Getz/Gilberto

     My Pioneer PL-10 turntable now has a new belt but no counterweight. Luckily I was able to purchase a backup turntable at the local thrift store for $2.50. I have a copy of Getz/Gilberto's Girl from Ipanema on CD and now a copy of the same track on vinyl LP. A comparison of the two through the same receiver and speakers reveals the superior listening pleasure of vinyl. The tones are flattened on the CD despite the bolstered bass tones, while the vinyl reveals the sound of the room, the naked voices of the artists, and the mastery of the musicians of their respective instruments. You can almost feel Stan's breath travel from his lungs through the saxophone, and into the microphone. I am by no means an audiophile but this re-discovery of the romance of vinyl has been very pleasant and has slowed me down a bit to allow a more thoughtful enjoyment of the music I thought I knew.

New Painting Series

     Pictured below is the first in a new painting series I started yesterday. Painting number two is complete and will be featured soon. These are acrylic and ink on paper and merge my drawing style with my painting style.

Sunset 

Sky and ocean touch

and unfold like parting lips

to swallow the sun

Rejection, And Other Poems

     Today my application to the MA program for Creative Writing in Poetry at Northern Arizona University was rejected. A bit despondent to say the least, I am resolved to publish my poems here instead of exposing them to academic scrutiny. Like them or not, here they come.

Having killed my gods

My mind is stunned
to see I am alone

walking sleepless

desolate

I'd hitch a thousand miles

to find one who feels this

a companion in the great erosion

of the past into the future

a fine and beautiful lot

the friendships I've bought and sold

left for dead or killed outright

to appease my cowardice

how befitting this loneliness

a worry to none but me

silently sulking

unattended

melancholic

neurotic

impotent

defeated