Coming soon (and by soon, I mean, hopefully, before Sunday):
Lavender-Smith exercise
YesThing, NoThing
Torres' reading
Maybe more? Sometimes, the typing process jogs my memory.
Oh yeah, I may send something to Claudia Rankine...though I tried a couple starts yesterday and quickly abandoned them. Maybe I'll tie this in...or make a separate entry.
-Glenn
Friday, February 25, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
On the DL, first half
Eh. I'm a bit disappointed. The prose is well-written and authentic, but the way the book was billed...I was expecting more empirical (or, should I say, traditional) research. Most of the "research" I've seen so far has been dude's personal experience (which is chockful of ethos, so that's not a problem), but there are opportunities to really drive home the prose with some numbers, and a lot of these opportunities, I feel, are missed.
The main issue with DL behavior has nothing, really, to do with a morality. There are issues concerning why black men choose to be DL instead of endorsing a sexuality (which, again, is another whole topic about sexuality re: born or learned behavior), but the main point King wants to discuss are the outcomes: mainly, the spread of HIV/AIDS to the black community via this behavior. He's not saying this is the only reason for increase in disease, but the foundation of any good prevention program is education, and ignoring that DL behavior is going home seems silly, in his opinion.
DL behavior in a nutshell: for one reason or another (mainly, the reactions from different sectors of life [church, family, current partners, etc]), black males who have sex with other black males do not speak. By saying something, it makes it real that they may be gay, and heaven forbid you be gay in the black community (this is not meant to be flippant--really, that seems to be the still-running feeling in the black community: it's better to be closeted then go against the other strong, black brothers who've come before you by being a "weak" person: homosexual). Anyway, part of this outcome is safe sex--planning accordingly (having condoms) means you're actively seeking this, which makes it even more evident that the homosexual sex acts are, indeed, homosexual sex acts, not just impulse decisions via external factors like drugs/alcohol, or just needing to "get off." So, you roll the unprotected sex dice, and then if you get burned, literally, you pass it to your heterosexual partner. Again, getting tested would be another admission of homosexual guilt, so dudes may carry diseases that become bigger issues simply because "common sense" preventative measures can't be used because of the complexity of issues that arise from facing the "am I gay" question.
Anyway, if King's point is preventative stuff, I think the use of stats, not necessarily whole sections devoted to studies but more concrete information besides generalizations or solipsisms, will do him well. Spreading of disease: show it. List of issues that prevent blacks from coming out, empirically: show it. "Risky" behavior stats for blacks: show it. There's only so much your own experience or anecdotal information from interviewees can do; saying that the goal of this book is to give readers a "clearer picture of what a DL brother looks like," and saying on the back cover that it "Deliver[s] the first frank and thorough investigation of lie 'on the down low'," I just expected a more diverse use of investigation techniques. Maybe, for a project like this, the anecdote is sufficient evidence. But at times, it really feels ideas would have gained that much more in terms of pop by not slipping into a generalization or only one person's experience.
How is this changing me, currently? It's very interesting to see how my community "works"--I mean, I generally understood the subject, but the anecdotes become more and more telling as I can begin to see myself, facets of my self, or people I know in the situation. The centrality of the black church in regards to life is so interesting, as it really becomes an institution akin to a university. There isn't just Sunday school--there are choirs, usher boards, and various other ministries or auxiliaries to serve in. Your life, it seems, to be based more in church than out of it, so your church becomes your family so x more eyes are on you. It's easy to see the pressure involved there--again, with so much filtering through church, when something "bad" happens to you, it spreads quickly, and in the case of homosexuality and the biblical stance of it, what do you do when you are kicked out from your family. Such a "simple" issue (and a "simple" solution) is really so much more complicated than its given credit for. Homosexuality is less about "immoral" choices in the black community, but essentially, how these feelings let down a whole community. Is this the same for other races? I don't know. I'm black. I can really only speak from my experience growing up baptist and being around in that sort of culture (thought I wasn't required to be so active in church like other young black folks I know are). Something I think would be interesting to see is how this functions for preacher kids, as the microscope is even more on them. King is the son of a deacon, which is up there on the church hierarchy, but it is not it's head--how do you maintain a congregation, who is family, when your own family is off the chain.
Really, this book is about decision-making, and very much about chaos theory in practice: so much is depending on the proverbial red wheelbarrow in the black community--so much depends on everything being status quo, sexually. Other things can be "combated" by prayer: finances, heterosexual relationships, other opportunities, things in-line with biblical teaching. Breaking this mold seems to result in less, not more love, which breeds a cycle of deception that has an escalating scale of danger.
Geez, talk in circles much, Glenn?
---
Some positive hip hop to balance the...questionable earlier choice. I've been getting into The Roots lately, partially because their drummer (yes, they are a live band--no djs on stage, live instruments, real energy, etc) ?uestlove is just likable, and there's something refreshing about live instruments and how that sort of dynamism impacts outcome versus pro tools/autotune/fixed perfection of midi. Anyway, they may be best known for the track "You Got Me" (which is, I feel, part of the reason why Erykah Badu became famous for singing the hook...but she wasn't the original [Jill Scott was], but if I'm remembering correctly, the label felt Erykah was better known which they felt would work in songs favor [which, I think it did]), or being "that house band" on Jimmy Fallon, but it's just refreshing. And all ambiguity aside, some tunage:
The main issue with DL behavior has nothing, really, to do with a morality. There are issues concerning why black men choose to be DL instead of endorsing a sexuality (which, again, is another whole topic about sexuality re: born or learned behavior), but the main point King wants to discuss are the outcomes: mainly, the spread of HIV/AIDS to the black community via this behavior. He's not saying this is the only reason for increase in disease, but the foundation of any good prevention program is education, and ignoring that DL behavior is going home seems silly, in his opinion.
DL behavior in a nutshell: for one reason or another (mainly, the reactions from different sectors of life [church, family, current partners, etc]), black males who have sex with other black males do not speak. By saying something, it makes it real that they may be gay, and heaven forbid you be gay in the black community (this is not meant to be flippant--really, that seems to be the still-running feeling in the black community: it's better to be closeted then go against the other strong, black brothers who've come before you by being a "weak" person: homosexual). Anyway, part of this outcome is safe sex--planning accordingly (having condoms) means you're actively seeking this, which makes it even more evident that the homosexual sex acts are, indeed, homosexual sex acts, not just impulse decisions via external factors like drugs/alcohol, or just needing to "get off." So, you roll the unprotected sex dice, and then if you get burned, literally, you pass it to your heterosexual partner. Again, getting tested would be another admission of homosexual guilt, so dudes may carry diseases that become bigger issues simply because "common sense" preventative measures can't be used because of the complexity of issues that arise from facing the "am I gay" question.
Anyway, if King's point is preventative stuff, I think the use of stats, not necessarily whole sections devoted to studies but more concrete information besides generalizations or solipsisms, will do him well. Spreading of disease: show it. List of issues that prevent blacks from coming out, empirically: show it. "Risky" behavior stats for blacks: show it. There's only so much your own experience or anecdotal information from interviewees can do; saying that the goal of this book is to give readers a "clearer picture of what a DL brother looks like," and saying on the back cover that it "Deliver[s] the first frank and thorough investigation of lie 'on the down low'," I just expected a more diverse use of investigation techniques. Maybe, for a project like this, the anecdote is sufficient evidence. But at times, it really feels ideas would have gained that much more in terms of pop by not slipping into a generalization or only one person's experience.
How is this changing me, currently? It's very interesting to see how my community "works"--I mean, I generally understood the subject, but the anecdotes become more and more telling as I can begin to see myself, facets of my self, or people I know in the situation. The centrality of the black church in regards to life is so interesting, as it really becomes an institution akin to a university. There isn't just Sunday school--there are choirs, usher boards, and various other ministries or auxiliaries to serve in. Your life, it seems, to be based more in church than out of it, so your church becomes your family so x more eyes are on you. It's easy to see the pressure involved there--again, with so much filtering through church, when something "bad" happens to you, it spreads quickly, and in the case of homosexuality and the biblical stance of it, what do you do when you are kicked out from your family. Such a "simple" issue (and a "simple" solution) is really so much more complicated than its given credit for. Homosexuality is less about "immoral" choices in the black community, but essentially, how these feelings let down a whole community. Is this the same for other races? I don't know. I'm black. I can really only speak from my experience growing up baptist and being around in that sort of culture (thought I wasn't required to be so active in church like other young black folks I know are). Something I think would be interesting to see is how this functions for preacher kids, as the microscope is even more on them. King is the son of a deacon, which is up there on the church hierarchy, but it is not it's head--how do you maintain a congregation, who is family, when your own family is off the chain.
Really, this book is about decision-making, and very much about chaos theory in practice: so much is depending on the proverbial red wheelbarrow in the black community--so much depends on everything being status quo, sexually. Other things can be "combated" by prayer: finances, heterosexual relationships, other opportunities, things in-line with biblical teaching. Breaking this mold seems to result in less, not more love, which breeds a cycle of deception that has an escalating scale of danger.
Geez, talk in circles much, Glenn?
---
Some positive hip hop to balance the...questionable earlier choice. I've been getting into The Roots lately, partially because their drummer (yes, they are a live band--no djs on stage, live instruments, real energy, etc) ?uestlove is just likable, and there's something refreshing about live instruments and how that sort of dynamism impacts outcome versus pro tools/autotune/fixed perfection of midi. Anyway, they may be best known for the track "You Got Me" (which is, I feel, part of the reason why Erykah Badu became famous for singing the hook...but she wasn't the original [Jill Scott was], but if I'm remembering correctly, the label felt Erykah was better known which they felt would work in songs favor [which, I think it did]), or being "that house band" on Jimmy Fallon, but it's just refreshing. And all ambiguity aside, some tunage:
Addendum: Carr exercise
Enjoyed it. I tend to think dark in general, but it's usually dark humor and, projected dark humor: not involving me or, if it does, very highly improbable and fantastic situations. The exercise was good for me as it made me confront, in a sense, some of the thoughts in my head, or more generally, the thoughts we tend to bury, even when creative outlets, at times, begs for the sort of vulnerability or uncomfortableness the built into the assignment. Would I be able to keep the steam of my subject(s) over the course of a full-length collection? Probably not. But, I think I could make a pretty bad-ass chapbook from it, or an arc in a very well structured collection.
No music for addendum. Especially since you may or may not be reeling from the wantonness and ridiculousness of Travis Porter's "Make It Rain."
<3 Glenn
No music for addendum. Especially since you may or may not be reeling from the wantonness and ridiculousness of Travis Porter's "Make It Rain."
<3 Glenn
Friday, February 11, 2011
Massive. Sorta. Comparatively.
So, some updates (if you can call 'em that [those?]):
Carr/Carr's reading
On the whole, I liked 100 Notes on Violence more than I thought I would. Generally, I'm not fond of experimental work (have I ranted about Harvey'sExtra Sad Little Breathing Machine already?)--I don't know. It just feels like some of the experimental stuff that gets published just...plays at being experimental. I mean, play is another concept altogether, but if feels so much like artifice that I'm like, "wait what." I'm not being clear.
I have a soft spot for narratives. I also like puzzles. If the pieces you give don't assemble a puzzle, regardless of the end picture, I won't like it. I respect the effort of genuinely experimental writers/writing, but it seems a lot of it is forced just because that's popular. I'm broken-record-ing.
Anyway, back to Carr: based on the title (and the fact that there are 100 poems), I expected each to be more clearly about violence. I mean, you can make the argument that there is the meta-textual violence of the caesura/the violent ends of some poems (where they resolve into white), but the title of the collection gains so much more weight. Without that title, sure, you pick up on the notes of violence throughout, but the clarity of the situation varies. There are sketchy situations; there are dark situations; there are biblical situations. Do they all immediately yell violence? No, but on the whole, I do like the nuanced way that violence was dealt with. This seems contradictory. Gah.
Clarity attempt #2: I like the idea of wrestling with the senseless, and I think Carr does a good job of it without embodying a moralistic tone of right/wrongness--just facts as is.
My like, though, really skyrocketed after hearing her read. The poems just felt surprisingly more human after. There is definite musicality not readily seen/heard on page in the poems, and if you experiment with sound...well, that puts you back in my good graces, fast, as I'm an aural person.
--
Change My Life Book
J.L. King - On The Down Low: A Journey Into the Lives of "Straight" Black Men Who Sleep With Men
Rationale: As semi-mentioned in previous entries, I'm trying to get more in touch with my culture. I don't know. It's weird. I've had, admittedly, an atypical, to mainstream America at least, Black life, especially growing up in the inner city. People still flip when I say I'm from Detroit and don't mean a suburb. The first sport I started playing, at 4, was soccer--I grew up playing hockey and baseball, too. I went to a Montessori school until fifth grade, which was very diverse, comparatively, for a Detroit school in the early 90s. When I went to middle school, it became more homogeneous, and I got the whole "you talk white, etc" shenanigans. I over compensated--I started rapping and using "nigga" any time I could.
Flash forward to now. I'm interested in learning more about my culture. Part of it is I have this weird quest for knowledge; another part is I feel like I "owe" it, a bit--I'm supposed to. Anyway, I originally wanted to get Gates' The Signifying Monkey, but the Barnes and Noble in Plainfield has a...small Af. Am lit section (I'll post a picture). This book, alphabetically, was next down the line, and the concept interests me for a number of reasons, mainly, how much the idea of masculinity plays a role in the black community. You can be all sorts of bad...as soon as you even hint at homosexual behavior, you're all sorts of put out. The book is billed as a personal narrative supported by research both in terms of studies and interviews, and I'm interested to see some of those facts/figures confirm my own thoughts/feelings about the situations, or enhance/broaden my views. It just seems so...bad, especially in today's society, to try to have rigid categories for anything, but I feel that this attachment to old (and often, outdated) categories/concepts is part of the reason we (so weird to use that), as black people, seem to have hit our ceiling in terms of thinking what is possible.
Anyway, most black non-fiction (theory? praxis?) books out now seem to be about where we are "at" in terms of America, and I think the tolerance aspect (beyond the upward mobility, education, etc) is important. If you really don't welcome diverse voices, how can you really know if you reached your full potential? I feel like I'm proselytizing and making things more complicated than they should be...or confusing.
I'll try to short-and-sweet™ this too: I chose the book because I feel DL behavior is a bigger issue than people want to admit, especially in the black community. Simply ignoring the "other" seems to be doing more harm than good for us, especially considering the frequency of HIV/AIDS in our community. I still feel I've butchered this a lot--forgive me, gentle reader.
---
Procured (STOLE! but not really; bought, but from a different class) From Old Notebooks. As with Carr, I'm surprisingly digging it so far. Even when some weightier issues are dealt with briefly, the conversational/aphorism style still makes it accessible. The appearance of pop culture and familiar tropes/situations doesn't hurt the cause, either. I also like (what appears to be) the author's hints throughout on how to read the book--are these to be true (e.g., the impetus of the project)? I don't think it matters, as if this is a fake narrative, it still feels pretty real to me.
---
Poem of the World
Sewing, crocheting, or knitting? I'm stuck. I did locate a JoAnn's a few miles from me that I will go to--the soonest classes are in March. I'm just stuck on what I want to do. I would prefer sewing--I took home ec in eight grade and enjoyed the sewing portion. Even before that, one long car trips to visit fam in S. Carolina, I would get those little cross-stitch "make a picture" things...I would never finish it, but I liked doing them. I like working with my hands, but I like "softer" work...like needlework. I was considering woodworking, but that's just not me. I'm a Project Runway junkie, and I've slowly beginning to get somewhat into fashion. I think I have a definite aesthetic in regards to style (which I don't employ now, because I'm vain and waiting to get an LL Cool J body before sinking money into a new wardrobe), and I think it would be cool to supplement clothes with literally hand-stitched, TLCed clothes. Plus, it could turn into a money saver in long road, especially if I got good at it--I already have a bad-ass label name in mind.
Anyway, the class choice will depend a lot on scheduling here. There is a new baby. I have to be cognizant of that. Plus, the classes are during the week, so it really narrows it down to days I don't have to go to the city for work. Maybe I'll flip a coin or draw straws.
So. This is done for now. It still feels very loose and ramble-y. Am I even typing this now or is this an overly-lucid dream? Sleep: where are you?
<3 Glenn
---
After my whole rant on the state of commercial hip-hop/cats not saying much or doing much with their lines anymore...I post this. How much of a sucker am I for obnoxious hooks and lyrics????? Seriously, every new song seems to be about a) strippers, b) making a sex tape, or c) both. I mean, you still have the "classics" or drug (selling and doing) and money (and what money can get: ice, cars, cribs), but man. I guess this rant will inform other songs I'll put here too, now. I'm shaking my head at myself.
Carr/Carr's reading
On the whole, I liked 100 Notes on Violence more than I thought I would. Generally, I'm not fond of experimental work (have I ranted about Harvey's
I have a soft spot for narratives. I also like puzzles. If the pieces you give don't assemble a puzzle, regardless of the end picture, I won't like it. I respect the effort of genuinely experimental writers/writing, but it seems a lot of it is forced just because that's popular. I'm broken-record-ing.
Anyway, back to Carr: based on the title (and the fact that there are 100 poems), I expected each to be more clearly about violence. I mean, you can make the argument that there is the meta-textual violence of the caesura/the violent ends of some poems (where they resolve into white), but the title of the collection gains so much more weight. Without that title, sure, you pick up on the notes of violence throughout, but the clarity of the situation varies. There are sketchy situations; there are dark situations; there are biblical situations. Do they all immediately yell violence? No, but on the whole, I do like the nuanced way that violence was dealt with. This seems contradictory. Gah.
Clarity attempt #2: I like the idea of wrestling with the senseless, and I think Carr does a good job of it without embodying a moralistic tone of right/wrongness--just facts as is.
My like, though, really skyrocketed after hearing her read. The poems just felt surprisingly more human after. There is definite musicality not readily seen/heard on page in the poems, and if you experiment with sound...well, that puts you back in my good graces, fast, as I'm an aural person.
--
Change My Life Book
J.L. King - On The Down Low: A Journey Into the Lives of "Straight" Black Men Who Sleep With Men
Rationale: As semi-mentioned in previous entries, I'm trying to get more in touch with my culture. I don't know. It's weird. I've had, admittedly, an atypical, to mainstream America at least, Black life, especially growing up in the inner city. People still flip when I say I'm from Detroit and don't mean a suburb. The first sport I started playing, at 4, was soccer--I grew up playing hockey and baseball, too. I went to a Montessori school until fifth grade, which was very diverse, comparatively, for a Detroit school in the early 90s. When I went to middle school, it became more homogeneous, and I got the whole "you talk white, etc" shenanigans. I over compensated--I started rapping and using "nigga" any time I could.
Flash forward to now. I'm interested in learning more about my culture. Part of it is I have this weird quest for knowledge; another part is I feel like I "owe" it, a bit--I'm supposed to. Anyway, I originally wanted to get Gates' The Signifying Monkey, but the Barnes and Noble in Plainfield has a...small Af. Am lit section (I'll post a picture). This book, alphabetically, was next down the line, and the concept interests me for a number of reasons, mainly, how much the idea of masculinity plays a role in the black community. You can be all sorts of bad...as soon as you even hint at homosexual behavior, you're all sorts of put out. The book is billed as a personal narrative supported by research both in terms of studies and interviews, and I'm interested to see some of those facts/figures confirm my own thoughts/feelings about the situations, or enhance/broaden my views. It just seems so...bad, especially in today's society, to try to have rigid categories for anything, but I feel that this attachment to old (and often, outdated) categories/concepts is part of the reason we (so weird to use that), as black people, seem to have hit our ceiling in terms of thinking what is possible.
Anyway, most black non-fiction (theory? praxis?) books out now seem to be about where we are "at" in terms of America, and I think the tolerance aspect (beyond the upward mobility, education, etc) is important. If you really don't welcome diverse voices, how can you really know if you reached your full potential? I feel like I'm proselytizing and making things more complicated than they should be...or confusing.
I'll try to short-and-sweet™ this too: I chose the book because I feel DL behavior is a bigger issue than people want to admit, especially in the black community. Simply ignoring the "other" seems to be doing more harm than good for us, especially considering the frequency of HIV/AIDS in our community. I still feel I've butchered this a lot--forgive me, gentle reader.
---
Procured (STOLE! but not really; bought, but from a different class) From Old Notebooks. As with Carr, I'm surprisingly digging it so far. Even when some weightier issues are dealt with briefly, the conversational/aphorism style still makes it accessible. The appearance of pop culture and familiar tropes/situations doesn't hurt the cause, either. I also like (what appears to be) the author's hints throughout on how to read the book--are these to be true (e.g., the impetus of the project)? I don't think it matters, as if this is a fake narrative, it still feels pretty real to me.
---
Poem of the World
Sewing, crocheting, or knitting? I'm stuck. I did locate a JoAnn's a few miles from me that I will go to--the soonest classes are in March. I'm just stuck on what I want to do. I would prefer sewing--I took home ec in eight grade and enjoyed the sewing portion. Even before that, one long car trips to visit fam in S. Carolina, I would get those little cross-stitch "make a picture" things...I would never finish it, but I liked doing them. I like working with my hands, but I like "softer" work...like needlework. I was considering woodworking, but that's just not me. I'm a Project Runway junkie, and I've slowly beginning to get somewhat into fashion. I think I have a definite aesthetic in regards to style (which I don't employ now, because I'm vain and waiting to get an LL Cool J body before sinking money into a new wardrobe), and I think it would be cool to supplement clothes with literally hand-stitched, TLCed clothes. Plus, it could turn into a money saver in long road, especially if I got good at it--I already have a bad-ass label name in mind.
Anyway, the class choice will depend a lot on scheduling here. There is a new baby. I have to be cognizant of that. Plus, the classes are during the week, so it really narrows it down to days I don't have to go to the city for work. Maybe I'll flip a coin or draw straws.
So. This is done for now. It still feels very loose and ramble-y. Am I even typing this now or is this an overly-lucid dream? Sleep: where are you?
<3 Glenn
---
After my whole rant on the state of commercial hip-hop/cats not saying much or doing much with their lines anymore...I post this. How much of a sucker am I for obnoxious hooks and lyrics????? Seriously, every new song seems to be about a) strippers, b) making a sex tape, or c) both. I mean, you still have the "classics" or drug (selling and doing) and money (and what money can get: ice, cars, cribs), but man. I guess this rant will inform other songs I'll put here too, now. I'm shaking my head at myself.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
It snowed?
So, the snow has been enabling in regards to laziness--I meant to post something last week, but...well...you know.
Anyway, I'm excited for the class--the class description for registration is what sold me. I think, though, everyone has the "same" reservation (one mentioned in class): since the class is so anti-product, what "use" is it for a workshop?
I know, for me, I'm just interested in play...maybe the only thing I'll get from this class are cool starts, or I may even further refine my voice. I see only upside.
In a sort of weird running theme, other classes' readings are informing dialogues in very deliciously intertextual ways--just read Duncan's essay/page "Pages From a Notebook" forThis is Sparta! POETRY WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARS (emphasis mine), and one of the main points is that if you're writing simply to get published (and not because words/their arrangements/etc genuinely interest/please you), something is wrong.
What, really, is the state of/use of MFAs--is a class like this really conducive, especially for those who want to teach where a premium is placed on having an in-store product in a book? Again, this was touched on in class, but the term workshop seems to have so much gravitas in the creative writing field (probably as a result of Iowa).
Anyway, to make less ramble-y: excited for this class; interested to see what I will produce (even though that has to be the wrong word--maybe "what I will create," but that seems too god-complex-like).
---
For the change/rock your world book, I'm not sure what to read yet. I bought options Friday: A coffee table book of human anatomy/systems, a book about being down low in the black community, Shit My Dad Says, and Jon Stewart's Earth. Also got Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, but that is kinda unrelated. Anyway, I'm so torn because I'm unsure how "monumental" the change should be--I know each book interests me for different reasons, and I think each can "change" my life:
The anatomy book is (I think) self-explanatory--I'm a science dork (it's what I always test highest in), and I think it would give me more language/ways to engage poems. If I do pull in something anatomy-y in my poems, it's usually very base and surface: a heart, brain, reproductive organs. With so many systems and so many interconnected functions of those systems, I think the horizons will brighten tremendously.
The book about being down low is personally interesting because I'm black, and it's an interesting dynamic concerning homosexuality in the black community. This is a bit reductive, but down low means being "down low," on the hush, creeping, and specifically, it means pretending/fronting/acting like you're heterosexual in public and carrying on homosexual (whether pure sex or beyond) relationships in private. At times, it seems that it's more rewarding to be criminal minded or any other sort of immorality save homosexuality, and this is especially notable in the rap community, or with the phrases pause/no homo. Thinking about it, it seems that being homosexual makes you a less than even more in the black community than other communities, and I'm really interested to see how deep these issues go and how I can further enrich my understanding of my own community. As it stands, I feel like an English-major black guy. We grow up speaking English--why take classes about it, why get a degree in it, waste of time? In the same breath, being black is not just a black and white issue--there are many facets that unfold deeper complexities, and beyond socioeconomic advancement, the "burying" of nigger, one of the issues that seem to be picking up steam is how to "deal" with this issue, with the main problem being that down low brothers tend to contract stds from unsafe practices that stem from them not wanting to admit they're doing the acts, passing it on to wives/girlfriends, and those diseases being passed to others/children.
Somehow, this feels more disjointed on screen than head--hope this makes sense.
Shit My Dad Says will probably give me another perspective to consider--a way to view the "same" relationship differently--what can I learn, literally, from the shit Halpern's dad said to him?
Earth may give me a way to re-engage serious subjects/concepts in a subversive way. I like wit/satire/sarcasm, but my poems tend to turn into serious things, fast. I'm trying a way to work in seamlessly black/dark humor, so maybe this will help.
Eh. Again, I don't know why things start coming out as blurs.
---
For the poem of the world, I would really like to take a sewing class--the nearby Hobby Lobby only seems to offer jewelery classes, and since I'm not a big jewelery guy...well, you know where this is going.
---
That's it for now--as customary, music--I'm in a very...restrained mood currently.
James Labrie - Coming Home
Sylvan - On The Verge of Tears
Jamie Foxx ft. Drake - Fall For Your Type
Anyway, I'm excited for the class--the class description for registration is what sold me. I think, though, everyone has the "same" reservation (one mentioned in class): since the class is so anti-product, what "use" is it for a workshop?
I know, for me, I'm just interested in play...maybe the only thing I'll get from this class are cool starts, or I may even further refine my voice. I see only upside.
In a sort of weird running theme, other classes' readings are informing dialogues in very deliciously intertextual ways--just read Duncan's essay/page "Pages From a Notebook" for
What, really, is the state of/use of MFAs--is a class like this really conducive, especially for those who want to teach where a premium is placed on having an in-store product in a book? Again, this was touched on in class, but the term workshop seems to have so much gravitas in the creative writing field (probably as a result of Iowa).
Anyway, to make less ramble-y: excited for this class; interested to see what I will produce (even though that has to be the wrong word--maybe "what I will create," but that seems too god-complex-like).
---
For the change/rock your world book, I'm not sure what to read yet. I bought options Friday: A coffee table book of human anatomy/systems, a book about being down low in the black community, Shit My Dad Says, and Jon Stewart's Earth. Also got Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, but that is kinda unrelated. Anyway, I'm so torn because I'm unsure how "monumental" the change should be--I know each book interests me for different reasons, and I think each can "change" my life:
The anatomy book is (I think) self-explanatory--I'm a science dork (it's what I always test highest in), and I think it would give me more language/ways to engage poems. If I do pull in something anatomy-y in my poems, it's usually very base and surface: a heart, brain, reproductive organs. With so many systems and so many interconnected functions of those systems, I think the horizons will brighten tremendously.
The book about being down low is personally interesting because I'm black, and it's an interesting dynamic concerning homosexuality in the black community. This is a bit reductive, but down low means being "down low," on the hush, creeping, and specifically, it means pretending/fronting/acting like you're heterosexual in public and carrying on homosexual (whether pure sex or beyond) relationships in private. At times, it seems that it's more rewarding to be criminal minded or any other sort of immorality save homosexuality, and this is especially notable in the rap community, or with the phrases pause/no homo. Thinking about it, it seems that being homosexual makes you a less than even more in the black community than other communities, and I'm really interested to see how deep these issues go and how I can further enrich my understanding of my own community. As it stands, I feel like an English-major black guy. We grow up speaking English--why take classes about it, why get a degree in it, waste of time? In the same breath, being black is not just a black and white issue--there are many facets that unfold deeper complexities, and beyond socioeconomic advancement, the "burying" of nigger, one of the issues that seem to be picking up steam is how to "deal" with this issue, with the main problem being that down low brothers tend to contract stds from unsafe practices that stem from them not wanting to admit they're doing the acts, passing it on to wives/girlfriends, and those diseases being passed to others/children.
Somehow, this feels more disjointed on screen than head--hope this makes sense.
Shit My Dad Says will probably give me another perspective to consider--a way to view the "same" relationship differently--what can I learn, literally, from the shit Halpern's dad said to him?
Earth may give me a way to re-engage serious subjects/concepts in a subversive way. I like wit/satire/sarcasm, but my poems tend to turn into serious things, fast. I'm trying a way to work in seamlessly black/dark humor, so maybe this will help.
Eh. Again, I don't know why things start coming out as blurs.
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For the poem of the world, I would really like to take a sewing class--the nearby Hobby Lobby only seems to offer jewelery classes, and since I'm not a big jewelery guy...well, you know where this is going.
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That's it for now--as customary, music--I'm in a very...restrained mood currently.
James Labrie - Coming Home
Sylvan - On The Verge of Tears
Jamie Foxx ft. Drake - Fall For Your Type
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