Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Without anticipation
Very mellow this morn ... have energy and focus ... had dream nothing wrong with heart at all ... which doesnt answer why recent issues ... strange ... and as Dear Abby once wrote, Half docs graduated in bottom half of class .... soooooooo ... we'll see ...
Monday, July 16, 2012
Google's Marissa Mayer Becomes Yahoo's Chief - NYTimes.com
Google's Marissa Mayer Becomes Yahoo's Chief - NYTimes.com:
I think this will prove to be a big deal.
I think this will prove to be a big deal.
Health report #1
First thanks to those expressing concern ... reason Im dragging around is I have very low pulse 38.... starved heart ... see cardiologist tomorrow ... main doc guess is heart surgery and pacemaker and Im fine with that having witnessed nonlethal stroke of my dad ... no thanks ... hope planned weekend at coast still a go ... well I can insist!
But it depends on the severity of the issue, which likely is blockage. I've had friends go to the cardiologist and end up in surgery an hour later! I've had others go and schedule surgery a week away. I've had others go and not need surgery at all, getting a less radical procedure to clear arteries. In other words, anything can happen. I could die in my sleep tonight, although dying before the summer Olympics would be a cruel hand even if I've had more than my share of luck.
What me worry? I will say this, on the drive home from the doc's, even in traffic the world looked like a pretty neat place to be. And of course who can discount the welcome of a loyal dog? Sketch knows how to make me laugh.
But it depends on the severity of the issue, which likely is blockage. I've had friends go to the cardiologist and end up in surgery an hour later! I've had others go and schedule surgery a week away. I've had others go and not need surgery at all, getting a less radical procedure to clear arteries. In other words, anything can happen. I could die in my sleep tonight, although dying before the summer Olympics would be a cruel hand even if I've had more than my share of luck.
What me worry? I will say this, on the drive home from the doc's, even in traffic the world looked like a pretty neat place to be. And of course who can discount the welcome of a loyal dog? Sketch knows how to make me laugh.
Round Bend Press: Joe Paterno/No Defense
Round Bend Press: Joe Paterno/No Defense:
TS is right on. Football culture at its worst. But by God the NCAA sure put Cal Tech in its place!
TS is right on. Football culture at its worst. But by God the NCAA sure put Cal Tech in its place!
Anticipation
An hour before heading to doc .... I have that pit in my stomach Id get before going on stage to perform .... expect unpleasant news ... been too lucky ... how in hell can my almost vegetarian younger bro have a heart attack and I havent ... why am I the last one standing among close drinking buds .... gods have really cut me a deal ... cant last forever ... actually I dont mind passing but for damn sure mind close but no cigar incapacitation... better to go the whole hog ... Ive done my spiritual work to go ... this is not morbid or suicidal but a simple spiritual truth that scares the bejesus out of folks ... at any rate lets get this done so I can eat ha ha.
Hey doc
Maybe today I get an answer or theory about why I am dragging these days ... I need heart surgery or I have a vitamin deficiency or am just old or who knows what. Meanwhile Im hungry i.e. fasting for blood test. Come on lunch. So far summer is not what I had in mind.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
A Contemplative Revolution
A Contemplative Revolution:
"For you see, contemplative spirituality is like the French resistance of the Nazi era."
"For you see, contemplative spirituality is like the French resistance of the Nazi era."
LA Stories
Two stories in LA Times today of special interest.
History of Sunset Blvd. I lived on Sunset in Pacific Palisades while going to UCLA. Sometimes caught the bus across the street. Near ocean. A zoo on weekends. Might take five mins to get out driveway.
Cal Tech details re NCAA infractions. Secretary caught it. Students dont enroll until third week of term so they can shop classes. Hence first two weeks of term all jocks breaking minimum credits rule. Sec told boss...up chain of command...decided to report it with voluntary sanctions. Should have been end of it.
Idiots at NCAA...who have done nothing against Penn St...decided on stiffer penalties. No scholarships...oops Cal Tech has none. Forfeit victories...oops there are few. Baseball 0-112...soccer 0-66 etc etc etc. What fools.
History of Sunset Blvd. I lived on Sunset in Pacific Palisades while going to UCLA. Sometimes caught the bus across the street. Near ocean. A zoo on weekends. Might take five mins to get out driveway.
Cal Tech details re NCAA infractions. Secretary caught it. Students dont enroll until third week of term so they can shop classes. Hence first two weeks of term all jocks breaking minimum credits rule. Sec told boss...up chain of command...decided to report it with voluntary sanctions. Should have been end of it.
Idiots at NCAA...who have done nothing against Penn St...decided on stiffer penalties. No scholarships...oops Cal Tech has none. Forfeit victories...oops there are few. Baseball 0-112...soccer 0-66 etc etc etc. What fools.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
The old writer in the hotel
Early in my career circumstances led me to formulate an image of what life as "an old writer" might be like. It happened this way.
My first play, Above the Fire, was one of three winners in the national Tennessee Williams Playwriting Competition sponsored by the Univ of Missouri at Columbia. This is very significant for what happened as a result. At the time I was working on a novel to complete my MFA in fiction at the Univ of Oregon. The writing wasn't going well -- hence trying something new, like a play.
As a winner I was flown from Eugene to Columbia and put up in the Daniel Boone Hotel for a week. We three playwrights were treated like bigshots, visiting classes, giving readings, being on panels, being guests at many faculty parties. It was as if we really mattered. And you couldn't find three more different writers: a slick mod NYC gay man, who brought along his young lover; a businessman-looking Wallace Stevens, TS Eliot kind of writer; and yours truly, in my Paul Bunyon period.
I loved being treated like a bigshot so much that back in Eugene I changed my MFA from fiction to drama. Well, I also was looking for a way to stay in school and take advantage of the new Cold War GI Bill.
Staying at the hotel was an old writer, a permanent resident, of local renown. At 4 each afternoon he came down to the bar for his 2 or 3 martinis before dinner. At the bar was a sign-up sheet to visit with him at his booth! Young writers and students lined up to get their 15 or 20 minutes while he held court. Observing this, I thought, now that's a cool way to be an old writer!
Needless to say, my own experience as "an old writer" is not holding court and sipping martinis in the hotel bar where I live. But I used to think it might be.
My first play, Above the Fire, was one of three winners in the national Tennessee Williams Playwriting Competition sponsored by the Univ of Missouri at Columbia. This is very significant for what happened as a result. At the time I was working on a novel to complete my MFA in fiction at the Univ of Oregon. The writing wasn't going well -- hence trying something new, like a play.
I loved being treated like a bigshot so much that back in Eugene I changed my MFA from fiction to drama. Well, I also was looking for a way to stay in school and take advantage of the new Cold War GI Bill.
Staying at the hotel was an old writer, a permanent resident, of local renown. At 4 each afternoon he came down to the bar for his 2 or 3 martinis before dinner. At the bar was a sign-up sheet to visit with him at his booth! Young writers and students lined up to get their 15 or 20 minutes while he held court. Observing this, I thought, now that's a cool way to be an old writer!
Needless to say, my own experience as "an old writer" is not holding court and sipping martinis in the hotel bar where I live. But I used to think it might be.
Woody Guthrie: a century of protest | Cerys Matthews | Music | The Guardian
Woody Guthrie: a century of protest | Cerys Matthews | Music | The Guardian:
Guthrie getting his due. 30+ years ago, when I was touring my show about him, I often had to pitch him to folks who never heard of him, though they knew several of his songs. But there were a few around who knew, including this reviewer:
Guthrie getting his due. 30+ years ago, when I was touring my show about him, I often had to pitch him to folks who never heard of him, though they knew several of his songs. But there were a few around who knew, including this reviewer:
Deemer's act [Ramblin'] is unusually faithful to the material, graced with the selfsame sense of commitment and trust in the common people that continues to keep Guthrie's spirit alive in this country, a spirit that's needed now more than ever.Listen to RAMBLIN'
Doug Marx
Willamette Week
Friday, July 13, 2012
Second wind
from Kindle ... did some audio for project for class in fall ... dog to park in heat of day ... both home to cool off. But work done today!
Univ of Oregon archive
My archive at the Univ of Oregon, Special Collections, is almost up to date. Budget cuts have made them under-staffed and it takes a while. They do a great job with their resources. Very supportive.
59 items listed. Not a bad career.
59 items listed. Not a bad career.
Energy 2
I blew it. I didn't use it while I had it and now I don't have it. Eager to hear what the doc has to say about all this come Monday. No way I could do a project with so little energy, for example. I can read and I can sit and I can watch the tube and I can scratch the dog.
Morgan Freeman: Obama, Mandela, Batman and me | Film | The Guardian
Morgan Freeman: Obama, Mandela, Batman and me | Film | The Guardian:
"The veteran actor on The Dark Knight Rises, how the right is out to destroy Barack Obama at any cost – and why he hates the phrase African American"
"The veteran actor on The Dark Knight Rises, how the right is out to destroy Barack Obama at any cost – and why he hates the phrase African American"
Bob Dylan in row over Newport folk festival electric guitar | Music | guardian.co.uk
Bob Dylan in row over Newport folk festival electric guitar | Music | guardian.co.uk:
"Representatives for Dylan, however, say it is impossible that Peterson has discovered the songwriter's lost electric guitar. "Bob has possession of the electric guitar he played at the Newport folk festival in 1965," said Orin Snyder, Dylan's lawyer. "He did own several other Stratocaster guitars that were stolen from him around that time, as were some handwritten lyrics.""
"Representatives for Dylan, however, say it is impossible that Peterson has discovered the songwriter's lost electric guitar. "Bob has possession of the electric guitar he played at the Newport folk festival in 1965," said Orin Snyder, Dylan's lawyer. "He did own several other Stratocaster guitars that were stolen from him around that time, as were some handwritten lyrics.""
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