Poetry for the occasion

I have heard both negative and positive reaction to Elizabeth Alexander's inaugural poem. Some say it sounded too much like prose, some praised it as Whitmanesque. Personally, I thought it was beautiful. You may compare it to the previous offerings.

And yes, this list below is it. Too bad if you ask me.

Miller Williams (yes, he is Lucinda's father).
Maya Angelou
Robert Frost (if you missed Writer's Almanac on Tuesday, the explanation for the two poems was interesting).

If you have any events for which you would like a poem composed, contact your favorite poet and ask about their rates. Most poets will work with you for a reasonable fee.

I can hardly wait for the mini-series.

I hate talking about politics, generally. People argue and judge you for having thoughts or for not having thoughts and for thinking out loud, but mostly for not thinking exactly like they do. So I am loathe to mention anything that is entertaining in politics, but I thought you should read this.

It's all about the dramatic irony of a particular governor quoting certain poems. I love it. I love the idea of a governor quoting poetry as his ship is sinking because it makes life poetic when it would otherwise be merely filthy.

But it begs a question about politics. Once someone gets big in politics, someone else begins writing his words so that he (or she of course) sounds good. Then you end up thinking about the tail wagging the dog. What is a loyal speech writer to do? Speak sincerely without acknowledging the ridiculousness of everything that has happened? The article presumes that the quotations are made without any one's knowledge and maybe that's true, but what if some guy who is soon to be out of a job and whose resume is going to include "speech writer for crooked man" decides to have some fun.

It seems silly that someone who believes he should represent the people pays someone else to choose his words. It's telling of our society, but also makes you wonder about all of the talented people who are writing stirring words which history will ascribe to another man. It's got to be an odd gig and wouldn't it be a little bit fun to mess with someone who puts that kind of trust in you especially if that person is a jerk.

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Anyway, I read that Beyonce will sing the first dance song at the inaugural ball. If I were President I would have chosen Bob Dylan I think. Just because it'd be cool. Or maybe Raul Malo because I like his voice. Or maybe Over the Rhine so they could sing their President song.

color me bad

I am in the process of repainting my house. I live in a neighborhood of little houses from the 40s and 50s which are charming and in my case falling apart. The exterior of my home is aluminum siding and the paint started coming off in sheets following the insane hail storms from this summer. So, after loads of advice (thanks Robert!!), I am getting around to repainting. On Friday, I called the paint store to give my colors to the painter.

Then on Sunday, I parked on the street instead of in my usual niche (carport). From that spot I noticed a house which was pretty much the same colors that I had called in (mine were slightly prettier, but light green and dark green are essentially identical to "mesclun green" and "olympic range" when it's all said and done). This house is across the street from the side of my house. So if you were driving down the street and looked in either direction you would see these two houses. Would a driver say "How tacky!" upon encountering the similarities or would he turn up the radio?

I freaked out a little because I'm not really a native townie. Is it a huge faux pas to paint your house the same color as a neighbor's house? Obviously, it's not a problem if it's white, which most of the houses on my block are, but does that change when it's a brighter, more interesting color? Does it change if across the street is actually pretty far because of the wide streets?

The bottom line is the white and gray have to end. "Edgy gold" is the new "mesclun green".

The mysterious ipod.

Right now I'm listening to my ipod. Betsy once said that if I wrote a novel about myself that no one would believe the parts about my technological ineptitude, yet those parts are all too real.

For starters I can't figure out how to turn the volume down. It should be an obvious feature, but somehow it is completely baffling me. Next, I am listening to a download which I purchased to start out with just to get the hang of it. I've downloaded before, but never with an actual ipod to put all of the new music on. Anyway, I picked The Avett Brothers' "Gleam 2" because it's an ep and I have a difficult time justifying buying half an album (yes, I "bought" it, but I can't see it so it's different). Apparently I bought it twice. Don't ask me how I did it, but as soon as a song ends it begins again on the ipod. Which leads me to the next mystery: How do I remove songs from the ipod? I couldn't come up with a guess on this one. The little booklet is about as scant as the paint left on my house.

(So anyway, I've apparently been bad about having downtime lately and maybe that's why I haven't been blogging, but here I am trying again. Wish me luck.)