The Useless Critic 2.0

I know! I haven't posted poetry in forever! Sigh. having a class in it will do that to you, you know. Anyway, this is Karin Boye, a poet from Sweden who has been dead for a very long time. Jason introduced me to her in high school a la Nanook of the North, who have a song about her grave. (sweet little band, check them out) She was a lesbian poet that committed suicide by swallowing a bunch of pills and sitting on a boulder in 1941. She did a lot more that poetry- for example, she's the reason most of T.S. Eliot's work is available in Swedish- but that's what people remember her most for. Including this piece, which is called "Ja visst gör det ont," which is translated to "Yes, of course it hurts": Of course it hurts when buds burst. Otherwise why would spring hesitate? Why would all our fervent longing be bound in the frozen bitter haze? The bud was the casing all winter. What is this new thing, which consumes and bursts? Of course it hurts when bud...

My friend mentioned this in his tumblr (which you should follow by the way, especially now that he's in the exotic locale of ESTONIA - which another one of my friends didn't even realize was a real country, shudder: http://totempole.tumblr.com so now you know, like Andorra, Estonia is a real place) about the coincidences he had noticed in his life. for the past few years, I've noticed the same kind of things in my life, remarkably similar things seem to occur in a pattern. but what happened today was just, err, creepy. and warrants being mentioned here, HAI. I do believe that synchronicity is a very powerful (and real) phenomenon. Argue about UFOs and Bigfoot as you will but there's no denial in the existence of this. Sometimes weird coincidences can't be ignored. For example, my siblings are all born on the 16th, as am I, as my parents are married on this day as well. And don't bad things just seem to happen in threes? (or good things too, but I, being morbid ...

HERE IT IS (I put much thought into this, think about it, summer doesn't officially start for another ten days OH SHIT SOLSTICE): "Pamplona"- Pelle Carlberg link: http://www.sendspace.com/file/jz2v10 this song is just how the lyrics make it out to be...it's very liberating to listen to. like, if I listen to it on the bus when I'm riding to work, I feel ecstatic. it makes things beautiful and joyful and I can get into that. Pelle is so underrated in the States. give him a chance, he's like a diet Lekman! "She's Got Me Dancing"- Tommie Sparks link: http://www.sendspace.com/file/deiluw I don't really know if this warrants a spot on my list, but it's catchy and it's like nobody ever told this guy the 1980s are over. He needs to blow up. because this is one of the must-hear songs. someone on last.fm said he looks douchey; I have to agree. he looks like Mark Ronson. thus. oh I can hear my parents yelling downstairs. wa wa wa. "Happines...