Poetics

The story below is the closest I've ever come to writing a statement of poetics. I dashed this off immediately after receiving a pile of rejection slips on the same day early in my career. I was pissed. I was very pissed. I had the attitude, well fuck all of you literary editors if you're not interested in my work! I dashed this off, sent it immediately -- and it was accepted by THE LITERARY REVIEW, which went on to publish more of my work (they had been a major rejector of my work until this moment). In those days, the two places I wanted most to publish were THE LITERARY REVIEW and PRISM INTERNATIONAL, mainly because they had international content. I eventually succeeded in being published several times by each.

I think the moral is, Attitude wins. Passion wins.

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Fragments Before the Fall

The Literary Review (Summer, 1971)

Charles Deemer

I WALK a tightrope between two mountain tops over the Valley of the Waters of Fire. The waters are rising and all too soon the flames will disengage the embracing strands of fiber which hold me up, casting me to my fate below — incineration. I stand very still. To move would be to lose my balance and become cinder too soon.

I RECOGNIZE the voice: "Mummy, can I take this magazine to school? It has a story in it that is full of symbols, and Mr. Walker just loves symbols."

YOU, my friend, have not believed me from the beginning. But you say you do. And that makes you a phony.

THE MOUNTAIN from which I come is called the Mountain of the Sun. There I lived for many years, happy in my employment as an Accountant, happy with my wife Rose and with our two children, Fred (the boy) and Sally (the girl). My specialty in Accounting was figures. I added them, subtracted them and strung them in long columns in ledger books. It was as a result of such figuring, especially the adding of figures (and the figuring of adding), that I decided to begin the journey to the Mountain of the Moon across the valley. Whence the present.

IF YOU must think of me as a character in a work of fiction, I wish you would stop reading immediately. Ditto if you think of yourself as a reader of anything but the most literal truth.

WE, of course, had knowledge of the Mountain of the Moon. On clear days we could see it. Although I personally knew no one who had been across the valley, my analyst claimed to have a number of patients who had made the journey. They returned insane. In this context my analyst's reasons for discouraging my own journey become clear enough. Yet the figures pointed the way, and I obeyed them. My respect for mathematics, I must admit, is greater than my respect for psychology. As disciplines, you understand. As disciplines.  Read more

New work by Harriet Levi: Sunburst

If you're lucky, the end of life is a joyous time

It truly is. This is why it's important that individuals retain control of their destinies, so that when fate turns an uglier cheek, and life becomes too much to bear, which is an existential personal and solitary evaluation, period period and period, each individual gets to do whatever necessary without breaking the law or facing irrational obstacles.

I'm in the joyous time phase right now, despite my minor aches and pains, and I really look forward to the summer both for warm weather and downsizing, which I anticipate being a joy in its own right.

And I already look forward to next fall's teaching because I'm going to add a new book to supplement mine, a kind of book I've been looking for. Ah, onward. Onward.

Art Scatter Blog Archive : Miracle elixir, that’s wot did the trick, sir

Art Scatter Blog Archive Miracle elixir, that’s wot did the trick, sir:

 "Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage against the dying of the light with a well-mixed martini in your hand.

In a recent post about a Vox spoken-poetry performance, Art Scatter mentioned in passing “the magician’s drone of listening to the likes of W.H. Auden reciting his own work.” That phrase caught the attention of playwright, novelist and filmmaker Charles Deemer, who passed along the following memory of the great gimlet-eyed poet."

West	W	L	Pct	GB	Home	Road	East	Cent	West	Streak	L10
Oakland Athletics	9	5	.643	--	6-2	3-3	3-1	0-0	6-4	Lost 1	6-4
Los Angeles Angels	7	7	.500	2.0	3-5	4-2	4-2	2-3	1-2	Won 4	6-4
Seattle Mariners	7	7	.500	2.0	5-2	2-5	1-0	2-1	4-6	Won 1	6-4
Texas Rangers	5	7	.417	3.0	3-3	2-4	1-5	2-1	2-1	Lost 4	4-6

Scrapple cereal?

Had a slice of scrapple on my oatmeal this morning and damn it was tasty! Got me thinking ... scrapple cereal? Maybe mash the scrapple into oatmeal or another hot cereal when it cooks?

Or, why fix it if it ain't broke etc and just continue to add a slice of scrapple to my bowl of oatmeal now and again. It's really something.

It's official: Second attempt to recall Portland Mayor Sam Adams fails | OregonLive.com

It's official: Second attempt to recall Portland Mayor Sam Adams fails | OregonLive.com

Although active in the first attempt, I was not active in the second attempt. I considered its failure a foregone conclusion, given the apathy among progressives I saw in the first attempt. However, I think there's a very good chance Adams will not be reelected, not for his lying but for his bad job as mayor, such as stealing sewer funds for bicycle paths. But we'll see.

Art Scatter Blog Archive: Poetry off the page, or, the fat lady sings

Art Scatter Blog Archive   Poetry off the page, or,  the fat lady sings:

"What they do is this. They take a poem (twenty-five of them, actually), break it down to its component parts from stanza to line to syllable to vowel and consonant, settle on a rhythm, and deliver it as a group, sometimes passing it around phrase by phrase, sometimes word by word, sometimes in unison, sometimes as a soloist and chorus."

Online Movie Pot of Gold Fading – Deadline.com

Online Movie Pot of Gold Fading – Deadline.com:

"Uh oh. You know how online movies are always being held up as the pot of gold waiting at the end of the rainbow? How downloading movies, or streaming them over the internet, will more than make up for dwindling DVD revenue? Well, London-based consultancy Screen Digest has downgraded its digital film sales forecasts by one third."

Dana Ullman: How Scientific Is Modern Medicine Really?

Dana Ullman: How Scientific Is Modern Medicine Really?:

"Doctors today commonly assert that they practice 'scientific medicine,' and patients think that the medical treatments they receive are 'scientifically proven.' However, this ideal is a dream, not reality, and a clever and profitable marketing ruse, not fact."

Karl Kozel: How To Order A Martini (The Old School)

Karl Kozel: How To Order A Martini (The Old School)

In my drinking days, I made my best martinis at home this way. I kept a bottle of Blue Sapphire gin in the freezer. I kept olives in a bottle of vermouth. I froze a martini glass if I thought ahead enough to do so. Poured the gin, took several olives from the vermouth bottle and dropped them into the gin. Wah-lah!

Food for thought

Thirty years ago, top executives at S&P 500 companies made an average of 30 times what their workers did -- now they make 300 times what their workers make. Source

It's all material, but this doesn't mean it gets used

An interesting moment in my long lunch yesterday with Gall when he said he never could write fiction. Here he has a wealth of experience -- a significant role in a Senate campaign, once worked with a former head of the CIA, three years in Russia writing for various publications, other travels, a period with the Wall Street Journal -- but said this about writing fiction: I spent so much time making sure the words I put in people's mouths were accurate, I found I just couldn't make up things for people to say. Interesting. Many of his colleagues, he said, have written novels based on their journalistic travels and experiences (I've done this myself), but he couldn't get over this obstacle. Different minds think in different ways.

Again what a delightful visit! I trust we'll do it again.

How Does Summit Make A Movie Of This? – Deadline.com

How Does Summit Make A Movie Of This? – Deadline.com:

"Remember when Woody Allen made a movie out of Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (*But Were Afraid To Ask)? The 1972 pic was an early hit for the comedian. Now Summit Entertainment said today it has acquired worldwide film and television rights to the entire MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS franchise based on the book series written by John Gray, Ph.D. The initial book, which was the launch of more than a dozen Mars-Venus titles, was originally published by Harper Collins in 1992. Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun will produce the film project via their BermanBraun banner. Please, make this a comedy (without terminally depressed teens)."

Power lunch

A terrific 2+ hours lunch with Peter and Pali Gall. Peter and I were in the same Russian class at the Army Language School in October, 1959, and later served in Germany together. We haven't stayed in touch much since discharge but all that didn't matter over a long lunch of memories and catching up. Peter has some serious health problems, sad to say, but his energy was good and focused at the meeting, and it was a genuine joy to see them both. Peter had significant success in journalism and politics, including playing on the national stage and a period living in Moscow, so they've had a rich life. They were here to visit a son who lives in Vancouver, Washington. I haven't spent almost three hours at lunch in a long time. What a great visit.

My scrapple just gets better and better

What can I say?

Famous Scripters Help Struggling Writers – Deadline.com

Famous Scripters Help Struggling Writers – Deadline.com

Zero sum day

A sunny glorious day! Counter-balanced by documenting a bootleg production of one of my plays in 2001 and appalling misquotations in a 2005 screenwriting book. A day like all days etc.

Mariners

West	W	L	Pct	GB	Home	Road	East	Cent	West	Streak	L10
Oakland Athletics	9	5	.643	--	6-2	3-3	3-1	0-0	6-4	Lost 1	6-4
Seattle Mariners	6	7	.462	2.5	4-2	2-5	0-0	2-1	4-6	Lost 1	5-5
Los Angeles Angels	6	7	.462	2.5	2-5	4-2	4-2	1-3	1-2	Won 3	5-5
Texas Rangers	5	7	.417	3.0	3-3	2-4	1-5	2-1	2-1	Lost 4	4-6

Even losing today, the Mariners are half a game out of last place, cause for celebration. Now for a run for the lead.