f/k/a . . .

After revealing last week that our Central Library would close in a few weeks for up to 18 months as part of its expansion project (see our prior post), Schenectady County officials apparently saw the signs of public outrage on the wall and trembled. They announced yesterday that they will be seeking bids on two alternative renovation plans that they believe “can limit closings to a matter of weeks, which could be staggered or broken up to minimize patron disruption.” See “Library construction plans change: Facility will not close July 1; county seeking new bids” (Schenectady Daily Gazette, by Tatiana Zarnowski, May 10, 2008); and “Plan reduces library closure: Schenectady County officials adjust plan to limit service disruption” (Albany Times Union, May 11, 2008)

The TU reported this morning that: “Susan E. Savage, Schenectady County Legislature chairwoman, said in a prepared statement contractors are being asked to respond to both the original bid specifications and two alternate bids meant to lower costs and shorten the period when the main branch will be closed.” The article explained that:

“One alternate plan focuses on replacing major systems in the building including removing asbestos, installing a new heating and air-conditioning system and improvements to the first floor.

“The second alternative focuses on using the upstairs of the facility to house library programs, eliminating the need to change the basic footprint of the building. The second-floor space is now used for administrative space and book storage.”

Of course, such minimal disruptions would have been incorporated into any reasonable construction plan from the start — to respect the needs and desires of the public and in line with the usual practices of contractors. So, I’m not about to fall all over myself praising the County for their quick, survival-0riented responsiveness to the will of the people. (Nor fall for Legislator Gary Hughes’ attempt to let us know the was “concerned” — but impotent? — from the start.) Bernard Allanson, who has to work with Library and County officials as the president of Friends of Schenectady County Public Library, was a bit more diplomatic than I feel like being today. The Gazette reported that:

“Allanson said then he thought the Legislature pushed the original project through without public discussion. On Saturday, he was encouraged to hear officials were backing off.

“ ‘I would say that the public has had a significant impact on the Legislature. I applaud the Legislature for listening,’ he said.”

I wish Chair Savage had put her prepared statement on the County website, so we could read it directly. The Gazette tells us that “construction won’t happen until the end of summer at the earliest, since officials have postponed the deadline to seek the additional bids. They had planned to review bids May 22.” Naturally, I am quite pleased that the Central Library will probably be able to stay open with only the normal occasional closings and reduced hours that are expected during a major construction.

Clearly, we need to continue to be wary, as the new bids are solicited and reviewed — to remember just how cavalierly (savagely?) officials were willing to damage our community in order to save a few dollars, while being totally oblivious about the need for and impact of such a lengthy closing. Our County leaders need to understand that the public is willing to pay a premium, if necessary, to assure minimal disruptions in the vital services and role that our Central Library plays in the life of this community.

Despite our relief, I hope many concerned citizens will attend the County Legislature’s May Meeting Tuesday at 7 PM, to let them know that their first approach was totally unacceptable — both the lack of public input and the lack of respect for the Library and its users — and that our leaders are, at best, on probation and will be monitored closely by the Library’s friends.

Many thanks to all the members of the public, including the Friends of Schenectady Public Library, who quickly and effectively put pressure on County officials to reverse their disastrous plan.

p.s. It is not all sturm-und-drang in Schenectady County this weekend. I want to express my love and gratitude to Mama G. on Mother’s Day.

spring sun
warm on my back
mother’s day

Sunday morning –
humming a tune
my mother taught me

…………… [Schenectady’s] Yu Chang from Upstate Dim Sum

And, to show you this lovely view from my backyard last night (May 10, 2008), looking across the Mohawk River from the Schenectady Stockade across to Scotia (click for a larger version).

What sort of materials and links do your friends and colleagues forward to you? Sometimes, when I see what kith and kin decide to send me in their email messages, I worry about my image and reputation. Although most correspondents have learned not to send me cute-pet photos, or to point me to so-called-haiku contests, I often get referred to articles that make me wince — with thoughts like: “this reminded her of me?!” or “am I supposed to need this advice?”

For example, my dear friend and much-honored Washington lawyer-poet Roberta Beary often passes on links about unhappy and depressed lawyers. And three days ago, she sent me a link to the Washington Post article “Nap Time” (April 29, 2008).

tired of feeding
on the horse
the horsefly naps

afternoon nap
our bare bottoms
kiss

…….. by David G. Lanoue - Dewdrop World (2005)

In a nation where naps are traditionally associated with small children and old folks, I had to wonder what makes me the target of a “Nap Time” piece? Why would the topic of naps make a talented, attractive, charismatic woman think of me? Slowly, of course, my paranoia (and fantasies) died down, and I recalled just how often I mention naps and napping at this weblog, and post haiku and senryu on the topic. See, for instance:

• Our posting “nap room ethics for lawyers” (Aug. 22, 2007) where we discussed David Lat’s posting at Above the Law about corporate napping, as described in the NYT article “That Yawn After Lunch Is Perfectly Normal” (New York Times, Aug. 19, 2007). While Lat asked “Biglaw Perk Watch: Nap Rooms?”, we opined:

With the snowballing Graying of the Bar, and the ethical duty of law firms to protect clients by putting into place procedures that will help compensate for the age-related physical and mental problems of older lawyers [see my article “No Senior Discount at the Ethics Bar” (The Complete Lawyer, Vol. 3 #4, July-August 2007)], it appears to be an ethical violation not to furnish nap rooms for attorneys at any firm with Boomers and other Geezers on the roster. Throw in Americans with Disabilities Act arguments, and age discrimination/EEOC issues, and we have the makings of a great cross-generational campaign to make sure lawyers can nap in comfort and without stigma in law firms across the nation. So, get to it Lat et al, your elders are here with moral support and all the mentoring you need (right after our afternoon nap, of course).

• And the piece “naps and curses: horizontal punditry” (June 6, 2007), where the f/k/a Gang momentarily came out of a sleepy punditry hiatus to note that Bob Ambrogi of LegalBlogWatch had put the spotlight on “A New Zealand law firm that encourages its professionals to take naps if they are sleepy” — you see, the firm Meredith Connell had just won the country’s top work-life balance award, “offering workers flexible work hours to take account of personal commitments.”

within the red wine
a nap in my chair

Discovery channel –
an older male vanquished
heads for the hills

… by Tom Clausen - Upstate Dim Sum (2003/II)

Suddenly, and especially after reading the WaPo article, I was beaming. Roberta didn’t think I was over the hill and needed more naps or another rocking chair. She was reaffirming my being ahead of the curve (due, frankly, to the lessons learned living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) on the importance of napping to an enlightened and efficient life and career.

That’s it: In his article, “Nap Time: Though the Practice Is Fading in Some Places, Experts Find Benefits In Midday Slumber. And a Few Firms Are Even Open to Shut-Eye,” Dennis Drabelle merely updates and expands upon themes we’ve been raising and endorsing for years here at f/k/a. Now, I feel a whole lot better (or, I will, as soon as I finish this long posting and head to my futon for a tardy mid-morning nap).

afternoon nap
i fall asleep
in a dream

………… by Ed Markowski

Drabelle has, indeed, done a good job of highlighting the new wisdom about napping. After noting that his own former nap resistance “put me in sync with the American way of sleep: Do it all at once and strictly at night,” he explains:

“Traditionally, we’ve begrudged ourselves naps. They may be forced on toddlers, recommended for pregnant women and tolerated among senior citizens with nothing better to do, but they’ve been frowned upon for worker bees in their prime. Recently, however, sleep scientists have discovered advantages to napping, which they view not just as solace but also as something akin to brain food. No longer written off as a cop-out for the weak and the bored, the nap is coming into its own as an element of a healthy life.”

Other interesting points in the article include:

• “When you take a look at American history, we might seem to be a nap-friendly people. After all, some of our most productive figures napped shamelessly during the day, among them Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison.”
• “Napping was more valued on the other side of the Atlantic, where the habit’s foremost champion was probably Winston Churchill. In ‘The Gathering Storm‘ . . . the British statesman wrote, “Nature had not intended mankind to work from 8 in the morning until midnight without the refreshment of blessed oblivion which, even if it only lasts 20 minutes, is sufficient to renew all the vital forces.” [Editor’s note: Hmmm. Although Churchill never coined that maxim about hearts and brains and age, he apparently had some very good advice for the over-30 crowd.]

• And, “Elsewhere, the nap is winning friends and invigorating people. Some new studies make dramatic claims for it. Taken in the workplace, naps can increase productivity and reduce ‘general crabbiness,’ according to a just-concluded 25-year survey of the practice in industrial countries.” Nonetheless, Drabelle reports that, despite its honorable napping tradition, “In 2005, the Spanish government canceled the siesta for its employees, although it offered them flex time for easing into the new regimen.”

chilly day in May -
the old cat naps
in a sunny window

rainy christmas
while we nap
the lawn goes from white to green

no nap
no stroll
the writer grinding teeth

………………. by dagosan

Drabelle concludes with a warning that “Severely troubled sleepers should consult a physician about fixing their slumber, perhaps with naps of suitable length folded in.” And, he suggests ways to ensure that naps won’t run “the risk of encroaching on nighttime sleep.” He concludes with wise advice:

“In a country where fewer than half of us say we regularly get a good night’s sleep, naps are increasingly important restoratives, and we owe it to ourselves to take them right.”

a noon nap
on a good day…
first rainbow

his quick nap
is just pretend…
hermit crab

…………………. by Kobayashi Issa , translated by David G. Lanoue

Looking Backwards: As much as I now appreciate Roberta sending me the WaPo nap article, I have to confess that the most enjoyable part of this episode was my discovery of who wrote the piece. Roberta did not know that Dennis Drabelle was one of my favorite colleagues at the Federal Trade Commission three decades ago, and we have sadly been out of touch for far too long. “Denny” and I worked in the Special Projects office of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, for our friend Bert Foer, who is now president of the American Antitrust Institute. At Special Projects, we had fun and became friends working on the new-fangled notion of “competition advocacy.” The cropped snapshot at the beginning of this paragraph was taken circa 1978 and depicts Drabelle and Foer at an office party at Bert’s house.

And, for another blast from the past, I noticed this guy, who also worked in Special Projects at the time, lurking behind Dennis in the same shot:

…. same party & photo: Mickey Kaus, Slate blogger [now]

So, I’m glad Roberta suggested I read “Nap Time,” and I’m going to use it as an excuse to email Dennis Drabelle a link to this posting. Meanwhile, the f/k/a Gang wish you pleasant mid-day dreams and happy nap times, today and everyday.

over my midday nap
the scent of lotuses
meanders

while napping
swish-swish stroked
by the willow

in no time
filled with sleep wrinkles…
my summer kimono

the stepchild’s chore–
during baby’s midday nap
picking fleas

…………………. by Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue

Better Blawg Browsing: We want to join Ted at Overlawyered.com, Ed at BlawgReview and many other top law-related webloggers in spreading the word about the new Alltop.com Law Page — and in thanking Alltop’s Guy Kawasaki for including f/k/a in its aggregation of the best law-oriented websites. As its About page explains, Alltop helps you “explore your passions by collecting stories from ‘all the top’ sites on the web.” A myriad of topics (from the environment to celebrity gossip, to politics, and now law) are presented by Alltop in “single-page aggregations.” They say:

You can think of an Alltop site as a “dashboard,” “table of contents,” or even a “digital magazine rack” of the Internet. To be clear, Alltop sites are starting points — they are not destinations per se. The bottom line is that we are trying to enhance your online reading by both displaying stories from the sites that you’re already visiting and helping you discover sites that you didn’t know existed. In this way, our goal is the “cessation of Internet stagnation.”

Alltop lists the last five headlines from each featured site, allowing you to see the beginning of each piece by scrolling over its hyperlink. This looks like a good tool for quickly finding blawg postings worth checking out.

Nakations? The New York Times tells us today that there’s a big trend of Americans heading to nudist resorts for their vacations — dubbed “nakations”. See “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Worries” (by Michelle Higgins, April 27, 2008). The article came just a couple days after I wrote to a friend that, “American obesity has taken a lot of the fun out of watching the change from winter to spring wardrobes.” So, I’ve got to confess that the general notion of Americans wearing no clothes is not a big draw (much less a turn-on) for me.

nude beach
a man and a woman
collect shells

nude beach
the jet ski instructress
tells me to “concentrate”
………….. . . . by ed markowski [”shells” from The Heron’s Nest.]

On the other hand, our cranky contrarian Prof. Yabut pointed to the NYT statement that:

“the real boom in nude vacations is coming at the high end of the business, as upscale hotels and resorts, and even some luxury cruise lines, have begun to see the economic potential in the no-clothes crowd — particularly those who want to shed their clothes but not their pampered lifestyles.”

keep your shirt on, buddy … …

As a lifelong (and long-lived) practitioner of lookism, Yabut added, “at least they’re upscale nudists.” That got me thinking about the widespread assumption that the rich are not as fat as the poor in America. I turned to Mr. Google for help, and went first to the Wikipedia entry on obesity, where a relevant section states:

Social determinants

“. . . In particular, a class co-factor consistently appears across many studies. Comparing net worth with BMI scores, a 2004 study found obese American subjects approximately half as wealthy as thin ones. When income differentials were factored out, the inequity persisted—thin subjects were inheriting more wealth than fat ones.

A higher rate of a lower level of education and tendencies to rely on cheaper fast foods is seen as a reason why these results are so dissimilar. Another study finds women who married into higher status are predictably thinner than women who married into lower status. [Ed. note: my empirical evidence definitely jibes with that last statement.]

“A 2007 study of more than 32,500 children . . . indicated that BMI change in friends, siblings or spouse predicted BMI change in subjects irrespective of geographical distance. The authors concluded from the results that acceptance of body mass plays an important role in changes in body size .”

family picnic
the new wife’s rump
bigger than mine

… by Roberta Beary - The Unworn Necklace (Snapshot Press 2007)

That sounded about right. See also: “Lower-income Neighborhoods Associated With Higher Obesity Rates” (Science Daily, Feb. 10, 2008) (”A new study appearing in the journal Nutrition Reviews reveals that characteristics of neighborhoods, including the area’s income level, the built environment [e.g., “barriers to physical activity”], and access to healthy food, contribute to the continuing obesity epidemic.”); “DIETING LINKED TO INCREASED WEALTH, STUDY FINDS” (Research News, July 2005) (”Overweight Americans who lose a lot of weight also tend to build more wealth as they drop the pounds, according to new research.”); and “Obesity Often Linked to Income” (npr, Aug. 18, 2004) (”Americans spend a good deal of money eating out, a habit tied to the nation’s obesity epidemic. Researchers say the less people can pay for food, the more calories they consume.”)

dia de los muertos —
the anorexic looks
envious

……. dagosan

Nonetheless, the f/k/a Gang doesn’t [usually] just stop its research as soon as we find materials confirming our own assumptions. And, when we looked at a few additional Google results for the search “obesity [income OR wealth]”, we quickly saw that — like just about everything we talk about at this site — things are not as simple or clearcut as we first thought.

For example:

• “Obesity surges among affluent” (by Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY, May 2, 2005) According to this article, “Obesity a condition that for decades has been more prevalent in the poor, is skyrocketing among affluent Americans, a new study finds. Defined as 30 or more pounds over a healthy weight, obesity has increased nearly threefold over a 30-year period among Americans who earn more than $60,000 per year, according to researchers at the University of Iowa College of Public Health.” Since the 1970’s, obesity rates “went from 9.7% to 26.8% . Among those making less than $25,000, the increase was much smaller, from 22.5% to 32.5%.”

These are scary numbers, but they do no necessarily contradict the Rich Is Thinner notion, since — for most Americans — “rich” and “affluent” refer to people making a lot more then $60,000 per year. I’d like to see how the numbers break down for the “truly rich” who can afford to go upscale. But, what about:

• “Children’s Risk of obesity soars with family income” (Sept. 17, 2008) According to the Daily Mail, “Children with wealthy middle class parents are more likely to be overweight or obese than those from poor households, a study has revealed.” The article goes on to say that:

 

 

“The findings go against conventional wisdom that Britain’s poorest families have the worst diets - showing the risk of obesity actually soars with family income. . . . Researchers linked the problem to the rise of highly-paid working mothers - who are often forced to leave a nanny or nursery in charge of their child’s diet and physical exercise.

“High consumption of snack foods and sweetened drinks, long hours spent watching television and low rates of breastfeeding - shown to prevent obesity - were also said to be factors”.

 

As the article notes, this seems to be a warning to middle-class parents, “who often ‘assumed’ their children were living healthy lives.”

the naked child crawls–
the blooming
poppies

.. by Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue

It’s sad that the children of the well-off are also caught up in the Western world’s obesity epidemic. Thankfully, as today’s Times article points out: “No matter how popular and upscale nude resorts become, one social convention is unlikely to change: Nudity and family vacations don’t always mix.” Thus, nakationers can probably avoid having to look at the fat, naked kids of wealthy Americans and Brits. That’s definitely a relief.

Buddha’s birthday–
fat little sparrows
and their parents

a chubby girl
offered pickles…
soot sweeping

my child
in the barley field wind…
nicely plump

.. by Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue

- no thanks: nudist camp weight-loss center cartoon

roly-poly pigeons
growing fatter…
a long day

being so fat
he’s not a good jumper…
frog

giving these skinny legs
new life…
a pheasant

.. by Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue

… … Does Richer Mean Thinner? We don’t get paid enough to have a definitive answer to the Are Rich Nudists Thinner question. Nevertheless, we note the section of today’s NYT article devoted to the notions of U. Berkeley psychology professor Dacher Keltner:

“Today, America’s increasing obsession with health and wellness may be contributing to the rise of clothing-optional vacations. “Americans have moralized healthy bodies,” said Dacher Keltner, a professor of psychology at the University of California at Berkeley, who has studied moral emotion and judgment. He added that “a case could be made that people are traveling to these places to be pure for moral reasons — to achieve harmony in nature.” It’s really a form of self-expression, he added, that dates back to Walt Whitman and John Muir, as well as Thoreau, all of whom advocated being as true to yourself as possible. “The truest you can be is taking off those clothes,” he said.”

It seems to the f/k/a Gang that most of the folk who would agree with and abide by Prof. Keltner’s explanation are likely to be the educated American elite, who tend to be rich rather than poor (and from California rather than Indiana). Therefore, if we had to be dropped into the middle of a nudist resort — and not ones like the Times says “turn away single men” — we hope it’s one of the upscale nakation spots, perhaps the kind that caters to a lot of those “women who married into higher status” mentioned at Wikipedia.

cloudburst–
a naked rider
on a naked horse

.. by Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue

the old couple’s legs -
skinny and white as
mine

empty cookie tin –
letting out last year’s
santa suit

……….. by dagosan

. . . Last week, the corner where I live had the blahs. Even with a blue sky, it seemed like a black-and-white, colorless world.

cloud-covered twilight
she resets the printer
to grayscale

…… by dagosan

Over the weekend, however, we got color.

All it took was the arrival of our cherry blossoms.

(large)

Like my former adopted hometown of Washington, D.C., humble little Washington Ave. in the Historic Stockade District of Schenectady, NY, has a few splendid days dominated by cherry blossoms.

the wiggle
of a bee’s behind—
cherry blossom

. . . . . . by Laryalee Fraser

As you can see, the Washington Avenue cherry-blossom trees are rather young, but they already make a big splash and promise much more as the years go by. Here are a couple photos I took this afternoon; you’ll find a few more below the fold.

Washington Ave. looking northward from Union St. (larger)

distant thunder
a few cherry blossoms
float to earth

just blossoming
we meet under
the cherry tree

. . . . by w.f. owen

This tree stands in front of the Schenectady County Historical Society at 32 Washington Ave.

cherry blossoms
the tug tug tug
of baby’s hand

morning mist
a bent back sweeps
yesterday’s blossoms

. . . . . by roberta beary

update (April 24, 2008): Many thanks to our venerable (well, old) and very popular local morning radio personality Don Weeks, for posting a few of these f/k/a photos at his 810WGY webpage. See “Cherry Blossoms in Schenectady” (810WGY.com, April 24, 2008)

- for information on cherry blossom festivals in Washington and Vancouver, and many more cherry blossom haiku, see our 2007 posting and our 2008 sequel.

- click “more” to see more blossoms under the fold -

(more…)

(large) This photo of the Mohawk River was taken at the end of my block of Washington Ave. in Schenectady, NY, back in March. Unless we’re having a flood or ice floes are backing up, the Mohawk is rather placid around here, and virtually no one is likely to think “let’s surf!” However, less than 20 miles east of us at Waterford, NY (see the Google Map), anesthesiology resident Dr. Jef Field of the Albany Medical Center can often be found river-surfing in the churning waters of the Mohawk, near where it empties into the Hudson River. See, for example:

by Lori Van Buren /Albany Times Union

by Lori Van Buren /Albany Times Union

As explained in the Albany TU article “An unlikely spot to catch a wave: Doctor finds place to pursue favorite sport far from the ocean” (by Jimmy Vielkind, April 9, 2008; via John D. at Nobody Move!), Dr. Field — a 35-year-old Virginia Beach, Va., native who now lives in Bethlehem, NY — says “Rivers are kind of like my ocean in the mountains” and outdoor thrill-seeking is his “natural high.” (But, lucky man, he also gets that high from his work.)

Wearing a neoprene wet suit and using a turquoise “platypus” board that is custom-designed for river surfing, Field was photographed on a day when the Mohawk River was quite high (14 feet) and flowing at 20,300 cubic feet per second. Here’s how reporter Vielkind described the scene:

“He stood on a path between the old Champlain Canal and Goat Island, just north of a hydroelectric dam. Field surfs between a 30-foot cliff and a cement diverting wall on the Mohawk as it tumbles into the Hudson.

“He walked upstream, about 30 yards from the “standing wave” created by a cataract, and slid into the water. . . . He spun around and slid into the frothing wave, then swam upstream.

“Suddenly, he rose above the froth and, with knees bent, began gyrating while riding the wave, left and right, up and down. He flashed a two-fingered V.

“After about a minute, the wave got the best of him. He was swept about 30 yards downstream, where he stood up in a quieter stretch on the other side of the wall and slowly walked upstream.” [enlarged versions of the above photos can be accessed from the article]

Field doesn’t seem a bit worried about the dangers involved in surfing this section of the Mohawk. As for any long-term health risks, he notes that he’s not drinking this river, and insists that “Something else is gonna get me first.” [For more information, see the website of The World River Surfing Association]

in what’s left
of our footprints–
some of the wave

. . . . . by Gary Hotham from- snow on the water: RMA 1998; South by Southeast V:2

arabesque
where the wave
withdraws
. . . . . by jim kacian, from Chincoteague

Why Lawyers Should Surf, by Tim Kevan and Michelle Tempest

Dr. Field’s joy in surfing and talk of “natural highs” naturally reminded me of the book Why Lawyers Should Surf: Inspiration for Lawyers at Work and Play, by (ex)barrister Tim Kevan and psychiatrist Michelle Tempest (see Tim’s description, and our prior post). And, it made we wonder if their companion volume “Why Doctors Should Surf: Inspiration for Doctors at Work and Play” was finally available.

It also reminded me that I’ve been wanting to escape my Green-Eye Monster and tell you about Tim Kevan’s current status: His popular The Barrister Blog (see our praise for it) was originally captioned something like “law, politics, and surfing.” However, it’s now called The (ex)Barrister Blog and has the envy-invoking caption, “retired young and gone surfing.” In the weblog’s sidebar you’ll find this cryptic explanation:

The (ex-)Barrister Blog is written by Tim Kevan who was a barrister for ten years before retiring to live by the sea, go surfing and write a novel for Bloomsbury Publishing.

I may be too old and worn out to take up river or ocean surfing. But, I’m still willing to accept a nice advance to write a novel or a memoir. Meanwhile, I’m not going to hold me breath waiting — especially since I want to shout out a very big congratulations to Tim, while hoping novel-writing will come as easy to him as all his many other adventures and professional ventures. Given Tim’s wit and insight, I’m looking forward to reading his first novel and telling f/k/a’s readers about it.

the view west -
a splash of red
on every wave

. .. by matt morden - Morden Haiku

on the beach
the tracks of two
lounge chairs

. . . . . by John Stevenson from Quiet Enough

p.s. If you’re into cyber-surfing, and want to painlessly learn about Virtual Law, I suggest heading over to Blawg Review #156, at Virtually Blind. Host Benjamin Duranske — whose new book Virtual Law: Navigating the Legal Landscape of Virtual Worlds (ABA, April 2008) was just released — structures his post as a set of questions and answers on virtual law. He covers “the basics, and will illustrate the answers with links to a number of legal blogs, covering both real-world and virtual world legal issues.”

As is our tradition, f/k/a is declared a Tax-Whiner-Free Zone today.

tax day —
a battery-powered breeze
stirs the desk chimes

…………………… by Billie Wilson from The Heron’s Nest

If you’re feeling a need for a prayer or two, perhaps the Giacalone Siblings will serve as inspiration:

tax deadline
we count dependents
and contributions

poem: David Giacalone
photo: MAMA G. (1956)

The original haiga was posted at MagnaPoets Japanese Form (April 15, 2007), where the Comments somehow devolved into a discussion of braciole.

I‘ve always hated being part of a fad or trend — well, at least since I refused to wear a “Frodo Lives” button over forty years ago in high school, and boycotted — um — those books (three of them, I think) by — er — that famous fantasy author. But, there’s no doubt that I saw myself in today’s column by David Brooks, titled “The Great Forgetting” (New York Times, April 11, 2008). Here’s a taste of his humorous look at the increasing inability of Boomers and their elders to remember:

“They say the 21st century is going to be the Asian Century, but, of course, it’s going to be the Bad Memory Century. Already, you go to dinner parties and the middle-aged high achievers talk more about how bad their memories are than about real estate. . . .

“In the era of an aging population, memory is the new sex.”

Brooks seems to have forgotten to do much editing of this column — which is a bit too long and tries a little too hard to come up with amusing examples and quotable bon mots — but he nonetheless gives his fellow 50- and 60-somethings something to smile about, and makes a few points worth pondering. Not living in either NYC or DC, I have not yet encountered the “colossal Proustian memory bullies,” described by Brooks, but he’s right that in many ways “Society is now riven between the memory haves and the memory have-nots.” (Long gone are the days when I boasted that my alphabetization skills would always get me a job.) And, he surely scored a bullseye with the observation:

“As in most great historical transformations, the members of the highly educated upper-middle class will express their suffering most loudly. It is especially painful when narcissists suffer memory loss because they are losing parts of the person they love most.”

Brooks ends on an optimistic note: “Their affection for themselves will endure through this Bad Memory Century, but their failure to retrieve will produce one of the epoch’s most notable features: shorter memoirs.”

cuckoo
what did you forget?
retracing steps

ISSA, translated by David G. Lanoue

As younger readers surely recall, we’ve touched on the topic of Boomer memory loss often here at f/k/a — in contexts both serious and silly. If you need a reminder, check out these prior postings:

• “pity the baby-boomer raconteur” (Nov. 23, 2007, a haibun)
• “peridementia and our aging knowledge workers” (June 16, 2005)

• “calling a spatula a spatula” (March 26, 2008, which bemoans the Tip of the Tongue phenonemon)
• “the Graying Bar: let’s not forget the ethics” (March 20, 2007)

the octagenarian
fills in my blank ………….
again

……. by dagosan, a/k/a david giacalone

Michael Langenstein, Play Ball, 1982 (postcard collage), reproduced in ”Diamonds Are Forever: Artists and Writers on Baseball’‘ (Smithsonian Institution, 1987, at 33); and see vice-versa (Vol. 1, no. 3, Spring 2006), where it is accompanied by Joseph Stanton’s poem Play Ball, which begins:

And God handed Adam
a sphere 2.9″ in diameter,

Last Friday’s Writer’s Almanac, with Garrison Keillor (scroll to April 4, 2008; Listen [RealAudio]), reminded me that I’ve been wanting to spotlight a big, beautiful baseball book, which I discovered used at our Whitney Book Corner back in February — ”Diamonds Are Forever: Artists and Writers on Baseball‘‘ (Peter H. Gordon, Editor, Smithsonian Institution, 1987). Keillor read the poem: “Assignment #1: Write a poem about Baseball and God” by Philip E. Burnham, Jr. from Housekeeping: Poems Out of the Ordinary, Ibbetson Street Press (2005), which opens:

And on the ninth day, God
In His infinite playfulness
Grass green grass, sky blue sky, . . .

Burnham’s poem quite naturally recalled to my foggy mind the Michael Langenstein image that I’ve placed at the top of this posting, which is included in Diamonds are Forever. Unfortunately, my Forever Flu has kept me from stringing together sentences here at f/k/a for an entire week now, and continues to make it rather difficult to bring my thoughts together in a coherent whole. Those hands by Michelangelo have me concerned more about spreading germs than passing on traditions, while my hacking cough has me thinking of mortality, eternity and limbic limbo, rather than normal promises of spring.

So, I’m gonna tell you a little bit more at the book, show a couple additional images linking religion and baseball, and share some spirited baseball haiku (for more check our links here, and our baseball haiku page). Then, it will be time for me (who has yet to watch his first at bat this year) to get horizontal and maybe pray this coughing stops before the All-Star Game.

tied in the ninth
pitcher and batter
cross themselves

8th birthday -
she wants a diamond
and new cleats

……… by dagosan

If you missed this baseball and art lover’s treasure when it was first published in 1987, or reprinted in 2003, you can still find it at the Amazon.com Marketplace for under $4 new and under a buck used, and Search Inside, too. It’s coffee-table sized (12 inches by 9, 168 pages). As the publisher has stated,

“[It] collects the work of America’s finest writers and artists as they celebrate the passion and excitement of our national pastime. Published in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution, Diamonds Are Forever collects paintings, drawings, photographs, and literary excerpts, illuminating every aspect of the game-the plays, the parks, the players, the fans. Work from John Updike, Andy Warhol, Stephen King, Edna Ferber, Neil Simon, Jacob Lawrence, Roger Angell, and dozens more make this volume an artistic tribute to the quintessentially American game.”

The book was put together along with a major traveling museum exhibition, in a display The display that included “116 works of art - paintings, sculptures, photographs and lithographs - as well as quotations from 55 writers.” The New York Times covered its appearance at the New York State Museum in Albany (September 1987), and at New York Public Library (Feb. 1990).

after confession baseball
father shows us
how to throw a spitter

…………………… by Ed Markowski - Simply Haiku (Sports senryu, Vol. 6 no. 1, Spring 2008)

If prayers work better than dollars, maybe this guy — an untitled acrylic by Steve Gianakos, reproduced in ‘Diamonds Are Forever, at 150 — could help the big-spending, winless Detroit Tigers. Lucky for us, lifelong Tiger fan Ed Markowski keeps producing winners even when the Tigers are in a slump.

“red hots!”
for an instant i’m ten
and
father’s still alive

rising into thunderclouds
the umpire’s
right arm

night game in durango
all the stars
above the diamond

…….. by ed markowski - “rising” & “night game” - Baseball Haiku (2007)

Janet Braun-Reinitz (co-author of “The Mural Book“), “Report from the Fire Zone, Scroll XV,” 1986 Acrylic on Paper, reproduced in ”Diamonds Are Forever: Artists and Writers on Baseball’‘ (Smithsonian Institution, 1987, at 152)

October revival
all hands lift
to the foul ball

…………………. by jim kacian - Piedmont Literary Review (Circa 1992) & Baseball Haiku (2007)

the pitching coach
strides slowly to the mound –
dust devils

Louisville Slugger
the boy’s fingertips caress
the trademark

………….. by lee gurga - Baseball Haiku (2007)

thunder . . .
little leaguers chatter
silenced

………………by randy brooks - Baseball Haiku (2007)

p.s. Speaking of sports immortality, congratulations to Schenectady native, Pat Riley, who was voted into the National Basketball Association Hall of Fame yesterday.. (see Schenectady Daily Gazette, April 8, 2008; also, editorial) Of course, the way things work around here, Riley would have retired by now as a county judge or been ensconced as mayor in City Hall, had he decided to move back to his hometown when his basketball playing days were done. He clearly chose the better path.

ground rule double
a graveside angel
makes the stop

………… by dagosan

Honest: we were gonna really wow you with our April Fool’s wit and insight today (and maybe throw in some cherry blossom haiku and links to stories about the new Nationals Stadium in D.C.). But, I somehow picked up a dreadful flu bug over the weekend (at Duanesburg Day, I believe), and it apparently has not yet hit its peak. So, there’s nothing much for this achy old fool to do but put up a token posting, head back to my futon, and avoid excess exertion.

all fools day
my daughter gets in first
with a pinch and punch

April Fool’s Day –
a skylark’s song
way over my head

april snow
a pat of butter
melts in the pan

…… by matt morden
“April Fool’s Day” - The Heron’s Nest (June 2001);
“april snow” - Mayfly #27′ “all fool’s day” - morden haiku

April 1st
the haiku muse
calls in sick

………. by dagosan

p.s. Although we traditionally have warned our readers to avoid the tidal wave of badly-written April Fool’s humor and concept pieces in cyberspace this time of year, we want to point to an exception — George Wallace’s special April Fool’s Blawg Review. After hosting Blawg Review #153 yesterday at his insurance blog, Declarations & Exclusions, George is focusing at A Fool in the Forest today on blawgs that go beyond legal issues and stories (and has graciously mentioned a number of recent posts from f/k/a), on legal oddities, and on some Naughty Bits. We suggest you take the time you saved by not having to peruse one of our prolix pieces today, and head over to visit George in his artsy little forest.

growing old–
even the cherry blossoms
a bit annoying

….. by Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue (60 more with blossoms)

winter sickness
my daughter tucks me in
for the first time

…….. by matt morden - - The Heron’s Nest, Valentine Award (July 2003)

Seven Deadly Words of Book Reviewing. Last Monday, at the NYT weblog Paper Cuts [”a blog about books”], Bob Harris presented the “Seven Deadly Words of Book Reviewing” (March 25, 2008). Harris says:

“Like all professions book reviewing has a lingo. Out of laziness, haste or a misguided effort to sound ‘literary,’ reviewers use some words with startling predictability. Each of these seven entries is a perfectly good word (well, maybe not eschew), but they crop up in book reviews with wearying regularity.”

With a sensibility that sounds much like our perspective on writing haiku, Harris favorably quotes Wilson Follett’s admonition that “The best critics are those who use the plainest words and who make their taste rational by describing actions rather than by reporting or imputing feelings.”

In his Paper Cuts posting, Harris condemns the abuse and overuse of these seven words by book reviewers: poignant, compelling, intriguing, eschew, craft, muse, lyrical, and explains the appropriate use of each. He also gives a telling example, noting that “It’s possible to (mis)use all seven words in a one-sentence book report:”

“Mario Puzo’s intriguing novel eschews the lyrical as the author instead crafts a poignant tale of family life and muses on the compelling doings of the Mob.”

Harris suggests that readers might want to add their favorite overused reviewer lingo. As of this afternoon, he has received over 200 comments. Many of the words suggested by his commentors could have easily made Harris’ original list (e.g., nuanced and sublte). Perhaps, as the Vatican did recently, he should expand past seven.

Cranky old Prof. Yabut gleefully looked at the dozen postings in our own Book Review category for offending usage of Harris’ deadly words. I’m pleased to say that “lyrical” did not appear in any of our reviews (perhaps not so surprising, as I am not particularly fond of haiku that attempt to be lyrical, and don’t bother reviewing offended volumes). Also, the one appearance each of “poignant,” “compelling,” and “craft[ed],” all came in quotations from other reviewers. In addition, we did use “eschew” once in our mini-multi-review posting on Cyber Monday 2007, but it was not referring to any particular book, but instead to the choice of one type of book over another.

As to the word “muse,” we confess that the f/k/a review of Kevin Mednick’s “An Almost Life” includes the clause: “lawyer Samuels is bemused over the ‘party hacks’ (and sports heroes) who too often get to be judges around here.” But, we’re more than willing to argue at the Pearly Gates that it was only a venial sin.

avoiding the wildflowers
he squats…
sumo champion

the lover cat
licking his chops
escapes

………… by Kobayashi Issa, translated by Prof. David G. Lanoue

I’m in agreement with most of Harris’ piece, but draw the line when he suggests that eschew might not be a “perfectly good word.” Harris states:

eschew: No one actually says this word in real life. It appears almost exclusively in writing when the perp is stretching for a flashy synonym for avoid or reject or shun.

We (to use a cliche) beg to differ (despite occasional doubts about a weblog being “real life”). As you might have noticed, the f/k/a Gang has never shunned the word “eschew.” See, e.g., “please eschew thoroughly” (Nov. 11, 2004). We even use it to make annoyingly bad puns — as in a recent post where I struggled to uphold our ban on political punditry:

Did we bite off more than we can eschew, when promising to end all commentary on politics and legal ethics at this weblog?

The Online Etymology Dictionary shows the perfectly fine history and source of the word:

.. eschew: 1340, from O.Fr. eschiver, from Frank. *skiuhan “dread, avoid, shun” (cf. O.H.G. sciuhen “make fearful”), from P.Gmc. *skeukhwaz. Related to shy (v.).

And, The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition (2000), includes “eschew” among synonyms collected at the definition of “escape.” The discerning wordsmith surely can and should distinguish between the various verbs that “mean to get or stay away from persons or things.” For example, while “Shun refers to deliberately keeping clear of what is unwelcome or undesirable,” and “Escape can mean to get free or to remain untouched or unaffected by something unwanted,”

“Eschew involves staying clear of something because to do otherwise would be unwise or morally wrong: ‘Eschew evil, and do good’ (Book of Common Prayer).”

To be honest, I fear that most educated people who eschew using the fun-to-say word “eschew” very often suffer from an anti-social form of reverse snobbery. Don’t shun them, dear readers, but try to avoid or elude their debilitating malady.

the swallows, too
avoid it this year…
patch of weeds

hey spear holder!
don’t let the spring
escape!

from the great bronze
Buddha’s nostrils
mist escapes

… by Kobayashi Issa, translated by Prof. David G. Lanoue

The family that comes together, ums together.

the octagenarian
fills in my blank ………….
again

………………. by dagosan

There’s something about visiting my older relatives over a holiday that gets me fretting about my aging Boomer brain and body, dementia, tip of the tongue syndrome, and similar concepts. (see, e.g., “pity the baby-boomer raconteur,” Nov. 23, 2007). As I confessed when I wrote about Michael Erard’s Um the Book last September, quite a few members of my family use that little pause-filler a lot.

the um in her voice
before offering me
the senior discount

….. by Carolyn Hall - A New Resonance 2; Frogpond XXIII:2

I got a lot of umming started in my Aunt Bella’s kitchen on Easter Sunday, in the Rochester suburb of Greece, NY. Someone was preparing the Easter ham and looking for a baster — as often happens with my female family members, it had to be just the “right” size — and I started to say how surprised I had been recently when a particular utensil (that I always assumed was made of some rubber product) shattered into pieces after falling off my counter at home. I paused and ummed and finally said in frustration:

“What do you call that thing you use to flip stuff in a frying pan?“

At the time I asked the question, at least two of my aunts were in the room. Now, I don’t want to sound too much like one of those self-aggrandizing small-firm lawyer ads, but we had over 200 years of flipper-use-experience in that kitchen among the three of us. Nonetheless, we could not conjure up the name of the item in question. Finally, Bella asked her 11-year-old grandson (who is normally monosyllabic with adults) what you call the food-flipper thing, and (yes, to my amazement) he immediately replied correctly, “a spatula.” Damn. It wasn’t even on the tip of my tongue.

april snow
a pat of butter
melts in the pan

tango music ~
a frying pan swings
on a hook

… by matt morden
“april snow” - Mayfly #27
“tango music” - Morden Haiku

Figuring I might as well get something useful out of the incident, I Googled a bit to find information on the “tip of the tongue” phenomenon, and on the word spatula, and then looked around our archives for more-or-less related haiku and senryu. If that sort of pastiche posting interests you, stick around and keep reading.

Spatula: Here’s an informative summary of the word spatula (and its regional usage, synonyms and etymology) from Wikipedia:

…. spatula

A spatula, also known as a fish slice in British English, is a kitchen utensil with a long handle and a broad flat edge, used for lifting fish and fried foods. Though the word spatula is used in British English, it refers solely to a mixing and spreading implement. In parts of Canada and the United States, spatulas are sometimes called flippers or turners. They are used both in the preparation of food, as a flipping implement, and in the serving of food. Often the plate scraper is referred to as a spatula.

The word spatula, known in English since 1525, is a diminutive form of the Latin term spatha, which means a broad sword (as in spatharius) or a flat piece of wood and is also the origin of the words spade (digging tool) and spathe.

river restaurant
halfway through the fried frog legs
the croaking begins

………… by W.F. Owen - World Haiku Ass’n bio; Haiku Headlines (June 2000)

… Speaking of spatulas and memory, do you remember Weird Al Yankovic’s Spatula City? It’s the spatula outlet store in the movie UHF. As its fictional owner Sy Greenblum says, “I liked their spatulas so much, I bought the company.”

unofficial start
of spring –
parkas huddled ’round the grill

[click for Dave Coverly’s TOT cartoon]

the pretty one?
not even
on the tip of my tongue

……………………… by dagosan

Tip of the Tongue: We Baby Boomers will really be in bad shape if we ever forget the source of this famous tongue logo. Wikipedia has a good summary of the Tip of the Tongue phenonemon, including its history in literature (such as Anton Chekhov’s short story “A Horsey Name“), and studies regarding various age groups. Here are a few excerpts from the Wikipedia TOT entry:

tip of the tongue

The tip of the tongue (TOT) phenomenon is an instance of knowing something that cannot immediately be recalled. TOT is a near-universal experience with memory recollection involving difficulty retrieving a well-known word or familiar name. When experiencing TOT, people feel that the blocked word is on the verge of being recovered. Despite failure in finding the word, people have the feeling that the blocked word is figuratively “on the tip of the tongue.” Inaccessibility and the sense of imminence are two key features of an operational definition of TOTs (A.S. Brown, 1991).

History of Tip of the Tongue

The experience of TOT appeared in non-academic literature as early as 1885. . . .

In 1966, Harvard psychologists Roger Brown and David McNeill reported the first empirical investigation of the tip-of-the-tongue state. . . . They also found that TOT is a fairly universal phenomenon, TOTs occur about once a week and increase as you age, and they’re often caused by proper names. . . .

TOT across the lifespan

TOT research in children has mainly focused on when they begin to experience TOTs and what the experience is like for them (Brown, 1991). . . . TOTs occur more often in third graders (ages 6-7) than they do in kindergarteners and first graders.

More research has been done with TOTs in older adults. In terms of subjective estimates, research has found that older adults report experiencing TOTs about as often as younger adults (Brown, 1991). However, . . . young adults were found to experience significantly fewer TOTs than older adults. Other TOT literature has found that older adults remember less information about the target word and bring up fewer related words during the TOT experience and are less active in resolving the TOT experience (Brown, 1991).

even for the tongue-tied
crow of the east…
spring’s first dawn

……………………

stuttering about
the olden days…
a cuckoo

………………………

today’s last voice
is raised . . .
summer cicada

…… Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue

You can find more about the Tip of the Tongue Experience at the About Memory website. I was happy to see that

• “In general, this increase in TOTs with age is seen in poorer recall of names (proper names and names of things). Abstract words do not become harder to recall with age.”

But, I am not as optimistic as they are about avoiding this annoying part of the aging process — and am certainly not adding “keeping an active weblog” to their list:

• Keeping your experience of language diverse (e.g., playing scrabble, doing crosswords) may help reduce TOTs.

applauding
the mime
in our mittens

early Alzheimer’s
she says she’ll have . . .
the usual

……………………………… by John Stevenson - Quiet Enough (2004)

mute button –
the unexpected sound
of raindrops

…………………. Laryalee Fraser - tinywords

hard rain
the sizzle of summer peppers
in the skillet

…………. by Alice Frampton - The Heron’s Nest Vol. VIII

mid-argument
the senior partner
has a senior minute

a third helping
of Thanksgiving politics
I bite my tongue

………………………….. by dagosan

he’s utterly given up
silent
insect

words
are a waste of time…
poppies

your name escapes me
old friend…
blossoming mountain

……… by Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue

- The f/k/a Gang is going to spend Easter Sunday in Rochester, NY, with our haiga collaborators Mama and Arthur G., and other beloved relatives. (Find some Easter memories and haiku here.) Of course, when we think of Rochester and family, we also think of Tom and Sarah Painting [see painting & painting: mount hope haiku], who — like the Calabash, NC , branch of our family — are also surely contemplating Opening Day and the new baseball season. I’ve got to hit the road, so I’ll just leave you with a few haiku and best wishes for Easter, Spring and all the new seasons.

all day rain
on the playing field
a stray dog

the toddler
runs to third base
first

bases loaded
a full moon clears
the right field fence

…………………………. by Tom Painting
“the toddler”, “bases loaded” & “all day rain” - from the chapbook piano practice; and Baseball Haiku (2007)

summer evening
a hot dog smell
on the breeze

……………………………. by sarah painting

Can’t wait for opening day? Check out the f/k/a baseball haiku page, and our posts featuring the book Baseball Haiku (Cor van den Heuvel and Nanae Tamura, eds., W.W. Norton Press, April 2007) — such as here, there, here; and told you all about the book back in January, here.

Speaking of baseball, family and the coming of spring, here’s a treat from Ed Markowski:

snowflakes tumble & curve
the baseball season
begins today

April rain
my grandson practices
his infield chatter

April snow
the home team falls
7 games back

…………………………….. by Ed Markowski