Word, Carl Sandburg.

Apparently Carl Sandberg wrote a poem about where I live, a crazy little city we call Kalamazoo. I've grown quite fond of Kalamazoo over the past few years. Here's Mr. Sandburg's poem The Sins of Kalamazoo:

The Sins of Kalamazoo

THE SINS of Kalamazoo are neither scarlet nor crimson.

The sins of Kalamazoo are a convict gray, a dishwater drab.

And the people who sin the sins of Kalamazoo are neither scarlet nor crimson.

They run to drabs and grays—and some of them sing they shall be washed whiter than snow—and some: We should worry.

Yes, Kalamazoo is a spot on the map 5
And the passenger trains stop there
And the factory smokestacks smoke
And the grocery stores are open Saturday nights
And the streets are free for citizens who vote
And inhabitants counted in the census. 10
Saturday night is the big night.
Listen with your ears on a Saturday night in Kalamazoo
And say to yourself: I hear America, I hear, what do I hear?

Main street there runs through the middle of the twon
And there is a dirty postoffice 15
And a dirty city hall
And a dirty railroad station
And the United States flag cries, cries the Stars and Stripes to the four winds on Lincoln’s birthday and the Fourth of July.

Kalamazoo kisses a hand to something far off.

Kalamazoo calls to a long horizon, to a shivering silver angel, to a creeping mystic what-is-it. 20

“We’re here because we’re here,” is the song of Kalamazoo.

“We don’t know where we’re going but we’re on our way,” are the words.

There are hound dogs of bronze on the public square, hound dogs looking far beyond the public square.

Sweethearts there in Kalamazoo
Go to the general delivery window of the postoffice 25
And speak their names and ask for letters
And ask again, “Are you sure there is nothing for me?
I wish you’d look again—there must be a letter for me.”

And sweethearts go to the city hall
And tell their names and say,“We want a license.” 30
And they go to an installment house and buy a bed on time and a clock
And the children grow up asking each other, “What can we do to kill time?”
They grow up and go to the railroad station and buy tickets for Texas, Pennsylvania, Alaska.
“Kalamazoo is all right,” they say. “But I want to see the world.”
And when they have looked the world over they come back saying it is all like Kalamazoo. 35

The trains come in from the east and hoot for the crossings,
And buzz away to the peach country and Chicago to the west
Or they come from the west and shoot on to the Battle Creek breakfast bazaars
And the speedbug heavens of Detroit.

“I hear America, I hear, what do I hear?” 40
Said a loafer lagging along on the sidewalks of Kalamazoo,
Lagging along and asking questions, reading signs.

Oh yes, there is a town named Kalamazoo,
A spot on the map where the trains hesitate.
I saw the sign of a five and ten cent store there 45
And the Standard Oil Company and the International Harvester
And a graveyard and a ball grounds
And a short order counter where a man can get a stack of wheats
And a pool hall where a rounder leered confidential like and said:
“Lookin’ for a quiet game?” 50

The loafer lagged along and asked,
“Do you make guitars here?
Do you make boxes the singing wood winds ask to sleep in?
Do you rig up strings the singing wood winds sift over and sing low?”
The answer: “We manufacture musical instruments here.” 55

Here I saw churches with steeples like hatpins,
Undertaking rooms with sample coffins in the show window
And signs everywhere satisfaction is guaranteed,
Shooting galleries where men kill imitation pigeons,
And there were doctors for the sick, 60
And lawyers for people waiting in jail,
And a dog catcher and a superintendent of streets,
And telephones, water-works, trolley cars,
And newspapers with a splatter of telegrams from sister cities of Kalamazoo the round world over.

And the loafer lagging along said: 65
Kalamazoo, you ain’t in a class by yourself;
I seen you before in a lot of places.
If you are nuts America is nuts.
And lagging along he said bitterly:
Before I came to Kalamazoo I was silent. 70
Now I am gabby, God help me, I am gabby.

Kalamazoo, both of us will do a fadeaway.
I will be carried out feet first
And time and the rain will chew you to dust
And the winds blow you away. 75
And an old, old mother will lay a green moss cover on my bones
And a green moss cover on the stones of your postoffice and city hall.

Best of all
I have loved your kiddies playing run-sheep-run
And cutting their initials on the ball ground fence. 80
They knew every time I fooled them who was fooled and how.

Best of all
I have loved the red gold smoke of your sunsets;
I have loved a moon with a ring around it
Floating over your public square; 85
I have loved the white dawn frost of early winter silver
And purple over your railroad tracks and lumber yards.

The wishing heart of you I loved, Kalamazoo.
I sang bye-lo, bye-lo to your dreams.
I sang bye-lo to your hopes and songs. 90
I wished to God there were hound dogs of bronze on your public square,
Hound dogs with bronze paws looking to a long horizon with a shivering silver angel, a creeping mystic what-is-it.

Chelsea Handler Is My Hero

So Chelsea Handler is pretty hilarious. One of the comedians on her show tonight said the funniest one liner I've heard in a while:

"Paris Hilton has slept with so many guys, she doesn't have the clap, she has the applause."

Ohhh, good one. No offense to Paris because I think she's fucking sweet, but that was a good joke.

Anyway, yes, Chelsea Handler. She's my fave along with Chuy, her little nugget. Today I started reading her book "Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea." So far, it's great. I particularly love her chapter on when she did time. Read it.

True Blood for the Twilight Fan?

I admit it, I am a huge fan of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series, like I love Twilight. So I've recently heard about this HBO show True Blood and have wondered what the big deal was since from what I had heard, it sounds like a Twilight ripoff. I was skeptical but also very curious. This True Blood thing could actually be good.

Over the Thanksgiving long weekend, I went home to my mother's house to visit with family, eat some great food, be thankful, and of course catch up on all the TV I've been missing since she has way better channels and the best thing ever, On Demand. I love On Demand. When I realized that I had tons of extra time, I decided to give this True Blood business a chance. In one 3 or 4 day span, I managed to watch the first 10 episodes of season one of True Blood.

Ok at first I thought the show was a little ridiculous and over the top, but I stuck to watching it. I really wanted to see what all the hype was. I also couldn't help notice the similarities to Twilight. Both involve vampires trying to live in society on alternatives to human blood. Both have some "good" vampires and some "bad" vampires. Both center around a love story between a human and a vampire. BOTH have a character who can read minds. And both have shape shifter creatures (Sorry if you haven't gotten to that point in either series.) Hearing all of the likenesses made me originally want to hate True Blood for "copying" Twilight.

After actually giving the show a chance though I thought differently. I got over the outrageousness of the first few episodes and as much as I tried to deny it to myself, I was slightly addicted. I had to see the rest of the episodes right away. Despite the likenesses there are way more differences. The show is a completely different take on the vampire genre than the book series. It has a completely different feel. It's scarier, racier.

It might take a little bit to get into, but I would definitely suggest giving this show a try. I can't really describe why or how, but I really do like True Blood. It's become sort of a guilty pleasure that I cannot get enough of. The best way that I've come up to describe it is that True Blood is somewhat like Twilight for adults (even though I am an adult and am so in love with Twilight anyway).

"The Game"

I get my camera back today, weee! I still can't wait to see the pictures that were taken that fateful night that I left it.

Also, today is going so well. I got a surprise guest visitor for lunch AND tonight will be grand too.

On another note, I am reading this book called "The Game," and I am loving it. I was totally anti-reading this book when Steve and Chad were trying to get me to read it for a long time, but I finally gave in. It is about pick-up artists which I thought was stupid, but after beginning to read it, I realized there is much more to it. One, it is very well written and cracks me up every time I open it. Two, it is really about social interaction, one subject that completely interests me, hence the fact I majored in Communication.

When I saw a preview for this new show "The Pickup Artist" on VH1, I was way too excited. It is based on the book with one of the main characters, Mystery. I can't wait to see just what he really looks like and how he acts. I want to see his "Game" in action. Just the other day I was thinking how great of a reality show could be made based on this book, and now there is this. Ask and you shall receive. So I'm really excited to watch this tonight, because I am a dork. It really should be interesting though, at least to laugh at.