Thursday, May 30, 2013

Like a Fox

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer's Liberation Front
By Wendell Berry


Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.


And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer. 


When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it. 


Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed. 


Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest. 


Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns. 


Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years. 


Listen to carrion -- put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men. 


Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth? 


Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts. 


As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go. 


Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Eric Smith of Quirk Books sent me yet another fantastic book to review. And I do mean fantastic, as in fantastical. Quirk is quickly becoming one of my top tiered publishing houses. You should check them out. The Resurrectionist, by E.B. Hudspath immediately reminds me of Neil Gaiman. OK, maybe a mixture of Poe and Gaiman, which is a great thing. Everything from the wording to the layout stand out as strikingly different, in a good way. The Resurrectionist packs a punch, as it is actually two stories wrapped together in one book, complete with detailed illustrations. You get hell hounds, dragons, centaurs, and even sirens. But you also get the story of Dr. Spencer Black, spurned on by his grave digging fathers life lessons,  gives Dr. Frankenstein a run for his money, to be sure.

You can check out the book here at Quirk Books and you can get it here. Also, check out the authors webpage here.
In the meantime, here is a trailer (I love trailers!):

Thursday, May 23, 2013

When I am not reading or writing, I am gardening. I love it, for many reasons: clarity of mind, clarity of body, the ability to see results. Much like other things in life, if you put great amounts of effort into it and you are just plain kind and forgiving, you will yield results.

Which is why stuff like this makes me incredibly happy.

Jessica


Wednesday, May 15, 2013