Rosemary Kirstein

Okay, it was inevitable.   Someone was going to do this, eventually.

Apparently, that Someone has turned out to be me.

(this makes more sense if you’ve read the original)

THIRTEEN WAYS OF LOOKING AT FACEBOOK.

I
Your farm does not exist.
You puzzle me.

II
I was of three minds,
Facebook, Twitter, and blog.
But it was only one post,
Like a blackbird
Sitting in three trees at once.

III
Sixth grade lunch hour
Cafeteria.
Decibel level = 110.
All my friends are talking at once,
But not to me.

IV
Twenty years ago, you dumped me for no good reason.
IGNORE

V
Hello, my new friend.
I see you have become a fan of XX==>DDD.
Now, what page is that?
click
I see.
Yes, those breasts are quite large.
REMOVE CONNECTION

VI.
Eighteen years ago I dumped you
For very good reasons.
IGNORE

VI
My Fan Page is ready
One click away from Live.
click
Oh, look, I have a fan, huzzah!
No, wait, that’s me.

VII
My personal account has 32 friends.
My fan page has 7 fans.
I now understand my royalty statements.

VIII
I do not believe these are the End Times,
Nor that God has a plan for me.
I do not care that you are in an open relationship.
But my fan page is open to everyone,
And you may stay.

IX.
I commented.
I saw my comment on three pages.
Three circles of which I am the edge.

X
I’ve known you all your life
But I never knew you liked that song,
that singer.
And you never knew that I sing.

XI
They are all here
The mountebanks and preachers,
The grade-school crushes and bullies.
We find, and we are found.
But do you see the distance I have run,
or my shadow?

XII
We speak, addressing no one in particular
and wait for comments.
Where is this river going?
Where does the blackbird fly?

XIII
It was 3AM all night.
I was writing
and I was going to write.
I used a pen
And I was alone.

Over at Chad Orzel’s Uncertain Principles blog, he’s asked for book recommendations.  Here’s what I said:

Robert Charles Wilson’s SPIN. If you haven’t already, that is, as it’s not a new book. (Actually, I’d be interested in a scientist’s take on the science in it…) You can follow it up with everything else ever written by Robert Charles Wilson.

On the absolutely opposite end of the spectrum: Catherynne M. Valente’s THE GIRL WHO CIRCUMNAVIGATED FAIRYLAND IN A SHIP OF HER OWN MAKING. (I haven’t quite finished reading it yet, so I hope that after recommending it, I don’t watch it flip around and prove me wrong!) That one’s online, and can be read for free, although the author politely requests donations (which I shall, even should it flip; the pleasure I’ve got from it so far is already worth the bucks). http://www.catherynnemvalente.com/fairyland/ In a certain mood, I’m ready to read things that are clearly shaped as fairy-tales, and I’m finding Valente’s take on the form both charming and moving.

And for something smack-dab in the middle, how about PANDEMONIUM by Daryl Gregory? I came across this book when I was a judge for the Phil K. Dick award (a strictly-SF award, so the book was disqualified by some of the judges as not being SF, in their opinion). I found it fun, and poignant, and clever and deep. (Don’t read the cover blurb, however — I feel it gives too much away.)

Right after I posted it, I had a vague memory of actually having said those things to Orzel in person.   If so, I now look like a dope.

Ah, well.   At least the readers of his blog will now have heard of those books, and might read them.  Pass on the good stuff whenever you  can, say I.