Representative of a few of my favorite painters

This entry is the result of me casually surfing the Internet. I couldn't find the paintings for Yeats and Benton that I really like (There is no night and Politics, Farming and Law in Missouri, respectively). If I do manage to come across them some day, I'll be sure to post them for your viewing pleasure.

Pablo Picasso, Guernica, 1937

Jack B. Yeats, The Singing Horseman, 1949

Thomas Hart Benton, The Ballad of the Jealous Lover, 1934

Jackson Pollock, Number 8, 1949 (detail)

Tony D'Souza Reading

Yesterday evening, at the Alliance Francaise de Chicago, RPCV Tony D'Souza read from his recently published debut novel, Whiteman, which is closely connected to his Peace Corps experience in Cote d'Ivoire from 2000 to 2002, though still a work of fiction.

What I think I enjoyed most were not the two passages he read from Whiteman, though they were very good. As usual, I was much more interested in what he had to say about his Peace Corps experience and the way he responded to questions. He's a good story teller, which I suppose you might expect from a writer. But not all writers are good oral story tellers. Often, rather than answer a question with an opinion or generalization, he would pull from his head a very specific moment from, in this case, his life as a volunteer. And this was so much more interesting.

He started by pre-emptively answering a question he's frequently asked. "Are you nervous to have to speak in front of so many people when you give readings?" "No. Now I'll explain why. In Cote d'Ivoire I was there to try and educate people about HIV/AIDS. Before speaking to the children in a village, I had to get the permission of the village's chief, and there are a whole host of social loops that you need to go through in order to that. When I did finally speak with him, out of respect, I would not look directly at him. Then, when I spoke to groups of children, there were often three or four hundred of them. We would all gather together and I would speak to them about sex. During every presentation, at some point, from my things, I would take out a wooden penis. Then I'd take out a condom and role it down the wooden penis. (pause) At readings? No, I'm not nervous."

Later, a woman asked whether or not missionaries were still working in Cote d'Ivoire; they had been when she was there over forty years ago. His answer was not "yes." He told of how he had known of some Christian missionaries working in a Muslim part of the country. They lived in the largest house in town. In the over twenty years this missionary couple had lived in Cote d'Ivoire, they had converted two muslims to Christianity, and one of these had made the switch in order to get an education. One day, Tony was invited over for lunch. Muslims are forbidden to eat pork.
"So," Tony asked, "do you know what was being served for lunch? (pause) Ham. (pause) I don't like to talk about missionaries."

In general, I was just really impressed at his ability to talk about his experience and to put me there in his village; to make me care about a place I have never seen. He also emphasized how each and every volunteer's experience is completely unique and unlike no one else's.

That said, here's a joke:

Queston: "How many Peace Corps Africa volunteers does it take to change a lightbulb?"

Answer: (very emotionally and defensively) "YOU DON'T KNOW!! YOU WEREN'T THERE!!!"

Tony D'Souza's Peace Corps service in Cote d'Ivoire ended abruptly with the start of a civil war. I asked him after the reading if he'd ever had the chance to say goodbye to the people and friends in his village. The answer is" no." He's been home for three years and has never received one word or been able to send one word there, mainly because his village lies deep in resistance territory where there is no postal service.

That's difficult to imagine.

You heard it hear first...

Life is All About Ass

your'e either covering it,
laughing it off,
kicking it,
kissing it,
busting it,
trying to get a piece of it,
behaving like one,
Or you live with one!

I found this, among other things, above the sink in Katie's kitchen when I first moved in.

6/21/2006
It's late and I probably shouldn't be writing this now, but it ocurred to me that I should explain some of the expressions Americans have incorporating the word "ass".

First of all, an ass can be defined literally as either a mule or a person's behind (bottom, butt, rump, etc.). In all of the following expressions, "ass" refers to a person's behind.

1) "to cover your ass" = to look out for your own interests and avoid getting into trouble
2) "to laugh your ass off" = to laugh long and hard about something
3) "to kick ass" = to do really well at something ("kick ass on an exam"), or to beat someone at something ("kick someone's ass at football"), or to actually beat them up ("kick someone's ass")
4) "to kiss ass" = to be overly helpful and polite with someone in an attempt to gain favor with them ("kiss the teacher's ass")
5) "to bust your ass" = to work really hard at something in order to do well
6) "to try to get a piece of ass" = to try to sleep with someone
7)"to behave like an ass" OR "to be an ass" = to be or behave like a jerk. Someone characterized as being an ass is probably being insensitive, ignorant, and/or intentionally hurtful. Don't be an ass!

Лиза Ромашка!!

С Днем Рождения!!

Сегодня родилась замечательная девушка!
Лиза, от всей души поздравляю тебя с Днем Рождения!
Всего тебе самого наилучшего да побольше!
Счастья, здоровья, исполнения всех желаний!
И чтобы рядом всегда были милые твоему сердцу люди!

Я был рад читать, что ты получила мою открытку. К сожалению, нет, еще не получил твое письмо. Но помни, что я читал ваши желания мне два месяца после моего дня рождения. Желаю, чтобы на занятиях сегодня было легко и особенно весело.

Remembering Chernobyl 20 years later

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, about 80 miles north of Kyiv. As I was driving in the car today, I was listening to NPR. Apparently, when President Yushchenko spoke today at a memorial service commemorating the disaster, he urged us not to dwell so much in the past and not to remember Chernobyl so much as a symbol of past tragedy; we should try to remember it also as a symbol of hope for the future.

Words by Wendell Berry

The most alarming sign of the state of our society now is that our leaders have the courage to sacrifice the lives of young people in war but have not the courage to tell us that we need to be less greedy and less wasteful.

~~~

History simply affords too little evidence that anyone's individual protest is of any use. Protest that endures, I think, is moved by a hope far more modest than that of public success: namely, the hope of preserving qualities in one's own heart and spirit that would be destroyed by acquiescence.

~~~

There is a world of difference between the person who, believing that there is no use [in protest], says so to himself or to no one, and the person who says it aloud to someone else.

~~~

It was no thought or word that called culture into being, but a tool or weapon. After the stone axe we needed song and story to remember innocence, to record effect--and so to describe the limits, to say what can be done without damage.

The use only of our bodies for work or love or pleasure, or even for combat, sets us
free again in the wilderness, and we exult.

But a man with a machine and inadequate culture...is a pestilence. He shakes more than he can hold.

Hayden Carruth's "On Being Asked to Write a Poem Against the War in Vietnam"

Well I have in fact

more than one and I'll
tell you this too

I wrote one against
Algeria that nightmare
and another against

Korea and another
against the one
I was in

and I don't remember
how many against
the three

when I was a boy
Abyssinia Spain and
Harlan County

and not one
breath was restored
to one

shattered throat
mans womans or childs
not one not

one
but death went on and on
never looking aside

except now and then like a child
with a furtive half-smile
to make sure I was noticing.

Я иду на концерт Sigur Ros!!

That's right, I was (seemingly) wasting time on the Internet and decided to visit my dearest Icelandic band's website. There, I was astonished to learn that Sigur Ros are making a stop in Chicago on their current tour, something I wasn't even aware of. Sigur Ros released their latest album back in the Fall of 2005. At the time, I was living in Krasnograd and didn't have access to a store that would be selling the CD. I also didn't have the patience, or realy want to spend the money, to have amazon.com ship a package to me from the States. I mentioned my frustrations to my friend Dima while walking home one night from the computer club. Dima's response was, "Why don't I just look for it; maybe I can download it from someone else." To make a long story short, several days later, Dima gifted me with a beautifully burned copy of Takk.

To date, I've had the great fortune of seeing these guys play twice, first in Chicago (fall 2002), then in Cleveland (spring 2003). I could have seen them probably a third time, but was silly enough to figure that it was more important for me to write a review of a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet (name escapes me) than see Sigur Ros play less than a week after having just heard them in Ohio. Looking back, I realize that I would have had a much better time at the concert in Loiusville, even if it had been the exact same performance. It was an awesome performance!

So, May 9th, at 7:30pm will be my third concert. They're playing at the Civic Opera House; not a bad way to introduce myself to that venue. My friend, Ryan, was generous enough to agree to come with me. One thing I love about Sigur Ros, is that they seem to have had me in mind when they went about deciding how to have a concert. I'm not terribly fond of dancing and acting up and pretending to be insane, so it was a great relief to me that being at a Sigur Ros concert is a bit like being at a recital, just a tad louder.

By the way, if anyone wants to listen to some of their music, watch a video, or even watch a 134-minute concert, you can do so at www.sigur-ros.co.uk The "glosoli" video is really good. I actually liked the song even more after watching the video.

Христос воскрес!

Воистину воскрес!


Представляю Вас
с праздником
светлого воскресения!

Кто хочет такую?

Сегодня друг рассказал мне о том, как она сидела в метро, видела, что рядом женщина, которая читает книгу. Книга называется «A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian» («Короткая история тракторов на украинском языке»). Она считала (и правильно), что это не история, а роман, так как название было написано по-английсски. Я искал книгу по Интернету и нашёл её на сайте, где я часто заказываю книги. Там тоже прадaют одежду. Вот какие футболки я видел.

1. Половина моего сердца на Украине
2. Если бы я не был украинец, я заплатил бы, чтобы стать таким

By Far My Most Optimistic Horoscope

from The Onion (6-12 April 2006)

Aquarius: (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
New and exciting experiences help to color one's life, which explains why yours is an insipid shade of cement grey.

Привет из Чикага!!

Ну, две недели назад я приехал в Чикаго жив и здоров, и с тех пор живу у друга, Кати. Я адаптируюсь к жизни, где сплю на диване и днём сижу дома с двумя собаками. Их зовут Дэйзи и Серендипити, но мы зовём вторую собаку Дип для краткости. Вообще не трудно жить с ними. Они хорошо проводят себя и большенство времени сидят на диванах. Кстати, в прошлым наделе мне сообщили, что русский район в Чикаго находится, более или менее, на улице «Дэвон». Однако это название (Devon) произносится по-английсски точно как русское слово «диван». Значит, в среду, когда я говорил по-русски с одном человеком в кафе, я пошутил: неужели русский район на диване?

На счёт работы, к сожолению, у меня нет новости, по крайей мере не такой новости как то, о которой я хотел бы Вам рассказывать. Я могу Вам сказать, что я на правильным путе. Пока у меня временая работа с оргинизацией, которая ищит работу для людей, и человек может работать некоторое время на месте другого человека, который, на пример, заболел. Кроче говоря, начинается с понедельника, я стану работать в музеи Филдз, музей истории. Там нужны многие люди работать потому, что скоро будет там особенная выставка Тутинкомина. Знают, что много народу посетит.

Лучше новости то, что, тоже в прошлым наделе, я нашёл по Интернету групу в Чикаго для людей, которые говорят по-русски. В среду я ходил в кафе и познакомился с тремя людми. Один из их (Димитри) родился в Белоруссии. Он жил уже несколько лет в США, занимался в университете здесь. Пока он ищит работу по маркетингу и просит у государства политического убежищя. Два остальные были молодые девушки, американки. Было мне очень приятно говорить по-русски. Честно говоря, я чувствовал себя, как будте я две недели затаивал дыхание и в конце концов меня разрешили дыхать.

Одна их этих девушок предлогала мне посетить сайт на Интернете. Я посетил туда, нашёл некоторые свободные места в некоммерческим организациях. Завтра или в понедельник я пошлу им своё резюме. Желайте, пожалуйста, мне удачи!