Strange Light

Strange Light

I’ve been noticing things lately. Unusual, strange imagery. Aural lights. Reverse sunsets. Different birds. Snow in May. Nothing is the same, anymore. Well, not “nothing.” But so much is different, new, unaccustomed. Have seen the grandkids a lot but have not hugged them in months.  My hair is too long and there’s nothing I can do about it. The standard rule about clothing, that you wear 20 percent of your wardrobe 80 percent of the time, doesn’t come close. More like 10/90. Or worse. And nobody seems to mind. We used to have a bird feeder up in the back but this year I moved it in closer to the kitchen so we can watch it from there or the dining room where I’m starting to work a lot. The feeder occupies a perfect viewing area, but because the canister hangs from a little bracket I have to take it in each evening and put it out each morning. Otherwise it will get taken down by the bear – yes, there is a real “bear” in the near woods who visits us occasionally. With the diversity of the bird feed we provide – sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, millet, plus cracked...Read more

Risk Assessment

I’ve been writing criticism and reviews for five decades. It started with rock music in my college days, moved on to an academic stint on international politics and then morphed these last 25 years into a freelance career covering everything from raw book manuscripts to sports media and golf courses. Maybe I’m just a grump, but I’ve found my initial judgments to be pretty reliable. Or at least I’ve found that subsequent considerations and editorial refinement just muddy up what was, for me, initial clarity. It might be a case of it being more important to be certain than to be true. None of what follows should be mistaken for my complaining. I am well aware of the inherent class bias of these concerns. Many people – most people – are suffering extreme stress from unemployment, money woes, threat of virus exposure in the work place, or health worries about family. What’s so frustrating about the situation we are now in is that all of the normal daily complexities of life have been compounded to an extreme degree.  Everyday life has changed completely, in big ways and in little ways. Here are some of the little ways. Eight weeks now,...Read more

Graphic Images

May 1, 2020 I had heard a lot about graphic novels but until recently had never read one. Now I come away impressed with the way words and images, working in tandem, can express a more powerful truth than either could alone. Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home (2004) is actually a graphic memoir, not a novel. It’s a coming-of-age tale amidst family dysfunction in small-town Pennsylvania. With minimal text and sparse drawings it manages to convey sadness, humor, tragedy and confusion, all while being inspirational. It made me think about the materials for a graphic narrative that might work today to explain what it’s been like to live through and with the Coronavirus pandemic.   Wisconsin voters. I think back to the sight of the Wisconsin primary on April 7. Voters withstood long lines, miserably cold and wet weather, and inexcusable statewide reduction of available polling stations simply to exercise a basic right. The imagery was compounded  by knowledge of the political manipulations that preceded it; a lame duck state house session where outgoing Republicans clipped the powers of the incoming Democratic governor; a long history of Republican-led efforts to disenfranchise urban and minority voters; and a scandalous state court decision...Read more
← Newer Posts
Older Posts →