But not my word.
It's funny that this is the topic, because I was thinking about something similar the other day. If this were the era in Pride and Prejudice (Elizabethan? Victorian? I should know this...), my one word would be "accomplished", I think. Well, here's an excerpt:
``All young ladies accomplished! My dear Charles, what do you mean?''
``Yes all of them, I think. They all paint tables, cover skreens, and net purses. I scarcely know any one who cannot do all this, and I am sure I never heard a young lady spoken of for the first time, without being informed that she was very accomplished''
``Your list of the common extent of accomplishments,'' said Darcy, ``has too much truth. The word is applied to many a woman who deserves it no otherwise than by netting a purse, or covering a skreen. But I am very far from agreeing with you in your estimation of ladies in general. I cannot boast of knowing more than half a dozen, in the whole range of my acquaintance, that are really accomplished.''
``Nor I, I am sure,'' said Miss Bingley.
`
`Then,'' observed Elizabeth, ``you must comprehend a great deal in your idea of an accomplished women.''
``Yes; I do comprehend a great deal in it.''
``Oh! certainly,'' cried his faithful assistant, ``no one can be really esteemed accomplished, who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved.''
``All this she must possess,'' added Darcy, ``and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading.''
Painting, music, singing, modern languages, extensive reading - I'm there! Mr. Darcy, I'm yours! Though "accomplished" was really only a status wealthier women could claim, so odds are, my word would have been "homely" and I would have been someone's chambermaid somewhere.
So my word? I would love to say "witty", but does that really describe me and all that I do or think about? I think "creative" would certainly fit, but I like the term "artsy" a little more. (Dubbed by one of my coworkers upon seeing my self-given henna tattoo) It conveys a little more of an attitude, though it may also have the connotation of "flighty", which I would not attribute to myself. "Creative" can be applied to all sorts of people, from Martha Stewart-like crafters to Van Gogh, but "artsy" implies more of a way of being. Since I do more than just paint or draw - like sing, act, write, and um - other stuff - it fits.
Is "artsy" the word for Lake City? Hardly. Nor do I think that's the word for Orlando (where I went to school - in case you didn't . When I think of Orlando words like "entertainment", "tacky", and "money" come to mind. So where does one who's "artsy" reside? Austin, TX? I've heard good things about that place, though I'm not so sure about living in Texas. New Orleans? Hmmm...probably not a good idea, esp. since I'd like to move away from the south to someplace a little colder. Of course maybe the good thing about being "artsy" is that you can always find a way to make the city you live in fit with your word.
Showing posts with label identity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label identity. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
I Like Attention
That's pretty much the motive behind my hobbies. Theater, singing, blogging/writing, art - not only do I get to be creative, but generally I also get all sorts of praise for doing it.
I suppose that's not the only reason. I do get a thrill knowing I actually entertained someone else. Knowing that I made someone laugh is more of a reward than anything I can think of (well - besides money - if anyone wants to pay me for doing what I love, I'm there)(wait - that doesn't make me a whore, does it?).
Hmmm...that's not very long for a post - I suppose I'd better go a little more in depth. With theater, I can act like the biggest idiot onstage, and as long as it's part of the character, I'm not vulnerable to ridicule for acting that way. That, and well, theater people in general act like complete idiots around each other, so I can get away with it even when I'm not onstage. It's a nice break from having to act all smart, resonsible, and nice when I'm at work - cathartic, if you will.
The same can go for blogging. I can vent all the frustrations I have and then pretty much forget about it. Or, if I can't forget about it, I can generally present it in an amusing way that makes the situation not seem as bad as it is. It's also a great way to let all my friends know what's going on in my life without having to write each of them individually. I'm terrible at keeping in touch, so odds are without my blog, I wouldn't hear much from any of my friends. (Alright, that may be a little bit of a lie - myspace and facebook help me keep in touch as well)
As far as art goes, I hate to call that a hobby. It doesn't seem like I should, since I have a BFA and all. However, as time goes on, I'm spending less and less time on my artwork. I make time for everything else, and I suppose this is one more thing I should try to make time for. But I don't just do it to entertain others or for the praise - that makes it sound like I put more value on the opinions of others than I really do. I don't suppose that's why I do any of these things. Something in my soul just needs it to get by.
But don't get me wrong - I'm still an attention-whore despite that.
I suppose that's not the only reason. I do get a thrill knowing I actually entertained someone else. Knowing that I made someone laugh is more of a reward than anything I can think of (well - besides money - if anyone wants to pay me for doing what I love, I'm there)(wait - that doesn't make me a whore, does it?).
Hmmm...that's not very long for a post - I suppose I'd better go a little more in depth. With theater, I can act like the biggest idiot onstage, and as long as it's part of the character, I'm not vulnerable to ridicule for acting that way. That, and well, theater people in general act like complete idiots around each other, so I can get away with it even when I'm not onstage. It's a nice break from having to act all smart, resonsible, and nice when I'm at work - cathartic, if you will.
The same can go for blogging. I can vent all the frustrations I have and then pretty much forget about it. Or, if I can't forget about it, I can generally present it in an amusing way that makes the situation not seem as bad as it is. It's also a great way to let all my friends know what's going on in my life without having to write each of them individually. I'm terrible at keeping in touch, so odds are without my blog, I wouldn't hear much from any of my friends. (Alright, that may be a little bit of a lie - myspace and facebook help me keep in touch as well)
As far as art goes, I hate to call that a hobby. It doesn't seem like I should, since I have a BFA and all. However, as time goes on, I'm spending less and less time on my artwork. I make time for everything else, and I suppose this is one more thing I should try to make time for. But I don't just do it to entertain others or for the praise - that makes it sound like I put more value on the opinions of others than I really do. I don't suppose that's why I do any of these things. Something in my soul just needs it to get by.
But don't get me wrong - I'm still an attention-whore despite that.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
A Post On Poetry Nobody Will Probably Care About
Well, I thought of this the other day in relation to Jen's topic, but then I came down with a serious case of Spring Break syndrome. So basically I've been lazing around doing nothing the past few days. Anyway, I'm going to say some things in this post that will probably offend some of the liberal readers. But again, I'm probably the most left leaning person on this blog (socialist). I'm just going to lay down some broad generalizations. So feel free to flame.
In the poetry world, as is common knowledge, it is easy to get a book published if you make it about your "identity." That is, if you are from a non-majority culture, especially one that is rare, then if you write your book about wrestling with your identity, it can probably be published. Are your parents Zimbabwean lawyers? Write some poems! Is your father from Iceland and mother from Lilliput? Write poems! Win some awards! (Well, Jane Miller, a pretty big poet and smart person said identity poetry is dead, but I don't think it is quite yet. Maybe that was just wishful thinking on her part).
Anyway, I've always felt this trend is the poetry world's equivalent of ethno-tourism. The vast majority of poetry readers, if I may generalize for a moment, are wealthy white liberals. When they read books about, say, a Saudi woman emigrating to America or poor gay black man in the American south, they can in turn say "See? I support all of these diverse ethnic groups. I'm not a racist, classist, or homophobe. Look at my books! Sure, my friends are all white and I drive a big gas guzzling SUV, but I read about these poor others. That means I'm a good person."
This sort of attitude is something that's always bothered me about liberals (I'm generalizing for the sake of my argument. Obviously, it's only a certain kind of liberal I'm complaining about). When I worked at Publix in Tallahassee, rich white liberals would come into the store a lot, and then speak to the black cashiers or baggers like they could actually identify with them just because they watched some special on Thelonius Monk the previous night on PBS. (Here's a story that doesn't really fit my argument, but is pretty funny anyway: I remember one time in particular when this bagger, Terrence, asked an older white lady what kind of music she liked. Her response was "Well, classic rock, country, some hip hop." Hip hop? Give me a break! You've never listened to one rap song in your life unless it was playing in a movie by Michael Moore. You don't have to say hip hop just because a black man asked you what kind of music you like. He won't think you're racist if you don't say hip hop.)
Well, that last paragraph sort of strayed from my argument. That's another reason I didn't post on Friday. Because I knew I didn't have the energy to make my post coherent. I guess I've already established I'm not the brains of this operation.
Anyway, one more issue with ethno-tourism in poetry books, and other books. When I was at AWP in Atlanta I went to a panel my friend Hayan was on, about Arab-American writers in the 21st century. One of the panelists (whose name I forget because I am a bad person) discussed that it's easy to get a novel or memoir published if it's told from the perspective of an Arab, but only if that perspective shows how bad the culture is, and the main character is rejecting the culture. She named a couple of examples, one of which I think was called Raghead, though I am not a good enough blogger to look past two pages of google search results, that had female protagonists who were routinely abused in their Arab cultures, and then escaped them for the land of the free. Something else for readers to read and then be relieved that we're bombing civilians. I guess that excuses things, their crazy mixed up culture.
Sorry, this was not a very good blog. I have ADD.
In the poetry world, as is common knowledge, it is easy to get a book published if you make it about your "identity." That is, if you are from a non-majority culture, especially one that is rare, then if you write your book about wrestling with your identity, it can probably be published. Are your parents Zimbabwean lawyers? Write some poems! Is your father from Iceland and mother from Lilliput? Write poems! Win some awards! (Well, Jane Miller, a pretty big poet and smart person said identity poetry is dead, but I don't think it is quite yet. Maybe that was just wishful thinking on her part).
Anyway, I've always felt this trend is the poetry world's equivalent of ethno-tourism. The vast majority of poetry readers, if I may generalize for a moment, are wealthy white liberals. When they read books about, say, a Saudi woman emigrating to America or poor gay black man in the American south, they can in turn say "See? I support all of these diverse ethnic groups. I'm not a racist, classist, or homophobe. Look at my books! Sure, my friends are all white and I drive a big gas guzzling SUV, but I read about these poor others. That means I'm a good person."
This sort of attitude is something that's always bothered me about liberals (I'm generalizing for the sake of my argument. Obviously, it's only a certain kind of liberal I'm complaining about). When I worked at Publix in Tallahassee, rich white liberals would come into the store a lot, and then speak to the black cashiers or baggers like they could actually identify with them just because they watched some special on Thelonius Monk the previous night on PBS. (Here's a story that doesn't really fit my argument, but is pretty funny anyway: I remember one time in particular when this bagger, Terrence, asked an older white lady what kind of music she liked. Her response was "Well, classic rock, country, some hip hop." Hip hop? Give me a break! You've never listened to one rap song in your life unless it was playing in a movie by Michael Moore. You don't have to say hip hop just because a black man asked you what kind of music you like. He won't think you're racist if you don't say hip hop.)
Well, that last paragraph sort of strayed from my argument. That's another reason I didn't post on Friday. Because I knew I didn't have the energy to make my post coherent. I guess I've already established I'm not the brains of this operation.
Anyway, one more issue with ethno-tourism in poetry books, and other books. When I was at AWP in Atlanta I went to a panel my friend Hayan was on, about Arab-American writers in the 21st century. One of the panelists (whose name I forget because I am a bad person) discussed that it's easy to get a novel or memoir published if it's told from the perspective of an Arab, but only if that perspective shows how bad the culture is, and the main character is rejecting the culture. She named a couple of examples, one of which I think was called Raghead, though I am not a good enough blogger to look past two pages of google search results, that had female protagonists who were routinely abused in their Arab cultures, and then escaped them for the land of the free. Something else for readers to read and then be relieved that we're bombing civilians. I guess that excuses things, their crazy mixed up culture.
Sorry, this was not a very good blog. I have ADD.
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