photo credit: Chase Jarvis
BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR PARODY,
PARODY KINDLY STOPPED FOR ME
I love Lisa Russ Spaar and her poetry column at the Chronicle of Higher Education. Her examination of the continuing Emily Dickinson phenomena is insightful, funny, and challenging. I'm a fool for Emily Dickinson, too, so I winced in recognition at some of the more pointed jabs at Dickinsonists. Yeah, I'm a fool for Lisa Russ Spaar, too.
BY THE WAY
I had posted five or six other new items last night but they've all disappeared. And I have no idea what happened. The short version of them: I insulted the TED talks and crowed about turning them down a few times, though they do have awesome speakers; I posted one of my lame-ass comics, this one about a moose without self-awareness; I think I posted a song or two by goatee-wearing bands; and something else, I think. Anyway, I will try to reconstruct. If I can remember what I posted in detail. Oh, wait, I posted a Louis C.K. bit about Twitter! I'll put that up soon.
THE PRESIDENTS WE SHOULD HAVE HAD
Okay, this is an angle on Presidential elections that is fascinating. As David Frum states, we often debate how recent elections could have saved us from much strife (Gore v. Bush, anyone?), but I hadn't much considered long-ago elections. As I did some very preliminary research on American Presidential runners-up, I realize that we've actually done pretty well. In short: We might disagree mightily with the politics of our Presidents, but we've never chosen the monsters (except for Andrew Jackson, that guy was a psychopath).
THE OFFICIAL THEME SONG FOR EVERY GUY WHO EVER HEARD, "I JUST DON'T THINK OF YOU THAT WAY"
YES!
"AND THE DINER... STANDS ALONE"
A truly wonderful article about the 30th anniversary of "Diner," Barry Levinson's directorial debut, by S.L. Price in the latest issue of Vanity Fair. Below is the wildly awful trailer that killed the movie's chances at immediate success:
UM
From the incredibly stylish and handsome men at Street Etiquette, these awesome shoes. Don't know who they're made by, don't know their name, but I love them.
SPEECHLESS
I keep thinking this has to be a hoax but here is pistol, codesigned by the Susan G. Komen Foundation, for sale. Wow. If this is real, I can't even begin to understand it. In a matter of a few days, Komen has outed themselves as a right wing outfit. Here's an ad for the pistol. And below is the pistol. This has to be a hoax. It must be. Holy shit, it can't be real.
FIGHTIN'
Students in Tucson have been protesting the racist educational policies of Arizona. Here's a photo of one young woman at a protest:
This is one of my favorite photographs of all time. As writers, we spend most of our time in self-involved bubbles, but to learn and see how much our work can mean to people is amazing. I might get a t-shirt made of this photograph shot by D.A. Morales.
TURNING A GREAT POEM INTO A MAD MEN EPIC
Erin Belieu is a great poet and her hilarious, bitter poem, "When at a Certain Party in NYC," has been turned into an awesome short film:
EXPERIMENTS
Hey, folks, I've been farting around with Sketchbook Pro on my iPad. Here's one of my comics:
MONEY
An interesting take by Douglas Rushkoff on Facebook's impending IPO. Essentially, Rushkoff believes that Facebook, and Mark Zuckerberg, once rebels, now have to grow up and become a real business bound to age-old capitalistic ideas and ideals. We'll see.
DAYDREAM BELIEVER
The awesome Neko Case interviewed me a couple years back in Spokane. And I took her on a tour of my reservation and other small towns in Eastern Washington. The interview has just been posted at The Believer.
POWER
This is a long list that relies almost exclusively on inside jokes about the book world but it's a very funny series of inside jokes.
WOW
What a strange and aggrandizing defense of Joe Paterno this is. Michael Novak, while writing this portrait of "the very model of Western humanism," utterly fails to recognize that it was precisely this beatification of Paterno, Penn St., and college football that enabled the child abuse to continue. The child abuse by Catholic priests went unchallenged for decades because everybody from the Pope down to the ordinary parishioner were incapable of questioning the infallibility of the Church. For many, college football is also infallible. For many, a great football coach is Jesus returned. Somebody might want to update Michael Novak on the concept of false idols.
"YOU KEEP USING THAT WORD.
I DO NOT THINK IT MEANS WHAT YOU THINK IT MEANS."
Charles Murray, the legendary (cough, cough) mind behind The Bell Curve is now assaulting the morals and intelligence of-wait for it-poor white people. Yes, powerful white people are now blaming powerless white people for the mess we're in. So, um, when will the powerless white folks stop voting for the condescending jerks of the Republican party? Wait, I was just being condescending there, wasn't I?
FUN - LINK CORRECTED
I'd forgotten that my book The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is a plot point in "Facebook the Past," the seventh episode of the third season of My Boys, a situation comedy on TBS. The show was canceled in 2010 but it was not my fault. I hope. Anyway, how fun to be a plot point in a TV show.
THE MOST TALENTED MAN IN THE U.S.?
All right, so Joseph Gordon-Levitt is certainly a great actor-one of my favorites-but who know he could sing like this?
And he is also a writer, poet, editor for a pretty cool collaborative website called HitRecord. I'm not a big fan of crowd-sourced art, but I'm happy Gordon-Levitt is using his fame and moola to celebrate and publish small press work. I'm even a bigger fan of his now.
WORLD BOOK NIGHT - A REMINDER
Hey, folks, The Absolutely True Dairy of a Part-Time Indian is one of the books chosen for World Book Night. Go over to their site and sign up to give out free copies of True Diary or books by Stephen King, Octavia Butler, Tim O'Brien, and 27 others. It's way cool. Do it, do it, do it!
TAXES DANCERS
Romney doesn't evade paying taxes but, like all those other anti-tax crusaders, he evades the truth about the payment of taxes. The rich don't pay more taxes than the middle-class; they pay less. I'm a self-employed and proudly successful writer-a Native American rags-to-riches story, a Horatio Algier with more Melanin, a fuckin' patriotic stereotype-who pays twice the actual tax rate as Romney.
THE LINEMEN FOR THE COUNTY
So how do the capitalistic Republicans of Kansas feel about Big Business now that Boeing is abandoning Wichita? I would have thought they'd say something like, "The Boeing corporation is a citizen who has the full right to conduct his business wherever he likes." In any case, I'm sad for the hundreds of workers who are now out of jobs.
BROTHERS WITH BIG ARMS
I'd read that Warrior is a great movie, but I was completely surprised by exactly how great it is. It should have been as successful as Rocky. It should have been a cultural event. Yeah, it's violent, but it will make you weep with joy and loss. And it's a sports movie, yes, but it's a love story. It's about modern gladiators. As my son said: "Dad, it has beaten-up, bloody guys hugging each other and crying. It's the best movie ever."
GAME CHANGE
I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about the HBO Sarah Palin/McCain flick. I have high hopes it will be good. In the trailer, that look of terror on Woody's face as the convention crowd starts chanting, "Sarah, Sarah" is great. He's like Dr. Frankenstein.
OCCUPY THIS!
I'm thinking there is not an Occupy movement going on here. How many liberals do you think live in this country? A few dozen? Why would they live there? I'm curious about the phenomena of liberals living in decidedly conservative cities, and vice versa. I suppose it comes down to conservatives taking advantage of a liberal city's arts scene; or it's liberals taking advantage of a conservative city's outdoor life. Yep, there are Republicans who love Alternative Rock and Democrats who love skiing. Weird bastards.
TWO DECADES
When I read about academic panels like this, I feel flattered and horrified at the same time. And I laugh, too, because I think of a panel called Twenty Years of Sherman Alexie that features my wife, sons, siblings, mother, and best friends. My sons would share an essay called "Lying Down Anywhere: the Egalitarian Naps of Our Father." My wife's would be "Arguing with My Husband, One of the So-Called 'Lyric Voices of our Time.'" My mother's would be "Assimilation: Like Every Other American Male of Any Ethnicity, My Son Doesn't Call Me Enough."
SMART ASS POET
The wonderfully bitter Jim Behrle goes all Occupy on the Poetry Establishment Elite. Did you know there was such a thing as the Poetry Establishment Elite? Yes, there is. And it's also a bunch of white guys, albeit white guys who are mostly semi-liberal. "Liberal," as in Votes for Democrats; "semi," as in Pretty Much Hangs Exclusively with Other Semi-Liberal White Guys.
FEELING IRRATIONALLY FESTIVE TODAY
So I've been watching videos of various musicians covering classic Christmas songs. Here's one I enjoy for his straightforwardness:
POETRY & RACE
A very interesting essay on race and poetry by Jaswinder Bolina. It reminds me a question I used to get asked in nearly every interview: "Are you ever going to write about more that Indians?"
LANGUAGE AS INFECTION
A strange and frightening movie: Pontypool. And if you do watch it, make sure you watch and listen all through the end credits.
THE TOUGHEST MAMMAL?
Here's a surprising story.
WE NEED THE INTERNET AND PRINT MEDIA
Dorli Rainey, the elderly woman who was pepper-sprayed by the Seattle Police Department during an Occupy protest, speaks wisely and, yes, hilariously, about our current political situation. A key point: We need free Internet access and a thriving print media.
HOOPS & WRITIN'
So I'm playing in a charity basketball game at the University of Idaho on November to help establish a Native American scholarship in the MFA writing program. Here's the press release.
YES, THEY'RE JUST SOCKS, BUT THEY ARE PRETTY, PRETTY SOCKS
Just bought two pairs of Stance socks. I'm wearing a mismatched set right now and I'm feeling very happy.
BRILLIANCE
I love, love, love the conceit of this little literary magazine. So funny, so terrestrial and Internetty at the same time. And 30 words! I'm addicted to writing and reading tiny stories. So I'm all jazzed about this magazine. Let's turn it into a national project. Write this dude and tell him you'll wear the stories on your clothes.
BLOOD AND BIRDS
Hey, I've got two new poems online at poemeleon, a wonderful poetry emag. And you should really check out Kim Bridgford in the same issue. She's written a ton of sonnets, and published a few books of sonnets, that take new looks at eccentric, contemporary culture. She's great.
CLASS WAR
Through recent personal circumstances, I've been intensely made aware of how much privilege I enjoy. And while I certainly appreciate how that privilege is helping me, and am grateful for my long slog up the economic mountain, I am also reminded of how many folks do not have even a sliver of that privilege. As I read the coverage of last night's Republican Presidential debate, I am nauseated by how completely they've abandoned and vilified all middle and lower-class folks. And I'm even more nauseated to know that a majority of those middle and lower-class citizens will vote for the top Republican maniac in 2012.