cominos

We've had a cold front or two, but now it really feels like winter. Wind is strong enough to blow fallen leaves upward. This time of year was always worse in Bowling Green, though, where there really weren't tall buildings to break the wind. I break wind in my sleep, or so I have been told. What to do about it except incorporate more cumin into my diet?

new stuff

My new chapbook, writing around reason, will be available by the end of next week for $6. Contact me, or find it soon enough at the usual places. I'm doing a book-release reading at the Cafe, 5115 N. Lincoln, on Tuesday the 30th. The day after is my birthday.

I spent the better part of today watching the dedication of the new Clinton Presidential Library. It's always kind of age-inducing to see ex-presidents gather, whether at one of these or at a funeral. Gerald Ford was too ill to attend, saving us any physical pratfalls to accompany the current President's verbal ones. It was cold and raining and Bono and the Edge performed and the ex-presidents blew sunshine up Clinton's keister. It was very phony. Very much like church.

a piece from the new book:



Crazeology


Bird feather, scratch
of old needle.
Cold outside & will get colder through
the week. Echo, snap of Roach’s kit
kicks quintet back into

outro. Charlie Parker always
best when leaves are turning, burned
in rusted

cans to keep warm the
fingerless gloves of Marine Dr. trolls

& my imagination r o l l s

E. from here
to the upper W. Side, Scrapple
From the Apple, an old flame now married

in Brooklyn, when
in Morningside never
heard so true the changing

chords. His horn
dances yet from out

of nowhere, drifting
on a reed. How deep

is the ocean.

damn cool

Kim Deal's voice brings tears to my eyes. I'm a big girl. That's OK.
I went to see the Pixies on Saturday. It was damn cool. We loaded up on beer at home and then walked to the Aragon, where beer is $6 for 10 ounces of crap. The concert was great, though, leaving few stones unturned. Few bands I like better. Frank wore jeans and a v-neck sweater over a button-down shirt, looked like a student teacher.
My ex wants me to help her brother find a job in Chicago. I can't even find myself a job.

to forget the general erection ...

Folks, let me tell you something about the politics of getting elected. Very simply, it comes down to money. When you outraise your opponent, you have a 96 percent chance of winning. This is why some incumbents in congress (like, say, house speaker Dennis Hastert) raise $600,000 to their opponent's $16,000. Very clearly, if the playing field were leveled, the makeup of our allegedly representative government would take on a markedly different look.

This is why democrats in the U.S. need to take a long, hard look at what their party of choice has been doing since the Reagan Years. It's not so much the Republicans having access to more or deeper funding (they don't) as it's the democrats' reluctance (or downright refusal) to acknowledge the relationship between winning the fundrasing game and winning elections. At best, this is evidence they play the game not to lose, as opposed to playing to win. At worse, this is evidence the party is tremendously out of touch with contemporary campaigning.

During the recent presidential election campaign, the democrats spent an inordinate amount of money to conduct decidedly undemocratic activities: blocking Ralph Nader from ballots in several states and spearheading efforts to keep Nader out of the presidential debates. Interestingly enough, the only time John Kerry led in pre-election polls since the conventions, his campaign had the fundraising edge. When the incumbent again pulled ahead of the challenger, the polls reflected this.

So, it wasn't a mandate from the masses. Rather, it was the product of poor campaigning -- more specifically, of poor fundraising.