-07T16:19:00.002-04:00

Death toll in L'Aquila is at 207.

What is going on in Moldova?? I understand but simultaneously don't understand. Therefore I need to learn more about the effects of Communism in Moldova--as clearly, it's pissing people off.

UK police caught on video shoving Tomlinson to the ground about 5 minutes before his fatal heart attack. WTF, bobby?
Video (BBC) here.

Vermont has legalized gay marriage through state legislation, not through a court ruling. YAY!!!

Iowa Senate Majority Leader Gronstal talking about last week's ruling:

How can we be bailed out when we don't have a boat?

2009-04-03T18:28:00.005-04:00

A bailout will not help because the USA does not have a real economy. The wonderful, most puzzling, disastrous aspect of America is that we trade in imaginary commodities. We produce next to nothing; we import almost everything, including knowledge.

What we do produce (pharmaceuticals, for example) is produced only for the money it can provide for private companies--which, ironically, are usually headquartered out of the country.

Bring manufacturing back to America and the country has a chance. It would, however, sink the economies of the nations to whom we've outsourced. Us or them, America, us or them.

Iowa Rocks!

2009-04-03T11:56:00.009-04:00

Whodathunkit? Full details here. Basically, Iowa's Supreme Court says bans against gay marriage are unconstitutional.

Not because there's no definition of marriage in the constitution, but because such bans are violations of the basic human rights of homosexuals.

In case you missed it: Iowa singlehandedly pulled a Keith Olbermann (sp?) and reinforced the humanity of gay people, on the books. As in all those uber-right organizations who are ever-so-subtly making the case that homosexuality makes you less than human just got slapped in the face. By Iowa.

500 points, Iowa.

ETA: So BBC is a little inaccurate. Whomp whomp. The NYTimes article is much more in-depth and corrects me: Iowa ruled based on its own state constitution. STILL COOL.

Iraq War: Throwaway Thoughts

2009-04-02T10:11:00.005-04:00

Walking back to my room one night, this thought occurred to me: a country really might want to reconsider a war that even Germany decries as a bad idea.

Not to belittle or even mock Germany's history, but let's be frank. When Germany goes to war, they go hard. And they go often. If Germany is hesitant--or, as it happens, vehemently opposed--war is probably a bad idea.

I can somewhat understand dismissing France's reservations; the military history of France post-Napoleon was... abysmal. From a simple win-loss standpoint, France has no weight. But from the standpoint of the invaded nation, I think France knows what it's talking about. There are certain valuables to be obtained by invading another country. France, whose valuables have been hijacked by almost every other European country, said Iraq was a bad idea. As in we'd find nothing to make it worth our time. As in we shouldn't do it.

Sometimes I really wish that Tony Blair had been this cool.

Malabar

2009-04-02T00:16:00.002-04:00

for the land I still don't understand.

They say that Malabar is blessed;
our souled spice-life is light, carefree,
here even gods have convalesced.

Pepper pulls in enough largesse
For paupers to trade in full rupees.
So you see: Malabar is blessed.

We, at least, were never oppressed;
Our beaches hold no Brit debris,
So gods come here to convalesce.

(It’s true, we have no great conquests,
just endless miles of devotees
who know how Malabar is blessed.)

And if you’re stressed, come be caressed
with oils and myrrh and potpourri.
Here all your gods can convalesce

with mothers of the dispossessed.
(We have no word for detainee.)
It’s clear; my Malabar is blessed—
where even gods might convalesce.

© Spring 2009

Sala della Asse

2009-03-22T00:15:00.003-04:00

1. asse: wood paneling
2. boschetti: groves

In the Castello Sforzesco,
there is a room, buckthorn berry and copper
and dazzlingly empty,
painted by da Vinci.
The whole room, from the glowing, burlwood asse
to the vault-point coat of arms.
In other rooms, God shines
in so many bright faces. Here
I cannot even see the trees—
sixteen or eighteen, mulberry, maybe,
flowering into each other impatiently,
twined together by that golden thread.
Perhaps there’s a Minotaur, demons in the right.
Here, the roots diving
into the rock, flourishing in imagined,
ungiven ground. Gray and tan
and if I touched it all would crumble.
Trees into dust and dust into trees
sprung forth from rock into sand
ground into paste into paint to make the ground—
where is my thread, demon,
my tarnished yellow thread?
Leonardo, he astounds me
and loses me. The small Madonna
with that obscure smile
and irresolute child
is far too clear to stand
beneath such impassable boschetti.
Why, always, such distance,
so coy? Leonardo, he blinds me.
I wonder if, one crisp Milanese night,
he woke entangled with some untenable lover,
felt his art tied up and twisted
in the unending blackness of heart and eyes,
saw who it was he had to love.
I wonder if he staggered from the room,
nightshirt slapping against his legs,
matted hair sweaty and wild,
stumbled to his paints and saw
trees. Infinite trees,
those old Tuscan olive groves
ringing dystopia.

© Spring 2009

Dreamsong for Sarah Vaughan

2009-03-02T00:14:00.002-05:00

(who was, after all, a Jersey girl.)

We have Sarah Vaughan.
The Fugees, too, Sinatra, of course,
and no one sings like they used to.
We don’t believe in nights without lyrics,
without sharp beats, ammonia-strong,
and when we sleep we’ve all gone hoarse.

We forgive, give, grow. I don’t know
which. We have ridges and trees,
clear mountains, fields in bloom—
five square miles, sure, but there.
That taste to the wind is potpourri
and if not here, somewhere. Your where.

Do more than drive through and you’ll understand,
although nowhere else has our highways,
byways, marvels of asphalt and freedom.
Sometimes, tar-short times, we paved
our roads with remnants from ashtrays.
Drive on, light up; we’ll never sweeten.

© Spring 2009

Brera

2009-02-12T00:13:00.002-05:00

to Caravaggio.

Your wrinkles never change.
Strong, steady creases bend your brow,
the same in Judas as for John.
Red, bulbous nose, bare shoulder low,
and only once does your face seek the light.
Were you a slave? No slave would have
such care for facial hair or unmarked skin—
such easy claim of bloodied sword. Yet slave,
because no man would stand so demonized,
brutalized, hefting crosses onto old men’s backs.
Compassion suits your lack of smiles.
I wish, while donning armored vests,
you’d thought to look at someone else
besides those gods. Perhaps at that Merisi man
illuminating Judas, waving lanterns overhead.

© Spring 2009

Fiction: Hackensack Hospital

2009-02-02T00:03:00.002-05:00

Your body used to be rotund. I think
I liked you better fat. I don’t like here.
That’s probably the point—the piss-pot stink,
décor from seventy-two (much too austere)—
and that damn EKG just blinks at me.
Mom brought her roses, though you’ll think they smell
like field manure. Curmudgeon, “’til it hurts,”
you swore. It hurts. This could have been farewell:
fluorescent flickering lights, your stubbly cheeks,
apologies, some tears.
The world reverts
to normalcy: your bug-eyed glare, my glee,
and mediating Mom, who’s got your hand
in hers. It’s ring to ring; your grip’s not weak.
I play some Lady Day—your first demand.

© Spring 2009

25. August in Austin

2008-04-01T23:56:00.002-04:00

(a John Berryman imitation)

Henry in exile to Charlie in limbo:
Greetings. They’ve done what you asked.
I wonder if you’re well,
if ultimately you equate with good.
They’ve found—it was a tumor, Charlie, masked,
it was a tumor the size of a Luger shell.

Bones—lovely soul, Bones—makes you evil,
Dahmer-like, but you never rehearsed your task.
Or did you? Three letters and no Dexedrine—
and that was the point, the psycho-eval
to take away your pain sans flask—
a long way from Henry.

Striped sheets on your mother’s bed and a baby
in the first girl’s womb. You planned
the first two & all the rest for days.
Christ, Charlie, the world’s got pain aplenty.
Were the headaches more than you could stand?
If you’d hit Henry it would’ve been twenty.

© Spring 2008