tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post4418621514416501453..comments2024-03-28T14:07:21.692-07:00Comments on Diary of a Fat Slob: “Who from what?”Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-72579631706166723692021-12-24T02:14:56.847-08:002021-12-24T02:14:56.847-08:00I have not felt pummeled. The conversation is inte...I have not felt pummeled. The conversation is interesting. Not sure I’ve said anything worthy of such complements, but one should never argue when someone else is being kind.<br /><br />> ...prose makes assertions about human needs and foibles and patterns and that poetry asks questions, or causes them to be asked. <br /><br />Is that the accepted definition? It’s not something I’ve given muchDoug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-25437832727629144872021-12-23T13:48:27.673-08:002021-12-23T13:48:27.673-08:00Hi Doug,
I'm writing a less frequently becaus...Hi Doug,<br /><br />I'm writing a less frequently because I've been pummeling you a little on poetry, so I'm gearing down. But not much. <br /><br />As usual, in your above message from yesterday, you were all over insightful commentary on the matter of communication as art. You dropped out of high school and I dropped out of college, but our brains didn't drop out of learning andjohnthebaskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066837787916271883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-51277375241621866632021-12-22T13:25:59.940-08:002021-12-22T13:25:59.940-08:00How the hell did a hundred years of educators fuck...<i>How the hell did a hundred years of educators fuck up the meaning of a 20-line poem?</i> My best educating came without much help from educators. <br /><br />I dropped out of high school, and often say that I have no regrets about that. I hated everything about the school environment — the rigidity of learning (it seemed more like programming), the teachers (most of whom seemed as bored as I Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-42969198724693597212021-12-22T04:51:37.820-08:002021-12-22T04:51:37.820-08:00There's more here than I can funnel into my mi...There's more here than I can funnel into my mind before a day at work. Funnel I shall, but it'll be tonight, maybe tomorrow...Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-7869227482093628502021-12-22T02:36:37.113-08:002021-12-22T02:36:37.113-08:00Karma, a sonnet written in 1925 by Edwin Arlington...Karma, a sonnet written in 1925 by Edwin Arlington Robinson, is a story about a man who, because of business circumstances was "forced" to put a friend of his out of business in the normal course of running his own business. The writer's friend then either committed suicide or did something equally fatal by business standards, like becoming a garbage man or going to work for johnthebaskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066837787916271883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-65306469810008356302021-12-22T02:16:29.062-08:002021-12-22T02:16:29.062-08:00I'd like to try one more poem in this cycle be...I'd like to try one more poem in this cycle before taking a break because I have a favorite Christmas poem and Christmas is three days away. <br /><br />The first poem, Fire and Ice, was "Poetry is accessible and fun" and can convey some kinds of information better than other forms of communication can.<br /><br />The second poem, The Road Not Taken, was "Poetry has structural johnthebaskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066837787916271883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-6470526254098662182021-12-21T15:35:45.082-08:002021-12-21T15:35:45.082-08:00I think your summary was really good. I assume you...I think your summary was really good. I assume you know that for a hundred years teachers and clerics and revolutionaries and, apparently, Robin Williams, have been telling students that Frost is urging them to choose the road less taken -- the road less traveled by -- and carve their own path rather than, in effect, make the choices everybody else makes. <br /><br />Of course that's not whatjohnthebaskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066837787916271883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-21997656157602768792021-12-21T11:59:11.167-08:002021-12-21T11:59:11.167-08:00It isn't a quiz? Feels kinda like a quiz, Prof...It isn't a quiz? Feels kinda like a quiz, Prof — but I signed up for the class so no complaints.<br /><br />Frosty Bob never tells us whether he's going left or right, or maybe up the hill or into the valley. He's even a little vague on which path is more traveled — says one trail has more grass, but then seems to backtrack and says they're both worn about the same.<br /><br />Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-64547360349444003962021-12-21T05:07:18.770-08:002021-12-21T05:07:18.770-08:00Ah, it's nearly 0500 and bedtime once again, b...Ah, it's nearly 0500 and bedtime once again, but before I put on my nightcap and before we can move on to Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird and The Emperor of Ice Cream, I need to know which road was more worn and which was less trod in The Road Not Taken. As you can see, poetry is not drudgery and quite the opposite of boring, but we want to make sure that along the way we're johnthebaskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066837787916271883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-4040501578732530612021-12-21T04:03:03.072-08:002021-12-21T04:03:03.072-08:00Frosty Bob's Road Not Taken is one of the most...Frosty Bob's Road Not Taken is one of the most famous poems in the English language, but just now was the first time I'd read it. Also the second time. I didn't even know it rhymed.<br /><br />More poetry, please. I'm enjoying this.<br /><br />DPS was all the rage when it came out, but I've always been lukewarm about it.Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-15842326486828984652021-12-20T18:23:04.487-08:002021-12-20T18:23:04.487-08:00I suspect that one man's work is another man&#...I suspect that one man's work is another man's recreation. <br /><br />You've been known to review a movie or two. There's a screenwriter named Tom Schulman who ought to be shot or badly insulted. He wrote the screenplay for Dead Poet's Society, which is supposed to be a movie at least partly about poetry that knows nothing about poetry. Here's a brief clip:<br /><br />johnthebaskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066837787916271883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-8710144952975245912021-12-20T14:33:59.863-08:002021-12-20T14:33:59.863-08:00That poem is new to me, and made me smile. It'...That poem is new to me, and made me smile. It's short, well assembled, and even rhymes. That's honestly some dang fine poetry.<br /><br />You're a good teacher, so I suspect you wanted to get my attention with something easy and accessible, and it worked. You have my attention, sir. Next one's going to be a bit more work?Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-37088877522733904122021-12-20T05:20:15.039-08:002021-12-20T05:20:15.039-08:00Ok, since I offered and it's five in the morni...Ok, since I offered and it's five in the morning, almost time to go to sleep, how about a nice short one? Yeah, I know, Robert Frost, yuck to some, and I don't like all of them, but the man had a way. You might have run across this before. It's probably useful to know that this was written 20 years before anybody tried to build an atomic or nuclear weapon. Or maybe it's not usefuljohnthebaskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066837787916271883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-75507473597767887362021-12-20T04:56:40.776-08:002021-12-20T04:56:40.776-08:00There’s poetry worth reading, and even some I’ve r...There’s poetry worth reading, and even some I’ve read… Emily Dickinson, Allen Ginsberg, a smattering of Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Gregory Corso. Lyrics count too, so don’t forget Simon and Donovan. Also among my favorites, <i>There was a young girl from Nantucket…</i><br /><br />Poetry is supposed to float through my eyeballs or eardrums into my brain and say something that adds up to more than Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-49952410335368954912021-12-20T00:56:18.390-08:002021-12-20T00:56:18.390-08:00Doug,
I know that poetry has a reputation as some...Doug,<br /><br />I know that poetry has a reputation as some kind of masturbation for the over-educated, but that's not my experience. I was fortunate to have a mother who read poetry to my sister and me; she never saw the inside of a college or university. She got her love of poetry from her father who was born in Scotland where real men learn to love poetry without compromising their johnthebaskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066837787916271883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-20172898723238266862021-12-18T08:27:16.173-08:002021-12-18T08:27:16.173-08:00Ozymandias, by Percy Shelley, says Google. It'...Ozymandias, by Percy Shelley, says Google. It's poetry beyond my limited comprehension, but that's an easily attainable height.Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-33994206500236655982021-12-17T13:10:35.003-08:002021-12-17T13:10:35.003-08:00Nope, just the coincidence of two significant Amer...Nope, just the coincidence of two significant American companies headquartered a couple blocks apart in a slowly dying American city with dead Sunday sidewalks. They're both gone now, as am I.<br /><br />I met a traveller from an antique land,<br />Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone<br />Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,<br />Half sunk a shattered visage lies, johnthebaskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066837787916271883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-78353277066805765492021-12-17T10:55:15.631-08:002021-12-17T10:55:15.631-08:00It sounds worthy of arrest and prosecution, maybe ...It sounds worthy of arrest and prosecution, maybe unless your employer was a subsidiary of HAL. I love the idea of lawbreaking with co-workers. What little lawbreaking I've done has usually been solo work, not nearly as cool as all this...Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-41943244237554304222021-12-17T00:20:06.108-08:002021-12-17T00:20:06.108-08:00I called my boss at home and he made it clear I wa...I called my boss at home and he made it clear I was on my own. Had we been busted, I probably would have been sent to Antarctica to seek out new customers. Once we got the device back home I was sort of in the clear, but it was a nervous week. Doing the right thing is sometimes a dangerous undertaking in corporate America.<br /><br />I've had one or two nightmares about that two block trip onjohnthebaskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066837787916271883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-75665399173731402352021-12-16T22:26:09.277-08:002021-12-16T22:26:09.277-08:00Basket's 17. I love all of it. Were there no c...<i>Basket's 17</i>. I love all of it. Were there no consequences ever, for you or anyone involved? No commendations, either, I assume, from your employer? <br /><br />Seems to me you absolutely saved the day, saved the firm's bacon and reputation. You should've at least gotten an IKEA gift card from your boss.Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-14141479693954027492021-12-16T03:41:57.796-08:002021-12-16T03:41:57.796-08:00Oh, Doug, the story gets a little wild here, and I...Oh, Doug, the story gets a little wild here, and I'm seriously reluctant to recount the whole thing. The reason we returned it is that we weren't, in our hearts, felons -- more like petty thieves with a $500,000 piece of equipment with a digital serial number that was pretty tamper-proof. About eight of us were pushing it along a fairly quiet sidewalk (it was Sunday) in the downtown area johnthebaskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066837787916271883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-45803897980502031472021-12-16T02:36:03.743-08:002021-12-16T02:36:03.743-08:00That's a better story than anything on my to-w...That's a better story than anything on my to-write list. <i>Basket's 16</i>.<br /><br />Why did you take it back, though? You had a functional backup unit, at a reasonable price... Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-48605665793282732892021-12-16T00:21:16.948-08:002021-12-16T00:21:16.948-08:00I was a business guy for 45 years, and I collided ...I was a business guy for 45 years, and I collided with someone almost weekly and never weakly. Once in a while something useful would emerge from those collisions. But more often -- much more often -- collaboration was a more effective human dynamics tool than collision. I don't mind the turmoil: collaboration just works better and yields more substantive and long-lasting results. <br /><br /johnthebaskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066837787916271883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-12652207565818375762021-12-15T16:38:11.310-08:002021-12-15T16:38:11.310-08:00It's projection. I get on people's nerves ...It's projection. I get on people's nerves — intentionally, sometimes — so I expect it from others. You haven't gotten on my nerves yet, though. Try harder.<br /><br />It's difficult to find the time and quiet to read a book. For me, books are mostly at bedtime, and I'm lucky to get a few pages into my eyeballs before drifting off. When I'm wide awake, I'm more likely Doug Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16075745451950217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811987615829975890.post-84195241453407839512021-12-15T05:02:38.880-08:002021-12-15T05:02:38.880-08:00OK, if you want to watch all 14 episodes of the Wi...OK, if you want to watch all 14 episodes of the William Conrad Nero Wolfe series, have at it. Then watch the whole Italian series from the 60s. . . it's much better. But then please watch all 20 episodes of the A&E Wolfe series with Maury Chaykin as Wolfe and Timothy Hutton as Archie. The A&E series was much better cast than the earlier ones top to bottom, and the layout of the house johnthebaskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066837787916271883noreply@blogger.com