Sunday, December 24, 2006

This one's for you Sheryl

Never thought I'd be much interested in the whole blog phenom. Strikes me as publicizing a diary. On the other hand, how many opportunities are there for the common man to speak their piece? On the other hand, there's so many people who think they have something to say but all they're doing is generating narcissistic drivel. On the other hand, history is made of collecting narcissistic drivel and seeing what we can learn from it. The big difference is some write more beautifully than others, and with a more greatly expanded point of view. It takes some people generations to be heard. (Herman Melville was never renowned in his time.) I actually think slow cooking works as well for ideas as for food. Of course then you have to wait longer to eat.

This blog thing-- that immediacy of audience I think really does effect the slant on your writing. On the other hand, it does require you to be especially aware of what you have to say and how you want to say it.

The only bottom line I can find on the above particular piece of drivel is that we're all trying to figure out how not to look like a fool. Well, there's more to it than that, but that's my conclusion for the moment, unless I want to continue finding reasons to say "on the other hand."

Anyway, this blog is for Sheryl, whose passion to be heard has made her a marvelous, though underrated, poet. I think of her as a Chicana Hermen Meliville. Underappreciated in her time, but I believe hers is the work that will sing down through the generations, while others who consider themselves great in the today of things become tucked away in a Wikipedia definition 7th graders happen upon when assigned to write bios about obscure writers from the turn of the 20th Century.

Well Sheryl, now I have a place to post my undigested narcissism (which by the way is a hard word to type) and hope that it makes a connection in the out there. And if it doesn't... what the heck. I'm in the game.

2 comments:

Sheryl said...

Oh Wow! Thank you for your kind words Carmen! I'm glad to see you in blog world!

I'll link to your site soon!

Carmen (La Maestra) said...

Looking forward to being linked. Teach me how.