Editor's note draft (because my MS Word is a poop)

Bees

Osmia ribiflores, the bee, is rarely perceived as one of nature's priceless jewels, but when the bee makes its way into the catacomb of poetry, it seems to always harvest something beautiful. It must be something about their haunting, yet reassuring drone, or their unbridled loyalty that crawls into the poet's ear and into his/her subconscious.

Jean Valentine's Bees suspends the reader's mind in a surrealism that makes the reader wonder what the poem is trying to say. Only 10 lines, the poem's brevity is another thing that helps make it so potent. The imagery describes a man 'covered in bees' repeating his lonely maxim: 'I've never known such pain.' Then, another man also covered in bees comes to help the first man in a seemingly gracious act of pity. Valentine's statement that says 'only bees can get the other bees off' suggests that the bees must symbolize some common burden the two men share; perhaps the pain of loss or substance abuse. Even still, Valentine's choice of bees is perfect.

Anthology Poems

So I've decided the theme for my project will be "Bees" (my favorite animal). Here's the list of 6 I'll have in there for sure...

"The River of Bees" by W.S. Merwin
"Tell the Bees" by Sarah Lindsay
"Bees" by Jean Valentine
"Here is the Beehive" by Anonymous
"Was you ever bit by a dead bee?" by Hailey Leithauser
"Fame is a Bee" by Emily Dickenson

Personal Post: Spring's first impression

This post I wanted to be dedicated to just sort of a free-association / stream of consciousness writing exercise / session. This should be mediocre...

Right now, as I listen to "Prospect Hummer", I feel like so many things are being traded; that so many comforting vibes are being transmitted through the eyes on a Chicago street corner. I love kick drums, they're so useful for expression of rhythm and of pattern and of a nod. I'm not sure why I am choosing to write this instead of researching some good poems for my anthology project, but it feels right. I feel as though my actions, my thoughts, my entire perception is being recorded onto some sort of nano-alien technology, That maybe my entire life could be downloaded as a .life or .human file onto some infinite bank of history. Not that I feel as though I am creating history, or that I'm history in the making, but... Well wait, maybe I am. Not like a legend that everyone will remember as the 21st centuries first real "Renaissance man", but just as another human proof of reality, not more or less important than any other. I wonder how many terabytes my life will take up on the alien's computer. How would you view the file? Perhaps some sort of injection or rod inserted into the spinal cord like in The Matrix. Shit, maybe I AM in a matrix. Heh, probably. But oh well, when does faith, or even knowing truth as pure truth, ever matter? When does the devout Catholic receive his gold star for having so much faith? When he dies and goes to heaven? For him, yes. But what about the rest of the universe? What about his next life (assuming we are reborn into another sentient shell as soon as our previous body has wasted away)? Will the world still turn after he is dead? Will it when I? I can't answer that question. Not TRULY.
I'm not surprised that this "stream of consciousness" post has turn into another one of my spiritual ramblings. But maybe that's my 'purpose' as they say. Fortasse I am a Renaissance man in terms of philosophy. But I don't like to blow my own horn. I honestly wish I could separate myself from my self. I wish "I", the royal I, the I people know as Eric H Schepper could be cut away from "me", me as in my soul and thoughts and perceptions. If my wishes were granted right now and I was to float through space, through a million galaxies, without the need for food or water or love, I can not say if it would present itself as a hell or a nirvana. Would I enjoy that? Yes and no. No and yes. But damn, I should get packed up and ready to leave for Algebra, which is apparently more important the present moment right now. Thanks, Time. You win.

5.3.2011 Action List

"entirely separate planes of existence"
'our domestic sphere'

I chose to write about the "Wired families" article. It's interesting how so many people these days rely on their devices for everything they do. Not saying I don't use my phone a lot, but I would be perfectly content with not having one. What I use it for besides texting friends is to check my Craigslist app to see ads about jobs or musical instruments. My favorite quotes from the article I have pasted above. In a way, I envy Mr. Hill for his lack of materialism by not having a phone. I wouldn't say "I wish I could do that" because I can; I would say that I wish I could easily do that. Right now I am listening to "Calm of the Cast-light Cloud" by Eluvium, a very peaceful song. Man, I know I say it a lot, but I really wish I could review music for a living. I should really look into that..... Better put that on my to-do list on my phone...

Saturday Night

Pretty fun time with Adam. We went to this one restaurant called 800 degrees, pretty good. When we were walking out of the place we felt how warm and breezy it was and concluded that we needed to go to a park or something just to be outside. We went to the environmental center at about 11 pm. I think that's the time when I find it the most peaceful. I recorded a few samples of these birds we kept hearing along with a babbling brook. My favorite sound of all though was when we stopped walking and the birds stopped chirping and it was silent.

Life of Pi (up to page 224)

I apologize for not posting in such a long time. This post will be difficult, I'm not too much into the writing mood at the moment, more the music mood. But anyway....

So many things have happened since my last post. The boat Pi, his family and the zoo animals were on sank on its way to Canada. Some crew threw Pi down into a lifeboat with a life jacket, miraculously not hurting him. It then shows Pi, yelling to Richard Parker, the tiger, to swim harder to make it to the lifeboat, where a zebra with a broken leg already has joined him. Eventually it comes down to Pi, Richard Parker, a spotted Hyena, the crippled zebra and later an orangutan named Orange Juice. The hyena kills and eats the zebra. Pi doesn't know Richard Parker is on the boat under the tarpaulin until after the Hyena kills OJ and Richard Parker kills the Hyena. Crazy stuff. Many days go by. Pi finds that the lifeboat is luckily equipped with many tools and rations for survival, including these solar still devices which convert sea water to fresh drinking water. Pi calculates that he has 90+ days to live on the food and water alone, without making use of the fishing gear that is supplied. But, wisely, Pi fishes. The part that really stuck out to me, and that I could relate to, was when Pi has to kill a fish to use for bait, the first sentient being he has killed, being a vegetarian.

I very much wish that I could say I haven't killed an animal on purpose. There was the time when, young and foolish, I declared war on a large colony of ants living in the cracks of my driveway. I used all sorts of methods to kill them: A hammer, my fingers, my shoes, magnifying glass, water, etc... That incident was probably my low point, the time where I was on the exact opposite side of the spectrum of beliefs where I am now. Then, 11-ish, I was an overweight, Christian, selfish, straight-F's loser of a kid. I'm so thankful for Time's power to change people, though that sounds selfish. Now, 17 going on 18, I am a healthy, happy, open minded, compassionate, tree-hugging vegetarian. Enough about me though.

Action List 4.27.11

I really like Dewdrops on Daisies' blog the best. Her post about the artwork at spring arts week is my favorite. I really like the effort she puts into her blog too. I wish I wasn't too lazy to add pictures like she does to each of her posts.