The Art of the Lie I am in full agreementthat John Grant is no namefor a rock star, and yet, he is, nevertheless, a rock star to me,and his most recent album, The Art of the Lie,has been in consistent, heavyrotation. I listened to it todayin the car as I drove to Pure LifeClinic forContinue reading “#547: The Art of the Lie”
Tag Archives: poetry
#546: Étude for Not Writing a Poem
I don’t know what to say. I have never before, in the eleven previous years of participation in National Poetry Writing Month, experienced such intense internal resistance to writing a poem–ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH! I can’t explain it. Usually I am fired up and I jump out of the starting gate withContinue reading “#546: Étude for Not Writing a Poem”
Two Days Until National Poetry Writing Month: Ekphrastic Fest?
On this 30th day of March, we find ourselves only two days away from National Poetry Writing Month, during which we creative types are encouraged to compose a poem a day every day for the entire month of April. I can safely (but humbly) brag about the fact that I have completed this task ofContinue reading “Two Days Until National Poetry Writing Month: Ekphrastic Fest?”
I’m Thinking About Giving Up on Writing Fiction on the Cusp of Another NANOWRIMO
In both Novembers of 2022 and 2023 I wrote 50,000 words for the National Novel Writing Month challenge. The results were two sloppy, hastily written rough drafts of novels. I would expect nothing less from such a challenge, the purpose of which is not to write a masterpiece, but to spill out as quickly asContinue reading “I’m Thinking About Giving Up on Writing Fiction on the Cusp of Another NANOWRIMO”
#544: Dear America, Happy 4th of July
I have startedto despise Bill Maher, but when he sayshe’d rather vote for Biden’s head in a jar than seeTrump in the White House, I’m with himagain. I hate this place, where we are, with this choice, but I know at leastthat Biden is agood man and I am confident he’ssurrounded by menand women whoareContinue reading “#544: Dear America, Happy 4th of July”
#543: On Being Turned Away from the Doctor’s Office for My Blood Pressure Checkup and How That Ultimately Raised My Blood Pressure
I was 15 minutes late. Actually, the truth of the matteris that I was not 15 minutes early. So they turned me away. I knew the expectation. They only sent me three or four reminders, but when your appointmentis for 7:30 a.m.,and you’re supposed to show up at 7:15,when you’re retired, and you want toContinue reading “#543: On Being Turned Away from the Doctor’s Office for My Blood Pressure Checkup and How That Ultimately Raised My Blood Pressure”
#542: On the Note Wendell Hawken Wrote to Me, the One I’ve Been Using as a Bookmark in Her Book of Poems
The note she wrote to me almost a year ago, the one I’ve been using as a bookmark as I’m reading her poems, says: “Michael – thought I was out, but I found one.” Even though it doesn’t take me long to remember what she was trying to say, I love the ambiguity of itContinue reading “#542: On the Note Wendell Hawken Wrote to Me, the One I’ve Been Using as a Bookmark in Her Book of Poems”
#541: A Squirrel Bites My Dog
My little terrier, miniature greyhound mutt, had it coming. This rodent with a stump of a tail, running along the fence, decides to come down into the yard where I am napping on the hammock and my two dogs are likewise lounging. The small dog is onto the squirrel first while the larger shepherd-lab-husky muttContinue reading “#541: A Squirrel Bites My Dog”
#539: 1434–Behind
So, my artist and musician friend Curtis Settino just had an exhibition of a sculpting project he’s been working on for a number of years. His sculptures are these mostly fantastical creatures, some standing just six or seven inches off the ground, others four or five feet tall, all representing the action or theme ofContinue reading “#539: 1434–Behind”
#538: I Can’t Read
I can’t read shit anymore. David bowie I love to readbut I find lately that I can’t read shit, just like Bowie sangin that song by Tin Machine: it seems that “I can’t read shit anymore.”I blame the internet and stupid smart phonesfor turning myattention spaninto squirrel brain.Did you knowthat squirrels can’t remember where theyContinue reading “#538: I Can’t Read”
michael jarmer 