August 2004 Archives

I'm still waiting for the tomatoes on the vines to ripen. I said earlier it didn't take much of a green thumb to plant them. Just dig a hole, place and cover them. But for a couple of months I've watched the vines grow, minus tomatoes. When tomatoes started appearing, the thieving squirrels would steal them. I came out one morning and caught one in the act. Startled, it skirted away, dropping the tomato, which I picked up and moved to the back of the yard. It sat there a day or two before finally disappearing. The vines are now loaded with green tomatoes. I was worried that maybe it does take talent to grow the ripe variety, but in yesterday's home and garden section of the paper were recipes for green tomatoes and this morning I saw a squirrel dashing across Delmar, well away from my house, hauling a green tomato, so maybe there's nothing wrong with mine still being green.

I seldom come across poetry sites that I really like. I'm glad I look because today I found No Tell Motel. The editors promise discretion but I hope the word gets out. The site promises a new poet every week, a new poem everyday, 52 poets a year, 260 poems. It looks like the site is a week old. If the other 51 poets are as good as Jennifer Michael Hecht, it's going to be a great year at No Tell Motel.

Often a comment on a blog needs foregrounding. Oliver, commenting on From Spam to Poem, tells about Daphne Gottlieb's poem "Frequently Asked Questions". It's not a spam poem. Instead, the lines are actual questions from the FAQ for the Emma Goldman love doll. I'm not sure about the quality of Emma, but the poem is actually quite good. It's another illustration of how language in one context can be used in another for an entirely different purpose.

Kristin Thomas has an interesting blog of spam poetry. Spam never has bothered me that much. I mean, Amber wants me! And even though most of my spam is filtered out of my in-box, I still read through the spam folder to see what's there. Then I delete it.

Kristin, however, puts all that spam to good use. She says she writes her spam poetry using only the subject lines of spam she receives. All those lines are put together into a poem like this:

Crazy Advice

Candyland, old times, new times, good times
Colon cleaner, sluts will love you,
Thou must medicate thyself.

Genitian, titian, titans, tits
indoctrination, doctinaire,
Getith thou prescription hereth.

Maggie Thomas, your xanax refill is ready.

The Register points out that spam often includes lines "of random, spam-filter-busting language which somehow transcend their mundane purpose and burst into the golden light of literary glory." Anyone who reads their spam has probably noticed these literary lines, often produced with some sort of language generator, but Kristin is the first writer of spam poetry that I've come across, someone who has taken those literary lines from spam, then used them in a second literary form. I guess it's sort of like found poetry.

But the interesting thing is that some spam is taking on a literary quality. It's always had a narrative quality. I just hope it doesn't become so literary that it moves me to respond.

John Kerry's blog says 15,000 were at Union Station in St. Louis for the start of his Whistle Stop ride across Missouri. I was one of them, though I never got inside the station but had to stand behind some railing. All in all it was a good rally. I especially liked Kerry's statement that "health care is a right." If he sticks to that position he just might get my vote. If not, I'll vote for Nader again.

Kerry talked a lot about plans. But that's rhetoric. I'd like to know the details of the plans. Saying I have a plan just isn't enough. Anyone can say I have a plan. He doesn't go into detail about his plan for health care, but to say health care is a right is to say come hell or high water everyone will get the care that's needed.

The rally had a big brother aspect to it. Volunteers were constantly telling you you had to complete a sign-up sheet that had spaces for your name, your address, your phone number, and your email. One volunteer said you had to sign for security reasons. I signed Jorge Shrub but refused to give the Casa Blanca as my address. Another volunteer said the rally was getting names for its data base. Sounds like a list to me.

The line snaked by Hard Rock (do you really believe Hard Rock is out to save the planet?) with a table set up with $3 dollar hot dogs and hamburgers. Those little packets of mustard and ketchup included. I stopped afterwards at QT for a 99 cents hot dog, complete with chili, onions, cheese, and jalepenos.

I've been a fan of Cowboy Junkies since Trinity Session in 1986. I like them so much I went tonight with Ann to hear them play The Pageant in St. Louis. I usually hate going to concerts. I last went, other than to a symphony or chorus, in 1982, before Cowboy Junkies, when I took a van-load of my graduate professors' kids to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas to hear Journey. Ann says I must have been looking for a bump in my grades. The only other group I'd consider going to see is Pink Floyd. It's not that I don't like other bands. It's that I hate large crowds and loud spaces. The Pageant, however, is an intimate venue, and Margo Timmin's voice is a blend of Neil Young's harmonica and Yoyo Ma's cello.