Wow--I got a chance to see David Mills read some of his work yesterday at events in Philadelphia. It was a blast. Mills's work is engaging, full of energy, honest directness, compassion, and stunning imagery. One of his short poems even had a story that was mythical in its dimensions--amazing stuff. And, it's time to be honest with ourselves, it's not every writer who knows how to hold a live audience. Mills has extensive training as an actor, and he understands the difference between performance poetry and being able to perform poetry. His latest book is The Dream Detective. Fun stuff.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Messages from the Future!
Many of us have this feeling that the way we experience time is not the way time actually exists. And now here's an experiment--two actually--that have produced some almost sci-fi (or is that psy-fi?) results about time-traveling information. Here's more from Radiolab's Robert Krulwich.
Weird, huh? Well, I can't let this go untested, can I?
Every morning I talk to myself about the previous day, or I should say that I talk to my yesterday morning-self. My past self has a heads-up and an encouraging message about the day ahead. My present self is upbeat and, at some level, prepared for what will happen during the day about to unfold. And, my future self is getting out of bed and leaving me a message.
I do not believe that I am crazy.
Weird, huh? Well, I can't let this go untested, can I?
Every morning I talk to myself about the previous day, or I should say that I talk to my yesterday morning-self. My past self has a heads-up and an encouraging message about the day ahead. My present self is upbeat and, at some level, prepared for what will happen during the day about to unfold. And, my future self is getting out of bed and leaving me a message.
I do not believe that I am crazy.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Things You Need to Write
Freeman tells you what you need to write a play. It has an uncanny resemblance to what one needs to write poetry.
The Eagles 2010 Season Comes to a Close
Yes, I care. Sue me. This season--where, back in September everyone called this season a "rebuilding year," where the fans believed that the team wouldn't do more than have a few more wins than losses, where (in the pre-season) the team saw its best quarterback move to a rival team and then lost to that rival and then whupped that rival, where the team relied on a third string ex-con quarterback who took more punishment week after week than a boy at a British boarding school to keep winning game after game and place the team as NFC East Champs--was one of the greatest narratives in Eagles season history. Now it's over. My dreams of an all-Pennsylvania Superbowl fade yet again.
And yes, it ended in a familiar way. The team wasn't crushed by a superior defense. A superior opponent didn't take the team down. In the last minute of the game, our quarterback threw an interception instead of a game-winning touchdown. It's called choking. Like sometimes happens at wedding receptions--you know, weddings. Where there are bridesmaids. Bridesmaids who feel like they will always be bridesmaids, never...
And yes, it ended in a familiar way. The team wasn't crushed by a superior defense. A superior opponent didn't take the team down. In the last minute of the game, our quarterback threw an interception instead of a game-winning touchdown. It's called choking. Like sometimes happens at wedding receptions--you know, weddings. Where there are bridesmaids. Bridesmaids who feel like they will always be bridesmaids, never...
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
My Phone Company Rocks
I've been with a phone company known as Working Assets for about 10 years now. I love them and I want to praise them. Working Assets is a phone company with progressive values. Back in 2000, when many companies were still on the fence about same-sex domestic partner benefits, Working Assets was fully committed to the practice. Fast forward to this past year: Working Assets donated over two million dollars to progressive charities.
It boils down to this: I love the fact that my phone company takes an active role in fighting for what I believe in. Unlike AT&T and Verizon, Working Assets does not donate money to politicians who are pro-war, anti-environment, anti-pro-choice, anti-universal health care. Working Assets prints their bills on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Yes.
Some details about the structure: Working Assets does long distance, but the mobile phone service part of its business is known as CREDO. There's also a credit card arm, and there's an arm known as the action network (a blog, facebook page, etc.).
Some details about the charitable giving: In addition to the money regularly donated by this corporation, whenever one pays a bill from Working Asetts or CREDO he or she can choose to round-up the payment to the nearest dollar, five-dollar, or ten dollar mark. That portion will be donated to a charity pool. At the end of the year, all working Assets customers vote on where the money in that pool goes. It's fun.
It feels good to crow about this company. Working Assets is not afraid to inform, write letters, and organize petition drives. The company has a commitment to democracy that's invigorating. If corporations have even more power these days, this is a corporation using its power for good causes. This is a corporation I can do business with.
It boils down to this: I love the fact that my phone company takes an active role in fighting for what I believe in. Unlike AT&T and Verizon, Working Assets does not donate money to politicians who are pro-war, anti-environment, anti-pro-choice, anti-universal health care. Working Assets prints their bills on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Yes.
Some details about the structure: Working Assets does long distance, but the mobile phone service part of its business is known as CREDO. There's also a credit card arm, and there's an arm known as the action network (a blog, facebook page, etc.).
Some details about the charitable giving: In addition to the money regularly donated by this corporation, whenever one pays a bill from Working Asetts or CREDO he or she can choose to round-up the payment to the nearest dollar, five-dollar, or ten dollar mark. That portion will be donated to a charity pool. At the end of the year, all working Assets customers vote on where the money in that pool goes. It's fun.
It feels good to crow about this company. Working Assets is not afraid to inform, write letters, and organize petition drives. The company has a commitment to democracy that's invigorating. If corporations have even more power these days, this is a corporation using its power for good causes. This is a corporation I can do business with.
Borders
Yes, I'm discussing the store that sells books. In 2009, when the company was going through a quite a bit of re-organizing, there was also a change in the atmosphere of selling at the store. I can only speak of the three Borders that I frequented, but it honestly seemed more important for booksellers to be friendly and pushy than to be knowledgeable. New faces appeared to sell me things, but their knowledge of genres and authors wasn't so hot. It was sad. Book retailing is just a difficult business, and it seemed like these were the death throws of a company--and a way of buying books.
2010, I am happy to say, brought a different atmosphere. The stores I frequent are no longer just pushing merchandise. There are booksellers, and they are selling books. It reminds me of a story heard on Marketplace a few weeks back that reported on businesses returning to old-fashioned customer service. While retail has had, and (with the death of wages tied to commission) will continue to have, those who are simply "point of sale transaction administrators," many businesses are returning to old-fashioned sales techniques to retain (and gain) customers. That is, knowing your wares, knowing your customers, and connecting your customers to what they want (or didn't know they wanted). Kudos to Borders for recognizing that the store had lost its way, and for returning to what matters.
I still purchase many books online, but if I'm just browsing, my local Borders stores have returned to a way of selling books that I thought was going to disappear.
2010, I am happy to say, brought a different atmosphere. The stores I frequent are no longer just pushing merchandise. There are booksellers, and they are selling books. It reminds me of a story heard on Marketplace a few weeks back that reported on businesses returning to old-fashioned customer service. While retail has had, and (with the death of wages tied to commission) will continue to have, those who are simply "point of sale transaction administrators," many businesses are returning to old-fashioned sales techniques to retain (and gain) customers. That is, knowing your wares, knowing your customers, and connecting your customers to what they want (or didn't know they wanted). Kudos to Borders for recognizing that the store had lost its way, and for returning to what matters.
I still purchase many books online, but if I'm just browsing, my local Borders stores have returned to a way of selling books that I thought was going to disappear.
Thinking About Corporations
With the new 2011 congress chocked full of of Republicans determined to slash spending on government programs that control, to some degree, the massive amount of power corporations already possess, and with year-end retrospectives focusing on the Supreme Court's decision to allow corporations the right to donate to politicians as human beings might, I thought it time to get around to two posts on corporations that I've been meaning to write for a while. Stay tuned.
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