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Sort Of.

October 2, 2020 by Exangel

As if it wasn’t bad enough—and it was, is—to be in throes of the most devastating fire season in our lifetime, with our neighbors losing their livelihoods, their homes, if not their actual lives, as if that wasn’t bad enough, a vicious worldwide pandemic affects even our ‘leadership’—such as it is. There appears to be no comfort in observing that ‘leadership’, unless you take comfort in the variety that whines, bullies, lies, and leads its followers straight off a virus infected cliff.

Where do we find comfort, then? And where do find a place to stand, from where it’s secure enough to act?

What do we do?

What can we do?

You know my methods, Watson: there is no cruelty, bullying, lying, and murdering that cannot be countered by a continuous shedding of light. As long as that light is composed of kindness, alertness, tenacity, and a moral compass that points to all human beings being equally worthy of love, if not of good grades on their SATs. And that position, I probably don’t need to tell you, takes far more stamina and courage than the one that just goes eye for an eye, throat for a throat. Being less reactive. Being less vain. Being less certain.

With that in mind, we present ‘Sort Of’. We sort of feel we have the strength to go on. But if we do it together, we sort of think we’ll come out all right in the end. At least in a middle where life is more equitable, safer, and joyful than at present.

So . . . let me bring to your attention a wonderful poet, EAP newcomer Yahia Lababidi, whose work sheds so much light I didn’t need to turn on my desk lamp to read it. And two other new contributors: Wendy BooydeGraaff, who understands being a princess is not all it’s cracked up to be, and Rogan Kelly, who opens doors.

I can never leave the Todblog without calling out Brian Griffith, who just keeps opening that damn door no matter how much ignorance and willful stupidity keeps trying to slam it shut.

And EAP’s own poetry goddess, Marissa Bell Toffoli, who, not content with sharing her lyrical vision with the rest of us, just gave birth to Andre—a contribution of the sort that makes the rest of our contributions worthwhile.

Thank you for all you do. All of you. May we all stay safe, strong, and steady. May our days be filled with meaningful action. May our nights be filled with peaceful sleep to prepare us for another meaningful day.

And welcome back.

 

 

Filed Under: Todblog

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In This Issue.

  • Who Was Dorothy?
  • Those Evil Spirits.
  • The Screaming Baboon.
  • Her.
  • A Tale of Persistence.
  • A Conversation with Steve Hugh Westenra.
  • Person Number Twelve.
  • Dream Shapes.
  • Cannon Beach.
  • The Muse.
  • Spring.
  • The Greatness that was Greece.
  • 1966, NYC; nothing like it.
  • Sun Shower.
  • The Withering Weight of Being Perceived.
  • Broken Clock.
  • Confession.
  • Francis Coppola’s Apocalypse.
  • Sometimes you die, I mean that people do.
  • True (from “My Life with Dogs”).
  • Fragmentary musings on birds and bees.
  • 12 Baking Essentials to Always Have in Your Poetry.
  • Broad Street.
  • A Death in Alexandria.
  • My Forked Tongue.
  • Swan Lake.
  • Long Division.
  • Singing against the muses.
  • Aphorisms from “What Remains to Be Said”.

In The News.

That cult classic pirate/sci fi mash up GREENBEARD, by Richard James Bentley, is now a rollicking audiobook, available from Audible.com. Narrated and acted by Colby Elliott of Last Word Audio, you’ll be overwhelmed by the riches and hilarity within.

“Captain Sylvestre de Greybagges is your typical seventeenth-century Cambridge-educated lawyer turned Caribbean pirate, as comfortable debating the virtues of William Shakespeare, Isaac Newton, and compound interest as he is wielding a cutlass, needling archrival Henry Morgan, and parsing rum-soaked gossip for his next target. When a pepper monger’s loose tongue lets out a rumor about a fleet loaded with silver, the Captain sets sail only to find himself in a close encounter of a very different kind.

After escaping with his sanity barely intact and his beard transformed an alarming bright green, Greybagges rallies The Ark de Triomphe crew for a revenge-fueled, thrill-a-minute adventure to the ends of the earth and beyond.

This frolicsome tale of skullduggery, jiggery-pokery, and chicanery upon Ye High Seas is brimming with hilarious puns, masterful historical allusions, and nonstop literary hijinks. Including sly references to Thomas Pynchon, Treasure Island, 1940s cinema, and notable historical figures, this mélange of delights will captivate readers with its rollicking adventure, rich descriptions of food and fashion, and learned asides into scientific, philosophical, and colonial history.”

THE SUPERGIRLS is back, revised and updated!

supergirls-take-1

In The News.

Newport Public Library hosted a three part Zoom series on Visionary Fiction, led by Tod.  

And we love them for it, too.

The first discussion was a lively blast. You can watch it here. The second, Looking Back to Look Forward can be seen here.

The third was the best of all. Visions of the Future, with a cast of characters including poets, audiobook artists, historians, Starhawk, and Mary Shelley. Among others. Link is here.

In the News.

SNOTTY SAVES THE DAY is now an audiobook, narrated by Last Word Audio’s mellifluous Colby Elliott. It launched May 10th, but for a limited time, you can listen for free with an Audible trial membership. So what are you waiting for? Start listening to the wonders of how Arcadia was born from the worst section of the worst neighborhood in the worst empire of all the worlds since the universe began.

In The News.

If you love audio books, don’t miss the new release of REPORT TO MEGALOPOLIS, by Tod Davies, narrated by Colby Elliott of Last Word Audio. The tortured Aspern Grayling tries to rise above the truth of his own story, fighting with reality every step of the way, and Colby’s voice is the perfect match for our modern day Dr. Frankenstein.

In The News.

Mike Madrid dishes on Miss Fury to the BBC . . .

Tod on the Importance of Visionary Fiction

Check out this video of “Beyond Utopia: The Importance of Fantasy,” Tod’s recent talk at the tenth World-Ecology Research Network Conference, June 2019, in San Francisco. She covers everything from Wind in the Willows to the work of Kim Stanley Robinson, with a look at The History of Arcadia along the way. As usual, she’s going on about how visionary fiction has an important place in the formation of a world we want and need to have.

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