Announcement:

I am now a co-coordinator of this blog and its SMF faculty representative. This will ease with transitions as SMF senior editors move away to college each year.

Gus Braga-Henebry is the new Senior Editor and will be posting soon with a new call for submissions.

Ana Braga-Henebry, M.A.

SMF Literary Journal Faculty representative

---Raho! 

There was a man named Booker
He was not an onlooker
His book I have not read
On this subject absolutely nothing else can be said.

--Abs 

Sarah R.A. H. 

 9 February, 2009

                       Humanity's German Canker 

[Thoughts on Arthur Schopenhauer’s 38 Ways to Win an Argument) 

Born on February 22 (Ho!His feast day is approaching!), 1788; his death date is Sep. 21, 1860.

Even though this man said horrible things and seems to have a nasty life mantra, I find it impossible to wholly dislike him. 

Example: Who could hate such a cutie? While I find most old men irresistibly and chastely attractive, it's even more so with old Arthur. Maybe it's the charming tufts of hair minding me of carded wool; perhaps it's that furrowed brow that makes me purr. 

Before reading a bit of background information on him, it was conceivable to me that the 38 Ways were nothing but drivel— a spoof set out to mock another. But my comrade Wiki has offered his steady edification and set me straight: Arthur was a pessimistic atheist with Buddhist tendencies. He  believed emotional, physical, and sexual desires could never be fulfilled.  Huh. Shocking. 

After learning those tidbits, I ate pineapple. Now I realize what the 38 Ways really are: drivel, after all.  But drivel he means to be serious, and I find abominable and cruel. Yet it compels me to write. Write my own 38 ways refuting his, that is. 

In short I call him a sneaky bugger who needs to find God. 

But he does have a gorgeous signature. Dangit. 

The great Mr. Booker Taliaferro

Was the color of cooked bone marrow 

Persevernce was his creed:

He stuck to it till he learned how to read 

  -srh

Bananamour 

--srah 

The Disadvantages of Summer

      Everyone looks forward to summer–-those happy, carefree days when all you have to do is lounge about in the shade; but have you ever stopped to think of the advantages there would be if there wasn’t a summer?

      First of all you wouldn’t have to worry about summer school. You’d never forget anything in those three months because you’d be in school all year long. Just think, it would split the total amount of school in your lifetime in half!

      Sunburns are another thing you wouldn’t have to worry about. If you’re never outside and you don’t have time to go to the pool or beach, you’re pretty much guaranteed not to get sun burnt. You won’t have to put on any slimy, greasy sun screen, and the number of patients with skin cancer would diminish significantly.

      Then there’s the problem of bugs. If there’s no summer then there are no barbeques, camping trips, and, as I’ve said before, really no reason at all to be outside. There’ll be no need to check for ticks, drench yourself in bug repellent, or stay up all night scratching. There would also be a medical advantage since there would be fewer cases of West Nile Virus.

      Yes, there are many advantages to life without summer, but after doing my research and weighing all the pros and cons I have decided that there are many more advantages to having summer than not having summer. We need a break from school– and sunburns and bug bites only add to the glory of the season. So don’t worry, kick back in you lawn chair, and have some lemonade: summer is here to stay.

-calywi