Welcome Back to Jonah Asks. Meet Jeff Alessandrelli. Jeff is a poet, professor and publisher of poetry. He is the John Stockton of the world of poetry, dishing out assists like its 1989. This is an interview for writers and creative folks. We drift from Erik Satie to Samuel Beckett to Bill Knott to Adam Haslett to our own thoughts on identity, from what it means to write and share your work to the psychology of writers and eventually we discuss nihilism solitude. Jeff's website and books:https://jeffalessandrelli.net/booksJeff reads selections from his poetic biography "Erik Satie Watusies His Way Into Sound"0:08Impressions from ChildhoodJeff recalls a time during middle school when social pressure was difficult to handle. 0:15Skateboarding Jeff wrote a book of essays on skateboarding and music. (insert link)0:24Growing up in Reno and family history.0:30NebraskaJeff lived in Nebraska. He earned a PhD in Literature with a focus on Poetry. After returning to Portland for a short time, he returned to Nebraska to teach at a small university, while he commuted from Omaha. Jonah visited Nebraska with family in 1991 and recently set a short story in Nebraska. 0:45Writing: Samuel Beckett, Bill Knott and Writing IdentitySatisfaction vs endless striving. The creative process vs literary world. Recognition and validation. Poet Bill Knott. Identity -- writing identity versus real life identityWhat does it mean to like yourself as a writer? 0:59Fonogrof Editions Jeff started a non-profit poetry press. It began with putting out albums of poetry on vinyl. The press now releases books as well. https://fonografeditions.com/Jeff is an editor and curator. "I started reading and finding an identity in books from a very young age. Fongoraf is an extension of that. And I've always been a big music fan."Fonograf published Mark Leidner's "Returning the Sword to the Stone," which made the NY Times Best of 2021 list for poetry. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/10/books/review/best-poetry-books-2021.html1:03Appreciating Jeff's Editing and Assisting in PoetryJeff's literary role: Like John Stockton in the 1990s, Jeff dishing out assists to poets. Jeff edits poetry and runs a small press. Jonah appreciates Jeff's editorial insights. Jonah writes about the ambiguities of self-publishing his poems.http://thefanzine.com/bad-business-is-good-art-fonograf-editions/1:10Writing, Solitude and the Imaginative LifeNobody Marries ThemselvesIn 2003, I read Adam Haslett's story collection "You Are Not a Stranger Here." I finally re-read it a few months ago. Adam Haslett's "The Perpetual Solitude of the Writer""One of the paradoxes of writing...in order to fulfill the urge to communicate something to other people, you end up spending huge amounts of time on your own."https://lithub.com/the-perpetual-solitude-of-the-writer/Jeff, on The freedom of writing poetry: "One of the beautiful things about poetry, but also challenging, is that there's no money in it."1:36Focusing on Gratitude and Dropping Cynicism1:41Politics: Taking Voting Seriously1:47Discussion of Nihilism1:51Films: "Nebraska" and "The Station Agent"Jeff teaches Nebraska in his composition class. Students have to make a definitional argument. 1:55Writing is Unique to the Writer2:00Jeff Alessandrelli has a very long last name!Find Jeff and Jonah online:Find Jeff and his books online at jeffalessandrelli.netFind Fonograf Editions Find Jonah's latest book of poems at Blurb.More of Jonah's writing at www.darkoindex.medium.comon Twitter @darkoindexThanks for Listening and Sharing,Jonah

Welcome Back to Jonah Asks. With Anthony (On Childhood, Socialization, Fathers, Socioeconomics, Parenting, Social Media and Basketball)Meet Anthony, a friend who goes back to first grade. We grew up in the same town. Our fathers were different than most of the town's fathers. Our mothers were, too. It was a fascinating conversation. Travel back in time to the 1980s and early 1990s. We discuss the complexity of identity and socioeconomics. We talk about spirituality and religion. The conversation continues on into youth basketball experiences. Toward the end of the interview, we discuss technology, reading and writing, the impact of social media, and future concerns.Musical interlude: sample from "In the Waiting Line" by Zero 70:05 Q. Does anyone ever "find themselves?"0:08 Small Children and Cleaning Up0:10 How Anthony's parents met - London, 19720:15 Growing up in East Arlington. Elementary school, socialization. Parents who strongly value education in a socioeconomically-mixed, working-middle-class suburb.0:22 Arlington Fathers. Jonah's childhood observations. Our dads were different. 0:27 Youth Basketball and Identity. 0:33 Anthony's family home and growing up "shackled"0:35 Choosing a College0:37 Fathers and their Religious Childhoods. Like Jonah, Anthony's dad was raised in the Christian church, but never mentioned religion and his mom was raised as secular Jew in New York. Religion was not part of his family experience. 0:43 Spiritual Urges and Nature. Agnosticism, Atheism, SpiritualityQ. Are you an atheist or agnostic?0:47 Mental Health and Pandemic0:51 Everything Must Be Quantified: Sustaining Creative Projects in Age of Big Data0:58 NBA Hoops Talk1:03 Parenting in Your 40s With Small Children. Thinking about how involved we are today compared with the previous generations. Children need other children. 1:09 Rewarding: The Wonder of 5 year-olds Discovering and Learning1:11 Identity and Parenting: Never-Ending Attempt to Find Balance as a Parent1:20 Technology. Discussing Smart Phone Impact, Social Media Use and the Future. Retaining Optimism, despite treadmill of misinformation on social mediaThanks for Listening to Jonah Asks. Please share this with people who enjoy listening to podcasts.Be Safe,Jonah

Welcome back to Jonah Asks. This is part two of my interview with Kyle. Throughout his life, Kyle has traveled with an open mind and compassionate heart. This episode is affecting, because Kyle is a thoughtful, unrushed storyteller...who happens to have many stories. Even as I listened again in editing, I appreciated the ease with which we discussed the big questions, around humanitarian work, humanity, sustaining hope, fatherhood and marriage, and dealing with technology. A native of Northern California, Kyle has dedicated much of his life to Humanitarian Work. During college, he spent a semester in Australia. After college, he spent two years in Malawi, teaching through the Peace Corps. He traveled to India, Nepal and Bhutan, before returning to California and eventually heading to grad school to study International Peace and Conflict Resolution. After that, Kyle was in East Timor and then based in Thailand, directing an anti-human-trafficking campaign in Southeast Asia.  Music samples:of Montreal "Wraith Pinned to the Mist" album The Sunlandic Twinshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8cCPH1qnYI&ab_channel=PolyvinylRecordsSeckou Keita "N'doké"; album Seckou Keita: 22 Stringshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77J78-jb-a4&ab_channel=SeckouKeitaSeckou Keita plays the Kora, a West African lute/harp made of 22 strings. One of Kyle's mentors: Prof. Abdul Aziz Said, started the graduate program, worked on White House Councils, etc. https://www.american.edu/sis/news/20210215-a-tribute-to-abdul-aziz-said.cfmEast Timor / Timor LesteWe discuss the genocide in East Timor and Kyle's work there on peace and reconciliation after genocide.Non-Profit Dedicated to Peace and Reconciliation:Search for Common Groundhttps://www.sfcg.org/0:47Q. When you feel overwhelmed with the problems of the world, what restores you?Kyle describes bringing it back to the individual and the power of connection and kindness.0:50Thailand and South Asia: Anti-Human Trafficking Campaign0:58Q. How do you balance fatherhood with work, marriage and time for yourself?Fatherhood, Relationship, Work and Finding a Balance1:20Habits: Limiting Technology1:24The Difficulty of Just BeingThanks for Listening to Jonah Asks. If you're looking to donate to the Search for Common Ground, click here: https://www.sfcg.org/Please email with questions or comments. jonahasks at gmail dot com

Twenty-three minutes. Here I am thinking out loud in order to connect with you. 

Welcome Back to Jonah Asks and Happy New Year. Let's hope 2022 brings more health, happiness and general peace than 2021. Us humans seem to be struggling. In this episode, meet Kyle. A father, compassionate soul, a traveler, a writer and a  worker in the struggle for humanity who has dedicated many years of his life to making things better for humans. This is a two-part episode. The second part should be up within a week. Stay healthy, safe and kind,Jonah 

Over the last few months, I've been writing fiction. This short story, "Lawrence in Motion," takes place mostly in Lincoln, Nebraska, diners, and on America's highways. I enjoyed the process of getting to know this character over time, as he came to me. He's an amalgam of my past and many people I've known. Writing short fiction can be an appealing break from reality. Thank you as always for listening and reading. Be Safe and Enjoy the Autumn,Jonah

This episode is 19 minutes of musical experiments I've conducted over the last six months. Playing with sounds is a nice diversion from reality. Please enjoy responsibly. Each of these tracks was at one point given a title because that's an easy way to save the file...but those titles don't seem all that important to this experiment. 

This episode is 19 minutes of musical experiments I've conducted over the last six months. Playing with sounds is a nice diversion from reality. Please enjoy responsibly. Each of these tracks was at one point given a title because that's an easy way to save the file...but those titles don't seem all that important to this experiment. 

Welcome back to Jonah Asks. Meet Chris. A husband and father. A baseball and math enthusiast. A data scientist. Chris is an introvert. A friend of a close friend for many years, it was fun getting to know him better. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jonahasks0:03Cape Cod BaseballQ. How did you get involved with scorekeeping in the Cape League? My dad became the general manager of the Chatham Anglers, now the Chatham A's. When I was in high school, he found a summer job for me. I learned how to do the official scoring.On future major leaguers staying at Chris' house while playing Cape League:"These guys have a connection. It's the last time before baseball gets serious. I think everyone has pretty fond memories of it. Getting a taste of what it's like--they play every day--but not quite as much pressure as it is once you start getting paid for it."0:10College ExperiencesFirst attending Harvey Mudd in Southern California, then transferring to Bowdoin, in Maine. "Sports Were a Big Part of My Identity""Harvey Mudd, the freshman year is very rigorous. It's all pass/fail because they anticipate you're not used to the workload." Before college, Chris attended boarding school. Prep school was entirely structured. Only Sunday afternoon was your time. At Groton (prep school) sports was a requirement.Chris joins the track team and learns the high jump. Jonah somehow confuses high jump with pole vault0:22FamilyChris was in junior high when they divorced. He doesn't have specific memories of the divorce. It just happened. His mom moved to Maine. Chris visited his friend Mike in 9th grade. Part of the motivation to transfer to prep school was math. He was running out of classes at the local public high school. 0:30Data Science "Basically I do fancy counting and then tell people about it."Chris is a data scientist in the Bay Area. He's worked for several companies. He works in order to make money so he can spend time with his family and do the things he enjoys, like play sports and score baseball. "Any app that you use is doing an experiment on you at all times and you don't know about it and someone like me is crunching the numbers in the background."0:36Baseball Scorekeeping--From Cape League to Oakland and SFThe Cape League All-Star Game was at Fenway Park. Chris got to score the game at Fenway. He started to think about how to get involved in MLB scoring. He read a book and contacted the author. He got a lucky break. Since 2013, Chris has scored MLB games in Oakland and San Francisco.Strange scenarios:The Giants batted out of order because the lineup card was off."Pablo Sandoval got charged with grounding out to the catcher despite never coming to the plate."0:47Analytics in Baseball and Opening Doors (warning: for baseball obsessives)We discuss shifting, stolen bases, walks, strikeouts, and home-runs and how data plays into the changes in baseball. Chris would like to help open the doors for more people of color in baseball analytics and create more opportunities.0:56FatherhoodWatching our daughters become more autonomous. Learning how to maintain patience through meltdowns.1:00Trust  We discuss trust in parenting and relationships in general. 1:07Attention and Technology How We Use the PhoneHow we use phones and how we pay attention and communicate. Jonah has no idea how Chris feels about the avalanche of baseball-related texts he's been sending. ResourcesMapping Stem Inequality -- Unicefhttps://www.unicef.org/globalinsight/stories/mapping-gender-equality-stem-school-workFive Great STEM Non-ProfitsKhan AcademyCode.orgScratch AcademyRevolution RoboticsGirls Who Codehttps://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/07/23/five-nonprofits-driving-a-revolution-in-stem-educationSupportTo support Jonah Asks, please share episodes, subscribe, or donate directly via Buy Me a Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jonahasksContact me at jonahasks at the g mail 

This episode is just me and my thoughts and a breathing practice designed to center ourselves. Email me any thoughts, feedback or questions. Jonahasks @ gmailThanks for listening.