f/k/a archives . . . real opinions & real haiku

 

What can I say about a Sunday that includes: hand-delivery, by

the venerable (and affable) Yu Chang himself, of the newest edition

of Upstate Dim Sum (2005/II); a pancake brunch with ample

portions of good coffee, good conversation and traditional diner-

style people-watching; a nice early autumn nap; and the early 

arrival of the jointly produced Carnival of the Capitalists #107 

and Blawg Review #29, hosted by Blawg Review’s own, omni-

present Ed-nonymous Editor?  I can say: darn good Sunday —

except, it’s 10 PM and I haven’t done any posting yet today.

 

With no additional ado, here’s a good helping of haiku by

Ithacan, and Route 9 Haikuist Tom Clausen, from the newest

Upstate Dim Sum:

 

 

my mistakes —

no matter how many

coats of paint

 

 

 

 

 

in the car singing

until I’m passed

and seen …

 

 

 

 

 

 

last sandwich

from the loaf

the two ends

 

 

Tom Clausen from Upstate Dim Sum (2005/II);

 

 

• 
  
  from dagosan: 

when did that happen?

the river appears

through leafless branches

 

 

[Oct. 23, 2005]

 

 

potluck

   How does Steve Bainbridge find time for Mass, and still  

get in all those anti–Harriet posts over a weekend– despite taking the time

to hunt up all his good press and engage in some self-congratulation? 

Were I a Bible-quotin’ kinda guy, I’d be wondering how the Sermon on the

Mount fits in with all this Harriet-bashing (before the hearings, even), and

I might even do a chart featuring the Seven Deadly Sins v. the Neo-Cons.

Find inter-faith information on pride, envy, wrath, gluttony etc., here.

“witchbrewS” update (Oct. 24, 2005):  Prof. B. wrote in to remind me

that he also

“took time out to mix up a mean batch of Kansas City Steak Soup 

this weekend.” 

I’d hate to think what he was mumbling while stirring that boiling

stew — and just what got chopped and diced in the process. 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                         “witchbrewSF”

 

 

On an overcast Saturday, would you rather read more

negative stuff about Harriet Miers, see “snarky” remarks

about Cultural Protection at Mirror of Justice, or enjoy

some great senryu and haiku from Ed Markowski? I’m

with you:

 

 

 

house of mirrors

a different woman enters

every reflection

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

house of mirrors

i promise my wife

i’ll change

 

 

 

 

bells in the fog

i clearly recall

the toll of bourbon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“absolut control”

as if i could ever

stop at one

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

above the Atlantic

this desire to pee

on the side of the road

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

moonrise

the clatter of a roller coaster

climbing up the track

 

  ed markowski

“moonrise” – Mainichi Daily News (Nov. 2005)

 

 

• 
  
  by dagosan                                               

late for dinner

pasta

way past al dente

 

 

[Oct. 22, 2005]

 

 

                                                                                                        

 

 

 

. . . and, posting old Brooks (and loving it):

 

first kiss

deep in the woods . .

sunbeams filter down

 

 

load of seedwheat–

pumping old brakes

all the way down the hill

 

 

 

 

 

day of atonement . . .
the weight of crabapples
bent to the ground

 

 

 

 

 

 

autumn rain . . .
the last of the dust
brought to earth

 

Randy Brooks 

“autumn rain . . .” – Tasting Vintage Haiku (World Haiku Review)  

“day of atonement” – Modern Haiku (Spring 2004)

“load of seedwheat” & “first kiss” – from School’s Out (1999) 

 

• 
  
  by dagosan                                               

 

first cold morning —

river mist mixes

with car exhaust

 

 

 

first cold day

torn index finger

on last year’s glove

 

[Oct. 21, 2005]

 

 

 Hurricane Wilma, go away.

 

  It’s 4:55 PM on a Friday — who cares what’s happening

in the Miers confirmation?  Right now, not I.  Have a

great weekend.  That means you, too, Prof. B.

 

  Out of breath.  Naptime.

 

                                                                                                             “napperGraySmN”

Realtors like receiving that large, uniform commission — usually 6

or 7 percent of the purchase price — every time they sell a home.

Therefore, they dislike discount brokers, and particularly those who

unbundle services and let home sellers pay a flat fee for each

service or option package. Of course, if the realtors conspired together

to exclude, punish or otherwise disadvantage cut-rate or fee-for-service

brokers, they would violate the antitrust laws.

However, realtor associations have found a sword against discount brokers and a shield against the antitrust laws:  They’ve been successfully lobbying state legislators, who have dutifully enacted so-called “minimum service laws” (in the name of consumer protection, of course), which require brokers to provide a broad set of services, regardless of whether the consumer wants or needs them.  Because trade associations can lobby without violating the antitrust laws (under the Noerr-Pennington doctrine), and they receive “Parker“ or State Action immunity from the antitrust laws for conduct that is required under a state law, consumers in many states have no antitrust protection against minimum-service laws, and now face fewer choices and higher fees when they sell or buy a home.

Oklahoma passed a minimum-services law in June, and its realtors seem to be maneuvering for regulations that are even more restrictive than the statute (“Antitrust officials watching minmum service real estate laws,

Inman News, Oct. 19, 2005). Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed such a law in June,

effective Sept. 1, 2005, causing alternative brokers having to increase their prices and remove some options (“Flat-fee brokers adapt to new real estate law,” Inman News, Oct., 12, 2005). Alabama joined the consumer sell-out in August — with realtor clout demonstrated by a 35 – 0 vote in the Senate and 95 -1 vote in the House.  (States snub Justice Department’s antitrust complaints (Inman News, Aug. 10, 2005).    Ohio and Wisconsin are currently considering similar laws.

Although consumer advocacy efforts by the Federal Trade Commission

and Department of Justice, in each of the above states, have proven fruitless

(e.g., their Letter re Texas legislation earlier this year), the agencies submitted

a Letter this week (Press Release, Oct. 20,2005) to the state Senate in the

newest battle ground – Michigan.

The FTC/DOJ Letter to Michigan legislators gives this background (at 4):

“It is becoming increasingly common for home sellers and home buyers to want some, but not all, of the traditional brokerage services.  For example, some sellers might want help advertising their homes, but want to negotiate the sale price themselves.  Such consumers might prefer to pay a real estate professional only for the service of listing their homes in the local MLS [multi-

ple listing service] and placing advertisements in local media.  Other consumers might find a buyer without assistance, but would like to hire a real estate professional to assist them with the negotiation of the sales price or with the paperwork required to close the transaction.  The marketplace is evolving in response to these consumers.  Real estate professionals who are willing to provide a customized subset or menu of a la carte services have emerged in Michigan and throughout the country.  These “fee-for-service” or “menu-driven” business models are currently legal under Michigan law and typically enable consumers to save thousands of dollars because the consumers pay only for those services they want.”

The legislation proposed in Michigan (HB 4849) would require brokers acting

“pursuant to a service provision agreement creating an exclusive agency relationship” to,

at a minimum,provide (a) marketing services for the seller in the manner agreed upon in the

agreement; (b) the acceptance of delivery and presentation of offers and counteroffers; (c)

assistance in developing, communicating, negotiating, and presenting offers, counteroffers

and related documents, until agreement is reached and all contingencies satisfied; (d) assis-

tance necessary to complete the transaction under the terms specified in the purchase

agreement; and (e) furnishing and completing the legally-required closing statement.

FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras noted:

“Consumers should have a choice in the level of real estate

services that best meets their needs. . . The bill likely would

take away lower-price choices and also likely increase the

prices of full-service real estate services.”

Thomas O. Barnett, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the DOJ’s

Antitrust Division, added: “Consumers deserve to receive the full benefits of

competition – greater choices and better services – in order to meet their real

estate needs.”  In their joint submittal, the agencies point out that there is no

evidence that options available in the current broker marketplace has caused

consumer injury.

The f/k/a gang wants to add that consumers always face some  “emptypocketsS”

level of potential risk, when they purchase lower-priced products

or services, but they should be allowed those choices, subject to

a strong showing that the risk is unacceptable.  That is especially

true in situations, like here, where consumers have such varied needs

and capacities (for example, many Americans are capable of drafting

their own fact sheets, and printing them at-home, and of talking price

with potential buyers).  Furthermore, there is a very real risk that any

mandated package includes unneeded services sold at an articifially

high price.

As Mark Ijlal mentioned at his weblawg last week, many parts of

Michigan can expect to face housing market slumps in the near future, due to

the troubles of companies like Delphi and Ford, which will bring countless layoffs

and immeasurable uncertainties.  If Michigan’s Realtors have their way, those

forced to sell their homes at the bottom of the market will have fewer ways to

save money on brokerage services.  But, they can feel so good about all that

extra paternalistic protection, courtesy of their smiling Realtors.

moving day

the other men

in her life

John Stevenson

Ken Wallis, chief legal adviser to Alabama’s governor, explained, it “was just a

no-brainer” to approve their state’s new real estate law, because “The average

seller has to have additional assistance in a transaction.” Wallis added:

“There are 100 things that the average seller does not know, and

somebody’s got to help them with it. It’s no different than paying a

doctor’s fee or a dentist’s fee. You’ve got to have those services and

the public benefits from having a good agent or broker to handle their

transaction for them. The governor’s interest in this matter was deciding

if the law was in the best interests of the public.”

On the behalf of the helplessly grateful residents of Alabama, we thank you, Gov.

Bob Riley.

I know the realtor trade groups have lawyers working to get these laws

passed. And legislative and executive branch counsel are kowtowing to the Realtors.

Are any lawyers doing anything to protect the rights of home buyers and sellers?  Or,

is the Bar so paralyzed by its own dependence on anticompetitive guild tactics (such

as barring non-lawyers from performing real estate closings), and so blinded by its

own addiction to standard contingency fees, that it is embarrassed to come to the

assistance of consumers who have no lobbying clout and no political action committees?

• Note: On Nov. 8, 2005, the American Antitrust Institute
  is holding a “Symposium on Competition in the Residential
  Real Estate Brokerage Industry.”

updates:

(Nov. 8, 2006)Ssee our brokers, commissions, renovations. written

after attending the above-referenced AAI Symposium.

(Jan. 15, 2006): Lobbying to Sell Your House, NYT, by Glen Justice,

Jan. 12, 2006  [via Matt Homann

one last look

through the old apartment

a dry sponge

since you moved

just a road

I don’t go down

her eyes narrow,

seeing for the first time

my little home

John Stevenson

Quiet Enough (Red Moon Press, 2004)

Even more than usual, my attention seems to be blown from

place to place lately by the slightest changes in atmospheric

pressure.  It’s no surprise, then, that the august RiskProf’s

allusion yesterday to Wilma Flintstone sent me way off course

this morning.

 

As you know, Martin Grace’s expertise is insurance risk, so he’s 

supposed to be worrying about Hurricane Wilma.  Our expertise

is a bit less focused around here.  Please don’t think, though, that

my clicking through to A Flintstones World was a complete waste

of time. Besides re-acquainting myself with some of my favorite

cartoon characters, I was inspired to learn more about hurricane

names at National Hurricane Center‘s website (plus a FEMA page

for kids).

 

Here are some of my discoveries [you can find the original Flintstones’

images, and many more, here]:

The cumbersome latitude-longitude identification

method for Atlantic tropical storms was changed in 1953

to a system using names.  Originally organized by the U.S. 

National Hurricane Center, the lists are now maintained 

and updated — in a nice example of bureaucracy-creep

and/or global political correctness — by an international

committee of the World Meteorological Organization.

 

  There are six rotating lists of names, with 21 names

each. Wilma is the 21st storm of the year, so any additional

tropical storms this season will “take names from the Greek

alphabet: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and so on.”

 

In 1979, there was one gigantic step for gender equality

(I remember it well), when male names were added to lists

that had previously been solely female names.

 

The 6th named Atlantic storm in 2009 will be Fred. 

The list used in 2004 will start the next cycle in 2010.

 

The names of hurricanes can be English, Spanish or French,

the major languages in the regions where the storms occur.

“The only time that there is a change in the list is if a storm is

so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different

storm would be inappropriate for reasons of sensitivity.”

 

  I am very happy to say that neither Betty

nor Barney are on the six lists of assigned names — eliminating

Rubble jokes.  Rubble isn’t very funny this year.

 

Warning: Silliness and Bad Pun Alert.  The following

may not be suitable for those prone to queasiness or

stuffiness.

 

While checking out the Flintstones World site, I freshed my recollection

of some of their guest characters and inventions, and cool cars.  It got me

thinking: Although the term Bouldersphere hadn’t been coined in the Flintstones’

era, it seems to be populated by people who remind me quite a bit of some

prominent members of the Blawgisphere.  For example:

 

It was RiskProf Martin F. Grace (photo above), who started us on 

this tangent to Bedrock.   Don’t you think he favors the lovable Mr. Slate?  (What

does that “F” stand for?) update: Martin informs me the “F” stands for neither Fred

nor Flintstone, but Francis.

 

“spacelyG” orig.

 

update update (Oct. 21, 2005): Prof. Grace(ly) confesses

over at RiskProf that he’s really a Spacely Jetsonian — I don’t

know whether or not that makes him Supreme Court material,

but Prof. Barneybridge probably has an opinion on that subject. 

(Of course, a goatee did not help Juge Bork any.)  Did Slate and

Spacely meet in the 1987 movie The Jetsons Meet the Flinstones?

To be honest, Your Editor can’t quite image the fun-loving RisqueProf

being as irritable and Scrooge-like as Mr. Spacely — or Mr. Slate. 

 

  Have you noticed how much Prof. Barneybridge loves his cars,

and his pets?

 

What about that very artsy weblogging lawyer in Pasadino, CA.? 

 

  And, who is the Ann, who so bewitched Fred and Barney? Could

she be that siren from Bed & Bedrock who can also be found Between Layers?

 

Don’t forget the many gadgets so beloved by the Hanna-Blawgbera Gang. 

Could the arm in that picture belong to Iron Svenstone?  Evan Stoner?

 

Finally, maybe we should all be a bit suspicious of the crusty haijin blawgger,

who so loves fireflies — and hangs out with Prof. Yabba-dag-adieu.   As Arsenio

Hallstone, Wilma’s favorite nighttime host, likes to say, It makes you go, hmmmm.

“fredlight”

 

too cold for fireflies — 

campfire sparks

float over the rocks

 

 

dagosan

 

the old days . . .
autumn colors
black and white

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

his headstone

rises with the moon

above the silence

 

 

 

 

crows—
hard to tell if they are
laughing or not

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

oh joy!
kidney stones
skipping across the water

 

 

Andrew Riutta

“crows–” and “oh joy!” from Simply Haiku (Autumn 2005)

“the old days” – for Linda Chambers

“his headstone” – Full Moon Magazine (2005)

 

• 
  
  by dagosan:   

Kashmir’s children

atop the rubble

under the rubble

[Oct. 20, 2005]  

 

 

 

 

  from Morden Haiku (Oct. 18, 2005):

strategy planning
crows disappear
into the slates

 

         Matt Morden

            

  Don’t forget to get your free download

of David G. Lanoue’s new haiku novel Dewdrop World.                    

 

                                                                                                                    orig.

                                                                                   

Earlier today, the Supreme Court of New Jersey reversed the “gag” rule

imposed on those who file ethics complaints against lawyers, declaring it

unconstitutional.  The rule had threatened individuals with criminal contempt,

for disclosing that they had filed a grievance against a lawyer unless and until

a formal complaint is filed by bar counsel.  R.M. vs. the Supreme Court of New

Jersey (A-89-04) (see HALT Newsletter, Oct. 19, 2005; our prior post, “Omerta

in New Jersey”)

 

  In its opinion (per Justice Zazzali), the Court stated:

“[T]he public is entitled to this information, entitled to know of charges
against attorneys, entitled to know who is the subject of those charges,
and, most of all, entitled to know how the system is working. It is their
system, not ours, not the attorneys’; it is their system just as is the
rest of the justice system.’”

As HALT reported, “Opponents of victims’ right to free speech argued that New 
Jersey’s “gag” rule was necessary to maintain the reputation of individual lawyers
and the legal profession. The court responded:

“Shielding dismissed grievances behind a permanent wall of silence does
less to ‘enhance respect’ for the legal profession and the ethics process
than it does to ‘engender resentment, suspicion, and contempt.’”

This echoes what f/k/a stated back in May:

To the N.J. Court and Bar: “Please give up the decoder and pinky

rings.  Secrecy breeds contempt, not respect.  No More Omerta.”

 

p.s. The same goes for Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Montana,

Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota and Washington, which have 

similar gag rules — and the 27 state grievance committees that

strongly advise or request consumers to keep their grievances

secret.

 

The Court says the new rule will apply to all pending grievances, but not to completed

matters.  Over objections by three of the seven justices, the majority chose not to

remand the case to the Professional Responsibility Rules Committee to review whether

the removal of confidentiality should be accompanied by a lifting of the current absolute

immunity for grievants.

 

 

                                                                                                      “muzzleMate!S”

                                                                                                        need a gag muzzle?

 

                                                                                                         

 

While I’ve been goofing off today, Yu Chang

has been down the road at Union College

doing his professor (electrical engineering)

shtick.  It’s a good thing he left a bagful of

haiku for this aging slacker to share with you:

 

 

vivid dreams

the din of a garbage truck

drives you away

 

 

 

 

turning over

a dead leaf

an earthworm twitches

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flamenco dancer

the old planks

resonate

 

 

 

 

 

 

giving color

to a dry reed

blackbird

 

 

 

Yu Chang 

from Upstate Dim Sum (2004/II)

 

 

 

• 
  
  by dagosan:                                               

my “funeral suit”

too snug —

someday, it’ll be baggy

                           [Oct. 19, 2005]

potluck

  As Prof. B notes today, now it’s Bork doing the Borking —

skewering Harriet Miers.   Meanwhile, Prof. Ann Althouse takes

the Democrats to task for going soft on Miers, saying they are

showing their disrespect for the judiciary — as Pres. Bush. has

done — by giving Miers a pass.  I still don’t understand the push

for a rush to judgment.  

 

  Is Evan being too sensitive?  Ted too judgmental?  Evan

Schaeffer wrote this morning at Legal Underground about Ted

Frank’s Point of Law piece on Vioxx forum shopping in Illinois.

Evan is not happy about the “subtle tone of moral condemnation.”

I invite our readers to check out both pieces and let us all know

whether you think Evan is being too sensitive.  Here’s the Comment

that I left at Evan’s weblog:

Evan, When I originally read Ted’s post, I thought he was

complaining about the way the system works (what it

allows) much more than about the lawyers. After reading

your post and then re-reading Ted’s I still feel that way.

 

. . There really is a fine line to walk, and you’re right that

it is particularly hard to do so in the context of a weblog,

where staying short and punchy and opinionated is

considered a virtue. In the context of an adversarial legal

system, I think a thick skin is important — especially when

having a thin skin makes it look like you might be trying to

win points by attacking the other person rather than addressing

the policy issues. 

 

It’s a tightrope shaped like a vicious circle.  (update: here is

Ted’s admittedly “wordy” response to Evan.)

 

                                                                                                     

 

 

Lisa Stone recently reminded us that she’s “no attorney.”  But,

she certainly does cyber-hang with a lot of them at the Law.com

Weblog Network.  Would one of them please explain to her why

a judge

 

just might — appropriately — have a different opinion

on an issue [or the outcome of the judicial or legislative

process relating to that issue] than he or she has as a

private citizen or as

 

                                                                   a politician “Vote neg” .

 

Therefore, despite Lisa’s post today, we cannot and should

not know how Harriet Miers would vote when presented with

abortion-related issues, simply by knowing her stance as a

politician in 1989. (See, e.g., A Matter of Interpretation, by

Antonin Scalia, 1987; cf., The Federalist Papers.)

 

update (9:30 PM):  Lisa has added this to her post, in response

to my above complaint:

“Updated graph: Sorry, but I think the selling of this

particular candidate in the past week–both over and

under-the-counter–makes this appropriate distinction

of roles (so appropriate-sounding with the nomination

of Roberts, who worked for Reagan and then served

as a judge) sound disingenuous where Miers is concerned. “

I just emailed Lisa, saying that making the distinction is the only

appropriate reply that the White House or any other interested

parties should be making, and adding: “We shouldn’t expect a direct

answer to the abortion question, even at the nomination hearings.  

Your take on this in today’s post sounds more like a journalist trying

to create a controversy than one trying to help explain an important

public issue.” 

 

update (Oct. 19, 2005): Steve Bainbridge made my point nicely

today, in a post titled “Will She or Won’t She?“:

“I start with the hope that Miers’ 1989 statement does not

tell us how she will rule. In my book (or, more precisely,

my article), judges are not supposed to decide cases

based on personal political policy preferences. They are

supposed to try to figure out what the law is, which in the

case of Roe means looking at the text of the Constitution,

the intent of the framers, and the traditions of our country

(i.e., originalism, textualism, and traditionalism). One thus

can readily imagine a judge who would vote to support a

state ban on abortions and then turn around and, in his

capacity as a judge, strike that very same law down because

the judge believes stare decisis requires him or her to adhere

to Roe.”

 

• 
  
  by dagosan:                                               

running for judge —

she practices

her braille

 

                           [Oct. 18, 2005]

 

 

 

 

 

It’s been difficult finding a topic for punditry today.  I was impressed 

yesterday by the RiskProf’s suggestion that the next Fed Chairman

might come from the Texas Cosmetology Advisory Board.  So, I

surfed over there this morning.  The Board’s Presiding Officer is

Clive Lamb.  “Chairman Lamb” should have a nice docile ring to it

for the President.  [Prof. B. also thinks GW Bush might pick a

crony.] 

 I just saw the tagline on the masthead of the

Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation – it says “the

 umbrella licensing agency of the State of Texas.”  Do you

mean to say that umbrellas are more regulated than handguns

or shotguns in Texas?  They really do need Kinky Friedman

for Governmor.  

I’m still waiting for someone to explain why the constant demand

for their own seat on the Supreme Court by all the cranial-conservo-

crybabies isn’t asking for a quota, or at least affirmative action.  How-

ever, I’m not going to waste more pixel-space on the topic until some-

thing important takes place in the Miers’ confirmation process.

 

Therefore, instead of worrying about cronies and quotas,

I’m going to help address a recent deficit at this website:

not enough haiku from DeVar Dahl.   We have no quota

for Canadian artistry — just for quality one-breath poems:

 

 

 

 

the crisp wings

of an old dragonfly

autumn sunset

 

 

 

 

dull pencil

    the staff meeting

    goes on and on

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

autumn winds
pine cones roll
under the fence

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

heat wave–
the cow’s udder
hangs in the pond

                         

 

 

 

 DeVar Dahl

“the crisp wings” – Snapshots Magazine #10 (2004)

“autumn winds” – hon men., WHC Shiki Haiku Poems Contest

“dull pencil” – Haiku Canada Newsletter 16:1

“heat wave” – from Basho Mem. Museum (English selections, 2005)

 

 

 

 

• 
  
  by dagosan   

autumn cycle

one red and one brown

sock in the tub

 

 

 

two rainbows

in one day —

no one to tell

 

[Oct. 18, 2005]  

  If you haven’t been over to haikupoet.com lately,

click on through, to see the latest bunch of October haiku by

paul david mena, with photos by mary melodee mena.  Being

partial to Einstein’s quote about plaid pants, I must dissent,

however, to the notion expressed in this haiku.

 

                                                                                                                                              

 

Xavier University Professor David G. Lanoe was one of the many thousands
displaced from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina.   A month ago, we were
happy to report that David, one of our first Honored Guest poets, and our much-
utilized Issa Translator, was safe in his hometown of Omaha, and using the forced
sabbatical productively — working on his latest novel, Haiku Wars, and translating

many more Issa poems. 

this world
is a dewdrop world
yes… but…
                          
        —Issa (“Cup-of-Tea”)

Over the weekend, we received more great news: David — author of two highly-  “Haiku Guy neg”
acclaimed haiku novels, Haiku Guy  (2000) and Laughing Buddha (2004) — has
finished and published (on October 17th) another long-contemplated novel, called
Dewdrop World.  Even better, although he plans to publish Dewdrop World in printed
form, David is making the novel available for dowloading free in pdf format (362 KB). 

Here’s how David explains his decision:

  “Throughout my hurricane exile, the kind support from friends,
family and  strangers has been truly amazing. This sneak preview is my
small way of saying thanks to all who have helped the citizens of New
Orleans in our time of need. arigatou gozaimashita!”

the city Care forgot
is drowning, Care
remembered

      david g. lanoue

“lanoueSelf”  In June 2004, I shared my delight after reading Haiku Guy, saying: “This
slim volume entertains and captivates, while wistfully teaching ‘about love,
poetry and just what it all might mean.’  Along the way, it weaves in dozens
of one-breath poems that will make haiku afficionados smile, and turn the
haiku-illiterate into haiku addicts.” It has adventure, romance, time travel,
and more.  (You can read the first two chapters here.)   I have often given
both Haiku Guy and Laughing Buddha as gifts, making quite a few new Lanoue
fans.

Because I wanted to write this post right away, I haven’t finished Dewdrop World.  But, it
seems clear that David has “done it again.”   If you haven’t read his prior books, please
do yourself a big favor and check out Dewdrop World.   You’ll soon be a fan, too.

[see the update below for a brief description of the haiku novel Dewdrop World.]

  Here are a few of the fine haiku and senryu that you will find in
Dewdrop World:

 

it’s good
to be a horse
the sweet meadow 

 

 

 

balcony view
the blonde’s
black roots 

 

playing their parts 
on the paper screen
spider, fly

                                                 

 

one last teatime
for the autumn
butterfly 

 

after meeting the turtle
every rock
a suspect

  lanoue/chiara

cleansing my ears
for music
quiet mountain

 

David G. Lanoue from Dewdrop World (2005)

                                                                                                                   

update (Oct. 18, 3 PM):  David Lanoue just sent me this

brief description of Dewdrop World:

 

In Dewdrop World we follow the drunken Poet in Green, Mido,

on an adventure in Old Japan in which he finds himself to be

the unlikely protector of a runaway geisha. Meanwhile, in modern

New Orleans, the narrator has his own share of problems, as he

has fallen in love (lust?) with the mysterious, maybe crazy,

girlfriend of a local drug lord.

 

Dewdrop World asks the same question that Buck-Teeth’s haiku

master Cup-of-Tea asked when his children died, one by one:

How can we keep on living (and smiling) in this “dewdrop world”

where everything and everyone, including all whom we love, must

fade away?