Comments for Upper Left Edge

Comment on My Ballot Choices for May 21 Special Election by Watt Childress

Watt Childress — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:22:37 +0000

I recommend Kevin Widener for Position 2 at the Sunset Empire Transportation District. He’s a detail person who relies on public transportation.

Comment on The Confessional by Kathryn

Kathryn — Sun, 19 May 2013 05:32:00 +0000

I’m glad you defined that, because I definitely thought of “Pretty Good Privacy” (encryption software) instead of politics!

Comment on The Upper Right Edge by Kathryn

Kathryn — Sun, 19 May 2013 04:41:52 +0000

I thought about Japanese and Chinese because of course it’s not just Arabic that’s right-to-left; however, as I was writing the piece it kind of evolved into its final form about the Middle East and discrimination.

I agree with you on the terrorist thing. The definition of “terrorist” is so broad that it’s all but impossible to sort out what people really mean by it. It’s a very subjective idea. Good point about American revolutionaries being terrorists: they used guerrilla warfare!

Comment on The Upper Right Edge by Rabbi Bob

Rabbi Bob — Sat, 18 May 2013 23:48:56 +0000

So much beautiful Arabic calligraphic art. I’m not so good at Arabic, but its sister language, Hebrew, I’m fairly good at (couldn’t call myself a rabbi if I wasn’t, now, could I? Oy!). How about Japanese? Many newspapers in that language still write right to left, up and down!! And my favorite languages, the pictogram ones!

Now on terrorists… The word has been abused by the powers that be, never allowing themselves to be put in this grouping, though they may terrorize whole populations. Instead, the label is applied to whole ethnic, religious or political groups. Darn it, the original American revolutionaries were terrorists, as far as the English were concerned. And don’t even get me started about Jesus… In general, substituting “freedom fighters” or “activists” or even “rebels” for “terrorists” and seeing if the label makes sense is a good test of the efficacy of the terrorist label.

Comment on Doorway by Vera Haddan

Vera Haddan — Thu, 09 May 2013 02:03:47 +0000

I read “Doorway” a few days ago. It’s a thoughtful poem. This line is staying with me: “Like a train wreck with no casualties only restless thoughts of old memories.” I like it so much.

Comment on Unclear Cuts 2: The Metaphysics of a Designer Forest by Margaret Hammitt-McDonald

Margaret Hammitt-McDonald — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:59:41 +0000

Thanks for sharing your thoughtful perspective, Mike. I’d be fascinated to learn about western Australia and your experiences there; I’ve never been to that part of the world.
As I’ve grown older (and I hope wiser), I’ve discovered how multifaceted are the questions of how we can each arrive at a more respectful, reverent way of interacting with the natural world of which even the most dedicated mall rats of the human species are a part. In our collective journey with nature, we encounter surprising similarities between people from different positions on the political spectrum, which is why I prefer meeting people as people rather than categories.
I had a delightful experience a few years back, when a huge snowstorm kept my husband, me, and some loggers from working. We were snowshoeing on a logging road behind our house and discovered a logger and his children having a blast tobogganing down a steep hill. It was heartening to see how much joy he and his children got from being outside, just as we were. It’s all too easy for druid types like me, the descendants of those Celtic tree priests, to dismiss this gentleman as a boorish person who disrespects trees, but he was a kind person and a solicitous father who worked hard to provide for the children whooping it up down that hill.
More and more over the years, I appreciate these moments that bring us together for a common purpose–and a common joy.

Comment on The Burial Ground, After the Battle by Margaret Hammitt-McDonald

Margaret Hammitt-McDonald — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:54:40 +0000

I’m honored that the poem spoke to you on behalf of the forest. About a week after I wrote it, I was walking around the same area and discovered a bouquet of flowers tossed onto one of the clear-cut stumps. I’m not sure whether someone had left it in honor of the fallen or as a gift rejected; I want to believe the former.

Comment on The Burial Ground, After the Battle by Vera Haddan

Vera Haddan — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:38:45 +0000

“The Burial Ground, After the Battle” translates your emotion into words that pass the emotion forward in a way others can feel for (and with) the forest; a forest now “grocery bags and toilet paper.” And, “for the sake of the smart shopper and the inky blare of news.” The shiver happened unpredictability (for me) at the sound: “On the threadbare mountain, a baseball smacks into a calloused palm.”

Comment on Cannon Beach honors the seer of Earthsea by R.W. Bonn

R.W. Bonn — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:49:59 +0000

Even in the light of only a few days passed, this weekend can be viewed as historic. Under hand-painted stars and a blank movie screen at the Coaster Theatre, Ursula Le Guin and Terry Brooks and other writers and community fans and artists tread the wooden boards of an old skating rink and stirred up the dust of future worlds and fairies, of American dreams trapped in literary amber, of serial killers in yellow boots, and of small people wanting to be big, and maybe vice versa.

Community. What a word. Including “come ” and “you ” and “city”. As if to say, “YOU! COME! AND MAKE CITY WITH US!” Make a gathering of likes. Like-minded liking and coming together to make one breath, one song, one moment in our little town’s history. And so we did.

And so, to the dream of equal community not divided by fame or fortune, the dream espoused every day by Watt at Jupiter’s Books and caught by the Tolovana Arts Colony, three cheers! May there be room for all at the table. And may artists of all size and ilk be told they are special and have something to share.

Comment on Evergreen Testament by Watt Childress

Watt Childress — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 00:42:52 +0000

I too believe humans learned how to give from being in nature. While gathering cedar I feel the trees gave me a song.

Makes me re-ponder what happens as humans supplant nature with the infrastructure of the market economy. Wonder where we learned to do that?