tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20761880337273989712024-02-19T09:07:25.659-08:00The Wave Function JunctionWhere my writings go.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.comBlogger238125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-10765256590023581062020-08-06T22:07:00.000-07:002020-08-06T22:07:59.026-07:00Nuclear Weapons and the Moral ImaginationOn the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing
of Hiroshima, we should reflect not only on the destruction of that city, but also on the concurrent realization that the Earth has
not yet passed a full century with nuclear-armed humans patrolling it. With all
of the other problems occupying our present, the shadow of the mushroom cloud can seem like a black and white relic of the paranoia of Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-4759579991115400562020-06-09T01:41:00.000-07:002020-06-09T01:41:58.737-07:00Above All Else We Must MoveIt seems like for the better part of the decade, America has been having a fruitless conversation, on endless repeat, over whether police brutality is a problem and whether black people and other marginalized people suffer disproportionately from it. It became part of our culture wars, an issue that animated two equal yet opposite ideological groups, while the disengaged remained disengaged and Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-43500078551392145592020-05-06T16:20:00.000-07:002020-05-06T16:20:25.355-07:00Another Thinkpiece About A Celebrity Couple's Kid's NameI have thoughts about the name of the Musk/Grimes child. Should he read this one day, I’d like to apologize ahead of time, because the only people who should feel bad about his (apparent) given name are his parents.
Maybe this makes me some species of curmudgeon, but I’m really over the use of creative orthography in the naming of children.
A human’s name is not the title of a conceptual Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-64441967337310141862020-05-03T19:45:00.003-07:002020-05-03T19:45:28.962-07:00For a Troubled Political Conscience
At this point, I think that Tara Reade’s accusation against Joe Biden is at least as likely to be true as not. I don’t have the means at my disposal to say definitively what happened, and I don’t think it’s on me to give an account of what “really” took place. Reade has given an account. We know Biden has a history of inappropriate touching, and we know that powerful men do these sorts of Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-79162031748835959742020-04-09T20:52:00.002-07:002020-04-09T20:57:19.821-07:00A Collection of Vinyl Records, Ranked by Arbitrary and Inconsistent CriteriaWith all this free time, why not lend my opinions on things? Gentle reader, I offer you a respite from news that matters, and invite you to peruse my record collection.
This is not a review of the albums as abstract works of art - this would require a much more thoughtful and coherent approach than I'm willing to employ. No, this is a a review of the seventy nine actual objects that currently Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-12605351977679176422017-03-31T16:28:00.001-07:002017-03-31T16:28:40.460-07:00Where I've BeenActually, I've been right here all along. But I've been very quiet, thinking of things to say and finding very little.
Perhaps the biggest change since I ladt posted on this blog is that I finished my prescription of Sertraline; I successfully tapered off at the start of January. A couple of weeks later I crashed my car in a ditch, but since I suffered no bodily injuries, quitting an Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-83963994261868906052016-11-15T22:31:00.003-08:002016-11-15T22:31:24.716-08:00An Open Letter To My Congressional RepresentativesI have just submitted the following letter to my Congressional
representatives through their webpages. I suggest you contact your own
representatives with similar messages.
_______________
Dear Senator Wyden/ Senator Merkley/ Congressman Schrader,
Like many Oregonians, I was deeply dismayed upon learning that Donald Trump had won the Presidency last week. This feeling only deepened when I Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-35484230756759068522016-11-09T21:12:00.002-08:002016-11-09T21:13:43.085-08:00TrumplandI always used to pity people who had bumper stickers from losing political campaigns on their cars. I always assumed that if a cause was doomed, I'd be canny enough to avoid plastering my vehicle with a daily reminder of failure. But to be perfectly honest, I was not canny enough at all.
People like me made several errors in judgment throughout the 2016 presidential campaign. Our two biggest Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-47905293069446908762016-10-15T20:27:00.001-07:002016-10-15T20:27:10.590-07:00Poetries #9I've been sitting on this post a while because, as a busy busy teacher man, I have not had time to write all the commentary you all love so much.
Well, I've had time. But I'm also enthusiastic using my freedom in the pursuit of nothing. So there you go.
But now that I have a lazy Saturday evening, it's time to hit you all with another hot mess of poems, scribbled from the depths of my Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-57364443614386593262016-10-11T20:50:00.001-07:002016-10-11T20:50:53.311-07:00Less than a monthAnd then this will all be over.  Well, it really won't because Trump will contest the election (ineffectually, but noisily) and his legacy of outrageous fascism will live on... but at least I'll be able to call him and everyone who voted for him a loser, and then take a nice, peaceful nap for about a year.
I'm now as certain as I can comfortably be that Hillary Clinton will be the next Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-40245925633577543102016-10-09T19:55:00.003-07:002016-10-09T19:57:16.656-07:00What I Would Say To My Students If the majority of you could vote, and you had the will to do so, I would feel much better about November.
Unfortunately, even the certain knowledge that the "right" candidate would win the Presidency this year, couldn't set me wholly at ease. The good intentions of a voter cannot account for the reality of elected officials, or the reality of the state we all suspect is looking to screw us.&Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-64195496498797041822016-08-10T17:25:00.000-07:002016-08-10T23:22:26.937-07:00Poetries #8
I think by now, a careful reader with an appetite for punishment will have figured out all my tricks and inclinations when it comes to poetry. I like to think I'm fairly diverse with the forms and techniques I use, but I also know I'm not a genius at this. Talented maybe, but clumsy, impatient, and definitely undisciplined. Discipline is a requirement for great poetry, and Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-58749266161787956572016-08-09T12:41:00.000-07:002016-08-09T12:41:28.604-07:00Bird Keeper
When I took the body of my pet lovebird, Zoey, to the veterinary clinic for an autopsy, I was nearly speechless. At the earliest opportunity, I left the building and drove home, my throat twisted and my eyes raw. That was the hardest time.
The thing is, it happened months ago, back in April. I didn't write about it here at the time. Zoey was a beautiful bird that Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-36429885522128483172016-08-04T00:26:00.001-07:002016-08-04T00:27:06.598-07:00Pokémon Go: A Trainer's Report
This is an unusual review for me, because Pokémon Go is a very unusual game. I'm not accustomed to games that require me to leave my house; those are usually called "sports", and the less said about my relationship with them, the better. But if catching pocket monsters is ever classified as a sport... well, that's actually a more disturbing possibility than I thought. Best not Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-75201237111520269852016-07-01T00:45:00.000-07:002016-07-01T00:45:20.784-07:00Poetries #7
In my excitement last month to start posting poems again, I forgot about three that I'd written on my phone. Having this ruined my carefully cultivated chronology, I must resolve to carry on amid this tumbled heap of scattered words.
So the first three poems are a little bit older, the first from February and the other two from March. They are fairly solid (for me) and thus I am Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-12052385623718574512016-06-18T17:04:00.001-07:002016-06-18T17:05:21.570-07:00Reflections Following the First (Half) School Year of a Real Goddamn TeacherI don't know how long I've been a teacher.  It's not because it's been a long enough time for me to have forgotten.  Neither has it been because of some crack philosophical musing over the meaning of words or the concept of identity.  I mostly mean that I don't know how long I've been a teacher, because the state of my life since starting grad school in January of 2010 has been Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-64261587797132968742016-06-04T23:23:00.003-07:002016-06-18T17:04:49.383-07:00Poetries #6It's hard to take poetry seriously when you're being paid to do something else. It's also hard to take your own poetry seriously when you're reading some one else's. I've got books by B.H. Fairchild and Rae Armantrout checked out from the library right now; reading the work of a professional is an important reminder of the vast gulf that exists between me and "them". It's not Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-59293445215815447432016-05-28T15:12:00.002-07:002016-05-28T15:17:05.302-07:00Album Review - To Pimp a ButterflyWhen I started collecting vinyl a few months ago like the goddamned hipster I am, I had a few guidelines. I would avoid paying for music I already owned, endeavor to include both contemporary and "classic" albums, and attempt to "expand my musical horizons" with genres and artists I had not previously paid close attention to. Those guidelines led me to the hip-hop section, and they goDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-8302709121334964502016-05-22T14:04:00.001-07:002016-05-22T14:04:22.208-07:00I Don't Know Where I BeganI really did not mean to leave this idle until May. I'm not sure why I wanted it to go like that, or if I did want it, or if there's really any answer beyond laziness. But I did. I have things to say, so I guess it's time to say them.
Seeing as my last post was in late January, I have about four months of good news to condense into a few lines, for those who read this and wish Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-64118879680143955162016-01-28T21:24:00.001-08:002016-01-28T21:24:08.805-08:00Poetries #5Poetry, poetry, all I do is poetry... and not enough of that, if you ask me. But I've got another line up of beauties here, and it's time for them to shine. If you want to call it shining, anyway; they do have their own sort of luster.
Having exhausted my backlog in the last Poetries post, I can say that all of these have been written quite recently. They're fresh, and perhaps Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-26025502743747226152015-12-31T13:51:00.002-08:002015-12-31T13:51:47.653-08:00How Little Pyroraptor Saved the SeasonAn ancient night in long ago Decemberloomed across the forest like a fog,and dinosaurs of every size and colorshivered under frozen leaf and log.
The winter sapped the animals of strength,and each despaired of ever being warm;but hope was struck by lightning in the distancefrom a Late Cretaceous thunderstorm.
A flame was spotted in the eastern mountains,pulsing with a lively orange glow,yet Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-88012688431544097972015-12-23T01:06:00.001-08:002015-12-23T01:06:08.624-08:00WFJ Book Club #13: The HobbitThe Lord of the Rings is, at least in my estimation, one of the most incredible novels of the last century. It is a forcefully imaginative and undeniably influential instance of an author cutting against the grain to build a place in the popular culture for his own, somewhat unconventional, tastes. And I could go on like that for a while, really, because I am a huge Tolkien nerd and Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-6832305272209821402015-12-03T19:12:00.001-08:002015-12-03T23:09:52.008-08:00Poetries #4
I don't know quite how, but I have essentially exhausted that overly-comfortable buffer that once existed between the writing of my poems and their publication (if that is the right word) on this blog. That's a little bit frightening, if only because I wonder what level of productivity is most fitting to this activity, and whether my work might benefit from more waiting and editing. Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-37958114291375742482015-11-07T00:21:00.001-08:002015-11-07T00:21:12.736-08:00Writing Goals: Fairy TalesI love when a project turns out like it's supposed to, and I think The Lay of the Princess and the Lady Beneath developed nicely into the sort of story I wanted it to be, as well as being a fairly decent poem.  Certainly not the kind of classic they'll be studying in courses on epic poetry for years to come, but a fun little diversion for a reader to encounter by chance. 
At three Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2076188033727398971.post-76281245565518254052015-11-02T18:36:00.003-08:002015-11-02T18:36:32.856-08:00Poetries #3The poetries keep on coming!
As much as I've increased the pace of posting these poems online, though, my writing of them has not kept up. For the first time in however the hell long it's been, I don't have a full set of fifteen poems written and ready for the next installment. So the next time I make a post like this, it will likely represent the sum total of my poetical product up Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04216055186485263422noreply@blogger.com0