Gabriel Gudding's Blog, page 5

for men who are survivors of domestic abuse

More and more studies indicate that nearly as many men as women are the victims of physical and emotional domestic abuse. If you're a man and being domestically abused, the times are changing: there are more and more resources for you. You don't have to stay in an abusive relationship.

Happy Birthday Christopher Smart born April 11 289 Years Ago

On this day 1722 Christopher Smart was born as a premature baby. He suffered from  delicate health all his life. Most famous for his religious poetry, in particular his "A Song to David," Smart wrote one of the strangest (I think) books in the language, the Jubilate Agno. "Jubilate" is the plural imperative "rejoice," and "agno" the ablative of "lamb."
He was apparently a bright and likeable

very like us

grant proposal they actually gave me this grant

NARRATIVE: "Writing Disturbing Letters to Animals"

Abstract


Gabriel Gudding
Department of English
Halloween, 2002

The work I intend to perform with this NFIG (New Faculty Initiative Grant) is creative work. If awarded this NFIG, I will complete the book I have tentatively entitled Letters to Animals. The book will investigate not only the relationships between prose and poetry, fiction and

poetry sometimes forgets about relationships

Poetry sometimes forgets about relationships. Because it tries to deal with too much abstraction. And in the end it's the relationships which are so important. Especially in a world like today in which there is so much disaster and so much fragmentation. I think the notion of relationships ... is very very important. And in fact when you listen to our poets, it might be a good idea

npr story vipassana in an alabama maximum security prison

"I could see a significant decrease in behavioral problems"
"the program is not religious"

My job.pen under eyewearPelikan M400 Souverän, medium ...

My job.

pen under eyewear
Pelikan M400 Souverän, medium nib, c. 1980, says "W. Germany" in caplip metal. Noodler's permanent red

pen adjacent to eyewear
Pelikan M200, burgundy, medium nib, c. 2000. Noodler's permanent black


Maria Damon & Ira Livingston's Poetry and Cultural Studies: A Reader (U of Illinois, 2009). "It is time for this book. Poetry is studied more and more frequently with a

gandhiji 1-30-1948 goodbye again

Kabira kharā bāzārameṅ,
liye kuḷhārā hātha.

Śiśa utāre, bhuīṅ dhare
cale hamāre sātha.

Kabīr says, "I am here
calling you with axe in hand.

Only one who is ready to chop
off his head and throw it
in the dust can
come with me."

mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density

"[MRI] analyses in a priori regions of interest confirmed increases in gray matter concentration within the left hippocampus. Whole brain analyses identified increases in the posterior cingulate cortex, the temporo-parietal junction, and the cerebellum in the MBSR group compared with the controls. The results suggest that participation in MBSR is associated with changes in gray matter

"Over the December holidays, my husband went on a 10-day ...

"Over the December holidays, my husband went on a 10-day silent meditation retreat. Not my idea of fun, but he came back rejuvenated and energetic.
"He said the experience was so transformational that he has committed to meditating for two hours a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, until the end of March. He's running an experiment to determine whether and how meditation actually