Spring Semester Quotes

Sorry, there's not that many this semester. We were all pretty busy, and I lost a few after I upgraded my computer system. Enjoy the few here!


(After Andrew Decker's email to Bruce:)
ANDREW: Wow. Can you spell 'provincialism'?

JULIE: I'm gonna go see Rush and Phantom of the Opera! Phantom for him [Brian], Rush for me.
EASTON: Oh, really? Did you know that Rush stands for Ruled Under Satan's Hand, Julie?

CHANDLER: You know...you could live a double life.
JULIE: Hmmm....I could live a double life.
JONATHAN: I don't know about that. Remember that Flinstones when Fred tries to go to a fancy dinner date with Wilma and attend a business meeting at the same time? And if Fred can't do it...well....

EASTON: I'm gonna stop talking now. I didn't talk to anyone as a child.

CASSIE: We have such beautiful scenery here. We have the mountains! The lake! I mean, everything is right here in this valley. I don't know why anybody moves.

EASTON: I had a crush on my third grade teacher. I didn't understand what I was feeling.

ANDREW: I didn't mean to accuse you of cheating. I just thought you had cheated.

MATTHEW: Does anyone have Evil Empire by Rage Against the Machine? I've never heard it.
KELLEN: You've never heard it? [Pulls out MP3 player, hands it over.] Welcome to music.

ANDREW: Does anybody have a breath mint? Peppermint? Gum? ...Olive oil? Something?

JULIE: Are we the only ones on?
MATTHEW: Yeah...except for Andrew. He's in the corner, wearing the invisibility cloak.
BRANDON: Watch out for his legs!

CASSIE: I'm stuck on this conclusion.
MATTHEW: I'm sorry. I've been stuck on mine for a week--
CASSIE: I don't have a week!

WHITNEY: She's adorable! I might steal her.

JULIE: What's the best Chinese food in Utah?
HEIDI: I dunno...P.F. Chang's is my favorite.
EASTON: P.F. Chang's? Really? But they're so corporate.

The Party

Affirmative Reaction

SCOTT: There's no paper.

MATTHEW: Yes, there is.

SCOTT: Well, no white paper.

MATTHEW: ...What's wrong with colored paper?

Aloof from all servile certainty, the man's smile glimmered placidly. Then upon finding his receipt quite incorrect, he slid from his seat, slipping his switchblade into his compation's breast pocket, point up, and strolled to the exit. It was raining outside.

AI

Hobble Creek Review

I added a post about this on my personal blog, but I think readers here will likely be interested in Hobble Creek Review (HCR).

HCR is a poetry publication edited by an old friend of mine that focuses on "place." They just released their new issue, which includes some great stuff. My favorites include Merry Christmas by YZ Chin, Grounded by Sherry O'Keefe, and Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea 7/28/44 by Hugh Aaron. The latter piece is creative non-fiction -- a letter written by a 19-year-old soldier to his mother during WWII. The author (Hugh Aaron) is now a playwright living in Maine.

If you're interested in submitting your work for upcoming editions, read about it HERE.

Enjoy!

- Scott

three tankas

1.
mouthfuls of honey
and salty buttered peanuts
dripping from slices
onto stains of grape jelly
from lunches of yesterday

2.
slipping her soft arms
around my neck wistfully
a lingering touch
as lips brush the cheek of fate
leaving savory traces

3.
slipping from the board
into the crashing wave wall
i’m pulled flailingly
behind in agony of
burning breath that will not come

- scott m. stringham

秋 [Autumn]

Here's my tanka -

(In Japanese:)
小さいな
日初年和ときに
する葉っぱで
秋の暮れで
看護友達の。

(Pronunciation:)
Chiisai na
Bishonen wa toki ni
Suru happa de
Aki no kure de
Kango tomodachi no.

(Translation:)
As a small,
Beautiful boy
Plays games in the leaves
During the autumn dusk,
I care for my friends.

Notes: The phrase "beautiful boy" (bishonen) is used in this instance for "baby-ish" boys with aesthetically pretty faces. Also, the phrase "care for" (kango) is the same usage for medics tending to the sick. Disclaimer: I'm not sure I'm 100% accurate. But hey, I tried.

- Matthew A. Jonassaint

Christmas Tankas . . .

While Scott was diligent in writing his villanelle, I think the rest of us might have been intimidated by the complicated form. Over this Christmas break, I'd like to introduce a different, simpler form of poetry: the tanka.

Like haiku, tanka originated in Japan. Tanka have five lines, with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables in the respective lines. Tanka usually convey emotion through a focus on concrete images. A tanka usually breaks into two units, the first three lines forming one unit and the last two lines forming another. (Sometimes the first two are one unit and the last three the other). The middle line can be a "pivot" (kind of like the last two lines of a sonnet). Traditional tanka focus on images in nature and often express love, but your tanka can say be of anything--sleeping by the Christmas tree, a scene of vicious shoppers at the mall, or something completely unrelated to Christmas.

Feel free to post as many tanka as you'd like over this Christmas break!

~Cassie

Below is an example of a tanka:

like clouds
vanishing from a puddle
that morning
my father
silently disappeared

~Mariko Kitakubo

Untitled

Contempt, thou vile, pernicious, blighted foe,
Whose might the weak usurp for reasons vain,
Accurséd shall thy passage ever go.

Beneath transcendent stars and lights below,
We linger on the brink of death and feign
Contempt, tough vile, pernicious, blighted foe.

But death comes not to me in 'suit of hateful roe,
For ever longer stands the scant refrain:
Accurséd shall thy passage ever go.

And spite -- that poisoned tongue that deals the fatal blow --
Would bear again the vicious mark of my
Contempt, thou vile, pernicious, blighted foe.

Yet nearer fly temptations's wings of woe
Before my pallid face; yet I maintain:
Accursésd shall thy passage ever go.

At death's dead door I drum the drone and know
Of time's toiled ticks 'til torment's loss is gain;
Contempt, thou vile, pernicious, blighted foe,
Accurséd shall thy passage ever go.


- Scott M. Stringham

In Which Matthew and Chandler Exchange Emails

Context: When Chandler saw that Matthew had over one hundred messages in his inbox, he complained: "Aw, nobody ever emails me!"

November 1st:
Hey,
This is Matthew A. Jonassaint, that one weird guy you work with. And I just wanted you to know that you have a message in your inbox, so now you can be almost as popular as me! Hahahahaha!

--Matthew

November 13th:
Dear Mr. Jonassaint,
We are pleased to inform you that you have rendered yourself important enough to the respondent individual that he (Chandler Walpole) has selected you for a reply e-mail message. We are currently unaware as to the circumstances in which Mr. Walpole was detained, therein preventing him from responding to your afore sent message more promptly; however, he has assured us that the said circumstances were important in nature. Moreover, he sends his apologies for any inconvenience that may have beset you while anxously awaiting his reply message. He made known to our representative that select terms such as "that one weird guy you work with" as well as "almost as popular as me" were intriguing to him, as he believes that you, Mr. Jonassaint, are not "weird" and "popular" but rather "eccentric" and "prominent" due to the professionalism that you exhibit. Therefore, he hopes that you are jubilant and satisfied in receiving a reply message from him care of our organization, which has no direct affiliation with Mr. Walpole, excepting that it originates from his anfractuous imagination. Thank you for your time and consideration of this bogus message :)
-Chandler