Here's to the crazy ones.

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things...

Summertime Poetry Picks

S.B. Poet Laureate David Starkey Gives Us His Must-Read Collections in the Santa Barbara Independent

Focused on Killing the "Angel in the House"

A Look at Virginia Woolf's "Professions for Women"

After reading an actual excerpt from Coventry Patmore's "Angel in the House," one can see clearly why Woolf devoted so much time, necessarily, to "killing the Angel in the House." Even sixty-plus years after Patmore penned this tribute to his wife Emily, it is clear that Woolf saw this ideal -- written by a man -- of how a woman should conduct herself (the "Angel"), as a threat to women, and especially "professional women."

Woolf's conversational style is thoroughly enjoyable, and it is interesting that she noted "Professions for Women" was a paper she read to the Women's Service League in 1931. In this essay, presumably also a speech she presented, Woolf at length describes how the Angel frequently intervenes as she writes. The Angel tells her that as a woman writer, she must always "be sympathetic; be tender; flatter; deceive; use all the arts and wiles of our sex. Never let anybody guess that you have a mind of your own. Above all, be pure."

As the Angel continues to get in the way of her attempts to write, intelligently, her own thoughts, wasting her time and provoking her, Woolf describes how she finally "caught her by the throat" and tried to kill her. Woolf explains that "Had I not killed her she would have killed me. She would have plucked the heart out of my writing." Woolf also describes how the Angel "died hard."

In order to be successful as a writer, Woolf explains that "Killing the Angel in the House was part of the occupation of a woman writer." The Angel is still appropriate for all women of all professions, which is why she chose to spend so much time discussing her: "it is necessary also to discuss the ends and the aims for which we are fighting, for which we are doing battle with these formidable obstacles."
read the rest here: http://tinyurl.com/lpgn89

Word of the Day

daedal \DEE-duhl\, adj: 1. Complex or ingenious in form or function; intricate 2. Skillful; artistic; ingenious 3. Rich; adorned w many things


from dictionary.com

Word of the Day

from dictionary.com:

pule \PYOOL\, intransitive verb:
To whimper; to whine.

Word of the Day

from dictionary.com:

copse \kops\ noun:
a thicket of small trees or bushes.

The Genius of Renaissance Art

(Above: Garden of Earthly Delights, right panel; below, Fetus in the Womb. Click painting for a larger view)

In the south, Leonardo da Vinci in particular emerged as a gifted genius, who dramatically affected the world with his prodigious art and his curiosity about the way things work. Leonardo (1452 - 1519) was a true "Renaissance Man," in every sense of the word. One work of Leonardo, most commonly referred to as the Fetus in the Womb, is particularly telling of his inquisitive brilliance, and the contributions he made to society. Interestingly, he is probably more famous as a painter, especially for his painting of Mona Lisa. But in fact, he finished few paintings and kept a huge collection of notebooks where he recorded his drawings and notes of his studies and ideas (Kleiner 583). Leonardo was fascinated by the human body, and kept at least 13,000 pages of notes and drawings, which fuse art and the precursor to modern science, "natural philosophy" (Kemp). In this drawing, not only is his skill as an artist apparent, but it crosses over into his skill as a scientist and student of life. Because he was considered a successful artist, and knowledge of human anatomy was very important at that time in Italy, Leonardo had access to human cadavers at several hospitals and was given permission to dissect these cadavers (Kemp). One aspect of the human body he was interested in was the mystery of human creation. Study Fetus in the Womb, and his meticulous attention to detail is very apparent. He has scribbled copious notes around the figure, and is apparently working out ideas of how the reproductive system works with smaller sketches around the main one. In Leonardo's words,

"[t]his work must commence with the conception of man, and must describe the nature of the womb, and how a baby lives in it, and in what degree it resides there, and the way it is enlivened and nourished, and its growth, and what interval there will be between one degree of growth and the next, and what it is which pushes it out of the mother and for what reason it sometimes comes out of its mother's womb before due time" (Kemp).

During the same time far to the north, in the Netherlands, Heironymus Bosch (ca. 1450 - 1516) was dazzling his world with dramatically different visions and his mysterious imagination. Very little is known about Bosch, which makes his art even more compelling. It is not even clear when he was actually born; his birth date is approximated based on the appearance of a painting assumed to be a self-portrait done toward the end of his life (Smith). One of his most famous and most compelling works is Garden of Earthly Delights, a three-part painting on hinged wooden panels that close to reveal another painting, of the world during creation. Unlike the true-to-life detail of Fetus in the Womb, the Garden is wild and surreal, with scenes and stories that possibly tell of the dilemmas of sin vs. morality. There is much debate over Bosch's intent amongst scholars, but he appears to have in the least a great imagination, and probably a sense of humor. On the outside or backside of the painting, the world, painted only in greens and grays, is thought to be a depiction of the third day of creation; a small figure of God appears at the top left corner. God appears to have the weight of the world on his mind; already he seems to know that the humans will sin. Inside, the painting is spectacular, colorful, and surreal. It appears intended to be viewed from left to right, starting with Adam meeting Eve on the left panel, an event or scene full of sin and immorality in the middle panel, and demons torturing sinners in hell in the right panel.
Read the rest here: http://tinyurl.com/n4ql5b

this, of course, could be a metaphor for my life

I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.

--George Carlin

Women Warriors

The Story of Ts'ai Yen in Maxine Hong Kingston's Memoir @ http://aclnk.com/ar1836267

Killer Art! Or, Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing?

Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing? by Richard Hamilton (1956)

The World at War and the Faces of Progress

During the first half of the twentieth century, events of the world occurred ever faster, globally and tumultuously; in particular, world powers fought in two devastating world wars and languished in the Great Depression in between. Globally, people witnessed a new set of -isms: Communism, Fascism, Nazism. The Industrial Revolution had taken off and was accelerating the world, at a faster and faster pace. Change was inevitable. By the second half of the century, the fast pace of progress seemed inevitable, and warring of the nations seemed perpetual. In the midst of such a challenging world, artists grappled with deep and disturbing issues and confusion, asking new questions. What, for example, was the meaning of art? What is art? What was the meaning of life itself? Artists began to see themselves as spiritual leaders of sorts, and felt compelled to make social commentary on the issues, change and devastation they saw all around them. Nature versus technology was a major theme, and later human rights and equality for all—especially for traditionally marginalized groups such as women and minorities; all of this in the face of the world's rapid change into ever-more mechanized modernity. In the face of the new reality—the new human condition—brought on by the these changes, and the devastation of the resultant wars, artists also sought to explore the meaning of permanence, sometimes in a hopeful manner, other times in despair.

Read the rest of my essay here: http://tinyurl.com/mdy67p

Don't Forget Dad

Shameless plug for my Amazon Associates Store:

Amazon Gift Cards for Dad on Father's Day... it's not too late!

The social media maelstrom

I am not a social media expert. I barely even know what the term really means. I do know, however, that there is a powerful tsunami swelling up in this ocean; it's a hot trend, and I need to figure it out fast. Oh, I've signed up, all right. But now what? I'm on Facebook, I'm on twitter, and I'm even on myspace. I've got half a dozen blogs. And yes, I have an account at LinkedIn. My name is all over Google now (scary). I suspect, however, that I'm putting my foot in my mouth via these avenues more than I am forwarding my cause.

I've met a lot of really great people through all these social networking sites, I must admit. All kinds of people from all kinds of places. And all these people seem to have their own agenda; some are promoting something, some are there just for fun. And, of course, you have your requisite pervert-scum-element lurking throughout. Gotta watch out for those creepy perps. But most of them are harmless; most of them are self-promoting. There are so many people selling something, I don't know who is left to buy anything. I'd estimate that a solid 80 percent of all the tweeple on twitter (yes, I'm for real) call themselves social media experts. How in the hell do these people make their living; really? I want to know. They all market themselves selling how-to-market-yourself books. e-books, no less. WTF? Maybe they make deals with each other: you buy mine and I'll buy yours.

More importantly, though, what is my goal in this murky maelstrom? Good question. I'm still trying to figure out how to answer that. Everybody else seems to have a clear purpose, even if they won't exactly tell you what it is. Maybe I need to sell something. But I don't quite get what all these people sell. I just want to be a writer, that's all. But writers, even wannabe writers like me, have to promote themselves, right? Maybe some day if I get something published, I'll have something to promote. Then I can sell my book from my blog, like all the other writers do. Meh. If somebody buys a book off my blog, I think I'll fall out of my chair. Well, anyway. I have a question of my own. How long do I have to body-surf here? These waves are big, and I can't tell where the tide is pulling me. My triathlon days are over, and when I played swim-bike-run, we never had waves this foamy and frothy, not even in the mass-starts of the open water.

What do I hope to get out of this social networking stuff, someone asked me back in January? I do know that I need to promote. Something. But I have some nagging feeling that my blog and my Facebook page aren't going to do that, whatever that is. If I don't expect to sell a book (that doesn't exist), why am I here? I sure don't want to be a social media expert. Well, actually, I do know the answer to why I'm here, but it's rather difficult to articulate. Because, frankly, while I do know the answer, I'm not entirely clear. Maybe I am clear about my goals, but I don't know how to explain them in reference to why I am on this blog, writing as you read. Make sense? Nope, doesn't to me, either.

Perhaps the simple answer would be that I want some publisher to stumble upon my blog and recognize my writing genius and sign me to a book deal. Aha, that's it!

Lost in the forest: 95% of blogs are abandoned

Why do you blog? Think you're going to make your millions? Just want to get something off your chest? Personal reasons? More lofty goals? If you pinned me down for my answer to that question--and my multiple blog-projects--I'd have to tell you that I still haven't figured that one out. Okay, okay, I do know. Well, I kinda know, but how to explain? Hmm. Blogging successfully is hard to do. It takes a vision, dedication, persistence, and patience. Have you ever started a blog only to abandon it or lose interest? Has your blog succeeded in its mission? Do you faithfully post to your blog(s)? A recent New York Times article says that most blogs are abandoned: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/fashion/07blogs.html

Tell me why you blog and whether you think you've succeeded; I'd love to know.

Or, Irregular Pearls of Influence

(Baroque) Art as Politics

Since the masses could not read, there could be no better way to feed them religion—Catholicism’s particular view of it—than through grand pictures depicting Biblical lessons and the dominance of Catholicism, figured the Church. One of the most interesting examples of art as propaganda for the Catholic Church is Caravaggio’s Conversion of Saint Paul, painted ca. 1603. In 1600, Caravaggio was commissioned to paint two pictures. One is Crucifixion of Saint Peter, a dramatic and unconventional work. The other is Paul’s Conversion, which hangs across the chapel from Saint Peter in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome. Also known as Conversion on the Way to Damascus or The Road to Damascus, this depiction of Paul’s conversion is by far the most intriguing of the two paintings. In this grand picture (it is over seven feet tall and almost six feet wide), Caravaggio portrays the moment described in the Bible, in the Book of Acts, when Paul (then Saul) falls to the ground in an epiphany from the Lord. The egocentric, Christian-hating Saul is on his way to Damascus, on a mission to witch-hunt Christians there. In Acts chapter 22, verses 6-7, Saul describes the moment: “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’” This information is important to consider when studying Caravaggio’s representation of the event.

Click on the picture to view a larger version.

The rest of my essay can be found here:

The Era of Baroque Art @ http://aclnk.com/ar1813622

seen in a store front

by my snarky friend Cheryl. Brilliant, I say.

baghdad redux

Wow... just returned from a long day at the Getty and then an evening at the Kirk Douglas Theatre (Los Angeles) to see the amazing play, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, by brilliant playwright Rajiv Joseph. Compelling story about the war in Iraq, ca. 2003. Dramatic portrayal of the tragedy of man's inhumanity to man. Chock-full of absurdities, atrocities, actualities; a vivid depiction of all the reasons war is inherently evil. If you didn't see it you missed out. (Click the photo to link to the Los Angeles Times review of the play.)

26 Newsworthy things you didn't know about me and didn't care about anyway

1. I am an extreme introvert.

2. I am a sucker for Weimaraners.

3. I did the Ironman Triathlon 7 times.

4. I want to travel the world before I die.

5. I'm such a bookworm, it's scary.

6. My favorite book is Jane Eyre.

7. I think Johnny Depp is cute.

8. I'm addicted to decaf-soy-with-whip mochas.

9. With any luck, I'll get my PhD by the time I'm 92. Still working at it.

10. I need to stop drinking diet cokes.

11. Intimidate me and I'm a skittish little hellcat.

12. Sylvia Plath is one of my favorite poets. "Female Author" is one of my favorite poems, except that my breasts are brown.

13. I'm a yoga-pilates nut.

14. I absolutely must watch From the Top at Carnegie Hall on PBS every Sunday.

15. I wish I could play the piano better.

16. I want to learn to play the harp.

17. If I could, I'd rescue every animal I came across.

18. My parents met in Nigeria. How cool is that.

19. I am a snarky, sassy shrew.

20. I think pedicures are imperative for a woman's mental health.

21. I think Anderson Cooper is cute.

22. I love Paula Deen, even though I don't eat butter.

23. I have an exceptional, inscrutable sense of humor. I get it from my dad.

24. The fat ass and frizzy hair I get from my mother. But I love her anyway.

25. People think I'm a white girl but I'm not. Can't you tell from the fat ass?

26. The last one is a secret. No, really, I just couldn't think of anything else to say.

Virtuality and the Roads It Can Lead To

So, I was having a virtual conversation with a member of one of my creative writing clubs earlier today (isn't that the way we all communicate now?). At a certain point in the conversation, this virtual friend (whom, of course, I've never met in person) commented--after offering me a generous proposal of marriage--that William Blake once wrote “The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.”

My virtual fiancé then commented, Heck. I’m just along for the ride. Let’s all get aboard that train.

Well, I wonder where the road of paucity leads to? I seem to have gotten the wrong directions. It's all good though, lots of interesting things to see on the way!

The good news, of course, is that I accepted his offer. I shall invite you all. Better yet, I hear Las Vegas is hurting for business; perhaps they are offering cut-rate discounts at the Chapel of Love. In which case, I shall post the pictures on my blog.

Having fun, wish...

24th Annual Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival

The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival is accepting submissions for its Second Annual Fiction Writing Contest. The winner will recieve a $1500 prize, a $500-value VIP pass to the festival (March 24-28, 2010), publication in the New Orleans Review, and more. Open to writers who have not yet published a book of fiction. For all the details, go to tennesseewilliams.net. Sounds like a good time to me!

NPR: Already Poor, Poets Don't Much Mind The Recession

How sad is that statement?

Here's the article.

Female Author

by Sylvia Plath

All day she plays at chess with the bones of the world:
Favored (while suddenly the rains begin
Beyond the window) she lies on cushions curled
And nibbles an occasional bonbon of sin.

Prim, pink-breasted, feminine, she nurses
Chocolate fancies in rose-papered rooms
Where polished higboys whisper creaking curses
And hothouse roses shed immortal blooms.

The garnets on her fingers twinkle quick
And blood reflects across the manuscript;
She muses on the odor, sweet and sick,
Of festering gardenias in a crypt,

And lost in subtle metaphor, retreats
From gray child faces crying in the streets.

Look what the cat dragged in

...I know, I know, I've been gone for a while, MIA, but I'm back. Throw me a party.