Is there really something sinister about Santiago de Chuco, or am I merely too bourgeois to easily handle so many close encounters with the fourth world as I have been having lately? I could write a long narration about this expedition. Details would include: * riding slowly through Quiruvilca, where Vallejo worked for a while … More Ciliado arrecife
I like the mototaxi concept and the fact that motataxis look rather like 1920’s cars, but my favorite mode of transportation is still the combi or collective van. Those who criticize combis are not wrong in anything they say, but I love combis nonetheless. They are extremely folkloric, they are more comfortable than buses, when … More Collective Van II
It would be hard to dislike Barranco and I went there to the Museo Pedro de Osma, in a lovely art nouveau mansion, to see paintings and sculpture by Fernando de Szyszlo. To get to the paintings one had to walk through a great deal of colonial art, so that when I got to the … More Museo Pedro de Osma
On Memorial Day I did not have a special post, but I drove around the Rincón and up to Lake Cachuma while listening to Winter Soldier testimony on KPFK. Here it all is in full text, for Flag Day. * The loveliest way to enter Santa Barbara from the south is U.S. Highway 101, which … More Winter Soldier
I wrote this a few weeks ago, dreaming of city smells, high peaks and sharp Pacific water. I waited a few days and bought a ticket. Now I am almost gone. When you fly from Lima to Houston, you can save $500 if you agree to touch down in Panama. I have agreed to do … More Sweet Waist of America
Cast of Characters: Professor Zero, a male Student, and the student’s Son. Son, 4, is wearing baggy jeans, hi-tops, and a T-shirt. Sticking out of his backpack is his bilingual alphabet book. Student: Professor Zero, I have come to introduce myself and my son. I have a very great favor to ask you. May I … More C’est Charmant
This is the real Professor Zero. The coup has been defeated, and I am back! First we will read Alice Walker on Barack Obama, H/T Anxious Black Woman. then we will read an important post on “marriage strengthening” as a solution to economic devastation by Elle PhD. Now we will sing: Minha terra tem palmeiras, … More Reading for Pleasure Wednesday: Gonçalves Dias’ Song of Exile
This is Professor Zero, and it is the weekend. I am still in parish prison but my trial has gone well so far and the Director is asleep, so we will sing. I am singing Fern Hill. We can also hear Dylan Thomas read from it. “Now as I was young and easy under the … More Fern Hill
Referring ironically to the Romantic tradition that “nature teaches” César Vallejo called a linden tree murmuring in the wind a “professor of sobbing” and a “technician of shouts.” He ends this poem suggesting the tree is actually no such thing. I, however, really am now an engineer of poetry. My introduction to literature is intended … More Poetic Engineering
Our official Easter post is by the Anxious Black Woman. Read it, it is important. Meanwhile I am singing the first laisse of the Song of Roland, which I like. Carles li reis, nostre emper[er]e magnes Set anz tuz pleins ad estet en Espaigne: Tresqu’en la mer cunquist la tere altaigne. N’i ad castel ki … More Une vieille chanson
coldhearted scientist وداد 