Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur. Quod erat demonstrandum.
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  • Tectophilic

    Posted on April 30th, 2006 Jordan No comments

    calm inside the eye
    I load a trowel with fresh promises
    mortar for the next course
    filling gaps in my understanding

    staggering for strength
    these cobbles made of straw
    constantly disintegrating
    I am my task in perpetuity
    caked with mud from head to toe, but
    there are no mirrors here

    would you have me flee
    this debtor’s jail, the only
    home I’ve ever known
    should walls fall into disrepair
    shallow roots against the storm
    exhausted favor turns this eye
    I might be swept away

  • apology’s aftermath

    Posted on April 29th, 2006 Jordan No comments

    spent and discarded
    tossed to crash on a pale gray path
    a means no longer needed
    the end has been achieved.

    a guarded glance as you pass, then
    continue on your way
    backs of hands are thrown above
    your anaesthetic resignation
    always in view
    this tortured periphery
    as I am dragged in tow.

  • Republican Project: Segregate The Internet is going full steam ahead

    Posted on April 28th, 2006 Jordan No comments

    Tammy Baldwin voted for network neutrality, although the Republican corporate slaves in the House stuck together with Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) and managed to get the COPE Act to pass the House Energy & Commerce Committee without the Markey Amendment that could have saved the Internet.

    I’m not particularly surprised, but that won’t stop me from being extremely disappointed yet again by the shortsightedness of the current majority party.

    It’s not over yet. Please read up on the issue and decide if it’s important to you to prevent COPE from becoming law. If so, please sign MoveOn’s petition as well as the petition at SaveTheInternet.

    For an example of what happens when you let the “free market” provide for the communication needs of American citizens, check this out.  If the telcos had provided what they promised, and what we’ve already paid for, we’d have 45 mbps of symmetric bandwidth to our homes.  That’s 30 to 60 times faster than the average DSL or cable broadband service currently available to us.

  • onychophagia

    Posted on April 26th, 2006 Jordan No comments

    Thanks to the Word of the Day, I now know that I’m an onychophage. The word sounds really ugly; I may have to kick the habit for that reason alone.

    onychophagia (on-i-ko-FAY-juh, -jee-uh) noun

    The practice of biting one’s nails.

    [From Greek onycho-, from onyx (nail) + -phagia (eating).]

  • the amateur

    Posted on April 23rd, 2006 Jordan No comments

    brick by brick, the mason
    laid a castle sure to keep her near
    tapestries chanted fantastic dreams
    as mirrors luminesced

    time and time again
    he returned to find her floating
    face down in the fountain
    seeking safety, drained the water
    and parched the wilted bloom

    a thousand days in
    she was gone
    he followed footprints
    past the piles that once had form
    far too late to watch her crest the horizon
    he turned to view her mansion
    and found his own name on the gate.

  • spring is in the air

    Posted on April 22nd, 2006 Jordan No comments

    The trees are mating inside my nose.  If not for a daily dose of loratidine, I’d be absolutely miserable — and I usually am so during the first couple hours while awaiting its effects.

    My spider plants have begun to wilt from neglect.  As known by those familiar with their species’ hardiness, that’s a lot of neglect.  They received a welcome drink today.

    The ficus is dead, Jim.  It’s ready to begin its new life as an V-BAFM (Vegetative Ballistic Anti-Fratboy Missile).

  • Posted on April 21st, 2006 Jordan No comments

    he stands in an empty field
    eyes keen, ears buzzing
    the hilt is slick with sweat
    a sound, and sudden
    panic
    shield aloft
    he slices
    the blade meets only wind

  • is Maynard singing kargyraa?

    Posted on April 20th, 2006 Jordan No comments

    While listening to the new Tool single, Vicarious, I did a double-take when I thought I heard a vocal technique I’ve only heard used by Tuvan throat singers.

    “it’s no fun ’til someone dies

    The word dies sounds an octave lower than the note I’m always expecting him to hit.  It has a guttural timbre that reminds me of the kargyraa style of throat singing, where the ventricular folds (a set of “false” vocal cords above the main ones) produce an “undertone” that is one octave below the fundamental tone produced by the vocal cords.

    Having only recently begun to understand the technique of kargyraa and practice it myself, this was a pretty cool thing to hear.

  • “low Mach”

    Posted on April 20th, 2006 Jordan 4 comments

    I just took the Machiavelli personality test and scored 58, which apparently means that I don’t agree with his ideas.

  • stokers

    Posted on April 19th, 2006 Jordan No comments

    I tried to swim too soon.
    The blaze raged at the near shore and pulled my breath,
    and I choked
    as I came up for air.
    With eyes married to the flow, the spark had gone unnoticed.
    I’d laughed as I stepped to the flame, discounted the danger,
    Tested the heat and turned
    to assure the water, “I don’t need this.”

    I was wrong.

    I drop into the fire.
    I need to burn a while longer.
    I need to scream and see these blisters.
    The river is within a coal’s throw.
    I remember its comfort, remember its motion. It draws heat from my skin.
    But present in this pit or not,
    I know my breath will burn.

    The two implore me
    to dive for the stream as they slave at their bellows.
    We all swam there, not long ago.
    Welcoming withered flame or stronger lung, I may step in again.
    But today I am given to sear.