seeing hostiles

Hostiles Movie Poster.jpg

My father and I are long-time Western fans, starting when I was a kid and we'd go to the drugstore for the latest Western novel by Louis L'Amour. So when my father saw the movie "Hostiles" advertised we immediately made plans to see it.

A workmate saw it and described it as a "thoughtful" Western.

Well, it is definitely that. But also much, much more. The scenery is majestic, great sweeping pans of rugged mountainous terrain and close-ups of rugged and lived-in faces. It starts out with two throat-gripping scenes that trigger the emotional roller-coaster ride that is the movie. (No spoilers here.)

We like our history with clear villains and heroes. The truth of course is much more ambiguous, which this movie captured. I cheered. I cried. The three main stars Christian Bale, Wes Studi and Rosamund Pike gave such all-in performances it was hardly acting. It was being. With an artful human transparency. In the end the resolute human heart prevails. Definitely worth seeing.

hostile (noun): a person or thing that is antagonistic or unfriendly.

mom love

I lost my feisty mother on Black Friday. I can't believe she's gone. She had the end we all wish for. She died in her sleep in my father's arms after spending Thanksgiving with all us kids. She and my daughter were teasing each other back and forth. Remembering travel, vacations, a trip to Key West (which of course my father was "telling all wrong").

The loss is immeasurable, but so is the love left behind.
— Mom's Funeral Card
Dad, Me & Mom at My Wedding

Dad, Me & Mom at My Wedding

What My Mother Knows

I watch my mother get ready to go out.
It's my favorite memory.
Her eyes meet mine in the mirror.
Her eyes are hazel
with blooms of gold around the dark pupils.
Every Friday night she makes space for my father.
She knows that love needs room and time
and a standing date.
She leaves us kids alone but not without
things to do.
She knows that independence needs
instruction.
She considers an array of clothes
in her closet.
She likes to shop.
She knows that the world deserves
the very best version of herself.

She teaches us how to be the very best
versions of ourselves.

reading chemistry

Chemistry_Weike Wang.jpg

I couldn't put this book down. Had it in my reading queue after reading an intriguing review. A very modern novel, although I should try to identify what I mean by modern. (1) The author doesn't *explain* everything. In fact, some of the more important events take place offstage. She is the imperfect filter for her experiences. Her tone is cool, detached almost. Scientific. She's in a relationship. She's not in a relationship. He is the omnipresent "Eric." All the other characters are not named. The best friend. The advisor. (2) The author is having an existential crisis. It's okay to talk about an existential crisis again, especially in the context of ethnicity and feminism. The author deals with both. She is a female scientist. She is Asian American. (3) The principles of chemistry become allegories, become jumping off points for deeper consideration. She g-r-o-w-s in the book. We grow with her. It's a life's work.

church

I find church in poetry. In the squeeze of my grandson's small hand. In my children sharing a joke. In the secret language of partners. And in the steady guidance of my parents. Yesterday morning I found church in church in the music ministry of Kristen Graves who shared music and stories of the work being done by Simply Smiles.

Kristen Graves

Kristen Graves

Support Kristen on Patreon 

this is a thing: typewriter poems

This weekend was the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets Spring Conference. This year it took place in Milwaukee. Our organizer Ed Werstein did an excellent job of introducing the group to the Milwaukee poetry scene, which is exciting and diverse and vibrant.

During Friday evening's reception and Saturday's activities Subtle Forces duo Anja Notanja and Freesia McKee wrote custom poems on old-fashioned typewriters.

Typewriter poems are a thing. The duo and their typewriters have typed for frillions of real customers from the streets of Milwaukee to New Orleans.

Here are two examples:

I requested this poem for my husband Doug who celebrated his birthday this week. The poets have a "form" you complete that asks for your general info in addition to who you want to send the poem to. What kind of poem you'd like. (The choices are Love Letter, Poem, Insult Letter, Letter of Recommendation, Short Story, Letter from a Pet or Other.) You can add other info as desired, including the price you'd like to pay. You can even add a doodle for an extra charge.

La Prosette | Interpreted by Freesia McKee | Milwaukee, 2017

Here's another example from my table-mate at the conference.He asked for a "100 Days" poem.

La Prosette | Interpreted by Anja Notanja Sieger | Milwaukee, 2017

A fun experience. Freesia and Anja clacked away, infecting the conference with creativity! Later they both gave inspired readings as well!

reading sexing the cherry

A book of high imagination and multiple storylines: mother, son, explorer, advocate, murderer. A book of philosophy, humanizing, questions. An expanded allegory maintained with touchstone images. A mother yearning for her son. Her son escaping to the high seas. Not escaping exactly. Called. What he discovers about himself, the world. The brutal mother, oversized, raising her dogs. rescuing the downtrodden. Language like a daydream. "Sexing the cherry" refers to the grafting of plants, combining separate plant parts to create a new, stronger speciman

ARTiculate: passages

The Bay View Arts Guild recently hosted an invitational art + words exhibit at Gallerie M in the Intercontinental on Kilbourne in Milwaukee. I was lucky enough to get in with a collaborative piece Candere. It was a wonderful experience. The organizer Anita Burgermeister talented and organized and inclusive. The opening night was classy and well-attended with time for poets to read. All capped off with a lovely artist and poet brunch at Kil@wat.

al fresco, green bay

We live in Green Bay, a city known far and wide as the "Frozen Tundra." Which means summer is a precious period of time that might start in April or June, depending. Which also means we can be somewhat manic for sunshine, not wanting to go indoors. Ever. We play outdoors. We sleep outdoors. And we especially like to eat outdoors. 

Yet it never fails that when a group of us are looking for a patio or deck to kick back and enjoy the beautiful weather (and maybe an adult beverage or two), we can never think of a place to go. My also-interested co-workers and I decided to fix that, compiling all the restaurants we could think of that offered outdoor seating.

Below, fellow hibernators, is a list of restaurants in the Green Bay area where you can enjoy an appetizer, meal, drink or dessert under the sun or a table umbrella.

Al Fresco, Green Bay!

If anybody knows of others, please provide as a comment, and I'll add to the list. Enjoy!