Every Day is Magic: Ada Limón
In her 2015 collection, Bright Dead Things, a National Book Award finalist for poetry, Ada Limón writes of moving to Kentucky: “Confession: I did not want to live here.” It’s perhaps not a surprising sentiment coming from a coastally oriented person who was raised in Northern California, attended college in Seattle, and then spent over a decade in New York City.
But Limón and her husband, Lucas, have been in Lexington for seven years now and the effects of settling into this place are noticeable in her new book, The Carrying (Milkweed, Aug.). It’s a phenomenally lively and attentive collection replete with the trappings of living a little closer to nature. While Bright Dead Things is marked by a preponderance of light, such as images of fireflies and neon signs, The Carrying features numerous appearances by various trees, birds, and beetles. Limón also demonstrates a greater willingness to be explicit in naming colors, particularly green. “It’s crazy green, the whole book,” she says. “Lexington is the greenest place I’ve ever lived.” Similarly, where in Bright Dead Things, Limón tells a lot of stories and anecdotes, in The Carrying she is very present in her thoughts and experiences.
As it turns out, these shifts in focus have another, altogether unexpected source. While putting Bright Dead Things together, Limón was diagnosed with chronic vestibular neuronitis, which can cause bouts of vertigo. “If I’m really having vertigo, it’s pretty intense and I really have to focus,”
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oe Biden raises eyebrows with ‘Flamin’ Hot’ Eva Longoria embrace
“President Biden got a little too close to actress Eva Longoria at the White House Thursday night — before the Hollywood starlet guided the 80-year-old’s mitts to relative safety.
The president embraced the “Desperate Housewives” alum after addressing a film screening of her directorial debut, “Flamin’ Hot,” but let his hands hover a bit too long on her waist before the actress quickly moved to grasp them and took a step back…”
https://nypost.com/2023/06/16/biden-gets-handsy-with-eva-longoria-at-white-house/
Mexican American superhero saves Ukrainian civilians in comic book issue
“For the better part of a decade, the Mexican American superhero created by Héctor Rodríguez has helped immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border fight Mexican cartels, corrupt officials and human traffickers.
Now Mexico’s refusal to criticize Russia or support Ukraine has prompted the comic book creator to send “El Peso Hero” to war-torn Ukraine…”
The Best Jokes of 2020
“…In November, New Jersey’s governor, Phil Murphy, responding to a question about people growing tired of wearing masks, said, “You know what’s really uncomfortable and annoying? When you die.” (The mayor of the small town of Walton, Kentucky, did an even more confrontational version of this bit, in a Facebook post this spring that began, “Listen up dipshits and sensible people.”)…”
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/2020-in-review/the-best-jokes-of-2020
Wait, so who is Nero, and why are people comparing him to Trump?
After a weekend of golfing in Florida, President Trump quote-tweeted a mysterious meme Sunday evening, depicting himself playing the violin in front of an orange and red background, with the caption, “MY NEXT PIECE IS CALLED NOTHING CAN STOP WHAT’S COMING.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/03/09/nero-trump-rome-burned-coronavrius-twitter/
“The Ballad of Huck & Miguel”: Huck Finn revisited, in today’s L.A.
“The mighty Mississippi has spawned many a mighty tale, but few as famous as “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Although now it’s required reading in most schools, when Mark Twain first published it in 1884, some didn’t consider the book’s discussion of slavery and racism such a charming tale.
Now, Tim DeRoche, a writer in Los Angeles, wants Huck to weave us a tale again, but with some modern-day twists. “I wanted to do it in a way that honored the original but that still added something new and that would be fun,” DeRoche said.
the-ballad-of-huck-and-miguel-redtail-press-cover-244.jpg
Redtail Press
In Twain’s version, Huck was fleeing his abusive alcoholic father, and along the way hooks up with a slave named Jim, also on the run.
In DeRoche’s re-telling, Huck remains the same troublesome teen from Missouri, but his companion has more modern-day woes to run from: immigration authorities. “What an escaped slave and an undocumented immigrant have in common…”
Link to ‘Sunday Morning’report
Mexican Views of the U.S. Turn Sharply Negative
Widespread dissatisfaction with economy and political leaders
By Margaret Vice and Hanyu Chwe
More Mexicans view the United States unfavorably than at any time in the past decade and a half. Nearly two-thirds of Mexicans (65%) express a negative opinion of the U.S., more than double the share two years ago (29%). Mexicans’ opinions about the economic relationship with their country’s northern neighbor are also deteriorating, though less dramatically: 55% now say economic ties between Mexico and the U.S. are good for their country, down from 70% in 2013…
Link to article
