Word Nerd Wednesday: "Dilate"

It's Word Nerd Wednesday! This week's word is:

DILATE
verb
1. to make wider, larger, or more open.
2. to speak or write at great length on (a subject).
"Until your wife has dilated to 10 centimeters I will dilate on the joys on fatherhood."

[VIDEO]

Too Much Information

Destroyed by MTV, 
I hate to bite the hand that 
Feeds me so much information
The Pressure's on the screen 
To sell you things that you don't need
It's too much information for me

Hey TV Child look into my eyes
Here by intervention I want your attention

Promotion Boy in a suit and tie
He wants you to use it
You're too shot to loose it

It's pumpin down the cable
Like never seen before
A COLA manufacturer is sponsoring the war

Here comes the news with love from me to you

Destroyed by ABC 
I hate to bite the hand that 
Feeds me so much information
The Pressure's on the screen 
To sell you things that you don't need
It's too much information for me

Turn on the tube
Hits you with the Groove
Advertizin muzik
We want you to choose it

These teeth are white trainers ULTRA BRITE

This band is perfect just don't scratch the surface

We covered all the angles
The survey people said
Just put us on the cover we'll be smilin anyway

This video was made with LOVE to you

Destroyed by BBC 
I hate to bite the hand that 
Feeds me so much information
The Pressure's on the screen to 
Sell you things that you don't need
It's too much information for me

Destroyed by MTV 
I hate to bite the hand that 
Feeds me so much information
The Pressure's on the screen to 
Sell you things that you don't need
It's too much information for me

Dilate your MIND
Dilate your MIND
Dilate your MIND

Got to give it to me
Got to listen to me
Got to give in to me
Now I'm on the line


I try......

Throw Down Tuesday #4

It's time for Throw-Down Tuesday! I give you a prompt and we all  free-write about it for 250 to 500 words. If you want, you can leave your free-write in the comments and on Thursday I will post the best ones of the lot. There might even be prizes involved. Sounds fun, right? When you're finished, please leave your word count at the bottom of the post in parenthesis. Thanks!

Are you ready?

In the spirit of yesterday's post, and in the overall spirit of the blog, today's prompt comes from a song lyric:

Who do you need? Who do you love when you come undone?

English Major Monday: In Praise of SongWRITERS

Both the Old English word "scop" and its Old Norse counterpart "skald" refer to the bard-like minstrels who entertained the thanes and liege lords in the mead halls of old. These guys were the rock stars of their day. They sang poems of battles and made immortals of heroes with their songs. While the existence of the scop is held in question, the skald was a very real historical figure, the Beowulf poet was very likely one of these rock stars. 

So, if we pore over the likes of Beowulf, and the sagas of Grettir and Njal, why do we not take the tales of our contemporary scops so seriously? Contemporary pop music gets absolutely no respect for its literary merit no matter how well written a song may be. This is a great disservice to all the incredibly talented lyricists in the music industry and the literary canon. What is pop music if not lyrical oral poetry?

Consider the following lyrics from Duran Duran’s recent release Paper Gods:

"Hey, you're gonna want it all" the talking man declares

Go running to be first in line for what, nobody cares

The next thing you must have

Find peace with matching bag

It's nothing to be glad about or sad when you forget about it

Lebon is making a comment on the emptiness of the modern consumer culture with these lyrics. You cannot buy "peace with matching bag." What an absurd notion, but it is just this level of absurdity that Lebon is trying to show us. Deep and heady stuff, no? If it were in a poem, everyone would stand up and pay attention. Papers would be written. Talks would be given. But since this is a song, the lyric is thrown away.

Why? Songwriters have been making commentary on contemporary issues since time immemorial. What do you think the Beowulf poet was doing? He wasn't writing a tome for us to pore over with the intent of being impressive for posterity. He was commenting on the issues that were effecting his society in that moment. He was culturally relevant. He was writing pop music.

The Beowulf Poet was an Original Gangster.

So why does pop music get such a bad reputation? Is it because it is manufactured for mass consumption? I would argue that there is nothing wrong with that. The more people who can relate to a literary work, the better. I can tell you this - more people have listened to Lady Gaga than have read Cormac McCarthy. This is a fact. Who, therefore has more cultural influence? Who is able to create greater cultural change? Go on, I'll wait.

I believe that rock stars, specifically pop lyricists deserve a place in the literary canon. They are writing works that are being consumed by the public. They are creating ideas. They are changing the world. Maybe print is dead. That's to say nothing of lyrical poetry. The masses aren't reading poetry. The don't seem to be reading much at all, if polls tell us anything. But they are buying and listening to music, so why not include song lyrics and their writers as a part of "literature"? It can only serve to deepen and enrich the discussion. What have we got to lose?

Sunday News: Fourth Edition

Brings the dawning . . .

Hello there Dear Friends and Gentle Readers! How are all you fine people out there in interwebs land? I hope you are well and I'm sure that there are a lot of new smiling faces as I've got a lot of new followers on Twitter this week. That is the first news item, so let's jump right in, shall we?

Twitter. I'm not a fan. It is not at all intuitive. It is a mysterious creature that I can't even begin to understand. But I unlocked part of the code this week and doubled my following. #amwriting is the Golden Ticket it would seem, so I am sticking that hashtag on everything I post from now until eternity. Unless of course it's not about writing. That wouldn't be right, now would it?

The work on my website is going well. I saw the first bit of concept art and it's going to look very different from how it looks now, but it's going to look so much more professional. I must admit, I'm going to miss my garish pink and black color scheme, but I have to keep telling myself that change is good and to embrace it. The designer, Jacklyn, is doing an excellent job.

Oh! And if you don't already know, I figured out how to invite people to like my page over on Facebook! I doubled my likes in less than 24 hours! This is great! The problem is that once this happened, the likes slowed to a halt and no one is following through to my actual website. I am still working on revamping my Facebook and website, so I guess this isn't so bad at the moment, but I'd still like to see more smiling faces around here. I'd like some engagement with my posts. It starts to feel like I'm doing all this work for no reason. I can't feel like that though. I have to feel like I'm doing the work for the sake of doing the work.

Still no new publications to report, but I will have a new post up on SchanEllis.com tomorrow, so I hope you will check that out.

Writing lately has been really hard. Things have been very up in the air. My husband is in a transitional period with his job and as such he's off work indefinitely. That puts him at home, in my work space, all the time. It's stressing me out. I didn't realize it was stressing me out until Friday when I had a mini break down and started sobbing over the fact that the members of Duran Duran will someday die and I will probably not be able to attend their funerals. Nevermind the funerals. The members of Duran Duran will someday die was enough to set me to blubbering.

This is a very irrational thing to cry about, but since I attended the Hank Hill School of Emotional Management, I tend to suppress things until something unexpected sets me off. I cried it out and told my husband how I was feeling and hopefully the situation is resolved. Furthermore, I like to think that the boys have another good 20 years in them, at least. They aren't shuffling off this mortal coil any time soon.

They're way too young and beautiful yet. I am just a anxiety ridden worry wort.

Quiet People

True Story.

Fan Girl Friday: Anne Rice

Hey there dear friends and gentle readers! It’s #FanGirlFriday and today we are talking about one of my favorite authors, spirit guides, and personal heroes: Anne Rice.

I read my first Anne Rice book when I was in the fifth grade. It was The Witching Hour and I have to be honest; I never finished it. It seems that her The Vampire Chronicles series was more my speed. The Vampire Lestat is still one of my favorite books. As I mentioned on Sunday, Anne Rice was the first author that made me think that writing could be a job. When Pandora came out in 1998, my mom taped her appearance on The Today Show for me since I was in school when she came on. That afternoon I watched her talk about writing her trip to Greece off on her taxes and thinking “Yes. This is what I want to do.” I haven’t made it to Anne Rice levels of success yet, but I’m working on it and I remain a true fan.

Not only did Anne Rice teach me that writing can be a job, she bestowed upon me the knowledge of how to make first person narrative work in fiction. The woman is the master of the first person narrative and the wraparound story. Every one of her books that I’ve read is told in first person, a technique enabled by her use of the interview. All these vampires and witches are just telling the stories of their (immortal) lives and it works brilliantly. She is able to get into their heads and tell their stories from their eyes. It’s kind of the best. 

Every great author needs a kitty. Maybe this is what's holding me back . . .

Meanwhile, if it weren’t for Anne Rice, I might not have such an appreciation for Tom Cruise. She was hesitant about his being cast as Lestat in Interview with the Vampire but I think he did a fabulous job. He is The Brat Prince. I can’t even imagine anyone else in the role, although Julian Sands would have been interesting. I should note that I have never read Interview with the Vampire all the way through because I can’t get over how different it is from the movie. Maybe one day I will overcome this issue, but for now I remain a philistine. 

Rice is also the master of social media engagement. I don’t know how she has the time to be on Facebook as often as she is, but I think it’s great and I have a lot to learn from her. She’s always been ahead of the curve when it comes to engaging her fans. How many authors sell t-shirts of their brain scans? Such a clever idea – I wish I had one. Sadly, I don’t think they are available anymore. And then there’s the Vampire Lestat Ball and Undead Con; two events I hope to attend someday. How cool would it be to have such an event based on your works? Anne Rice is the master.

What about you? Who do you think is just the greatest? Let me know in the comments! :-D

#ThrowBackThursday: Jeanette

When I was a senior in high school I was hanging out with a crowd that was significantly older than me. Of this group, Jeanette was my favorite. I wrote this poem about her shortly before my senior prom. When I was home last weekend I didn't think to ask about Jeanette. It was quite a whirlwind trip, after all. I hope that wherever she is, she's happy. She was such a beautiful soul.

For this week's #TBT photo, you're just going to have to check out the Facebook page.

Jeanette

Her name's Jeanette

And she's a stripper 

I think I'd trip in her shoes

If I had to walk a mile.

She's a stripper 

And I push heart attacks

Through the window at

The local Dairy Queen.

She's a stripper

While I'm tucked away in bed

My head full of heaven and hell

She's for sale off 207.

She's a stripper 

I'm a walking, talking lie

So you cry anymore

When he compares you to Jezebel?

Are you scared 

When you twist around the pole?

Was your innocence stolen?

Your pride and your shame?

Her name's Jeanette

And she's a stripper

She supports him

Though he doesn't date "her kind."

Her name's Jeanette

And she's a stripper.

I want to save her 

From what I see as a crime.

When her nail polish flakes

And she's dozing off over there, 

The light and the night make her beautiful -

I just can't do anything but stare.