Alopecia

One good thing that might come from Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Academy Awards ceremony is the attention it brings to alopecia areata, the loss of hair in certain spots, and alopecia universalis, the loss of hair over one's entire body. The slapping incident, by the way, was preceded by a joke about Jada Smith's shaven head. Maybe once more people educate themselves about this autoimmune disease, that awareness will generate greater understanding and acceptance.

I have written two poems about alopecia, one of which will be published later this spring. There could be other poems worth writing if I choose to explore that part of my life.

I was five when I started losing the hair on my head. I remember it starting one night when my family was getting ready to eat. I rubbed my head and discovered that my hair covered my plate. Within a year, I was totally bald. I remained bald and had no hair anywhere else on my body for a couple of years. Although the hair on my head eventually grew back, it was never thick and didn't grow very fast. My arms and legs remained hairless.

I started losing the hair on my head again when I was 20 or 21. The process that time took longer because I wasn't totally bald until my thirties or forties. I had facial hair while earning my PhD, but the stress and sleep deprivation that accompanied earning a degree and caring for a baby eventually caused me to lose my mustache and part of my beard.

According to the Internet, one out of four thousand people has alopecia universalis. Alopecia areata is more common among females, I've discovered.

I wouldn't wish alopecia universalis on any kid. I'm happy that my condition wasn't passed on through my genes.

Meanderings

My traffic at this blog has increased recently for some reason, according to StatCounter. It isn't often that I get more than a handful of unique visitors and returning visitors. For the past two weeks, I have been getting five times as many unique visitors. I'm happy to get the traffic, but I am a little embarrassed at not having added much to this blog as of late. 

Noticeably absent this year, perhaps, is my annual list of jazz releases. I haven't been listening to as much music as I used to. I generally reserve those times in which I listen to music to driving and to working out. 

Most recently, I have been listening to Soren Bebe's Echoes, a 2019 release, when I am in the car. I have been enjoying  this album immensely, particularly such tracks as "Echoes, " "Winx," and "Homeward." I recommended this album earlier when I compiled my selections for the best of 2019. I have had to adjust the sound levels in the car so as to capture more of Kasper Tagel's bass.  

Previously when driving, I was listening to Daniel Herskedal's Harbour, a 2021 release. This album contains a trio composed of Eyolf Dale on piano, Helge Norbakken on drums, and Daniel Herskedal on bass tuba and trumpet. There is now more attention given to the tuba in comparison to Herskedal's previous albums, that is, Voyage (2019), The Roc (2017), and Slow Eastbound Train (2015). This current album rivals Slow Eastbound Train. One of the few albums that I bought in 2021, this album proves delightful because of its greater emphasis on the trio. Some of my favorite tracks are "Ice-Free," "Hunters Point Drydocks," "Arriving at Ellis Island," and the alliterative "Dancing Dhow Deckhands."

On one occasion recently, I was walking back to my car after having returned my shopping cart when a young guy stopped me to ask whether I could give him a ride. Foolishly, I agreed to give this guy a ride to the library, a fifteen minute trip. I learned during the ride that he had been kicked out of his parents" house for some reason and was trying to get a job, despite not having any identification, something that prevented him from getting hired at the grocery store where he had stopped me. During the trip, he asked me whether I could take him to a different city or let him stay with me. Once we learned that the library was closed and that the Salvation Army was closed, I offered to drop him off downtown so that he could hitch a ride to Kansas City. Along the way, he spotted a restaurant/bar and asked me to let him off there. All during this time, I was playing Daniel Herskedal's Harbour in the car although this guy didn't once mention the music. 

******

My wife and I, as I have mentioned, have created a literary press named Choeofpleirn Press and have been releasing four literary journals per year.  Late last year, we started getting more art. Earlier, we were using my own photos to create breaks in the text, to separate a poem from story or a poem from nonfiction, for example, and to establish a parallel between the art and the succeeding work. I was getting tired of seeing my name in the Table of Contents. 

One element of working as a poetry editor that I hate is having to send out rejections. My own work has been getting rejected since the 1970's when I first started sending out my poems. I have gotten something like five rejections from Poetry and three rejections from American Poetry Review. When my wife and I were talking about The Georgia Review, a journal that gets a hundred thousand submissions annually, I was able to say that I have gotten a standard rejection from them. Despite these experiences, it is still difficult to reject the poetry of people submitting to Choeofpleirn Press. Our issue of Coneflower Cafe this time is the largest journal that we have put out and includes forty-three poems when some journals only include ten poems per issue. Rejection for me is probably hardest when I send out poems with the belief that getting one or more accepted is a sure thing, after having revised the poems extensively and after having researched the journal. The rejection stings a little harder on those occasions. Natalie Goldberg reminds her audience in Writing Down the Bones that the writing is far more important than getting one's work published. One has to believe in oneself and in one's work, no matter how tough it can be getting one's work read by others.

Glacial Hills Review Seeking Submissions

Glacial Hills Review is seeking literary nonfiction, reviews, scholarly essays, poetry, and art. The deadline for submissions is May 29. There is no fee to submit. For more information, follow the following link--https://www.choeofpleirnpress.com/home

Coneflower Cafe 2022 Available

Coneflower Cafe, our first of four literary magazines that we publish annually, is now available. This current edition contains forty-three poems and thirteen stories. A pdf version can be purchased for $6.00 at our website: https://www.choeofpleirnpress.com/home. A print copy can be purchased at Amazon at the following link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VWP1ZWM

Ukrainian Jazz

As I read the news stories about Russia's invasion of Ukraine, I turn to the album Kintsugi by the Pokaz Trio, a Ukrainian piano trio, to show my support of the people in Ukraine. This album was released in 2019 and received a good review at All About Jazz. I recommended the album as well on this blog. The entire album, I believe, can be found at YouTube.

Somebody on Twitter recently recommended some other jazz music from Ukraine. That's something that I need to explore at some point in the future.