Summer Reading

From the desk of Cristina Fucaloro, Poetry Editor...

Hello all,

I am pleased to be a new member of this blog, and will do my best to contribute to the discussions that I have thoroughly enjoyed reading from the other bloggers.

Well, after what seemed to be an endless summer of relaxing, teaching, reading, and attempting to finish at least one painting, the fall quarter is back.  This time, I am in my final year of Grad school and with much anticipation, I am looking forward to finishing my degree.  Although, the excitement comes with some remorse, I will miss my fellow Grad students and the tumultuous life of being a student.  But, until then, I still have another year of stress, papers, heavy amounts of reading, and all the other facets that accompany the Master’s program.

The reading that I did over the summer was not, unfortunately, a large amount, however I did happen to stumble upon a novel that I am currently reading called Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson, who holds a doctorate in Robotics.  When I discovered that the author had a PhD in Robotics, I was at first a little hesitant, worried that all the technological jargon would confuse me.  However, his writing style and descriptive imagery proves to be comprehensible and enjoyable.

Set in the not-so-distant future, the novel depicts a society in which robots, all different in shape, size, appearance and function, are commonly used as household appliances, toys, companionship, military function, etc, which are trusted and controlled by humans.  However, the so-called trusted robots become a deadly creation and the novel begins with the start of their uprising, and the execution of their one mission: to destroy humans.

This popular notion: we create what ultimately sets out to destroy us or we end up destroying what we create is not so rare in the literary and film world.  This notion can be applied to many things that exist today, and within the literature realm, it is the consequence of our actions and creation that results in our doom.  Our desire to push the boundary a little further to see how far we can go, in terms of technological advancement, typifies this need to feed our curiosity and has ultimately been a topic of some heated debates.  Having said that, however I am a strong advocate for technological advancement, especially for medical purposes and space exploration, so the argument that we are pushing too far doesn’t, for lack of a better word and pun, compute with me.  Am I afraid? Maybe.  But I, along with many others, allow for my curiosity to override any fears, which is either what makes us creative geniuses or dangerous manifestations of what can happen if we continue to “play God.”

Returning back to the novel: do I think there will be some sort of robot apocalypse-type scenario—it’s quite possible, do I think it will be in the near future—again, it’s quite possible, will I let that stop me from the curiosity of how far we can push the limit—absolutely not.  With that in mind, I will continue to enjoy my novel and use it only as a source of entertainment, but just in case, I will hold on to it as a possible guide for the potentially not-so-distant future of a robotic uprising.


Faithfully,
Cristina

Newcomers' Anxiety

Hey Y'all-

I am officially back after what seemed like the longest summer of my life. I travelled, I taught, I read, I wrote, I photographed, and I eventually--luckily in the latter half of August and not for the entire season--fell into a stupor that was clouded by comic books, beer, and excessive napping. It was truly glorious and much needed. I fondly look back on those carefree days because now I am in my first quarter of graduate school. Holy. Shit.

Honestly, it isn't that crazy. What is crazy is my anxiety. In general I am a bit obsessive, over-analytical, and maniacal. Add a new environment and an increased level of expectation and you really get to see my neurosis in full bloom. As you can tell, I don't shy away from the fact that I can be a bit crazy. I also happen to see these seemingly negative traits as potentially positive. If I can manage them appropriately, I can bring out some of my strongest arguments and push myself to heights I would never come close to reaching whilst sipping a Bud Light (I'm a poor  college student) and flipping through a Wonder Woman comic. There is something about teetering on the fine line between struggle and destruction that truly brings out the best in me. I suppose that is why I disregard all the advice that says I should only take two classes. Tell me it is impossible and I will pursue it with full fervor. I am either an intellectual masochist or I've figured out the best way to tap into my potential.

If I am not in a mental hospital in 9 weeks, we will have the answer.

Since I'm going to be batty for the next 9 weeks, I'd love it if our readers/writers would consider submitting some awesome poetry to help me find my way through the dark abyss. Yes, writers, you and you alone are charged with inspiring me. Make me laugh; make me cry, save me with the written word!

Until next time.

-Danielle

Lazy Summer, Lazy Mind

"Read in order to live" - Gustave Flaubert

How do you get back into the literary mode when you feel like you’ve gotten so far away from it? Well, that’s where I am right now.  Like Ali and Ryan, I didn’t spend my summer writing to the extent that I had hoped I would. And now, it been months since I’ve sat down and written something, aside from an email, that is to be completed promptly and then promptly read by an audience.  Upon realization that I was going to write a blog again, acknowledgement of my lack of ideas quickly set in.  What would I write about?

This is not generally a problem for me when it comes to writing blogs or any other form of non-creative writing. I’m generally always reading something and listening to NPR and am the girl who commonly says, “I read this interesting article the author day…”  

So what’s different now? Why the lack of ideas? Despite not reading much literature lately, I’ve still been reading Newsweek, and I’ve still been listening to NPR (like the liberal snob that I am), I’ve still been generally keeping up on world events.  But that’s the thing: without literature to anchor everything, all of the noise and sound, I find myself struggling to deeply contemplate or really make sense of anything.

Literature does such an essential service to our brains. That quiet one-on-one extended time with an author is, as far as I can tell, irreplaceable.  And when we try to live without it for a period of time, the clarity and perspective that engaged reading offers does fade. 

I have a preliminary, admittedly swift, conclusion as to why literature improves our critical thinking/contemplation skills.  As students, whether formally or otherwise, of the art, we are trained to search for meaning in the events of the novels we read and in the details of the characters. And once you do that kind of analysis enough as a result of reading often, searching for meaning and piecing together details and evidence to make sense of a scenario or a human being, you naturally conduct a similar analysis of the world and the people around you. 

So I look forward to starting to read again soon- I’d like to say “when things calm down,” but the truth is it’s been too long already; I’m picking up Margaret Atwood again as soon as I place the final period here.

Until next time, I’d love to hear what you’ve been reading lately or what were some of your summer reads (or about your lack thereof). Have you ever gotten into a literary dry spell? If so, please share how you managed to get your feet wet once again.

-Leena  

Back from Summer Lazings (and not for naught!)

Hello Readers,

Please bear with me as I shake off the summer rust and come to terms with the fact that I have to follow Alli on the blog schedule. This summer was not a summer of writing for me-- and this fact, under the egotistic assumption that you care about my writing career, is sure to disturb you, but fear not! A summer of not writing does not imply a summer of complacency (much to the contradiction of my blog's title).

This summer I've been to the other side of the world, recorded an EP, and synthesized a freshman composition course. I feel like those first two things are a bit more interesting, so I should probably save them for a book, which leaves you to hear about that last accomplishment (the most boring one) for the rest of the school year. But hey, I'll try to keep it in.

Plus, I don't find gushing about myself on a public forum very rewarding; however, it does bring some advice to the front of my brain, which I can pass on to you. There was a literary critic (whose name escapes me) who commented that Lord Byron was such a good poet because he had the life experience to back it up. As a person who was drawn to literature by the beat movement, I find statements like this to be true. Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs wouldn't have really written anything that changed the face of the canon had they not had genuinely wild lives. Given, some of their best chapters were written about them lounging around the living room.

So, life experience is certainly not the cornerstone of good writing, but it sure does help. Especially when it comes to creative non-fiction. Inspiration can be found anywhere, and, for us booky people, it's usually found in books (and in one recent embarrassing case, while watching Ghost Adventures on TV. Have you heard of stone tape theory? It's interesting, look it up), but sometimes it's good to get outside of the house. It's also a great way to guard some intellectual property; chances are, nobody shares the same adventures that you have in your life, and if they have, they probably didn't see it the way you did. My adventures? Well, I've met the Listener face to face.

Anyway, get out there and live your life, and then write about it.

I'll leave you with a challenge: it has just dawned on me that, though we are open to publishing creative non-fiction, we haven't actually published any. Send us some of the good stuff, so we can include it someday.

'Till then,
-Rainamoinen

Welcome back, bloggers.

It's been a long, hot, busy summer for the editors of AFLM. We've been on hiatus for a few months now and want to thank the readers (and editors) who have been checking in regularly and waiting patiently for regularly scheduled blogging to return - your time has come at last.

I don't have any long blogging projects planned yet, I haven't read any new good books recently (Though I did read Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn last week and if you haven't read it you should - especially if you have any interest in traditional European mythology and folktales, plus it will totally make you cry and it's about unicorns so there's nothing to lose), I'm not particularly riled about the state of education or literature at the moment and I don't have much else to say, so instead this blog is going to showcase a few gems of etymology I've discovered over the summer that I think more people will find hilarious, enlightening, and generally filthy.

These are presented in no particular order, and listed this way only because I found some them to be amusing. If I remind you too much of your grandmother's email forwards please scroll down until you see words like "cunt" and take comfort in the fact that when you're calling someone a sycophant you're being much more insulting than you had imagined.

"Vanilla - 1660s, from Sp. vainilla "vanilla plant," lit. "little pod," dim. of vaina "sheath," from L. vagina "sheath". So called from the shape of the pods. European discovery 1521 by Hernando Cortes' soldiers on reconnaissance in southeastern Mexico. Meaning "conventional, of ordinary sexual preferences" is 1970s, from notion of whiteness and the common choice of vanilla ice cream."

 "Twat - 1650s, of unknown origin. A general term of abuse since 1920s.
      The T-word occupies a special niche in literary history, however, thanks to a horrible mistake by Robert Browning, who included it in 'Pippa Passes' (1841) without knowing its true meaning. 'The owls and bats,/Cowls and twats,/Monks and nuns,/In a cloister's moods.' Poor Robert! He had been misled into thinking the word meant 'hat' by its appearance in 'Vanity of Vanities,' a poem of 1660, containing the treacherous lines: 'They'd talk't of his having a Cardinalls Hat,/They'd send him as soon an Old Nuns Twat.' (There is a lesson here about not using words unless one is very sure of their meaning.) [Hugh Rawson, "Wicked Words," 1989]"

"Sycophant - 1530s (in L. form sycophanta), "informer, talebearer, slanderer," from L. sycophanta, from Gk. sykophantes, originally "one who shows the fig," from sykon "fig" + phanein "to show." "Showing the fig" was a vulgar gesture made by sticking the thumb between two fingers, a display which vaguely resembles a fig, itself symbolic of a cunt (sykon also meant "vulva"). The story goes that prominent politicians in ancient Greece held aloof from such inflammatory gestures, but privately urged their followers to taunt their opponents. The sense of "mean, servile flatterer" is first recorded in English 1570s."

"Shoo - 1620s, "to drive away by calling 'shoo,' " from the exclamation (late 15c.), instinctive, cf. Ger. schu, It. scioia. Shoo-in "easy winner (especially in politics)" (1939) was originally a horse that wins a race by pre-arrangement (1928; the verb phrase shoo in in this sense is from 1908). Shoo-fly, admonition to a pest, was popularized by a Dan Bryant minstrel song c.1870, which launched it as a catch-phrase that, according to H.L. Mencken, "afflicted the American people for at least two years." Shoo-fly pie is attested from 1935."

"In-law - 1894, "anyone of a relationship not natural," abstracted from father-in-law, etc. "The position of the 'in-laws' (a happy phrase which is attributed ... to her Majesty, than whom no one can be better acquainted with the article) is often not very apt to promote happiness." ["Blackwood's Magazine," 1894]."

"Mooreeffoc - "coffee-room, viewed from the inside through a glass door, as it was seen by Dickens on a dark London day; ... used by Chesterton to denote the queerness of things that have become trite, when they are seen suddenly from a new angle." [J.R.R. Tolkien]"

Here's hoping that you had a great summer and are preparing to write quite a lot of wonderful things.


If you ever need inspiration feel free to waste an afternoon at the Online Etymology Dictionary website, which is the source for all the silliness listed above and is an excellent place to find emergency sources for all your left-to-the-last-second papers.

Cheers,
     - Alli