this journal blug

nametag and all...

the adam's-apple-jump

from The NONVERBAL DICTIONARY of GESTURES, SIGNS & BODY LANGUAGE CUES

Usage. The Adam's-apple-jump is an unconscious sign of emotional anxiety, embarrassment, or stress. At a business meeting, e.g., a listener's Adam's apple may inadvertently jump should he or she dislike or strongly disagree with a speaker's suggestion, perspective, or point of view.

U.S. politics. The Adam's apple gained it's 15 minutes of fame when former Vice President James Danforth Quayle's thyroid cartilage "jumped" in the 1988 vice-presidential debates, as he listened to his opponent, Lloyd Bentsen's pointed claim: "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy!"


(via Language Hat)

quiet for a minute or a few hours with blogger down... but here we are

when he comes
you'll know what to do...

i mean i'm privileging me... i'm all over the place saying and saying... with my face made out of words

the notion that there's any voice... at all... suspect in some quarters no doubt... elastic brains... don't need roots... any old place is never any old where...

finish your phrase

what i write there is a voice nobody ever hears... not even me... until i write it... some part going on inside... remember when that kid said he feels most like himself when he's alone in his room... that's a part of this... ghost signals... far radio... no other way to get it... for what it's worth

fait accompli is thinking about walter benjamin:

VII. Never stop writing because you have run out of ideas. said mr. b.

boyo... i thought i was the only person to have this thought... though i haven't lived up to it... it's an encouraging notion for writers... not sure what it may do for readers...

Googlism for "difficult poetry"

difficult poetry is to suggest that it is written to illustrate academic theories
difficult poetry is beside the point
difficult poetry is one thing ­ one can puzzle through some very fine high literary poets and feel enlightened in the end
difficult poetry is a skill that you may already possess to some extent
difficult poetry is the most democratic
difficult poetry is not soft supported by zukofsky's precise
difficult poetry is not going to reach a large audience
difficult poetry is produced in

The Difficult Poem:

Experts who study difficult poems often trace the modem prevalence of this problem to the early years of the last century, when a great deal of social dislocation precipitated the outbreak of 1912, one of the best-known epidemics of difficult poetry.

this bernstein... he's a funny guy...

collision detection: Stopping spam with poetry

o this is good... but "poetry makes nothing happen"... I suppose... that's the point (via Boynton)

o rain... no snow... no walk... just hanging out... with a cat... reading before shaving... a few theoretical objects... some writing about writing... filling my head with phrases... great lines to write... forgotten now...

so here's school... i got some etta james christmas tunes... 12 songs of christmas is a great great christmas album... in truth... she sings them as if they were real songs... not just seasonal noise...

students are bringing me their poetry papers now... today there's a field trip... my reflection in the large tv monitor shows a flabby faced grump with a shiny gray bald head... slightly furrowed brow... but when i say something like "have a great day" to these kids, i'm not that guy... i'm nice... i'm friendly... i mean it... how did the face get so far from the voice...

Irie

my large white and orange
12 year old cat

who left home last Wednesday
and has not returned.

o no... suzanne has lost her cat... makes me need to run home and hug my own grumpy beast...

a tough day for the poem presentations... was it just my own antsy hope that each would be a perfect thought?

if one doesn't work... the next one might... and the failure will drift off soon... enough... into better papers... i hope...

some mornings you step... in... it...

(reminder) a funny concatenation... the comment to the dentist... the compliment... the shoe...

cltv sports broadcasts again from carmel... here... tonight... to close the high scholl football season... a big noise from the gym... which i don't begrudge anyone... big accomplishment deserves a big noise... i can hear the cars leaving now... big noise down mckinley ave...

afternoon thoughts:

why can't i have any of that pizza?

reading a poem is a profoundly complex activity...

teeth should be brushed before a visit to the dentist...

i must be... a great poetry mangle... er... mangler...

sore foot... o... sore back...

morning thoughts:

americans can't say "beauteous" without sounding like nyc cabdrivers circa 1962...

some mornings are so dark you can't see the crap to avoid it...

no... i really don't want to be your secret santa...

let's get this carmel christmas family shopping off the ground...

most people are pretty nice... most people are pretty screwed up...

this is a geometry classroom... room 800... a world away from my own solid 305... these students have twenty problems to work... i have just one...

back in 305 we're receiving poetry presentations today... the first round... last period were pretty good... but too much was crammed too quickly into ten minutes... some read to us...instead of speaking... some sped through the reading of the poem... slow down kids... we've got to process this stuff... or is it just my old brain... needs this...

was hoping to be sub-free today... but that ain't gonna happen... alas... i need some open time to count message board posts... sigh...

what cold morning?

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a multilingual project to create a complete and accurate free content encyclopedia. We started in January 2001 and are currently working on 177602 articles in the English version.

hmmm... an intrguing concept and process... i wonder how it works in actuality... and it looks like someone needs to compose an entry for Wendell Berry... i wonder who could do that...

from Music of India - Wikipedia

Pop music
The biggest form of Indian pop music is filmi, or music originated in films. Other forms of pop musicians include Alisha Chinai and rock bands like Bally Sagoo.


Filmi
The capital of filmi is Mumbai (Bombay), which is a cinematic capital referred to as Bollywood. Popular composers include Ilayaraja, Rajesh Roshan, A.R. Rahman and Raamlaxman. The films tend be idealized visions of Indian life, and the music is similarly jolly and romantic. Many of the stars play similar, stereotyped roles in multiple films and lip-synch to the singing of vocal stars like Lata Mangeshkar and S.P. Balasurahmaniam. Filmi's Golden Age occurred in the 1950s to the mid-1960s.

Cinema began taking shape in India in the late 19th century, and silent films soon became very popular. In 1931, Ardeshir M. Irani's Alam Ara was adapted from a piece of Parsi theater and launched Indian talkies. The music became extremely popular, and was soon heavily advertised. One reason for the push was that India's linguistic diversity meant dialogue would be incomprehensible for a large portion of the audience, no matter what language it was made in. Music provided a neutral option.

A form of filmi based on ghazal (see below) is called filmi-ghazal and was introduced by Talat Mahmood; it was eventually modernized into ghazal-song.

seek... and ye shall find... filmi-ghazal? cool

listening to ali akbar khan - traditional music of india... atmospherics for midnight's children... but... i wonder... what was pop music in bombay back in the fifties...

monday has an assembly in it... for the division 6A state champion football team... which just happens to be ours...

monday also has a class or two... repeated through the day... today we consider faulkner's as i lay dying in light of his nobel acceptance speech... "the human heart in conflict with itself"... and all that