5.30.2011

"Foods" by Dahlia Elsayed

I first saw this video a few weeks ago, and have thought about it on and off since. It reminds me of Eileen Tabios's The Chatelaine Shops and Spends (and her other similar projects), which I remember thinking was a brilliant use of Blogger way back in 2005--and, to a lesser extent, of Denise Duhamel's Mille Et Un Sentiments (scroll down at link for excerpt).

I think I could probably benefit from watching this every morning. I've been wondering a lot about "wants" and feelings recently. Which are fleeting? Which are significant? Are any significant? Are all fleeting? T will often say to me, "It's just a feeling, not a fact. It will pass." This sounds like wisdom...but is it? What does a practice like that mean for a maker of art (or maybe that's the one place you stuff the feelings)? What does a practice like that mean for one's life (stability? enlightenment? regret)?

When it comes to food cravings, at least, it's easy for me to grasp:


5.14.2011

New Uses for Old Poetry

Louise Gluck poems, placed around the perimeter
of the garden, will deter squirrels and rabbits.


Extend the life
of cut flowers--add a Lucille
Clifton poem to the vase water!


Make a paste of Bernadette Mayer
poems and vinegar
to soothe bug bites and stings.


To freshen a stale carpet, scatter
James Tate poems on it,
wait a few hours,
then vacuum.