mermaidcamp
Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water
You can scroll the shelf using ← and → keys
Electing Apathy
April 26, 2015
— 4 Comments
Thorny issues
The candidates align on left and right with eager well lit faces
Chirping sound bites with sincere well tested spinning phrases
They will sprawl all over the airwaves, call your home and send mail
Proclaiming vague tattered arguments that strike everyone as stale
We will resume campaigns for presidential power through bribery
Lavish spending on election shenanigans supports the corrupt dynasty
To protect yourself from Republicans and Democrats you must be firm
Political parties spend like sailors spreading untruths to make you squirm
As they trot out their make up and their speeches, reject the fallacious
Look at the images they are projecting and recognize the mendacious
After the spending and insincere rhetoric we elect the same jerks
As if nobody has been paying attention to the way this all works
NaPoWriMo 2015
Enjoy poetry this month here. Take time to read and write some poems in April.
#ROW80 Subject Matters
March 9, 2015
— 2 Comments
ROW80
This week I bought a book of poetry that has been created by illiterate women in Pakistan and Afghanistan. These cultural specialties of the Pashtun tribe are biting commentary on life. Since they live in a war-torn state, to say the least, and their rights are severely limited because they are female, their point of view contains irony and stinging truth about love, war, grief, homeland, and separation. They tackle these subjects with depth and witty metaphor which they have learned from other women. The special right to express themselves is frequently withdrawn if the males in a family learn about it. The book I am reading, I am the Beggar of the World, was inspired by a young girl’s suicide when she was forbidden to create landays and share them on a telephone hot line in Kabul. The journalists who composed the images and couplets are veteran reporters who had been in the area during years of war, covering just the facts. They were emotionally and creatively blown away by the density and artfulness of this pastime/folk literature. The Poetry Foundation helped fund the expedition and Poetry magazine published some of the works. The response from the magazine’s readers was overwhelming. People want to see more of this kind of primal undiscovered poetry that is hidden and unknown to outsiders. It has touched me deeply and makes excellent meditation material.
As a writer I am taking on new subjects. My poems are still simplistic, but I am stretching to find subjects, characters, and perhaps real events that spark my imagination. I have considered how fresh and essential the landays are because of the restrictions of illiteracy and the need to remain anonymous. They are wisecracks, jokes, and political farce all rolled into a few words, like a comic distillation of the concept. Like the work of Dorothy Parker which I am reading, admire, and want to emulate, these jokes are intricate and require some practice to make them work. They pack a lot of editorial punch into 22 syllables, as Mrs. Parker did in her short witty quips. Subjects that are taboo can be handled with humor in such a way as to make emphatic points without confronting issues directly. The discovery of landays and the women who create them leads me to want to take on more difficult subjects. Politics, art and poetry overlap in any era, and the result can be revealing. I am working to develop some good cosmic jokes that resonate with my gentle readers on many levels.
As a practice writing poems is revealing and confidence building. I take zero risks typing away on my iPad saying anything that pops into my mind. In comparison to the Pashtun ladies I suffer very little for my art. I can publish it, tweet it, change it, illustrate it, and it is free to travel wherever people care to read it. I am starting to have an appreciation of the opportunity as well as the responsibility that situation creates. I wonder if I can say something funny and profound that has the power to stick in the mind and change it. For me the ROW80 challenge continues to be more about what I read and learn than it is about what I am writing now. The stepping stones to better work are contained in the works of other poets. They inspire me to look for subjects that matter.
poppy
Get Yourself Out to Vote
October 27, 2014
— 2 Comments
Sonora, Bald Eagle
My ballot has been mailed. I have never missed an election since I have had the right to vote. I am not often thrilled with the outcomes, but I think it is my responsiblity to make sure my voice is heard. There are many close elections this year. If you have not registered for early voting or otherwise prepared, please help yourself to this handy dandy tool. It is not too late to make a difference in this election. Gentle Reader, if you are an American your country needs to hear from you.
Poets and Education
April 15, 2014
— 1 Comment
From the time we learned our first Dr Seuss rhyme we were being educated by poets. Nursery rhymes and fairy tales are used to teach morals and ethics to children. There is value in the use of language to enchant and stick in the memory. Poets are feeding the artistic as well as the language skills of readers. Our own stories can only be told by our own voice. To develop a voice as a writer or a poet one simply needs to start. Children are ready to rhyme and laugh at almost any word. Adults often loose enthusiasm for word play as they grow older. Since poetry stimulates creativity, and is a tool to jog the memory it makes sense to read and write poems. Often hidden meaning can be found in song and story, as it is in Calypso. Political protest can be carried out in a rhyme using allegory to mask the obvious. Some of our nursery rhymes today were once hot treason against authorities. What kind of symbolic words would you use to write a poetic protest today?
Wurst, Weiners, and Weenies
July 3, 2013
— 4 Comments
hot dog
Fast food has been known to the Euros for ages. They demand fast food everywhere all the time, but it is local and superb. They are all about the grilled wurst. It s everywhere, grilled outside and served with a piece of bread, but no hot dog bun. This snack/meal is the basic on the go food for German-speaking peeps, including the Swiss. Everywhere you go with Swiss people they end up with a wurst. It is not what I eat, but there are plenty of street foods that I adore. My favorite dish on earth is vegetarian tandooori schnitzel at Hiltl. The oldest vegetarian restaurant in Europe is in Zurich, in the heart of downtown Switzerland; the schnitzel calls to me in my dreams.
How we fell so far from the wurst grilling street vendors to the Wienerschnitzel chili dog is a sad story of linguistic and culinary decline. A schnizel is a filet of pork sirloin, and not a hot dog in any way. Wiener refers to Vienna, a culinary hub where I assure you nobody would consider eating the chili dog or our famous canned Vienna sausage. They just would not do that to their taste buds and bodies. Beanie Weenies would be scorned as well because food that rides around in a can is simply not fast. The first ingredient in these alleged fast foods is petroleum, since they are shipped great distances in freezing conditions or heavy packaging.
Ironically, on the most important weenie weekend of the year, 4th of July, I probably pay more for my vegetarian apple smoked sausage which I will eat with organic sauerkraut than most people pay for the meat hot dog, corn dog, or burger. It too has traveled far in the so called health food supply chain. I have bought these because I am lazy and have not made my own, which are always better than store bought. At least when I want a chili dog I make the chili. Truly taking care of body earth and soul means saying good bye, or at least see you later to processed foods that cost too much to produce. These well traveled weenies are not good for anyone. To heal the politics of the nation we need to pass on the used Weiners, and get back to basic whole civilization.
Much Ado About Satan
December 21, 2012
I believe that the South Park gay Satan may be the strongest projection of our collective image of evil outside of ourselves. While Rocky’s Fearless Leader worked for the cold war, gay Satan breaking up with Saddam Hussein is the right farce for now (ridiculous). Of course the U S Marines were grateful to have the footage to force gay Saddam to watch his South Park episodes. (Semper Fi). If somehow you were captured by Marines in your dreams, which episode of South Park would they force you to watch?
I admire the ability to use irony as torture. John McCain has data that proves torture by old fashioned methods did not yield useful information. John McCain is my own state’s expert on torture, as he ably demonstrated with his own ironic choice of running mates. Our intelligence community, as they are known, often think outside the intelligence. If you meet them please have some courtesy, have some sympathy, have some taste.
The border, the stoners, the Feds
November 7, 2012
— 2 Comments
Now that we can be relieved of the presidential politics for a minute, let us look ahead to the rapid change rolling into the future of the US. I live next to the border where incentive to smuggle is a traditional job creator in the region. Capital creation has historically been based on tax free labor and favorable agriculture laws that made ranching and farming possible in the state. We are now famous for SB1070, the state immigration law mostly banned by the Supremes. The political cartoon of our state is Barry Goldwater in drag flying a bomber over Phoenix to do the business of the people. His legacy lives, but it is demographically challenged and I believe will soon be destroyed by pure and simple economic reality. During Barry’s lifetime the border was a complete joke. All farming and ranching depended on Mexican undocumented labor. All hotels and restaurants in Arizona used the same standards. Tucson was the Mexican dirt weed capital of the great southwest, shipping untold tons to untold trillions of American pot smokers.
The only real change in the government that happened on election day was the legalization of marijuana by Colorado and Washington. Lester Holt cautioned the stoners not to break out the goldfish and Cheetos too soon, which lead to a comment that there is no Entenmann’s way out west. Yes, Brian , we do have Entenmann’s, and excellent medicinal kine bud grown right here in Arizona. Colorado, however, has an advanced business model in play that will be ready for Coca Cola as soon as either the Supremes or the dweebs in congress clear the active for Cannabis Coke. There has been much investment in Colorado into development of products ready to ship across the nation. These legally produced and consumed products replace some of the income lost by the attrition of traditional ( read tax free labor force) farming. Arizona agriculture has been decimated by draught, SB1070, and the same loss of interest in farming as a business experienced by the rest of the nation. We are out of water, but we still have plenty of sunshine. The new pharming is done indoors requiring intense electric lighting to achieve the pharmaceutical quality. Arizona can produce solar electricity, and we already have Dutch people here growing tomatoes in greenhouses.
Lawyers and lobbyists, come on down!!! Let us get real about laws that create liberty and justice for all, and laws that provide incentive for violent criminal smuggling. Arizona can be the crown jewell in the solar pharming phuture of cannabis. We can provide legal jobs and opportunity that will enrich our state tax revenues, or we can continue to play deadly tug of war with the Sinaloa cartel. Some profit from status quo. Incentives for smuggling must always include bribes, as is the nature of the beast. Some law enforcement individuals can and do become extra super wealthy from all this incentive, while the state becomes destitute. By eliminating the smuggling incentives we an make our tax dollars work for the public interest. Even if you are sure you never want to burn one the economic absurdity of pouring tax dollars into making sure nobody else does must be clear. The idea of securing the border is a good one. It is time to cut the cord for the Mexican cartels, and suck up to those cute Dutch people with all those greenhouses. You do not need to be high to see how this works.
Pilgrims, Puritans, and Politics
November 6, 2012
— 2 Comments
Alice Carpenter, Pilgrim
There is some gross generalization presented in the Thanksgiving spectacle/history lesson of the colonies. There was turkey, lots of lobster, and headgear similar to the hats and feathers in school pageants, but the Pilgrims and the Puritans are not the same group of people. If one traces carefully the two thought forms still exist in America, but they are distinct. Pilgrims came from Holland on the Mayflower to bring their biblical faith to another part of the earth. They believed they were sojourners on the earth destined for the holy city, and only subject to worldly law when it did not conflict with religious directives. The Puritans, as the name implies, had been working in reformation to purify religion through political action. Puritans arrived after the Pilgrims in the Boston area. They had a different attitude toward the native people, since they were not sharing a divine sojourn with them, but making a political state that they believed aligned with pure reformation ideals. Both groups shared biblical Christianity as their standard, but in practice Pilgrims sought peace while Puritans sought to dominate through harsh purifying authority (think Salem/witches). None of this would have ever been done if the Bible had not been printed, causing Europe to become politically violent about reforming, restoring, separating, and purifying. Before printing presses political power and religious power were so obviously entwined as to cause…the Reformation.
Thomas Southworth was born a Pilgrim in Holland. His father died there. His mother, Alice Carpenter , sailed from Leiden on the Mayflower with her second husband, Gov. William Bradford. After Plymouth was established as a Pilgrim colony Thomas joined his mother and stepfather. William Bradford was a shoe merchant, and many other Mayflower Pilgrims were also in clothing, hat, and fashion trades. They had spent years in Holland being influenced by the fancy colorful costuming of the Dutch. It was politically not cool to starch your ruffs (ruffles like QE I wore up around the neck). The large collar draped rather than stiff said you were so New World 1620. That explains the white scarf look we see in costumes. Almost no real Pilgrim clothing remains from the period, so the current stereotype is not accurate. Black and grey may have been worn, but were not standard. These Pilgrims were fashionable religious adventurers (with stylin’ footwear) bonding with the natives in the new commune/colony of Plymouth when the Puritans arrived. Thomas spent his career as a (well dressed, I am sure ) politician.
Thomas Southworth (1617 – 1669)
is my 10th great grandfather
Daughter of Thomas
Daughter of Elizabeth
Son of Elizabeth
Daughter of Eleazer
Daughter of Sarah
Daughter of Mercy
Son of Martha
Son of Abner
Son of Daniel Rowland
Son of Jason A
Son of Ernest Abner
is the daughter of Richard Arden
This year if you think about Pilgrims, or use little figures decoratively get something historically correct. There was no water on the Mayflower. Every man woman and child was issued beer each day of the trip. Imagine the hangover a child might get from a long sea voyage drinking nothing but beer. As sojourners of the earth they felt it was all part of the mission. Get over the concept that these people (Pilgrims) sailed across the sea to wear black and stuff turkeys. They came here to tune in, turn on, and drop out of the religious struggles in the old country. They were all about debunking the folly of corrupt authority posing as religion. Pilgrims were the big proponents of separation of church and state. They believed that they had a personal connection to providence that was more important and powerful than any civil institution. Puritans, on the other hand, had interest in reforming civil institutions. Can you link these beliefs to today’s political landscape?
Bitter End
November 3, 2012
— 8 Comments
bitterness tree
What are the factors that leave the bitter and putrid taste we have in our mouths from the election year? Some feel the Supremes let all the dogs out when the allowed superpac money to influence us without disclosure. I believe we know which interests support which candidates, so the secrecy is not the issue exactly. What I notice this year is that wounds are the stars of the show. The festering rust belt unemployment wound is pitted against the draught stricken farmer wound, or the immigration wound, with the neediest winning temporary, meaningless attention. Like siblings in a poverty stricken family who must srcap for everything, childish whining leaders of the government constantly remind us of the undeserving nature of the other side of the aisle. We know never to believe the statements they make or the reason they employ. We know they are all in the pockets of the lobbyists. Nobody has any faith that the greedy, out of control people who spend our tax money have any principals that do not bend for funding. Our government is corrupt, which means that we pay for a lot of action that is destructive rather than productive.
The congress likes to tell the story that they make sausage. They throw all the requests together in order to make laws that will pass both houses. The lobbyist funding that influences every vote speaks much louder than the public interest. The public interest has no lobby, and therefore is not powerful enough to take a senator out to a fancy lunch or ball game to discuss the public’s point of view. The federal government has not had time to do it’s job for years because it is campaigning all the time. The need to feed the political machine to keep the candidate on the trail starts and ends with corporate and industry lobbies built for the purpose of creating legislation favorable to partisan causes. This is why the sausage is always full of disgusting unknown substances and crazy consequences. Nobody is the wiser, since the bills generally are almost impossible to read or comprehend. Nobody expects these laws to be enforced. That is what seems to me to be the big bitter joke.
The most important factor that creates that bitterness is lack of enforcement. The lawmakers put on some Kabuki theater of right and wrong through legislation wars. In the meantime, we maintain gigantic agencies with so little oversight and supervision that nothing works. All these laws on the books require offices full of civil servants, and buildings, vehicles, and infrastructure. None of them seems to require enforcement. The civil servants drive around in the civil vehicles ignoring fraud and corruption. They are concerned primarily with the benefits of their jobs, the continuation of their jobs, and doing as little work as possible. Enforcement is the least of their concern. Since the elected official who is in charge of the office is absent campaigning, waste is the word of the day.
Non Stop Bucks
October 10, 2012
— 4 Comments
I am not the only one wishing the political campaign dollars had been spent on the real problems instead of talking about those problems while blaming others. If you have children who must compete for attention, dollars, education, etc, picture a nation of these children. The soon to be elected leaders are trying to become head of our national household. They are advertising, traveling, and spending money like crazy to convince voters that they are the best for the job. The race it self is boring, but the budgets to bore are outrageous. Vast sums that can be traced to donors, and even bigger super pacs whose donations remain anonymous run the heavily negative ads.
Imagine how your life would be if the members of your household voted on the leadership who control the money spent in the household. What kind of ads would be run to woo the members of your family? Politics always chooses winners and losers by crafting legislation. This never ending cycle of winning/loosing/changing the laws is paid for by the people subject to those laws. Parents and monarchs can dispense with being elected or making a promise to anyone. We know what to expect from their performance after we observe them in action. Some are wise, some silly, egomaniacal, or weak. The good ones seem to get better with time and experience. They do not need to constantly campaign to stay in the monarchy or parenthood, so they can develop wisdom with all that spare time.
The country that allows all this wasteful expenditure on political campaigning is not in a position to afford to blow so much money. Part of the big argument is about the nation’s debt. I do not see any future in keeping the system that proclaims that we are too big to stop borrowing and too cranky to agree on how to spend money. The Swiss are famously cranky about how to spend money, but have solved this problem within their political system. They keep the tax revenues in the canton, working for the people who paid the taxes, as they see fit. They have, but do not go overboard, with the idea of a federal government. There is a beautiful building in Bern to house the congress, which has two chambers, similar to our own. There are no lobbyists, no free parties for the federal employees who serve in the Bundeshaus. In fact, congress is in session in Bern for only 25% of the year. The rest of the time these civil servants go live at home and make a living like other citizens. The salary to serve is not high, so they must want to do it for the service aspect. I wish the US congress could be treated like that. If they did not have that full time free lunch waiting for them every day from lobbyists, they might be able to work effectively for the people who paid all those taxes. Throwing new groups of bums out every 4 years does not seem to be leading to enlightened governance. It makes sense to throw out the system that creates all these bums.
mermaidcamp 