I am I because

Above are some of my photographs/edits. In order to do the pigment editing, I used a program called befunky.com. When I used it frequently it was free, but unfortunately now only select options are free. I know most of the pictures are of myself--I'm too embarrassed to ask anyone to "model" for me until I'm more proficient with a camera.

The lazy boiling Tucson summer days are getting to me...I just want to sleep all the time. Or watch "River Monsters." I have the itch to fish again because of that show.

I returned "The Naked and the Dead." I'm never proud of giving up a book, but I just could not do it. I borrowed Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" and Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" from David. I'm so excited for these two--I've wanted to read BNW since I was 13, thanks to Jim Morrison ("The Doors of Perception"). I'm about 500 pages into "War and Peace"--I admittedly skim over the battle scenes, but I'm diligent about the rest. I think its essential to read books twice, but given the sheer volume of W&P that will occur only later in my life.

Since I just returned from David's house, it would be appropriate for me to post one of my less serious poems. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not fond of cats, but David's roommate Tom has a cat named Sir Deimos who is lovely. Like all cats, she thinks she's the boss, but she has a great personality.

An Ode to Sir Deimos, Ruler of the Household

The small black cat
toys
with defenseless boxes.

She makes plastic bags
subservient
with one swat.

Her eyes gleam
menacing
when she springs up.

Her tail coils
serpentine
in murderous pleasure.

Her flat face is
unforgiving
and her claws express.

We love her
and she loves us occasionally.

I love animals, especially dogs, and one of my favorite lines is by Gertrude Stein: "I am I because my little dog knows me." Stein is one of the most complex, dense poets of the 20th Century but she. is. fantastic. It would take five or more posts to even begin analyzing her work (I did a rhetorical analysis on her last semester--I know) but I'm going to post a fraction of her poem "Identity A Poem." She uses the little dog line in much of her work, but its most prominent in this poem. This is just a section of it:

PART IV

The question of identity.

A PLAY

I am I because my little dog knows me.
Which is he.
No which is he.
Say it with tears, no which is he.
I am I why.
So there.
I am I where.



Try not to think too much about it. In order to enjoy Stein, you have to let go of some sense. The benefit is in the simplicity.