Books on the Edge of My Attention Span, February Edition

Last month I blogged about a handful of books that I have at my disposal that I all can't possibly read and I got some positive feedback about it, so I thought I'd share again.

First up, I am currently reading simultaneously The Daily Show: An Oral History (in old-timey book form)

 and also, on my tablet, The Thief by Fuminori Nakamura.

 

I had read Nakamura's noir book The Kingdom and, having enjoyed it, decided to read the first book that really put him on the map. Good stuff!

Also on my tablet is Nakamura's Evil and the Mask (which I doubt I'll read - just a gut feeling)

 

and poetry in the form of Special Orders by Edward Hirsch, which I have started and am picking at, little by little.

The vast ensemble of books I had last month has subsequently been been returned and I grabbed a handful of slim tomes to accompany my travels.

The Walking Dead, Volume 1 Days Gone By

 Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (and Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling

Songs and Sonnets by Paul Muldoon

Balloon Pop Outlaw Black by Patricia Lockwood

and

The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip by George Saunders.

Cleaning Out the Drafts, 2014

Over the years, I have started posts and they end up sitting in draft status.

That seems wasteful.

Here is the first of some fragments from years past as I dispatch these drafts.

~ ~ ~

from 2014:

What I'm Reading in 2014: Roberto Bolaño

With the exception of Gabriel García Márquez,  I have never been a huge fan of Latin American literature.  I have been AWARE of it,  but I never consumed it and if I did,  it was rarely in any great quantities.

Some time in 2013, I was in Westsider Books on Broadway,  trying to determine how to spend a store credit,  when I spotted 2066 by Roberto Bolaño .

I knew enough to recognize Bolaño's name,  and knew that he had died young,  at fifty,  but I had never read anything by him.  The copy of 2066 was a trio of slip cased paperbacks and I love a good presentation of literature,  so I nabbed it and brought it home.

Yet it wasn't one book,  it was three,  so it didn't beckon immediate reading.  As is often the case with lovers of literature,  I let Bolaño simmer on my shelves.  I learned that I had made a great choice,  that 2066 was considered to be his masterpiece.  I brought the volumes to work and placed them on an empty book shelf.

And then, one day,  I started on my first Bolaño journey. It was unlike anything I had ever read.  It was fascinating. It made the mundane interesting.  Literary critics obsessed with the same obscure European novelist.  The book was five parts, or the books were five volumes, captured in three bodies.  We went from Europe to Mexico where book 3, The Part About the Murders, crawled along in fascinating yet clinical detail about serial killings of women in northern Mexico,  a true crime aspect that was based on real life atrocities. The dust that seemed to hang in the air of the fictional town of Santa Theresa found is way into my bloodstream and became a part of me. 

It took me a while to read the whole of 2066. I want to say several months,  but I am a slow reader at times,  and Bolaño can be difficult. When I finished the third section,  I breathed a sigh of relief.  It was disturbing and numbing, simultaneously. I moved on and the narrative sped forward. I was transported to a version of World War II unfamiliar to me, a perspective of a German soldier,  fodder for the war machine.  Having just read Mailer's The Naked and the Dead, I was feeding on another facet of the war.

2066 is one of those novels that changes you,  as long as you embrace it and commit to every leg of the ride.  This Bolaño,  I now understood what the fuss was all about.

I have since found this list of an essential Bolaño reading list, perused it,  bookmarked it, and after a few months, went back to it.

All of a sudden,  I was bonkers for Bolaño. I read Antwerp,  Last Evenings on Earth, The Insufferable Gaucho and Monsieur Pain. Antwerp was a short experiential "novel" that read more like the bastard child of a surrealist screenplay  and a lengthy prose poem.  LNOE and Gaucho were short story collections that had me riveted.  Pain was categorized by the aforementioned article on Bolano's work in the grouping of "for conpletists".

I have still to read other great Bolaño's,  I am told.  I am hooked. I can hardly wait to see what else I will discover.

~ ~ ~

Looking back, I embarked on Bolaño's acclaimed novel, The Savage Detectives, and hit a wall. The first section was great, then the library due date arrived and I couldn't re-new it. I set it aside. One of these days, I'll try again.

Of course, this seems like a pretty full post. Not sure why I never hit "publish" on that one.

Poetry in Motion: A Strange Beautiful Woman, by Marilyn Nelson

This is more recent, from just last year, and since the 2017 posters haven't been unveiled, you can likely spot these on the subways currently:

A Strange Beautiful Woman by Marilyn Nelson

A strange beautiful woman
met me in the mirror
the other night.
Hey,
I said,
What you doing here?
She asked me
the same thing.

~ ~ ~

Visit the MTA Poetry in Motion page here.

Bios of the poet and the artist whose work in the subway that serves as the backdrop for the poem above, which was one of four released in 2013, appears on the site here. You can also click on the Poetry in Motion tag at the bottom of the post to see prior BillyBlog posts about the series.

Poetry in Motion - To the Reader: Twlight by Chase Twichell

Here's another Poetry in Motion poster from my archives, spotted underground August 7, 2013:

To the Reader: Twilight by Chase Twichell

Whenever I look
out at the snowy
mountains at this hour
and speak directly
into the ear of the sky,
it's you I'm thinking of.
You're like the spirits
the children invent
to inhabit the stuffed horse
and the doll.
I don't know who hears me.
I don't know who speaks
when the horse speaks.

~ ~ ~

Visit the MTA Poetry in Motion page here.

Bios of the poet and the artist whose work in the subway that serves as the backdrop for the poem above, which was one of four released in 2013, appears on the site here. You can also click on the Poetry in Motion tag at the bottom of the post to see prior BillyBlog posts about the series.

Don't Cry Over Spilt Milk Chocolate

Someone was having a bad day.

Random Photos from My Past

The funny thing about the cloud is that pictures that have little or now value are stored in perpetuity, making future self wonder what my self from 2008 was thinking, like this shot from January 30, 2008. Heck, I'm not even sure that's when it was taken, but Google photos dates it thus:

The story behind this was that the local synagogue was having problems with people feeding strays in their back yard. I believe I snapped this for the rabbi as proof that even a sign couldn't deter folks from feeding these feral beasts.

Found on the C Train

I found this last night on the C train, leaving 72nd Street:

Funny Shit My Aunt Sends Me: Ordered a few; easier than tray tables....

Poetry in Motion: Scaffolding by Seamus Heaney

In BillyBlog's early days, I featured a lot of the old Poetry in Motion posters from public transportation. Over the last few years, I had taken photos, but never gotten around to posting them. 2017 has been a time of playing catch up. 

Here's one I spotted on March 5, 2014:

Scaffolding     Seamus Heaney, 1939-2013

Masons, when they start upon  a building,
Are careful to test out the scaffolding;

Make sure that planks won't slip at busy points,
Secure all ladders, tighten bolted joints.

And yet all this comes down when the job's done
Showing off walls of sure and solid stone.

So if, my dear, there sometimes seems to be
Old bridges breaking between you and me

Never fear. We may let the scaffolds fall
Confident that we have built our wall.

~ ~ ~

Visit the MTA Poetry in Motion page here.

Bios of the poet and the artist whose work in the subway that serves as the backdrop for the poem above, which was one of four released in 2014, appears on the site here.  You can also click on the Poetry in Motion tag at the bottom of the post to see prior BillyBlog posts about the series.

Poetry in Motion: Voyager by Mary Ruefle

According to my records, a took this photo four years ago today, on January 25, 2013, so it only makes sense to finally post it on the anniversary right?

The poem is "Voyager" by Mary Ruefle:

Voyager

I have become an orchid
washed in on the salt white beach.
Memory,
what can I make of it now
that might please you ---
this life, already wasted
and still strewn with
miracles?

~~~

Visit the MTA Poetry in Motion page here.

Bios of the poet and the artist whose work in the subway that serves as the backdrop for the poem above, which was one of four released in 2013, appears on the site here.  You can also click on the Poetry in Motion tag at the bottom of the post to see prior BillyBlog posts about the series.

Books on the Edge of My Attention Span

What the hell does that mean? 

www.examiner.com.au  Picture: Phillip Biggs

Living in New York City means having limited space for books, so I generally use the vast resources of the New York Public Library.

Of course, that’s like a chocoholic getting the keys to Willy Wonka’s factory, so I end up with many more books on hand than I’ll actually read.

People talk about the books they read all the time. I’m going to talk about the books I wanted to read, but didn’t. More often than not, they go back to the library unmolested by my eyes.

But first, a digression – I used to pooh-pooh electronic reading devices. Then I got a Galaxy Tab and discovered NYPL applications that enabled me to read books that were less accessible (read: volumes with immense waiting lists, or obscure enough not to warrant actual copies in house).

I came to Game of Thrones on HBO rather late, midway through season five, and I had never read the books. The wait for a volume through the library is interminable, but I discovered electronic versions available. So, I became one of those people I disdained – subway riders reading on tablets rather than carrying the actual volumes with them.

That said, I am nearing the end of the third volume, A Storm of Swords.

I have the fourth volume, A Feast for Crows, downloaded and waiting for me, although I may take a break once I finish Swords.

Also on my device are Three Poems by Josh Ashbery

 and Zeitoun by Dave Eggers.

In addition, two volumes I have borrowed hard copies of, as well, just to “have available” should the mood have struck me.

Now, on to what I have on hand from the library…

The Book of the Dead by Orikuchi Shinobu (Jeffrey Angles, tran.).

I actually started this the other day, and am on the fence as to whether I will continue. The premise is fascinating as we the tale opens up on the perspective of a ghost gaining consciousness in a crypt in eighth century Japan.

Then, there's The 60s: The Story of a Decade by contributors to The New Yorker,

Letters to Vera by Vladimir Nabokov (also on my tablet),

Heroes of the Frontier by Dave Eggers,

Wannabe hoochie mama gallery of realities' red dress code: new & selected poems  by Thylias Moss,

The Best American Poetry 2016 (I own a copy, signed by a bunch of contributors, so this is my “reading” copy),

Smile now, cry later : guns, gangs, and tattoos : my life in black and gray  by Freddy Negrete and Steve Jones,

Falling Ill: Last Poems by C.K. Williams,

and lastly, the whimsical Literary Starbucks : fresh-brewed, half-caf, no-whip bookish humor  byJill Poskanzer, Wilson Josephson, and Nora Katz ; illustrated by Harry Bliss.

I’m actually halfway through this funny and thoughtful book about famous authors (alive and dead) going to Starbucks. It’s based on a tumblr and is clever enough to keep me remotely interested.

Clearly I can't read all of these, but I thought I'd share what I wanted to read if I had one of those spells Hermione used in the Harry Potter seriesto turn back time. 
 

Marching in Manhattan

Yesterday I participated in the Women's March in New York City.

It was amazing.

Conservative estimates put the crowd at 400,000 people. Organizers say it was closer to 600,000. Regardless, it felt like a million. It probably wasn't, but when you're packed in the streets with several hundred thousand people, you feel like the number of fellow citizens around you is immense.

I marched to support the women in my life, and countless friends and family members who feel threatened by the turn that the government is taking. The language of oppression and disenfranchisement, the threat to equality that is espoused by "leaders" who want to make the country great again when their definition of "great" and my definition of "great" are split by vast chasm of meaning.

When you're walking in the canyons of Manhattan and surrounded by fellow marchers, and you hear a distant roar, and can feel it approaching, rolling up to you in a wave of sound, you know that your one voice, when combined with others, can create an incredible noise.

I have posted several photos below that I took. I wish I had had more battery so I could take dozens more.

Poetry in Motion: Here by Gary Snyder

I've recently posted some older Poetry in Motion posters from my archives, but there are new ones floating about, as well.

Here's one currently underground, this one spotted on the R train:

The poem is Here by Gary Snyder:

In the dark
(The new moon long set)

A soft grumble in the breeze
Is the sound of a jet so high
It's already long gone by

Some planet
Rising from the east        shines
Through the trees

It's been years since I thought,

Why are we here?

~

Visit the MTA Poetry in Motion page here.

Bios of the poet and the artist whose work in the subway that serves as the backdrop for the poem above, which was one of three released in 2016, appears on the site here.  You can also click on the Poetry in Motion tag at the bottom of the post to see prior BillyBlog posts about the series.

Poetry in Motion: Ragtime by Kevin Young

Here's another Poetry in Motion poster from my archives:

Here's one I caught on 2012, most likely on the R train:

The poem is Ragtime by Kevin Young:

Like hot food
I love you

like warm
bread & cold

cuts, butter
sammiches

or, days later, after
Thanksgiving

when I want
whatever's left.

~

Visit the MTA Poetry in Motion page here.

You can actually see the posters in all their glory, like the one above, which first appeared on the subways in 2012.

Bios of the poet and the artist whose work in the subway that serves as the backdrop for the poem above appears on the site here.  You can also click on the Poetry in Motion tag at the bottom of the post to see prior BillyBlog posts about the series.

Poetry in Motion, Untitled by Jeffrey Yang

Here's another Poetry in Motion poster from my archives:

Here's one I caught on 2012, most likely on the R train:

The poem is Untitled by Jeffrey Yang:

west of rest is sleep
east, dream
where waters meet
north, emptiness,
south, wakefulness,
and out, rising up
to the stars, peace

~

Visit the MTA Poetry in Motion page here.

You can actually see the posters in all their glory, like the one above, which first appeared on the subways in 2012.

Bios of the poet and the artist whose work in the subway that serves as the backdrop for the poem above appears on the site here.  You can also click on the Poetry in Motion tag at the bottom of the post to see prior BillyBlog posts about the series.

Poetry in Motion: Heaven by Patrick Phillips

Many years ago, I used to post subway posters from a series called "Poetry in Motion."

Then the series was discontinued, and BillyBlog became a barely occasional outlet for me.

However, the series was resurrected in the last few years and I have, on occasion, managed to snap a few photos of the posters.

Here's one I caught on December 1, 2015, most likely on the R train:

The poem is "Heaven" by Patrick Phillips:

It will be the past
and we'll live there together.

Not as it was to live
but as it is remembered.

It will be the past.
We'll all go back together.

Everyone we ever loved,
and lost, and must remember.

It will be the past,
And it will last forever.

~

Visit the MTA Poetry in Motion page here.

You can actually see the posters in all their glory, like the one above, which first appeared on the subways in 2014.

Bios of the poet and the artist whose work in the subway that serves as the backdrop for the poem above appears on the site here.  You can also click on the Poetry in Motion tag at the bottom of the post to see prior BillyBlog posts about the series.

Voter Revolting (An Early Reminiscence)

One of my first jobs out of college was a short-lived gig with an operation called Voter Revolt. This must have been in late 1989 or 1990.

Our target was the ridiculously corrupt auto insurance industry in California. 

It was a grass roots movement of which I would have surely remembered more had I not quit after a week.

A quick web search returns results from Wikipedia which refreshes my memory and gives this anecdote some context:

In 1987, Harvey Rosenfield began to write a ballot box proposal and formed a campaign to sponsor it called Voter Revolt. The proposal turned into insurance reform Proposition 103 and promised voters a minimum 20% rollback in rates for property, auto and other kinds of insurance. It also required insurance companies to follow the state's consumer protection and civil rights laws. Voter Revolt operated on a $2.9 million budget, a fraction of the insurance industry's $63 million lobbying and advertising effort. The insurance industry, fearing they would not be able to defeat Proposition 103, launched three competing initiative measures in an attempt to confuse voters.

To bring attention to his cause, Rosenfield used grassroots publicity stunts like having guards accompany him while he delivered the signatures that put Proposition 103 on the ballot. As well, he attempted to deliver truckloads of cow manure to the headquarters Farmers Insurance of Los Angeles. Rosenfield often referred to insurance companies as "outlaws" during the campaign. These stunts, many 18-hour days, canvassers knocking on 1 million doors, and the high profile endorsement of his mentor, Ralph Nader, helped Voter Revolt pass the initiative in November 1988. The win was seen as a huge blow to the insurance industry. After Proposition 103 passed, Rosenfield told the Wall Street Journal that he gotten inquiries from public interest groups "in at least 30 other states expressing interest in launching Proposition 103-style initiatives."

Since then, Rosenfield, and his colleagues at Consumer Watchdog defended Proposition 103 from insurance industry attacks and ensured the proposition's implementation. In 2008, the Consumer Federation for America estimated that Proposition 103 had saved consumers over $63 billion since 1988.^[2][3] That organization updated its estimate in 2013, concluding that Proposition 103 had saved California motorists over $100 billion, an average annual savings of $345 per household, $8,625 per family. Using insurance industry data, CFA found that "between 1989 and 2010, auto insurance premiums actually dropped by 0.3%, while they rose 43.3% nationally during that period. California was the only state in the nation where prices dropped over the 22 year period."

Rosenfield opposed Proposition 17, a $16 million attempt by Mercury Insurance Group to repeal a key provision of Proposition 103 in 2010; it was defeated. The company spent another $17 million on a very similar initiative in 2012; it too was defeated. In 2012, an initiative to control health insurance costs similarly to Prop 103 received over 800,000 signatures and earned a place on the 2014 ballot.^"

  

A big part of the fundraising effort was canvassing door to door.

I recall the one night I went out with the lead canvasser. It was a chilly southern California evening. It was dark early and the tension was palpable. We were anxious because we were in a community far to the east of Pasadena-Arcadia-Monrovia, I believe it was Glendora. The consensus at the time was that the area tended to be more conservative and the going would be rough. We were soliciting contributions to the campaign.

Knocking on doors and ringing doorbells in an unfamiliar area is stressful enough. But no one likes people disturbing them at home asking for money.  I don't recall either of us succeeding and the guy I was with was a seasoned canvasser. 

Despite the lack of success, I remember him being optimistic. "When you get a contribution, it's a great feeling," I recall him telling me. He added a quip that still brings a smile to my face: "And when you get a big contribution [pause for effect], I call it a doorgasm."

I quit the next day.

On this Day in My Photo History (January 5)

Isn't technology amazing? I thought it would be cool to go back in my stored photos on Google and see what photos I took on this day in years past. This is what The Cloud offered me:

That's me enjoying a Rare Vos from Brewery Ommegang at Wolf's 1-11 in Albany, New York. I highly recommend  the beer (at the time I rated it 4 stars on Untappd), the brewery is fantastic, and Wolf's 1-11 has a great selection. It's one of my must-to stops when in Albany for business.

The year before, on January 6, 2015 (ok, so I cheated a little), I shot this photo out of my office window at 30 Broad Street:

That's a 17th floor view of the intersection of Broad Street and Exchange Place.

A year earlier, on the evening of January 5, 2014, I took this unflattering selfie:

I don't recall what I thought of the beer from Port City Brewing in Alexandria, Virginia. I would like to think it was better than my expression suggested. This was part of my Chanukah gift from my sister Alicia and brother-in-law Marc, who provided me an assortment of beer from brewers local to their new home in Virginia Beach.

From 2009-2013, January 5 must have been a boring day. The only photos I had were ones I was working on for the Tattooed Poets Project. 

I did find this gem from January 5, 2008:

That's my kid Shayna playing indoor soccer. That cutie is now almost eighteen, in her senior year of high school.

This is what I had for January 5, 2007:

You may be wondering what I was doing with a photo of a monarch butterfly in New York City in January, but according to The Weather Channel, the following day "The mercury topped out at 72º in Central Park on Jan. 6, tying the city’s all-time January warm-weather record set Jan. 26, 1950."

So that's a walk down memory lane. It's currently 26 degrees in NYC, so that 70-degree weather from 2007 seems kind of nice!

Another Year, Another Beer

BillyBlog is on life support.

You used to be able to google "BillyBlog" and this site would be up in the top five relevant hits. No longer is that the case.

But why should it be otherwise?

I posted five times last year, starting January 1 and ending on January 11.

BillyBlog was pretty much moved to irrelevance in 2007, when I created Tattoosday as a feature, which then evolved into its own entity.

Tattoosday is in its tenth year and recently went on a bit of a hiatus.

A lot has changed in ten years. My blogger editing panel is littered with the corpses of blogs that I have tried to launch as side projects over the years.

I am not resolving to do anything with these vehicles, as resolutions seem to fail me; or I seem to fail the resolutions, year after year. However, I am setting a goal in 2017, and it is an ambitious goal that I already acknowledge, is unlikely to succeed in its entirety.

I want to post something daily, whether it be here, or on Tattoosday, or on any other of my side projects. Notice, I do not say will, but want.

We shall see if this gives us better results.

Here's to the optimism of a new year!

Poetry in Motion - What Do You Believe a Poem Shd Do?

I have always been a fan of the Poetry in Motion series on the NYC Subway system. I am going back in 2016 and posting some of the posters that have appeared over the last few years.

This is one of the more recent entries, which appeared late in 2015:

The poem is "What Do You Believe a Poem Shd Do? by Ntozake Shange:

quite simply a
poem shd fill you
up with something/
cd make you swoon,
stop in yr tracks,
change yr mind,
or make it up.
a poem shd happen
to you like cold
water or a kiss.

I Had My Druthers

Someone asked me what my New Years Resolution was yesterday.

"Play less Candy Crush on the subway," I said.

He laughed. He lives in Albany.

I can't make a resolution to lose weight, exercise more, or write more. I just have to do it.

I can resolve not to waste my hours (or as many hours) on those addicting phone apps.

On the subway to work, I did not play games. I composed the beginning of a blog post.

At 12:30, I headed to Penn Station and boarded Amtrak to Albany.

I met up with work friends and we went to a fabulous place called Druthers, where I drank their Oatmeal Stout

and their "Against the Grain Smoked Weizen."

And then I ate this:

That's their "Memphis BBQ Mac N Cheese." It is what it says it is. Pulled pork, barbecue sauce, coleslaw and mac  n cheese. 

I ate half.

The weather is single digits win Albany on day one of my trip.

I went back to the hotel, worked, and posted on Tattoosday (here) for the first time in almost a month.

New Year's Day, the Brooklyn Way

After sleeping to 11, or so, which is quite unusual for me, I breakfasted on King's Hawaiian french toast, courtesy of my lovely bride.

Around 3:30 we headed into Manhattan to meet some old friends from California, and met them on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge.


We then walked over a very crowded bridge, as the sun set, and stopped for a photo op.

Then we headed to Old Fulton Street, and Juliana's Pizza, one of the best pizza places in the world.

It is in the space of the original Grimaldi's, which closed and then reopened in many incarnations, including right next door to its original location.

When we arrived, the Grimaldi's line was about the same size, but it moved faster. We waited over an hour in the cold, but it was worth it. Their classic Margherita pizza is divine, and their white pizza is pretty amazing, too. We also had their special #4, which consists of tomato, mozzarella, arugula and prosciutto.

I washed it down with an Insulated Dark Lager from Brooklyn Brewery.

When we left, the line for Grimaldi's was gone, but the line for Juliana's was as long as when we arrived.

An Unusual New Years' Eve

December 31, 2015, found me in Manhattan with my family.

I left work early, headed home and made a pit stop at Red, White & Brew, where I grabbed a Blizzard of Hops Winter IPA, from Tröegs Brewing. (More on that later)

Then the family headed into the city and went to the 7:00 show at Eastville Comedy Club.

Among the comics we saw were Dave Smith and Mark DeMayo.

From there, we wandered to Union Square, considered the line at Max Brenner's and then decided to miss the stroke of midnight and catch a 9:50 showing of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2.

When the movie was over, it was 2016. The subway got us home at about 2 AM on January 1.

Happy New Year to All!

2016

2015 has come and gone and not a peep from me on BillyBlog. All my activity has been over on Tattoosday.

But even over in the land of tattoos, fall posting fell off. Work kept me busy. The work that pays the bills.

But, you know, I'm not particularly happy with the state of affairs in my corner of the bologosphere.

So here it is, January 2016, and I am resolving to write more. BillyBlog will be my platform. My goal is, if I don't post here, I'll be busy over on Tattoosday.

Truth be told, I'm typing this on January 3, but dating it January 1. A neat and not-so-honest trick.

I fear, however, I will be playing catch-up year round.

I fear, however, I will return to old ways.

Who knows? May be I'll surprise myself.

Social Media has taken over many things, and I resolve to do less there and more on these old and crusty electronic pages.

Maybe it will be a BillyBlog renaissance.

Maybe these are the death throes, the final thrashing of words before I, ultimately, fall silent.

We shall see. We shall see.