the bastards' last stand

i throw open my arms-- wide to embrace the night, still she seems lonely

because words don't come as easily as they did i turn to haikus i turn to form to express something, anything; it's an exercise form over function until words work again and say more than until words embrace me, until my desire is enough to shape them i will pour them like molten steel in pre-conceived shapes and well worn forms i will fatten them on the old ways until the juice flows down my chin

I have been planning to go to Spain for a while now. I essentially decided I should go on a "why the hell not?" impulse. After taking a step back I realized that it was exactly right, exactly what I want, and I have been filling in the blanks ever since. The reasons are varied, but the one I want to discuss today is perspective. I feel like I don't recognize my country. It's the same country as ever, beautiful ideals, poor execution, just to nutshell it. Somehow, despite our reality, our history, our poor execution, I have remained mostly optimistic that we could continue to improve and grow spiritually as a nation. And by spiritually I mean that sense of empathy and social justice that has led citizens to put themselves on the line to help and to defend the lives and rights of those seemingly disconnected from them and in danger. The story of the civil rights amendment period that interests me and confounds me still is the extent and limits of the spiritual a...

I just got back from a visit to Seattle. It was lovely. I lived there for six years and ten months. It was time to go but it's still a lovely city. I like to go there and move so much slower. In almost silence. In the shadow of the sleeping volcano, Rainier. There were times, even after years of living there, when the sight of it would take my breath away. It would disappear for days, weeks, under cloud and rain and then suddenly I'd turn a corner and there it was. Huge, majestic, like god saying, "wake up boy." And the city just seemed to stay green all-year round. Is that even possible? Is that just nostalgia? I'll have to ask someone. This trip I remembered two racial dynamics that I always enjoyed there. Most black people passing each other on the street greet each other. In nyc I'd place it at 1 in every 17 (+- 2 for sample). Also there seems to be more warmth and connection between Asian and black communities in Seattle than one might fi...

It is odd to hear the president speaking in the phrases of children. I found another example today, but thankfully it's an impersonator reading speeches prepared for the prez by elementary school students. Still, some things are so eerily close to things he's actually said, you'll have to listen twice.

For some reason I have been sitting on the Rolling Stone cover article " Worst President Ever? " I finally read it. My favorite part was his description of the survey of 415 historians on Bush as failure or success. 19% deemed him successful, among those who called Bush a success, many gave the president high marks only for his ability to mobilize public support and get Congress to go along with what one historian called the administration's "pursuit of disastrous policies." In fact, roughly one in ten of those who called Bush a success was being facetious, rating him only as the best president since Bill Clinton -- a category in which Bush is the only contestant. While that's a marvelous gem, the true value of the article lies in its historical perspective, the chance to see a comparison between Bush and the historically acknowledged presidential failures. You know you're in trouble when Nixon and Hoover start to seem not quite completely horrible w...