Sorry to offend!

Ah, I think I'm going to just stop posting comments in reply, anyway. No hard feelings. I didn't mean to offend, I sensed some taken, and if so, I'm sorry. I was just curious if people have read any of the previous comments that I've written - that's my issue. There were some witty things that are now ancient. (I made the supposition because neither you, Erik, nor Beakman have posted in a "comment.") No reason to start, though, we'll just keep it all out front - that's the best way to negotiate it anyway.

Anyway, how is the semester now? Are you getting along better Sarah?

Robert, are you going to send me back the collab. or what? I'm waiting on you for as long as you've waited on me. Also, I don't think you knew when you purchased the Baudelaire (or maybe you did) that you were giving me the PoV of a pre-modernist (a harbinger of Eliot, I might say). It's he and other French writers that created the monster that today we call the bane of modern poetry--TS Eliot.

I really appreciated reading the Shapiro essays if you haven't already received my thanks on a previous post. If you (the collective you - Sarah, Chris, Erik) get a chance, you should check out In Defense of Ignorance - a collection of anti-Modernist essays by Karl Shapiro. Good stuff.

And if we spirits have offended,
Think but this and all is mended...

Okay, so my memory of Shakespeare has gone to...shit. That was from MSND.

I'm curious, do you guys (Erik, Sarah) know how to view comments? I get no respect when I decide to post how to get the man's blog when I post the comment on your post? Oh well, I guess you did make it easier for her, Erik. I made her work (or, rather, tried to make her work).

I've never read anything by Hunter, and I wasn't too impressed when I half-saw the movie F&L in LV. I say half-saw because I fell asleep half way through. I normally can pay sufficient attention to movies. One of the other movies that I have fallen asleep during was Black Hawk Down...IN THE THEATER.

Beakman, I read your essays by Shapiro about modernism. You're right - great stuff. I've seriously considered not giving you back "In Defense of Ignorance" but my better judgment tells me that it's you that should keep it. I'm done with all your books now, it's just a matter of seeing you and returning them.

That's all I have for now folks.

In Memoriam
Hunter S. Thompson
Gonzo ad infinitum

a moment of silence please....



Ride that caddy into the sunset, no need to worry about the bats.





ps. saw on cnn the other day a drug co. goon say: Suicidal thoughts from anti depressants in children are few and fleeting. one of the most fucked up statements i've seen.

erik

hey guys,

chris I like your flash fiction piece, I've always found that genre to be so visual, I have a feeling that if one were to read the written portion of an episode of say....cowboy beebop, that it would be a kick ass flash fiction piece. I wish i knew how to make animation. To me it seems like the ultimate medium for a good story.

sarah, here is Mr. Spinuzzi's blog found with a simple google search http://babbage2.cwrl.utexas.edu/~spinuzzi/spinuzzi_drupal/?q=blog/2 hmm...why can i not remember how to create hypertext here? has it been that long already? anyways, hope everyone is doing well gotta get back to work later

erik

Flash Fiction Posting

Hey Everyone,

I realize this isn't much of a poetry group, with the exception of Kris and myself. Well, I guess maybe Robert, but I digress. Here is a flash fiction piece I just wrote last night. It may not be the best, but I hope it is interesting and proliferates a thought or two.

Comments, questions, etc. are welcomed and wanted.

Enjoy.

The Beauty of God in Marriage
By Chris Lindgren

A young wife pulls up in a truck, as her husband leans patiently against the steel grain bin; both intent on storing away the beloved cargo. The young farmer leads his wife, as she backs up into position. He signals to stop. Her work boots meet the ground from the high cab, and as accustomed, she meets her husband behind the tractor. They work together, connecting the two long arms of the PTO shaft; one from the auger, the other from the tractor. The grain auger meets the tractor like a hand palming a fist, submitting to its power. Their arms meet slightly aslant. The young farmer climbs into the cab of the tractor, as the wife clears the shaft, with respect for its impending intensity. She returns to truck cab, and lifts the massive box with the strength of the hydraulics; then returns to the back and waits for her cue.

A black cloud strokes up through the upright pipe of the tractor, releasing a diesel sweet aroma. The tractor idles methodically, clunking and rumbling, as the husband pushes the PTO lever forward. The two arms of the PTO spin clumsily, at first, until the young husband opens up the throttle, and motions to his wife. She opens the trap door on the box. The rush of grain streams down into the grain hopper, as waves of dust unsettle, rising into the wind. Grain feeds up and into the auger, then out and into the bin.

The spin of the PTO reveals the beauty of machinery, and the balance brought upon the backs of hard work: a slight of dance rocks the auger—tires tapping to tire-toe—rooted in the harmonious spin. The beauty of the two arms depends upon the strength that the tractor provides. In synchronous fashion, the locked arms orbit closely around what cannot be seen forcefully. The real beauty lies on the outside, asking always to come in.

The rush of grain continues to fill the steel bin, as beauty encompasses the surrounding work to provide what is, and what will be needed.

Now...

Now I'm the one that hasn't posted in a long time. It's been over a month for me, but surely I put some comments in someone's blog between then and now.

Anyway, updates:

I'm reading a few things right now: A book of poetry by Baudelaire (Thanks Robert), a theo-philosophy book by St. Augustine, some lingusitics stuff (comparative linguistics mostly).

I recently completed the 50 8-line stanza epic "Adonais" by Percy Bysshe Shelley. I recommend it for anyone who likes a good romantic poem. Here's my advice....if the copy you read online doesn't say "In memory of John Keats" on the top, make note of that. Shelley is writing for Keats, who had recently died. Keats becomes "Adonais." I think I've already given Chris and Robert this warning, but if the other two of you happen upon it, it's helpful to know that.

Some lines from Baudelaire:

[...]
"I love you for the leagues of irony
You place between my pleading and the sky.

I crawl across your body like a horde
Of worms across a corpse, O Beast, adored
The more you show me, to augment my pain,
Your splendid and implacable disdain."

Good stuff.

I'm done with your Naomi Klein books Robert. I'll have to give those back to you (along with Spiegelman) next time that I see you. I have yet to broach the book in which the EBWhite essay is - forgive me - I needed to read some other things.

I volunteer at a GRE and ESL school for about 3 or 6 hours a week now. That's the excitement in my life.

Well, kids, a fond adieu to all.

PS - I'm glad there still is blood in your veins, Erik. And--have you finished the Dark Tower books yet? Have you even read 5,6,7 yet?

great to hear from everybody.

Robert, welcome to our blog i dig your story synopsis, am reading a series by tad williams right now called otherland. it deals with with a future earth immersed in Virtual Reality,and a super vr environment built by the equivalent of the illumanati in which each member can create a world to their own specifications. for instance, one of them created a world in which the incas and aztecs were prepared for the conquistadors and were never overcome. pretty interesting.anyways, if you would like another reader you can email me what you have so far at erik.kornkven@gmail.com.

Sarah, you hang in there it sounds to me like your graduate program is what college is supposed to be, a place where you have to extend your mind and not just flex it. That would be awesome if you could come out to CO and see me. I have never been here past the winter but what i hear sounds great, hiking, camping, fishing, tubing, swimming, hot springing (?), drinking. anyways, you are welcome any time (same goes for everybody else of course). Anyways, i'll talk to you all later enjoy yourselves!

erik