Sep 29, 2008

Knick Knack Patty Wack

Just felt like sharing some under-listened-to lyricism from the man, the myth, the legend...

David Bowie
"Oh You Pretty Things"

Wake up you sleepy head
Put on some clothes, shake up your bed
Put another log on the fire for me
Ive made some breakfast and coffee
Look out my window what do I see
A crack in the sky and a hand reaching down to me
All the nightmares came today
And it looks as though theyre here to stay

What are we coming to
No room for me, no fun for you
I think about a world to come
Where the books were found by the golden ones
Written in pain, written in awe
By a puzzled man who questioned
What we were here for
All the strangers came today
And it looks as though theyre here to stay


Oh you pretty things (oh you pretty things)
Dont you know youre driving your
Mamas and papas insane
Oh you pretty things (oh you pretty things)
Dont you know youre driving your
Mamas and papas insane
Let me make it plain
You gotta make way for the homo superior

Look at your children
See their faces in golden rays
Dont kid yourself they belong to you
Theyre the start of a coming race
The earth is a bitch
Weve finished our news
Homo sapiens have outgrown their use
All the strangers came today
And it looks as though theyre here to stay

Oh you pretty things (oh you pretty things)
Dont you know youre driving your
Mamas and papas insane
Oh you pretty things (oh you pretty things)
Dont you know youre driving your
Mamas and papas insane
Let me make it plain
You gotta make way for the homo superior

Sep 25, 2008

A Ditty, A Diatribe...

When seeking the advice of more experienced writers, their advice is usually the same. "Read a lot. Write a lot." This practice-makes-perfect mentality never seems to sit well with me. Sure, I would love to sit around for hours on end - swimming in the pages of a good novel - drinking in the situations each character is encountering - but who really has the time? (Especially when so many books we pick up these days - disappoint in the area of raising our literary consciousness - most recently for me - The Shack.)

Last year I made a weak attempt at some poetry. The reaction the short works incited from my most trusted confidants was enough to keep it far from being published, even here, where I get to be editor-in-chief.

Once, a friend gave me a phony elixir. The packaging stated "Understand Modern Art Instantly". A novel idea being able to acquire a talent or level of comprehension in such an understated way. This is probably more of a commentary on our social state and our desire for things to be easier than they are, as opposed to commenting on the conundrum that is modernism, but who can blame us?

Speaking of taking short cuts - it seems that we are in for a huge wake up call with the economy troubles that are surfacing. What will we do in light of the imminent financial challenges ahead? Will we procrastinate and hope for some salve to heal our nation? Or will we put our minds to work and become the next Great Generation?


Here's hoping.