Isak

Paired Things

Paired Things
By Kay Ryan

Who, who had only seen wings,

could extrapolate the

skinny sticks of things

birds use for land,

the backward way they bend,

the silly way they stand?

And who, only studying

birdtracks in the sand,

could think those little forks

had decamped on the wind?

So many paired things seem odd.

Who ever would have dreamed

the broad winged raven of despair

would quit the air and go

bandylegged upon the ground,

a common crow?

Speaking: Katherine Anne Porter

 

 

"Even Saint Teresa said, 'I can pray better when I’m comfortable,' and she refused to wear her haircloth shirt or starve herself. I don’t think living in cellars and starving is any better for an artist than it is for anybody else; the only thing is that sometimes the artist has to take it, because it is the only possible way of salvation, if you’ll forgive that old-fashioned word."

 

    -- Katherine Anne Porter, The Paris Review interview

The Books I'm Bringing

After much vetting, here's the final selection of books that I'll be taking with me on my trip to Boston. Yes, I did consult the old "Books for Traveling" questionnaire, though I made a couple exception and I'm thinking it's due for an update. Anyway, I've got two day-long train trips ahead of me, and I'm looking forward to the space to to dive in to these reads.

• The Saga of Gisli. Trans. from the Icelandic by George Johnson.
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Díaz
• Jar of Fools, by Jason Lutes
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson
• An issue of The Sun

Foodies and Feminism

In my new article for Salon, I critique Michael Pollan's unfortunate tendency to pit the food movement and feminism against each other. As someone who is part of both cultures, I call bullshit. While I'm generally a great fan of Pollan--you don't even want to know how many passages of The Omnivore's Dilemma I've copied out--he is mis-stepping in his acceptance of the notion that feminists that "urged women to get out of the kitchen" bear blame for diminishing the ritual of the family meal, which Pollan characterizes as "one of the nurseries of democracy." I agree with the notion that shared meals have power--but really, calling out feminists for causing its decline is too much. As I ask in the Salon piece:

...if we're going to talk about who's to blame for our current culture of processed food, why not blame untold generations of men for not getting into the kitchen, especially given Pollan's characterization of the family meal as having a meaningful role in cultivating democracy? If it's so important, why is their absence excusable?

In the Spirit of Returns

Tonight, late, I get on a train and make my way to Boston. I'm humming at a high pitch of anticipation: not only do I get to celebrate the marriage of a friend (my first legal gay wedding!), but I will get to re-connect with so many of the dear people I lived and/or worked in intentional community with, as well as other thriving, creative folks from assorted realms of my life that also happen to call Boston home (including Amy H., your resident Isak copyeditor, who is kind enough to show me hospitality).

In the spirit of returns, and of places and people loved, here's a portion of a film about Haley House (the said intentional community) made by Alexandra Pinschmidt (past community-mate, and a vibrant woman who I adore). It's fun for me to see how she captures so many friends, and places that have been my home. Her first film is "The Things We Learned," which is about international volunteerism in Mozambique.

In related media, check out poet Sofia Snow performing at the Haley House Bakery Cafe and a local news feature on the cafe.

Literary & Media Indulgences - 5/24/2010

Ancestor to the girl with the dragon tattoo? A little Swedish heroine named Pippi Longstocking. Which makes me three times more likely to read Stieg Larsson's books.

Hannah Tinti, editor of the wonderful One Story (one of my top recommendations for folks to subscribe to), takes on questions from Paper Cuts at The New York Times. She shouts out Robin Black's If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This--a new must-read story collection.

I mourn the fact that Carmen Van Kerchkove is 'retiring' from her tremendous work on race and diversity. I have learned and explored a great deal thanks to her, and I'm so grateful for all she's done. The tone and insight she brings to such an especially prickly subject is, I believe, her greatest legacy. I'm also grateful that she's built a movement strong enough that many facets of it (Racialicious, Addicted to Race, Love Isn't Enough) will continue in her wake. Here is a Racialicious post that celebrates the best of the amazing Carmen.

Young writers step up to Russia's formidable literary tradition. (Via The Literary Saloon.)

Micheal Silverblatt talks with Anne Carson in the latest edition of KCRW's Bookworm.

Because media justice is critical, because media monopoly/conglomerations are dangerous for a free, diverse, and vibrant media landscape, act now to stop the Comcast/NBC merger.

On the flexible first-person of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

More love for Wilson, the new graphic novel from Dan Clowes.

Mark Twain is about to join the age of the tell-all. This follows the writer's explicit instructions to not publish his autobiography until 100 years after his death--which is now. (Via Chris M.)

"Look at me!" (Again via Chris M.) I very well may have more to say on this one ... stay tuned ...

Keguro Macharia challenges the way African homophobia is characterized ... and wonders why the voices of African activists and intellectuals are rarely acknowledged.

"Fact and Fiction: A small literary magazine lists all of its mistakes--ever."

Why and how a commitment to investigative journalism is paying off for a Virginia daily.

Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles is led by Rev. Gregory Boyle--who is interviewed on NPR's Fresh Air. The conversation comes after some terribly tough news for what sounds like a marvelous organization.

This week, "On the Media" took on two especially provocative topics: the case against leaking (an act the show typically celebrates) and Facebook's privacy debacle.

Shortly after what would've been Malcolm X's 85th birthday, a Detroit attorney who owns the four lost chapters from the civil right activist's famed autobiography is bringing them out to the public for the first time. The attorney bought the chapters from the estate sale of Alex Haley (who collaborated on the book with Malcolm). While the Detroit Free Press article I linked to above indicates that the chapters reveal Malcolm X as a humanitarian, I will argue that the current version of the autobiography already does a splendid job of articulating just that.

Michael Pollan has a solid article on the rising of the diverse food movement in The New York Times Book Review ... though there's not much new that's reported, and I dislike his characterization of the legacy of the "get out of the kitchen" movement (i.e. feminism).

The Texas school board takes it upon itself to rewrite history for, effectively, schoolchildren across the U.S.

Female Footballers ... and Kamenshek

In a new piece for Salon, I discuss girls and women playing football -- whether it was me in high school playing what was termed "powder puff" football, varsity flag football athletes in Florida and Alaska, or the impressive women of the Women's Football Alliance and Independent Women's Football League, which together field 92 teams professional full-tackle football across North America (including the Detroit Dark Angels).

The gist? Football is an extraordinary game. With impressive numbers and enthusiasm, given that they are never cultivated in the sport, girls and women like to play. Why, then, are the opportunities so few?

Speaking of women in sports, I'd be remiss without noting the passing of Dorothy ("Dottie") Kamenshek, one of the very best of ballplayers.

Playing first base and serving as the left-handed lead-off hitter for the Rockford Peaches in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, Kamenshek was the undisputed star; she was immortalized by Geena Davis' (adapted) portrayal of her in "A League Of Their Own" (a film I've loved since 1992, though I amazingly only got the Virginia Woolf reference of the title about a year ago). Kamenshek's team won four championships, and she won two of the league's batting titles. A Fort Lauderdale (men's) minor league team tried to buy her contract in 1950, but the AAGPB wouldn't let their best player go. According to The Los Angeles Times, "she was known to jump three or four feet in the air and to even do the splits to snag the ball at first base." From what I can tell, Dorothy Kamenshek seems to be one of the most underrated athletes of the twentieth century.

Adichie in Nigeria

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie--who you know I just love--visited the city of Abuja in Nigeria to discuss literature and creative writing. Her arrival was much celebrated, it seems, and the affection Nigerians have for their native daughter seems evident in the easy use of her first-name in the newspaper headline: "Chimamanda talks power of literature in Abuja."

If the interest the announcement of her coming generated was high, the attendance of her reading was something unprecedented. Nigerians and members of the diplomatic community had begun to arrive the venue long before the time of commencement. That tells something. People like writers; Nigerians love their own. This multiple award winning writer is their’s (sic), and they came in droves, some to meet her for the first time, others to identify with her, and yet many to hear her voice of hope, her vision for the nation’s literature. Something rang true about Nigeria’s famed hospitality on that occasion. The enthusiasm was real.

I'm especially interested in what Adichie---excuse me--what Chimamanda has to say. Of interest, in both content and in how it's characterized by the newspaper coverage:

 “I am not fighting a battle. What I write is the way I feel,” she said with reference to Attah’s perception that she had taken up the cause of women as against the main (male) character in Purple Hibiscus. And she had no apology for the way she felt about the things she wrote as her usual candour came to the fore. “If people find my book offensive, they should put it aside and read something else,” she said. It was obvious many read this as a sign of humility as the clapping that accompanied it traveled round the hall.

And also:

She hinted that if writers sit up, they will take back the system from anyone who may be sending it in the wrong direction. From her explanations about going to primary schools, it was obvious she envisioned younger generations raised as consumers and producers of new literature as well as the potential market for literature for adults when they grow up.

... Earlier this year, when she organised a workshop for editors in an effort to improve the quality of reading materials that children are exposed to, she observed: “A newspaper may be all that a child in a remote place is exposed to. And he may think that all the wrong styles of writing he finds in a newspaper is the best.”

Concerned that badly edited newspapers and other popular publication works, actually influence generations of young ones as well as that the existence of a generation of Nigerians who tend not to read beyond what they need to get grades in examinations, she urged: “We must begin to brainwash Nigerians... in a good way.”

Via The Literary Saloon.

Image Credit: Colette Baron Reid

Maddow to Graduates: "Personal Triumphs Are Overrated"

While I'm a bit of a sucker for any spirited commencement speech, Rachel Maddow's address to Smith College's Class of 2010 is especially good. Good enough, in fact, that I forgive it for being impossible to embed properly on this site, forcing you to click over to watch it. There is storytelling, there is history, there is a speaker who takes a stance, there is humor, and there is an original, truthful, and inspiring message. I daresay you will be feeling differently after the eighteen minutes or so it takes you to watch this.

Incidentally, when I see speeches like this, I think of the ambassador whose name I forget that spoke at my December graduation during the Bush Administration, a ceremony held inside the University of Michigan's basketball arena ... and I weep a little inside.

Needling for Infertility

From my new article at RH Reality Check (where the above image is sadly only available on the site's front page, not alongside the text):

While the notion of “infertility treatment” typically conjures images of invasive insemination procedures, acupuncture has been used for thousands of years to increase the chances of natural pregnancy. Indeed, many contemporary acupuncturists are pairing their personalized practice of needles with herbal treatments to enhance the fertility of their patients … and finding high rates of success.

I first tried acupuncture myself about a year and a half ago (not for infertility), and I just adore it -- especially as it is practiced in the accessible and welcoming community model. Mind you, I once was terrified of needles (though I began to get over it during the years I spent as a medical research subject). Detroiters, if you haven't yet paid a visit to the wonderful Detroit Community Acupuncture, do so immediately. You might go just because you're curious, as I did, or because you have a specific illness or injury (physical, emotional, or mental) for which you want to explore treatment. First Fridays of the month are free for new patients.

Civil Whats?

Marriage for gay people is becoming legal in Portugal, a country that is 90 percent Catholic and led by a conservative president. That makes for eight nations in the world where same-sex marriage is affirmed, while seven others offer civil unions. In a new piece for Salon, I count the ways the United States is lagging behind the world as a civil rights leader.