Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
good news, good news, came to me...
Yeah, do yourselves a favor; listen to Percy's Song by Bob Dylan.
And now the justifications for my excellent mood...
1) California may have legislation on the ballot in November to COMPLETELY LEGALIZE AND TAX MARIJUANA!!!!!!! And recent polls suggest %50 of the state supports this motion. Obviously there's no guarantees, but HOLY SHIT! As if I needed another reason to go to California next winter.
2) GM has discontinued Hummer. No one else is buying. FUCK YOU HUMMER! FUCK YOU TO DEATH!
I'd also like to say a word about the current inertia of the health care bill in Washington and the Democratic Party's failure to exercise their own power. What the fuck ever happened to majority rule? That's how a democracy works, yes? So if most polls show that more than %50 of Americans want this bill, then fuck the other %49, right? Sure, you could say it's cruel but that's inherently HOW IT WORKS, or how it should anyways.
Especially when I disagree with the minority.
And now the justifications for my excellent mood...
1) California may have legislation on the ballot in November to COMPLETELY LEGALIZE AND TAX MARIJUANA!!!!!!! And recent polls suggest %50 of the state supports this motion. Obviously there's no guarantees, but HOLY SHIT! As if I needed another reason to go to California next winter.
2) GM has discontinued Hummer. No one else is buying. FUCK YOU HUMMER! FUCK YOU TO DEATH!
I'd also like to say a word about the current inertia of the health care bill in Washington and the Democratic Party's failure to exercise their own power. What the fuck ever happened to majority rule? That's how a democracy works, yes? So if most polls show that more than %50 of Americans want this bill, then fuck the other %49, right? Sure, you could say it's cruel but that's inherently HOW IT WORKS, or how it should anyways.
Especially when I disagree with the minority.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
i'm a big-kid... now.
Haa Haa! Keeping it live in the virtual blogging world. In one of my previous posts I remarked that I hope to do a lot more blogging this semester... Well, that worked out. Regardless, this semester is in full fifth-week steam now, and there's no time for peripheral vision. My life is, as always, a constant stream of consciousness. I made chili and pumpkin-spiced coffee (from Coffee & Tea Exchange on Broadway, check it out!) for dinner, and now I'm hunkering down to do my Anthropology homework... Sometime in the next 12 hours.
Meanwhile! I finished reading All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren over the winter break. Great read! I first stumbled upon this Pulitzer Prize winning novel in my Fiction Writing class (we read an excerpt). Realizing that I had a copy of this book on my shelf, I decided to read the whole thing. Set in the 1930's and told from the perspective of an American historian, albeit a very unconventional one, who works as an aide to Southern politician Willie Stark throughout his rise to power. The book was most interesting because you were able to see the world through the narrator's eyes and how he applied historical process to his own life as well as the other characters. For example, at one point he is reading through the diary of his ancestor, and the author's ability to accurately recreate a civil-war era voice is impeccable.
In other readings, I am attempting to keep up with The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon (another Pulitzer Prize winner) and Hell's Angels by Hunter S. Thompson, as well as my class readings which include most notably On the Road by Jack Kerouac, Roughing It by Mark Twain, The Oxford Book of American Poetry, and 13 Stories & 13 Epigraphs by William T. Vollmann (by far the best, followed by Hell's Angels, followed by On the Road). I hadn't discovered Vollmann till last semester, and I recommend you all read him immediately. He ranges from short story collections to huge novels, such as The Royal Family (780 pages). I also finished Queer by William S. Burroughs sometime in January. It is very different from Naked Lunch, and for anyone new to Burroughs, I would suggest starting here. Interestingly, both Burroughs and Vollmann endured personal trauma in their lives, and attribute much of their lives as writers to these specific events in one way or another. I am speaking of Burroughs accidentally shooting and killing his wife in Mexico, and Vollmann's inability to save his drowning sister at a young age.
A good deal of my literature is made possible thanks to the Harold Washington Library Center at State and Van Buren. This is a wonderful place, and I try to make a visit at least every two weeks, if not more.
Classes are all going pretty well. I may not be enthralled by my radio or journalism classes, but we did have a writer from WBEZ as a guest speaker today (!!!). I am becoming completely immersed in the writing program, and I am writing so much these days, it feels wonderful. Now it's just the tricky dichotomy of making my talents specific enough to hone, yet diverse enough to tackle anything, as well as making the right decisions. For instance, I think I want writing, travel, and photography in my future. Is journalism the better path?
Politically speaking (briefly): Hunter S. Thompson once said that the Democratic Party would destroy itself if it knew what was good for it. I consider myself a Democrat, but sometimes the party is so fucking spineless. Let's put it this way; in the last ten years, Republicans were able to achieve a war that nobody wanted, while Democrats can't even pass a health bill that everyone wants. Just saying.
Oh, and this is what my summer is looking like, as of now.
Seeya soon!
Meanwhile! I finished reading All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren over the winter break. Great read! I first stumbled upon this Pulitzer Prize winning novel in my Fiction Writing class (we read an excerpt). Realizing that I had a copy of this book on my shelf, I decided to read the whole thing. Set in the 1930's and told from the perspective of an American historian, albeit a very unconventional one, who works as an aide to Southern politician Willie Stark throughout his rise to power. The book was most interesting because you were able to see the world through the narrator's eyes and how he applied historical process to his own life as well as the other characters. For example, at one point he is reading through the diary of his ancestor, and the author's ability to accurately recreate a civil-war era voice is impeccable.
In other readings, I am attempting to keep up with The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon (another Pulitzer Prize winner) and Hell's Angels by Hunter S. Thompson, as well as my class readings which include most notably On the Road by Jack Kerouac, Roughing It by Mark Twain, The Oxford Book of American Poetry, and 13 Stories & 13 Epigraphs by William T. Vollmann (by far the best, followed by Hell's Angels, followed by On the Road). I hadn't discovered Vollmann till last semester, and I recommend you all read him immediately. He ranges from short story collections to huge novels, such as The Royal Family (780 pages). I also finished Queer by William S. Burroughs sometime in January. It is very different from Naked Lunch, and for anyone new to Burroughs, I would suggest starting here. Interestingly, both Burroughs and Vollmann endured personal trauma in their lives, and attribute much of their lives as writers to these specific events in one way or another. I am speaking of Burroughs accidentally shooting and killing his wife in Mexico, and Vollmann's inability to save his drowning sister at a young age.
A good deal of my literature is made possible thanks to the Harold Washington Library Center at State and Van Buren. This is a wonderful place, and I try to make a visit at least every two weeks, if not more.
Classes are all going pretty well. I may not be enthralled by my radio or journalism classes, but we did have a writer from WBEZ as a guest speaker today (!!!). I am becoming completely immersed in the writing program, and I am writing so much these days, it feels wonderful. Now it's just the tricky dichotomy of making my talents specific enough to hone, yet diverse enough to tackle anything, as well as making the right decisions. For instance, I think I want writing, travel, and photography in my future. Is journalism the better path?
Politically speaking (briefly): Hunter S. Thompson once said that the Democratic Party would destroy itself if it knew what was good for it. I consider myself a Democrat, but sometimes the party is so fucking spineless. Let's put it this way; in the last ten years, Republicans were able to achieve a war that nobody wanted, while Democrats can't even pass a health bill that everyone wants. Just saying.
Oh, and this is what my summer is looking like, as of now.
Seeya soon!
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