Lorca, what are you doing down by the melons???

Howl for Carl Solomon: Fifteen Years Later And Then Some.

So back in university, back in the day, one of the books assigned by my american history professor was HOWL and other poems by Allen Ginsberg...I've been seeing somePocket Poets editions of this floating around der bookstore and decided to take another look at it. (like most reading assignments in college, I think I only read part of it, so this seemed like a good idea, you know... After 15 years of thinking I had gotten the gist of something with a cursury(sp?) glance...going back and taking a second look and finding I was of course mistaken or at least not full appreciating said thing.)

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix,

Origionally I thought Ginsberg was exaggerating a bit here. I guess I was thinking that back in the fifties he and his hippy-poet friends were running around dropping acid and bieng stoned and drunk like so many frat brothers spending their parent's money and (hating?) (loving?)the privlege that came with being white american males.

Since I've been shelving lit-crit I've noticed that Ginsberg is listed in books as and african american author(???)...written by an african american I guess this line has a slightly different cast. Also I realise now that what I considered frat boy behavior in 1991 was probably influenced greatly by this miniscule book of poems. And that Ginsberg was probably very involved in politics...maybe even a humble sort of leader. I still don't know that much about him.
He was born in NJ and was a small person according to the forward by William Carlos Williams.

I didn't remember that this was a poem in three parts and that the first part is one very, very long sentence. I have new found respect for Howl simply on the basis of it bieng an remarkable grammatical feat.

And then there is the part about Rockland Rockland Rockland which I just read this morning. I cherish this now in a way that I couldn't have before. Now that I know that the rockland being refered to is a mental hospital and now that I know what those are about...I read each line of this section with much more empathy than I had 15 years ago.

I have to wrap this up and get dressed for work...but I want to publicly declair that this tiny book is not the hersheys kiss of literature...to use such a comercial reference would debase it. It seems to be some kind of dense gem though...and I still haven't read the whole thing.

I didn't go to the SDS gathering in Providence, but I did eaves drop on Will B and his friend talking about Universal Health Care reform while I shelved oversized S. American history and Chinese history books.

http://www.rooknet.com/beatpage/writers/ginsberg.html
http://www.idiom.com/~wcs/howl.html
http://www.howlfestival.com/
http://members.tripod.com/~Sprayberry/poems/howl.txt

nepalese students for a democratic society revival

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A good friend and UHAB/Americorps comrade wrote to say he couldn't come to my spring fete because it is summer in nepal. Je ne comprend pas.

I am thinking about asking for sunday off to go to this meeting but I don't know how I would get there.

All people interested in finding out about or becoming involved in the new SDS are invited to attend the regional conference to be held on Sunday April 23, 2006 from 11:00AM–6:00PM in Salomon Hall at Brown University in Providence Rhode Island. Attendance is free.

http://info.interactivist.net/article.pl?sid=06/04/14/1554218

bleeding, headache, bedbugs, and dirty dishes

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ugh...I don't feel so great. I give this feeling a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 being i want to die. 10 being i never believed life could get this good.

the big question is will i A) tell my self that it is better to just do nothing on a day like this but relax and do only fun things like reading and sleeping and eating quiche and drinking hot chocolate or will I B) try to improve conditions by cleaning and doing laundry and removing my roomates dishes from the sink and taking out the garbage and cleaning the litter box.

it's 2pm and so far option A is winning.

laundry, quiche, coal and taxes

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ugh...NY State and NYC are asking for $1,200 of my $18,ooo. combined with my federal taxes it looks like I'll be paying $2,300 add that to a $6,000 rent bill and that should leave me $9,700 for metrocards and food and what not...I guess that's not too bad...where did it all go? Not into the 401k plan my employer doesn't offer. I guess I ate it. no wonder I feel nausia coming on...heavy sigh.

No hot water today, but on the upside I fixed the brakes on my bike with some help from Austin at Times Up AND the elevator seems to be working...Oh wow!

There is a huge parade of people dressed like romans carrying crosses and singing outside.

I guess it is a good friday!!

Also at the Times Up space last night the was a screening of two films about coal mines and coal miners...the first one was a horrifying account of the leveling of west virginia's mountains and the amazing amount of water pollution caused by removing the entire top of a mountain...the second was a 1987 John Sayles film Called Matewan about a small coal mining town and their struggle to form a union.

hand people

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Ok...so I reciently heard from an old friend who sent some beautiful pictures of Tehran. I guess I never realized what a beautiful city it is. She sent several pleas for people to do what could be done to prevent harmful US military action in Iran.

I was already against the expansion of US military action outside the US. but after seeing these pictures of Tehran looking more like Aspen than...what? Whell...more like Aspen than Aspen.

Seeing images of women ice racers not looking so oppressed...makes it much more difficult to imagine any justification for a need for military intervention other than the US is just a bit jealous and maybe afraid of being shown up. (er...blown up?)

I am currently reading a Kurt Vonnegut book...Here's a little quote that seems to apply:



"This piece of groping wisdom impresses me still. A sensible prayer people could offer up from time to time, it seems to me, might go something like this:


"Dear Lord-never put me in the charge of a frightened human being."

Walter F.Starbuck in Kurt Vonnegut's 1979 novel JAILBIRD.

In unrelated news:

I saw two cool websights last night:

http://www.lotharandthehandpeople.com/Default.htm

http://facstaff.gallaudet.edu/harry.markowicz/asl/myth2.html

now I'm off to How-ston street to see if I can fix this bike.