Poems

It has been a while since I've read poetry. The recent death of the writer Jim Harrison inspired me to read through some of his work. I am unfamiliar with him besides Legends of the Fall and, oddly enough, seeing him on TV as part of an Anthony Bourdain travel show. He reminded me of version of Charles Bukowski - the rural outdoorsman instead of the rough-and-tumble city dweller. Here are two of his poems that stood out for me:

Return

The sun's warm against the slats of the granary,

a puddle of ice on the shadow of the steps;

my uncle's hound

lopes

across the winter wheat.

fresh green cold green.

The windmill, long out of use, screeches

and twists in the wind.

Spring day, too loud for talk,

when bones tire of their flesh

and want something better.

Barking

The moon comes up.
The moon goes down.
This is to inform you
that I didn’t die young.
Age swept past me
but I caught up.
Spring has begun here and each day
brings new birds up from Mexico.
Yesterday I got a call from the outside
world but I said no in thunder.
I was a dog on a short chain
and now there’s no chain.

It's Friday - Let's Get Existential?

It is FRIDAY and I am overjoyed. Some weeks are just too much, and this week is one of them (lots of overtime). I have about 101 tasks to power through today and then I plan to completely check out.

This week was also a reminder of how important it is to take a step back and enjoy life rather than living in the minutia. My colleague who last fall was diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer had a second round of brain surgeries yesterday (he is recovering well so far). Today SB's uncle has a second surgery after a recent operation to remove cancer in his jaw resulted in infection (we have high hopes for his recovery).

It is painful to watch those we care about facing such scary and trying circumstances, and it is a reminder that the 101 tasks awaiting us each day are in fact quite trivial. It reminds me of this Francis Bacon quote and this poem by Hafiz...

My great aunt recently passed away and I must say that although she spent much of her life living alone and quite frugally (she then moved closer to family when she began experiencing signs of dementia), she struck me as someone who was really content with her life. She did what she wanted, she found great pleasure in small things, and by all accounts she lived a happy life. She didn't seem to have any regrets and I would bet she didn't even believe in regret.

So at 3:30pm I will leave the office, let the minutia pile up at my desk, and kiss the world in my own way. May you do the same.

Celebrating Women

It is International Women's Day and it just so happens that I have recently been taking in many stories about women through literature and film that I want to recommend...

Finding Vivian Maier -- This netflix documentary explores the story of a prolific photographer whose work was only discovered after her death. A private and eccentric and at times cruel nanny to those who knew her, Vivian Maier was also a brilliant artist whose photography is now well-known as iconic representations of human existence. And all because some young guy happened to come across a box of her negatives. It is a fascinating portrait of a mysterious woman.

The Diary of a Teenage Girl -- This 2015 film is essentially the story of a teenage girl's transformation into adulthood as she explores her sexual identity (context: in the 70s in San Francisco). While several situations in the film are dark and disturbing, it is also beautiful because the main character is strong and compelling AND the film integrates multi-media type effects, i.e. bringing drawings to life (as the main character is an artist). Like the film Obvious Child, I found this a refreshingly dynamic portrayal of female coming-of-age. The film is based on a graphic novel by Phoebe Gloeckner.

I have less to say about the two books that I am simultaneously reading because, well, I'm reading them simultaneously and not particularly frequently so I'm still only 50-100 pages into each book... that being said, both books are fantastic so far and both are by and about women. So I would definitely recommend The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts by Maxine Hong Kingston (memoir weaving Chinese folk tales and the Chinese-American experience) and Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff (a thick book of nonfiction, but very readable!).