tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53391212024-03-18T20:15:24.235-07:00The Casual TeeA miscellany of poetry, librarianship, comics, ramblings, what-have-you.Trevor http://www.blogger.com/profile/11375800765679213849noreply@blogger.comBlogger199125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-14038334939049594692014-11-13T11:31:00.001-08:002014-11-13T11:49:26.630-08:00north gives flesh to wind<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello friends! Feel like reading some poems about escapes, power, mythology, wolves, queens, and secret agents? If so, please consider purchasing <i><a href="http://www.textileseries.com/shop/north-gives-flesh-to-wind-by-trevor-calvert">north gives flesh to wind </a></i>by yours truly and published by <a href="http://www.textileseries.com/">Little Red Leaves</a>. It's a gorgeous hand-sewn, cloth-covered chapbook with a water-color cover by Liz Schendel. There's also a plethora of other hand-swen chaps at LRL which I am sure will intrigue and surprise you! </div>Trevor http://www.blogger.com/profile/11375800765679213849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-35922817481065922272014-05-13T15:41:00.000-07:002014-05-13T15:41:25.526-07:00SciFi & Beyond!Honestly, it was fantasy novels that I devoured as a kid. I didn't always like the real world so much, so taking refuge among albino sorcerers, wayward talking cats, and elder gods was vital then and still has impact today. Since then, I've taken many English classes, have taught English, and have read a lot of writing which eschews the realms of the weird and unreal. But science-fiction, fantasy, and the weird are incredibly important. These genres often allow our culture to have a dialogue around things that otherwise may go ignored or are felt in the culture but have yet to be defined.<br />
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Early (first-wave) Gothic literature was a direct reflection of those in positions of power (read land-owners / nobility) nervous about losing their place in the social structure. Thus we have stories like Walpole's <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Castle_of_Otranto">Castle of Otranto</a></i> re-affirming, through haunted armor, ghostly wails, etc., the rightful heir to some property and sticking it to the upstart usurper. Today we have television shows like <i>Supernatural</i>, which after a few seasons devolved into v<a href="http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/index.php?title=Leviathans">arious powerful, and often times corporate, camps</a> vying for power through deception, intimidation, resource-control, genetic tinkering, and sometimes force--sound familiar?</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dZJXE_hA_WQ/U3KeEk1lUEI/AAAAAAAAFpc/lUkvt8vw854/s1600/2200823-640px_leviathan_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dZJXE_hA_WQ/U3KeEk1lUEI/AAAAAAAAFpc/lUkvt8vw854/s1600/2200823-640px_leviathan_3.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a>That said, there are a lot of poorly written, but very popular, scifi, fantasy, and slipstream books out there just as there are a lot of well-written, but sometimes less known, books of the same genres. As a librarian directly involved in collection development, sometimes this can be a challenge--what to purchase for a collection and how to recommend it? Luckily, an intrepid few, myself included, have started a blog, SciFi & Beyond, which provides reviews and essays on science-fiction, horror, fantasy, and the weird. It's a fun work-in-progress and is a great place to visit in the internets if you are looking for some great reviews and insights. </div>
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Take a look <a href="http://scifiandbeyond.org/">here</a>, and let us know what you think! </div>
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Trevor http://www.blogger.com/profile/11375800765679213849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-83079471239206035662014-04-30T14:26:00.000-07:002014-04-30T14:34:06.415-07:00Librarians talking about ALA Annual 2014I am really excited about the <a href="https://www.ala.org/">American Library Association's</a> <a href="http://ala14.ala.org/">annual conference</a> this year! And so are these fine people! Annual conferences are always super rewarding, and there are so many reasons to make your way there--one being that the fantastic <a href="http://www.kylecassidy.com/">Kyle Cassidy</a> (whose librarian photos can also be found on <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/behold/2014/02/11/kyle_cassidy_photographs_librarians_at_the_american_library_association.html">Slate</a>) will be there to take pictures of any and all who would like to share with others.<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/MohawkLibrarian">Erin Berman</a></div>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/tkcalvert">Yours truly</a></div>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/MagpieLibrarian">Ingrid Abrams</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/melgooch">Mel Gooch</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/leigh-milligan/4a/b3/117">Leigh Milligan</a></div>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/trombrarian">Sarah Levin</a></div>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/librarian_lali">Lalitha Nataraj</a></div>
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If you are going, let's meet! Let's talk about libraries, literacy, youth advocacy, technology, comic books, reference, whatever! And I bet the same goes for most you'll meet at the conference. Oh, and pro-tip: if it's your first time, find some New Member Round Table meetings--I've been going for a few years, and I still learn a lot from <a href="http://www.ala.org/nmrt/about-nmrt">NMRT</a> meetings and socials! And, with full transparency as I am a member, don't forget to come by <a href="http://tmblr.co/ZoK5jx1Bj4_1i">ALAPlay</a>!Trevor http://www.blogger.com/profile/11375800765679213849noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-73493723807771678762014-04-15T10:23:00.001-07:002014-04-15T10:26:56.325-07:00Null Set by Steven SeidenbergSpooky Actions (for which I am an editor) has published a new book by Steven Seidenberg titled <i>Null Set</i>. It's a hand-stitched chapbook in three sections with an accordion-fold cover with art by Sarah Hobstetter. <span id="goog_371125795"></span><br />
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<a href="http://spookyactionsbooks.com/2014/03/24/null-set/" imageanchor="1"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtap4x9LWkNSrNoKJ3ofLz0Xwdo5TZ-CrSfnHs5wYE2vmlPs9fZTLr3BK4zX5Rzpa9e6ZQsxzz_WRqioIuXoQMZWJeIfB1QwiM0zqwn38euKoI0Fnv510ukbVKwz_zd9qfjFYrvQ/s1600/nullsetcover.gif" height="235" title="" width="400" /></a></div>
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It's a gorgeous book with gorgeous (though sometimes disruptive, energetic, troubling ) poems which I really do think you should read! Intrigued? Click <a href="http://spookyactionsbooks.com/2014/03/24/null-set/">here</a> to go to the Spooky Actions site! </div>
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Want a copy for reviewing purposes? Send me an email! </div>
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<span id="goog_371125794"></span>Trevor http://www.blogger.com/profile/11375800765679213849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-55807072780618783032014-02-03T16:24:00.000-08:002014-02-03T16:24:33.574-08:00A brief review of the American Library Association Mid-winter 2014 Conference<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have been waiting on this post. Initially, I had intended to blog from the conference itself (which turned out to be pretty unrealistic for this humble blogger) and then to write immediately upon returning; somewhere there is a draft which is really more of a list--events, sessions, etc. And while this may be interesting to some, it obfuscates the most important lesson I took home (and no, it had nothing to do with better shoes for polar vortices--though I did overpack--in cold weather just bring warm shoes and leave it at that).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">from the Latvian Society of Pennsylvania.<br />EveryLibrary / Mango Afterhours Film Fest</td></tr>
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For transparency's sake, I am a member of <a href="http://www.ala.org/lita/">LITA</a>, <a href="http://www.ala.org/yalsa/">YALSA</a>, <a href="http://www.ala.org/aasl/">AASL</a>, <a href="http://www.ala.org/gamert/home">GamesRT</a>, and the <a href="http://www.ala.org/nmrt/">New Members Round Table</a>--which means there are usually multiple simultaneous sessions which I find interesting; there were award ceremonies and free books (thanks YALSA!), great discussions around <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23libtechgender&src=tyah">gender and technology</a>, work which was accomplished, and plenty of social events. Which brings me to the idea I wish to promote.
In previous years, I have attended conferences, listened to really smart people, and have brought some of that experience and learning back to my community (I work at a independent high school). But thus far, I have been really more of a consumer, or, perhaps better, a messenger: I receive ideas, contain them, and ferry them back to my library.<br />
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This year, I decided to dip my toes into getting involved.
And it could not have been a better choice! I wish I had done so sooner! I learned so much about the structure of ALA by attending the New Members Round Table; was excited to help plan events for the annual in Las Vegas, and was stoked to help work on a beginning stage of a youth advocacy packet with YALSA. Not only that, but attending library-related social events meant that I could meet so many interesting people who were just as interested as I am in similar things--everything from a <a href="http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/tumblarian">Tublarian</a> meet-up to a YA librarian social at the <a href="http://www.collegeofphysicians.org/mutter-museum/">Mutter Museum</a> to dinner with friends at <a href="http://vedgerestaurant.com/">great restaurants</a>.<br />
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ALA's <a href="http://ala14.ala.org/">next conference </a>is in Las Vegas, and if you're an information professional, not only do I think you should go, but I think you should get involved! People want to hear you, want to talk with you, and want to share ideas with you--you just have to start a conversation. And if you're going to the summer conference, let's talk!<br />
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<br />Trevor http://www.blogger.com/profile/11375800765679213849noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-73826728326472839052014-01-14T11:21:00.000-08:002014-01-14T11:21:54.970-08:00Caketrain! Issue 11!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.caketrain.org/11/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXO2dxEOhVbKj5Rn0IMuW3dI85uzKKcooPCTx33y-agFjfs20Qj6aiJPhl-x5DO8D0oVWkHOh4AFXZBzfj_KYLPwv0UUUkHHXHkrkRvjOGsKP9rQFnApdViBM13M_2XkMD4bqIgg/s640/cover.11.hires.jpg" width="412" /></a></div>
<br />Trevor http://www.blogger.com/profile/11375800765679213849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-21818201206537116472013-12-11T10:49:00.000-08:002013-12-11T10:49:51.233-08:00Thor: god of thunder review<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>Thor: God of Thunder /</i><i><br /></i><i>The god butcher</i><br />Collects issues #1-5<br />Jason Aaron & Esad Ribic<br />$24.99 (Hardback)<br />124 pages</span></h4>
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With the popularity of Marvel Comic's movie machine, Thor is certainly gaining some readers. For those interested in what propels this character, Jason Aaron's run of <i>Thor: God of Thunder</i> is a great place to start. The narrative twines three versions of Thor from different times in his life. We get to know the young Thor who cannot yet lift Mjolnir, the Avenger's Thor, and finally a older almost broken Thor (now one-eyed and ruling what's left of Asgard).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRHSgsjY2PLbMo-ytVVS2RdAj5od4KyhCPmeCzxAvynGD1dcdhA5tm-q_qR2AnWJU0sWcYqcBf2nPIdZ4L5bYaSggrK2raqj0SIr5-BDAImQmoJ4tHAjyQCsfOiIlHKoBHOBaDKg/s1600/IMAG0575_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRHSgsjY2PLbMo-ytVVS2RdAj5od4KyhCPmeCzxAvynGD1dcdhA5tm-q_qR2AnWJU0sWcYqcBf2nPIdZ4L5bYaSggrK2raqj0SIr5-BDAImQmoJ4tHAjyQCsfOiIlHKoBHOBaDKg/s320/IMAG0575_1.jpg" width="182" /></a>These stories are held together with a villain named, rather bluntly, Gorr, but who nonetheless is an intriguing character: during one scene in which he's bound our young Asgardian hero and is busy inflicting pain, Gorr is interrupted by Thor's followers and pleads with the berserkers to not fight as he is trying to free them, insisting, "Do not throw your lives away on something as useless as a god! He isn't worth your devotion!" Gorr thinks mortals' lives would be better without any gods and all and is busy ridding the universe of what he considers a dangerous pest. As the story progresses, Aaron deftly builds our sympathy while balancing the actual atrocity of this character's actions--intent and impact on a cosmic scale.<br />
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Supporting Aaron's writing is <a href="http://eribic.net/">Esad Ribic's</a> art (who some may recognize from Wolverine, Loki, and Uncanny X-Force). His work here is impressive--adeptly shifting perspectives and including enough detail to encourage looking again without drowning the composition. Colorists Dean White and Ive Svorcina need a shout here as well as coloring is gorgeous.<br />
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While the first trade-paperback is a pretty fast read, the series is in-depth and worth checking-out, and is a good addition to your library's (or your own) collection.<br />
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<br />Trevor http://www.blogger.com/profile/11375800765679213849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-35115379085401163522013-12-10T14:54:00.001-08:002013-12-10T14:54:46.668-08:00Review of YolotlJenny Drai over at <a href="http://stitchedstapledbound.wordpress.com/">Stiched, Stapled, Bound</a> has written a terrific review of Yolotl by Lourdes Figueroa that y'all should definitely check out! <a href="http://stitchedstapledbound.wordpress.com/">http://stitchedstapledbound.wordpress.com/</a><br />
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<br />Trevor http://www.blogger.com/profile/11375800765679213849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-78113836295961884712013-12-04T13:41:00.000-08:002013-12-04T13:41:09.833-08:00Hearts Desire Poetry reading this Friday at the Bay Area Public School! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiikq7xHmiDqvS_gNz7xJgcWXMzY-m6ZS_DTbJFIFPoaU7D1bsVdVn0IpXJZtLQ1-Ctjmcsiujn6Qokb39Vn9mzDCE4efxIFhrZuPOA3DQe4mdRzi0-E6fn5EWPLF2Y39jSJ2g_5w/s1600/Cross_Sutherland_Xu_BAPS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiikq7xHmiDqvS_gNz7xJgcWXMzY-m6ZS_DTbJFIFPoaU7D1bsVdVn0IpXJZtLQ1-Ctjmcsiujn6Qokb39Vn9mzDCE4efxIFhrZuPOA3DQe4mdRzi0-E6fn5EWPLF2Y39jSJ2g_5w/s400/Cross_Sutherland_Xu_BAPS.jpg" width="309" /></a></div>
<br />Trevor http://www.blogger.com/profile/11375800765679213849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-66317774835757598182013-10-15T14:33:00.001-07:002013-10-15T14:38:40.961-07:00Review of Battling Boy by Paul Pope<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=battling+boy+paul+pope&oq=battling+boy+paul+pope&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l4j69i61.11582j0j7&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=91&ie=UTF-8#es_sm=91&espv=210&q=battling+boy+paul+pope&tbm=nws"><img alt="image from battling boy" class="size-large wp-image-1059" height="471" src="http://malibrary.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/battlingboy.jpg?w=600" width="600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Battling Boy</i> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">By Paul Pope</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">202 pages</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First Second 2013</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">$24.99</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ages: 12 - 112
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/18704-paul-pope-clears-the-air-on-controversial-dc-comics-quote-teases-future-projects.html">Paul Pope </a>is one of the rawk stars of the comic book world. One of his first works, <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitF7pBlTW5Qb8EkEeJniIL5WMDEX4g7fplTQQBVwzSdNWPHNekU8GSLMcc70vXPKl2LXhqWYOSP1Jo6HTpSWQ55HbH4TqNB71QjRazk_1Ik8zGsxY9oTNhX1nbXhn6fu-mC1yq/s1600/662059722_5752051258_o.jpg">THB</a>, blended a <a href="http://www.badlibrarianship.com/2007/08/review-pulp-hope.html" target="_blank">manga pace with a continental flair</a>, and since then he's definitely honed this aesthetic and narrative style. What really excites me about <a href="http://library.ma.org/4DACTION/web_Gen_2002_ShowWebDetails/T%20112540/Lang=En/BookBag=T6PCJOF101X5OP535">Battling Boy</a>, besides being a complete Paul Pope vehicle published in quite a while, is the unabashed youthful quality of the book. While many of Pope's other titles deal with sometimes pretty adult themes (I'm thinking of you <em>100%</em> and <em>Heavy Liquid</em>), Battling Boy immediately announces itself as a story for kids, but still enjoyable for readers who enjoy a loose expressive and fast-paced style twined with an adventure / coming -of-age narrative. And for those of us a little older it's also a lot of fun to just look through the book and be reminded of all those awesome 70s record album-covers! </span><br />
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Battling Boy is actually a young god, or perhaps a demigod, who on his thirteenth birthday is dropped off on an earth that is similar to ours yet beset by monsters. As Battling Boy's dad puts it, "...grim for now a plague of monstrosities pours down upon her [Arcopolis], battering her buttresses under abusive burden." (A lot of alliteration there, and perhaps a little over-wrought but I keenly recall noticing the differences in vernacular between adults in my life and myself. Plus his dad looks even more heavy-metal than Thor.) Like many current <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-parkin/life-after-the-hunger-games_b_1394794.html" target="_blank">YA dystopian narratives</a>,Battling Boy begins with the death of a hero, and while this early tragedy is perhaps a little easy, it does set the tone so that we understand that at least some of the monsters, despite looking a little silly, mean business. As well, it provides a plausible narrative for the next hero, Aurora Haggard. Anyway, our young hero is given several t-shirts each with a different beast upon it (an orangutan, t-rex, fox, etc.) which imparts a particular strength; yet when BB first encounters a large car-devouring monster he is tossed around like a doll and must surreptitiously call upon his father for help. From here, the narrative takes off and nicely sets up future volumes. There's a lot to discover in Battling Boy and it bears multiple reading. It's a great book, and I highly recommend giving it a read or adding it to your collection.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-72624232939861566072013-10-03T09:29:00.003-07:002013-10-03T09:44:26.602-07:00Alice Notley reading in the Holloway Reading Series<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://hollowayreadingseries.wordpress.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEY5kLDr3ZKo8J-j8TbCSFq4a4RomUtCDc4SouTqW0mKLLlf14EpcjqZwZUTzNIzMqf33vwmSH5A8WbKE_HBLuqYsRKGtSRaKbaYETlR3A7A4CW-1xooYTdjyr3bi3OvM4wL96/s640/alice-notley.jpg" width="580" /></a></div>
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<strong>Alice Notley</strong> / Holloway reading series / Cal Berkeley / Wheeler #315 / October 10th, 6:30 - 8.
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And if you can’t make it:<a href="http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Notley.php"> http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Notley.php</a>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-25111158319432783842013-09-25T11:30:00.000-07:002013-09-25T11:30:21.197-07:00Banned Books Week 2013<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjojHV7La2e6i-BZGJbBrLXdMjPD0BWRisVlP_t9JHRE-4iR3WMTs49goxn5Jjd0QoLvzK6qQT99qk5CWV5RCqfE8zjPDIN3XnMh29VaXh6isDYMeLDTjFn44LdlOs5YTL8lVUT/s1600/imgres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjojHV7La2e6i-BZGJbBrLXdMjPD0BWRisVlP_t9JHRE-4iR3WMTs49goxn5Jjd0QoLvzK6qQT99qk5CWV5RCqfE8zjPDIN3XnMh29VaXh6isDYMeLDTjFn44LdlOs5YTL8lVUT/s200/imgres.jpg" width="154" /></a>September 22 began <a href="http://www.ala.org/bbooks/bannedbooksweek">Banned Books Week</a>--seven days when libraries and educators encourage everyone to consider the history and effects of censorship. Librarians are a varied group of people--they have different belief systems and different politics; yet, did you know that American librarians subscribe to an <a href="http://www.ala.org/advocacy/proethics/codeofethics/codeethics">ethical code</a>? Right?! Number two on that list reads, "We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all efforts to censor library resources." Yet the question still remains, "Why?" I mean shouldn't some materials be censored? Aren't some books* dangerous?<br />
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Well, yes; <i>ideas</i> are dangerous, just as they are vital, challenging, and absolutely necessary. Censorship is so offensive because at it's center it is dehumanizing. It makes that assumption that the reader does not have the intellectual capacity to disagree with an opinion, or to recognize the difference between written narratives and the realities of his or her life. Censorship is also dehumanizing to the censor as it limits one of humans' greatest strengths: communication. No longer can the censor have a conversation with another as that information has been removed from the dialogue entirely. Being human is to swim in a world of ideas and communicate those in order to learn more about the world.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Banned Books Week on Twitter</td></tr>
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We must accept the responsibilities posed by education, by knowledge, and by wisdom. If we are lucky enough to have free access to information, then I think we must also take responsibility for our communities, and for making sure that freedom of information is played forward to others. Kurt Vonnegut once stated that, "<a href="http://livebyquotes.com/2013/knowledge-is-knowing-a-tomato-is-a-fruit-wisdom-is-not-putting-it-in-a-fruit-salad-miles-kington/">Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad</a>." Wisdom is gained through experience and dialogue and sometimes, if we are lucky, through observation (either of real people and situations or those found in books and movies). (To take a look at some other literary greats' thoughts on censorship, take a look <a href="http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/10/01/literary-icons-on-censorship/">here</a>.) So this is a good week to go visit your local library! Check out a banned book!<br />
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*And let's not get started about comics! The Comic Code Authority came about mostly thanks to this <a href="http://www.psu.edu/dept/inart10_110/inart10/cmbk4cca.html" target="_blank">guy</a>, and we've felt the impact ever since. Comics are some of the least recognized, but most often challenged and banned books. Luckily we have the <a href="http://cbldf.org/" target="_blank">Comic Book Legal Defense Fund</a> today and they are totally worth checking out.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-76957731400944038282013-09-16T16:32:00.000-07:002013-09-16T16:32:45.348-07:00Throats and earsLast night's reading at <a href="http://smallpresstraffic.org/">Small Press Traffic</a> was great! Lourdes read from <a href="http://spookyactionsbooks.com/2013/09/06/yolotl/" target="_blank">Yolotl</a> and it was the first time I had heard her read a good portion of the text aloud. I have read Yolotl several times now (full disclosure: I, along with my wife and co-editor Ammie, published Lourdes in our <a href="http://spookyactionsbooks.com/" target="_blank">Spooky Actions Books</a> chapbook series) but <i>hearing</i> the poems arc and dive through the air to my ear reminded me how much poetry is an experience of the body. Lourdes includes throats in many of her poems, insisting on the body, so that I began paying more attention to both the sounds emitting from her throat and the way that these waves of sounds are actually things themselves too.<br />
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A beautiful poem can be read horribly, but when a gorgeous poem is read by someone so that the poem comes to life with the reader's voice, wow--there is definitely some magic there. If you live in the Bay Area definitely keep an eye out here and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SpookyActionsBooks" target="_blank">here</a> for other readings!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lourdes with her book Yolotl<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-51197286035482938872013-09-09T12:05:00.001-07:002013-09-09T12:12:59.648-07:00Small Press Traffic reading in S.F. on 9/15!I am really happy to announce that <a href="http://spookyactionsbooks.com/">Spooky Actions Books</a> (which I co-edit) will be releasing <i>yolotl</i> by Lourdes Figueroa on September 13th! To see the beautiful original cover by the fantastic <a href="http://www.hanaerivera.com/" target="_blank">Hanae Rivera</a>, click <a href="http://spookyactionsbooks.com/2013/09/06/yolotl/" target="_blank">here</a>. And if you like what you read there, please come by <a href="http://smallpresstraffic.org/" target="_blank">Small Press Traffic</a>'s reading on September 15th at:<br />
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<a href="http://www.atasite.org/" target="_blank">Artists' Television Access</a><br />
992 Valencia Street, SF<br />
5pm, reading starts at 5:30pm<br />
$6-10<br />
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Here are the readers! </div>
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<strong>WENDY TREVINO</strong><br />
<img alt="" src="http://smallpresstraffic.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/better-pic-maybe.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 640px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;" /><br />
Wendy Trevino lives in Oakland and works in San Francisco. Her first chapbook 128-131 was released by Perfect Lovers Press in June 2013. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Abraham Lincoln, the American Reader, Armed Cell, The Capilano Review, Hi Zero, LIES and Mrs. Maybe.</div>
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<strong>NICOLE TRIGG</strong><br />
<img alt="" src="http://smallpresstraffic.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/1174365_10201929293614378_1773894661_n.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 640px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;" /><br />
Nicole Trigg lives in Oakland, works at Small Press Distribution, and is the author of a chapbook, Double Cup. She recently collaborated with strangers to make the literary magazine Birkensnake 6, and critical writing is forthcoming in Jacket2.</div>
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<strong>LOURDES FIGUEROA</strong><br />
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Lourdes Figueroa was born in Yuba City, California during one of the trips her parents made from Mexico to the USA when they worked in the campo tilling the soil for tomatoes. She grew up in the betweens of everything not from here and not from over there. She is a native of limbo nation. Lourdes is a proud 2009 and 2011 VONA alum. Some of her work has been published in the SF Poet’s 11 2008 & 2010, an Anthology of poems selected by Jack Hirschman, and also in Generations: a journal of ideas and images. She recently received her MFA in Creative Writing focusing in poetry at the University of San Francisco. She currently works as an interpreter, translator, and advocate. Lourdes believes in your lung, your throat, your tongue. She has a new chapbook, yolotl, coming out through Spooky Action Books. She will be reading poems from this.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-67134102323505410812013-04-30T16:22:00.000-07:002013-04-30T16:26:20.062-07:00Song for my home<style>
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Bees, a pickup, cold bottles of
beer, pocket knives, all to appease those in a system which is essentially a song, a
coveted cauldron, a bit of old-story-fluff skidding through the days and nights, always involving whoever it can. People most of all, and almost all of the time. Plural of which is generation,
insisting as it were, on the very altar itself, for some control to balance the
unending progression of this, this, this, over and over until an altar may as
well be the front sofa. Grass is a little taller here, a little golden, and
the light strikes upon your eyes just right to blind about 30% of the populace.
5% of the populace are writers (of which a small percentage is also blind) and
are happy to describe events to those who have long ceased caring. So next time
you’re there, maybe for that weekend-rated vacation, maybe to look at old-timey
shit, and a woman cocks her head, points it your direction, just walk away and
stop breathing; grab a coffee with the non-dairy creamer at the R&L minimarket,
and walk the fuck out. You may not hear it, but parts of your ears do, and it
is nothing that can be resisted long—it is a dirge thrummmming, demanding,
just a piece, just you, just your hands and knees.
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-84969649400860720292013-04-24T15:17:00.000-07:002013-04-24T15:17:20.120-07:00a long day of pillaging...
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<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Cambria; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Remnant<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-right: 49.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Longboats
are crashing into the shore, spilling raiders, who are interested in careers in
finance, in social reform, in proliferating methods to raise test scores all
the while searching for footholds in the steep pages of the New York Times. Even
as we, looking back, want to find our ghosts, the revenants who will condemn us
and thus allow us a place in the stupid story—and yet what we find is again
only the bright purple flowers that only bloom for two weeks in our back yard, our
spouse’s bare feet which tap as she speaks, a dead bee, and all these pieces exploding
out booming, shifting between meaning something and not. What I want is
probably not even worth it if I can imagine it; it’s just another trap. So if
you imagine a time, say “now” or “25,000 years ago” an eight-hour span dissipates
into itself, into you, into the idea of Vikings returning to camp after a long
day of pillaging. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-37861412877779889022013-03-25T13:11:00.000-07:002013-03-25T14:23:02.544-07:00a quick rough poem...<b>Distant solutions</b><br />
<br />
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Summon this sun to math, to a small
speck </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
open to fault; a hero can’t travel</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
this relative distance. Queens,
embedded </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
with boys cheat the North of its
wanton joys,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
open their mouths wide for geese to
escape.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
This is the here-ness that is
everywhere—</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
caesura infinitely flat, only </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
known as summed breath hurtling
into glacial</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
teeth, into a cloud, into the
throats who</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
ring the North, never offering warning.
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-13176573965834572362013-03-22T10:16:00.000-07:002013-03-22T10:17:43.881-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://disinhibitor.blogspot.com/2011/07/compline.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<a href="http://disinhibitor.blogspot.com/2011/07/compline.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://disinhibitor.blogspot.com/2011/07/compline.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>two books from compline... lovely! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://disinhibitor.blogspot.com/2011/07/compline.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Qc_CG5a567f-6uQZk_5O_Oyjq8qaKCpyiXU3oLnd_E9RRMNpySjHx0RbPQn5apfvrds_HwKtJVCuigxv8xZ3oveceaPTbdi400GyjKp8A2wsQ5HhiZNluKFlwynxlltN9nt4/s1600/compline.jpg" /></a><a href="http://disinhibitor.blogspot.com/2011/07/compline.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-42407175989616699102013-02-23T16:27:00.000-08:002013-02-23T16:45:07.953-08:00Next Big Thing<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><b>Questions:</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><b>What is the working title of the book? </b><br /><br />So far it’s <i>In the heart is a forest</i>. There have been much shorter versions (<i>Forest everywhere</i>) and a longer inverted version (<i>In the center of the forest is a heart</i>), but the current title has stuck around the longest.<br /><br /><b>Where did the idea come from for the book? </b><br /><br />It started with a book called <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/title/grimoires-a-history-of-magic-books/oclc/440345509?referer=di&ht=edition">Grimoire</a> by Own Davies which is an academic history of spell-books. Around the same time, I had gone on a hike with this ecology-minded long-distance runner, who made the point that in some sense there is no more “natural” landscape as airborne manufactured-particles have touched everything. So that got me thinking about cities. Not in the sense of cities bad, forest good, which I think is kind of a played-out binary and anyway not very accurate, but rather as grown systems with underlying, sometimes hidden, patterns—which is kind of how a lot of magical systems theoretically work. There’s a structure there, but at the same time, these structures have grown organically from specific cultures. Egyptian magic looks a lot different than <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoodoo_(folk_magic)">Hoodoo</a> from the American South even though everybody at the time was borrowing from Egyptian iconography to lend authenticity. Anyhow, I live in Oakland, so in a way every city is Oakland to me. So I started thinking about Oakland, and cities in general, as mythological landscapes, and went from there.</span><br />
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHVVO8n7R2KPhnQ-xYCbViOgHSfL8sTEhuFFXmEUXvtBKAuqfl6QSY3VeDTO5p3udcCmKF0r-WvlRna-YQFdKdc6FUJY5XLzXBQiBLFZByRMfeQnVQ5ldqKLdI4V0CrOTzd4YD/s1600/photo.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHVVO8n7R2KPhnQ-xYCbViOgHSfL8sTEhuFFXmEUXvtBKAuqfl6QSY3VeDTO5p3udcCmKF0r-WvlRna-YQFdKdc6FUJY5XLzXBQiBLFZByRMfeQnVQ5ldqKLdI4V0CrOTzd4YD/s400/photo.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">looking at Lake Merritt</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br /><br /><b>What genre does your book fall under?</b> <br /><br />Lyric pastoral maybe? Slipstream poetry is what came to mind, but then I began to suspect that all poetry is really slipstream, and that that label only works for fiction where borders are perhaps a little more stable. <br /><br /><b>What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition? </b><br /><br />Well, there’s a lot of animals in the poems (foxes and wolves recur) and there’s sort of an us, so maybe it could be filmed sort of shaky cam first person-plural, and there could be some talking animals (but it would be really brief, and they wouldn’t say much). There’s also a series in the book called The North gives flesh to wind which is about power structures, insistence, and mythologies surrounding the North wind where there’s a cast of characters including the North wind (kind of an abstract sovereign), a boy, geese, fur, secret agents, whistling, girls, a Queen with a math-skirt, wolves again. So I think that James Coburn could voice the North wind. He was great in Affliction. That also took place in sort of a mythological cold north. <br /><br /><b>What is the one sentence synopsis of your book? </b><br /><br />"It’s in the trees, it’s coming."<br /><br /> <b>How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?</b> <br /><br />The first draft took about two years—I write slowly and non-methodically, which is, like, a one-two punch if your goal is to not put out coherent book-length manuscripts. Which, sadly, is not my goal, but maybe rather a gaol. Actually, that’s too strong a word, it’s just how I write (a lot of unconnected stuff between pieces that work together). Which is okay as a lot of that writing never meets anyone but me, but sort of acts as the dream-life for the poems that I actually send out.<br /><br /><b>Who or what inspired you to write this book? </b><br /><br />Well the book starts with two epigraphs—one from Kate Bush and one from Wallace Stevens. I don’t think those two would get along, but there it is. Some other poets that have a lot of influence are: Jack Spicer, Elizabeth Willis (one of my teachers at Mills), and Lisa Jarnot (whose Night Scenes is one of my favorite books of all time). <br /><br /><b>Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? </b><br /><br />Well, you know, some of the poems have been picked up by magazines but I haven’t really started sending it around as a book. I’ll have to get back to you on that. <br /><br />Thanks to Eric Baus for tagging me for this.<br /><br />I tag: Sara Mumolo, Nik De Dominic, David Harrison Horton, Reb Livingston</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-75817253410399224362013-02-04T09:02:00.000-08:002013-02-04T09:02:18.327-08:00
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
All streets end there</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
end in a place, that is</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
once I met you there</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
or rather right here. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here, where we first </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
met forever smells </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
like cedar-smoke,</div>
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every street ends</div>
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in smoke so when</div>
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I kissed you, our</div>
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lungs collapsed</div>
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into gravity and </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
escape velocity</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
to other streets</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
which take longer</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
to end here, there</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I mean, that place</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
where we met</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and had to leave.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>for Ammie</i> </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-9996142387597648052012-12-05T14:29:00.000-08:002012-12-05T14:29:58.568-08:00MythocartographyI really do love places that you can't get to materially. It's easy to say that they don't exist, but this is a little bit of mental shorthand--or at least imaginative sloth. I mean, there are cities and geographies that are far more real to me than places that are on the maps, and there are places that I've been too that after enough time see to fade a little.<br />
<br />
Back in mid 2012, Greg Sholette presented a group project called <i>15 Islands for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Moses">Robert Moses</a></i>. I was not present to see this, but I do want to share my friend Aaron Gach's description of his perfect island. Aaron is a terrific artist and founder of the <a href="http://www.tacticalmagic.org/">Center for Tactical Magic</a>.<br />
<br />
Here's a little from his description, but you can read more <a href="http://www.queensmuseum.org/exhibitions/exhibitions-misc-pages/aaron-gachcenter-for-tactical-magic">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I envision it as an invisible island wandering through the sea. It lies
just below the surface, extending into the stygian depths in the form
of a great, inverted ziggurat. Some may happen upon it by accident or
fate, others seek it out intentionally. To enter, one is literally
sucked into it by an eldritch whirlpool that threatens madness (or
worse). Once inside, the visitors encounter a vast confederation of
independent lodges representing all sorts of opinions, often hostile to
one another, and possessing each its own rite or constitution. "</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-10770035963752839752012-10-29T15:59:00.000-07:002012-10-29T15:59:27.804-07:00Happy Halloween! I grew up reading Lovecraft. I mean there were certainly a lot of others, but Lovecraft's--and by extension, Cthulu's--impact on my young imagination was like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakatoa" target="_blank">krakatoa</a>. Today, over twenty years later, the landscape still bears the crater. I think this is where Nyarlothotep, <a href="http://yog-blogsoth.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Yog Soggoth</a>, Dagon, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_Caulfield" target="_blank">ol</a>' Cthulu itself have taken up residence. Little did I know that so many of the pictorial representations were created by this fella: John Coulthart. He's made a lucky (20)13 <a href="http://www.johncoulthart.com/pantechnicon/cthulhucalendar2013.html" target="_blank">calendar</a>, which is pretty <a href="http://etymonline.com/?term=terrific" target="_blank">terrific</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.johncoulthart.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXjnxxFR9j8Asjtux3dniCotsMLv_WpjzNIZJ_o5Z_2pj_ccFRTZI9yRXWSpxfFMbvbJMKOxA57jsiuEJWVyTDSaL6RNgV-rKuKTkYr5seKd_RYivTui8WLSoLh3sLtjGiFh-g/s320/00cthulhucalendar2013.jpeg" width="210" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-17548525422340067762012-05-08T13:22:00.000-07:002012-05-08T13:24:42.512-07:00Social MapsSaw <a href="http://www.fastcodesign.com/1665884/infographic-of-the-day-could-twitter-help-us-create-smarter-transit-routes" target="_blank">this</a> today while searching for a cool map of Oakland. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/" target="_blank">Eric Fischer</a>, as mentioned on <a href="http://www.fastcodesign.com/1665884/infographic-of-the-day-could-twitter-help-us-create-smarter-transit-routes" target="_blank">Fastco Design</a>, made this from thousands of geotagged tweets. So cool! Reinforces the metaphor as the city as a beast.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAiDUjo5SysiCRbycmNp_hAI0z9FURMFEpHCEVWeQvEC3AM83pdZwFFJbuuV_t2bLk32DPAP2Mcsz8EHqQwVXln5teg3oDbBbSZJuQLUx4VT1kW1z6F29XJDDSje5CpO_gtKFv/s1600/750-twitter-powered-urban-flow_0.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAiDUjo5SysiCRbycmNp_hAI0z9FURMFEpHCEVWeQvEC3AM83pdZwFFJbuuV_t2bLk32DPAP2Mcsz8EHqQwVXln5teg3oDbBbSZJuQLUx4VT1kW1z6F29XJDDSje5CpO_gtKFv/s400/750-twitter-powered-urban-flow_0.jpg" width="365" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bay Area Twitter-Generated Map Infographic</td></tr>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-61070065577161030062012-04-25T10:40:00.002-07:002012-04-25T10:41:26.961-07:00NEXTOPEMSHey writers! If you are interested in the intersection of electronic media and poetry, take a look at <a href="http://nextpoems.com/" target="_blank">NEXTPOEMS</a>' <a href="http://nextpoems.com/mission.html" target="_blank">mission</a> and submit your work!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339121.post-83721837895991741402012-01-22T21:53:00.001-08:002012-01-22T21:54:41.773-08:00Micro review of Scared Text<br />
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Thoughts on <i><a href="http://www.upcolorado.com/book/Scared_Text_Paper" target="_blank">ScaredText</a></i> by Eric Baus</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0rRfnsTolq7sN-KEmkHGKTEIgPLSN5z5zs6zTenRqdksJrzMOg0PcHfQNVUvIJY1ZWV1_c3kwtFcT7LHbEVG8tmCJG6a2MCB5tiUuUqnds0rGNZdIW4-O3fhynePWhbeo0F2b/s1600/scaredtextcover.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0rRfnsTolq7sN-KEmkHGKTEIgPLSN5z5zs6zTenRqdksJrzMOg0PcHfQNVUvIJY1ZWV1_c3kwtFcT7LHbEVG8tmCJG6a2MCB5tiUuUqnds0rGNZdIW4-O3fhynePWhbeo0F2b/s1600/scaredtextcover.jpeg" /></a></div>
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I love this book. I’ve read it twice, and have thought about
how to talk to others about it. Really, I’ve thought about how to assure other
people that they in fact should absolutely read it. This is a little difficult
because Eric’s book is somewhat like a unicorn: you have to approach it with an
open heart, and it will certainly reward you. I should mention here that while there are plenty of
creatures in <i>Scared Tex</i>t (bees,
snails, doves, beetles, eels, elephants, and others) there are no unicorns.
Anyway, here is the best way I can describe why you should go out and read this
collection:</div>
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There’s a syndetic structure to <i>Scared Text</i>—a cross-referential of not only phrase, but of tone and
ideation. Baus chooses to begin
his text with “Glass Ear” which itself begins, “Approach the smallest ghost
after he has turned his back. A buzz of definition surrounds him” and concludes
with “There is no such thing as ‘there is no ghost.’” In a way, this describes
the book: there is indeed a “buzz of definition” which surrounds it. Yet like
some weird poem-fractal, this buzz surrounds nothing—it scales all the way down
to the sentence and unfolds with equivalent coherence to the entire book.</div>
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<i>Scared Text</i> as a
plastic whole reads almost tactilely. Because there’s no narrative or symbolism
or allusion it must be read exactly as itself. And it pulses. Words and phrases don’t so much as echo each
other, as they pneumatically pull on one another; perhaps another way to
imagine this is to see the entire text as a network with certain characters
(and I use this term loosely) like “Minus” and “Iris” along with some others as
well simultaneously occupying multiple locations. <i>Scared Text </i>does a really neat thing for me: it somehow points to a
way of non-local non-sequential cognition, as if the entire text <i>should</i> be read simultaneously if only
our minds could become so elastic. </div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1