Here's a couple of short ones from Exene Cervenka, from "A Beer On Every Page". The originals were handprinted so I can't reproduce them accurately, but will try to mix upper & lower case to give you the idea. Get yourself a copy & see the rest! Her other poetry books are "Virtual Unreality" and "Adulterers Anonymous" (with Lydia Lunch).
i NeeD MOONSCREEN NOT
SUNSCREEN it's the NiGHTS
THAT AGE ME FAStESt it'S
tHE NEON GiRLS GiRLS GiRLS
SiGNS & THE LiGHt FROM
AOL & YAHOO I NeeD SOME
SCREENSCREEN & A BOttLE OF
PORN BLOCK BUt tHEY DON't
MAKE THAT.
We cAN't See the
MiLKY WAY ANYMORe.
THAT MAKeS OUR
TiMe UNiQUe.
i WiSH it WASN't ALL
WASHED UP, the
MiLKY WAY. i WiSH
it WAS JEt bLACk
& SCARY, SPARKLY
& StARRY. LiKe
A BLACK COCKtAiL
DReSS & A WHite
PeARL NeCkLACE.
ANYWAY LittLe
ARROWS POiNt
the WAY. CUPiD'S
OR the COMPUter'S ~
WHiCH DO it
MAttER. the
ALPHABEt'S ALL
BLURRY SCAReS
MY eYeS AWAY
& i CAN't SEE
THE MiLKY
WAY ANYMORe.
Check out Exene's web-site
2006-05-24
2006-05-12
The opposite of negative
An internet friend has put me onto a very good thing.
The concept is to recognize and record three positive things that occur every day, for at least 30 days, thereby forming a habit of acknowledging that good things do in fact happen. The positive things can be external, like a beautiful day or something in nature, nice things that happen between people, events that are enjoyable, and of course, personal accomplishments. It’s not a particularly new idea, but it flies in the face of most schools of therapy and certainly of the prevailing point of view in today’s media.
It’s not enough, as a colleague of mine says, to “quit your whining”. We need to be open to seeing the good and nice; to feel good about ourselves and our environments. Because, when all is said and done, we have it pretty good here and now. I doubt there would be many people in so-called “developing countries” who would disagree – a lot of them are trying to be just like us, or to come here and live among us. Just imagine how much better it could be if we could invoke a POSITIVE self-fulfilling prophecy.
This doesn’t mean putting the blinkers on about bad things that happen to us or around us, or evil and corruption which occurs all too often in public office. That wouldn’t be sensible; we need to recognize and deal with those things too. The danger is that focusing exclusively on the negative actually damages one’s health and mental well-being. Whereas the positive thoughts can exert an opposite, beneficial effect, helping us cope with the negative and strengthen us in counteracting it.
I’ve been doing it for nearly a week, and I can already feel the difference. This could become a permanent habit. Finally, a good habit! Thank you, E.P.
The concept is to recognize and record three positive things that occur every day, for at least 30 days, thereby forming a habit of acknowledging that good things do in fact happen. The positive things can be external, like a beautiful day or something in nature, nice things that happen between people, events that are enjoyable, and of course, personal accomplishments. It’s not a particularly new idea, but it flies in the face of most schools of therapy and certainly of the prevailing point of view in today’s media.
It’s not enough, as a colleague of mine says, to “quit your whining”. We need to be open to seeing the good and nice; to feel good about ourselves and our environments. Because, when all is said and done, we have it pretty good here and now. I doubt there would be many people in so-called “developing countries” who would disagree – a lot of them are trying to be just like us, or to come here and live among us. Just imagine how much better it could be if we could invoke a POSITIVE self-fulfilling prophecy.
This doesn’t mean putting the blinkers on about bad things that happen to us or around us, or evil and corruption which occurs all too often in public office. That wouldn’t be sensible; we need to recognize and deal with those things too. The danger is that focusing exclusively on the negative actually damages one’s health and mental well-being. Whereas the positive thoughts can exert an opposite, beneficial effect, helping us cope with the negative and strengthen us in counteracting it.
I’ve been doing it for nearly a week, and I can already feel the difference. This could become a permanent habit. Finally, a good habit! Thank you, E.P.
2006-05-06
Bilingualism
In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m Canadian. That means I live in a (nominally) bilingual country. What does that mean? Well, it means that all our federal laws and official documents must be issued in both languages. Of course, that may or may not happen at provincial or municipal levels. New Brunswick is currently the only officially bilingual province. Quebec is unilingual French, and the rest of the provinces are unilingual English. The degree of accommodation to either of the minority languages, depending where you are, varies quite a lot. For example, merchants in Quebec City and Montreal don’t mind speaking English, just in case they’re addressing a rich USAmerican tourist…
Wikipedia has a good article on Canadian linguistic demographics:
Language demographics of Canada
Sadly, language is used divisively by most politicians, of whatever stripe. That’s one of the reasons why tensions over language continue. It’s a handy whipping-boy for the politicians, used instead of wars to distract us from their less-than-savoury antics.
The linguistic majority here has had much the same feeling as is currently being expressed by our USAmerican cousins about the increasing Spanish-speaking population. While I’m not keen on how they treat their immigrants and minorities, I think that they will find as we have that bilingualism as a movement can neither be ignored nor legislated in any meaningful way. I remember well when it came in force here, as recently as 1969, and how intransigent it has continued to be as an issue. I also think they will find that a substantial linguistic minority, regardless of origin, is likely to push until they get what they want, and whether or not the demographics justify the burden of bilingualism (and it IS a burden, however justified). However, here in Canada we accept it (more or less) as one of the fundamentals of our culture, awkward as it is. If only we were as considerate of our First Nations…
Having said all that, it sounds as if I was opposed to the notion of speaking a second language; I’m not! I can't imagine anything more useful and more mind-expanding than learning at least one other language. As early as possible, so it has a chance of sticking! We've been frustrated here by the attempt to re-educate adults, rather than immersing children, for far too long. Unfortunately, unless you live in New Brunswick or certain limited bilingual regions in the rest of the country, you're unlikely to have sufficient chance to use your second language on a daily basis, and with language it's definitely "use it or lose it", as I know to my cost. On exiting high school *mumble* years ago, I was a fairly fluent French speaker. In spite of having lived in the nation's capital, Ottawa, a supposedly bilingual region, for more than 30 years now, where I could be expected to have lots of chance to use it (but don't really -- don't get me started on people who start speaking English the moment I try my French) I have lost almost all of it. The only time I ever seem to speak French now is on trips to Europe. Like the time I helped a French woman in Bergen Norway with directions. Go figure.
As for our anthem, if you’re interested enough to look, there are some official & unofficial links to the words & music, below. It doesn’t say the same thing in both languages, but that’s no surprise. All too many of our documents say one thing in one language and something entirely different in the other. And of course when you move into the realm of non-official languages, it’s a whole other problem.
http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/sc-cs/anthem_e.cfm
http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/sc-cs/anthem_f.cfm
http://david.national-anthems.net/ca.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Canada
Personally, I sing “all of us” rather than “all our sons”, and an extra “O Canada” instead of “God keep our land”. But then, I’m not all that dedicated to the preservation of national, gender-based or religious symbols.
We usually treat language along with religion and politics as one of the “touchy” subjects. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about it, but it tends to produce a lot of shouting. And nobody convinces anybody of their point of view. Too much baggage and emotion attached to the whole sorry business.
The moral of this diatribe? You can't legislate language. It'll get used where it's needed. And to maintain a learned language you've got to live in it at least part of the time, especially if you come to it late.
Wikipedia has a good article on Canadian linguistic demographics:
Language demographics of Canada
Sadly, language is used divisively by most politicians, of whatever stripe. That’s one of the reasons why tensions over language continue. It’s a handy whipping-boy for the politicians, used instead of wars to distract us from their less-than-savoury antics.
The linguistic majority here has had much the same feeling as is currently being expressed by our USAmerican cousins about the increasing Spanish-speaking population. While I’m not keen on how they treat their immigrants and minorities, I think that they will find as we have that bilingualism as a movement can neither be ignored nor legislated in any meaningful way. I remember well when it came in force here, as recently as 1969, and how intransigent it has continued to be as an issue. I also think they will find that a substantial linguistic minority, regardless of origin, is likely to push until they get what they want, and whether or not the demographics justify the burden of bilingualism (and it IS a burden, however justified). However, here in Canada we accept it (more or less) as one of the fundamentals of our culture, awkward as it is. If only we were as considerate of our First Nations…
Having said all that, it sounds as if I was opposed to the notion of speaking a second language; I’m not! I can't imagine anything more useful and more mind-expanding than learning at least one other language. As early as possible, so it has a chance of sticking! We've been frustrated here by the attempt to re-educate adults, rather than immersing children, for far too long. Unfortunately, unless you live in New Brunswick or certain limited bilingual regions in the rest of the country, you're unlikely to have sufficient chance to use your second language on a daily basis, and with language it's definitely "use it or lose it", as I know to my cost. On exiting high school *mumble* years ago, I was a fairly fluent French speaker. In spite of having lived in the nation's capital, Ottawa, a supposedly bilingual region, for more than 30 years now, where I could be expected to have lots of chance to use it (but don't really -- don't get me started on people who start speaking English the moment I try my French) I have lost almost all of it. The only time I ever seem to speak French now is on trips to Europe. Like the time I helped a French woman in Bergen Norway with directions. Go figure.
As for our anthem, if you’re interested enough to look, there are some official & unofficial links to the words & music, below. It doesn’t say the same thing in both languages, but that’s no surprise. All too many of our documents say one thing in one language and something entirely different in the other. And of course when you move into the realm of non-official languages, it’s a whole other problem.
http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/sc-cs/anthem_e.cfm
http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/sc-cs/anthem_f.cfm
http://david.national-anthems.net/ca.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Canada
Personally, I sing “all of us” rather than “all our sons”, and an extra “O Canada” instead of “God keep our land”. But then, I’m not all that dedicated to the preservation of national, gender-based or religious symbols.
We usually treat language along with religion and politics as one of the “touchy” subjects. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about it, but it tends to produce a lot of shouting. And nobody convinces anybody of their point of view. Too much baggage and emotion attached to the whole sorry business.
The moral of this diatribe? You can't legislate language. It'll get used where it's needed. And to maintain a learned language you've got to live in it at least part of the time, especially if you come to it late.
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