So I just returned from a night of poetry, wine, and discussion with a few classmates and two current UC Berkeley Professors. One is a visiting Holloway Poet, and one is a Faculty Professor who is also a poet. Both are highly intelligent (no racial implications intended for those of you thinking like Giscombe) and both have written poetry that everyone should read. These two poets are important figures in these modern times of poetry and writing in general. Whereas one poet tries to deconstruct the essence of poetic structure by venturing into the realm of prose poetry, the others' "Prairie Style" poetry is nothing short of adventurous and eloquent in description. We spoke about many different subjects over wine, but one that looms ever so clearly in my mind was upon Folklore and racial jokes. Boundaries is the term that comes to mind when writing this. Social boundaries are important when discussing these types of topics and it comes to a point when one must cross those boundaries in order to understand a little more about who "other" people are. I use the term "other" to mean people that are not us; not the self. Perhaps a friend or even a family member. It's interesting to think about what makes racial, erotic, or gender specific jokes funny. It's even more interesting to think about faces and how one takes on the voice of another person in order to either make fun, or to condescend, or to just study and appreciate. Anyway, I'm going to get to some reading. Goodnight.
