Shorter Days

So long, summer

Tenth of December

I admit that this is a pretty lazy post, but if you have a spare moment (or definitely more than that), read this.

Cheerleader

The first time I truly heard this song, I was with my friends, careening around central MA in a minivan. This song's associations have grown far beyond that moment, but I'll carry that memory with nostalgia for a long time.

- "Cheerleader" by St. Vincent, from Strange Mercy (2011)

One Sunday Morning

- "One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley's Boyfriend)" by Wilco, from The Whole Love (2011)

Don't You Wonder, Sometimes?

I've been reading a lot recently: Paradise Lost is way jucier than I ever gave it credit for and Life on Mars by Tracy Smith is maybe the best poetry collection I've picked up in a long time.

While I certainly encourage everyone to find a copy and read it right now, I realize that life is happening and that people are busy. Therefore, I share the single poem "Don't You Wonder, Sometimes?" from Life on Mars. The title is from "Sound and Vision" by David Bowie, and this book incorporates tidbits from sources as vast as 2001: A Space Odessey and interviews about the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse.

"Don't You Wonder, Sometimes?"

          1.
After dark, stars glisten like ice, and the distance they span
Hides something elemental. Not God, exactly. More like
Some thin-hipped glittering Bowie-being—a Starman
Or cosmic ace hovering, swaying, aching to make us see.
And what would we do, you and I, if we could know for sure 

That someone was there squinting through the dust,
Saying nothing is lost, that everything lives on waiting only
To be wanted back badly enough? Would you go then,
Even for a few nights, into that other life where you
And that first she loved, blind to the future once, and happy? 

Would I put on my coat and return to the kitchen where my
Mother and father sit waiting, dinner keeping warm on the stove?
Bowie will never die. Nothing will come for him in his sleep
Or charging through his veins. And he’ll never grow old,
Just like the woman you lost, who will always be dark-haired 

And flush-faced, running toward an electronic screen
That clocks the minutes, the miles left to go. Just like the life
In which I’m forever a child looking out my window at the night sky
Thinking one day I’ll touch the world with bare hands
Even if it burns.

          2.
He leaves no tracks. Slips past, quick as a cat. That’s Bowie
For you: the Pope of Pop, coy as Christ. Like a play
Within a play, he’s trademarked twice. The hours 

Plink past like water from a window A/C. We sweat it out,
Teach ourselves to wait. Silently, lazily, collapse happens.
But not for Bowie. He cocks his head, grins that wicked grin. 

Time never stops, but does it end? And how many lives
Before take-off, before we find ourselves
Beyond ourselves, all glam-glow, all twinkle and gold? 

The future isn’t what it used to be. Even Bowie thirsts
For something good and cold. Jets blink across the sky
Like migratory souls.

          3.
Bowie is among us. Right here
In New York City. In a baseball cap
And expensive jeans. Ducking into
A deli. Flashing all those teeth
At the doorman on his way back up.
Or he’s hailing a taxi on Lafayette
As the sky clouds over at dusk.
He’s in no rush. Doesn’t feel
The way you’d think he feels.
Doesn’t strut or gloat. Tells jokes. 

I’ve lived here all these years
And never seen him. Like not knowing
A comet from a shooting star.
But I’ll bet he burns bright,
Dragging a tail of white-hot matter
The way some of us track tissue
Back from the toilet stall. He’s got
The whole world under his foot,
And we are small alongside,
Though there are occasions 

When a man his size can meet
Your eyes for just a blip of time
And send a thought like SHINE
SHINE SHINE SHINE SHINE
Straight to your mind. Bowie,
I want to believe you. Want to feel
Your will like the wind before rain.
The kind everything simply obeys,
Swept up in that hypnotic dance
As if something with the power to do so
Had looked its way and said:
                                                     Go ahead.

- from Life on Mars (2011) by Tracy K. Smith

...And for good measure:

- "Sound and Vision" by David Bowie, from Low (1977)

To Die By Your Side

This is a funny stop-motion short film by Spike Jonze. Reading that sentence back, I realize that it's rather pretentious and "hip," but I'm lazy so I'm leaving it there.

The movie is called "Mourir auprès de toi" ("To Die By Your Side" in English, which I'm sure was a very-intentional nod to The Smiths) and is about a series of literary characters (namely Hamlet, Mina Harker from Dracula, and Moby Dick) who come to life one night in a Paris bookstore. This store, which is a real place called Shakespeare and Company, is apparently pretty famous, though I'd be lying if I said I'd heard of it before watching this. Anyhow, the film itself was animated in 2011 by a designer named Olympia Le-Tan and Leonard Cohen, who can seemingly create just about any form of art exceedingly well.

My favorite part of this whole movie might be the part where Mina punches Moby Dick. My least favorite part, on the other hand, is probably the dialogue, because it sounds hackneyed and unnecessary. Or maybe I just don't like the way Spike Jonze's voice sounds coming from Hamlet's skeleton. I'm not really sure.

Why I Love Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler gave the graduation speech at Harvard (hah, hah) in 2011, and she talked about life and improv. I liked the things she had to say, so here they are. If you are like most people and don't want to actually read or watch this whole thing, my favorite tidbits are in bold, so you can skim like a good college student before returning to your game of League of Legends, or whatever is the currently popular Internet game. (Is it maybe Candy Crush? Is that still a thing? Anyone?)

...All I can tell you today is what I have learned. What I have discovered as a person in this world. And that is this: you can't do it alone. As you navigate through the rest of your life, be open to collaboration. Other people and other people's ideas are often better than your own. Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life. No one is here today because they did it on their own. Okay, maybe Josh, but he's just a straight up weirdo. You're all here today because someone gave you strength. Helped you. Held you in the palm of their hand. God, Allah, Buddha, Gaga.
Whomever you pray to.
They have helped you get here, and that should make you feel less alone. And less scared. Because it has been a scary ten years. You were young children when you watched planes hit the World Trade Center. You quickly understood what it was like to feel out of control. Your formative teenage years were filled with orange alerts and rogue waves and unaccomplished missions. For my generation, it was AIDS. We all grow up afraid of something. Your generation had to get used to taking off your shoes at the airprot. My generation had to get used to awkward PSAs from Boyz2men telling us to use protection. But during those tough times, we realized how wonderful it felt to be part of a group.
But more about me. I moved to Chicago in the early 1990s and I studied improvisation there. I learned some rules that I try to apply still today. Listen, say yes, live in the moment, make sure you play with people who have your back, make big choices early and often. Don't start a scene where two people are talking about jumping out of a plane. Start the scene having already jumped. If you are scared, look into your partner's eyes. You will feel better. This advice has come in handy and it would often be something I would think about when I would perform on Saturday Night Live. Live television can be very nerve-wracking and I remember one time being nervous, looking into the eyes of the host and feeling better. I should point out I was wearing a chicken suit at the time. The host was Donald Trump. He was wearing a bigger, more elaborate chicken suit. I looked into his eyes, I saw that he looked really stupid, and I instantly felt better. See how that works? I should point out that that sketch was written by a Harvard graduate and also a graduate from Northwestern but who cares about that, am I right?
I cannot stress enough that the answer to a lot of your life's questions is often in someone else's face. Try putting your iPhones down every once in a while and look at people's faces. People's faces will tell you amazing things. Like if they are angry or nauseous, or asleep. I have been lucky to be a part of great ensembles. My work with the upright citizens brigade led me to my work on Saturday Night Live, and when I graduated from that comedy college, I was worried about what came next. Then Parks and Recreation came along, a show I am proud of where I get to work with people I love. You never know what is around the corner unless you peek. Hold someone's hand while you do it. You will feel less scared. You can't do this alone. Besides it is much more fun to succeed and fail with other people. You can blame them when things go wrong. Take your risks now. As you grow older, you become more fearful and less flexible. And I mean that literally. I hurt my knee on the treadmill this week and it wasn't even on. Try to keep your mind open to possibilities and your mouth closed on matters that you don't know about. Limit your "always" and your "nevers." Continue to share your heart with people even if its been broken. Don't treat your heart like an action figure wrapped in plastic and never used. And don't try to give me that nerd argument that your heart is a Batman with a limited edition silver battering and therefore if it stays in its original package it increases in value. Watch it Harvard, you're not better than me.
Even though, as a class, you are smart, you are still allowed to say, "I don't know." Just because you are in high demand, you are still allowed to say, "Let me get back to you." This will come in handy when your parents ask when you plan to move out of their basement and you answer, "I don't know. Let me get back to you." Which leads me to my final thought: would it kill you to be nicer to your parents? They have sacrificed so much for you, and all they want you to do is smile and take a picture with your weird cousins. Do that for them. And with less eye-rolling, please. And so, class of 2011, it is time to leave. Oprah has spoken.
So I will end with this quote: Heyah, Heyah, Heyah, Heyah, Heyah, heyah, heyah, heyah, alright alright alright, alright, alright. The group: Outcast; the song: Heyah. The lyrics: nonsense. I'm sorry it was really late when I wrote this.
This is what I want to say. When you feel scared, hold someone's hand and look into their eyes. And when you feel brave, do the same thing. You are all here because you are smart. And you are brave. And if you add kindness and the ability to change a tire, you almost make up the perfect person. I thank you for asking me to speak to you today. As you head out into the world I wish you love and light, joy, and much laughter. And as always, please don't forget to tip your waitresses. Thank you very much.