Check this out! In celebration of National Poetry Month, the head of school at Marin Academy posted a lovely blog post that featured my husband, Trevor Calvert, as both an MA librarian and poet.

I love not only Trevor's contribution to this post as a poet -- his new work featured is wonderful -- but as a YA librarian. The way he thinks about accessibility and intersects that with a broad range of work, and his encouragement of students to not be intimidated by the written word is terrific.

On MA Library's poetry display:

I wanted to represent both collections of poetry as well as books on writing. When I was younger, I would read these great poems, and think, ‘Oh I wish I could do that’ without realizing that I needed no permission. So the books on writing act as a sort of permission to people that yes, they can write poetry, and also affirm that poetry is not an arcane set of symbols and allegory that must be deciphered if you are going to ‘get’ a poem. For the poets themselves I tried to choose books that would interest readers in multiple ways: Verse & Universe blends science and poetry for those lyrical scientists among us; Fat Girl is interesting as it directly and honestly addresses the body, femininity, and body-image; The Angel Hair Anthology is really interesting as it collects a 1960s Berkeley zine created by Anne Waldman and Lewis Warsh—which really helped shape a lot American poetry. I think this really echoes a lot of MA’s creative and independent spirit—I can imagine some of our students going on to do the same. Gary Snyder could not be neglected as he spoke here during LitFest! And because I like locals, I wanted to add another local poet who teaches as CCA, Donna de la Perriere. Her book, Saint Erasure, is lyric, haunting, and vulnerable.

So proud to be married to this amazing man.

I often feel I am well-versed in poetry, given the predilections of my partner and many of my friends, and my own personal pleasure and interest in the medium. But what I need to remember is that I am not well-versed at all -- what I am is possibly better read in poetics than the average person.

This would certainly be an untrue statement in the early twentieth century, which was a golden age for poetry as a medium read by many, regardless of education, station, or what-have-you.

So, yeah, at any rate, I think I can definitely fake it really well at a cocktail party.

I am meditating on this as of late because I have just recently began reading the work of the late poet (and librarian!) Robin Blaser, one of the key figures in the San Francisco Renaissance. I had heard his name plenty of times, but I only recently have really taken a look at his poetry.

I know!

Will have to delve further into his work to make any deep declarative assessments, but as of now I can say I am feeling his earlier work enormously, and this one in particular speaks to me in a profoundly personal way. Enjoy.

Herons

I saw cold thunder in the grass,
the wet black trees of my humanity, my skin.

How much love lost hanging there
out of honesty.
I catch at those men who chose
to hang in the wind
out of honesty.
It is the body lies with its skin --

Robed in my words I say that the snake
changes its skin out of honesty.

And they
hanged there with some symmetry
died young
like herons proud in their landscape.

Now it is age crept in, nobody younger knows
the quick-darting breath is
our portion of honesty.

(1956)

Holy smokes, that's larger than I thought it would be! Oh well, gotta run with it when you get it.

I'm a little late (as per usual), but my good online friend Mark was recently tagged for his blog excellence, and he in turn tagged this humble blog -- among others I am proud to be listed alongside -- as one of his excellent reads.

I'm here to once again say cheers to Mr. Cardwell, but also pass along my top five** par excellence as well. I read a lot of blogs, lurking on most and commenting on a few, but there are some that really stand out for me as go-tos for content, freshness, and good old-fashioned entertainment.

(It may be cheating, but I do have to put in for Mark's Bad Librarianship. Comics, gee-tar love, librarianship, and pop culture ditties, all relayed from his fortress of black humor in Northern Ireland.)

Onward...

1) A fairly new one on my regular rounds, Nishikata Film Review is a lush and thoughtful catalog of Japanese film, including anime. Lovely lovely lovely.

2) Call me biased, but I love my honey's blog The Casual-T. Chock full of poetics, nerd musings, and ninja-ing in the night, my man also drops some serious library science on your ass. What else is there in life?

Oi, music baby.

3) Canada is saving the world from music mediocrity. How can I be so sure? B(oot)log. Only the finest in indie-rock boots, most with a Canadian flavor. I've added so many great bands to my collection from Rod's dedicated b(oot)logging. Awesome contests too, that people really do win (like me).

4) Bassist for New York outfit Funeral Crashers and all-around music aficionado Frankie Teardrop's blog Systems of Romance is a "dumping ground for all great things post-punk, coldwave, synthpunk, [and] minimal wave." The man's collection is vast, and he regularly uploads very obscure, out of print, or generally hard to find stuff. All this and he also takes requests. Go get some.

5) The Stresstaster, AKA Taste the Stress. Poetry and stream of consciousness that routinely blows my mind and/or makes me laugh out loud, written by a person who spends a lot of time with dead bodies. Sweet. Plus, moderate to severe bro-outs are de rigueur. Respect.

**I'm listing two more -- not in my top five because it's not like they need any more pimpage, but if I'm honest I look forward to them every day...

6) The Sartorialist. Street fashion snaps from New York, Milan, Paris, and everywhere in-between. The commentary makes this one, especially when there are snaps of smoking fashionistas. Brutal!

7) Neil Gaiman's blog. Peer into the mind and home of the creator of Vertigo's The Sandman, see his horrible injuries, get the lowdown on his beekeeping. Oh yeah, and read about his new projects. This is also where you go to get your burning questions answered and get the help you need when proposing to your girlfriend.

In this episode...

Oh sweet mother of everything holy and fun:



...accompanied by a hefty side of WTF?

...and washed down with this exchange between my hubby and a patron at his library gig:

Patron: I need a law dictionary.

Hubby: Here you go (hands patron Black's Law Dictionary).

Patron walks away and sits down at a table, but then immediately returns to the reference desk.

Patron: Uh, can I have a smaller law dictionary? A law dictionary?

Hubby: Oh, so you want a smaller, little dictionary?

Patron: Yes, and this says Black's Law Dictionary, but I'm not black.

:D

Today, tragedy and truth.

Compounding the absolute tragedy of a fairly rural county, even one with a university within its borders, losing its entire public library system is the fact that on a personal level, this county is the one Trevor and I were numero uno shortlisting for relocation after he gets his LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCES DEGREE. Goo times infinity.

So, as I loathe to dwell on tragedy, on to truth: the speech by Courtney Love on the crooks that are major label record companies is old, but I was just made aware of its existence courtesy of Bil.

While I am totally on board with her on record companies, contracts, and, relatedly, the ulterior motives behind the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, many of you who read this blog also know that I am fierce about the reality of artist flexibility in the 21st century, artist/fan connections in the internet age, and how much that bond is important to the survival of quality music. This is what speaks to me most in her speech:

I live on tips. Occasionally, I'm going to get stiffed, but that's OK. If I work hard and I'm doing good work, I believe that the people who enjoy it are going to want to come directly to me and get my music because it sounds better, since it's mastered and packaged by me personally. I'm providing an honest, real experience. Period.

[...]

I'm looking for people to help connect me to more fans, because I believe fans will leave a tip based on the enjoyment and service I provide. I'm not scared of them getting a preview. It really is going to be a global village where a billion people have access to one artist and a billion people can leave a tip if they want to.

Amen sister. Artists who fully engage with their work and don't compromise their vision make good records. If those artists who engage with their work in this way then fully engage with their fans, they cultivate loyal fans of their good work. These fans, who, yes, have the option to download a song for free in 15 seconds, will also want to support the artist. These fans will leave a tip, encourage others to do so as well, and respect the artist as a human being. That is the responsibility of fans on the two-way street called musical appreciation.

This is why I love bands like The Decemberists, and artists like Trent Reznor, Neko Case, and, hola and surprise, David to the frikken J. The first band to release a video for download on BitTorrent, The Decemberists continue to give their fans perks and incentives to buy their incredible music. Leaking their singles from their last album, offering free mp3s of an album with a vinyl album purchase, and making kickball dates with their registered forum fans on stops on their US tour -- that is flexibility and creativity, and lasting connections that people respect. Neko Case continues to walk the walk with the homegrown DIY music tip, and I can tell you I've never met someone more honest and real and dedicated to her fanbase who also creates such astonishing music. I hear Trent Reznor offers his fans reasonable membership rates to a fan club that allows for presale ticketing, early entry to shows, and meet and greets where he does anything from previewing songs for fans to buying pizza for them and taking time to meet and shake hands with every single person who attends. Class.

And David J. Everyone knows I'm a fangirl so I'm biased, but the truth is he works like hell and hustles his beautiful and diverse work like nobody's business. Free previews and downloads of his songs are available on his MySpace and on his meticulously maintained website, and anything I've ever ordered from him comes with a little something extra or a personal note. He actively pursues varied projects, keeps his fans in the loop with unique personal anecdotes, and he takes time out to talk to fans at shows. I know, all this and he gives great backrubs, kisses babies, and performs exorcisms too. ;)

NP: Aoki Takamasa and Tujiko Noriko's 28. Ahhhhhh.

Oops, last thing -- more reasons to love Cali.