What do the Oscars mean anymore?

When I was a kid, I loved the Oscars. In the TV Guide there was also a special text box in the programming guide that highlighted the major nominees; I repeatedly looked at that bit over and over...as if I could will myself into the Academy Award ceremony with the power of my thoughts.

No more. Each year, my interest wanes a bit more, and I watch less and less of the televised ceremony. This is a bit odd, I admit; with Netflix and Amazon, I've got more access than ever to the nominated films. I wonder if the Oscars are becoming culturally irrelevant? And is my fading interest in them small, but representative, explanation of their decline?

From the best

The best part of the part of the Oscars I watched was definitely the Cirque du Soleil performance. So I wandered around Youtube a bit and found the following clip from Cirque du Soleil's "O," which I saw in Las Vegas a few years back. Enjoy!

More work from Tomas Transtromer

I can't get enough of Tomas Transtromer's work....thus the video below.

Such poetry

I've been reading poet Tomas Transtromer's The Great Enigma: New Collected Poems.. (yep, on the Kindle) And I'm finding such pleasure in this reading that I can't begin to convey it. Last night I told some colleagues that I think Transtromer's work is brilliant, and when they pressed me to explained (certainly justifiable), I had nothing to say that felt as though it could begin to get at the sheer quality of Transtromer's work.

I'm trying to get through the whole collection at once...so that the stuff of it gets into my bones and blood. This means, for the most part, that I can't distinguish one poem from another. Next, I'll go back and re-read particular poems, study their architecture...if that's possible.

Here's a Transtromer poem from the Academy of American poets:

After a Death
by Tomas Tranströmer translated by Robert Bly
Once there was a shock that left behind a long, shimmering comet tail. It keeps us inside. It makes the TV pictures snowy. It settles in cold drops on the telephone wires. One can still go slowly on skis in the winter sun through brush where a few leaves hang on. They resemble pages torn from old telephone directories. Names swallowed by the cold. It is still beautiful to hear the heart beat but often the shadow seems more real than the body. The samurai looks insignificant beside his armor of black dragon scales.

A bit of 'Waltz for Koop'

This captures today better than words.

Some Tuesday

Lots of snow here weighing down the apple tree and cherry bushes in our front yard. Though it's a pain to drive in weather like this, it's quite beautiful out there, a bit like a movie only it's real.

I've been loving my new Kindle, in particular the feature that immediately lets me look up a meaning for a word. Still, I'm a bit disappointed by the books I can't read on a Kindle.

So March is sort of around the corner; that means results of a number of contests I've entered will be announced. In the meantime, we've got snow....lots of beautiful snow.

Quite lovely

If you have even the slightest doubt that gay and lesbian people should have the right to marry, watch Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement. (Even if you don't have any doubts, watch it) It's delightful and heart-breaking and hopeful.

Here's a bit of plot summary:
After 42 years, feisty and delightful lesbian couple Edie and Thea are finally getting married. From the early '60s to the present day, the tireless community activists persevere through many battles, both personal and political.

So it's Friday

I've got a poem up at Bigger Stones, a poetry journal. Serendipitously, it's about harvest, and our local grocery store, where I frequently stop for gum on the way to work, just put up a display of seeds. This couple of events gets me thinking about planting and how much pleasure it gives me.

Also, I just got some out-of-the-blue good news; details on it are forthcoming. Suffice to say, the news gave me a bit of a boost. These last few weeks of school have been exhausting for no particular reason except that it's winter.

New things

My new Kindle arrived yesterday, so I spent a bit of time fiddling around with it last night. I love the thought of not having to store more physical books; I hope I learn to love reading electronic books.

I also played around a bit on Pinterest, which is one of the main lunch topics among my English teacher colleagues. As you can see, I added a Pinterest button along the side of this blog.

Yesterday was a big day. ;)

Since several of my short stories got rejections this week, I've got to think about the next steps for each of them.

Rejections...again

I got two rejections yesterday, each for a short story. It seems as though the rejection gremlins were unaware it was Valentine's Day or, they're really perverse and they did know it was Valentine's Day. Oh well.

That's three rejections in as many days, which might seem like some kind of deterrent. It's not. Such rejections remind me that I'm sending my work out into the world, and such rejections are preparation for learning that I've not won any of the many contests I've entered.

Some may think such an attitude is defeat-ish. It is not. I know that the chances of winning a contest are low, and I must've let myself forget that.

Jilted and not

It's not even 6:00 AM, and I've already gotten a rejection. So I sighed once and will move on.

Recently I watched an interview with the actor Michael Fassbender during which he mentioned an audition he lost to Ben Affleck. (Fassbender also said that he got another role because of said audition) Fassbender getting rejected at all is helpful, though I'm not ready to assert that I am as good a writer as Fassbender is an actor.

Segue...

Yes, it's Valentine's Day and we're going to celebrate with steak on the grill, homegrown potatoes and no dessert. Our friend Mike will be in town, someone that our dog is in love with. It should be a good day.