attempts to come alive

set aside for lustful and low pleasures

cast down by unrest and bitter thoughts

a soul disquieted


                                a life of their own     in their whirling they ran

             a glowing cigarette tip


                                              a soft peal in the darkness

              a high throaty voice

unrest issued like a wave of sound

     sentiment of the opening       languor       supple movement
  hear the faint rhythm of the music
the door again

A brief note on translations and translators.

One of my favorite things to read is Russian literature. I love it. However I wish I KNEW Russian, I think it would make the experience much better because then I could just read it in Russian and have no need for a translator. This is because the same phrase can be read multiple ways, and things like simile, metaphor, alliteration, ect. get lost in a translation.

Here’s a quick example.

「朝焼けの光の中に立つ影は〜」

translates into

"Standing in the light of sunrise shadow is ~"
"As for the shadow which stands in light of the morning glow -"
"In the morning burns that light into stand shadow wa? the and that "
"Shadow stand in the light of the morning glow ~"
"Standing in the shadows in the light of the sunrise"

These are from various online translators, and most of them make complete sentences. But man is the feeling different.

Personally I like the last one the best. But it’s these little differences that can make or break prose and poetry. This is why; if at all possible, the translator should be the writer, or a writer who knows about the culture he/she is translating from.

And then imagine translating it back into another language…it’s like that copier example, where the picture gets more and more distorted as you copy it more and more. Only imagine copying something like the Mona Lisa all by hand, then copying your copy by hand. Things get messed up pretty fast.

So! If you ever read something in translation, make sure to see how the translation is! It may make or break your reading experience.

Why working minimum wage sucks.

There are so many reasons why minimum wage sucks, I’m going to try and lay them all out.

1.)  The places that pay minimum wage suck.  McDonalds doesn’t even pay minimum wage any more (well the ones near me don’t).  Which means that the places that DO pay minimum wage are about on par with it.  This generally means fast food, cook work, cashier, bag boy work, ect. 

2.) You get paid crap.  It’s minimum wage for a reason.  If you work 40 hours a week 52 weeks a year you can make a little over 16 grand.  Except most places won’t work you 40, it’s too close to ovettime, so 30-35 is the most you’ll work (12 to 14 grand respectively).  If you’re unlucky and you get a job that ONLY takes part time, you’re looking at 8, maybe 10 grand a year. 

3.) It’s crap work.  Minimum wage is some of the most ungrateful work you can do.  Not just because you’re working for cheap while the people above you make a killing off of exploiting you, but people treat you like crap too.  It’s the “The Customer is always right” motto that has made minimum wage such shit.  This motto means a customer can complain about anything and even try to get someone fired for nothing. 

I’ve a good example of this, at Kinkos I was putting together something for a project and this lady was having a hard time working her computer.  She turned to a Kinkos guy who was working on something and demanded help, he told her in just a minute once he finished what he was doing and she went nuts.  “I’m paying for this every minute and you refuse to help me!  I want to see your manager!” ect.  The guy just wanted to get to a stopping point to help her out but she went nuts.  I understand where she was coming from but still it doesn’t give you an excuse to be an ass.  And that happens every day to people who work minimum wage. 

Here’s the problem though.  You can’t raise minimum wage.  When you do all it does is raise inflation and then minimum wage still sucks.  The only thing to do really is be nice to people and don’t treat people how you don’t want to be treated.  I like that saying better than “Treat people how you want to be treated.” Because it means you don’t have to be nice, but it also means you shouldn’t be an ass. 

What means most to people, just ask “How are you today” to your host/hostess, or cashier.  They’ll appreciate it.  

Reflection (work in progress)

The way in was necessary

The way in was easy

Deeper and deeper

there an echo, a feeling

The most oppressive thing is being forced to live this life

By fortune and glory

And god, hold me

Leaving this world, my crimes against humanity

My eyes are caught in the rain

In so much as to say, to see, what could have been

Sinking into the abyss

I live in a prison of my own demise. 

to stay would spell disaster

To go any further would be worse

Leaving the light behind I turn

To go any further would be worse

to stay would spell disaster

I live in a prison of my own demise. 

Sinking into the abyss

In so much as to say, to see, what could have been

My eyes are caught in the rain

Leaving this world, my crimes against humanity

And god, hold me

By fortune and glory

The most oppressive thing is being forced to live this life

There is an echo, a feeling

Deeper and deeper

The way in was easy

The way in was necessary

Restaurant review: The Beach House, Fort Collins

Food, can’t live with out it. Unfortunately, good food costs money. And where as I can get by on Ramen and rice it’s not exactly an ideal lifestyle. The way I see it, good food doesn’t just feed you, it feeds the soul.

Of course there’s always a catch to food. My girlfriend calls me a picky eater. And it’s probably true. I’ll try anything once, but if I don’t like something I’ll avoid it.

That being said, when I find a good restaurant I find a good restaurant. What do I define as good? Good food, good service, good price, good atmosphere. Pretty much in that order. For me, the number one most important thing is the food. It doesn’t mater if the service is crap, or if it’s a bit pricy. IF the food’s good I’ll eat there. With certain limitations of course, I wont spend $80 if it’s crap service, and I wont wait an hour to place my order. But other than that food reigns supreme.

Just today I ate at such a place that I felt I should write about it. Up in Fort Collins there’s a relatively new restaurant named The Beach House Grill. The place replaces the old Stonehouse Grill, replacing Scottish theme with an Island themed place. We got there, and got seated right away, the waitress was nice and the atmosphere was good, albeit a bit cheesy (a mannequin put into a wet suit hanging from the ceiling “snorkeling” is a bit too much for me).

The food was a bit pricy. $8 burger, $10 for a “Torta” (sandwich type thingy. I got a Cuban :D). One thing that I really hate that’s been a rising trend in the midscale restaurants is charging a lot for drinks. I understand charging two bucks for a soda, but some places are up to three dollars for a drink. Personally I think it’s ridiculous but hey, they have to nickel and dime you some way. Here the drinks were $2.50, and that’s about where I draw the line, but I’m a sucker for Iced tea.

The food was good, actually it was really good, and my sandwich was HUGE, like at least a pound of meat and toppings. The girlfriend got a hamburger (protein style because she can’t have gluten). She said it was good and it had big lettuce for the lettuce wrap (which is kind of rare in restaurants). On top of that they didn’t charge to ‘upgrade’ to sweet potato fries like most places do.

The service the whole time was spot on. I’m not sure if it’s because that’s how it is or if it’s because it was kinda slow. Either way I can’t complain about the service.

Overall I give the Beach House an 8.5 out of 10, the place was good, but a bit pricy. I’d recommend trying it sometime!

Blog Status Update

I’m back! After the trip, then working, then getting sick, it’s been a while.

I’m trying something new-ish. Every Sunday I’m going to post some of my writing. Last Sunday was an older poem of mine from class. I’m going to try to write NEW poems and NEW stories, but if I can’t I get to use old writing until I run out. Don’t worry, I wont subject any of you to crappy high school love poems I promise.

So lets come back with a post about food. I love food.

The History of Coprolites

We             f

                   a

                   l

                   l

and crash onto

the abyssal plain, and be come calcareous marl

                        the brackish sediment all around us on the edge

                                                of the shelf, in the middle of the rise

to be buried in turbidity

           

we are patient.

and wait.

we are

            subducted

and added,

                        an accretion.

compressed conglomerate

we wait.

time has no end

                                    no beginning

                        no purpose

and then in molten ballet

            we dance

                        two

                                    three

            one foot to the

left

                        another to the right

PressureBuildsAndInOne

full of awe

moment

we are                                     air

                                    and we

                                                            Fly.

No new posts

No new posts for the next few days. I'm visiting the Girlfriend in Denver and don't have the time to write a new post. Don't worry though, I'll wrap up the Ecuador trip shortly after I get back. Also, I'm working on a new post titled, "Freedom of Speech is Death to Poetry". Sounds like fun huh?

On a side note, mobile posting is a pain in the butt.