RAVEN CHRONICLES VOL. 18, NO. 1-2 WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO
RAVEN CHRONICLES VOL. 18, NO. 1-2 WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO
ISSN 1066-188. Vol. 19, 100 pages, 2013. COVER PHOTO BY KATHLEEN ALCALA
Human behavior, rather than animal or plant behaviors, boils down to action, to human activity: Why We Do What We Do. That’s what makes it so damn interesting. Whether it’s bungee jumping, going to war, singing in the shower, peeling an orange, trekking through the desert, throwing a tantrum, drinking sherry in secret, making tortillas, or Saturday night sex, it’s all of it behavior, and all of it triggered by/in response to various mixes of cultural norms, social pressures, personal history, survival instincts, genetics, and brain chemistry! In contrast, character — whether personal, cultural, national — is a subjective assessment (of worth/lack of worth) based on behavior — i.e., the things a person, or nation, does or doesn’t do. (—Anna Bálint)
In our featured theme, Why We Do What We Do, writers and visual artists express what they think triggers human behavior; what lies behind the photograph/subject/object. Artist Nancy Keeling takes photographs “that will speak to viewers regardless of language barriers.” For artist M. Anne Sweet, the triggers are “a desire for adventure,” “a desire to experience nature intimately,” and “a desire for family and celebration.” For poet Koon Woon, Uncle Harry’s behavior is linked to interrogations and internments in the distant past. For poet Rick Kempa, it is cars, machines, that make us “bigger, meaner than ourselves. Face to face we are not like this.”
In the section Odes to Persons, Places & Things, writer Larry Crist memorializes the death, and its aftermath, of the Seattle Tuba Man, Edward Scott McMichael, who was beaten to death by a group of teenagers on October 25, 2008.
In our Emerging Voices section, Megan McInnis writes, in her essay “Bread,” about the variety of food set on the dining table by various members of her extended family, including Red Rose Tea and toast, tomato sandwiches, grass juice, and homemade wheat bread. And her craving for the exotic food, Jell-O Cheesecake.
In Rants, Raves & Reviews, we feature nine reviews. Most are of books or chapbooks written by Northwest writers, including Anita Endrezze, Larry Laurence, Maia Penfold, Ralph Salisbury, Duane Niatum, Melanie Noel, and Peter Ludwin. Kevin Miller, in his review of Peter Ludwin’s book of poems, Rumors of Fallible Gods, had this to say about his craft: “Ludwin’s arms-open embrace of people and place establishes a selfless jump to allow readers, no, to help readers crawl out of their cocoons and into other worlds.” And Thomas Hubbard pays tribute to Maia Penfold, a matriarch of the Beat poets, in his insightful review of her book of poems, The Red Buddha. In her poem instructing her son what to do with her earthly remains when she passes on, she writes: “Climb a convenient mountain/ To a seaward rushing stream/ Put me in its mountain music/ And let me go/ To join everything/ Everywhere.”
Cover Photo by Kathleen Alcalá.
Reviews of books authored by:
Anita Endrezze, Larry Laurence, Maia Penfold, Ralph Salisbury, Duane Niatum, Melanie Noel, Deborah A. Miranda, Peter Ludwin, Eds. Karen & Ralph Norris.
The work of Artists/Photographers:
Kathleen Alcalá, Kelsea Habecker, Nancy Keeling, Carolyn Krieg, I.H. Kuniyuki, Ryan Law, M. Anne Sweet.
Poetry, Fiction, Essays, Nonfiction, Reviews by:
Ann Spiers, Megan McInnis, Raul Sanchez, Shannon C. Winward, Andrew S. McBride, Larry Crist, Mark S. Johnson, Linda Beeman, Bill Brown, Kim Hamilton, Marjorie Manwaring, Marie Hartung, Joseph Keppler, Ezra Mark, Susan N. Platt, Georgia McDade, David Wagoner, David Stallings, Koon Woon, Jane Blanchard, Glenna Cook, Mary E. Crane, Dave Holt, Sheila G. Johnson, Claire Joysmith, Rick Kempa, Maude Larke, Wendy McCutchen, Ron McFarland, Constance Mears, William Miller, James B. Nicola, Karin Rosman, Nancy Scott, Jonathan Stone, Michael Washburn, Kathleen Alcalá, Michael Daley, Thomas Hubbard, Larry Laurence, Tiffany Midge, Kevin Miller, Duane Niatum.