Sometimes all you need is a good poem

You know the phrase, "less is more"?  It had to be coined to describe good poetry.  If you don't like the occasional good poem, well. . . then you are wrong. And yes, you may say it's just a matter of opinion.  You can't be wrong in "liking" something.  Well, this is an exception to that so called rule.  Case in point.  William Everson's "Year's End" is an exquisite example of just how wrong you are.


The year dies fiercely: out of the north the beating storms,
And wind at the roof's edge, lighting swording the low sky:
This year dying like some traitored Norse stumbling
       under the deep wounds,
The furious steel, smashing and swinging.

From the northern room I watch in the dusk,
and being unsocial regard the coming year coldly,
Suspicious of strangers, distrustful of innovations,
Reluctant to chance one way or another the unknown.
I leave this year as a man leaves wine,
Remembering the summer, bountiful, the good fall, the months
       mellow and full.
I sit in the northern room, in the dusk, the death of a year,
And watch it go down in thunder.


This gem from Everson, later called Brother Antoninus when he he went monastic, and then later William Everson when he had his fill of celibacy, is so vivid, so vibrant, that you forget that it is just a mere 114 words.  I've read novels that didn't say as much.  I keep my commentary to myself on this one.  Sometimes it is best just to sit back and enjoy.  So, go back, read this a few more times and enjoy the imagery, rhythm, and symbolism.

Another miracle of science

Another chemical attempts to destroy the earth. Thanks Bayer.  So here we have something to add to the list of illustrious man-made chemical harbingers of death peddled to the public as a safe solution to minor inconveniences.  What remains to be seen is will this succeed where DDT, asbestos, lead gasoline additives, PCBs and other lovely characters have failed.  I always appreciate hearing about the EPA doing everything in its power to stay in lockstep with the industries it is supposed to protect us and the environment from. 

Here's a fun game.  Try and find a government agency that doesn't completely contradict it's purpose.  The DMV?  Does that count?

This is just so good that I have to share it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xCs0up79gc

MBA?

The last 3 months have been strange.  A transitional phase in my life.  But to be honest, this has been building for the last 5 years.  I have an itch to do something.  Something great.  But I don't know how to do it.  Well, after lots of oscillation, I believe I have made a decision.  I think when it comes to profound life altering decisions, indecision is inevitable.  I have always envied people who can decide at the drop of a hat and then stick to their guns through the duration, but I am not sure that is something I would like to do.  I have no clear idea of what the future holds and I know I will change my mind again.  And again.  And again, but today I am starting something in motion that will alter the course of my life.

I went to an information session last night at Mills College and spoke with the dean of the business school and was very impressed with what she had to say.  I do realize that all schools have to sell themselves as a product and business schools are most likely to be the best at selling themselves so I will be doing research on a number of schools, but I really did enjoy the size and focus of this particular school.  Accountability, Ethics, and Environmentally friendly business were the core beliefs we discussed.  Ideal for me since I want to take this into the not-for-profit sector.  Maybe working for an NGO promoting sustainable agriculture in South Africa.  Or maybe economic diversity in Argentina.  Or a organic food coop in California.  Who knows. 

So that's all.  I find myself forgetting my past and looking at today and tomorrow more and more.  It's exciting, it's liberating.  Naturally I still have those melancholy moments looking back at the last 2 and a half years of my life, but those days I am happy to report, dear reader (if there really is someone reading this) are growing fewer and farther between.  2 months ago I was ready to call it quits and just be sad.  What a whiner I was.  I need to remember this feeling so I can use it if another lovely woman decides to break my heart.  It will be good to know it slowly puts itself back together. 

Sent here one by one.  Walking
resolutely to no sure end
we bravely put on our funeral
mask before taking to the grave.

Of all of man's obsessions,
His games and goals, trials and tolls
Nothing will prevent his bow
from breaking on the cruel
rocks of mortality.

Important news

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11909581