I'm losing my hair

Stop me if I told you this before. Every year, I cut all my hair off to shock my students before final exams. I hope it's a way to inject a little humor into their lives and it's a way to humorously prepare for my future baldness. I think I talk about this in "Waiting for Gadot," but then again, I had only done it once back then I think. It's been a few more times now, so I think I can reflect on it again.

Apophenia and Hypochondria: The Week of Magical Thinking

There's this joke that's based on the misogyny that is still so common in our society which says that women don't simply say "I'm a feminist," they say "I'm a feminist, but..." There has to be some sort of capitulation to the patriarchy. This idea has been developed elsewhere by other people, I merely bring it up to set up my own joke.

So I got my COVID-19 test rests and: I tested negative, but...

"Just"

In high school, an underclassman complimented my writing. I was a junior or a senior and he pointed out how well I incorporated a quote into what I was writing. The quote was cited but if it hadn't been you wouldn't have necessarily known I was quoting anything. I'm not sure this is the best type of writing, but it is something I miss when reading students' writing these days. When I taught at the college level, I saw how often students would drop quote without any sort of introduction. I've done that a fair amount in this "radioheadhead" series but that's for artistic reasons. In good writing, at least in my opinion, you introduce all your quotes. For example:

1) Thom Yorke sings, "You do it to yourself."

2) Kurt Vonnegut writes, "Strictly speaking, I was rewriting an old play of mine. But that old play had been written by a right-handed stranger fifteen years my junior."

It's funny what making this an important part of writing prioritizes. Suddenly, you want to know every possible way to say "says." If the person is doing something else than just saying something, you use that. So they sing or they write. In less fanciful moments, they state, they consider, they relate, they find. It's a weird thing to focus so much time on but it feels important.

After writing "You," I had my dad read the prose poem. It's very compounded. It's saying a lot of different things at once. I think it's good and expresses how I feel about things but my dad's reaction was "Oh, it's a poem? That makes sense then, I don't get poetry." I wanted to take "radioheadhead" back in the other direction here so this is what you get.

I don't know what to write about.

Hi there!

"You"

This is the first one of these I think I've done that essentially includes all the lyrics of the song. It's also full of other quotes and references. I guess I felt like it was okay to have very little me in something called "You." I got tested for COVID-19 today so I'll know if I really do have it in a few days now. If you think you have symptoms and can get tested, do so. And everyone, wear a mask! It's for everyone else's protection! ("And why should I believe [protect] myself, not you?")

-5

THE CEILING

Construction Zone

I've got a couple more ideas that I want to address in THE ROOF and more will come to me, but I think I need to shut it down for a while. I'm using a construction metaphor for what I want to do, because I plan to reread and edit the parts I've already written, eventually (hopefully!) making for a more firm foundation underneath THE ROOF. Ha, pardon the pun! My other concern is that I need to take time to better learn who the named characters are, learn their back stories and personalities. I know I'm mixing metaphors, but this is sewing in a way and I want to go back through the character threads and fix any missed stitches.

5

THE ROOF

-4

THE CEILING

4

THE ROOF

-3

THE CEILING

Pardon the Interruption

Tomorrow I want to write about THE ROOF and Juneteenth but I do want to address something beforehand.

I'm sure I've written about Warren Ellis comics and stories a lot on here. Earlier just this week, I read a draft post I never published from years ago that references his work. A few days ago, several women came forward to accuse Ellis of using his position in comics to sexually exploit young women in comics and his other media circles.

I would like to stand with the survivors coming forward with their stories of abuse. I believe them. I don't really have a platform where taking a stand like this really matters, but if society were to begin to believe and support women (and men!) coming forward about abuse they have experienced or witnessed, we could build a better world. We all have our roles to play here.

3

THE ROOF

Before NEWS

THE CEILING

I, DK

Took part in my first protest today if my memory serves. I've been to events for a cause but I don't think I've been to a protest. I think the point I want to make is that it's just a normal thing that can hopefully have extraordinary consequences. We all know from the news there have been issues of violence and property damage associated with some protests but I feel like these are rare occurrences; the media loves sensational stories so such events are always showcased even when most protests do not lead to this. If you have something you want to stand for and you are up for it, look for a local protest you can take part in. If protests aren't for you, then please don't spread the fear and rhetoric I see attached to them in a lot of social media. A protest is not chaos and it is not something to be afraid of. Regardless of your politics, protests are a protected part of the first amendment, alongside religion and the press. Don't let unfortunate incidents cast a negative view on an important way to push for change in this country on any issue. Okay, I'm pretty tuckered out so I'm happy I already wrote today's post like mostly two years ago 😂. I'll be back Monday.

"Morning Bell"

THE ROOF is on pause. When I returned to the blog for this play I found a poem that I had forgotten I'd written so you're going to get that tomorrow. Thom Yorke had a very different and yet similar experience with a Radiohead song once so I thought what I'd do today was something I used to do and riff on those song lyrics to talk to you all.

Under CARD

THE CEILING

CARD

"You hand her a card..."

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THE CEILING

2

THE ROOF

-1

THE CEILING

1

THE ROOF

June First

If a body falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does its scream make a sound?

THE ROOF starts June 1st, 2020.