“The problem, currently,” said the lieutenant. May 19, 2007
Posted by Steven in : Uncategorized , add a commentI went for four days without shaving last week.
It was horrific.
I have started compiling a list of the books that I believe most heavily informed me as I was growing up.
So far, I have
Maniac Magee
Onion John
The Fairy Rebel
Summer of the Swans
Flowers For Algernon
The Ink Keeper’s Apprentice
and pretty much everything by Roald Dahl
I never realized how much some of these impacted me until I started making this list and gave them a second look. I don’t know why I started this, what my criteria are, or what I am going to do with it when I finish, but it feels important, so I’ll keep at it.
Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Eluvium, Broken Social Scene, Rapoon, and this album Song of a Thousand Birds, which is the solo effort of Declan De Barra, the singer from Clann Zú. I’m not in love with it, but I don’t want it out of my life, either.
And now for something interesting.
Last weekend, or the one before. April 14, 2007
Posted by Steven in : Uncategorized , add a commentOn Friday, 30 March, I woke up at four in the morning and went to the airport.
I arrived at the Kansas City Airport at noon. Courtney met me at the gate;
I was surprised, but I, rather than getting excited when surprised,
Stood there, lamely, trying to think of how to explain why I wasn’t saying anything.
We wandered around in the parking structure, looking for her car,
Then we went to lunch, and afterward met up with Jason.
We packed some things and left for Omaha, where we were to see
Explosions In The Sky in concert.
They were awesome, by the way.
The next evening brought a celebration of Jason’s birthday,
Where I saw some people whom I hadn’t seen in more than a year
And was overjoyed to see again.
I spent most of the weekend sleeping and trying to figure out
Whether I was in Missouri or Kansas at the moment,
So these emotions didn’t really shine through as they should have.
Still, though, it was good for me.
I owe Courtney and Jason quite a lot for that one.
This Week: March 15, 2007
Posted by Steven in : Uncategorized , add a commentIt hasn’t been so good.
My students have been awful,
And stress is getting to me.
I just want to figure out what I’m going to do with myself.
At the end of the month, I will be flying out to see Courtney;
She should be able to tell me what to do, being my oracle and all.
Still waiting to hear back from Boston and the other schools.
I imagined getting all the responses at once;
Now that it’s taking longer to hear back, I’m feeling a bit suspended and stuck.
Labradford - Mi Media Naranja
Boris - Pink
T.Rex - The Slider
I just finished How The Mind Works by Steven Pinker.
I’m practicing Greek grammar and Latin reading,
And I discovered this morning that I have two copies of Where I’m Calling From by Raymond Carver.
This is upsetting, because this means that I have someone’s copy, and I don’t know whose.
I have stopped shaving with cup soap, because lately, I only think to shave when I am in a hurry.
Behold: March 11, 2007
Posted by Steven in : Uncategorized , add a commentI wanted to take excerpts and comment on them,
But it would just look like jealousy.
Part-way Down March 9, 2007
Posted by Steven in : Uncategorized , add a commentPlease lay me with my head toward Hanamaki
When I leave this world I’ve known;
I pray the God of my mother
Will come take me home.
I hesitated discussing this on here, but then I remembered that I can discuss whatever I want because it’s my blog, dammit, and no one reads it. I have received rejection letters from Columbia and Notre Dame, my first and last choices, respectively. This is bad. It’s really bad. I should feel a lot worse than I do. Wose than guilty and a little hurt, at least.
Time to start planning again.
I’m open to suggestions.
Try: Gifts From Enola (”City Lights Scraped The Sky”), Gary Higgins (”Unable To Fly”), 16 Horsepower (”Black Soul Choir”)
Groping for Things of Nominal Interest February 19, 2007
Posted by Steven in : Uncategorized , 3 commentsI finished teaching the lesson to my math group and went to stand by the turtle tank.
It is set upon a desk, with the can of food and bottle of cleaner nearby.
It’s an aquarium, but I think it’s supposed to be a terrarium, because it leaks a lot,
And the turtle keeps trying to clamber up the sides.
I have a limited but special relationship with the turtle.
I call him Ignatius, but without good reason.
One day, a while back, he winked at me confidentially.
I protect Ignatius from the students, and Ignatius…
Ignatius doesn’t really do anything for me.
Anyway, after finishing the lesson, I looked over and saw Ignatius swimming
From one end of the tank to the other, but when he reached the end,
He did not turn around. He simply swam, head on, into the glass,
And was suspended there, swimming in place, limbs treading, neck extended,
Nose flush against the wall of the tank.
Poor guy, I thought. It didn’t seem that he realized that he could go no farther.
So out of pity, I took the can of food and bottle of cleaner
And slid it slowly past him along the side of the tank.
I haven’t shaved in several days.
I am reading How The Mind Works by Steven Pinker.
A week and a half ago, I ordered an Asunder shirt, and it has not arrived.
Within the next three weeks, I am supposed to hear back from the grad schools.
I haven’t been staying on top of some things, and I need to make up for that.
Music to try out: Pelican, Audrey, Salako, Robbie Basho.
Stranger Days February 9, 2007
Posted by Steven in : Uncategorized , add a commentToday, I thought I’d be cheery for Ryan, my one-on-one student.
“Hey, Ryan!” I said when I met him coming off the bus.
“Want to hear a secret?”
“Life is cruel,” he said without looking up.
I didn’t know what to think. I mean, he was right,
And it was a warranted statement coming from him.
But it still seemed pretty inappropriate. I blinked.
“Took the words right out of your mouth,” he said, in his uniquely plaintive tone.
Later on, in typing class, he anguished as his words-per-minute began to slip away.
“It’s like a chicken!” he wailed. His shoulders fell. “You can’t hold onto it forever.”
It being Black History Month,
We passed out copies of Junior Scholastic with a special article on American slavery.
Upon seeing the reproductions of old black and white photographs, a student gasped.
“I thought slavery was illegal!” he cried.
I frowned. “It is.”
“Still?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, good.”
At this point, the student next to him piped up: “No it isn’t!”
I wasn’t quite sure where this was going, so I didn’t say anything.
“What about those people who bring you your food?”
Good god. “You mean ’servers’?”
His face lit up. “Ohhhhhhhh.”
Today at lunch (I drive to the same Starbucks every day
And sit for seven minutes before I have to drive back),
A woman sat next to me and complained about her latest custody hearing.
“What do you do?” she asked. “I work in special education,” I replied.
“That must be so rewarding.”
“Probably.”
Leah February 5, 2007
Posted by Steven in : Uncategorized , add a commentleah: Oh man. Today’s way too lazy for me.
leah: It’s 1:30 and I haven’t put on pants.
* * *
leah: I think I lost my wallet and I feel like wearing eyeliner.
leah: Phone rang and I nearly stabbed myself in the eye.
* * *
leah: Something terrible is coming out of my speakers.
leah: Apparently it’s Muse.
* * *
steven: …
steven: Ow.
leah: ?
steven: Nothing.
steven: I just got tired of waiting for you to say something.
leah: I’ll be honest. I was looking at the silhouette of my hand.
* * *
leah: The Dave Matthews version of All Along the Watchtower really, really sucks.
Upcoming January 31, 2007
Posted by Steven in : Uncategorized , add a commentFebruary’s got nothing for me.
March, that’s the money month. Mid-March, I’ll be hearing back from the schools. At the end of March, I’ll be visiting Courtney and seeing Explosions in the Sky.
April, I’ll be turning 24 and, if I get accepted by any schools, I’ll have to respond with my decision. If I don’t get accepted, I’ll have to start making plans to move away somewhere.
So that’s the prospectus.
Someone asked me, “What are you going to do if you don’t get into grad school?”
I stared at her for a moment, then said, “Drink.”
I’m currently reading my Greek grammar (Mastronarde) and a collection of essays and talks by Flannery O’Connor.
I shaved yesterday. Picked up a straight razor, but I can’t get the damn thing properly honed.
Leah & I
Posted by Steven in : Uncategorized , add a commentleah: What ringtone do you want?
steven: What?
leah: Sublime’s Badfish is one
steven: Blind Guardian - “Mirror, Mirror”
steven: Mastodon - “Blood and Thunder”
steven: Behemoth - “Nephilim Rising”
leah: …You’re getting Sublime.
steven: NOOOOO!!!
steven: What else is there?
steven: At The Gates - “Nausea”
leah: No. Stoppit.
steven: Iron Maiden - “Run to the Hills”
leah: Pah!
steven: Judas Priest - “Night Crawler”
leah: STOP IT.
steven: Okay.
steven: But when we finally call it quits on some frozen, lonely night under the moon in San Clemente,
steven: I’m going to get in my car and play High On Fire - “Speedwolf” as I drive away.
leah: I’ll be throwing rocks.