Currently reading...

Right now I'm in the middle of reading Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. It's actually--and I do not say this lightly--better than Cinder. Some of you might remember that I wasn't the biggest fan, but some of you should know, I've met Marissa Meyer (yeah I'm name dropping) and she's a lovely woman.

When asked how she came up with the concept for Cinder she had an interesting response. I might be misquoting her:

"I came up with the idea for Cinder by writing Sailor Moon fan fiction. I entered a fan fiction  contest and the rules were that I had to pick two themes. I had to pick a fairy tale and a setting. So I picked Puss and Boots and space. It turns out only two people entered the contest... and I didn't win."

I think the Red Riding Hood mythos is more appealing than some girl losing a shoe, anyways. (Anyone remember Freeway with Reese Witherspoon? Absolutely terrified me as a kid).

I'm also on a Jack Spicer kick again and rereading--okay, thumbing through--My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer. Here's an excerpt:

Any fool can get into an ocean
But it takes a Goddess
To get out of one.
What’s true of oceans is true, of course,
Of labyrinths and poems. When you start swimming
Through riptide of rhythms and the metaphor’s seaweed

This is kind of like an "Oh no he didn't" poem. Anyone can write a poem, but it takes a poet to get out of it. At first glance the entire poem is light-hearted and jokey. But something about the last two lines of it always strike me as, for lack of a better word, poetic:

What’s true of labyrinths is true of course
Of love and memory. When you start remembering.

Poetry is suppose to be these little moments of thought, emotion, and sensory perception all at once. Poems are written for memories or from memories. I've always thought these last two lines were Jack saying "You know what, I'm a poet, but I'll be damned if it isn't depressing."

So yeah, oh no he didn't.

Jack Spicer died in 1965, a result of alcoholism. (It seems all great poets and musicians have about the same life span).

Full poem.

I've also been catching up on the World of Alcohol, but not really drinking it. I mean, unless it's Samuel Smith, which happens to be very delicious.

Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Other Alcoholic Beverages

BUT FOR YOU LAUREN OLIVER FANS:

. 

Which, you know, I watched How Beer Saved the World on Netflix recently and the entire subject fascinates me.

That's about it for this week.