voncookie | July 31, 2006
“Alternative Music”: for a long time now, this particular classification has become what we call in the lit biz an “empty signifier”. In other words, all of its original meaning has left it, and why we still understand what it used to mean, it no longer carries any weight in our present existence. Tell that [...]
voncookie | July 30, 2006
“San Francisco, San Francisco, San Francisco… Not ‘San Fran‘, nooo, apparently not… And what’s the other one you don’t like… ‘Frisco‘… (hiss from the audience)… So you call it ‘the City‘… raaaraaaraaa (accompanying eye roll)” –Eddie Izzard, Dress to Kill. ************* The comedian has a point… San Franciscans are oddly particular about what you can [...]
voncookie | July 27, 2006
The cat’s out of the bag–I’ve been smoking a bit of late. I was well-quit until my wallet got stolen in mid-April. I smoked on and off for a few weeks, quit again for health reasons, spent a few weeks smoke-free… and then life got *crazy*, personal dramas ensued, and so I committed myself to [...]
voncookie | July 25, 2006
Despite the advice of a friend to throw out all of my writing books–a dangerous crutch for a fledgling writer–I recently bought U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser’s book “The Poetry Home Repair Manual” whose subtitle is “Practical Advice for Beginning Poets” In general, I was pleased with Ted Kooser’s advice. It was down-to-earth, practical, real. [...]
voncookie | July 25, 2006
The following entry brought to you by one-hit wonder The Verve…
voncookie | July 25, 2006
Walking to the café this morning (I have a day off to take care of my face problems, see previous post) a surprise came on my iPod: “Bittersweet Symphony” by the Verve. The song was released nearly ten years ago (hard to believe) when I was finishing up at Oberlin. It is perhaps the best [...]
voncookie | July 24, 2006
I’ve gotten really paranoid of late about aging poorly. I’m imagining myself with grayish, wrinkly, saggy skin, dry feet, wiggly underarms… And what I see in the mirror says “ah-ha! you’re not 19 anymore!!” So in order to combat my paranoia about aging, I went to Target and looked for some high-powered face cream, deciding [...]
voncookie | July 22, 2006
I’d like to thank Kate Braverman for leaving a comment here on my website. I’ll surely be reading more of KB’s writing very soon; in fact, I have already started The Incantation of Frida K. I would love to be able to introduce this book to some of my students in Spanish 2 that are [...]
voncookie | July 20, 2006
I am continuing in my crusade to get you Delaware Valley people out to “Beans Coffee Shop” in good ol’ Woodstown for the Open Mic nights there. There will be one this Friday, 21 July, from 7 – 9 p.m., and then there will be a concert on Saturday with musician Kyle Justin, also from [...]
voncookie | July 20, 2006
You know it’s going to be hot in the Bay Area when several things fall into line: If you went to bed at midnight and no fog had rolled in yet, sleep in dread of the following day, because it might be hot. If you wake up at 6 a.m. and there’s *still* not a [...]
voncookie | July 20, 2006
For those of you who are interested in what I’ve been reading, I’ve posted a brief review of Kate Braverman’s book Lithium for Medea on my serious blog. Go and check it out and learn more about what fascinates me about KB’s prosy-poetic writing.
voncookie | July 19, 2006
I finally finished Lithium for Medea last night, a book that I’ve been devouring but *slowly* for months now. I first encountered Kate Braverman at a reading at the soon-to-be-defunct (sadly enough) A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books back in March or April. She astounded me with her prose that borders on prose-poetry… I was [...]
voncookie | July 19, 2006
I don’t know, but I certainly don’t have one. I’ve been such a wimp the past few days, moping around, overwhelmingly moody, unable to keep up momentum in the classroom, all because of some painful news that has me believing that I’m too much trouble than I’m worth, and that I will ultimately end up [...]
voncookie | July 16, 2006
The following entry brought to you by AT&T Park, the Giants, and the PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES!!!! (Make some noise, East Coasters!)
voncookie | July 16, 2006
Sunny, sunny summertime San Francisco. The beauty of it simply cannot be denied. Yesterday was picture perfect, made for a day on the town. And everything went smoothly, something that almost never happens. I didn’t miss the BART train, BART was running on time, and there was no miscommunication about where Mark and I were [...]
