Friday, November 7, 2014

Literary Withdrawal: Death of a Book




Published on --> Rebelle Society





I sit in the dark quiet of my sanctuary, the place I come to write, and am overcome by a stabbing inherent fear that books, like many of its authors, shall one day become extinct.
This revelation came to me because I was forced to purchase a tape cassette recorder to listen to a tape, and as I held it in my hand, found myself thinking: I cannot believe I found one to buy.

Think of LP’s. (Oh, how I miss LP’s.) There truly is nothing like an album. Artwork, like tattoos, scrolled across the flaps of the cover and on the inside. That’s when the band invited You inside of Their minds for an hour or two.

(Then I wondered if I purchased a turntable, would I be able to find a needle to set beneath the arm?)

Thank goodness for eBay, garage sales and used bookstores.

You must take pride in being the owner of a used bookstore. A secret society where members peruse old wooden shelving like mad Norsemen, pillaging layers of books, blowing cobwebs from dusty covers, uncovering a treasure or two.

A book is the fruit of self. Knowledge unsurpassed. Everything I have learned has come mainly from books.

Don’t get me wrong. I adore mainstream bookstores. As a rule, I live in them.

Soak myself up in an overstuffed chair, an Italian Soda by my side, a stack of books at my feet, music I have never heard before playing overhead as I delve into Welsh Heritage, Kool-Aid Acid Trips, Nature, Photography, Art and Poetry.

When entering a bookstore, I bypass the front tables streamed with discounts and deals. New authors with their third book published about the exact same things they said in the first one. I head straight to the back, where the literature is hiding.

You can always tell they attempt to hide it. Ask someone working there exactly where the Lit section is and they point you toward… someplace… over… there. 

(In reality, they have no idea what Literature is.)

Poetry is the second section I visit, then on to biographies, music, art, photography, and lastly, the horribly sad cart where tattered books lie that nobody wants. The cart of misfits. It is here I always find a volume to keep. Maybe because I, myself, am a misfit and that’s okay. I like being different.


I am surrounded by books. They are best friends to me. A book is life itself breathing inside, waiting for you to discover an entirely new world created by another’s psyche.

How truly fascinating.

An old book possesses something entirely different. They are my favorites to own. I often wonder how many people cried, felt happiness, pain, grief, love, enlightenment from handling this book now in my possession.

The corners are tattered a bit, sure, but this gives it persona. It tells you it doesn’t fuck around, man, and it is meant to be read because it has been read. 

Now it’s your turn to ride that steep climb up the first hill of a coaster.

Get ready, the turn is coming; you can feel it now, can’t you?

The existential drop of your belly as you lift from your seat and remain airborne for a millisecond that lasts a lifetime, just to be dropped straight downhill into an inferno that brings you around dark corners, through forests, screaming wild and flipping pages as night turns into day.

This causes me to think of not only the books, but the writers I pay homage to. Where have they all gone? 

Why is it that they are noticed after their death, after their struggle, after their entire lives have been a complete and utter hell interspersed with momentary lapses of euphoric bliss?

I use the word homage well, because they are all quite stone cold dead.

(Ahh, but not in the pages. Within the pages, they survive. This is their gift, the gift of any writer to the reader. Regeneration by pure esoteric thought.)

I think of Hemingway… poor Papa. No longer could he write, he could not think after they strapped his brilliance to the electro shocks and stripped him of his gift. It is no wonder he chose solace with one of his prized shotguns.

Kerouac. The thing with Jack is he saw so much fucking beauty, traveled so far, ran with bums, slept in alleys, and walked in freezing temperatures in order to feel life in his veins as his own blood. Jack set out on what he meant to do. 

Jack had a purpose, and when it was met, he was done.

Tired.

Down.

Jack was beat.

I could talk for hours on authors gone home, yet fear boring you right out of your mind.

Besides, you really should be reading something of worth. Lawrence Ferlinghetti must be lonely.


“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow Roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.”


~ Jack Kerouac, On the Road


Video








Thursday, October 30, 2014

Late Autumn, Western New York




The other day, we were blessed with fantastic, beautiful weather. I watched the trees, as they lost their leaves, blanketing the grass as the wind whipped wildly. 

I thought to myself: This moment is not going to last. 

I went outside and on my back, lay down upon the grass beneath the trees and watched the leaves fall onto and all around me. 

It was wondrous. 

This is Mother Nature, this is the universe, 
speaking, to me. 

I made two videos from this and took a few shots:



1st video features John Ward  performing 
"Sealliadh [The Seer]" 








2nd video features Tom Callahan, performing "Long Black Veil" from his CD "Irish American." 






Enjoy! 

Please check out the artists work on the linked websites. 

Check out my channel. 
Always something interesting going on there. 

Peace. 

Sue





Friday, October 24, 2014

Early October : Buffalo New York


Here are two videos I made showcasing early October [Autumn] in Western New York, Cazenovia Park in Buffalo, New York. 

The videos feature music by a local band "I Was The Scarecrow

You can listen to their music here : 
http://iwasthescarecrow.bandcamp.com/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WocXRODPyQ


Check out the videos below! 











 Enjoy!


Tuesday, October 14, 2014

"Heal Kashmir" [Inequality: Blog Action Day 2014]


Every year since 2007, thousands of bloggers have come together for one day to talk about one important issue, like Poverty, Climate Change and Human Rights.

2014 focuses on the rising issue of Inequality.

Kashmir

Since September 3, 2014, destructive monsoon floods have claimed hundreds of lives both in the Indian and Pakistani-administered regions of Kashmir.


 © Pandit Majid 


The floods left hospitals struggling with numerous people brought in for treatment of waterborne diseases. Medical centers in the flood-hit areas are in dire need of basic supplies and medicine. Hundreds of thousands of people in both parts of Kashmir have been forced out of their homes in the flood-hit areas.


 © Unknown


While relief efforts globally and from government entities has been frightfully slow, the strength and independence of the people of Kashmir has once again, risen in times of great adversity. 




The above photo, taken 09/08/14 by Ieshan Wani, depicts Budshah bridge where new born babies are being carried in a basket tied with electric wires on the back of a man. The other person was carrying an oxygen cylinder to keep them alive, after they managed to move them from an inundated hospital in Srinagar to JLMN hospital. 



Photo of damaged libraries © Pandit Majid



Today, I was given this video for "Heal Kashmir" that depicts in depth what has and is occurring in Kashmir and how YOU can help:

"Heal Kashmir

#ProjectPheran     #ProjectWarmth


 

Please join on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HealKashmir
and also on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HealKashmir



Share the above video, this post, connect to those in need and most importantly, spread positive awareness so those who are able to help, can. 

* * * 

This is in conjunction with #BlogActionDay, October 16, 2014


You can find out more here:

#BlogActionDay  
#BAD2014 
#Blogaction14 
#Inequality 
#Oct16

#HealKashmir 



Friday, October 10, 2014

The Last Lecture [Book Review] in The Empathy Library





Published in The Empathy Library HERE 


Professor Randy Pausch of Carnegie Mellon has managed to describe in his own words, with the help of Jeffrey Zaslow; what true empathy, compassion, kindness and gratefulness mean in times of immense adversity.

Published in 2008, after being diagnosed with cancer, Randy was asked by Carnegie Mellon to give a last lecture, which is customary. Instead of focusing on the typical guidance speeches that are given, Randy chose to not focus on the fact that he had a short time to live, instead, he decided to focus on how TO live everyday with the drive to succeed and be happy in whatever you do.



Randy causes the reader to evaluate their existence and what it means to them. He focuses somewhat on his illness but this is not a book about a dying man. This is a book about living.

This most compelling, inspirational and uplifting volume causes one to not only step inside of Randy’s shoes, but to walk in them, become a part of his mind, soul and heart. To travel with him back to his childhood, in turn, to your own. Randy allows the reader to explore their own dreams and if they have not lived them, why? He manages to successfully bring alive the creative childlike spirit many of us have left behind.

This short volume is packed with so much emotion, laughter, extreme hardship and loss, yet mostly, with love and the notion that there is so much more to simply existing.

An international bestseller, published in more than 35 languages, a must read book, and a most treasured perspective of a man who truly lived his purpose and beyond.







You can view Randy's "Last Lecture" HERE 




Professor Randy Pausch of Carnegie Mellon has managed to describe in his own words, with the help of Jeffrey Zaslow; what true empathy, compassion, kindness and gratefulness mean in times of immense adversity.

Published in 2008, after being diagnosed with cancer, Randy was asked by Carnegie Mellon to give a last lecture, which is customary. Instead of focusing on the typical guidance speeches that are given, Randy chose to not focus on the fact that he had a short time to live, instead, he decided to focus on how TO live everyday with the drive to succeed and be happy in whatever you do.

Randy causes the reader to evaluate their existence and what it means to them. He focuses somewhat on his illness but this is not a book about a dying man. This is a book about living.

This most compelling, inspirational and uplifting volume causes one to not only step inside of Randy’s shoes, but to walk in them, become a part of his mind, soul and heart. To travel with him back to his childhood, in turn, to your own. Randy allows the reader to explore their own dreams and if they have not lived them, why? He manages to successfully bring alive the creative childlike spirit many of us have left behind.

This short volume is packed with so much emotion, laughter, extreme hardship and loss, yet mostly, with love and the notion that there is so much more to simply existing.

An international bestseller, published in more than 35 languages, a must read book, and a most treasured perspective of a man who truly lived his purpose and beyond. - See more at: http://empathylibrary.com/book/the-last-lecture#sthash.lXAvMFN7.dpuf
Professor Randy Pausch of Carnegie Mellon has managed to describe in his own words, with the help of Jeffrey Zaslow; what true empathy, compassion, kindness and gratefulness mean in times of immense adversity.

Published in 2008, after being diagnosed with cancer, Randy was asked by Carnegie Mellon to give a last lecture, which is customary. Instead of focusing on the typical guidance speeches that are given, Randy chose to not focus on the fact that he had a short time to live, instead, he decided to focus on how TO live everyday with the drive to succeed and be happy in whatever you do.

Randy causes the reader to evaluate their existence and what it means to them. He focuses somewhat on his illness but this is not a book about a dying man. This is a book about living.

This most compelling, inspirational and uplifting volume causes one to not only step inside of Randy’s shoes, but to walk in them, become a part of his mind, soul and heart. To travel with him back to his childhood, in turn, to your own. Randy allows the reader to explore their own dreams and if they have not lived them, why? He manages to successfully bring alive the creative childlike spirit many of us have left behind.

This short volume is packed with so much emotion, laughter, extreme hardship and loss, yet mostly, with love and the notion that there is so much more to simply existing.

An international bestseller, published in more than 35 languages, a must read book, and a most treasured perspective of a man who truly lived his purpose and beyond. - See more at: http://empathylibrary.com/book/the-last-lecture#sthash.lXAvMFN7.dpuf
Professor Randy Pausch of Carnegie Mellon has managed to describe in his own words, with the help of Jeffrey Zaslow; what true empathy, compassion, kindness and gratefulness mean in times of immense adversity.

Published in 2008, after being diagnosed with cancer, Randy was asked by Carnegie Mellon to give a last lecture, which is customary. Instead of focusing on the typical guidance speeches that are given, Randy chose to not focus on the fact that he had a short time to live, instead, he decided to focus on how TO live everyday with the drive to succeed and be happy in whatever you do.

Randy causes the reader to evaluate their existence and what it means to them. He focuses somewhat on his illness but this is not a book about a dying man. This is a book about living.

This most compelling, inspirational and uplifting volume causes one to not only step inside of Randy’s shoes, but to walk in them, become a part of his mind, soul and heart. To travel with him back to his childhood, in turn, to your own. Randy allows the reader to explore their own dreams and if they have not lived them, why? He manages to successfully bring alive the creative childlike spirit many of us have left behind.

This short volume is packed with so much emotion, laughter, extreme hardship and loss, yet mostly, with love and the notion that there is so much more to simply existing.

An international bestseller, published in more than 35 languages, a must read book, and a most treasured perspective of a man who truly lived his purpose and beyond. - See more at: http://empathylibrary.com/book/the-last-lecture#sthash.lXAvMFN7.dpuf

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

The Experience of Living and Dying: A Poetry Anthology




I am extremely happy to announce the publication of an anthology of poetry by Celtic Knot Books Publishing that is a volume dedicated to the experience of life and death. 

It only took the editors a few months to get this together and that is one amazing feat and my two Dads [now both deceased] are eternally honored in this volume, as are many of the loved ones of the global authors I am proud to be included with. 

This was a collaboration founded on Facebook. Talk about utilizing technology and grabbing opportunity! 

You can find it here on Amazon and Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O0B35FW/ref=pe_385040_118058080_TE_M1T1DP



Friday, September 19, 2014

i often wonder






 

i often wonder
what you see
through my eyes
looking into your own


i wonder
if my spirit
speaks
through my eyes
mouth
lips
hands
voice


my whines and cries

the way my hips
dance
from side to side


and how my palms
rest
ever so gently
upon my
skin


for you

i wonder
how it makes you feel
viewing me
in all of my
divine purity


i wonder
if it is the same feeling
when cool sweet breeze
brushes against your face
on a day, sweltering


or when rain
falls
tip tapping
gently
upon your tired brow


drop by sacred drop

or if it is like jumping
head first
into a waterfall
exciting and scary
simultaneous
cleansing your soul
making you feel


so utterly alive

or it may be
like witnessing a dream
while awake
unbridled and aware
fully conscious
of your surroundings


my only hope
is that what you witness
touches your body
as well as your mind


and that what you see
through my eyes
looking into your own

touches
your heart



© Susan Marie 



Monday, September 8, 2014

Goodreads Book Giveaway [my first volume of poetry/prose "knots"]




 
 


    Goodreads Book Giveaway
 



   

        Knots by Susan   Marie
   


   

     


          Knots
     


     


          by Susan   Marie
     



     

         
            Giveaway ends November 05, 2014.
         

         
            See the giveaway details
            at Goodreads.
         

     

   

   


      Enter to win




    




I am also answering questions about writing there to those who pose questions to me. 

Peace! 


Friday, September 5, 2014

Big Sur by Jack Kerouac







"Big Sur" published in 1962, is Jack Kerouac's account of his time spent at Lawrence Ferlinghetti's rustic cabin at Big Sur. This volume incorporates all of Jack's sing-song stream of consciousness poetic prosy observations on his own mind, consciousness and state of being, as well as those around him and his immediate surroundings.


If you have never read Kerouac, this volume is not one to begin with. "Big Sur" is his own diary of sorts during a period of his life where he experienced extreme delirium tremens and thought he was losing his mind. 

In this volume, between the mad spinning of every adventure he experienced, there are moments of indescribable beauty in his writing about nature, spirituality, and existence. 




As a poet and a novelist, Jack encompasses the true definition of a writer and poet: to be an observer. He accomplishes this dramatically, and often quite frightening, as he recounts what it feels like to go mad and hold it together, simultaneous.

If you want to begin to read Kerouac, I suggest starting with "On the Road, then "Dharma Bums" to understand one, his style of writing, and two, the characters he mentions throughout in each of his novels [who are indeed our most famous literary figures.]

There is a documentary titled "Big Sur" [2013] that I recommend for it holds true to Jack's work and can be found at Sundance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w71t...



 

I am in awe of Jack's ability to accurately report and as a writer; "Big Sur" is a deep steep climb upward to one's own soul, then a horrifying downward spiral into one’s mind. Jack told the truth. He was not one to write of denial and in that, we are left with a volume that accurately describes one soul see-sawing from sanity to insanity, wide awake.

Kerouac is my absolute most respected writer for he was gifted with the ability to document everything he saw and deliver several stories within one story, his own. 


The beauty of Kerouac and "Big Sur" is simple. How many human beings can experience true hallucinatory states while going insane and come back to accurately write about it? 

Most people just go eternally crazy. 





Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Lake Erie, Western New York



Here are a few one minute videos I took while visiting one of my most favorite places: Lake Erie. 


Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes of North America, and the tenth - twelfth largest globally in terms of surface area.  




Lake Erie's northern shore is bounded by Canada, Ontario, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Michigan. 


The lake is named after the Iroquois tribe [Erieehronon] indigenous Indians who lived along its southern shore. 

Erielhonan is an Iroquoian word for "long tail", which describes the shape of the lake.




Enjoy! 




Sunday, August 24, 2014

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge



Here is my way of supporting ALS by taking part in the #ALSIceBucketChallenge  




Thanks to Pete Frates, outfielder Boston College, who began this challenge to spread positive awareness for his disease in 2013-14 after being diagnosed with ALS at the age of 27 in 2013. 


ALS [Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis] is a neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.  The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually lead to their death. 

You can watch the purpose of this challenge in Pete's own words on ESPN:


Please visit ALSA.ORG: http://www.alsa.org/ 

Peace. Thank you Pete. 


Saturday, August 23, 2014

Walden; or, Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau



Thoreau, naturalist and early environmentalist, spent two years on Walden Pond in 1845, land owned by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The result of Thoreau's two year relation with nature, to him, his religion, was the moments he observed nature in all of its holiness, simultaneously observing his own state of mind and being, as well as those who came to visit. Thoreau also managed to compare and contrast the existence of man vs. nature. 






In this volume, a diary of sorts, the author describes in immense detail, the absolute wonder and purity of nature, as well as his own day to day existence.

Thoreau accomplished to not only write down his poetic and philosophical findings, yet has chartered his own discovery, as a human being; concluding that man and nature coexist, and everything is indeed perception. 






This volume is extremely insightful with far too many passages to quote that cause one to ponder far beyond the realms of the "typical" human psyche.

It is my experience and belief, along with Thoreau, that once one truly communes with nature wholly, that second sight is never lost. Difficulty in keeping that vision may depend upon ones return to society if one chooses to cease seeing the divinity of nature daily.

This book, Thoreau's first, is not a guide for the recluse, that is not what Thoreau was, nor a path to wholeness or enlightenment; rather a light into the mind of one man who chose to observe beauty and ugliness within himself, within nature, within mankind. 







What an interesting book. One I think most people think is a complete "existential" work from front to back cover, and it is, but in parts. It is also a daily journal of everything Thoreau did and experienced. The most profound results of living two years on Walden Pond, thankfully, exist eternally within the pages of this volume.