Month: September 2022

Bottom of the Top #39

John Winkelman

At the start of Autumn, music transcends the boundaries of the senses and the right tune at the right time can taste like apple cider and smell like corn stalks and hay bales. And also the smell of brass instruments and dew on cold autumn mornings as we practiced our marching band routines.

1977: Linda Ronstadt, “Blue Bayou”

Oh my god, this song in her voice. I certainly heard it when it was first released, and regularly for many years thereafter. I probably haven’t heard it for at least a decade, and when I pulled it up in the process of writing this post, I was suddenly, immediately, in my aunt’s house on a small lake in West Michigan, hanging out with Dad and my brother, noodling around in a canoe and catching bluegills. I don’t think I will ever not love “Blue Bayou.”

1982: Willie Nelson, “Let It Be Me”

This is the third week in a row(!) that this song was #40 on the charts.

1987: Bruce Springsteen, “Brilliant Disguise”

Getting a handle on being away from home for an extended period for the first time in my life, trying to sort out who I actually was, and who I could be, as an adult in college and well away from the unpleasantness of the hometown. “Brilliant Disguise” played often on MTV and on the stereos around campus. It’s a good one and I am happy to have been reminded that it exists.

1992: Babyface Featuring Toni Braxton, “Give U My Heart”

This is a repeat from a few weeks back, so please enjoy this live version of “Give U My Heart!”

1997: Coolio featuring 40 Thevz, “C U When U Get There”

I think I heard this one, once upon a time. It would have to have been on MTV and possibly lightly sampled on commercials for Nothing to Lose. I’ve always liked Coolio, and this song is most excellent.

[2022.09.29 UPDATE: Artis Leon Ivey, known to his fans as Coolio, died Wednesday, September 28, in Los Angeles. Rest in power, Mr. Ivey.]

So This is What Fall Feels Like

John Winkelman

New books for the week of September 18, 2022

A few days ago, after weeks of teasing, the first autumnal weather arrived here in West Michigan, heralded by rain and an abrupt drop in humidity which made the inside of my head feel like as gray and chaotic as the skies outside. While there have been summers with hotter specific days, and periods of higher humidity, I don’t remember experiencing, subjectively, such a long-lasting, uncomfortably hot-and-sticky summer as was Summer 2022.

Then again, maybe I am just getting old. I love summer, but I am ready for fall to do its thing.

The only new reading material to arrive in the past week was the latest issue of Boston Review, subtitled “The Politics of Pleasure,” which I anticipate will be a great read.

In reading news, I am concentrating on my pile of Paris Review back issues until that pile is gone. Switching between genre fiction, heavy philosophy, and literary fiction in rapid succession was doing no favors to any of these books. So Paris Review it is until I get to the end. As of today I am near the end of the Fall 2020 issue (#234) and should reach the end in short order.

And in writing news, still not much to report though I have done considerable world-building in my head. I just haven’t yet put it to paper or pixel.

Bottom of the Top #38

John Winkelman

 

1977: Brick, “Dusic”

I’m pretty sure the first time I heard “Dusic” was while compiling this post. It’s, well, funky! And O, that sax. And O, that flute!

1982: Willie Nelson, “Let It Be Me”

This is a repeat from last week, so here is Willie singing “Let It Be Me” with Cheryl Crow.

1987: Go West, “Don’t Look Down – The Sequel”

1992: The Cure, “Friday I’m In Love”

I listened to “Friday I’m in Love” on heavy repeat during a 10-day road trip to Denver and environs in May of 1992, between my fifth and sixth years at GVSU. “Friday I’m in Love” will forever be associated with college.

1997: Mack 10, “Backyard Boogie”

Things Feel Back To Normal, But Are They?

John Winkelman

Newly arrived reading material for the week of September 11, 2022

I don’t know if it is because of collective delusion, or that schools are back in session, or that the zeitgeist is one of collective acceptance/resignation, or simply that I have had a few good nights of sleep this month, but the overall vibe in my life is that things seem to be returning to normal, or at least normalizing around whatever *gestures around at everything* is. Which is to say, at least temporarily, I seem to have found my groove.

Three new books and book-ish things arrived at the house over the past week.

First up is the new issue of The Paris Review, which is likely the last issue I will receive as I continue to let all of my current subscriptions lapse.

Next up are two books from Two Lines Press. The first is Visible, an anthology of poetry and prose in translation, accompanied by some beautiful photographs and artwork. The second is Days Come and Go, written by Cameroon author Hemley Boum and translated from the French by Nchanji Njamnsi.

In reading news, I finished Shadows of Ivory by T L Greylook and Bryce O’Connor. It was good! I gave it 4 stars on the usual sites, though I though it more worthy of 3.5 stars, but when in the middle, always round up. Now I can hold my head up when next I encounter one of the authors and request a signature.

Following up that 400+ page doorstopper of a book, I started and finished the 130-page-long The Convent of the Pure by Sara M. Harvey. I received this a while back as part of my subscription to the catalog of Apex Book Company. It was a light but fun fantasy read. In fact, I finished it in a little over a day of reading, and then read the entirety of its sequel The Labyrinth of the Dead in a single day.

Now I am reading Abahn Sabana David, written by Marguerite Duras, and translated from the French by Kazim Ali. I received this book several years ago as part of my since-lapsed subscription to Open Letter Books. Though only a few pages in already it reminds me of Waiting for Godot, which makes sense as the cover blurb specifically calls out Samuel Beckett.

And my pile of unread issues of The Paris Review is down to the single digits, which means, unless things go sideways over the next two months, I will definitely finish the stack before the end of the year.

In writing news, I have started worldbuilding for two stories I wrote a while back, each of which will work better as full-length books. Each is in its own world and therefore I have two folders created and two sets of characters, histories, maps, names, descriptions, etc.

Bottom of the Top #37

John Winkelman

Well into September now, typically adjusting to the abrupt change in location, schedule, and possibly job, depending on the year.

1977: The Alan Parsons Project, “I Wouldn’t Want to Be Like You”

Since I was in third grade in this week of 1977 I am pretty sure that, if I heard this song, it was while visiting someone with more modern tastes in music than my parents. Therefore the first time I heard it where it stuck would likely have been in high school when I was listening to a rock station. when listening to this one I feel a faint deja vu for cold weather and apple cider.

1982: Willie Nelson, “Let It Be Me”

I would certainly have heard “Let it Be Me” when was released, given the realities and culture of living in rural Michigan in the early 1980s. I’ve always liked Willie Nelson, and this tune is just beautiful.

1987: Michael Jackson, “Bad”

I remember seeing this video (long version here) on MTV in the public lounge of third-floor Copeland at GVSC. A lot. I also remember several football player types and some of the more redneck-ey students bristling at the idea of Michael Jackson flexing. Like, they felt threatened by MJ being bad. The reaction was amusing back then, and the memory is hilarious now. I really like “Bad” but I have heard the Weird Al Yankovic parody a whole lot more than I have heard the original.

1992: Celine Dion, “If You Asked Me To”

Ah, Celine Dion in the nineties. All over MTV back in the day, so undoubtedly that is where I first heard Dion’s version of “If You Asked Me To.”  I am much more familiar with Patti LaBelle‘s version from 1989, which was on the soundtrack of License to Kill. Of the two, I much prefer LaBelle’s version.

1997: Hanson, “Mmmbop”

Despite its overwhelming popularity at the time, I don’t think I heard it until years later, as during the late nineties I was listening to The Pogues and Tom Waits. Having now heard it, “Mmmbop” is light and fun and kind of forgettable. So maybe I did hear it when it was first released.

The Long Tail of Summer

John Winkelman

Praying Mantis on Rose Bush

The evenings in the past week have been much cooler, and therefore more conducive to sleeping. My schedule, however, has been exceptionally full, so while the quality of my sleeping hours has improved, the quantity has not. Thus I am in an odd limbo state where, because I am finally sleeping deeply for the first time in months, the transition from being asleep to being awake (usually precipitated by a small orange cat laying down on me and purring in my ear) is more jarring than it would be with the previous insomnia.

And also I continually feel slightly stoned.

Since no new reading material arrived in the past week, here is a photo of a praying mantis lurking in our back yard.

In reading news, I just started Shadows of Ivory by T.L. Greylock and Bryce O’Conner. I picked this one up just before ConFusion this year, in the hopes that I could get it signed by Greylock. Alas, she did not attend, but that gave me the chance to actually read the book before getting it signed, which is the polite way to go about it.

I am well on my way to finishing my stack of back issues of The Paris Review, having just opened the Spring 2020 issue. About ten more to go!

And in writing news, still not much going on. I only have so much space in my brain, and am currently operating at maximum capacity.

IWSG, September 2022: The Worst Genre (for me to write in)

John Winkelman

So here we are at the end of the first week of September and my writing continues to be mostly journaling and the occasional edit of an old poem. Whereas in 2020 and 2021 I had time to write, but no energy, here in 2022 I have the energy, but no time. Al of the things we couldn’t do in the previous two years – all of the socializing, visiting, vacationing, partying, monstering, family events, etc., which were blocked by COVID restrictions and common sense, are no longer blocked by COVID restrictions. Every week there are more opportunities to meet with other human beings, face to face.

To sum up, this has been an exhausting summer.

On a lighter note, today is the first Wednesday of September, and that means it’s blog hop time! This month’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group question is:

What genre would be the worst one for you to tackle and why?

Short answer: Inspirational fiction.

Long answer:

Back in the 1990s I worked at a local independent bookstore. We had an excellent selection of books, though as with all brick-and-mortar stores, we had limited shelf space. Thus is was that philosophy, religious texts, and inspirational literature were all shelved in the same area of the store.

This being West Michigan, the inspirational literature, which was 100% Christian, took up more shelf space than religion and philosophy combined. And oh, the titles we carried. And oh, the customers who bought them.

What were the books like? Without going into too much egregious detail, Tim LaHaye’s Left Behind novels were among the best of them. While most weren’t as gleefully sadistic toward non-Christians as were LaHaye’s books, they were all tiresome, predictable, and not at all challenging to the reader. The very best of them (which, again, weren’t very good) invited the reader to a sort of self-reflection, as long as that self-reflection guided the reader to the Great Attractor of whichever sect of Christianity the author belonged. And invariably, more conservative, the better.

At the risk of looking like I am lumping every book in the genre of inspirational fiction into an undifferentiated mass, I agree that, for the purposes of this unapologetically subjective post, this is indeed the case. I allow that I am definitely not part of the target audience, so there may be nuances in the outer fringes of the genre which I have not encountered.

With that groundwork, what follows is the reason why I should not write in the Inspirational Literature genre.

I have had a running joke that for me, writing literary fiction is a doomed endeavor because at some point, despite my best efforts, Cthulhu shows up. When the Great Old Ones are concerned, the stories all end in madness, nihilism, and the inevitable destruction of the world and all the works of mankind. This opens the possibility that the books I might write would be mistaken for Christian-based inspirational literature, a la LaHaye. Just with, you know, the awakening of Cthulhu swapped in for the End Times/Second Coming. And at that point, really, what’s the difference?

However: Were I to write some inspirational fiction, and allowing for the inevitable drift in my writing into the cyclopean and squamous, I would keep the scope small and intimate, and focus specifically on people in the myriad out-groups who invariably bear the brunt of the decisions of those in the in-group. The world has never not been apocalyptic for one group or another, and the most inspirational stories are those which uplift the downtrodden without requiring them to either lick or don their oppressor’s boots.

(And yes, I know that not all inspirational literature involves the Apocalypse. Just the most popular works of the genre.)

(And lest ye comment that the Left Behind series is not “inspirational”, I invite you to take a good hard look at the messaging therein, and the target audience thereof.)

(Come to think of it, maybe LaHay’s books are more expirational than inspirational.)

Anyway, thanks for reading! This was a fun post.

 

Insecure Writer's Support Group BadgeThe Insecure Writer’s Support Group
is a community dedicated to encouraging
and supporting insecure writers
in all phases of their careers.

Bottom of the Top #36

John Winkelman

Well and truly into September. Days are getting shorter but not yet shorter than the nights. The last few weeks of summer weather tempered by cooler nights which means sleeping is more comfortable but waking times are earlier because of SCHOOL.

1977: Ronnie McDowell, “The King is Gone”

First week of September 1977 I would just have been starting third grade in Parma. This would also have been the beginning of the last school year there, as we moved to the farm in Springport in summer 1979. I have no memory of this song. Then again McDowell sounds so much like Elvis (or would have, to eight-year-old me) that I likely wouldn’t have known the difference. I imagine this was a popular song for its time, but having heard it now, I don’t like it.

1982: Juice Newton, “Break It To Me Gently”

As a kid I had a serious crush on Juice Newton, thanks to “Angel of the Morning” and “Queen of Hearts.” This week in 1982 I was just starting eighth grade, and probably overwhelmed with being 13 years old. So the merest hint of Newton’s voice would have put me in a hormonal fugue state of dissociation from the mundane realm. We’ve all been there at some point.

1987: Bryan Adams, “Victim of Love”

Bryan Adams was HUGE in the late eighties, so I night have heard “Victim of Love” at some point, though I have no specific memory of it. The video is familiar, though, so it was probably playing on a TV somewhere on Grand Valley’s campus.

1992: Mary J. Blige, “You Remind Me”

I think this is a first listen for me. Neither the song nor the video strike any nostalgic chords, though the style is familiar, in the manner of early 1990s videos. I would have been at the beginning of my last year of college when this song charted.

1997: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, “Look Into My Eyes”

Another first-listen for me here. The harmony on the chorus feels familiar but reminds me of another song which I can’t place right now.

September Morn

John Winkelman

Poe, and E.D.E Bell's book Night Ivy

Woke up a couple of days ago and BAM! It was September. Downtown is full of students, and for the first time in over two years, Grand Rapids feels like a city. At least, as much as it ever did.

Only one new book arrived in the past week, the limited-edition hardcover Kickstarter version of E.D.E. Bell‘s Night Ivy.

In reading news, I am almost through 2019 in my back issues of The Paris Review, which means I am still on track to finish the lot of them by the end of November.

In writing news, the August Poetry and Pie event this past Tuesday provided a big boost of inspiration and I feel like I might be ready to tackle some writing projects again. This was the largest gathering we have had since I started attending back in March. And the sound system was not available, so we gathered in the back room of The Sparrows around a large table and just read poetry at each other. It was great, though brief. I could have happily stayed for another couple of hours.

August 2022 Reading List

John Winkelman

What I read in August 2022

Things were kind of slow in August, reading-wise, due to a surge in burnout at the beginning of the month, and other assorted drains on my energy and attention span. I did make it through a few more issues of The Paris Review, and some interesting genre fiction as well.

Book and Journals

  1. Jennifer Pelland, Unwelcome Bodies [2022.08.02]
  2. The Paris Review #225 [2022.08.10]
  3. J.M. McDermott, Maze [2022.08.12]
  4. The Paris Review #226 [2022.08.18]
  5. The Paris Review #227 [2022.08.23]
  6. The Paris Review #228 [2022.08.28]
  7. Poetry Magazine #220.5 [2022.08.29]
  8. The Paris Review #229 [2022.08.31]

Short Prose

  1. Jennifer Pelland, “For the Plague Thereof Was Exceedingly Great”, Unwelcome Bodies [2022.08.01]
  2. Jennifer Pelland, “Big Sister/Little Sister”, Unwelcome Bodies [2022.08.01]
  3. Jennifer Pelland, “Immortal Sin”, Unwelcome Bodies [2022.08.01]
  4. Jennifer Pelland, “Flood”, Unwelcome Bodies [2022.08.01]
  5. Jennifer Pelland, “The Call”, Unwelcome Bodies [2022.08.01]
  6. Jennifer Pelland, “Captive Girl”, Unwelcome Bodies [2022.08.01]
  7. Jennifer Pelland, “Last Bus”, Unwelcome Bodies [2022.08.01]
  8. Jennifer Pelland, “The Last Stand of the Elephant Man”, Unwelcome Bodies [2022.08.01]
  9. Jennifer Pelland, “Songs of Lament”, Unwelcome Bodies [2022.08.02]
  10. Jennifer Pelland, “Firebird”, Unwelcome Bodies [2022.08.02]
  11. Jennifer Pelland, “Brushstrokes”, Unwelcome Bodies [2022.08.02]
  12. Wayétu Moore, “Gbessa”, The Paris Review #225 [2022.08.02]
  13. Ben Marcus, “Notes from the Fog”, The Paris Review #225 [2022.08.02]
  14. Katharine Kilalea, “OK, Mr. Field Part 3 (Winter)”, The Paris Review #225 [2022.08.08]
  15. Shruti Swamy, “A House Is a Body”, The Paris Review #225 [2022.08.09]
  16. Benjamin Nugent, “Safe Spaces”, The Paris Review #225 [2022.08.09]
  17. Ursula K. Le Guin, “Firelight”, The Paris Review #225 [2022.08.10]
  18. Rachel Khong, “The Freshening”, The Paris Review #226 [2022.08.11]
  19. Mitchell S. Jackson, “Exodus”, The Paris Review #226 [2022.08.13]
  20. Nell Freudenberger, “Rabbits”, The Paris Review #226 [2022.08.15]
  21. Diane Williams, “O Fortuna, Velut Luna”, The Paris Review #226 [2022.08.17]
  22. Venita Blackburn, “Fam”, The Paris Review #226 [2022.08.18]
  23. Pilar Fraile Amador (Heather D. Davis, translator), “Partners”, The Paris Review #226 [2022.08.18]
  24. Mary Miller, “Festival”, The Paris Review #226 [2022.08.18]
  25. Lincoln Michel, “A Feeling Artist”, The Paris Review #227 [2022.08.19]
  26. Leslie Jamison, “I Met Fear on the Hill”, The Paris Review #227 [2022.08.19]
  27. Ludmilla Petrushevskaya (Anna Friedrich, translator), “Two Sisters”, The Paris Review #227 [2022.08.22]
  28. Hernan Diaz, “The Stay”, The Paris Review #227 [2022.08.22]
  29. Kelli Jo Ford, “Hybrid Vigor”, The Paris Review #227 [2022.08.23]
  30. Peter Orner, “Ineffectual Tribute to Len”, The Paris Review #228 [2022.08.24]
  31. Isaac Bashevis Singer, “The Murderer”, The Paris Review #228 [2022.08.24]
  32. Kate Zambreno, “Four Stories”, The Paris Review #228 [2022.08.27]
  33. J. Jezewska Stevens, “Honeymoon”, The Paris Review #228 [2022.08.27]
  34. Hebe Uhart, “Coordination”, The Paris Review #228 [2022.08.27]
  35. Souvankham Thammavongsa, “The Gas Station”, The Paris Review #228 [2022.08.28]
  36. Nick Fuller Googins, “The Doors”, The Paris Review #228 [2022.08.28]
  37. Jonathan Escoffery, “Under the Ackee Tree”, The Paris Review #229 [2022.08.30]
  38. Kimberly King Parsons, “Foxes”, The Paris Review #229 [2022.08.30]
  39. Laura van den Berg, “Karolina”, The Paris Review #229 [2022.08.30]
  40. Lydia Davis, “Revising One Sentence”, The Paris Review #229 [2022.08.30]