Cuddly Animals

Despite mostly political and artistic content on this blog, I have been known to appreciate things that are "apolitical" and "low-brow."  My friend Christine recently pointed me to this adorable collection of cute animals.  It's the sort of thing I need on a day where I'm feeling low. 
My favorite right now is this very sad looking kitten.  I really want to cuddle it.

Bring Back Liz 10!

I've mentioned how amazing my friend Christine is on this blog before.  I discovered last night she has a tumblr blog, which she is racking up various Doctor Who things, which she is obsessed with.  One of her most recent posts includes images of Amy Pond, the current companion.  Seeing all this recent Doctor Who stuff has me thinking about the show. 

As much as I like Amy, I miss Liz 10.  I loved her in the two episodes we got to see her in, and I wish they'd bring her back.  Science fiction shows aren't really known for their diversity, but I was so pleased to see Martha as a companion some years back.  She was smart, fun, and badass, and it was such a relief to see a woman of color who was admirable and a hero, instead of every dumb stereotype people have about women of African/Muslim descent.  I love that Martha wore relatively normal clothes and was becoming a doctor and didn't even put up with Ten all the time.  I realize that the lovely actress who plays Martha can't come back right now, but I'd also love to see Liz 10 come back and go on adventures with our heroes.  Because, right now in television, there aren't many depictions of women of color, and none of them includes one where one's the Queen of Britain.

Tweeting for National Poetry Month

Because I don't write enough all ready for this blog and my review blog, I'm also writing regularly for Arthur, a zine my friend Erin started. I don't post everything over on that blog, but I do post the vast majority of posts. And, starting last night, Erin granted me access to the mythical twitter account that Arthur has. By now, an announcement has appeared on their blog, explaining how, for National Poetry Month, I'll be tweeting poetry bits from Cherrie Moraga's The Last Generation.

I fell in love with Moraga several years ago while researching Latina poets for a class project. There is a wonderful tradition of Chicana and Latina activists writing amazing poetry, and Moraga, the author of Loving in the War Years and co-editor of This Bridge Called My Back, is at the forefront of that political poetry. She's wonderful, and hopefully, through tweeting, we can celebrate her work and National Poetry Month.

If you have a twitter, feel free to tweet along your favorite lines of poetry.

State News Article

As previously mentioned on the blog, I was interview for an article in The State News, which is the local paper here at MSU. Mostly, I sound like I know what I was talking about, though I wish she had chosen my more intelligent sound bites.

More Upcoming Events

As promised, I have another set of upcoming events that are happening in and around MSU.

April 14 The Poem as Vehicle 3 pm Snyder Hall Common Area
Christine Rhein, who is reading next week, will be giving a talk about the poem as a vehicle. Ms. Rhein will be talking about the elements that work together to make an effective poem and show the audience the kind of trial and error that goes on it creating poems, making it easier for the audience to engineer poems.

April 14 Nineteenth-Century Women Crusaders and Poets 7 pm C204 Snyder Hall
This is the presentation that I keep mentioning here on the blog. I'm going to be talking about some activist women poets who wrote about politics. I'll be focusing on Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Ann Plato, Eliza Lee Cabot Follen, Sarah Louisa Forten and Francis E.W. Harper. I'll be discussing their poetry and the racism and sexism that they both fight and accidentally defend.

April 22 Red Cedar Review Issue Release Party 7:30 pm Scene Metrospace
The Red Cedar Review, the nationally-known literary magazine here at MSU, will be celebrating the release of it's next issue. Everyone is welcome to come by to hear some of the author's of the new issue read.

April 29 Poetry Chalking in front of Phillips
The Center for Poetry often has poetry chalkings in the Spring. Basically, you can just bring yourself and the Center will give you a poem and chalk to decorate the sidewalk with. (You're allowed to bring your own poems, if you'd like, but you're not required.) I've always had a great time at these kinds of events, especially if it's a beautiful day.

Like before, all these events are free and open to the public, so make sure you stop by for some of them.