Monthly Archives: July 2010

Tarzan, or an American Cinquain (cinquain)

Posted on July 31, 2010 by Andrew Shattuck McBride

OK, I’ll get to Tarzan in a moment! An American Cinquain – invented by Adelaide Crapsey – is a short poem of 5 lines with a syllabic pattern of 2-4-6-8-2. [Source: 2010 Poet’s Market listing for Amaze: The Cinquain Journal, p. … Continue reading →

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The Quotidian, July 31, 2010 ~ Justice

Posted on July 31, 2010 by Andrew Shattuck McBride

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” and: “Environmental justice for all is civil rights in the 21st century.” – Majora Carter (born October 27, 1966) (both quotes are from Carter). Majora Carter is a visionary. She is the … Continue reading →

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Landscapes: The Writings of Rebecca Solnit

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Andrew Shattuck McBride

Rebecca Solnit (born 1961) is an author, cultural historian, and activist. Her work is penetrating, insightful, and illuminating. I believe that Solnit is one of the essential writers of our time. Elsewhere, I have discussed her book Hope in a Dark … Continue reading →

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The Quotidian, July 30, 2010 ~ Hope as an Act of Defiance

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Andrew Shattuck McBride

“I believe in hope as an act of defiance, or rather as the foundation for an ongoing series of acts of defiance, those acts necessary to bring about some of what we hope for and to live by principle in … Continue reading →

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The Names of Things (non fiction excerpt)

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Andrew Shattuck McBride

The United States Navy is “The Navy” or “The Nav.”  A Sailor is a Sailor (with the 1st letter capitalized). A Sailor is also a “squid.” It’s an older term or insult, and one which never bothered me. Back in … Continue reading →

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The Quotidian, July 29, 2010 ~ War as a Failure of Imagination

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Andrew Shattuck McBride

“War comes at the end of the twentieth century as absolute failure of imagination, scientific and political. That a war can be represented as helping a people to ‘feel good’ about themselves, their country, is a measure of that failure.” … Continue reading →

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Poets and the American Presidency

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Andrew Shattuck McBride

I’m pleased to write that we have a published poet in the White House. At age 19, Barack Obama had two of his poems published in Feast, a student newspaper at Occidental College. I learned this recently from National Public Radio … Continue reading →

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The Quotidian, July 28, 2010 ~ Reclaiming History

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Andrew Shattuck McBride

“Nothing that has ever happened should be regarded as lost for history.” – Walter Benjamin (July 15, 1892 to September 27, 1940). [Quoted by Rebecca Solnit in the frontspiece of Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities (2004)]. Yesterday I read … Continue reading →

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Steve Duno and Lou the Super Dog

Posted on July 27, 2010 by Andrew Shattuck McBride

Recently (July 22nd) I attended a reading by Steve Duno at Village Books here in Bellingham for his new memoir, Last Dog on the Hill: The Extraordinary Life of Lou (2010). Steve Duno is an animal behaviorist and a very busy … Continue reading →

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Peace Prayer

Posted on July 27, 2010 by Andrew Shattuck McBride

Please help me be at peace so that I may work for peace on behalf of all peoples.  May all peoples resume their original dreams, dream new dreams, and may all peoples recognize these dreams as subdreams of our Earth. Who am I … Continue reading →

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