Better Writing through Research

My latest project is a set of poems which take place in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. My research started online: reading observations and reflections, studying photographs, and analyzing maps.  But, knowing that nothing beats first-hand research, last Wednesday I spent the afternoon and evening in Wharton State Forest. I've included a few photos here. I have almost two dozen more that will serve as a kind of visual database from which I will draw as a write and revise.

Yet, photos don't record enough. I traveled to the Pines to make observations that I hadn't discovered in my reading. I wasn't sure I would be rewarded for my efforts, but I had to go--even just to feel the Pine Barrens sun on my face and the Pine Barrens wind on my arms. Luckily, I got more than that. The first thing I discovered was the flies. I had been to the Pine Barrens before, but not on a hot August day just after torrential rains. The flies overwhelmed me. Various breeds. They bit. They buzzed. At times they even swarmed. At the worst moments during the day, a swarm might surround me and squirm into my hair--short as it was--and my eyes, nose, the corners of my mouth, my ears. Mostly a few dozen or so would bite as I took pictures or walked around. Relief would come occasionally from a strong breeze. The flies took refuge in the ground covering, and for a few minutes we went about our separate business.

In the ruins of the town of Friendship, someone had decorated a big tree with a piece of art--a painted mirror. I hadn't expected that. The artist? KB. Ants crawled all over it. If no one removes it, the elements surely will.

Most relevant to the trip was perhaps one of my last observations. My traveling companion and I stayed past sunset, well into the dark. Very dark. Middle of the woods dark. He turned on a bright maglite I had brought, and the beam was choked with clouds of churning pollen. Invisible during the day, the pollen was clearly something we had been swimming in, breathing in. It occurred to me that people who spend years of their lives here are more apart of the Pines then we might realize.

Writing Artist's Statements: The Agony Discussed

Over at From the Hatchery (a great blog by a friend of mine), there's an interesting post on the agony of writing artist's statements. I like the discussion, too (and not just because I'm in it--although that's part of it).

If this post doesn't grab you, go read her other posts. You might be interested to know that she writes essays, and she's been published in the New York Times. I was trying not to blurt that out, but I couldn't help it.

Dig Charles Schneider's Collage Work

Seriously. Dig it. His work brims with electricity and irony. I have one shot below (from a show in June of 2003), but much of his work is now here. Enjoy.

If you're friends with me on facebook, you can see the rest of my photos from that show.

The Band is on Hiatus

Perhaps posting some photos of us hard at work a few weeks ago will help me carry on.

Rockwell International Integrated Space Plan

In 1989, Rockwell International released a poster-sized chart that summarized a flow of advancements and accomplishments--predictions really--that would evolve the human race from its terrestrial basis and infrequent probings into space, into a race that was based on several bodies in the solar system and traveling at speeds that--well you get the idea. The timeframe? 50 years. A copy of this flow chart is on display at the Proteus Gowanus Gallery (543 Union Street, Brooklyn NY). I had the pleasure of seeing it on the way into the Sigils and Signs show in the Observatory room, and intrigued, I took some photos of this plan. Was this "integrated space plan" still on schedule? How were doing as a species? 1989 - 2012. How accurately had Rockwell mapped our journey into space?

I love how the chart reveals ambition and imbues that ambition with soaring positivist energy.  It's progress not just for Rockwell, but clearly for the human race. This chart basically maps our evolution as a species. Even for an aerospace company (the company is no-more), Rockwell couldn't have designed all of the technologies on this flow chart. The language of the chart reveals that Rockwell sees itself as part of a larger initiative to move humanity from Earth to the solar system--and the stars. The chart audaciously lays out the technologies and the time needed to do this, and the chart speaks firmly: "HUMAN CIVILIZATION EVOLVES TO EXPLORE EXTRATERRESTRIAL RESOURCES," "ROUTINE ACCESS TO SPACE ACHIEVED," "ECONOMIC AND INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY INCREASE," "HUMAN EXPANSION INTO THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM BEGINS," "HUMANITY COMMANDS UNLIMITED RESOURCES FROM THE MOON AND ASTEROIDS - UNLIMITED SAFE SOLAR ENERGY FOR EARTH," "GAIA PROLIFERATES," "HUMANITY BEGINS TRANSITION FROM A TERRESTRIAL TO A SOLAR SPECIES." These are the headings for large circles that encompass several accomplishments at certain periods along the timeline. It's inspiring. 

That inspiration is clearly there for a reason. Inspire people enough and funding starts to pour into the company with the clearest vision. Am I being cynical? Not really. The chart serves multiple purposes. Yes, it is designed to function similarly to a business plan, but it also serves to inspire. A little kitschy? Sure. Naked hubris? Pretty much. Too ambitious of a dream to achieve by 2043? Yes. But man, what an amazing dream.

Please excuse the poor quality of the photos. The timeline starts at the top of the poster and moves downward into the future. Thanks goes to artist Debra Tillinger for bringing this poster to light--I have been unable to track down another copy online or through my library's databases. Her marginalia is insightful, but I took few photos of the marginalia because I wanted to focus on the language and design of the plan itself.

As I mentioned, I have been unable to track this down electronically. However, I did find it referenced online in a bibliographic citation as

Jones, R. M., “Integrated Space Plan (Preliminary),” Rockwell International, PUB 3547-H, 1981.

 If you are searching for this poster, I hope this helps.

Reflections on an Exhibit of Literary Magazines

In April I wrote about “Inventing the Page: Student Literary Magazines at Drexel" over at drexelpublishing.org, and my point was simple: student literary magazines are worthwhile endeavors because they provide developing writers a serious place for experimentation. Sure, all writers experiment in their notebooks or on the blank screen, but a literary magazine raises the stakes and forces undergraduate writers to think about the audience flipping through the magazine, spending time reading their work. Learning to balance audience expectations with one's own goals is an important lesson for, well the truth is, all writers.

The show was also important because it demonstrated something unexpected about Drexel University. For over a century, Drexel has been known for its engineering and business programs; the surprise is that the school houses a significant population of students who spend their hours in the disciplines of writing and literature.

It's also popular and easy to see a student lit mag and think about immediacy--how student lit mags can suddenly appear and disappear so quickly. The library's exhibit reveals that student lit mags at Drexel have a long history. Bravo to archivist Robert Sieczkiewicz for imagining and coordinating this fantastic exhibit. From what I can recall, pieces selected for the exhibit were chosen by faculty: Martha Cornog, Valerie Fox, Karen Nulton, Miriam Kotzin, Rachel Wenrick, me, and students: Hannah Gittler, Marina Lamanna, Francesca Martelli, Zack Ssebatindira, Kerri Sullivan, and Tina Walsh.

Looking through years of student work to find a few poems that spoke to me was one of the coolest projects I worked on this year, and I will write about my specific experience selecting a poem in a future post. Work published and on display in the exhibit includes pieces by: Henrietta Cherry Quinn, H.E. Blank, Jr., David Focer, Daniel Dougherty, Michael Wadler, Alan D. Haverson, T. W. Page, J.B. Rossnick, Howard M. Benson, Vernon Waring, Karen Smith, Shinobi Kang, Ida Chi, Anthony Pirnot, Amanda Ngozi Adichie, Wadzanai Mhute, and Michael Long.

Hagerty Library has an article on the exhibit here. I've placed my amateur photos of the exhibit below. The exhibit's official opening also featured current students and faculty reading work from issues past. There's video of that reading, here; you can see Fox, Kotzin, Ssebatindira, and me read work we selected. Sieczkiewicz introduces the reading.

Notes

In May, my friend Dan Arp graduated from Georgetown with a Master of Science in Foreign Service. Considering international events over the last two years, it was quite a time to be studying in this discipline. The ceremony was uplifting and informative, and I was honored to be a guest.

We took the long way back to Philadelphia and wound up crossing the Susquehanna on Route 372, a rural part of Pennsylvania, just north of the Maryland line. We shared the road with plenty of horses and buggies as the Amish went to church or visited friends and family. As novel as it was to see that, it didn't hold water next to this sight: a phone booth. Quarryville, PA still has one. God bless Quarryville. The phone booth is on East State St. near the intersection with Route 472.