Be A Hero-Hire A Hero Art Exhibit

This is a good oppurtunity...check it out!

"Be A Hero, Hire A Hero™" was created to show our appreciation for all the sacrifices our men and women serving in the military have made. Our initiative focuses on creating a network of strategic alliances in corporate, educational and military resource based partnerships. Our mission is to empower our Veterans, Wounded Warriors and their family members of this cultural diverse community; preparing them for a seamless integration from military to civilian life by providing the necessary foundation for success

http://www.beahero-hireahero.com/art-exhibit/

To all veterans out there, there's a Fordham Writer's Workshop for Veterans. It's a very well-run workshop and I recommend it to anyone. Use the contact information on the form to sign up.

Life and Death in Translation: My Dead

Inspired by Pablo Neruda's
"Burial in the East"(1)  

I work nights, he says
Surrounding himself with the terrible dead
Shrouded in red muslin. 
I've worked nights 
Surrounded by terrible dead
My dead are shrouded in green linen
Inelegant
Ignoble
Sounding their rusted chains and bugles
The shroud of plebs adorned
To imitate the valor of kings
But kings we are not
The authority with which we are vested
hangs limp around the neck of cadavers.


Blogspot - Life and Death in Translation

(1) Pablo Neruda. 1963. "Burial in the East" in Selected Poems (pp. 62-63). New York: Grove Press, Inc.

Where have all the writers gone

Hello everyone just wanted to take a minute to talk about the blog spot and how we can generate more traffic on this site. I think one of the main issues that people are running into is that they are having problems logging onto the site. If this is true I would like to know who is having problems so I can help them solve it quickly so they can begin to share the writings and stories with us all. Anyone looking for permission on this website to write please contact me at members@warriorwriters.org or call 215-919-9039 and I will get you all set up. For those not having any technical problems-"WHATS THE HOLD UP???", no but really this site was created for artists and writers to share their works and I am disappointed that we haven't seen much from anyone. I understand that it's very time consuming to write something and that we all can't find time in the day with our schedules but I am urging you to get over that hump and put some stuff out there. This by no means is a letter wrote in anger but more in disappointment. All of you who are members at this site are here because you are very talented and have something truly unique to offer the world of writing and I want to do everything I can to help in that department. So, please get out there and imagine, explore and create!!!

An Ode to Formula One

Hello Friends,

I am writing today because I feel the need to share another one of my passions with you all and to give my respect to those this blog is about. Apart from writing and drawing I am an avid Formula One follower. I have been addicted to the sport since my family introduced me to it back in the mid 80's. I can remember how on the weekends my father would wake us up make breakfast and then start our choirs. After this was complete I would sit down with my father and watch the Formula One Grand Prix event for that weekend. I can still remember how the sport grabbed me when I first watched. I remember the awesome, high-pitched whines of the engines and the breakneck speeds at which the drives went in order to win. I remember such greats as Aryton Senna, Manfred Winklehock, Nelson Piquet and Michael Schmacher flying around the track in access of 200+ miles an hour in their beautifully painted carts trying to outdo one another in one of the greatest and most dangerous motor sport in the world. I can remember how my father and I would sit on the edges of our seats surrounded my junk food and beverages cheering on our favorite racers. My father didn't really have a favorite, he was much more interested in racing itself, but not me. I was intrigued by the racing styles of Aryton Senna and Michael Schmacher because they gave their all on the track. Their two style would set the tone for future drivers of the sport. I can still remember how I wanted to be in that position, taking on the greats from other teams, testing my mental and physical skills against other opponents and winning Grand Prix, uncontested. I can still see myself barreling down straight-aways and hugging hairpin turns with sparks shooting out the back of my cart, muscles straining as I jockey for position. I remember one dream where I passed Mark Donohue and Aryton Senna on the Enzo E Dino circuit in Italy. I can still see his eyes through his helmet as he gave me a "thumbs up" as I took the inside pole position. Sadly though the end of the late 80's and being of the earlier 90's saw some of the most tragic losses to the sport. I can still feel the shock and horror of not being able to fully understand what happened on that fateful weekend when I, along with the world of Formula One watched in horrors as not one but two great drivers died in the San Marino Grand Prix. Roland Ratzenberger died the day before on a practice run and the following day Senna lost control of his cart in turn two and died on impact with a guard barrier. Being so young I couldn't really understand death in motor sports but that day I knew I would never see my hero- Aryton Senna, three times world champion, ever race again. As time passed and I became older the thrill of the sport only grew. The drivers, teams and equipment might have changed but the love of the sport remained the same. Still to this day I watch every race and follow every driver with the same enthusiasm as when I was younger. Every time I here that wonderful engine sound of carts moving down the track still send a chill down my spine and the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. I think back to my heroes past and present and remember those who died doing what they loved. I will always hold a special place in my heart for Formula one and I will always remember those who died trying to achieve greatness on the track. I will always see their smiling faces and cheerful cries as they stood at the podium waving to the fans and toasting with giant bottles of Moet champagne. They were humble and treated each day in the sport as a gift from God. This is for my heroes, and god bless you Aryton, Winklehock, and Ratzenberger, may you rest in peace and thank you for allowing me to see your greatness even if it was cut to short. The sport will not be the same without you and I miss you all so very much. Thank you.

If You Don't Read, You Don't Write

Writing is a funny thing. It's not like basketball or football where it is most essential that you actually play the game to get better. Yes, to be a good writer, you must write often, but you have to read too. You should be reading often and what you read the most is what you're going to sound like. Unfortunately for me, I read news too much, but I also read poetry and novels.

Now, many writers groan at the thought of reading poetry. But how about great contemporary poetry that is in beautiful but plain-as-day language? Have you read that? The reason that I'm asking is that I enjoy poetry more than other writing because it is a read that can be picked up and put back down again every 15 minutes because it takes that long or less to read a poem. Instead of me convincing you, I think you you should consider spending $7-15.00 checking out these well-established veteran writers and poets of Vietnam.

1. Preston H. Hood

An ex-Navy Seal from Team Two who fought in Vietnam writes about war and life and family and more in his book Hallelujah of Listening. His book is a "bucket list" kind of thing. You don't want to miss out and with lines like this one from the Poem, "Opening in the Sky," Before the dead crawl out, I stitch it up/ with the white line of my thinking/ and watch the sunrise. It's hard not to fall in love with his book. And at only 7.00, well, it's one hell of a bargain. I've read it three times already.

You can grab the book here:
http://www.thelostbookshelf.com/index.html

2. W.D. Ehrhart.


Ehrhart is on of the most prolific and genuine writers you'll ever meet. He's got some twenty books out there from collections of essays to Memoirs, and I for one am going to get "Busted." I know "Busted" is about the Coast Guard taking him down for marijuana after Vietnam, but like any good book it's about so much more. I've been reading his poetry, and I don't need to take you past page one of the beautifully put together, Sleeping with the Dead. The poem "What Better Way to Begin," on page 9 of the book is a brilliant introduction to the book. It's about the author taking his daughter to the biggest firework show in Philly, and he knows he's gonna pay in flashbacks for it, but he's going anyway because he knows it will mean so much to his daughter. Her's a little of his poetry, so you can get the ease of style that is Ehrhart's.

What Better Way To Begin


You can just keep your rocket's red glare.
And as for the bombs bursting in air,
with all that noise and fire and smoke
there has to be plenty of jagged steel
looking for someone to hit.

It's the light sarcasm that I love in Ehrhart's poetry. His voice is refreshing where so many other's poetry are too heavy and serious. The book is one great and fast read and the book is a letterpress book that really is gorgeous, like a display piece for your coffee table to horrify unwanted guests the significant other brings over.

You can grab the book and many others by Ehrhart, here:
http://www.spdbooks.org/Producte/0977666700/sleeping-with-the-dead.aspx

and you can read more about Ehrhart here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._D._Ehrhart

3. Dave Connolly


I did not get to read Connolly's book, Lost in America, in it's entirety, and I hear the book is out of print but can be bought on Amazon. Terrific writing. That's what i can say. Much of it is prose poetry in a way that could save the genre. The language, the way it's being told, is the same as if Connolly was speaking to you. He's from South Boston, born raised and there for most his life, so you can imagine what he sounds like when he talk--there's force. Every piece of his that I read was fast and at the end, a gut wrenching punch that is rarely pulled off so well and so well accompanied by a suddenly changed view of the world.

One of Connolly's poems takes us through his first kill in wartime. Then ending lines pack a punch and ring with truth.

Corporal Thach: First Confirmed NVA Kill

Your last reflex
killed the man next to me
but it's your death
I remember.

There's no pride, no regret,
no way I'll forget
your death until mine.

The book can be found on Amazon, here:
http://www.amazon.com/Lost-America-David-CONNOLLY/dp/1885215002

Apparently the book can also be bought here:
http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Book_Contents/Lost_cont.html

Stops and Dialogue

Hello everyone. Glad to be back on the blog with you. Hope the start of your weekend is going well. We’re going to go over a few things today. I’ll start with a short bit about language and how the different letters make different sounds that do different things concerning emotional responses which can really help with how a piece reads. After that, I’ll write to you a little bit about dialogue.

            As we’re going through the phonetics chart we’ll probably tackle it in sections. Feel free to download the picture of the chart that I uploaded last time. I like to have it visible on the screen when I write about it.

         In this post, I want to write about the “Stops.” If you’ll notice, the “Stops” section has two lines for its place of articulation. To explain articulation, let me have you do this. Say, P. Did you notice that when you said “P,” both your lips came together to produce the sound? You’ll find that, b uses the same part of the mouth. So lips being labial (in Latin, I think) plus bi, means two lips. You’ll notice that m on the chart is also bilabial, but is not a “Stop.” We’ll go into it later.

          Now, say t or d and pay attention to how it feels when your mouth makes the sound. Feel your toungue on the roof your mouth? That’s what is called Alveolar,  therefore we have t and d which are Alveolar stops.

          Now, pay attention to the Velar Stops. K as in king, or c as in crack!, and g as in go, not g as in gee, that’s a different sound. We’ll discuss that later. I’m still researching that funny little letter under glottal, but we’ll get back to that later, or maybe if you’re the one insane person who is reading this part of the blog, you’ll want to research this too.

             Now here’s what I want to show you. Read the following sentence aloud:

               

             Slow yourself, alright. You really must live easy, pacing yourself is nice.

        You’ll notice that I’m not using passive language here so this sentence still has some strength. But say the next one aloud and tell me you don’t notice the difference.

Stop, okay. You must take life slow and find a good groove.

        You’ll notice there are only 3 sounds from the stop group in the first sentence, but there are 11 stop sounds in the second sentence. Say them both. Doesn’t the second have a harder, more urgent sound to it? Also, you’ll notice I did not use any “ing” sounds in the second sentence. Often, “ing” sounds can slow a sentence like an “ly” sound can, but sometimes they add rhythm. Like, “was walking and talking and chewing and falling, ‘cause I was doing too much thinking.”

            

         Well, that wraps up the section on sounds in language for today.

Okay, now for a bit about dialogue.

Here’s a crappy dialogue.

Sarah, how are you today?” I exclaimed excitedly!

“I am fine. It is a nice day today, is it not?” Sarah said very happily.

“It is very pretty today, and it is going to get nicer, I have heard. It is what the radio said,” I told her nervously.

“My friends and I will be going to a picnic later. We will all have a great time. It is at the house that John lives in. We do not date anymore,” she bashfully told me.

It’s not just bad because it’s boring. It’s bad because it is not dialogue. People don’t speak like that. Now watch, I’ll change this terrible dialogue to speech, then we’ll address those awful dialogue tags.

Sarah, how’re you?” I exclaimed excitedly!

“I’m fine. It’s a nice day, isn’t it?” Sarah said very happily.

“It’s pretty today, and I’ve heard it’s gonna get nicer. That’s what the radio said,” I told her nervously.

“My friends and I’ll be going to a picnic later. We’ll all have a great time. It’s at the house that John lives in. We don’t date anymore,” she bashfully told me.

Do you see the difference a syncope can make? Like ‘cause instead of because. Now, of course, you don’t want to do this for every character all the time, but we all use contractions or a syncope somewhere in our speech. No one speaks that awful form of grammar they teach us in highschool.

Now for the next part. Dialogue tags. 

Sarah, how’re you?” I asked.

Sarah smiled at me and said, “I’m fine. It’s a nice day, isn’t?”

I looked at my feet and shuffled them, then back at her and said with a face full of crimson, “It’s pretty today, and I’ve it’s going to get nicer. That’s what the radio said.” Sarah’s smile got bigger and I swear I saw a twinkle in them.

“My friends and I’ll be going to a picnic later. We’ll all have a great time. It’s at the house that John lives in. We don’t date anymore,” She said, and her face turned red as mine. We looked away from each other, and the silence between us grew.

Now, arguably, this belongs in a bad YA novel, but answer honestly, which of these three dialogues would you rather read? I’ll choose the third because the contractions make the speech more normal and the dialogue tags aren’t as ridiculous the second time around. Truthfully, try to stick to she/he said or asked. Leave that exclaimed and shouted and yelled that hold hands with bad adverbs out as much as possible. They kill dialogue, although sometimes, we are stuck with them and when we are, it’s fine.

Anyway, I hope this helps you. By the way, I should be over 40,000 new words into the summer novel and at least five or six poems into the new chapbook by the end of the weekend.

If any of you have topics you would like me to discuss, please email me at wadejoseph86@yahoo.com,

Or you can contact my Facebook here: www.facebook.com/JosephWadepoems, or my twitter @wadejoseph86

Or, you can check out my blog and find anything from personal articles on OWS to random crap musings addressed to myself, to other articles posted. www.josephwade.com