Archives for December 20, 2005

Speaking of dem memes, hometown bloggers Coudal Partners, who always have something cool up their sleeves, have kind of outdone themselves now. They have audio recordings of people reading their favorite short poems as left on an answering service. You can call in too, operators are waiting, but have your poem ready. I’ve done it and anxiously wait to see whether GMH and I will make the cut…if we do, you’ll be the first to know.

LATER: I should add that the current poem, Thomas Hardy’s “Neutral Tones,” happens to be Maud Newton’s favorite. Perhaps Maud will contribute to the project–I think it would be fascinating to hear multiple readings of the same poem by different readers, especially given that all of the readers involved in Poetry After The Beep can be assumed to have a strong attachment to their poems.

I have my orders from Our Girl, so here goes with the Meme of Four. All answers are guaranteed to have come straight off the top of my head:

Four jobs you’ve had in your life: bank teller, dance-band bass player, magazine editor, newspaper editorial writer.

Four movies you could watch over and over: Rio Bravo, You Can Count on Me, Out of the Past, Doc Hollywood.

Four places you’ve lived: Smalltown, Kansas City, Champaign-Urbana, New York City.

Four TV shows you love to watch: Gilmore Girls, Buffy reruns, What’s My Line?, black-and-white episodes of Dragnet.

Four places you’ve been on vacation: Fallingwater, Branson, Gatlinburg, Isle au Haut.

Four websites you visit daily: Maud Newton, in the wings, The American Scene, Modern Art Notes.

Four of your favorite foods: smoked salmon, chocolate sorbet, fresh mozzarella, really good hot dogs.

Four places you’d rather be: Good Enough to Eat, the Phillips Collection, the Jazz Standard, the Seth Peterson Cottage.

Someone to hold you too close,

Someone to hurt you too deep,

Someone to sit in your chair,

To ruin your sleep.

Someone to crowd you with love,

Someone to force you to care,

Someone to make you come through,

Who’ll always be there,

As frightened as you

Of being alive.

Stephen Sondheim, “Being Alive” (music by Sondheim)