Sequential if not linear thoughts, comments, and insights.
The American Dream with Desert 2008
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How we communicate our thoughts and our opinions to each other daily maters.
Lately, as I make my rounds here and there throughout our small city I have become annoyed with a new phrase in contemporary American conversation. A phrase previously unknown in our nation’s dialogue. Now it seems when a person, a white person, wishes to express displeasure, anger, sympathy, envy or anything else regarding a person of color, that person is referred to as “Obama’s cousin.”
Conversations start with “did you see the Lakers signed Obama’s cousin, ready for this?, first year – seven million dollars!” Or overheard, “I went to pay for my gas and buy my lottery ticket, and there was Obama’s cousin in front of me counting out quarters and dimes to see if he had enough for the extra giant size Grape Slurppie.” Even “I work with this guy, totally Obama’s cousin, cool guy. You’d really like him. He’s been collecting cars for years! You wouldn’t believe some of the cars he has”
Racism is nothing new, neither is political humor, but it is the phrase. The phrase is new. People seem to disregard the fact that Mr. Obama is of mixed racial heritage. By extension of the logic that make people of color Mr. Obama’s relatives, all white people are his potential relatives as well. I am just as likely to be related to the President as any of his new “cousins.” That would be just fine with me. I would like to be Barack cousin.
I wouldn’t care about VIP tours of the white house, limo rides, a photo-op with their new dog, or any of that. What I would like is to see Barack’s girls with my grandkids, to listen to their voices blend as they played. I would smile to myself to hear Michelle Obama and my wife having a good laugh together at their husband’s expense. It is easy to picture my new cousins fitting in at family picnics. We all talk constantly in our family. Conversation only slows when we have our mouths full. Even then we’re still not quiet, just talking less.
Pushing back from the big picnic table we’ve always had out back I would say to The President, “Barack, I’m going back for another hot-dog and some of that potato salad. While I’m up, can I get you anything?” Barack would smile at me and with a small shake of his head (wipe a smidgen of mustard from the corner of his mouth and say, “No thanks, I’m saving room for some of that strawberry shortcake your wife made.” Smart to plan ahead. I like that in a person. I like that in a leader as well. The Obamas would fit into my family just fine. They might just turn out to be my favorite cousins of all.
by-Doug Mathewson
Filed Under Running CommentarySummer Satisfaction
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workday morning late again
old convertible my summer ride
radio loud, muffler louder
sets off the boss’s car alarm
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Notes from the front……
So where has this guy been???
Well honestly I have been right here but so busy with other things. I have not been writing as much and have become more involved in other projects.
Full of Crow Press and Distribution has become my on-line home. I have been working with some very creative people the foremost of whom is the legendary
Lynn Alexander. We started Blink-Ink two years ago as a quarterly fiction fifty work mini-magazine. I am the Editor, and Lynn handles art and production. It has grown amazingly. Please visit us online to get the feel for what we do there. Our “Crow Aesthetic” if you will. I am also involved with another even smaller, even stranger publication called ”MUST.” It is an experiment in distribution, production, and creative style.
Submitting to other publications has become less of a priority, but that is a topic for another time. I do want to thank the editors who wrote me and made me write
for them. I will not list you my friends for fear of forgetting someone. You made me write when I felt I couldn’t.
Helping other writers, artists, and editors has become something I truly enjoy
whether I know anything or am helpful, who can say. I learned from a friend at
Full of Crow to strive to be as inclusive as I can rather than exclusive. A good policy in all things I feel.
Over the last year I have learned a great deal. About life, about people, and I imagine about myself. So to that end will try to update things with more diligence. And thanks for come by to say hello.
Doug Mathewson
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Hoilday Breather
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Holiday Breather
This weekend we were out and about on our holiday rounds. A discount matinee would be perfect. Nothing to heavy in a movie mind you, just a romantic comedy. The film might have been a little light-weight but it had a strong cast and my wife and I weren’t looking for the sub-titled art-house provoker of deep thoughts. The lobby was cold and quiet early on Sunday. Ahead of us in line for tickets was a group of nuns. A couple of “Old-School” nuns, but mostly younger women with sensible shoes wearing gray outfits. Their matching gray hats were reminiscent of the ones worn by L.L. Cool-J. More the “Bucket Style” Kangol than the more popular Samuel L. Jackson style.
We were curious as to which film they would choose. The movie that puts two unlikely Hollywood high-grossers on the same screen via a contrived and unlikely plot? Maybe a generic Disney bland fairly tale rehash (that happens to be royalty free in public domain)? Not likely the moronic stoner frat-party sight-gag drug reference toss away, nor the vampire robots vs scantily clad teens blood-bath beach epic.
Then we realized their obvious choice. Narnia in 3-D. Now dubbed a “Franchise” with the release of a second film. After being converted to Christianity by J.R.R. Tolkien C.S. Lewis is said to have written a different Christian theme into each volumes of “The Chronicles of Narnia.” I remembered how in the first book the death and resurrection of Aslan the lion so closely follows the story of Christ. The other books are less clear in my memory and I can’t recall all the ins and outs of them. I remember liking Mr. Tumnus the fawn, and the swordsman mouse Reepicheap. Liking the kids?…not so much.
To me it seemed the sisters felt they were getting away with something. I liked their giddiness, and how they held their 3-D glasses. All vertically, all in the left hand as they walked in single file to the concession area. I hope the Archdiocese could at least spring for popcorn.
by-Doug Mathewson
Filed Under Running CommentaryVery short fiction.
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Call it Blink Fic, or as I perfer call it a “Smudge”, but I am becoming very interested in very short fiction. This is 50 words including the title.
We Could Have Been In Mexico.
That would seem right. And there were these two sided matchboxes painted red. Open one side, a Saint, open the other, the Devil. But I know I would bought have some and there aren’t any here now, so maybe I am just making it up.
by- Doug Mathewson
Filed Under Running CommentaryDouble Decker Book Review
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The Honk and Holler Opening Soon by Billie Letts
The Circus In Winter by Cathy Day.
Cold and flu season soon will be upon us. Everyone treasures “snow-days” to
stay warm and cozy, catching up with a great book. But what of “sick-days”? Seemingly
near death days of jumbled thoughts, muddled actions, and CVS generic tonics. Days
you are too sick to even follow day-time TV. What do you read then? A fortunate few who may still have their Archie and Veronica comics, but for everyone else may I suggest the following two short novels. Read them in simultaneously or individually, it matters not. The flat characters are so lacking in dimension the reader can shuffle them like two pinochle decks. A slipstream merger of these two tales might well produce a more intricate, and interesting story.
The Honk and Holler Opening Soon (Guilford Library Book Sale $3.00) is without question the better of the two books. Plot and style are both enjoyable. Our story centers around a small diner owned by a disabled Vietnam Veteran. Life is quiet till a mysterious woman in a short skirt, carrying a three legged dog, emerges from the night.
The characters are predictable and cartoonish as they pass from front cover to last page, but, I liked them. The reader should not hang big expectations on these good folks, the humorous parts are entertaining and that is enough.
The Circus In Winter (Broad Street Books, Middletown, Final Clearance Table $1.98)
outlines the history of the Great Porter Circus. A lesser know big-tent show that toured smaller mid-western towns in the late nineteenth century. The snapped chalk-line of a linear plot does not allow the reader to stray far as they get increasingly bored. How can a circus book be dull? The images of life behind the scenes were very interesting. Details of a post Civil War circus touring America are revealed through biographies of the performers and their families. This information redeemed the book for me. I found the side-show people much more interesting than the star performers. My favorite chapter follows a young man hired to portray a ”Pin-Head.” He marries a delightful woman who performs as both the circus Fat Lady, and “The Zulu Queen.” They and their children to follow establish a “Lost-Tribe,” (discovered apparently by the shows promoter), and toured for three generations.
During long winters, when the show would not tour, the performers who appeared so exotic are shown to be everyday people, just with unusual employment. Each short chapter follows a different performer, making finding your place easy after dozing off in a Day-Quil haze.
Those among us who love books regard an unread stack as “money in the bank.”
These two books are more akin to extra boxes of kleenex, great to have on hand when needed, but only pick them up when on sale.
reviewed by-Doug Mathewson
Filed Under Running CommentaryA Day In The Life
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This piece was written for the Creative Soup Project instalation “A Day in The Life” which I was very happy to participate in. The rest of this project may be viewed at: www.creativesoup.org
Every fall at some point I re-stick all the stickie notes on my fridge. I had a little time before work and wanted to get it out-of-the-way-as-they-say. Some notes could go, even ones I’d had up for years. “Fix eight-track player in VW bus” no longer carried the urgency or relevance it once did. Same goes for “Arturo, cat feed.” Do I know an Arturo?, or is Arturo the cat? I can’t seem to bring either one to mind. Other notes will stay as they have for many years, Duct tape, even the new clear duct tape, looks forlorn and haphazard in the kitchen so I don’t use that. I thought of fiber-glassing over my oldest notes, but what if I needed a new refrigerator? The doors would surely not interchange. 3-M dry-mount adhesive spray from the art-supply store works well on these tattered missives. I may need my many notes with their cryptic amendments. “Write great book! (one that makes sense this time) and get rich! (explore more on how to…), those two had to stay. I needed room for something new.
One of the daily papers ran a photo of President Elect Obama hugging a young Iraq Veteran in a leaf strewn Park. She would have been on tip-toes to meet his embrace as he bent to meet hers. But she had no toes, or legs. Two carbon-fiber replacements were clearly visible between her warn flat shoes and her thrift store coat. Barack’s expression showed such a depth of compassion. His eyes, the set of his jaw spoke of his understanding, and of his intense resolve.
The picture is now eye level on my fridge. It’s like a book-mark, a kind of place holder. It reminds me where I left off yesterday in my revived commitment to be a empathetic and compassionate person. That’s more important, I think, than all the rest. Including the problematic Arturo, who might or, might not, be a cat.
by-Doug Mathewson
Filed Under Running CommentaryWord Count Madness
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Tuesday Shorts is a delightful place to spend time, even if it’s not a Tuesday.
The shorts being under 100 words, and publication occurring every other Tuesday.
Recently Editors Kristen Tsetsi and Shelley Rae Rich requested shorter pieces.
Specifically 20 word Tongs and 6 word G-Strings. These were my submissions.
The girls are all cell phones and tongs.
The boys gush Hot Wheels action.
It’s so great teaching Middle School.
What’s that music you ask? Well, I’d say it’s
either Philip Glass or, a test of the
Emergency Broadcast network.
“You Wouldn’t dare shoot’” – Bang! Bang!
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Two For A Penny
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Here are two very different versions of a story. Different enough to me to be viewed and treated as two different pieces. Cezzane’s Carrot out of Santa Fe was kind enough to publish “Eyes” which is the earlier work. I read “Eyes” at several book store open mic events and people had problems with talking seals.Or at least seals that our central character could understand. While I am not concerned with catering to the “Reader’s Digest Large Pint Edition” crowd, I wanted to maintain a sense of “magic-realism” so communication became all visual and limited for the most part to human people.
All people are people, but not all people are human people is something I believe. Some audience members thought he would become a deer, some thought she would become human. The two central characters are neither man nor deer. They are two halves of something much bigger and far beyond even the concept of the individual.
There is a strong element of redemption in both versions. Oddly I have written several stories of late that involve redemption of one kind or another. In addition, two of these are, “Safe Harbor” which appears in The Boston Literary Magazine, and “Ekphrastic Riff” which may be found at riverbabble.
Peace – Doug Mathewson
Keyboard Call
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National poetry month was a real eye-opener. Poets great and small threw wide their doors and invited us in. I had the opportunity to hear many people with whom I was not familiar read their work. Two that stand out are Yvonne Murphy with her insightful, scholarly examination of language and Laurelyn Whitt who writes of languages lost in her exploration of interstitial space. I also enjoyed the works of several
other people, but did not catch their names. An older man recalled the wildflowers that were his childhood companions, and a chance meeting in the town library with a young reader who explained whales. Another poet wrote passionately about the loss of a loved one, stolen from him by AIDs.
Among the anti-war poems was written by a Korean Veteran. The horror as fresh today was it was in 1953. The memories still so vivid he could only to sing his poem in faltering monotone to keep his tears at bay. I was impressed by these fine writers and by the community they share. I only wish those of us who write prose could have such a community as well. There seem to be any number of ongoing “slams” and “open mic poetry” events to be found. Theirs is not on-line social-network, just real people reading aloud to each other on a regular basis. In part it is envy I feel. That and impatience with my self for gaining three pounds over the month (dam you with your home-made cookies and imported cheeses). There were eighty seven listings of upcoming events for this month on the state wide poetry calender when I checked. “Google-stalk” as I might, I could not find one prose reading.
I offer a call to action to writers of prose, flash fiction authors especially, since our work lends itself so well to being read aloud, to promote a local reading series. Use any means available to get out the word. Flash Mob Flash Fiction? Ask your local book store or cafe which evening of the week is totally dead and If you were to bring in at least five friends who might, just might buy something could you have ninety minutes for a monthly short fiction extravaganza? Make it a contest, tell people lies, include yodeling or look-alike contests if that helps. Younger crowds seem to love break-up stories, worst boyfriend/girlfriend stories. Just do not make it sound like school. For an older crowd try memories, reminiscences,- finding god while walking on the beach is always popular – (did he wash up?). Make it themed! Let’s post our posters and fly our flyers. Local direct action is what we need to do.
There are a couple of poets in my area who write pretty good short fiction, they just have the punctuation all wrong and think it is poetry. Maybe we can rope them into it as well.
Peace – Doug Mathewson
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