Better Than Dead

Oh, this is so, SO worth it. Even if you don’t like poetry or Billy Collins, how can you resist a three-year old reciting Billy Collins’s poem, Litany?

Thanks to sweetsweetlife for pointing this out.

Litany

You are the bread and the knife,
the crystal goblet and the wine.
You are the dew on the morning grass
and the burning wheel of the sun.

You are the white apron of the baker,
and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.

However, you are not the wind in the orchard,
the plums on the counter,
or the house of cards.

And you are certainly not the pine-scented air.
There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.

It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge,
maybe even the pigeon on the general’s head,
but you are not even close
to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.

And a quick look in the mirror will show
that you are neither the boots in the corner
nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.

It might interest you to know,
speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world,
that I am the sound of rain on the roof.

I also happen to be the shooting star,
the evening paper blowing down an alley
and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.

I am also the moon in the trees
and the blind woman’s tea cup.

But don’t worry, I’m not the bread and the knife.
You are still the bread and the knife.

You will always be the bread and the knife,
not to mention the crystal goblet and–somehow–the wine.

Srsly, I’m not a Luddite, or even a Troglodyte, but here’s my bit of counter-propoganda for the day, taken from Tracy Seeley’s reading blog, “A Grab-Bag of Good Book News:

The second study actually surprised me. It tracked 500,000 kids in grades 5-8, and found that kids with high-speed internet at home are getting lower scores on math and reading tests. That’s a lot of kids logging a lot of hours not reading books.

And this:

Convicted Criminals Get Reading Time Instead of Jail. Judges in eight states now have an alternative to sending offenders to prison. Instead, they put books in their hands and send them to reading groups. I don’t know about you, but this makes my heart leap up. Some participants have never read a book before, and through reading and discussion, their lives really do change. The program more than halves the rate of recidivism, and compared to the cost of throwing people in jail, it’s virtually free. Let’s send a shout of thanks to the program that makes it possible: “Changing Lives Through Literature.”

Go, slow read the rest of the good news…

Random quote of the day:

“It has been said that God makes marriages, but the Devil plans weddings.”

—Esther M. Friesner, “The Wedding of Wylda Serene”

Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

These pictures are from a remarkable collection featured at The Big Picture. The photographer, Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, used a variant on time lapse, with a specialized camera to capture three black and white images in fairly quick succession, using red, green and blue filters, allowing them to later be recombined and projected with filtered lanterns to show near true color images. In some, there is little to no evidence of the time lapse process, in others, the running water looks thick with layers, in still others—like the charming one of children below—you can see that the subjects must have had a very hard time following the presumed instructions not to move a muscle or even blink, probably for many long minutes. How can a kid hold still that long?

It’s a great collection, quite beautiful, and from another world than ours. There’s a good representation at this site. I recommend taking a gander.

The quotation marks are to indicate that many of the pictures are from now independent states like Uzbekistan.

Random quote of the day:
“Stories begin in dreams and without the stories that we dream, we live someone else’s life rather than our own. Life’s like art. You have to work hard to keep it simple and still have meaning.”

—Charles de Lint, “The Pochade Box”

This artist makes these remarkable miniature scenes using railroad hobbyist figures and whatever else she can find for atmospherics, then photographs them. You can visit her Etsy shop here.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

Random quote of the day:
“A good manner is the best letter of recommendation among strangers. Civility, refinement and gentleness are passports to hearts and homes, while awkwardness, coarseness and gruffness are met with locked doors and closed hearts.”

—John H. Young, Our Deportment, Or the Manners, Conduct and Dress of the Most Refined Society, 1881

(You can read the entire thing here.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

Here’s another writing question for you: does every genre story have to start in media res?

I think it may be a genre preference, and I do often enjoy stories that begin with a burst of speed, throwing the reader into the water and forcing them to swim or drown. Certainly, if you’re writing urban fantasy or paranormal romance or space opera or some such sub-genre, you’re probably going to want a quick immersion in plot.

But those aren’t the only kind of stories, and some of my favoritest stories in the world have not begun with a bang and a pop. They’ve built slowly, meandered through interesting character and setting introductions, created magic with language, every so many lovely loads of language, and eventually, yes eventually, wandered up to the plot and politely shaken hands before throwing it to the mat and beginning the wrestling match.

I’m not sure those kinds of stories are in fashion anymore. But I would be interested to know what you think on the subject. This is another of those personal preference things, and there is no wrong or right answer, I don’t think. There is just what is, and what you think, and what the market will bear.

Or what the reader will bear.

Random quote of the day:

“Many books require no thought from those who read them, and for a very simple reason; they made no such demand upon those who wrote them.”

—Charles Caleb Colton, Lacon, #248

Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

Random quote of the day:
“What is Grand is necessarily obscure to Weak men. That which can be made Explicit to the idiot is not worth my care.”

—William Blake, letter to Reverend Dr. Trusler, Aug. 23, 1799

(Thanks to handworn.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

1.  It’s busy season at work.  The good news is, we were voted one of the best places to work in L.A.  Some who work here are dubious, but most of those people have never worked in the private sector and don’t realize how bad things can get.

2.  Last Saturday my friends and I prepared a picnic dinner and drove off to San Pedro to see Shakespeare in the park.  None of us had checked the website for months.  The venue had been changed because the city wanted to host “The Taste of San Pedro” in that particular park.  We drove home, built a fire in my fire pit, and ate our picnic in the backyard.  It actually turned out to be quite a pleasant evening.  Once we learned to never build a fire with paper and green kindling and turned on the fan to blow the smoke away from the picnic table and us.  “Hey, it’s Shakespeare for Dummies!” I said.  I smelt smoke for days afterwards.

3.  Maybe I should write erotica full time.  Then again, it’s so boring.

4.  Min has taken to sleeping on the pillow next to me.  I turn over in the night and get a faceful of cat and an indignant “Meow!”  So of course I turn over on the other side so as not to crowd her.

5.  I got really good results on my last blood test so I’ve spent the entire week doing all the things I had to give up in order to improve my blood test.  Penance will begin on Monday.  But first there will be ice cream!