The Vulgar Eclectic

Vulgar: of the usual, typical, or ordinary kind
Eclectic: composed of elements drawn from various sources

definitions courtesy of Merriam-Webster

recent blog posts

• The Collected Works of Billy the Kid: Left Handed Poems by Michael Ondaatje

  I just finished reading The Collected Works of Billy the Kid: Left Handed Poems (1970) by Michael Ondaatje. It is a combination of poetry and prose poetry; it’s often referred to as a novel in verse.

  Most of it is written from the fictional perspective of Billy the Kid. Some sections are written from the perspective of other people in his life (historical figures like the Chisums, Paulita Maxwell, and others).

  This was a very interesting and refreshing read. The writing varied in form, and I found all of it compelling and sometimes sublime. I’ve long been interested in Old West outlaws, including Billy the Kid, and found this very satisfying…both as an insight into Billy’s life (albeit as imagined fictionally) and as well-crafted poetry.

  His legend a jungle sleep

  

• Stormbringer by Michael Moorcock

  I just finished reading Stormbringer (1977) by Michael Moorcock, the sixth and concluding novel of the Elric Saga.
  
  This novel early on develops an epic tone and does not disappoint. In addition to Elric and his runesword Stormbringer, the reader is treated to some of Elric’s best companions—his fast and closest friend Moonglum, his cousin and bearer of Stormbringer’s sister-sword, Mournblade, Dyvim Slorm, and Rackhir the Red Archer of Tanelorn.
  
  This book truly feels like a culmination of all that has gone before. The prose reads like myth. The story seems to flow without effort or encumbrance. And the conclusion is awesome and fitting.

  Then Elric and his companions were off, riding towards the massed hordes of Chaos—three men against the unleashed forces of darkness.

  

• Cattail

  

• Comics

  I’m pretty much always in the process of slowing trying to complete a number of comic book runs and titles (the list of titles I’d like to collect seems to be in a state of constant expansion!), and I recently picked up a number of issues. I love the process of organizing new comics…bagging and boarding them, putting them in their appropriate place, and of course reading them.

  Here are a few of my favorite covers from the recent batch of new purchases:

  

  

  

  

  

  

• Rock Polishing

  When I was a kid, my parents gave me a rock tumbler. It was so fun! I loved rocks already and was always bringing rocks home in my pockets. We lived in the country and I would find neat rocks in the cornfield behind our house, in our tree row, and on hikes we took. The rock tumbler itself was a heavy-duty thing that sounded like a semi-truck rumbling in the garage.

  A while ago, I stopped at a rummage sale with my daughter and a friend of mine and we stumbled upon a rock tumbler for sale. I paid five bucks for it and it came with pretty much everything. It’s a National Geographic rock tumbler…it is smaller and much quieter than the one I used as a kid. This one basically rotates a cylinder in which the rocks, grit, and water are placed. My old one was a big rubber cannister that just shook like crazy and made one think they were standing at a rocket launch pad! Perhaps it was faster in getting results, but this newer one seems to be working well.

  We ran a small batch through the first cycle but didn’t have appropriate grit for the next cycle. After ordering more grit online, we added some of the rocks we’d already started to some that we had picked up in the yard and some that came with the tumbler.

  

  

  We’re a few days into running the first cycle. After a week of tumbling, we’ll rinse the rocks, have a look and see what kind of changes we notice, and then add finer grit and begin cycle two. I’m very excited to see what some of these stones look like after their first week of tumbling!

…older blog posts