Author Archives: cee

Here are some older haiku I wrote while in Thailand. I’ll post more soon. Tell me which ones you like or don’t like and why.

10/7/2008
stomach bound in knots
no pill exists which can ease
worry in the mind

10/5/2008
large rainclouds forming
will rain fall on us tonight?
my favourite season

10/8/2008
the changing seasons
marks the passage of time there
here, only rainfall

10/11/2008
underneath the street
the summer’s heat stifling
when will the train come?

10/24/2008
his paws are trembling
randomly the whiskers twitch
the cat is dreaming

10/24/2008
the needle enters
injects ink into the skin
left permanently

11/03/2008
stillness in the air
the barking dog seems closer
the rain will start soon

11/03/2008
first you see the flash
followed by the loud thunder
light travels faster

11/11/2008
the river runs fast
the colour a rich deep brown
the rainy season

11/18/2008
in the wilderness
exploring territory
mapping emotion

11/21/2008
harvesting the rice
catching fish from the river
simple life is good

11/26/2008
little balls of sand
the crab works tirelessly
retreats when i step

12/08/2008
what did the bugs do
before electricity
and light bulbs at night?

12/11/2008
มะม่วงอกร่อง (ma-muang awk-rawng)
มะม่วงอร่อยที่สุด (ma-muang arroy tii sut)
ชีวิตเมืองไทยดี (chi-wit meung thai dee)

12/12/2008
alone i walk fast
legs much longer than others
mind at hyperspeed

12/22/2008
the tree’s limbs stretch wide
equally long are it’s roots
hidden underground

01/04/2009
this game that you play
you seem to know the rules well
i am just learning

01/15/2009
muddy fields of rice
white birds on top of oxen
smell of burning grass

01/28/2009
whining mosquito
hovering around my ear
heavy with my blood

03/30/2009
endless sea of green
the heavy rice hangs down low
swaying in the wind

03/30/2009
smell of burning grass
the sun sets behind the hill
turning the haze pink

04/15/2009
all of a sudden
i have a strong sense of time
half the world away

04/15/2009
the F train, morning
sitting opposite, reading
i had no idea

04/22/2009
my mind wide open
so many possible paths
different outcomes

05/27/2009
thirty thousand feet
above the arctic ocean
i am half way there

05/27/2009
crossing the date line
instead of twenty four hours
today has forty

06/27/2009
i wrap emotion
into tiny packages
and hide them away

07/21/2009
sitting in the sun
clothes still wet after a swim
drinking summer ale

08/11/2009
i miss the city
the energy inspires
makes life exciting

08/12/2009
crying and screaming
the child wants attention
the mother ignores

08/12/2009
emotionally
undeveloped, otherwise
quite intelligent

09/07/2009
is portland the place?
biking, coffee, beer and girls
but is it too small?

09/07/2009
teleportation!
scientists are wasting time
this is what we need

09/07/2009
the higher the peak
the more difficult the climb
the wider the view

09/16/2009
i lay in my bed
listening to the thunder
off in the distance

My hometown of Amherst, Massachusetts comes up in conversation often. Usually I’m talking about how cool it is, or how many bands are from there. I decided to post a list of all the people this town is known for. I’m also going to include Northampton because they are right next to each other, and are culturally similar.

The area around Amherst has 5 colleges: Amherst College, UMass, Smith, Mt. Holyoke and Hampshire. Smith and Mt. Holyoke were the first two women’s schools in the US. I think these 5 colleges are key to why the culture of this area breeds excellence.

Here’s a condensed list of famous people:

Amherst
Emily Dickinson was born and lived in Amherst.
Robert Frost taught at Amherst College and retired there.
Noah Webster, the guy who wrote the Websters Dictionary (and changed the US spelling of words)
Helen Hunt Jackson was born in Amherst
Eugene Field, who wrote children’s poem Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.
Melvil Dewey devised the Dewey Decimal System while working at Amherst College
Eric Mabius, star of ABC show Ugly Betty (and “Tim” from the L-Word) went to my high school
Julie McNiven, actress on Mad Men and Supernatural
Uma Thurman lived in Amherst for awhile (and her dad taught at Umass I think)
Augusten Burroughs, author of Running with Scissors
Norton Juster, author of The Phantom Tollbooth
J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr.

much bigger list here

Northampton
Mary-Ellis Bunim, television producer and co-creator of MTV’s The Real World and Road Rules
Lydia Maria Child, author of the poem “Over the River and through the Woods”
Chris Collingwood, lead singer of the band Fountains of Wayne
Calvin Coolidge was mayor of Northampton before becoming governor of Massachusetts and then U.S. president
Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird published Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics from their Northampton studio (and I went and saw it as a kid!)
Sylvester Graham, advocate of vegetarianism and namesake of the Graham Cracker (his home is now a great restaurant called Sylvesters)
Jason Loewenstein, singer, songwriter with indie-rock bands Sebadoh and The Fiery Furnaces
Rachel Maddow, radio personality, MSNBC television host, and liberal political commentator
Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon of the band Sonic Youth
Jo Newman, actress (Love and Other Drugs; Gossip Girl)
Lesléa Newman, author of Heather Has Two Mommies.
Mary Rohlich, film and documentary producer on projects including Horrible Bosses and Freakonomics
Kurt Vonnegut, author
Dar Williams, musician
Chris Pureka, musician
Sylvia Plath studied at Smith

much bigger list here