To Read & To Write

The first line in the Epilogue of H.G. Wells' The Time Machine (1895) is as follows: "One cannot choose, but wonder." Other than how apt a reflection of the Time Traveller's story as well as the main narrator's and how humble an acceptance, how gracious a plea this is, it is also a main marker of the kind of science fiction I enjoy: whether or not one is presented with proven fact is not the issue. The issue is rather thinking and moreover, wondering what's become and what is to become of the story itself. This particular classic novella of science fiction begins with a request: that the Time Traveller's companions; the Medical Man, the Editor, the Psychologist, the Very Young Man, the Journalist, the Silent Man, and our narrator listen to the Time Traveller's story - with no interruptions - hear him out as if he were a professional storyteller indeed. The Time Traveller cares not whether they believe him but it is clear that he wants to tell it....

"'Live Oak, with Moss' doesn't *declare* manly love organic, natural, and pure; it takes as a given that it *is*... 'Live Oak, with Moss' is Whitman's first sustained attempt to address the naturalness of love beyond traditional heteronormative boundaries." - from the afterword by Karen Karbiener The naturalness of love in these twelve short poems is in symbiosis with the geography of the natural world as well, making these poems very romantic. But they are enormously sad, save for a few moments, in that this world and his lovers also have the tendency to respond back without passion, as if everything were ambivalent except for the poet himself. There is a yearning here, acknowledging that nothing else matters (not knowledge, nor technology) until love is consummated. Whitman's verses are tender and sweet and painfully echo the drama of a man who cannot reveal his true identity. These poems were hidden by Whitman. However, he wrote instructio...

To put it lightly: every time I've picked up "Roman Letters" since its publication I've been reminded that I'm fully alive, not quite dead yet, and that I hate it. And yet, it is precisely the letters in this book that have urged me continue on, despite all my illnesses, mental and physical, and all the disgusting politics that go with that. With steady words, the stories Williams tells throughout this masterpiece of a text convince me that maybe it's not so bad, maybe it's completely OK to go on living with this hatred of my existence; moreover, that it is necessary for me to unpack what's there, to go in deep into that emptiness, and, for the sake it, become that gorgeous thing like Williams' Napoli... that Italian city that he traverses (Rome and Bologna among others)... a city that is gorgeous, "gut-clenching gorgeous, because it has stopped caring whether or not it exists, but still it does." (81) "Roman Letters" is the ...

Who is Susan Sontag? You may have heard her name before. The first time I heard her name was as an undergraduate at Columbia College Chicago while pursuing my Bachelor's Degree in Cultural Studies, probably around 2007. The class was assigned to read Notes on Camp  . I'm not sure I understood then, as I'm not so sure I understand it now, but this is what fascinated me: that an intellectual, an intellectual woman, was writing about culture, specifically commercial  culture in a completely unique way, opening up the realm of criticism to daily observance, witticism, and playful wisdom. At that time, the big buzz around her may have died down, though I doubt it. This was the first time I truly engaged in academia beyond the high school classroom, and the only high school classrooms I cared about were Music, Biology and English. So I had no access to this world up until this point. What I'm getting at: Susan Sontag was never a celebrity to me, I did not have preconceiv...

Larry Itliong was a Filipino-American political activist between the years of 1929 (when he arrived in the United States) and 1977 (when he died in the U.S.). "Journey for Justice" chronicles his entire life, including his childhood in the Philippines, leading up to his arrival in America and then following his steps as an advocate for Filipino Workers Rights in California, then finally to the creation of the Filipino Workers Union.  For an elementary school children's picture book, this story is hefty, though this is understandable: the information needs to come out somehow, and this short biography explains as much as possible in the length allotted. "Journey for Justice" offers a fine crafting of history (for all ages). An important part of the text covers the Philippines under U.S. colonialism - and the subsequent schools in which children were taught English and fed propaganda proclaiming U.S. greatness which mentions the abuse the children suffered if...