Recent revelations on writing

1) I think I've realized why I've never really enjoyed seriously writing haikus, and why I like the free verse "form" of poetry. Conversational English is not syllable based at all. Take for instance, the sentence See Spot run. You probably read that sentence as See Spot run, no? Because that sentence usually is read in context as See Spot run. See Spot jump. See Spot save [on car insurance with Geico Direct]. The emphasis is on the verb because the verb changes between the sentences. Imagine that there was a picture book story about a team of superdogs. It could read See Spot run. See Crackers run. See Snuppy run. See all of the superdogs run!. The emphasis then, of course, would be on the nouns. How does this relate to my poetic preferences? Trying to strictly follow any "form" based on syllables, at least in English, seems to me to be very unnatural--and not just haiku, but even the revered "iambic pentameter" of Shakespeare, Milton, et al. suffers from this awkwardness if read in strict, perfect, dictionary-defined syllables. So Shakespeare used contractions and imperfect pronunciations to make the lines flow better. In a sense, free verse takes all that a step further. It has a strong, albeit not necessarily iambic, rythym that can be syllable independent. 2) I used to really like Dave Barry's and Dennis Milller's columns/rants. They served as inspirations to my blog, and I wrote some pretty crazy things back then. Now, I find myself loving the same kind of writing again. Jon Stewart's America: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction and Dennis Miller's Ranting Again. I think it's because they so boldy make fun of people. I don't command the pop culture trivia to do this effectively, but I do understand enough to understand the genius of lines such as

August 28, 1957--Senator Strom Thurmond (R-SC) set the record for the longest filibuster with this 24-hour , 18-minute speech railing against a civil-rights bill. The marathon speaking session left Thurmond so drained, he could barely have sex with the underaged black woman in his family's employ. Thurmond's oration obliterated the previous filibuster record, a 13-hour description by Daniel Webster of the massive dump he just took.

-from Jon Stewart's America, "The Five Most Interesting Moments in Senate History" They are truly gods. Cruel, powerful, hilarious gods.