4 posts tagged “language”

My favorite podcast is probably The Writer's Almanac. Last night I listened to Tuesday and Wednesday's shows, and heard this poem, which was so striking I share it here. The end, it slayed me.

The Rites of Manhood, by Alden Nowlan

It's snowing hard enough that the taxis aren't running.
I'm walking home, my night's work finished,
long after midnight, with the whole city to myself,
when across the street I see a very young American sailor
standing over a girl who's kneeling on the sidewalk
and refuses to get up although he's yelling at her
to tell him where she lives so he can take her there
before they both freeze. The pair of them are drunk
and my guess is he picked her up in a bar
and later they got separated from his buddies
and at first it was great fun to play at being
an old salt at liberty in a port full of women with
hinges on their heels, but by now he wants only to
find a solution to the infinitely complex
problem of what to do about her before he falls into
the hands of the police or the shore patrol
—and what keeps this from being squalid is
what's happening to him inside:
if there were other sailors here
it would be possible for him
to abandon her where she is and joke about it
later, but he's alone and the guilt can't be
divided into small forgettable pieces;
he's finding out what it means
to be a man and how different it is
from the way that only hours ago he imagined it.

How great is that? Seriously. "the guilt can't be / divided into small forgettable pieces". Wow. Also, "women with hinges on their heels". Ponder -that- image for a minute.

Earlier this week I finally joined the 21st century and started downloading podcasts. It's a good place to be, I tell you what. You all are ahead of me and know that it's like the "good parts" version of radio and the Internet so I don't have to sell you on it. I'm especially pleased because it's so rare the programs do everything I want them to do right off the bat, so it's a treat that iTunes will autoupdate to my iPod, that it will automatically delete podcasts I've listened to, and that I can select certain podcasts to -not- autodelete. And! That it will give me the titles of the available back episodes so I can choose to catch up.

Podcasts that I am particularly enjoying so far include Senator Barack Obama, The Writer's Almanac, and Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. (I was laughing so hard on the bus today over the slip-up "drunk tank clown" that I thought they might kick me off.)

The podcasts I've listed as "do not autodelete", though, are the ones I find most exciting: podcasts for learning Spanish. I hunted a few of those down yesterday, timely, as I had had one of those days at work again where several times knowing even a little bit of Spanish would have helped me provide better service to our participants. There are a few out there, which means I'll get a few different perspectives and teaching styles. The best way to learn, of course, is by speaking & listening, and that I can get at work. So,   we'll see how it goes. I am hopeful, though.

I've been spending a lot of time reading poetry this week, trying to find the perfect thing to read at an upcoming wedding. I have some options, but there are a lot that I love that are not right for whatever reason. This one I had never read before this week, and I share it with all of you.

Falling in love is like owning a dog
an epithalamion by Taylor Mali

First of all, it's a big responsibility,
especially in a city like New York.
So think long and hard before deciding on love.
On the other hand, love gives you a sense of security:
when you're walking down the street late at night
and you have a leash on love
ain't no one going to mess with you.
Because crooks and muggers think love is unpredictable.
Who knows what love could do in its own defense?

On cold winter nights, love is warm.
It lies between you and lives and breathes
and makes funny noises.
Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.
It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.

Love doesn't like being left alone for long.
But come home and love is always happy to see you.
It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,
but you can never be mad at love for long.

Is love good all the time? No! No!
Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.

Love makes messes.
Love leaves you little surprises here and there.
Love needs lots of cleaning up after.
Sometimes you just want to get love fixed.
Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper
and swat love on the nose,
not so much to cause pain,
just to let love know Don't you ever do that again!

Sometimes love just wants to go for a nice long walk.
Because love loves exercise.
It runs you around the block and leaves you panting.
It pulls you in several different directions at once,
or winds around and around you
until you're all wound up and can't move.

But love makes you meet people wherever you go.
People who have nothing in common but love
stop and talk to each other on the street.

Throw things away and love will bring them back,
again, and again, and again.
But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.
And in return, love loves you and never stops.

Vox doesn't care to know my mood when I post, but for this one, it should read: utterly charmed.

Play any instrument or speak any language, which do you choose?

Finally a QotD that I have an actual interest in! I'd definitely choose language. I have no ear for music, but speaking any language! Oh, that would be fantastic.

First, in my line of work, my more-or-less monolinguism is a huge issue. Every day I regret that I took French rather than Spanish in high school. Spanish is one of the more common language needs in my office, but Arabic, Chinese, and various African languages would be tremendously helpful to know.

Then, of course, I'm a film buff, so languages would be great there. I don't mind subtitles because I'm a fast reader and consider dubbed films to be an abomination, but to not have to divide my attention would be a beautiful thing.

Finally, reading novels & poetry without need for translation would be a glorious thing indeed.