Hope

"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,"

--Emily Dickinson


Emily Dickinson is my absolute, all-time, most favoritest poet!!!

I think I love her because she was never published in her lifetime. She was never tempted or corrupted by fame. Rather, her writing evolved naturally. She kept her writings a secret and would just jot down whatever came to her head and then stuff the scraps of paper into drawers and books and pretty much everywhere! After she died, these little musings were discovered stuffed anywhere and everywhere by her family.

Her poetry is confusing and expressive--but what I love most about her poetry is that there is truly no wrong answer when it comes to interpretation. English professors throughout my life have always "taught" that poetry is really subjective. That the meaning of each poem will vary from person to person--that interpretation is only about what you glean.

HOWEVER, I have found (as the half-English major I was in college) that poetry is all about what some scholar somewhere has decided it should be. If you disagree with the scholar or the professor they find your arguments to be lacking in substance. Not to say that this isn't always true, but I could never wrap my mind around someone else telling me my opinion deserved a C or a B.--as a perfectionist, these grades were simply unacceptable. As a person afraid of failure, poetry was my worst subject and absolutely terrifying.

To me, poetry is and always has been, all about the exploration of opinion and personal growth. When I first read this poem, I got something totally different from it than I'm getting today--and when I read it in 5 years, it will mean something else altogether. It's about feeling.

With other poets who were published--whether famous or no--during their lifetime, there are documents commenting on their writings. Letters exist to where scholars can pull correlations from one to the other. With Emily, it's different. It's pure speculation. There is no right or wrong answer because she never really commented on her poetry! She didn't offer insights. So any analysis is pure speculation.

or opinion... however you want to phrase it :)

a cause du coeur

I've often wondered about
the capabilities of the heart...
of fire and ice

of crazed sanity
it's ability to ignite
even the smallest blush

of the life it changes
the smiles exchanged
and passions rendered

so fine--
so perfect
until the end

for in the end,
it leaves nothing
but everything to the reckoning.

"Into the Wild" --Jon Karkauer

"...I think you really should make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhapy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure."

-pg 56-57... excerpt from a letter written by Chris McCandless to a man he met and spent time with on the road.

Pretty in Plaid

"My eyes fly open.
What the--?
I reach out into the darkness and feel a wall. It's cold with smooth tiles. I try to find a place to grip, but it's too flat and glossy.

[...]

Am I dead?
Is this my coffin? There's something pressing down on the left side of my body. Is it the weight of the earth?

[...]

And if I were dead, would my knee still hurt? And would I be... hungover? Did i drink so much last night that my hangover followed me into the afterlife?

[...]

Maybe this is purgatory. Cold, dark, smooth, solid purgatory.

Although... I swear I hear snoring. Why would there be snoring in purgatory?

Before I can contemplate any more abotu the afterlife or my own demise, the whole room is suddenly flooded with light and I am blinded.

I hear my friend Suede shout, "Get out of the tub, you fucking morons!" and the door slams.

Oh.

That makes more sense."

--The above is an excerpt from "Pretty in Plaid" by Jen Lancaster (on pgs 221 & 222). I know it's a little long, but I thought it was absolutely hilarious! The whole book is! I seriously just spent the entire morning finishing it. I love the way she writes, It's just so... natural! It reminds me of stream-of-consciousness style writing, but much more organized.

This isn't the first book I've read by Jen Lancaster, "Bitter is the New Black" was--and I have to say, they're both effing great. She just might make it to the top of "my favorite authors" list--which I should probably compile, anyway, since people ask me and although Jane Austin is my staple faveeee (I'm about to finish Pride and Prejudice AGAIN) I'm pretty sure it doesn't reflect the true well-roundedness that is my reading repertoire.

In short. I love it. This book is awesome.

I can't wait to get her other books, too.

Her style is rather girly (so probs not something a guy would pick up--ya know, and tell people about--but they should anyway... there are some pretty awesome/amusing stories about sorority life), but I just laugh my way through her books. Out loud. In public. Which, can be very embarassing. and can also cause people to throw menacing looks in my direction.

But I like to think that those people are just jealous they're not reading my HILARIOUS book.

Trust me. Pick it up.

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs* (a low culture manifesto)

This is the book I'm currently reading. (Almost done!!)

I bought this book ages ago because one of my cousins had read it and thought it was hilarious and amazing (she was correct, except about the amazing part... there were some chapters that could've been shortened... so I guess she was really only correct about the hilarious part (in my opinion), but whatevs...). ANYWAY, after I bought the book, I kept trying to read it but could never get past the first couple chapters before a novel would steal my interest away (I'm a novel reader, if you hadn't noticed). The social commentary really isn't my thing.

By about the fourth time I tried (and failed) to read this book, I was pretty much done with it. In my opinion, a girl can only read a chapter so many times before she dreads it (I do this with other books too, like Pride and Prejudice... oftentimes I'll skip the entire first three pages).

So, when my book club was trying to decide our next great read, it took me all of three days to put this book up for consideration. It's taken me the better part of 3 months to read it (mostly because I keep reading novels, too) and I'm so glad I did! It was kind of a struggle for me, mainly because I'm not big on non-fiction--if you couldn't tell.

I suggest everybody read it! I can't wait for book club this weekend!

**My favorite chapter would have to be toward the end entitled: "All I Know Is What I Read in the Papers" and I think a great many of my former journalism teachers/professors would enjoy this chapter, as well.

Bitter is the New Black

I've decided my favorite author right now is Jen Lancaster. I just finished her book, "Bitter is the New Black" and I absolutely LOVED it.

Seriously. Hilarious stuff.

I wish I could quote some of her stuff here, but unfortunately, I'd probably infringe upon copyright laws seeing as though I would quote most of the book.

However, I shall try to find a small morsel.


ps. sorry I've been so awful about quoting. I now have more time to devote to reading :)

pps. going to the library today to check out some more of her stuff. I'm super excited!!

ppps. any of my book club reading this post... I promise I'll read this month's book before our meeting. PROMISE.