Italy thinking patriotic thoughts (150th yr anniversary)

Beppe Severgnini, one of Italy's most visible columnists, contemplating the kind of patriotic recharge his country needs on its 150th anniversary (corriere.it).

Sandra Corti writes(sandracorti@mac.com): "I've been living in the United States for 10 yrs. I have a 7yr old daughter here. Since he started school when he was 4, he has, every morning, together with his classmates, teacher, and the whole school in unison (via loudspeakers), stood up, placed her hand over her heart, with eyes turned to the American flag and proclaimed out loud "The Pledge of Allegiance: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of United Stats of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all". This is how American children begin their day.


Beppe's response:

A sacred duty of fidelity to a nation: The Pledge of Allegiance, it would be good for us to do it as well. I imagine the objections: what use is such a declaration in an empatic, incoherent, and absent-minded Italy? So many of our leaders have made a mockery of the 54th article of the constitution: "Citizens to whom public functions have been granted have the duty to absolve those tasks with discipline and honor, under oath according to the stipulations of the law." Why would such people honor yet another tenet of loyalty? The answer is easy, and I'm happy to give it on the day of Italy's 150th birthday.

We must give ourselves up to the requirement of fedelity of the elected: he who has a conscience must use it; he who doesn't, no phrase or ceremony will deliver it for him. A declaration a' la Americana might help instead a younger electorate upon whom we cast our hopes, and for new Italians, from whom we expect effert, enthusiasm, and loyalty that the USA expects of its new citizens. To choose a new country is to accept new duties, rights, traditions, and lifestyles. In order ot be good Italians, a bit of romantic love for the place is a necessity: there's no other way.

Many wishes. Something I find in my email inbox that I enjoyed: auguri.tecnova.it. That's right. Italy deserves better. Italy needs to be better led and inspired, not pandered to in all its desires or absolved from all its guilts.


P.S.: Happy Saint's day to all Giuseppe, Beppe, Peppe, Peppino, Pino, Pinuccio, and company!

For Carly

A couple of recent block prints I'm hoping to convert into T-shirts at some point...

When I clean crumbs (A Poem)

When I clean crumbs


A dirty pan

the size of my world

and bigger than our sink



I should be cleaning dishes

but sitting in a church pew



Curling water corrals the oil

I press the stubborn crust

against the rising tide



Cleaning the crumbs from my pan

brings back Mama’s tears



Fried corn bread on a Thursday morning

that’s my day

I got to say one grace

and another to myself

“forgive me for swiping the jam”

but God was never fast enough

and I snatch the first piece



That made Mama cry



Fried corn bread on a Thursday morning

doesn’t crumble like Wednesday’s freshly baked

Stiffer

the butter holds

I like it burnt



That made Mama cry



Burnt bread for her babies

The flame could never be controlled

And I never cared if those globs of jam

made her feel better too



I never saw her tears fill the sink

floating crumbs and memories of her Mama



Kentucky corn bread isn’t fried here

but then

I always taste it

when I clean crumbs

from a dirty pan the size of my world

Steelers Lose

My tribute to a good team that fought with a better team on superbowl day.  This is a tussle in charcoal.

The Woodblock Bug

I've caught the woodblock printing bug: a combination of recent research in early modern Asian and Italian Renaissance art. Here's my first incision and print. I'm crazy about this form, a combination of my three favorite mediums: drawing, painting, and sculpting... Its reproducibility is eerily enticing too... Makes me feel exponentially creative (the empowering feeling of art's commodification?). At any rate, I've got the fever. And the only remedy is more cowbell...

Drawing at Centre

I've been sitting in on our local Centre professor Sheldon Tapley's studio sessions. He has been gracious enough to let another artistically-inclined colleague to stretch out his fingers and bludgeon his pencils. It's been fun getting back into figure drawing.

Big Sky Art II

Lone Mountain in all it's Autumn glory... Anyone got a job opening in Big Sky for me?