Spring! Spring! Spring! ....Chaucer...Pitluk....Eliot

Here's Chaucer:

Whan that aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of march hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
Tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the ram his halve cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye

Here's Pitluk:
(click here for full text)

So standing on this windswept lawn at Chrysler Park in Oelwein, and then standing on the banks of the Mississippi River later this spring day in Dubuque, conjures the spirit of a bygone era and of a determined ancestry traversing these undulating prairies and untrammeled landscapes. The senses are heightened, and when the wind catches the grass just right, the ensuing aroma can be described only as green. It is spring in Iowa, to be sure.

Springtime and the cerebral, literary rebirth is a fine time to reassess where we are as a civilization. Earth Day, on April 22, is the international bugle call to start treating the environment better, and certain sectors of society are already in the process of tailoring their commerce and plying their trade with shades of green in mind.


Here's Eliot:

April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,
And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,
And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.

.
.
.

and here's a picture of two rabbits fucking
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.
.

Dallas, Texas -- Romantic Town?

In life you can't count on too many things, but you can count on Adam Pitluk.


Adam's latest brilliant offering is now available at AmericanWay:
his newest editor's note, entitled "Lone Star Long Haul."

Here Adam talks about moving to Big D, Dallas, Texas.

"We were excited about the prospect of relocating to Dallas, a city that intrigued us, thanks to the TV show of the same name."

Can you believe it?-- this is exactly what my family and I thought when we moved from South Africa to Dallas in 1980!

Adam was, though, a little concerned about "a city more defined by shopping and nightlife rather than by mountains and an ocean" but, but, but, "Dallas did have the Cowboys, and any city that Roger Staubach called home was good enough for us."

This is getting downright eerie. My dad said exactly the same thing when we were grumbling on the boat over.

Now, years later, Adam's really happy and all settled in and he's "not trying to wax poetic, but there’s something romantic about living in a Texas town."

Romantic!?

Yes ma'am, when I think of "Romance" I think of flowers and champagne and sweet kisses, etc, etc, but I also think of Knights in Shining Armor and Cowboys with beautiful hats.

And for me Adam Pitluk is "Romance."

A real prose gunslinger.

A Knight-King spilling his heroic wax-words all over his kingdom.

Like I said you can't rely on many things. But you can rely on Adam Pitluk.

Adam Pitluk spurring his silver tongue into my soul and heart.

O, Adam!

The Geatest Dynasty ??? (Adam Pitluk, no contest),...

Adam Pitluk, my God and my Muse, has come through again over at AmericanWay

Here Adam sinks his philosophical teeth into "Dynasty."

And Adan starts off in fine form:

"I love a good dynasty. There’s something romantic about a long, extended, lingering stay at the top. A dynasty represents the voice of a certain time and place. Similarly, a time and place can be easily cited in the annals of history vis-à-vis a particular dynasty."

And then Adam talks about the following Dynasties:

1) The Zhou (1046 BC to 256 BC)

2) Full Tilt Poker
"Led by poker great Howard Lederer, Full Tilt has won 34 WSOP championships."

3) Stevie Wonder
in the '70s he was a "dynasty of Grammys"

4) The Beta Theta Pi fraternity at the University of Missouri
1959-1999
(a "local level" dynasty)

good stuff so far. damned good stuff. But then, sadly, Adam gets predictable on us.
(Sports Dynasties: Cowboys, Lakers, Yankees, etc,... yawn....)

But then it hit me. This is all kind of irrelevant. When Adam Pitluk talks "Dynasty" the real elephant in the room is Adam Pitluk himself. The real Dynasty. My God and My Muse! My Dynasty!

Let's talk a walk down memory lane (Adam at his best):

"The memory is a fascinating instrument -- especially when coupled with the elements of time and space." (in his note about Paula Abdul)

and

"It's as Marcus Aurelius believed in that everything existing 'is already disintegrating and changing.'" (The Winds of Change)



I am tingling!
Yes, in the presence of my god, my muse, and my "Dynasty"
I am tingling!

(click Adam Pitluk "label" to see all posts or visit AmericanWay)

My Love!!---AmericanWay's Adam Pitluk

It's amazing how close I feel to Adam Pitluk. You might say we are like brothers. But "lovers," to be truthful, feels more correct.

I remember when I was single and my assistant would announce a call from a new girlfriend. That's the same sort of surging anticipation and yearning that strains in me now each time I go to read the latest Editor's Note over at AmericanWay (American Airline's in-flight magazine).

It doesn't matter that I've called Adam's writing "retarded" and "piss-poor" and that he's called me (anonymously) a "cock" and a "dicknose." There's clearly something beautiful between us.

O, God, Adam, Yes!

And, this time, I'm only going to quote one excerpt from the new Editor's Note:

"I think a Cleveland championship would rank right up there emotionally with the birth of my children." (talking about the Cavaliers).

And I'm right on board with Adam here. When South Africa defeated Australia in the one-day and 5-day cricket test matches down under I felt as good as when my first Love Bird eggs hatched. (Those hatchlings, though, sadly, didn't last long.)

I'm not going to say you should check the rest of the Note out. It's pretty boring. Or maybe it's just the love-shaded glasses my heart's wearing right now. (warts and all, ya know).

If you do want to see my critiques of other Editor's Notes by Adam Pitluk then just click on one of the labels below. The first one's where I called the writing "retarded" and "piss-poor" and though I didn't realize it at the time it was, evidently, love at first sight.

O, Love is such a strangely splendored thing!

AmericanWay's Adam Pitluk Continues to Deliver!

Adam Pitluk, the editor of AmericanWay (American Airline's inflight magazine), is definitely one of my favorite living writers. Not necessarily one of the best. But I can't think of another writer whose work I more look forward to. (and lucky for me it comes out every two weeks.)

Gone, gone, gone---
gone are the days I called his writing "piss-poor" and "retarded."

Adam Pitluk is a showman, wordsmith, philosopher, psychologist, etc, etc
And I can't get enough of him....

Anyways, here, in the issue featuring Paula Abdul on its cover, are some excerpts from his latest offering, "Opposites Attract:"
(to get the complete Adam Pitluk reading experience click here)


1) "The memory is a fascinating instrument -- especially when coupled with the elements of time and space."

This is the first sentence of the Editor's Note and it shows once again that Adam likes to start off with a bang.

Bang! Bang!

So damned clever and so damned profound.

2) "I can remember third grade with more clarity and precision than I can all of 2005, and third grade was 25 years ago. Perhaps in 25 years, 2005 will creep back into my long-term memory, but in 25 years, I’ll be 57, so it’s hard to say."

weird. just weird. but gorgeously and fantastically weird.
and, yes, Adam, it's "hard to say."

3) "The days since the Abdul radio era have turned to months, and the months have turned to years."

Such a beautifully wistful tone. Reading this I can't help but think I'm in the presence of a master!

"the Abdul radio era"--- brilliant!

4) "Paula has resurged once again as an international phenom. Say what you will about her continuous metamorphosis as a household name..."

Adam at his best. No commentary needed.

5) "The music still isn’t my particular brand of tea, but each and every song of hers triggers a pleasant memory of my old life."

I love how Adam fearlessly disfigures cliches and adages.

6) "My old life helped me grow to understand that life throws curveballs."

a master of the succinct universal truth. i've got goosebumps.

7) "Still, I admire the life she’s lived and the memories she’s given me, and for that, Paula is forever my girl. There. I said it."

atta boy, Adam!!

And you, Adam, are forever my boy. There. I said it.

And, damn, do I feel good.

You are a drug, Adam. You are a drug!

AmericanWay Writing: Adam Pitluk

A few weeks ago I belittled some of the editor’s writing in AmericanWay (American Airline’s in-flight magazine), calling it “retarded” and “piss-poor” because, frankly, it is.

Okay, so now I’ve just read the editor’s note in the latest AmericanWay and I’m pleased to report that none of the writing seems to me to be obviously retarded and/or piss-poor.

Just to give you more flavor, though, of Adam Pitluk’s style and phrase-making, to follow are some quotes from his latest editor’s note (“Tulsa to Tampa”).


------1)) “Have you ever played this game: Pick any three bands that if you had your way, you could see in concert in present day. It’s the old reliable that my buddies and I like to engage in when we get together.”

-------2)) “Moving forward, American Way, which is still the only inflight magazine published every two weeks, will begin featuring destinations . We’re not doing away with celebrities altogether, though. After all, I’m still quite curious about what makes Paula Abdul tick (you and I will both find out in our February 1 issue).”

-------3)) “But we staffers here agree that it’s time to get back to our roots. We do a heck of a job bringing you the stars of stage, screen, and radio, in my humble opinion, but chances are you’re destined for Kansas City today, not for a rendezvous with Charlize Theron. Both will be on future covers, so if I’m wrong and you are heading out to L.A. and Charlize’s house, I’m still covered.”

--------4)) “And you Tampa locals: I don’t want you to think that the only reason we’re kicking off our destination covers with your city is the Super Bowl. We started with you because, quite frankly, I love Tampa -- especially the food. I’ll take the Pepsi challenge and put the Ceviche Tapas Bar and Restaurant on South Howard Street up against any tapas joint the world over.”

--------5)) “For my money, it doesn’t get any better than a foodie weekend in Tampa.”

--------6)) “Okay, for my money, it doesn’t get any better than listening to the Jayhawks while on a plane from Tulsa to Tampa in order to watch the Super Bowl on February 1, after I’ve finished watching Office Space at Charlize Theron’s house. With Paula Abdul. And Jimi Hendrix. Yep, for my money, it doesn’t get any better than that.”

The entire editor’s note’s available at americanwaymag.com

The Winds of Change-- Piss-poor, i mean really piss-poor, writing

To follow are some excerpts from the editor's note in the current (January 1, 2009) AmericanWay (American Airline's in-flight magazine).

It's titled "The Winds of Change" and it beings with the sentence "Change is in the air." A few sentences later we get this gem:

" It's as Marcus Aurelius believed in that everything existing 'is already disintegrating and changing.' "

what the fuck?

i mean what the fuck?

(and this can't be explained by a simple "typo." go ahead and try. i did)

ok, now, rewind,...(and continuing forward)

" It's as Marcus Aurelius believed in that everything existing 'is already disintegrating and changing.' True enough, but those who successfully grasp that concept, I believe, will be able to make the inevitable evolutionary course of action changes in their favor. "

mmmmm-hmmmmmm

And, a bit later in the article the editor introduces us to some members of the AmericanWay team:

" Eric Celeste is our leadoff man...On deck is Cathy Booth Thompson...And batting cleanup is the most chiseled writer I've ever read. "

O, Lord!!-- i was so absolutely astonished by the adjective "chiseled" it took me a while to notice that the clean up hitter's batting 3rd. (most any Baseball fan knows the cleanup hitter bats 4th.)

but again who can even think of baseball, etc, when you're trying to properly savor the phrase
" the most chiseled writer I have every read" !!!!!!!



finally, the Editor's note ends with a call for comments and suggestions (adam.pitluk@aapubs.com):

" let me know if we're moving in the right direction. Until then, let us entertain you. "

well, Adam, i'm not sure what direction you're moving in (though I'm sure it's not a straight line) but you certainly have entertained me!