SENTIMENTALITY FOR THE PRESENT - A MARXIST LITERARY NOTION

SENTIMENTALITY FOR THE PRESENT

A Marxist Concept as Understood by a Capitalist

by Christine Trzyna

The worst class I was forced to take while in my Literature - Creative Writing program was a class on Marxism - Marxist theory. I had an inner resistance to anything Communist (what coming from my Central/ Eastern European Heritage?) and, though very interested in cultural studies and history and social anthropology, I had a difficult time wrapping my mind around the concepts presented and WHY they were important to know for Literature. 

Maybe it was because I thought the Professor was a phony with his pretense that he cared about the Grad Students Strike by cancelling a class to show he stood with them and then making us attend a make up class when we already had final papers to write and much else to do to make up for the Strike.  That and the way he wanted to sit high up on a rock on campus and have the students sit on the grass around him like he was Jesus teaching the flock, which was a difficult sit for me.

Maybe I hated the class because of the bone-head grad student who wrote that I had "developed new brain cells," as a result of the class on my written evaluation, the grad student who was actually doing the work for the Professor, and who seemed to be stumbling around the Marxist concepts herself.  (I protested her brain cell theory as an evaluation to the Dean.  Before it was all over they all hated me.)

The class was in Literature because we were being encouraged to deconstruct other people's writing using SOME THEORY... and this one came out of politics and history and economics and feminism - of a sort. 

Because the class was so difficult for me to understand naturally I worked extremely hard to understand it.  Believe it when I say that some of what I learned sticks with me today, though I don't use it to deconstruct anyone elses writing.  I actually think that some of the old Marxist theorists were right one about the future that we are living in now for now we have become the worker as well as the consumer.  Am I not buying and selling right now?  (I am still waiting for the government to recognize the housework I do as an occupation they can pay me for.)

ONE OF THE CONCEPTS that effected me back then was called SENTIMENTALITY FOR THE PRESENT, which means that even in this moment we are already convinced that THESE ARE THE GOOD OLD DAYS.  It doesn't take distance and it doesn't take harkening back or even remembering. Implied is that it can't get better than this, that we are moving every second into a future that is not enviable. 

As the world seems to be spinning faster and faster, and the day seems to be over before I got up, and as I'm convinced that I got to Southern California too late and gave up on Central California too soon, and as I see my mistakes but feel they were the only mistakes I could have made, I'm still not given in general to too much sentimentality. 


C Christine Trzyna 2013 All Rights Reserved (as always)

PS: HAVE A GREAT MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

MARK TWAIN on GRAMMER

"Ignorant people think it is the noise which fighting cats make that is so aggravating, but it ain't so; it is the sickening grammar that they use."  - Mark Twain

CONTAGEOUS WORD USAGE : OVERUSED WORDS

Recently I was thinking about someone I knew years ago who used the word Copacetic every other sentence.  Made me want to scream.  "Basically... bla bla bla Copacetic.

MERRIAM WEBSTER ON DEFINITION COPACETIC

It means Very Satisfactory.

Where is Strunk and White?

Why not say "I was pleased?"

The words that I find overused (very overused) these days, because I not only hear them but read them are:

ICONIC and UBIQUITOUS.

ICON

ICONIC is an ADJECTIVE and I think newly invented.

UBIQUITOUS

Why not say "Common?"

WHY ANGELINA JOLIE SHOULD HAVE KEPT HER PRIVATE MEDICAL DECISIONS PRIVATE

WHY ANGELINA JOLIE SHOULD HAVE KEPT HER PRIVATE MEDICAL DECISIONS PRIVATE

I woke up at midnight last night. 
It's been sweltering for two days. 
Gracie was panting. 
I put on the radio. 

World News. 

Angelina Jolie, famous actress, incredibly wealthy woman, with a couple international adoptions and natural born children, who got Brad, chose to have her breasts removed and replaced with - name the brand Angelina! - jiggly foam, molded rubber, squishy plastic, goddess knows what, same size, larger, smaller, because doctors told her she has a scary gene that elevates her risks way high up for breast cancer.  Not said, next she will have her ovaries removed.  She says this increases her chances of not dying on her children, like her mom did her.

WHY DID WE NEED TO KNOW THIS?  Isn't anything personal?  No, not when you are now trying to lead women into their own personal decisions about medical care, and what is EXTREME REACTION to a POTENTIALITY.

Why?

Because her surgery (she has little scars so they must have sucked her breast tissue out with one of those hoses they use for lipo?) was done "secretly" but then she got paid to reveal her secret in an OP ED piece.  Now thousands of women will follow her lead, won't they? 

Did the manufacturer of breast prosthesis pay for her surgery? 

Her pictures, taken in the days before and after and since her surgery, some showing natural breast, some not, so guess! are splashed everywhere so you can goggle and decide if the breasts are missing or the same.  You can look in her eyes and think "She looks pensive, in pain but on heavy meds, regretful, glad she did it, missing her nipple sensation at this very minute."

Angelena Jolie, the woman who has millions from acting in VIOLENT FILMS, films in which she kills as a charming sociopath or not, who feels nothing about killing, IS NOT A ROLE MODEL for the vast majority of women on earth. 

SHE DOES LOTS OF THINGS BECAUSE SHE'S RICH AND CAN.  (Most of us do not have those opps.  Many of us DO NOT WANT THOSE OPPS.)

Angelina goes to a lot of war torn countries and places where women are raped as a matter of culture and because she is SO famous, beautiful, rich, and got Brad, these countries are supposed to have peace and stop rapeing. 

By morning the news was ALL OVER THE WORLD.  Angelina Jolie big BAD example of how to approach medical care for women.  At a time when so many women have no health care at all and Obama Care is the OBAMA DEBACLE! 

Now, you will be a BAD WOMAN, a bad cancer patient, if you do not do as ANGELINA LEADS.

Now you WILL NOT BE A GOOD MOTHER, because Angelina Jolie is not just a beautiful wealthy actress, who got Brad, but SUPER MOTHER, if you don't replace the tissue you were born with with  jiggly foam, molded rubber, squishy plastic, goddess knows what, same size, larger, smaller... 

We should feel guilty for going holistic, taking our chances that we'll get hit by a SUV whose driver is text messaging, not having children at all...

Don't think I'm insensitive to the Breast Cancer issue because I, like you, have lost people in my life to the disease, but LIVING FOR STATISTICS is, well, you may as well invest your quarters in Vegas.  LIVING FOR STATISTICS is ABOUT AS DUMB AS LIVING FOR A RESUME!

When you read around the subject of breast cancer over the years you will read the pros and cons and the cons that used to be the pros and the prose that used to be the cons. 

BREAST CANCER IS NOT JUST BIG BUSINESS it's BIG PUBLICITY.  Be it all this "walking" and "running" for breast cancer, wearing pink bows on your lapel, or buying hideously pink (female branded = if you like blue you must be lesbian?) merchandise, scarves, shoes, jewelry, to "support the cause" for a "cure." 

What if "the cure" is abortion of any fetus that carries the gene?  (The ancient Greeks exposing female fetuses to the elements so they die.  The ancient Chinese throwing first born females to their death rather than upset the family structure and selecting out female fetus's today because of one child policy that is forced and enforced? Indian women today using ultrasound to detect unwanted female fetuses and aborting them.)  WHAT IF THE ONLY CURE IS DEATH?


C Christine Trzyna 2013  All Rights Reserved including International and Internet Rights. 
PS: See my review on the book ANGELINA JOLIE by Andrew Morton earlier on this blog! 

FUR (AN IMAGINARY PORTRAIT OF DIANE ARBUS THE PHOTOGRAPHER) : CHRISTINE TRZYNA FILM REVIEW

Robert Downey Junior as the hairy guy.  Nicole Kidman as the photographer Diane Arbus, 1950's housewife from a rich family, who likes things that scare her.  Based on a biography, and suggesting a love story.  Lonely wife subplot to her husband, lonely wife from a family rich in the furrier or fashion business, her husband photographer of still maniken - style models.  New Line Cinema.

So, I like Robert Downey Junior so much that I will see any film he's in and I did want to see what the make up artists did with him to make him the hairy guy.  Now that I was into the film, I found it all so - curious.  I was left with more curiosity, because of the last scene in which Diane goes to a nudist camp and must strip down herself to have a conversation with another camper.  More skin or fur, you see.

So the theme here is the title "Fur."
And I like the jest of "Portrait" of the "Photographer" and I wondered what was IMAGINARY about the film, or her life, or her work.

I know some poets who have resorted to photography.

HARPER LEE SUES TO GET BACK HER COPYRIGHT

WASHINGTON POST : SHE THE PEOPLE : HARPER LEE LAWSUIT article by Mary C. Curtis

Excerpt : The lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan, which seeks unspecified damages, alleges Samuel Pinkus failed to properly protect the copyright of the book after his father-in-law, Eugene Winick — who had represented Lee as a literary agent — became ill a decade ago, according to an Associated Press story.

Keep reading at the link...

TELL ME IS IT TRUE?

I recently read that most of the books that were highly recommended by Oprah Winfrey and her Book Club that were turned into films were turned into films that "flopped."

Is it True?
Why?

MOODY BLUES : THE STORY IN YOUR EYES

FOR I WILL CONSIDER MY DOG PERCY from A THOUSAND MORNINGS by MARY OLIVER

Penguin Press 2012  Copyright by poet Mary Oliver

FOR I WILL CONSIDER MY DOG PERCY

For I will consider my dog Percy.

For he was made small but brave of heart.

For if he met another dog he would kiss her in kindness.

For when he slept he snored only a little.

For he could be silly and noble in the same moment.

For when he spoke he remembered the trumpet and when
  he scratched he struck the floor like a drum.

For he hate only the finest food and drank only the
  purest of water, yet would nibble of dead fish also.

For he came to me impaired and therefore certain of
  short life, yet thourooughly rejoiced in each day.

For he took his medicines without arguement.

For he played easily with the neighborhood's Bull Mastiff.

For when he came upon mud he splashed through it.

For he was an instrument for the children to learn
  benevolence upon.

For he listened to poems as well as love talk.

For when he sniffed it was as if he were being
  pleased by every part of the world.

For when he sickened he rallied as many times as
  he could.

For he was a mixture of gravity and waggery.

For we humans can seek self - destruction in ways
  he never dreamed of.

For he took actions both cunning and reckless, yet
  refused always to offer himself to be admonished.

For his sadness through without words was
  understandable.

For there was nothing sweeter than his peace
  when at rest.

For there was nothing brisker than his life when
in motion.

For he was of the tribe of Wolf.
For when I went away he would watch for me at
  the window.

For he loved me.

For he suffered before I found him, and never
  forgot it.

For he loved Anne.

For when he lay down to enter sleep he did not argue
  about whether or not God made him.

For he could fling himself upside down and laugh
  a true laugh.

For he loved his friend Ricky.

For he would dig holes in the sand and then let
  Ricky lie in them.

For often I see his shape in the clouds and this is
  a continual blessing.

READING POETS ADRIENNE RICH and MARY OLIVER : DO YOU ONLY READ POETRY BECAUSE OF NATIONAL POETRY MONTH?

At the library I noticed a prominent display of poetry books for NATIONAL POETRY MONTH.  

You would think there were a gazillion months instead of just twelve on the calender since we seem to have so very many months dedicated to subject matter.

Even though I think there should be more holidays that require people to stay home from work and/or have three day weekends - which would decrease traffic, increase tourism, and prevent more burnout and heart attacks from crummy jobs, Monday morning being the big "I can't take another day of that ass at work so I'll have a heart attack day", I still feel kind of negative about the Hallmarkisation of the yearly calender.

To the point, do we need months dedicated to Poetry, or African American History, or whatever?  Is this all between Dollar Tree Stores (and the like) and school teachers who use their salaries to supplement student's art supplies and decorations for bulletin boards in the classroom?  You know, suddenly Saint Patricks Day, which is for the Irish, which I'm not, is the cause for buying green crap from China.

Are the same people who brought you Mother's Day and Secretary Day and Doggie Day behind everything for girls being PINK and everthing for boys being BLUE?  Good thing I don't have a child, because I would have to choose YELLOW  or GREEN.

DO YOU ONLY READ POETRY BECAUSE IT'S NATIONAL POETRY MONTH?

If so, then I feel sorry for you.

POETRY SHOULD BE READ when you are in a MOOD.  In particular it is very good for indulging the emotions.  If you don't get torn up or twisted around by an ah ha moment reading poetry, maybe you never will.

I've picked up copies of MARY OLIVER'S A THOUSAND MORNINGS and LATER POEMS (1971-2012) by ADRIENNE RICH since these are poets I read in college.  Hmm... a favorite poem?

C 2013 All Rights Reserved  Christine Trzyna / Christine Trzyna Writerly Life

WILL I SEE YOU AT THE LA TIMES BOOK FAIR AT USC?

Seems I make it to the LA TIMES Book Fair every other year and at this very moment I am either at the book fair or staying home.  If I don't go it'll probably be because it was an ordeal the last time.  Too much travel and not getting the tickets for the little discussions that are staged about various important subjects to readers and writers.  If I do go, I may or may not write another review.

I DO APPRECIATE THE BOOK FAIR, the literary aspect for the common person.  I especially appreciate it because the poor LA TIMES is one more NEWSPAPER THAT IS SUFFERING FOR IT'S EXISTANCE! 

I LOAD UP ON MICHAEL CONNELLY BOOKS : READING FOR HIS WRITING

I recently got two Michael Connelly books, The Fifth Witness - a Lincoln Lawyer Novel, 

which manages to involve the sell of a criminal murder case for movie making, and The Drop - a Harry Bosch Novel, about the hunt for and arrest of a child molester. 

I wrote about discovering Michael Connelly as a writer of local (Los Angeles) crime fiction a while back and am only sorry that I didn't hear about his work sooner because I love to read about events - fiction or nonfiction - that take place in a topography and cityscape I'm familiar with.  Now, I think that some day, far in the future I'm going to have to read one or both series from the first book forward.  Of course each book stands alone but still, there are the subtle nuances of character building from the start, and I feel maybe I've missed out. 

SO I DON'T KNOW IF PERHAPS Connelly has revealed this bit of information before or if I caught it, on page 132 of the hardback of The Fifth Witness, as the first of the revelation but it turns out that The Lincoln Lawyer has a half brother who is...  Harry Bosch.   Interestingly both men have teenage daughters and are divorced.  And Connelly has set it up that at least one of these daughters may follow her father into police work so... does that mean that in a few years there will be crime fiction based in LA from a FEMALE POINT OF VIEW!  I kind of hope so and I can't wait to see what he does, if so, with the sex scenes!

As I was reading I felt my self with the literary training turn on.  This is not the self that usually reads for enjoyment nor the self that writes in long deep sessions of uninterruptable concentration.  It's the self that says "Now exactly how did he pull this story off?"  How much is in flow and how much is calculation?  Does he have the plot charted before hand?

FREE SPEECH AND CENSORSHIP : EXHIBIT AT THE SKIRBALL

SKIRBALL CULTURAL CENTER

 

Hello Mudda, Hello Fudda...  The Skirball presents songwriter Allen Sherman in two days... and for some reason right now I want to eat a massive amount of jelly beans! 

 

Seems I head out for an afternoon to Skirball almost as often as I head out for the Getty for an afternoon.  Seriously though, a couple months ago I went to an exhibit there, the title of which I'm ashamed to not remember, and they had copies of books that had been banned including Little House on the Prarie, as well as a row of T-shirts hanging on wire hangers.

Each T-Shirt had gotten a kid who wore it to school thrown out of school, or at least sent home to change.

It really got me thinking about the Ist Amendment and Free Speech and whatever it was that our Founding Fathers intended.  (At the same time there was a Founding Fathers exhibit with original documents, some which had never been let out of the National Archives.)

I once, as a teenage, got thrown out of a candy store because I was wearing a T shirt that was for a Democratic candidate.  The owners were Republicans.  Not only did they refuse me a sale, but they wanted to know WHO MY PARENTS WERE!

What a load of shit!

Dates me, doesn't it!

 

C 2013-2026 Christine Trzyna

THINKING OF JOHN

A decade ago -give or take a few years - a friend from my writing program, John , left central California for Oregon. He moved a few times and once left a message that was so badly recorded that I couldn't make out his new phone number. Letters I send were not forwarded. So we lost touch. John kept moving further into the mountains. I have no hope of making contact with him again. Thinking of John today.

ANAIS NIN Quotation

"The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say." - Anaïs Nin