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November 19, 2006
i wanna write jazz
been watching the ken burns documentary jazz. i've been waiting years to own this film. and finally, it sits on my shelf. i'm very happy...
if you've listened to any of billie holiday's original recordings (and i hope that you have...), then you have heard lester young and his tenor sax...
i remember reading toni morrison's jazz and feeling out of sorts by the end. it was beautiful and difficult--the way that many things are, and i think i remember reading somewhere that morrison was going for that sense of things being unsettled and unbalanced but perfectly in order and in tune at the same time...just like jazz.
lester young died penniless. he was drafted into the army and was not assigned to tours of duty that allowed him to continue with his music...unlike glen miller or artie shaw. after his time in the army, drugs and alcohol became a constant. it was said that he was never the same...
he died in march '59. billie died four months later.
quote of the day
Toni Morrison
Jazz
But there is nothing to beat what the City can make of a nightsky. It can empty itself of surface, and more like the ocean than the ocean itself, go deep, starless. Close up on the tops of buildings, near, nearer than the cap you were wearing, such a citysky presses and retreats, presses and retreats, making me think of the free but illegal love of sweethearts before they are discovered. Looking at it, this nightsky booming over a glittering city, it's possible for me to avoid dreaming of what I know is in the ocean, and the bays and tributaries it feeds: the two-seat aeroplanes, nose down in the muck, pilot and passenger staring at schools of passing bluefish; money, soaked and salty in canvas bags, or waving their edges gently from metal bands made to hold them forever. They are down there, along with yellow flowers that eat water beetles and eggs floating away from thrashing fins; along with the children who made a mistake in the parents they chose; along with slabs of Carrara pried from unfashionable buildings. There are bottles, too, made of glass beautiful enough to rival stars I cannot see above me because the citysky has hidden them. Otherwise, if it wanted to, it could show me stars cut from the lamé gowns of chorus girls, or mirrored in the eyes of sweethearts furtive and happy under the pressure of a deep, touchable sky.
Posted by emnorris at 10:36 PM | Comments (1)
November 12, 2006
as i look back over my life
and i think things over
i can truly say
that i've been blessed
i've got a testimony
...i passed my oral exam.
Posted by emnorris at 02:40 AM | Comments (5)
November 07, 2006
apollo 13, acceptance, aveeno, and apathy
i love this movie...
because it is one of those movies that appeals to my imagination, hope, and faith.
i really believe that we can do better by folks...i mean if we can bring three men back from space, we can make sure that folks have food to eat, health care, safe housing, etc...yeah, i understand how systems of power operate (seems like that's all i talk about and think about here lately): i know about privilege. that shit isn't new to me...
the other nite, i had to listen to some folks, actually one person in particular, ruminate about how acceptance should be enough...how we need to be clear in our language because there are degrees of homophobia...how he needed reassurance that he wasn't homophobic even though he "didn't accept that lifestyle." literally, i could see the disgust on his face when he talked about DL brothers...he just could not understand how a straight-identified man could have sex with another man and not consider himself gay...when i tell y'all he was not feelin social constructions of sexuality, i mean he was not feelin social constructions of sexuality...
i can deal with disagreements and differences of opinion. i'm a rhet/comp scholar after all (not that all rhet/comp scholars can handle ideological conflicts because i have seen some meltdowns...) and if i can't engage in civil discourse, i've been wasting my time, and i need to find another full-time gig. but this cat was so not interested in any dialogue...although he gestured toward conversation by acting like he was listenin to folks but he really wasn't because he was too caught up in his blackberry.
...aveeno is promoting its latest addition--ultra-calming moisturizers...when i saw the commercial, i focused on two words: reduces redness. at that moment, i felt completely excluded from the marketing campaign. do i turn red? yes. does my skin get irritated, especially during those cold, dry winter months? of couse. a co-worker of mine was surprised to learn that my skin was vulnerable to the sun as well. she said: "i didn't know black people get sun-burned." keep in mind that this is also the same person who suggested i dress up as aunt jemima and carry a bottle of syrup to her halloween party.
all of this is connected, no doubt. all of this is connected, unfortunately. all of this is connected, damn...
astronauts in outer space; police sirens every nite; homophobia in the academy; broken glass at the entrance of the playground; us marines killing iraqi civilians; blackface at pee wee football
quote of the day
"When I dare to be powerful - to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid...I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood."
Audre Lorde
Posted by emnorris at 12:33 AM | Comments (1)
November 02, 2006
a shot of southern comfort
watch this documentary.
i'm spending more time thinking about the spring course. at times, the research is hard going. i feel overwhelmed by it all and am trying not to get discouraged or dismayed. but sometimes, i feel like i'm treading water--making figure 8's with my legs, barely keeping my head up.
the other day, i learned about hattie mae cohen, but i haven't been able to find much information about her. she was killed in 1992-the victim of a hate-crime. she was an african-american lesbian and was living with brian mock, a white, gay man who was differently abled. and i'm not even sure how accurate that information is because hattie mae and brian are only mentioned in passing in the few articles i've come across. from what i have gathered, it seems that she moved in with brian after he had been attacked on previous occassions. skin-heads fire-bombed their apartment, and the two died from smoke inhalation.
i'm so frustrated...i checked the school's library: nothing. i can't think of any other key search terms to use on google. i really can't believe i can't find anything.
actually, that's not true. i have found lists of people who were victims of hate crimes. and i don't mean harrassment or name-calling--i mean murder and manslaughter.
i'm just too tired of all this bullshit.
quote of the day
"I resent people who say writers write from experience. Writers don't write from experience, though many are hesitant to admit that they don't. I want to be clear about this. If you wrote from experience, you'd get maybe one book, maybe three poems. Writers write from empathy."
Nikki Giovanni
Posted by emnorris at 12:04 AM | Comments (0)