Metaphor

The Wind Has Gathered Words

2012-02-14T00:27:00.000-08:00

I'm surprised to find that I've never shared this flash fiction piece on Metaphor. I like it, not just because I think it's unique and passable writing but because it was a lot of fun to write.

It had its public debut at my Fused Realities reading with Joseph Gallo in Santa Barbara.

The Good Story

He always tried to be a good story. Through the years, as paragraphs drifted by and settled on his shoulders, he offered no protest. As the wind has gathered words against curbs and gutters, against chain link and picket fences, caught in the weeds that persevere, he simply put them in his pockets, moving on. He is a work of small phrases but that has been his job, to collect these little things and keep them cleared away. He has done it carefully, without complaint. But to take up all of it was just impossible; so much was left behind. It's not his fault. He's just one simple story, after all.

It started well enough, and happily, though he was born on a day when it clouded suddenly, rained and stayed dark, and everyone said it was much too late in the year for that sort of weather. They said the ocean seemed to be thinking about something, deeply. And that maybe someone would go out for abalone, dive down and be caught in one of those thickening blue-black thoughts, and not come home. It was that kind of day. The divers saw it and stood on the dock for a long time drinking coffee and shielding their eyes with their free hands, watching the ocean think about death. Then they put their gear away and tossed the dregs of their coffee into the water and went home.

Looking back on it now, he sees they must have known that he was born that day, that he was probably the context, if not the point of view, of all that earnest brooding air. So he's been held to blame. Post hoc ergo propter hoc.

As a child, he learned to put small things together, line them up. Subject, object, verb. And it was all predicated on time, which he saw laid out before him in great galleys, on a table in the morning sun. He wandered here and there through phrases of melody, past periods when everything seemed to stop. And taking a breath, he would rise and fall again. He was a child on a slide that stood shining in damp grass - the sun was barely even up! - and anything was possible if he followed rules, dropped nothing that was given him to hold or let it

break away too soon. That's not so much responsibility.

The problem comes with wanting to grow, to take on more of self and life, to be an important story of substance, tinted with green flecks of meaning that glitter across the room. He wanted to be a work like that, a tale to turn heads, drive conversation at parties, be mentioned more than now and then. "Yes, but you really must read …" and they would know his name. So he grew, and took on height beyond a single page of pretense and prefigurement.

As he grew, he took on heaviness and years. He had to slow down from a dance to a trot, then to a less readable jog. Before he learned he had to walk - that the only way to make it through, to find a happy way to end, was to lean back in a comfy chair and take his time about it all - a worse thing happened.

His voice changed. Just a little. You probably wouldn't have noticed. He didn't reveal his narrator, or anything so bad as that. But he found his vowels creaking now and then, and when he stood and tried to speak, what rattled out was tinged with grief. He had learned to pick up bits of memory, and use them here and there to start a scene. This is something stories do. It can't be helped, since future tense is conjectural at best.

So he turned one late spring windy afternoon and went to see his grandfather, who had been a long novella about work and holidays and dogs. Grandpa had been built on backstory himself, so he had so much good advice to give: Keep your lines clean and sharp, stand up straight, and always leave them wanting more. And one last thing, boy. Tell the truth.

It helped. It really helped a while, I think. He tried to going on living well. One word after another, that's the key to happiness. And if you block, just say the next right thing. But all that doesn't pay the bills, not in a town this small, not for the long and heavy haul, not on page two of any life that drifts through drafts like this. Sooner or later, everybody makes stuff up.

Like the time he met the unformed ghost of no one in particular, which rose up from a warped and dusty hardwood floor and came at him, and moaned. And how he screamed and hit the screen door at a run, and fell out into the yard. The house stood like a dull and dying thing made of trees in the August heat and laughed at him. A story should be more fun than that, and brave enough to stand and face the unseen world in which it lives. I know that you agree.

He wanted peace. He grew weary of page after page of getting up and eating life, then lying down. He knew what everyone thought about him, that he was the story of a rainy day and the pensive sea and how the men could have died, their bodies swept away, dissolved, digested by the churning engine of the world. He knew it was useless to change the subject after all, that it was carved on his synopsis, and it would mark his grave in fading ink.

One day he got up late, after all the writers were gone for espresso and scones, and their computers were idling with screensavers of lost and knotted pipes. He climbed to the top of the hill; the hill that is bald on the top, weedless, a scorched and freckled pate of rock. He stood and looked down on the harmless, mostly useless town. There were no factories, no feedlot, no winery or mill. What do those people do all day? Just the houses and the school where he started, waiting in line to climb the slide.

I am not a story of the sea, he roared, and the birds scattered from the trees below and all around. I am not a tale of sad weather, not anymore. I am a story of children at a carnival, with a teacup ride and a Ferris wheel. I can tell you about cotton candy and getting sick in the grass, and ring toss games that aren't quite fair. I know about going from ride to ride with your father, and him buying your ticket for the carousel. I have seen his face grow bright and brighter, every time you come around. And what about the dogs? I could be a story, damn you all, about dogs and how they eat and sleep and play. I could show you a little dog, running in a dream.

We know that that's not going to happen. We knew from the second paragraph how things would all turn out for him. No easy death, no publishable adventure, no bright turn of phrase to give the reader hope. He's not that kind of guy. We read near the end of the story Rust Abides. He doesn't understand the phrase, but feels persistent truth in it, a sense of doom, an unremitting entropy.

We writers have a place for things like him. It's not an envelope addressed to the big city. Why pay for the postage, just to buy rejection slips? It's certainly not the wicker waste can by the desk. He's maybe just a shade too good for that, with all he's learned and all he's suffered stoically. He understands what happens now, and you can help by stepping back. Just watch, as he stands and brushes the crumbs of consonants from the front of his shirt and from his jeans, and slips himself quietly into the drawer.

The Good Story by J. Kyle Kimberlin
is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

In a Land Called Honah Lee

2012-02-12T22:29:00.001-08:00

This one's for Mom.

Marginalia

2012-02-10T00:33:00.001-08:00

A few days ago, I mentioned that I'm posting more now on Google Plus, and letting Metaphor tend more toward my own original and creative impulses, for better or for worse. Links to other people's creative impulses are good, but can live elsewhere.

It's true and I hope that you have noted my address on Google Plus. There's a link to it in the right column too.

It's a transition, though, so here are some things for those of you who haven't found me on G+ yet.

I commend to you today's Writer's Almanac, for a fine poem by Marge Piercy, February Ground.

Here's the last stanza.

Everything revealed is magical,
splendid in its ordinary shining.
The sun gives birth to rosebushes,
the myrtle, a snow shovel fallen,
overcome on the field of battle.

I shall live badly if I do not write, and I shall write badly if I do not live.

- Francoise Sagan
playwright and novelist (1935-2004)

If you missed the very beautiful little video I shared called The Piano, scroll down and watch it. It's worth a couple of minutes.
If Web sites came with a printed manual, they would look like this.

Dr Weil says don't go to sleep upset.
He doesn't say what to do about it. Stay up all night?
I suppose meditating before bed, or talking about it, along with a stiff nightcap, might do the trick.
Maybe this gizmo will help take the edge off.

Definition of Marginalia

1: marginal notes or embellishments (as in a book)
2: nonessential items

My Google Plus address:

http://profiles.google.com/kkimberlin

Is That a Smart Phone in Your Pocket?

2012-02-08T20:52:00.001-08:00

I'll betcha didn't know it, but for several months now, Metaphor has been publishing a special Mobile version. So you can get all the metaphorical wonders on your smart phone.

Strange but true.

An Old Poem

2012-02-08T20:33:00.001-08:00

I wrote this poem for my brother and today is his birthday.
We are still holding fast.

END OF DAYS

In the few cold moments
since my death
I have seen my people
going by. Now I understand
returning home
and remaining away.
We fished orange salmon
from a bridge arched in pain
and rose at three to watch
the moon in the shadow
of the earth.

My mother and father
sleep in their armchairs
and rise up singing hymns.
The sharp November air
has taken the house
the grass is gray
and the birds are gone.
No hope of snow and no
forgetting.

My only brother
his face to the window
is singing
to the miles and the time
behind and forgotten
the words we must say
so we don't give up.
His words rise like clouds
with thunder and trembling
becoming San Francisco rain.

The birds which are gone
had wings of wet lapis
and the voice of the choir
of heaven. But even I, who was
dead, know the true cost:
the quiet lost, the fear
of telephones, or light
beneath a door. All we can do
is love, hold fast, let go.

(C) 1992 J. Kyle Kimberlin
From the book Finding Oakland

The Piano

2012-02-08T20:16:00.001-08:00

Time for Some Funny

2012-02-07T11:15:00.001-08:00

25 Reasons Writers Are ... Nuts.

Language alert. The Supreme Court would prefer you read this after 10pm, or 9pm, depending on your time zone.

Good Question

2012-02-06T19:53:00.001-08:00

A funny moment I had today.

The Moon on my Drapes

2012-02-06T17:40:00.001-08:00

I like this poem - no, I'm proud of this poem - and haven't shared it with anyone in a long time. It was originally published in Pembroke, the literary journal of the University of North Carolina. I've never been to North Carolina, but maybe one of these days... I imagine many trees.

THE SHADOW OF FERNS

Some night you will be cold
and alone. Maybe an animal
is crying outside or the wind
is dragging a branch of palm
across the roof and it wakes you.
If you love me, say my name aloud.

There is no ceremony.
Just say it once or twice
into the darkness, or into the cool
electric glow of your lamp.
Say it slowly to a patch of moonlight
on the rug.

Maybe I will hear it, as I stare
at the vague shadow of ferns
cast by the moon on my drapes.
Then say it for hope, for life,
for the distance between us.

Shadow of Ferns by J. Kyle Kimberlin is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.

Reminder: More stuff is there for you at profiles.google.com/kkimberlin.

On the Plus Side

2012-02-05T00:11:00.001-08:00

I want to introduce you to another place where I post stuff. -- Fun stuff! -- and invite you to join me there.

It’s the “blog” created by my posts, shares, links, etc., on Google Plus.

profiles.google.com/kkimberlin

If you belong to Google +, circle me. We can network. If not, bookmark that site anyway. You don’t have to be a Google Plus user or log in to anything to see it.

I’ve been finding myself posting things in 2 or 3 different places, to reach different groups of people. That’s a time killer. I’m done.

Google Plus is the future of sharing online. At some point, when Google + evolves greater formatting skills, it will likely replace Metaphor. … Everything is on its way to somewhere else.

For now, my writing is staying here at Metaphor, everything else is going to Google Plus. Because there’s a distinction between publishing and sharing.

Here’s a statistic for you. After 11 years and nearly 5000 posts, readership on Metaphor is averaging 11 people per day. (And I thank you!). But after 6 months on Google Plus, 1731 people are subscribed to my posts (they have me in circles which does not mean they’re reading everything I write), and it goes up daily.

A Short Video About Google Plus

For now, Metaphor is still here. So please keep reading Metaphor if you’re interested in creative writing and poetry. But if you’re not checking out Google Plus too, you’re missing some of the fun!

Here’s the link again: profiles.google.com/kkimberlin.

See you there!

Watch Out For Bear

2012-02-04T17:46:00.001-08:00

The Patriots need to watch out for my cousin Bear Pascoe (Giants 86), says Fox Spots. That's right. Get 'em Bear!

http://goo.gl/eyCPj

Anniversary Poem

2012-02-03T22:35:00.000-08:00

Today is my parents' 56th wedding anniversary. Happy day, Mom and Dad!

On the night of their 30th anniversary in 1986, I was a college student at Chico State in northern California. I had a job as a security guard, and that night I was assigned to watch a research weather station on a remote road high on the bluffs overlooking the valley and the town.

Thinking of my folks, I took out my notebook and wrote this poem, which was published in 1992 in my book Finding Oakland.

IN PASSING

I have spent these hours
in silence watching darkness
take this blue canyon
a little traffic
and the town lights
in the valley

A pair of mice eyes
like black seeds watched me
pass on a steep trail pushing
my little light to the end
of this road

I wonder what you’ve known
together what nights in quiet
canyons lights passing quickly
to rest in distant places
these thirty years

At sunset I saw a hawk
on a fence post far below
spread his wings and climb
beyond the light

J. Kyle Kimberlin

from the book Finding Oakland

White Plume Press, 1992

Download the book, without charge (PDF).

I'm intrigued by the unusual spaces that appear in the lines, for example, "in silence watching darkness..." I don't do that anymore; I very rarely have. So it must have been in style among poets I was reading at the time. Possibly, local writers in the CSUC English Dept. It's not a common technique, but seems to be making some claims on the cadence.

To My Old Master

2012-02-02T19:21:00.001-08:00

Here's an amazing letter, written in 1865, from a former slave to his former master.

It's perfect, with just the right amount of irony. I couldn't have written it better myself.

The Importance of Ernest

2012-02-02T18:44:00.001-08:00

“I write one page of masterpiece to ninety-one pages of shit. I try to put the shit in the wastebasket.”
- Ernest Hemingway, in a letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1934.

Isn't that quaint? A wastebasket! ... If only Hemingway could see us now!

Oops

2012-01-31T11:02:00.001-08:00

“I begin each painting as a series of mistakes.”

- Robert Motherwell

Yep, that's exactly how I begin a poem.

A New Poem

2012-01-30T18:37:00.001-08:00

Metronome

If you think about going,
or even motion, the destination
and the journey slip away from you,
becoming all of your old life
lost and buried under pavement.
But do not be still.

If you stare at the stars
or the lamp on the bedroom
table, at the stern sun
or its light turned back
from the surface of the grass,
you will sit for an age in darkness.

If you ask the clock for answers,
it will say nothing about months
and years, only the long and short
divisions of a day. Life’s ceaseless
metronome can’t promise
you are going to live.

Be still then. Hear the untuned
cello of traffic through the glass,
the sigh of the faucet, the heartache
of dogs in the distance.
This music is always around us,
a flowing and gathering cry.

J. Kyle Kimberlin
January 30, 2012

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

Want the PDF? Here you are, free gratis.

Different Words

2012-01-28T18:23:00.001-08:00

If I've shared this before, here it comes again. Things like this little video move and inspire me.

An Old Friend

2012-01-27T13:38:00.001-08:00

My friend Joseph has posted a beautiful new poem. It's about so much, I won't even say how much. You have to read it for yourself.

~ : đ ґ ä ĉ ħ ę ή ŧ ħ ґ ä x : ~: That silent thing between us

A Bit of Politics

2012-01-25T00:35:00.001-08:00

... if you can stand it.

Did you watch the presidential speech? I did. I started watching the enhanced web version on whitehouse.gov, which was good because of my PC monitor's better resolution and superior sound. But the stream would lock up sometimes, so I switched to TV.

I thought the speech was positive, assertive, hopeful. There was more truth in it than is usually found in a political speech. Of course, maybe we can (si se puede), but I'll believe it when I see it. This ain't my first visit to the rhetorical big top.

One thing always strikes me as funny about this event is the way the members of the opposing party choose to applaud at random, or not. There were some nice bipartisan ovations tonight. Very nice.

But I swear, if they thought it was going to cost them a dime of their lunch money, and Obama suggested it might be better if Americans don't suffer and die needlessly, those Republicans would just sit there like victims of spontaneous taxidermy.

Republicans seem to passive-aggressively hate US, while Democrats are just manifestly indifferent and morally inert. Caring is as caring does.

There's an app for that

2012-01-24T10:12:00.001-08:00

The digital app is looking more like the inevitable future of publication. And I'm not sure I like it. It's exciting, but for me the job of writing has always been finding the right words and in the right order putting them.

Blowing Up the Book

A new crop of digital books comes loaded with videos, songs, animated shorts and pop-up graphics. Is this the future of publishing?

2012-01-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

Against SOPA

2012-01-17T21:00:00.000-08:00

At midnight, 1/18/2012, this site will go dark for 24 hours. Metaphor is a humble little blog, but it joins in solidarity of protest with countless web sites around the world, including Wikipedia and Google, against the SOPA act. This pending legislation is nothing less than an insidious and transparent attempt by the powers of corporate oligarchy to seize control of the Internet and censor freedom of expression.

The Internet must remain free and freely accessible. It belongs to the people of the world, not to corporations.

Resources

1. An email from The White House

The White House ✆ info@messages.whitehouse.gov via cox.net

Jan 14 (4 days ago)

to kimberlin

Combating Online Piracy while Protecting an Open and Innovative Internet

By Victoria Espinel, Aneesh Chopra, and Howard Schmidt

Thanks for taking the time to sign this petition. Both your words and actions illustrate the importance of maintaining an open and democratic Internet.

Right now, Congress is debating a few pieces of legislation concerning the very real issue of online piracy, including the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) and the Online Protection and Digital ENforcement Act (OPEN). We want to take this opportunity to tell you what the Administration will support—and what we will not support. Any effective legislation should reflect a wide range of stakeholders, including everyone from content creators to the engineers that build and maintain the infrastructure of the Internet.

While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.

Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small. Across the globe, the openness of the Internet is increasingly central to innovation in business, government, and society and it must be protected. To minimize this risk, new legislation must be narrowly targeted only at sites beyond the reach of current U.S. law, cover activity clearly prohibited under existing U.S. laws, and be effectively tailored, with strong due process and focused on criminal activity. Any provision covering Internet intermediaries such as online advertising networks, payment processors, or search engines must be transparent and designed to prevent overly broad private rights of action that could encourage unjustified litigation that could discourage startup businesses and innovative firms from growing.

We must avoid creating new cybersecurity risks or disrupting the underlying architecture of the Internet. Proposed laws must not tamper with the technical architecture of the Internet through manipulation of the Domain Name System (DNS), a foundation of Internet security. Our analysis of the DNS filtering provisions in some proposed legislation suggests that they pose a real risk to cybersecurity and yet leave contraband goods and services accessible online. We must avoid legislation that drives users to dangerous, unreliable DNS servers and puts next-generation security policies, such as the deployment of DNSSEC, at risk.

Let us be clear—online piracy is a real problem that harms the American economy, threatens jobs for significant numbers of middle class workers and hurts some of our nation's most creative and innovative companies and entrepreneurs. It harms everyone from struggling artists to production crews, and from startup social media companies to large movie studios. While we are strongly committed to the vigorous enforcement of intellectual property rights, existing tools are not strong enough to root out the worst online pirates beyond our borders. That is why the Administration calls on all sides to work together to pass sound legislation this year that provides prosecutors and rights holders new legal tools to combat online piracy originating beyond U.S. borders while staying true to the principles outlined above in this response. We should never let criminals hide behind a hollow embrace of legitimate American values.

This is not just a matter for legislation. We expect and encourage all private parties, including both content creators and Internet platform providers working together, to adopt voluntary measures and best practices to reduce online piracy.

So, rather than just look at how legislation can be stopped, ask yourself: Where do we go from here? Don’t limit your opinion to what’s the wrong thing to do, ask yourself what’s right. Already, many of members of Congress are asking for public input around the issue. We are paying close attention to those opportunities, as well as to public input to the Administration. The organizer of this petition and a random sample of the signers will be invited to a conference call to discuss this issue further with Administration officials and soon after that, we will host an online event to get more input and answer your questions. Details on that will follow in the coming days.

Washington needs to hear your best ideas about how to clamp down on rogue websites and other criminals who make money off the creative efforts of American artists and rights holders. We should all be committed to working with all interested constituencies to develop new legal tools to protect global intellectual property rights without jeopardizing the openness of the Internet. Our hope is that you will bring enthusiasm and know-how to this important challenge.

Moving forward, we will continue to work with Congress on a bipartisan basis on legislation that provides new tools needed in the global fight against piracy and counterfeiting, while vigorously defending an open Internet based on the values of free expression, privacy, security and innovation. Again, thank you for taking the time to participate in this important process. We hope you’ll continue to be part of it.

Victoria Espinel is Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator at Office of Management and Budget

Aneesh Chopra is the U.S. Chief Technology Officer and Assistant to the President and Associate Director for Technology at the Office of Science and Technology Policy

Howard Schmidt is Special Assistant to the President and Cybersecurity Coordinator for National Security Staff

2. A Podcast/Interview:

"Internet Censorship Affects Everybody": Rebecca MacKinnon on the Global Struggle for Online Freedom

3. An email from Michael Moore
STOP SOPA: Why MichaelMoore.com Will Be Blacked Out Wednesday, January 18th ...a note from Michael Moore
Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

Friends,

My websites MichaelMoore.com and Mike's High School Newspaper will both be going dark for 24 hours starting at midnight tonight in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act now before Congress. I'm proud to join with Wikipedia, Reddit, Boing Boing and thousands of websites in this action to raise awareness of this huge threat to an open internet.

I think we all knew that the powers-that-be would eventually try to kill the world wide web as we've come to know and love it. I'm sure it's just an accident that these bills are being proposed after a year where uprisings around the world were literally started on the internet. This is a scary device to those in power and I'm sure they rue the day they allowed us to talk freely to each other. They weren't thinking about the revolution that would cause -- they just saw it as a way to sell more stuff. Oops. And now they want to rein it in.

Please take the time to learn about SOPA (and its twin Senate bill, PIPA) and then call AND fax AND email your Representative and Senators tomorrow. Let's melt their phone lines and computers. We've got to use the internet while we still can to organize, fight back and stop this.

The good news is the Obama administration says it doesn't support the bills in their current form (but he said that about the National Defense Authorization Act -- and then went ahead and signed it after changes that still left its most dangerous provisions intact).

We can win this. But we've got to pour it on right now. I'll see you on the other side tomorrow night at midnight!

Yours,
Michael Moore

My New Keyboard

2012-01-15T19:52:00.001-08:00

Back in April 2010, I posted about the bad ergonomics of PC keyboards. I opined that they're bad because the number pad (10 key) on the right end of the keyboard forces the mouse to play way off to the side. This causes stress to my wrist, fatigue in my arm, and an occasional generally bad attitude. I threatened to obtain a smaller keyboard to solve this problem, and I finally did. It arrived on Friday.

Here’s a photo of my old keyboard, an HP which came with my computer. See how wide it is? Almost 18 inches. There are things I like about it, especially the double size Delete button and the speaker controls.

Here’s my new keyboard.

See how much smaller it is? 12.5 inches wide. It’s the same size as typing parts of a standard desktop keyboard, but everything is grouped the the same as the keyboard on a standard laptop. The mouse is closer to the keyboard, and the typing keys are more in line with the monitor.

I’ve had it for 2 days and I’m still getting used to it, but so far it’s pretty cool. It’s just the right size for typing, if that’s what you do. If you need to do accounting, or other significant work with numbers, it’s not for you. But it’s pretty fine for writing.

The SIIG JK-US0312-S1 USB Mini Multimedia Keyboard is sold by Amazon for about $20. The customer reviews are a little better than the A4 Tech KL-5 Mini Slim Compact Keyboard, which goes for about $16.

So if you find the number pad on the right side of your keyboard mostly useless and in your way, there you go.

Punt

2012-01-14T10:44:00.001-08:00

The Urgency of Buttons

2012-01-12T10:54:00.001-08:00

This short video is an excerpt of an interview with the poet Ada Limón, on the importance of poetry and the reality of its marginalization in the contemporary era of social networking.

Real Books

2012-01-11T00:56:00.001-08:00

I got a Kindle for Christmas. Actually, I got a gift card and chose a Kindle for myself. It arrived yesterday and so far I like it. It seems like a great way to have the joy of words at hand on the go.

I chose for my first download a novel available only as an e-book. As I get a few chapters in, I'll share about that here. The first chapter is good stuff!

But I want the dusty books in my house to know something ...

I still love you.

I have always loved books. I was that kind of kid. Not a real serious loner bookworm type, but I liked to read. And I enjoyed the tactile there-ness of books, their colors and sizes, shapes and weight and the smell of paper. I think I always will.

We creatives shouldn't stop making books, when we can. But we should be willing to try new methods of conveying and communicating our thoughts as well.

So I hope we enjoy the new alternatives as a broadening and enhancement of our love of language, and remember that a book can be art in itself. As Stephen King says, writing and reading can be a kind of telepathy.

It's all good, in all its many forms.

Here's a little video, celebrating books.

On Inspiration

2012-01-09T00:30:00.001-08:00

I’ve said many times that I don’t believe in writer’s block, that if I stop writing when I want to write it’s not a block but more of a clog. Something gets stuck in the natural flow of energy or spirit; something that shouldn’t have been involved in my flow in the first place. Fear comes to mind, and anger, and any of the great plethora of social and societal distractions.

Last night I posted a video which I found inspiring, in which this is said:

“… Welcome to planet Earth. There is nothing you cannot be or do or have. You are a magnificent creator. And you are here by your powerful and deliberate wanting to be here. Go forth, giving thought to what you are wanting, attracting life experience to help you decide what you want. And once you have decided, giving thought only unto that.”

That is a loving, affirmative thing to say. Maybe it's baloney, but if I were a parent or a teacher, or a preacher, I would tell children this, as early and as often as possible.

I think they're talking about what you are wanting of life. I don't think it means, you know, toys. People are made to be loved, things are made to be used. Our consumer society tends to get it backwards, which causes grief. But I digress.

But do I believe it, that it is possible and advisable and wise to give thought only to the creative and life-affirming impulse of what one wants? Yes, I do. If what you want does not involve keeping informed about the debate over the payroll tax, or the great and taxing sadness of the perennial elections of fools and cannibals to high office, let it be. I promise there are more than enough people to worry over such things. Let it be someone else’s useless suffering.

I believe this because I have learned – by the lights of my own life experience – that to see everything that others want to show you takes a million floodlights. But what you want – what you have the talent to do, if that makes it clearer – is so close and clear that a single candle is sufficient to show the way.

Great minds discuss ideas.
Average minds discuss events.
Small minds discuss people.

Ironically, one of the distractions I’m sometimes confronted by is just the opposite of anything you might expect. When I get an idea for something to write, I get distracted by the excitement and pleasure of getting an idea for something to write. This phenomenon must be caused by the Internet. Web 2.0 has heated up our innate desire to share to a rolling boil.

Holy crap, I’m writing! I can't wait to share it.

Isn’t that strange? I have to keep telling myself to relax and focus. What’s the next word and the next one after that? Just write them down, in a good order. It’s not time to start shopping for an agent yet. You’ve only got four sentences, for crying out loud.

Yes, I believe that humans should live by the laws of attraction, that the primordial substance of life is love, and that we can do or be or build anything and everything. I also realize that we, at least in America, live in a culture designed to block that force, to diffuse and scatter it. That we can live creatively and well is arguable; to make a living in such a way is exceedingly rare.

Finally, there is the gradual cooling of the small furnace between my ears. It is undeniable. I'm a better writer than I used to be, but not a quicker thinker. As I grow older, I imagine more richly and lyrically, but I don't have the cognitive pace of my college years. It takes longer to submerge to the lurid fathoms of creativity, and it used to be easier to stay down there for hours at a time. Perhaps it's just a phase; my less blue period, if you will. Maybe I need to turn off the computer for a while and try working with a legal pad and a ballpoint pen. That worked well for a long time, you know.

Maybe it's because I turned 50 this past year, but I'm aware that inspiration is fleeting, not to be wasted.

So, kiss me my sweet
And so let us part
And when I grow too old to dream
Your love will live in my heart.

Nat King Cole sings When I Grow Too Old To Dream.

My Favorite Charity Needs Support

2012-01-08T14:00:00.000-08:00

IMOM (In Memory of Magic) is a fantastic organization, for which I do volunteer work. We raise money to help provide emergency care for sick and injured pets with life threatening conditions, whose owners cannot provide it themselves.

"Helping people help pets". To better the lives of sick, injured and abused companion animals. We are dedicated to insure that no companion animal has to be euthanized simply because their caretaker is financially challenged.
http://www.imom.org/

IMOM was founded in 1998, and as of the end of 2010 we had raised and paid directly to veterinarians over 1.4 million dollars. This provided emergency treatments for thousands of dogs, cats, horses, birds, and other companion animals. I expect that when the 2011 year-end accounting is complete, that impressive number will go way up.

2011 was very busy for us. In the month of December alone, we paid approximately $20,000 for emergency treatments. And over $10,000 of that came from our General Fund, not from fundraisers for individual pets. That's because there just wasn't time to raise money. The pets were dying and we had to act fast, by dipping into our very modest reserves. Now that fund needs help, so we can do it the next time we have a pet in crisis.

So we're having a fundraiser and looking for help. Please click here to access our current fundraiser, and help IMOM continue this important work.

Meet one of our Pets in Need

Back in December, we worked on a case for a German Shepard puppy named Foru. With a $3000 gift from IMOM, he had major surgery for urinary obstruction and infection. Look at him today!

IMOM has no paid staff members. Eleven of us run the organization, all volunteers, working from our homes across the country.

I can personally vouch for IMOM's legitimacy in every way, because I have served on the board of directors since 1999.

Thank you!

Don't Stand So Close To Me

2012-01-07T23:29:00.001-08:00

This fine music video goes out to my brother and sister-in-law. They'll understand that what matters is practice, not roadies and a lot of equipment.

Inspiring short video

2012-01-07T10:23:00.001-08:00

"If you knew your potential to feel good, you would ask no one to be different so that you can feel good. You would free yourself of all that cumbersome impossibility ...."

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T13:26:00.001-08:00

In my last post, I promised to ponder ways to stop the year 2011 from ending prematurely. I failed as always. The clocks struck midnight, the neighbors’ kids made a bit of noise, and I went to bed.

December 31 always arrives for me with a feeling that reminds me of high school: If I could just turn back the clock a bit, I’d do better on the final exam. No really, this time I’ll study more! Not that I did badly in school, but I could have done better. And I doubt I’m alone in the belief that if time would just slow down, I could do better in my life today.

The wheel is turning and you can’t slow down,
You can’t let go and you can’t hold on,
You can’t go back and you can’t stand still,
If the thunder don't get you then the lightning will.
-- The Grateful Dead

Such existential angst makes champagne contraindicated. I’m glad to say, if nothing else, that I woke this morning free of hangover. And despite having a nastyass cold, I went for a walk in the sunshine out on the bluffs.

So it goes. So we find our consolations where they are. For me, that means January 1 should remind me that I am a by the grace of God a Christian man, and by my actions a great sinner.

I guess my point is that if we’re going to assess and take stock, undertake a fearless and thorough moral inventory or something less than that, it’s good to start with the basics. Remembering first what’s at the core.

Here’s a little video. Really, it’s music with a picture to look at while you listen. Some might recognize it as the icon of The Holy Trinity.

Here's an alternative picture.

The music is cool, because it’s the Valaam Monastery Choir in Karelia, Russia, but they’re singing the 103rd Psalm in English.

Whatever you find at your core, the light in me sees the light in you. God bless. And let’s just forget this whole New Year’s Day thing, remembering Matthew 6:34: “ Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

Or as they say in certain other rooms, One Day At A Time.

Hard to Believe

2011-12-31T09:38:00.001-08:00

I can't believe it's the last day of the year. Somehow it seems like a very bad idea. So while I try to find a way to stop the year from ending, you might enjoy this post by the writer Neil Gaiman. His New Year's wish for us all is that we make mistakes.

Insights into Marketing for Children

2011-12-29T22:19:00.001-08:00

Untechnical Undifficulties

2011-12-26T10:24:00.001-08:00

I suppose I should have declared a hiatus to Metaphor's posts, perhaps a couple of weeks ago. This is a good time of year to take a break, embrace the good darkness of long winter nights, and cower in comfy places with those we love. Instead of admitting my indolence and distraction, I've been posting videos. But they're good ones.

I started one long post recently, about how easy it is to get blue at Christmastime. I hear that some are even driven to do themselves harm, which makes us sad.

So many memories of loved ones passed into paradise, and the consolation of lost pets, and carefree holidays of youth. I started writing this, but it was all too grim, ethereal. ... Basta.

The untechnical undifficulty which persists is that our Christmas rolls on. I'll be back in the stream in a couple of days.

Until then, I leave you to ponder whether you got what you needed from Christmas. (I don't mean whether you got what you wanted.)

Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness.
- George Sand

home game

2011-12-21T12:26:00.001-08:00

Here's a little video about going home.

little biters

2011-12-20T12:30:00.001-08:00

My stories run up and bite me in the leg -- I respond by writing them down -- everything that goes on during the bite. When I finish, the idea lets go and runs off.

- Ray Bradbury

Video Night

2011-12-16T22:04:00.001-08:00

Here are some videos for you.

First we have presidential candidate (strange, but true) Rick Perry, discussing time travel. Pretty funny.

One of my favorites, Roy Zimmerman, does Dylan doing Christmas, with his brand new timeless classic Christmas is Pain. More funny!

For reasons I won't attempt to defend, Ronnie Milsap sings It's Christmas Once Again in Santa Barbara. This'll get your chestnuts roastin'.

Best for last, here's a dog waiting for Santa to come. Cute little doggie!

Laughter Spreads

2011-12-14T12:35:00.001-08:00

How I learned to relax and love free software.

2011-12-11T12:35:00.001-08:00

Maybe I should say, how I'm learning to relax and love it. It's progress, not perfection.

As I've shared before, I'm an Office 2003 guy, been using it since 2003. It's good. But sometimes I look at the new stuff - Office 2010 - and I want it. So precious, my precious, etc.

I can't have it. I can't put it on my PC. I ran the Office 2010 Free Gratis Beta 2 years ago, and uninstalled it. It wasn't ready yet. But it left some change in my machine that not even Microsoft's best registry cleaning programs can fix. Now the latest 60 Day Free Trial of Office 2010 will not install.

Yes, I've tried everything except calling Microsoft on the phone, which I'll be damned if I'm going to do.

By posting so often and so vehemently on this blog on the subject of Microsoft's onerous and predatory proprietary ways, I drew a line in the sand. Then I stood on this side of my line, with all the free and perfectly acceptable open source software for which I have advocated. And I jumped back and forth until Microsoft gave me a good shove. I mean they crossed they line.

Up with this I shall not put, is my point. So in the noble last words of General George Armstrong Custer, "F--k 'em if they can't take a joke."

…OK, that's a little racist, but it's funny.

This post was composed in WriteMonkey in plain text and posted to Google's Blogger using Gmail via Posterous. All free stuff.

Now I'm going to go write something nice, using LibreOffice. I'm relaxed, really.

Hey Bill Gates, you Assclown, you can keep the kool-aid. Grumble grumble. And go pound it up your ... sideways. Grumble grumble. So there.

full screen videos

2011-12-11T11:40:00.001-08:00

I've been posting a lot of videos lately, while I ponder new posts about writing.

For me, it's generally more enjoyable to watch videos online in full screen, rather than the small format presented here on the blog and on YouTube.

To watch in full screen, look for the button in the bottom right corner of the video, which looks like four arrows pointing outward, expanding a square. It looks like this.

To return to normal screen mode, press the Esc button in the uppder left corner of your PC keyboard.

By the way, the little button that says YouTube takes you to the YouTube site to watch the video there. Sometimes that's better, especially if the video is loading and playing slowly through the blog.

I hope you're enjoying the little movies.

Deck the Halls!

2011-12-11T10:31:00.001-08:00

only human beings

2011-12-09T23:46:00.001-08:00

I love this little video. It's only a minute and a half long, with no puppies or cute kids. But it gives me hope.

Watch the Los Angeles City Council call for a constitutional amendment to reserve constitutional rights to living human beings.

Writemonkey Rocks

2011-12-07T19:05:00.001-08:00

I have a new favorite writing tool, called Writemonkey. It is very cool.

How cool is it? OK, here's a screen shot of this post, being composed on WriteMonkey.

Click to Enlarge

I reduced the size of the image for blogsake. My monitor is on the larger size for common PC screens. But what you see, the open gray field, text in the center, name of the document at the bottom, is all I see in my monitor. This is the latest, and in my mind, the best so far, of the trend toward using distraction free text editors. That used to mean Notepad, but Notepad has nothing like these features.

There are no buttons or toolbars or anything. Just the space and the words.
On the Writemonkey web site, we find:

"Writemonkey is a Windows zenware* writing application with an extremely stripped down user interface, leaving you alone with your thoughts and your words. It is light, fast and free. With an array of innovative tools under the hood, it helps you write better. Editing is for another day ..."

Writemonkey is not a word processor. Word is a word processor. This is a text editor, just for creating plain text. You can make the page and the words any colors you want, and you can change the font. But you won't have different fonts or colors in a document. Just words. No pictures or embedded spreadsheets.

Writemonkey has tools for writers such as keeping track of your writing by a percentage of a goal you've set. It has a spellchecker. It even has tools to help you do research on your writing. But you can't seen any of that stuff until you want to. And when you do, it appears simply and quickly with a mouse right-click or a keyboard command. No big toolbars ever appear to distract you from your words.

Writemonkey is free, but you can donate to help make it possible. I think it's great. Go get you some.

Writemonkey web site, info and download: http://writemonkey.com/

PCWorld review and download: http://goo.gl/VRu0A

Change

2011-12-04T16:05:00.001-08:00

The Real Jonah

2011-12-04T12:04:00.001-08:00

Occupy Democracy

2011-12-02T19:05:00.001-08:00

Friday Post-its

2011-12-02T17:28:00.001-08:00

Video: It’s OK to not like things, but … you’ll see.

Animated image: Black Lab says its time for naps, needs blankie.

Suggested post: Are Internet Idiots Annihilating Your Productivity? (Copyblogger). This is a great one for writers, and it handed me a few chuckles.

Article: Top Five Regrets of The Dying. What truth can we learn here, to make our lives richer today?

Video: What makes a family? A very impressive young man makes a brief but impassioned, thoughtful address to the Iowa House of Representatives.

News with video: Ringling Bros Circus has been assessed the largest fine in history for animal abuse. I think we should boycott them forever. Let animal circuses be a thing of the past.

Have a very metaphorical weekend.

Homework Every Day

2011-11-29T23:19:00.001-08:00

To Live

2011-11-28T11:12:00.001-08:00

‎"To live in this world, you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go."
~ Mary Oliver

Cleaning the Attic

2011-11-27T21:10:00.001-08:00

Cleaning the attic is basically the same thing as draining the swamp. It means getting rid of all the extraneous, dusty stuff that's floating around in your mind, so you can focus on doing something creative. Because your brain is like the junk drawer in your kitchen, man.

Some writers do writing practice - random or stream of consciousness writing - to rid themselves of the spooge. Others take a walk, meditate, wash the pickup truck, or cower in a happy place hugging their pet.

I've tried all those things, and they're all good. But today I suggest you try the following: Self help advice from a two-year-old.

Let me know how it works for you.

Sunday Post-its

2011-11-27T18:24:00.001-08:00

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, I've been thinking of stringing lights a little early this year. And you might as well know what I want for Christmas.

Funny photo: Grandpa remembers the good old days.

If you're like me, you've always wanted to know exactly how the genetics of our species really works. Here, in a single photo, is the lesson.

Marginalia

2011-11-26T21:27:00.001-08:00

Literary news: So It Goes: a new book about Kurt Vonnegut.

Jokes: 40 Things You’d Really Like To Say.

Video: It’s Time. A message whose time has come, because it’s time for society to stop judging love.

Fun stuff: Mama said there’d be days like this. Perpetual motion, or binary metaphor in a box.

and it could be beautiful

2011-11-23T16:37:00.001-08:00

A lovely and thoughtful short film about gratitude, for Thanksgiving. ... Peace to you.

If you don't know how to open a YouTube video in full screen, use this link.

via Liz Tiztes on Google+.

Posted via email from kimberlin

Marginalia

2011-11-23T12:20:00.001-08:00

marginalia (ˌmɑːdʒɪˈneɪlɪə)

— pl n

notes in the margin of a book, manuscript, or letter*

Video: When Toys Take a Road Trip.

Video: Dog won’t leave his master’s grave.

News link with comment: Charges dropped against students at UC Davis.

Social comment: Cowards Among Us. Real men face the bullies and stand up for students.

Politics: Where does OWS go from here? (An email from filmmaker Michael Moore.)

* Content from my other blogs; i.e., what I do while I watch TV.

Rain Coming

2011-11-20T22:13:00.001-08:00

Rain Coming
Originally uploaded by kylekimberlin
I took this photo tonight. The photo doesn't do justice to the sky's very dramatic performance. It was a very nice rainy day.

Click it to view, then click again to enlarge and view other photos of mine on Flickr.

plutocracy and democracy don't mix

2011-11-20T11:47:00.001-08:00

"Bill Moyers signs off his last broadcast with an editorial discussion on why plutocracy and democracy don't mix."
The video is a year old, and it turns out Moyers was quite prescient.

Posted via email from kimberlin

Creativity Takes Time

2011-11-19T12:10:00.001-08:00

A fun and true little video about the relationship between creativity and time. And it's got kids. Can't beat that.

"Shame On You"

2011-11-19T10:07:00.001-08:00

I used to have respect for police work. It was hard not to after so many officers died on 9/11. But the police in many US cities this year have defiled that memory of self-sacrifice and desecrated their own uniforms. They have been callous and brutal and insensate. I want to see cops put in jail for what they've done to peacefully protesting citizens. I don't know who the hell they think they work for, who they're supposed to serve, but they're wrong.

Posted via email from kimberlin

The Dingle-Dangle

2011-11-17T21:09:00.001-08:00

If you’re thinking of deep frying your bird this Thanksgiving, you need to watch this dramatic video starring William Shatner. If you’re not, you need to watch it anyway, ‘cause it’s funny.

Thanks to Mike Elgan, on Google+, for this highly important public service message.

sic semper tyrannis

2011-11-17T01:07:00.001-08:00

I received an email from a friend, expressing his dismay over the governance of our country. I have to agree. Again and again, lines of poetry come to mind; lines of the very poem from which this blog takes its epigraph:

    Turning and turning in the widening gyre
    The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
    Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
    Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
    The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
    The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
    The best lack all conviction, while the worst
    Are full of passionate intensity.

- W.B. Yeats, The Second Coming

Read the last 2 lines again to yourself, aloud.
Oh yes, so it goes in America these days.

next to of course god america i
love you land of the pilgrims and so forth

A Metaphor merit badge if you know the source of that quote off the tops of your tri-corner hat.

Anyway, I'll share the thought with which I responded to my friend: to hell with governance. It has done us very little good, ever. Governance is good for building roads and starting wars. Meaningful, systemic, sustainable change doesn't come from the top. And we should never doubt the talent of a few honest, committed people to bring change to life. Because that's the only thing that ever has.

What we need now is leadership, not governance. If only we can get governance to stop brutally evicting leadership from the public parks, we'll be on our way.

Actually, it’s better for the cause of progress if the police keep right on attacking and evicting, beating, teargasing, etc. As always in history, tyranny is the symbol and catalyst of the restoration of freedom.

Here’s a great short video to watch: A special comment from Keith Olbermann, 11.15.2011.

A Video to Change Your Perspective

2011-11-16T18:01:00.001-08:00

any glimpse

2011-11-15T09:33:00.001-08:00

Any glimpse into the life of a dog quickens our own and makes it so much larger and better in every way.
~ John Muir

Different Words

2011-11-15T09:17:00.001-08:00

"This short film illustrates the power of words to radically change your message and your effect upon the world."

How to get a new cat

2011-11-14T09:31:00.001-08:00

This one’s going out to my Dad.

Frosty the Mad Man

2011-11-13T20:28:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I posted about making a list of advertisers with the temerity to jump the gun on Christmas, before Thanksgiving.

See, it was funny, with the compiling and the boycotting and the phreaking sugarplums.

... 'Cause I was ranting about it being too early for Chrsitmas, but I used a line from Santa Claus is Coming ...

Ho ho ho?

... These are the jokes, folks.

Unlawful arrest and the right to resist

2011-11-13T20:14:00.001-08:00

Posted on another blog.

Police choke and arrest citizen for sleeping

2011-11-13T10:22:00.001-08:00

San Diego police attacked, choked, and arrested an American citizen because they caught him in a sleeping bag.

Posted via email from kimberlin

Life Gets Better

2011-11-12T23:39:00.001-08:00

This video is going viral for good reason. It's beautiful. Just watch. Might want to have a tissue handy.

Some people get amazing, before they get very old, and we can learn a lot from their smiles.

http://www.youtube.com/v/ENZIaXjVAc4

The Bad List

2011-11-12T22:11:00.001-08:00

I have decided to compile a list of all business entities which have the incalculable bad taste to present themselves or their products in any medium, prior to Thanksgiving, with a Christmas theme advertisement.

In the unlikely case that I would be otherwise inclined to patronize such a concern, said transgression of decency will result in my boycotting it until at least Memorial Day, 2012.

The reason for my abhorrence of this tacky practice, which seems to lurch forth from Madison Avenue earlier each year, should be self-evident.

My list will be circumspect, comprehensive, and you can bet your sweet sugarplums, I'm checking it twice.

Homecoming

2011-11-12T19:48:00.001-08:00

My friend Joseph has published a poem called Flags and Boxes on his blog. I think you should go read it.

It's a Tribal Thing

2011-11-12T12:43:00.001-08:00

I'd like to take just a few lines to acknowledge the Jerry Sandusky - Penn State child molestation scandal. If you've had enough of the topic, skip on.

I have seen some remarks to the effect that Joe Paterno and the University President shouldn't have been fired because they reported their suspicious to others, thus meeting their legally mandated duties. And remarks to the same effect that the assistant coach now on leave reported what he witnessed to his boss.

I'm going to have to call bullshit here.

This isn't about law, it's about a moral imperative. More obviously, it's about biology. Watch any herd of elephants or pack of wolves and you'll see the adults protect the young until they grow enough to fend for themselves. That happens when a predator of another species attacks or one of their own kind goes rogue.

This group of men in Pennsylvania knew that one of their own was preying on children and they failed to stop him. There's no exculpation, no excuse. That they and all similarly situated should be punished for their failure to protect the young is more than a matter of justice; it's imperative that we all learn from it.

Put another way, any grown man - or woman - who won't do everything needful to save kids from being hurt is worthless to the tribe.

Etta Videos

2011-11-12T11:18:00.001-08:00

We've been dog-sitting for a friend.

Etta is a Cavapoo who loves to play with her ball, and she prefers one that's just a bit larger than you might expect.

I've added a couple of new videos to my Etta playlist on youtube.

For the latest videos, look for "pink ball" in the title.

Why I Write

2011-11-10T10:10:00.001-08:00

Why do I write today?
The beauty of
The terrible faces
of our nonentities
Stirs me to it

—William Carlos William

Time Reworked

2011-11-06T09:18:00.000-08:00

I have reworked the poem I posted last night. I think it's better than it was. Let me know if you agree.

Waiting

When I'm alone, I listen to water.

My brother sleeps and my dog

sleeps but I am awake.

The moon is full, and the sky

is crossed by sleeping jets.

I remember I am loved.

Time is running out so

I sit on the bed, waiting.

Time will come for me.

It will not forget me, leave me.

It waits behind the door until

I arrive. It sleeps in the sink.

Tick-tock, it drips all night.

Time hides in shadows

through the dappled afternoon,

sleeps and stretches like a cat.

I smell it in exhaust,

in fruit cut yesterday,

in my shampoo.

I wait by myself for time to emerge

from my dusty luggage, to appear

in folded sheets, to speak among

long blades of exhausted grass.

Waiting by J. Kyle Kimberlin is licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Fall Back

2011-11-05T22:52:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to set your clocks, gentle readers. Here's a poem I posted once before, but it's been quite a while and it seems right for tonight.

Time

When I'm alone, I listen to water.

My brother sleeps.

My dog sleeps. I amalone.

The moon is full, and the sky

is full of sleeping jets. I'm here

by myself, beloved, alone.

Time is running out. I sit

on the bed, alone, waiting.

It will come for me. Time will

not forget me, leave me.

It waits behind the door

until I'm alone. Itsleeps

in the sink. Tick-tock,

it drips all night. Time hides

in shadows through the dappled

afternoon, sleeps and stretches

like a cat. I smell it in exhaust,

in fruit cut yesterday,

in my shampoo. I wait

by myself for time to emerge

from my dusty luggage, from

folded sheets, from long blades

of exhausted grass.

Time by J. Kyle Kimberlin is licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Goodbye, Andy Rooney

2011-11-05T22:41:00.000-07:00

Maybe his timing was intentional, to slip away quickly just a month after leaving the career he said he loved. To leave it all on the field, as they say.

I hope so. I always liked Andy Rooney. I'd like to think he's pleased that he's left the audience just a little bit surprised.

The Real Owners

2011-11-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

I wish we all could have seen this short video, and heard what Carlin had to say, a long time ago.

His language isn't cool for kids.

The difference between justice and law

2011-11-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

Thoughts on civil disobedience, justice, and the cardboard box.

http://goo.gl/k6YYE

Extra Dimensions

2011-11-01T22:19:00.001-07:00

I like stuff like this. I enjoy thinking outside the box.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T15:08:00.001-07:00

A vigorous Boo to all of my loyal readers. I appreciate you all more than I can say, as far as you know. If you were here, I would give you a piece of candy and tell you to get the hell off my porch.

I kid. Be safe. And - especially if you're back east in the deep snow - be warm.

Now if you want a little something scary - monstrous - for your All Hallows Eve, here's a bit of poetry:

In the desert

I saw a creature, naked, bestial,

Who, squatting upon the ground,

Held his heart in his hands,

And ate of it.

I said: "Is it good, friend?"

"It is bitter-bitter," he answered;

"But I like it

Because it is bitter,

And because it is my heart.

- Stephen Crane

a feel good video

2011-10-30T20:10:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Stacey in Cleveland for sharing this on Facebook.

Should the mayor of Oakland resign?

2011-10-27T21:40:00.001-07:00

I think no. The Chief of Police should be fired, and several officers too. There is a chain of command at fault for the indefensible violence against citizens there. I hope the mayor will do the right thing and serve justice.

Not Moving: Very Moving

2011-10-26T12:29:00.001-07:00

Insincerity

2011-10-26T11:05:00.001-07:00

As I mentioned a few days ago, I’m on call for possible jury duty this week. And so far, that’s as far as it’s gone, which is nice. A little passive-aggressive, but it could be worse.

I noticed on the jury summons that there's a web site where you can check your status online, instead of calling and listening to the recording. It's much quicker. Click the image to enlarge.

I'm beginning to suspect that their request for my services is less than sincere. So I wouldn't want to be in their shoes. Because, as you know, insincerity is the one thing that'll get you in trouble with The Great Pumpkin, as explained in this video clip:

http://www.youtube.com/v/xiSIQzwIPzQ

But in that scene from It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Linus says his pumpkin patch is the most sincere. “You can look all around and there’s not a sign of hypocrisy. Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see.”

Which begs the question, is hypocrisy the opposite of sincerity? That didn’t ring right for me. I checked the thesaurus, and the antonyms of sincerity are dishonesty, insincerity, untrustworthiness.

But the antonyms of hypocrisy are forthrightness, honesty, righteousness, sincerity, truth. Viola!

I’m quite relieved. I can tell you – in all sincerity – that Peanuts was very important to me in childhood, and still is. Charlie Brown is something of an alter ego, so easily can I relate to his existential endeavors to persevere. And who doesn’t love Snoopy? So I’m glad to see this important social text vindicated.

… Yeah, I’m sincerely pulling your leg. Have a cartoon.

More Nothing

2011-10-25T12:15:00.001-07:00

the season of crows

2011-10-23T13:21:00.001-07:00

Maybe it's a little early in fall for this poem. I don't find myself in this mood much until after Dia De Los Muertos. The days are still warm, no need for heat at night. But at least last night we had a heavy fog.

This piece has never been on Metaphor before, and if the time isn't right maybe the poem will hasten it on.

Darkening

Now in the dying of the year
in the season of crows
the blue of everything in my life
deepens, turns to the steel
of an old knife.

I throw a shadow, blue as a bruise,
which rises and gathers against the ceiling.
On my stove the flames of gas
are almost black.

I start to write to you
but the paper darkens
until my blue words disappear.

The moon which shaved its silver
on my bed in spring
hangs as an indiscernible grape.

Venus weeps over the shoulder
of the moon, to see me
writing poems in blood.

Crows appear in my writing pretty often; among the non-humans around me, they're second only to dogs. It's funny because we don't have a lot of crows here. Just small flocks and individuals cawing from pine and eucalyptus trees. When they stand and caw alone, they have a certain restlessness; they seem to be saying that something is wrong.

I spent a lot of autumn days in the San Joaquin Valley, when I was younger. I remember great flocks, legions of crows.

Here's another poem in which I pondered these birds.

Click the image of Van Gogh’s Wheat Field with Crows to enlarge it. To see it even bigger, click here.

To view/download the PDF version of Darkening, click here.

Darkening by J. Kyle Kimberlin
is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs
3.0 United States License.

Doing the Duty

2011-10-22T18:55:00.000-07:00

Back in July, I received a summons for jury duty. Since the date they originally wanted my service clashed directly with an important family event - specifically, the all-to-rare opportunity to spend time with my non-local family - I sought and received a deferment. Hard to believe it's been 90 days, but my time is up.

I'm willing to serve. Don't get me wrong, it's a civic duty. An important function, but for which chaos would reign. If I had a damn good reason to avail myself of the court, I hope others would feel the same. But that's only because we haven't devised a better way to do the duty juries do.

I think jury duty belies an interesting cultural paradox. On one hand, it reflects some of the highest and best ideals of a civilization that is trying hard to leave behind its reverence for, and dependence on, authoritarianism. We no longer rely on the king or the nearest convenient duke or church official to decide what's true and fair. The good is judged by the people, in whom is vested wisdom and power, as it right. Or at least better.

On the other hand, the impulse to resort to the intervention of third parties to resolve disputes and try the facts shows that personal responsibility is still not ingrained in us. We know the truth and what's best and what's fair. Especially the guys who wear the suits and go to the courthouse to work, they know. We've all known, since we learned to use the bathroom by ourselves:

Don't take what's not yours.
Don't take more than your share.
There's a place for your stuff, keep it there.
Don't make messes for others to clean up.
Don't hurt others.
Admit your mistakes.

If wisdom is invested in 12 of us, why isn't it found more often in two of us who argue, or one of us who damn well knows better than to commit a crime? If the cosmos of the town is tested true, how can its microcosm be so stupid?

Of course we have a right to a trial. We have the right to gather the neighbors and ask for their help in resolving disputes, as much as their help in putting out a fire or searching for a lost child. We live together in tribes and camps because we need each other. I'm just saying the courthouse should be the last resort.

A few years ago, I couldn't write these thoughts and share them publicly without the aid of a local newspaper. Now my little essay is global in seconds. That is as much a social advance as a technological one. We have opened the means to publish to everyone, essentially free gratis. So it seems strange to me that a society that has amassed the insights of the ages and put it all within reach of our fingertips still sustains litigation as a common public institution. I mean, we've been doing the same thing for hundreds of years. Are we learning anything?

In law school, we were taught that most of a litigation lawyer's job - and a criminal attorney's too - is negotiation. Nobody really wants to wind up in court, if they can bargain, arbitrate, reach an accord and satisfaction, or somehow find a concilliatory common ground. Because only one of the lawyers is going to leave the courthouse with a smile, and neither of the parties ever will. The process simply sucks, and everybody pays.

If that's true, why does every court have hundreds of people on jury standby at all times? What systemic FAIL is intractably repeating itself across the country every week?

I can't help but think that if the convocation of the worthies was a last resort - and not a tool of leverage and rhetoric, too often somewhat mercenary - then a standing army of jurors would be on its way to being as obsolete as the horse and buggy or the floppy disc.

Of course, we still think war solves something, so there you go.

Incidentally, I just called the courthouse number and I don't have to show up on Monday. I call again Monday night, and we go from there. Wherefore, let us all as of one mind squint our eyes, like Lady Justice behind her blindfold, and give another big push toward trying to evolve.

Scary Books

2011-10-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

Author Neil Gaiman explains why you should give scary books, candy, zombie teeth etc., at Halloween.

Innocent until proven guilty

2011-10-21T18:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a cute little video about a dog who got into the garbage, and the pretty solid evidence against him.

A Post About Nothing

2011-10-20T22:04:00.000-07:00

I haven't been watching the Republican debates, and I'll tell you why.

As a poet, I have walked out beyond the farthest city light and looked into the darkness gathered there. I have stared long into the abyss, and the abyss stared back at me. I was nonplussed, and the abyss was wholly unimpressed.

The void is hard to avoid as it is. So I've had all the nothing I care to contemplate.

How do you spell

2011-10-15T10:51:00.001-07:00

Want to see a very funny short video?

Here you go.

Liberal and Conservative

2011-10-14T19:53:00.001-07:00

Liberal and conservative are not mutually exclusive. They are not opposites. Ford is not the opposite of Chevy, Coke is not fundamentally different than Pepsi. It’s all an illusion, a myth perpetrated by people who make a very good living getting other people to buy their brand – their product or their thinking.

Mac and PC are both computers. But didn’t Apple do a great job with it’s “I’m a Mac” ad campaign? Conflate the product with the buyer’s personal identity, and away you go.

Conservative and liberal are impulses, not states of Being. Two sides of the same pancake, no matter how thin you make it; two points on the same continuum of social thought, two knots on the same string. In fact, they work very well together, in any brain capable of holding two apparently contradictory thoughts at the same time, and admitting that both might be valid. But that doesn’t work if the brain’s thinking is being done by someone else.

Pelosi is not the opposite of Boehner, Obama is not the opposite of Romney, Bachman or Cain. These are all politicians trying to get hired or keep their jobs. Funny that some of them can’t relate to millions of their fellow Americans who are trying to do the same thing.

In the end, somebody has to be hired to do the job, and it’s up to us to decide. Let’s hope we shake off this deep hypnotic state and learn to choose wisely.

So if Liberal is not the opposite of Conservative, what is? The opposite of each is the same: it’s indifference.

Powerless

2011-10-13T12:37:00.000-07:00

My neighbors and I have received a postcard from the electric company. I don't know how many of us received it, but it may be several thousand people. The eastern half of the Carpinteria Valley, which lies on a shelf of land on the California coast, under the coastal hills, near Santa Barbara.

They are going to shut off our electricity tonight just at the start of prime time TV, and it will be off for 10 hours.

I'm told they did the center of town 2 nights ago, but I don't know for sure.

Why? "Upgrading aging infrastructure or completing other repairs to make needed improvements."

Sounds vague to me. Boilerplate language. But I think I can translate.

In order to increase corporate profits, we cut staff and deferred maintenance to a point that things have really gone to shit. We're worried. Before the whole city goes dark for days or weeks on end, we're taking drastic action regardless of the inconvenience.

How do you think I did?

I have family close by, but part of me wants to cowboy up and ride it out here in camp.I have plenty of battery-powered electric lights; enough to dimly light my condo for several hours. It might be OK to shake off the video habits for a night, sit quietly and read a book. I have an iPod with tons of music, stories, poetry, if my eyes get tired.

But it's hot. We're having a heat wave, and I've been sleeping with a fan blowing on my bed. So I don't know.

Siri

2011-10-12T10:19:00.001-07:00

A new iPhone came out this week. It has artificial intelligence voice control. Watch this video of a guy using his phone – it’s very cool.

http://www.youtube.com/v/8BLzMCiR0G4

Via Mike Elgan on Google+.

Bright and Early

2011-10-09T07:43:00.000-07:00

It was early for me to be up on a Sunday. I usually set the alarm for 8:00 on Sunday, earlier on other days. But today I've been up since 5:30; I've been awake since 4:48am. This is because some inconsiderate moron drove a loud sports car into the alley between the condo buildings of the complex where I live, stopped right outside my bedroom window, left his loud car running, and did some sort of business with a neighbor. Maybe he was delivering something, I don't know. I just saw him walking away from the building, talking on his phone, getting back in the car and driving away. I could still here the engine from a great distance, because it had very distinctive rising and falling sound, as opposed to a steady idle.

Strangely, the idiot in question has to go out of his way to get into this private driveway. My condo is the only one in this building that faces the private alley; the others face a public street. That's where the baboon should be driving his noisy car.

This has happened daily for maybe a week, though this was the first time I was unable to go back to sleep. I tried to descend back into rest by playing my nature sounds CD, a woodland river, which usually helps me sleep. But it was futile. And I know that since I stayed up to watch a movie, went to bed at 12:30, and to sleep at 1:00am, I'll be tired now all day long.

I don't mind getting up bright and early, if I'm expecting it. It's fun to get up before dawn and go fishing, or open Christmas presents, or take a trip with family. But this ain't that, and it's not cool.

Obviously, I'm annoyed. I'm not going to put up with this. There's gonna be a ~~roshambo~~ dialogue . Later, when the sun is up and warm. It is the Sabbath after all, and I'm a civilized person.

Are we Devo?

2011-10-08T16:28:00.000-07:00

I don't believe in human evolution. I think it's possible, and it's probably a good idea. I just don't see any evidence that it has happened yet.

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

2011-10-05T20:59:00.001-07:00

Steve Jobs gave the commencement address of Stanford University in
2005, and shared candidly about life, love, and death.

Posted via email from kimberlin's posterous

Born to be Addled

2011-10-05T14:14:00.000-07:00

Addled sounds a little like wild, doesn't it? That's what I was going for. It's not easy to put a clear title on one's ruminations on the topic of abject confusion, my least favorite state of mind.

I don't drink, you know. Very rarely and never if I'm going to be driving. That's my rule. But the underlying reason is not simply fear of disaster and felony charges. It's not that I think alcohol is inherently evil, though it certainly has been the instrument of nearly infinite human suffering. Responsible drinking by healthy adults is OK with me, just not generally OK for me. And not because it's fattening and expensive, although that's also true.

I don't drink because it clouds the mind, obscures the consciousness. One of my main goals on any given day is to go forth seeking clarity. And my poor brain is just about as fuzzy now as I want it to be.

No no no no I don't ... no more.
I'm tired of waking up on the floor.
-- Ringo Star (youtube)

Case in pitiful point: A few days ago, I was obliviously shopping in the nearest Trader Joe's. As I reached up for some cans of tuna, someone behind me spoke my name. I turned and shook hands, exchanged greetings, with a man whose face was very familiar. But I couldn't place it.

My little brain jumped through the usual lists: work, church, writers' groups, civic, condo association, etc. Finally I had to give up and admit I needed his help.

It turned out to be a man who has lived with his family across the street and one house down from my parents, for roughly the last 3 decades. I've stopped and spoken with him before, and seen him from a distance maybe a thousand times.

I was embarrassed. I blathered some stupid remark about being used to seeing him from a distance, complimented recent improvements to his front yard, etc. He was cordial and did not kick my ass right there amongst the produce, as much as I had it coming. But everyone wants to be recognized. Otherwise, it is far too easy to feel too lightly valued by others.

The thing is, I do value other people. I care and I really want to see people and know them and be friendly and inclusive. And I've heard other people over the years say things like, "I'm terrible with names." This makes no sense to me. You'd think that the ability to recognize faces and identify known individuals would be systemic, universal to the evolution of our species. Otherwise, how would our kind spot enemies and friends and survive in a potentially hostile world?

There is a world of difference between momentary failure to recognize someone - the sin I'm confessing - and forgetting them altogether, which I hope I never do. I mean regarding others with indifference.

“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.”
- Elie Wiesel

This past spring, I heard my name called by another person who recognized me. I turned and recognized an old friend, whom I had not heard from in 12 years. I had assumed that she moved away and her life changed and so it goes. But she'd been living here in this very small town, where my number is in the book. She'd never bothered to call, that's all. But we were glad to see each other, talked for a while, and agreed to email and to meet for coffee. She said she was moving away in a few months.

I emailed her a week or two later, as promised. She replied saying a few weeks later would be better to meet, so let's connect again. I emailed again in that time, but have heard nothing since. Three more months have come and gone and maybe she's gone too, maybe not. In any case, that's indifference.

It's important that we know the ones we know. They matter. And nobody wants to disappear.

C'est la vie.

I guess I could Google how to improve your memory for faces or something. I'm sure there are tips and tricks abounding. Not the point. It's perplexing that I don't already have a reliable app for that.

Chatting over the bananas in Trader Joe's, these lines of T.S. Eliot came to mind, as they often have over the years:

Let the whiteness of bones atone to forgetfulness.
There is no life in them. As I am forgotten
And would be forgotten, so I would forget
Thus devoted, concentrated in purpose. And God said
Prophesy to the wind, to the wind only for only
The wind will listen.

-- Ash Wednesday

The Social Contract

2011-09-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

Click to Enlarge

New Blogger Revisited

2011-09-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

I haven't been posting much lately. You've noticed, right? Nobody's complaining though. We're all busy and distracted, preoccupied. For me, I've been feeling a little unfocused. Literally. I'll be getting some new reading glasses soon, which should help.

Another thing that might help is this new Blogger interface. They've updated the whole thing again, and I have to say it's quite an improvement. It looks like this:

Click to Enlarge

Pretty cool, huh? I've been using Microsoft's Windows Live Writer 2011 this year, and it's excellent. But the main reason I wasn't using Blogger's own interface - the single most annoying thing about it - was a problem inserting a break at the end of a paragraph. I wrote about that here.

I'm not seeing that problem anymore, which means I'll probably go back to using Blogger's own interface to compose my blog posts. This is good, because draft posts are saved online. Windows Live Writer saves drafts on the local hard drive, so that one must return to the same computer to complete them. Not a big deal, but sometimes it's nice to go work somewhere else.

Speaking of somewhere else, I think that's where I need to go in search of new content for you to read. It's a nice day, I've had my coffee, and it's time to get outdoors. I'm not Marcel Proust, and don't want to be.

Metaphor

The Wind Has Gathered Words

In a Land Called Honah Lee

Marginalia

Is That a Smart Phone in Your Pocket?

An Old Poem

The Piano

Time for Some Funny

Good Question

The Moon on my Drapes

On the Plus Side

Watch Out For Bear

Anniversary Poem

IN PASSING

To My Old Master

The Importance of Ernest

Oops

A New Poem

Metronome

Different Words

An Old Friend

A Bit of Politics

There's an app for that

Against SOPA

My New Keyboard

Punt

The Urgency of Buttons

Real Books

On Inspiration

My Favorite Charity Needs Support

Don't Stand So Close To Me

Inspiring short video

Happy New Year

Hard to Believe

Insights into Marketing for Children

Untechnical Undifficulties

home game

little biters

Video Night

Laughter Spreads

How I learned to relax and love free software.

full screen videos

Deck the Halls!

only human beings

Writemonkey Rocks

Change

The Real Jonah

Occupy Democracy

Friday Post-its

Homework Every Day

To Live

Cleaning the Attic

Sunday Post-its

Marginalia

and it could be beautiful

Marginalia

Rain Coming

plutocracy and democracy don't mix

Creativity Takes Time

"Shame On You"

The Dingle-Dangle

sic semper tyrannis

A Video to Change Your Perspective

any glimpse

Different Words

How to get a new cat

Frosty the Mad Man

Unlawful arrest and the right to resist

Police choke and arrest citizen for sleeping

Life Gets Better

The Bad List

Homecoming

It's a Tribal Thing

Etta Videos

Why I Write

Why do I write today?The beauty of The terrible faces of our nonentities Stirs me to it

—William Carlos William

Time Reworked

Fall Back

Goodbye, Andy Rooney

Why do I write today?
The beauty of
The terrible faces
of our nonentities
Stirs me to it