Archive for February, 2009
I’m bearing down on midnight, and no one’s on the road except me, just maybe a few drunk drivers, maybe a few cops quaffing coffee in their cruisers, maybe some wildlife, maybe some ghosts. And I’m so tired that my mind’s on cruise control as I think about something somebody just said to me — [...]
Filed under: Bob Dylan, Music, Nature, New Jersey, Travels, writing | Leave a Comment
The working world
I should not ever consider, if I consider switching careers, anything that involves even the slightest expertise in science or math. Nor should I even bother applying for any job involving high risk or high adventure. Good thing I spent a half-hour this morning filling out an apparently well-regarded career counseling questionaire which helps you [...]
Filed under: Economy, writing | 3 Comments
Tags: aptitude tests, careers, Economy, jobs, the economy, work, writing
Putting on the dog
So last night I attended the finals of the American Kennel Club’s Westminster Dog Show at Madison Square Garden and today I learned that the top dog — a Sussex spaniel from Texas who answers to the name “Stump” but is known in this strange world of deluxe dogs as Ch. Clussexx Three D Grinchy [...]
Filed under: Economy, Pets | Leave a Comment
Standing together
Can a song change the world? I walked into my favorite cafe this morning and John Lennon was singing “Tomorrow Never Knows” and I’m wagering that there’s a song that changed somebody’s world, maybe even mine. What about something by Bach? By Charley Patton? By Billie Holiday? By Elvis? Did “That’s Alright Mama” change the [...]
Filed under: Music, Pete Seeger, Politics, Three chords and the truth | 1 Comment
No joke. Elizabeth, N.J. And Bayonne. And Carteret. And maybe even Port Elizabeth and Ho-Ho-Kus and Secaucus. Joe Weil’s a great poet. It’s taken the rest of the world too long to notice, but Joe Weil — product of the streets of Elizabeth — sees beauty even when its face is smudged and dirty, hears [...]
Filed under: Book talk, Delaware Valley Poetry Festival, New Jersey, Poetry | 1 Comment
Laurels and laureates
What’s a laureate? The word comes from the Middle English, by way of Latin, and it all derives from the practice of honoring or recognizing someone’s great achievement by crowning the person with a wreath of laurel. Dove? Well, of course, it’s a symbol of peace, and recently I found myself remembering a line from [...]
Filed under: Book talk, Delaware Valley Poetry Festival, New Jersey, Poetry | Leave a Comment
Tags: B.J. Ward, Brian Trimboli, Charles H. Johnson, Delaware Valley Poetry Festival, Diane Wakoski, Gerald Stern, Janet Foxman, Joe Weil, Jose Rodriguez, Khalil Murrell, Lonnie Manns, Louise Gluck, Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Matthew Siegel, Metta Sama, Michelle Lerner, Paul Muldoon, Peter Covino, poetry in New Jew Jersey, Prallsville Mills, Rita Dove, River Union Stage, Robert Pinsky, Stephen Dobyns, Thomas Lux, U.S. Poet Laureate
