Who am I?

This page is the place for a short biography.   Perhaps I’ll write one.  Although truth be told, I’m not that interesting.   This will take a while for me to get around to….Perhaps very long.  I’m not sure how long,  But here… is the place-holder; also its menu.   This might be a job for a better salesman.  Such as my sweetheart.  If I can talk her into doing it!

I’m not sure I can do justice to the subject.  Hopefully she’ll help.

Edit:  Round and about Christmas 2012.

I thought adding an anecdote or two, as has my dear wife, down below, might be a fine way of writing a biography of oneself.  Everyone, I think, has anecdotes sometimes embarrassing, sometimes humorous, or even perplexing, among other things, to relate about their lives.  These little mile stones may go quite far as to allowing someone a window into ones soul.  So what follows is one of those:

As a callow youth in my first year of University, a freshman–and in fact there are two similar such anecdotes which occurred within a few months of each other

I remember speaking to my Calculus professor about how excited I was that all of my teachers seemed to hold Doctorate degrees in the subjects they were teaching.   Being a man of some honour and honesty, my professor informed me, and I am paraphrasing here:

“Well… I don’t actually have a doctorate in mathematics.”

“Oh,” I said, I thought naturally he might have a physics or other degree in the sciences perhaps.

At any rate, he continued by remarking:  “I am finishing a doctorate  in mathematics though, currently I have a masters degree.”

“But then,” I asked “It says ‘Dr. Wossname’ on the syllabus, though.”

To which he replied.  “I have a Doctorate degree in teaching.”

“But…”  I replied, speechless at first,  “But…” I tried again, still unable to hide my surprise.  “But… that’s nothing!!“

This, I think will give you a window into what, at least as a youth, I thought about the humanities, in general, or the so called ‘soft’ subjects.  Just a bunch of people pointlessly pushing words about, and patting each other on the back, even though none of them knew how to actually do anything. (such as build a bridge, for example, or design a rocket engine.)

98 responses to “Who am I?”

  4. Tidbits about your poet-host — In no particular order and subject to lucasing.

    1) Music was his first language. He played before he could speak.

    ok, I was not precise. It is in some kind of order. I did start off by using the number one and will continue on by using this numerical system in it’s proper order…which is base ten where I come from. I abjure using any binary numbers, I leave such nonsense to your host.

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  5. 2) Underneath his artistic accomplishments he is what he likes to term a “Science Guy”

    Always a bit of a dark horse, as a kid he sneaked out of the house to meet his friends to discuss physics.
    He started out in Engineering and Computer Science when Computers were big hulking things.
    He understands vacuum tubes.
    He expected to own a flying car by the year 2000.

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    • You are most welcome, sir, to stop by at any time. I have been writing these, here and there for most of my life, however just this august did I make this pledge. I was speaking with a colleague and chanced to say I could perhaps write one or more sonnets in a day. Certainly one. Then I realised how much my wife, so sweet is she, and so deserving of such an effort, would enjoy such a thing. I have, in fact done similar things in the past–not blogging related, for example I wrote a computer program which will automatically record everything I play (on the piano) because my sweetheart always lamented that my improvisations are lost in the ether once I play them, unless I set about to record them specifically. So my program will make a MIDI recording–very low resource, not like recording sound, and also very tiny–every time I play anything more than one or two notes.

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    • Now I can “play” him whenever I wish. I cannot begin to relate to you how this effects my life. Listening to David at the keyboard has provided the soundtrack of my life from the time I was a young girl dancing to his improvisations until this gentle time wherein he has brought me, once again, safely to rest on the bench beside him.

      He is a most unique and wonderful caregiver.

      I even play the files of him practicing and fumbling around because sometimes when he’s not at home I enjoy hearing him “being at home”. It makes me feel that all is well. I could fill books with what it has been to have these files and would still be writing years from now but that would leave me scant time to listen!

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  8. That anecdote made me cringe a little partially due to the degree I am grasping to attain. However it is true that Education studies in their nature can be overlooked. However I am sure expressing this event of your life through the use of an anecdote you also know this too well. Though don’t get me wrong it did make me laugh.

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    • Yes…. Well…. That really was a very long time ago. I’m not nearly so hard on the humanities now. There is another anecdote in which as a freshman during my engineering major, wherein, while speaking for the first time to my dean/counsellor I refer to the required humanities in my degree as “chaff” and asked what method I could employ to avoid them. My sweetheart, as you will discover if you poke around my site enough, is a humanities person, which is why I decided to pursue humanities; at first through poetry–because it seemed a way to survey the centuries more quickly!

      (It worked by the way, demonstrating my true scientific flair!)

      In any case, she is well acquainted with these stories, and we now refer to such things–particularly when they contain or require obscure historical knowledge–most affectionately as “chaff.” This has turned into something of an inside joke among my colleagues and friends.

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    • My brother is doing his Engineering Masters at the moment! So comparatively I think I might understand your allure to the Sonnet. Systematic minds such as most of the Engineers I have met amaze me for my brain can be a schism of random, useful and useless thoughts. However I mean that in the most positive of ways, and of course I have made a giant generalisation the old Engineers work in binary approach or maybe CSS ahaha.

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    • heh! (as my wife would post!–who IS from the UK, by way of some place called Cheshire, or Eccleshall which go together in some way, maybe…UK Placenames confuse me greatly)

      I started the sonnet writing very early into my foray into “chaff.” I fell in love with the form which has been called the “queen of all poetic forms” By I think, Edna St. Vincent Millay. I usually just rely on grey matter for such a reference; however, I did try Google also in this case. This produced nothing, believe it or not, but two pages of my own posts, and a big Jar Jar sized rabbit hole wherein I found out that ML Wossname (writer of “the Lamp and the Mirror” which might actually end up being one of your textbooks at some point) and his student Wossname Bloom, are both still alive and spewing Rex Reedisms to academia in the stead of the masses as at least poor Rex had the decency of doing to some kind of practical effect.

      My wife said I had to pick the sonnet of course, because it was, in some ways, the hardest form to get right. There could, perhaps, be some truth in this.

      I do love the form though, and started writing them only a few days into my autodidactic survey of poetry. I have done so ever since, although not quite so often as now. I have learned quite a lot about writing sonnets and about writing in general, which is good, because I have always had an urge to write in response to which I have also spent most of my life either fighting or indulging myself.

      Thank goodness for the plague–really I don’t mean that, but it is true that we have an extended period of time in which Shakespeare could not put on his plays, as most public activity at the time was proscribed, to thank for Shakespearean sonnet form and around 200 sonnets.

      There are the Petrarchan forms and their varieties, which I love to write.

      And the Spenserian form which I have not written much, but I use a reverse Spenserian of my own devising, as well as another form of my own devising–dare I call it “Emeronian?”–and it’s inverse as well, which I dearly like to write. As well as a few oddball forms I’ve tried experiments with here and there. There is even a Canopian Sonnet form–Google that, I dare you–you’re in for a very surprising rabbit hole–of which I have written one and one variation of it, and which, in some ways is so compelling in its sound that I should like to try it again soon.

      And, re binary/CSS well, there is some truth that more difficult forms of poetry appeal to engineers and scientists, just as we are more likely to compose fugues if we are musicians also (which I also am, and which I also do–my second major was piano-performance thence topped off with something called “Arts and Letters.” So you see, I have turned to “the dark side,” as it were–at least as far as most engineers are concerned.

      One of my engineer friends makes fun of me by drawling out the word “Liiitt’…-er-a-choouuuah” all the while making a flourishing hand gesture that I think is supposed to be effeminate but looks more like he is directing traffic or perhaps blessing his congregation.

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    • Well in regards to English place names Grimsby has the beauty of Viking origins. Grim being the name of the founder, the weather and the prospects of the town. I found your reply very interesting especially in regard to your varied use of Sonnet forms, there may be room for a Emeronian form however you might need a tragic ending of Shakespearean proportions. Though I by no means wish you one, your second major was in piano-performance? It sounds like you have the perfect skill set to create a new form of Pianola.

      You must have a broad intellect, as they say variety is the spice of life. I believe my Brother is studying the ‘science of music’ excuse my terminology, how weird this world is so many extraneous connections.

      The Canopian Sonnet seems to have been created by yourself? Hence I can not find anything about it other than your work. The idea of a Sonnet without fourteen lines! My brain cant comprehend it, how would I analyse a Sonnet without first stating that it has fourteen lines! So this rabbit hole remains dark unless you are willing to impart some more information.

      I believe my rhyming form especially from the perception of someone who is well trained in adhering to one such as yourself must seem a bit loose. I know there is no necessity for a standardisation of form but I need to improve my use of metre I suppose.

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    • Both you and your brother sound like interesting young men. I love your sense of humour as well re the Emeronian Sonnet. This is common knowledge (heh!) Tragedy is required. No getting around that.

      I was curious what you would find on your own re: Canopian. In 1967 or 8, Gene Roddenberry wrote the first non-pilot episode of Star Trek. In that script, is a reference to a Canopian Poet who penned this sonnet (In 1996 on Canopus [sp]). A couplet of this was read aloud by a character in that episode. Ever since this first hearing, the thing has sat in my mind, remaining much more prominent than other memories which tend to fade until context pulls them once again to the fore. In the script (perhaps) or subsequently transcribed by fans, the couplet is usually written in four lines.

      People with varying degrees of expertise have looked at them. All such poets, and poetically curious people, that I have read did not see the lines as I saw them. Most stated that there could be no resemblance to a sonnet in those lines. However I clearly heard a couplet with a caesura in the first line. Mr. Roddenberry, by all accounts never did finish this piece, which was written long before this episode as an Ode to his WWII era aeroplane (or Korean war, I truly do not remember all the details)

      But at least one authoritative source confirms this and purports that any finished versions that anyone may have read are works of fan-fiction.

      I have tracked down a few of them–as many as I could find. Those that I could find were not sonnets. One employed the line in other than the opening verse. They were all worthy attempts commensurate with the skill and experience of the poets in question, I won’t speak or hear a word against any of them, particularly because it does take considerable courage to step forward in an attempt to fill a great man’s shoes. So my hat goes off to all of them. Truly; it was heart warming to see that others had the same concern as I.

      However none saw the most obvious nature of those lines–even one fairly knowledgeable individual who first led me to the correct information to confirm my suspicion that the work had never been complete beyond the “four” lines we have seen.

      As I stated, none of the poets I encountered saw the lines as an improperly written couplet. Further research–ah yes, I remember now–show them written as I described in the script. This was no doubt done to make the section readable. Break up the lines properly, and you implicitly get the Caesura (or pause/missing syllable) read properly by the actor in question with less fuss.

      So I felt confident I could both discern a very probable form from these two lines, as I have quite an unusual relationship with sonnet form in particular. I also took the airy feel of the lines and attempted to hold to that as well. The rhyme-scheme was intrinsically implicit, As I mentioned.

      And, the lines struck me as expository, so should most definitely be opening lines. I believe Gene made that clear as well simply by writing them down. Also the subject matter “My love has wings” can be seen in three ways. We know it is an ode to his fighter or bomber, but that concept can apply equally well to the object of ones love (a woman) because we also have the context of the script wherein the character first quotes the lines from memory, to prove his accelerated learning ability, then says something along the lines of “…one of the most passionate love sonnets of that century, doctor, it’s funny you should pick that one.” (the ‘doctor’ was of course a woman) Also the third way to see the subject is that ones love itself has wings. I took all of this into account when penning my two versions.

      I do enjoy writing, however imperfectly, in King James English (and it makes my love’s heart go pitter-pat, as well; so, there as well, what’s not to like?!) So the first version (which I still prefer of the two I wrote) is as described, and the second uses more modern English–so a bit of rearranging had to take place–as they certainly were using it by 1968 (and therefore, by 1996, by extrapolation) It’s interesting that GR thought we’d be further along by then. It was 30 years time after all, was it not? In fact, the year 2000 has come and gone 13 years ago, and I’m still waiting for my flying car. (If anyone in the automotive/aviation business is out there reading this, I should like to point out that time is of the essence here; I am not getting any younger!)

      In any case the result you will find, or may have already found:

      https://davidemeron.com/tag/ho73t8oawh-b/

      The other as well as their introductions are directly following (14th and 15th of December 2012)

      Notes about them can be found hither:

      https://davidemeron.com/tag/a90se8fh/

      https://davidemeron.com/2012/12/14/where-no-man-has-gone-before/

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  9. Insult thee, who among you art alone on using “thou”, and (where you generally cannot) understandest what it means; nay I would rather insult you, amongst whom thou art, for that you have lost such an important part – not only of your speech, but also what you can conceive…. although clearly, not thou!

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  13. Sonnets are word music and they resonate through time as relevant for today as yester year. I am very pleased that you have found and are following dragonshades where each picture captures the entire existence of a momentary world.

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  16. Funny you. :)
    Thanks for visiting. I am at the library and on limited time, so I can’t go traipsing all around right now, (not an insult :)), but you seem cool, and your site looks cool. I love Shakespeare sonnets, and interested in the form.
    Thanks for visiting me, I’m right there with you. (Meaning following you :))
    Diana

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    • Like wise!

      For me, it all started with love, the better part of a century ago. Although I do not claim to be a scholar or even an expert in these matters, I do enjoy the form and have been writing these for quite a long time. The majority of my work–at least before this project started ( ! )–was not in this form, but these among all else, are what I choose to publish in this manner (owing to whatever insanity necessary to cause such a decision)

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  18. Hi David,
    Thanks for the like and the follow. Just read your “Who am I”, and couldn’t help but wonder what that callow version of yourself might have thought of people like us who do make stuff, but only to help with the process of pointlessly pushing words around!!
    Keep pushin…
    Bob

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    • Hello : ) Yes, well, that was very embarrassing, and it becomes more so the older I become. However it is an honest anecdote and I am willing to share it for that reason. Particularly to show how love can change ones focus.

      I do think he would have thought that was perfectly fine.

      And he would also be very happy with the state of electronic devices, as they are now. But he would also wonder (as do I, dammit) where the flying cars are. It’s 2013 after all, they are 13 years late already!

      Perhaps that young fellow should have focused on mechanical engineering instead of what essentially became, and what today is called, information technology.

      (He was, at that tender age, no more than a year away from writing his first sonnet–that probably would not have changed)

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    • You are quite welcome, young Miss! As it has turned out, the real “Meat” of this entry is in the comment section. This was not my original intention, still, it is quite interesting that it has developed this way.

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    • This is very kind of you; however I do not accept awards of any kind–not even those with which monetary compensation is associated.

      Additionally, I feel compelled to decline any and all such nominations when given a choice in the matter.

      Likewise, I do not participate in magazine or aggregation sites, writers’ groups, or rings of any kind; in particular those involving writing and especially not those involving poetry.

      I very much appreciate this kind sentiment; however I must, very respectfully and with a most considerable regret, decline your very generously offered nomination.

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    • Thank you ever so much! I have been thinking, of late, that I should place some information to the effect somewhere prominently. I feel very badly about the time and effort of so many lovely people that extend such honours on my behalf.

      Know that it is very much appreciated, and thank you again.

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    • You’re most welcome, friend. That may be an economical idea if this sort of thing is happening on a regular basis. It’s not overly time consuming, really. I think people should take the time to commend others regardless of awards and such. It’s just nice to know that others are enjoying what you’ve created. Don’t mention it.

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  23. Dear David,

    Thank you for the visit and the follow on my blog. I’m at a loss for words to describe how I find yours. Poetry, sonnets….all of that overwhelms me, to be honest, because they are so hard to do and understand. I’m honest and straightforward, I call a spade a spade and nothing else :-)

    Insults hurt and I do my best not to do that to my fellow humans so I’m afraid I will have to make you unhappy…

    I’m curious about your FAQ page – what is it all about? Do you practice black magic or something? Sorry it sort of freaked me out.

    Thanks again for visiting my little space on the web.

    Warm regards from the Philippines,
    Mary

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    • Thank you for your words most kind and clearly quite heartfelt.

      I quite hope you realise that “Insults make me happy” is simply a bit of whimsy. Although it is true I am ambivalent regarding insults and that, in fact some such insults might teach regardless of their intent; still this assertion is simply an attempt to render a more unusual prompt than “Comment here:”. Still, this prompt has, thus far produced no insults, so if it were quite literally true, I should find myself most unhappy : )

      And never fear, I am not a practitioner of the “Dark Arts” ™ My FAQ page is simply a reference to a long running Japanese Manga/Anime series entitled “Bleach.” Mrs. Emeron and I enjoy it greatly, and although among its elements you will find an artful combination of mythologies from any number of different cultures, such elements of its plot are simply a vehicle for its rather “good, old-fashioned” heroic romanticism, which we both find most agreeable. So, no worries there : )

      Lovely to have you stop by in any case, and I am most genuinely sorry to have alarmed you in any way.

      I shall endeavour, in the future, to add some actual questions to that (FAQ) list, but I fear this must wait a while, as I am a rather behind on my sonnet writing pledge owing to a protracted–though not serious–illness.

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    • David,

      Thank you very much for clearing that up. Words do tend to be interpreted in so many ways, don’t they? :-) And I would rather be safe than sorry, I do tend to say stupid things sometimes, but that’s just me ;-)

      I hope you are better now and back to meeting your writing pledge. One thing about the blogging world, one meets all sorts of people that one wouldn’t normally “talk” to, in my case a poet of your caliber, in our every day living. I am pleased to have “met” you and, while not very good at reading poetry, will consider this an opportunity for me to stretch my mind and learn something new at the same time through your blog.

      I’ll be back to take a deeper look at your creations. Family duties call me now.

      Have a peaceful evening.

      Warmly,
      Mary

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  24. Hello there David! So I read that you don’t accept awards which is a shame, because your work is quite deserving of the honors bestowed upon it. But alas, the choice is up to you! I was going to award you and so I’ve written a little bit about why I chose you on my blog. If you do have time, you can check it out on my most recent post. If not, know that I appreciate your blog greatly!! Thank you for being awesome.
    D x

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    • Thank you. This is high praise coming from you! Indeed it is.

      Bloody well done. […] The sonnets […] make me quite jealous of my lack of skill with the English language.

      Apart from that afforded by age and the impetus of being and having been deeply in love, I have very little skill in the language. Especially as compared to my sweetheart who has in fact had a proper classical education.

      I, on the other hand, have had no systematic instruction in grammar, and as such, any gramatic proficiency I may possess is strictly “Monkey see, monkey do.”

      I recently stumbled into a very long (and dull to exceeding) discussion regarding grammar in which I was very much a reluctant participant, however much I continued to insist that my view and understanding of such matters is capricious at best. I have neither gramatic nor rhetorical rigour in anything I choose to write, excepting that gained in a very piecemeal manner.

      Even so, I thank you for such a compliment; although in truth, when I receive such compliments, I feel I have, albeit unintentionally, in some way succeeded in deceiving someone.

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  26. Thank you. I can say little else. That such a mind and heart could find something in me worth speaking to, for lack of more elegant verbiage: blows me away. I feel like a little sprout in the midst of a kamikaze – I feel it blowing over, around and through me and yet, it does not destroy. It encourages.

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  28. I love that quote. I am a counsellor on a youth line and for years when my son was young (early 20’s) he’d say, “You don’t have a real job”…he sees it differently now.Blessings…I am not a master of anything, my experts, my teachers our my youths who reach out and teach me.

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    • Browning once said something to the effect that it is the virtue of poetry to be unclear. Poetry is of course about meaning, and feeling, and thought; but also, it is about sound, and sometimes shape. In that way it is an early form of multi-media.

      Sometimes we allow the sound to come second and the meaning to come first; sometimes it is the other way around. For example, my series “Etudes” is such a series wherein the sound and rhythm is paramount and the meaning comes second (or third or fourth : ) So any meaning you will find there will have come out of my subconscious leanings and/or yours, as a reader and interpreter of such words. The way our brains work guarantees this will happen.

      On the other hand, the upcoming “Mimo and Maria,” which I will not here link, is quite the opposite; however both these sequences may convey to the reader equal portions of meaning or its lack.

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  35. Hello David, nice to meet you. I’ve been exploring your blog. I love the anecdote above. It’s amazing how life changes us isn’t it?! I also enjoyed the piece on faith. It’s what carries Don and I forward, religious or not. Probably we are anti-theists too.
    Thank you for visiting our blog and for following. I hope you enjoy the stories of our adventures, both inner and outer.
    Cheers
    Alison

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    • Oops! No we are definitely not anti-theists! We have a profound faith in the creative force that we call The Mystery, because it, and life, and everything really is a complete mystery and yet still carries us all along somehow.

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    • I am glad to see I was correct : )

      If kindness itself could be seen as a religion, then I would be a willing convert. I rarely, if ever, criticize a man’s writing because to me, to do so is to criticize his heart and mind, or even his Soul, if you will; so to criticize his religion would be out of the question. To do so would perhaps even rise to the level of a sin : )

      Thank you very much for dropping by and for sharing your very interesting travel stories with me and my Dearest Mrs. Emeron.

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  36. Extraordinary blog and extraordinary comment pages…. How beautiful and how enjoyable… Poetry hits of course, but all these happenings around poetry! How great. Nice to meet you David Emeron. Thank you and also Thank you for visiting my blog. With my love, nia

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    • You are welcome. I suspect my vocabulary and command of literary reference is at most 1/4 of Shakespeare’s; I would not call myself a wordsmith. Still, you have an ally in Dear Mrs. Emeron who does, in fact have a great command of such things. She, most humbling to me, would sternly admonish me and firmly agree with you. I shall, therefore, leave it to you judges, more able.

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