Google: An Uneasy Alliance

I'm a researcher at heart, and search engines on the internet have permitted access to millions of pieces of information that even 20 years ago would have taken weeks to research. Often, in the middle of an on-line conversation, I'll multi-task with several open windows, and invariably something will require clarification.

I've learned the hard way to bookmark sites that have multiple uses, such as the Urban Dictionary. If someone mentions meat spin or pink socks, you might blindly type this in the search window and click on a Google link. If you follow this instinct, your innocence is not only in jeopardy, it's forever compromised. The Urban Dictionary, however, alerts you as to what to expect and the choice to click on a subsequent link goes with you to purgatory.

I do not recommend clicking on the links mentioned -- in fact, they are a cautionary tale. Some links clicked in innocence haunt you forever, or at least it seems to take forever before you feel cleansed again no matter the spyware, adware, or virus protection software product you use.

Don't forget to clean out your computer's history drop-down either -- your fourteen-year-old grandson uses it as a shortcut to get to his Star Trek games page. You might notice that nothing in this article is hyper-linked except the Google logo. So, tag, you're it!

The Tattoo as Art?

According to vanishing tattoo.com: From the early 1990's, there has been a tremendous increase in the popularity of tattooing among the general public in North America and Europe, a trend that has since spread around the world. Anyone who has taken even a cursory glance at the mainstream media during the past decade could easily come away with the impression that the current popular interest in tattoos and other forms of body modification, has arisen out of a cultural void and that there is scant evidence to suggest where the roots of the resurgence might lie. In point of fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Tattoos have had a rich and colourful history in western popular culture for the better part of two centuries and nowhere is this better illustrated than by the rather extraordinary number of historical figures and modern day celebrities who, have sported or currently have body art.

As with most cultural and artistic styles and trends, tattoos and tattooing have weathered various cycles of popularity, waxing and waning over the years, but never disappearing and never far from the public's imagination. Tattoos have long been associated with sailors and seamen and military personnel, but did you know that European Royalty were the first well-known members of society, the first celebrities so to speak, to spur an interest in tattoos and body art?

In the late nineteenth century many of the crowned heads of Europe wore their tattoos with pride. And they influenced many members of their respective aristocracies to get "exotic" body art. It was a topic that caused quite a stir in the popular press of the day.

Today, tattoos and tattooing continue to take on an increasingly larger, ever more visible role in today's mainstream pop culture. Now you see all kinds of tattooed celebrities, both men and women; tattooed rock stars, movie stars with tattoos, sports stars sporting ink, even lots of elite super models proudly displaying their body art.

Formerly known primarily to the people who wore body tattoos, the artists themselves have finally been recognized on a scale heretofore unknown, as witnessed by the popularity of such television shows as Miami Ink, and Inked, which is based in Las Vegas.

Having never been a proponent of desecrating one's own body, I now find myself fascinated with this form of self expression. It's not that I've suddenly developed a desire to place a tattoo anywhere on my person, but looking at the picture of Tommy Lee above, how could anyone say that's not art. Your mileage may vary, of course.

After Neruda

Suddenly, everything is a woman.

The way a street lamp curves
at the edge of a dark street,
or an orchid blooms in an empty room
patient for destruction, beautiful as a white slip
floating in the wrecking ball’s wake.

You hear the sea in everything,
its great bell-like waves sounding
deep in your anxious sleep, moving invisibly
by your ears with each passing car.

Light takes on a strange quality,
like the once-familiar scent of women
you have known or the texture of old bus tokens,
worn smooth in pockets, no longer in currency.

You want to make love
in a language you do not know,
or write prayers between the lines
of old dollar bills given to strangers.

You caress the backs of pews,
pray to unknown gods you have witnessed
from your window, their half-closed eyes
flashing in the distance, like lighthouses in a storm.

In the kitchen, you surround yourself
with apples, lemons, and a tomato.
Arranging them in silence, you can sense
her presence just beneath the skin.

When you hold the tomato to your ear
you can hear her breathing in ragged sighs,
like a ship heaving against the tide.

When you press it to your lips,
you can still taste the unwashed salt of sorrow.

©2004 Neil Aitken.
First published in Beyond the Valley of Contemporary Poets 2004
(Used with the kind permission of the author)