Metres, Philip. Behind the Lines: War Resistance Poetry on the American Homefront Since 1941. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2007. I’ve been reading a lot about poetry’s role in society lately because of the pandemic and came across a citation of this book, which looks fascinating, so I decided to buy it. Pollack, Rachel.Continue reading “Books Acquired Recently”
Tag Archives: music
Mike Piazza’s Long Shot
Mike Piazza’s autobiography Long Shot is a fascinating, candid, at times disturbing book. It is a true autobiography, covering his entire life up through the publication of the book in detail. Here are a few thoughts on what stood out to me. I found the first part of the book boring because I was readingContinue reading “Mike Piazza’s Long Shot”
Books Acquired Recently: Last Names Beginning With K Edition
Keogh, Theodora. The Other Girl. 1962. N.P.: Olympia, 2009. I read a number of Keogh’s books last summer and have been wanting to read more of them, but hadn’t had the time. I plan to rectify that this summer. Klosterman, Chuck. I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling With Villains (Real and Imagined). New York: Scribner,Continue reading “Books Acquired Recently: Last Names Beginning With K Edition”
The Environmental Issue With Digital Media
Steven Hyden has a fascinating article on grantland.com today about how digital downloads of music are quickly becoming a thing of the past as they are replaced by services such as Spotify. He notes that, while record aficionados will continue to buy physical objects (and one could also make this argument for those of usContinue reading “The Environmental Issue With Digital Media”
Books Acquired Recently: MLA Edition
Today I made my long-anticipated visit to the MLA Convention book fair. I acquired five books and ordered several more that will be shipped to me, which I will write about once I receive them. All of the books interest me, but the fact that I got several of them at a discount made themContinue reading “Books Acquired Recently: MLA Edition”
Zadie Smith on Music and Obsession
Zadie Smith has an article in the 17 December 2012 issue of the New Yorker about her journey to appreciating Joni Mitchell’s work in which she also offers some thoughts on being a connoisseur of various art forms. Smith writes that she distrusts those who claim to be true connoisseurs of more than one form, noting that theContinue reading “Zadie Smith on Music and Obsession”
Books Acquired Recently: Rocky Mountain MLA Edition II
Today I walked around downtown Boulder, Colorado with a colleague and several new friends as Rocky Mountain MLA wound down. We visited two excellent bookstores, Red Letter Secondhand Books (where they gave me my books in a recycled Borders bag! Independent bookstores forever!) and Left Hand Book Collective, a fantastic all-volunteer leftist bookstore (though I’dContinue reading “Books Acquired Recently: Rocky Mountain MLA Edition II”
Shaking the Rust Off
I haven’t written anything other than emails and lesson outlines in almost a week. The new semester is kicking my butt! I need to find a way to budget time into my schedule for writing so that I don’t get too out of practice and lose my edge. Luckily, today is the first meeting ofContinue reading “Shaking the Rust Off”
The Best YouTube Sing-Along Ever
This is a video of Swedish Olympic handball star Isabelle Gullden (driving) and some other woman singing along (well, sort of–maybe “riffing on” is a better term) to Jason Derulo’s “Whatcha Say” in the car, and it is hilarious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bemIK39WmLA The video raises so many questions (perhaps all of which would be answered if IContinue reading “The Best YouTube Sing-Along Ever”
Some Thoughts on Edgar Allan Poe
Yesterday a friend of mine posted this hilarious cartoon on Facebook: http://i.imgur.com/rlEZr.png. Any time you can combine Edgar Allan Poe and “Bohemian Rhapsody,” you have to do it. I’ve been thinking about the cartoon and chuckling all day, which in turn got me thinking about Poe in general, and how he keeps inserting himself intoContinue reading “Some Thoughts on Edgar Allan Poe”
Daniel Shank Cruz 
