My Obama moment

For me the Obama moment happened November 5th, the day after the day. I came across a black man from Ghana in a mostly white upscale restaurant in Boston. He was giddy like so many of us, but what sticks with me is his constant refrains that fine day: “what a country, what a country!" His tone was not what a country you have, it was what a country – we have. All at once I realized (and I said as much to him) that the United States belongs not to me as an “American” but to the world as a beacon. This gentleman reminded me that America is in truth an idea…an idea that copyright lawyers cannot co-opt and minuteman militiamen cannot put borders around. And its this idea (not the man) that engenders hope in this “moment” for Ghanaians and the rest, the expression of which is not new…it only shines anew.

What a country, what a country.

bloggers are writers too

I wrote this on the ROS site:

My own little quibble for the sake of quibbling is with Moody’s defense of novels vs. blogging. For the most part bloggers are not would-be novelists, although a would-be novelist may very be a blogger. Blogging is value-added to expression. Blogging is more about the writer than the reader. It’s about standing tall on the hill and howling. Novels are about leaning your back on the soft part of the bark, with only a sliver of shade and the brim of your hat coming between you and that horizon…or with time.
Cuz – time - is the dividing line between the two.
Blogging is about running along side the train, trying to keep in step (even as the trains become faster) and yelling random urgent earnest thoughts to the occupants inside - just in case you never see them again. Novels are about Thoreau hearing the train rumble from afar – through the rustling of old chestnuts and the plopping of hungry fish – and longing for some connection with those departing passengers.

http://www.radioopensource.org/in-the-obama-moment-rick-moody-2/