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On a Williams Carlos Williams kick

Posted by Aaron - 31/07/10 at 07:07:16 pm

A few days ago, I stumbled across this piece on McSweeny’s.

This is Just to Say
That I’m Tired
of Sharing an
Apartment With
William Carlos Williams.
By Laura Jayne Martin

Will, you are a dick. You’re goddamn right I was saving those plums for breakfast.

Fine, it’s not like they’re my favorite food in the world, but I mean, they’re a seasonal fruit, you scumbag. Buy your own food for a change. All you do is sit around the house all day writing about red wheelbarrows and junk…
read more

I had a good chuckle (I really think I did chuckle, not laugh) while reading it, imagining, in part, what it would be like to share an apartment with such an eccentric.

It got me thinking back to some of my favorite William Carlos Williams poems. None of these should come as a surprise; they are probably among his most famous, but that’s just because they are so good.

I’m going to share them (ps the great thing about WCW’s poems, most of them are short, except Paterson, which is six books long). Not sure if this is legal or not, but if some bloggers can get away with posting mp3s, I’m sure a little poetry won’t throw anyone into a tizzy.

The first, of course, is The Red Wheelbarrow.

The Red Wheelbarrow

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.

Why so much depends upon a wheelbarrow or what it is doing beside the white chickens, I’ll never know. I did, though, come close to understanding the poem my senior year of high school. For a poetry a project, I picked Williams and The Red Wheelbarrow (I think my first choice was Bob Dylan and one of his songs but Ms. Kigar quickly put a stop to that). Somehow, I put together probably 10 pages or so about this 16-word poem. Not bad, eh?

Next is The Great Figure. This poem has tremendous potential energy (look at that, getting all sciency). It just builds and builds throughout and then rumbles away.

The Great Figure

Among the rain
and lights
I saw the figure 5
in gold
on a red
firetruck
moving
tense
unheeded
to gong clangs
siren howls
and wheels rumbling
through the dark city.

And finally … This is Just to Say. I don’t even like plums.

This is Just to Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

All of these poems were copied from Selected Poems by William Carlos Williams, which I own, but left at my parents house, so I used the library’s copy.

PDFs of my heroin series in the Jackson Citizen Patriot

Posted by Aaron - 29/07/10 at 03:07:15 am

Maybe you are a print junkie like me. The internet is great, but some things look so good in print.

Like my series on heroin’s resurgence in Jackson County in the Jackson Citizen Patriot.

Below are pdfs of the pages. Click each link to download.

PS If you are my parents, don’t bother with the pdfs. I sent you copies. Love ya mom and dad!

Part 1: Addictive drug that can shatter lives ‘is back strong in Jackson’, July 25, 2010. (A1 pdf | A3 pdf)

Forced to choose between milk and heroin, Joe Pritchard called his dealer…

Once confined to dope houses and dens, slithering in the seedy underbelly of American cities in the 1970s, heroin is now a drug abused by all ages, all incomes and all over.

“And it is back strong in Jackson County,” Undersheriff Tom Finco said.

Part Two: ‘IT’S PURE EVIL’: Heroin kills. It strains families and destroys lives, July 26, 2010. (A1 pdf | A4 pdf)

Forced to choose between milk and heroin, Joe Pritchard called his dealer…

Once confined to dope houses and dens, slithering in the seedy underbelly of American cities in the 1970s, heroin is now a drug abused by all ages, all incomes and all over.

“And it is back strong in Jackson County,” Undersheriff Tom Finco said.

Part Three: Heroin addicts face physical and mental challenges when battling addictive drug, July 28, 2010. (A1 pdf | A4 pdf)

It is the toughest thing they will ever do.

Inside a Victorian house, set among the summer cottages and lakeside homes of northern Michigan’s sleepy town of Petoskey, almost 40 men wage war on addiction.

Among them is a 60-year-old with a lifetime habit of drinking; an 18-year-old with a drug habit that took hold fast and strong; and Joe Pritchard, a 39-year-old father of three from Jackson trying to rid his body and mind of the need for heroin.

“It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of pain,” said Pritchard, who was sent to Harbor Hall through the Jackson County Drug Recovery Court program.

Beating heroin is not a option. Addicts struggle internally, knowing they will square off with the disease for the rest of their lives. Police chase the drug, its users and its dealers.

Resurgence of heroin in Jackson County

Posted by Aaron - 28/07/10 at 05:07:30 pm

Heroin is back, and according to Jackson County Undersheriff Tom Finco, “it’s back strong in Jackson County.”

Nearly six months ago, I noticed an alarming amount of people telling Jackson County judges the reason they committed their crimes was to feed their heroin addiction. That spawned an exhaustive look at the problem of heroin in the county and the havoc it wreaks.

I wrote a series of stories — run over three days — trying to answer three questions: What is heroin? What is its impact? What is being done to fight it?

Part 1: Addictive drug that can shatter lives ‘is back strong in Jackson’, July 25, 2010.

Forced to choose between milk and heroin, Joe Pritchard called his dealer…

Once confined to dope houses and dens, slithering in the seedy underbelly of American cities in the 1970s, heroin is now a drug abused by all ages, all incomes and all over.

“And it is back strong in Jackson County,” Undersheriff Tom Finco said.

Part Two: ‘IT’S PURE EVIL’: Heroin kills. It strains families and destroys lives, July 26, 2010.

Heroin kills. It strains families and destroys lives. The drug lands people in jail, rehab and the gutter. The drug kept Joe Pritchard from his family, first jail, then rehab. It took Andrew Hirst from his family, killing the 24-year-old in May.

“It’s pure evil,” said Hirst’s father, Michael Hirst. “It’s going to kill you. That’s the bottom line.”

Part Three: Heroin addicts face physical and mental challenges when battling addictive drug , July 28, 2010.

It is the toughest thing they will ever do.

Inside a Victorian house, set among the summer cottages and lakeside homes of northern Michigan’s sleepy town of Petoskey, almost 40 men wage war on addiction.

Among them is a 60-year-old with a lifetime habit of drinking; an 18-year-old with a drug habit that took hold fast and strong; and Joe Pritchard, a 39-year-old father of three from Jackson trying to rid his body and mind of the need for heroin.

“It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of pain,” said Pritchard, who was sent to Harbor Hall through the Jackson County Drug Recovery Court program.

Beating heroin is not a option. Addicts struggle internally, knowing they will square off with the disease for the rest of their lives. Police chase the drug, its users and its dealers.

Clips page

Posted by Aaron - 26/07/10 at 02:07:39 am

Check out the new clips page I created.

It houses some classic Aaron Aupperlee pieces of journalism from The Citizen Patriot, The Kalamazoo Gazette and The Desert Dispatch. Nearly four years of bylines condensed into one page.

Death of Air Force officer 1st Lt. Joel Gentz

Posted by Aaron - 24/06/10 at 02:06:58 am

On June 9, 2010, 1st Lt. Joel Gentz, an Air Force combat rescue officer from Grass Lake, Michigan, was killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

As a combat rescue officer, Gentz was one of the most highly trained airmen in the Air Force. He led a crew of pararescuemen on search and rescue missions.

For the Citizen Patriot’s complete coverage of Gentz’s death and funeral, click here.

Joel Gentz remembered by family, friends, former teachers and fellow airmen, June 24, 2010.

Before Joel Gentz decided to join the Air Force, jump out of airplanes and save wounded men, women and children, his brother Jared and sister Rachel put him through unofficial training.

During their brother’s funeral Thursday in Chelsea, the two shared stories of camping, swimming, spying and swamping, bringing tears but much laughter.

“We always tried to be like Joel and looked up to him,” said Jared Gentz. “We’ll miss you Joel.” (more)

Chelsea streets lined for funeral procession of First Lt. Joel Gentz, June 24, 2010.

Flags around Chelsea flew at half-staff and people lined the streets to pay final respects to First Lt. Joel Gentz.

Men in suits, boy scouts, motorcycle clubs clad in leather waved flags as they waited from the procession to pass.

Gentz, 25, was killed in a June 9 helicopter crash in Afghanistan. As an elite combat rescue officer, the 2002 Chelsea High School graduate commanded a squad of pararescuemen on a NATO rescue mission. (more)

Family of First Lt. Joel Gentz shares memories of airman who died in Afghanistan, June 13, 2010.

Judy Gentz called her son a peacemaker.

He flew eight missions a day into hostile territory in Afghanistan. He rescued men, women and children, Afghanis and Americans.

First Lt. Joel Gentz did not fight. He helped.

The Grass Lake man, a 2002 graduate of Chelsea High School, was one of four killed Wednesday in a helicopter crash during a rescue mission in Afghanistan. Gentz was 25.

The combat rescue officer once told his father there was no greater joy than saving an Afghani child and then seeing the look on the faces of the child’s parents. Gentz saved a lot of children, said his father, Steve Gentz.

“Just knowing our son was doing stuff like that means a lot to us,” he said Sunday. (more)

Airman from Jackson County’s Grass Lake killed in helicopter crash in Afghanistan, June 10, 2010.

An elite combat rescue officer in the U.S. Air Force, 1st Lt. Joel C. Gentz of Grass Lake died in a helicopter crash while serving in Afghanistan.

The 25-year-old is the first Jackson County resident to die serving in Afghanistan. Gentz was assigned to the 58th Rescue Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

Gentz and three other airmen were killed when their HH-60 Pavehawk helicopter went down Wednesday near Forward Operation Base Jackson, said Lt. Ken Lustig, a public affairs officer at Nellis Air Force Base. Three airmen were injured in the crash. (more)

Shooting of Jackson police officer James Bonneau and Blackman Township PSO Darin McIntosh

Posted by Aaron - 06/05/10 at 02:05:09 am

The death of police officer James Bonneau devastated Jackson.

Bonneau, 26, was assisting Blackman Township public safety officer Darin McIntosh with a call on Mitchell Street when Elvin Potts fired at both officers. Bonneau was killed, McIntosh shot in the leg and taken to the hospital in critical condition. The Blackman township officer shot Potts in the head, killing him at the scene.

The news dominated The Citizen Patriot for days. Bonneau’s funeral was in his hometown of Canton and hundreds of police officers for around the country, including McIntosh, attended.

For complete coverage of Bonneau’s death and funeral and McIntosh’s recovery, click here.

(On some stories, I share a byline with fellow public safety reporter Danielle Quisenberry)

Wounded Blackman Township officer eager to return to duty, May 6, 2010.

As soon as his right leg can handle it, Officer Darin McIntosh will be back on the job.

“I’m coming back,” the Blackman Township public safety officer said Wednesday, “and I will be back earlier than you thought.”

McIntosh was shot in the right thigh March 9 by Elvin Potts, who also shot and killed Jackson Police Officer James Bonneau. McIntosh returned fire, killing Potts.

Hundreds of officers from around the state pay respects to Jackson Police Officer James Bonneau, March 13, 2010.

CANTON — As hundreds of officers stood at attention in long rows outside the funeral of Jackson Police Officer James Bonneau, the badges on their left shoulders showed how far the law enforcement family stretches.

Jackson. Albion. Delta County. Van Buren County. Morenci. Trenton.

Police officers, firefighters, paramedics and academy recruits from as far away as the Upper Peninsula and Chicago filled the sanctuary, the balcony and the lobby of St. Michaels Lutheran Church in Canton Township on Friday morning.

“We’re here to show support for our brothers in arms, to support the family of the Jackson Police Department,” said Sault Ste. Marie Police Department Capt. Judd Price. “It’s never too far.”

A somber salute: More than 1,000 attend funeral for slain Jackson Police Officer James Bonneau, March 13, 2010.

Jackson Police Officer Larry Jacobson did Friday what Officer James Bonneau could not do Tuesday.

He signed off for the slain policeman.

“Officer Jim Bonneau, badge No. 042,” Jacobson said, re-creating the radio conversation every officer has with dispatch at the end of a work day.

“His shift is over, and he is going home. We have watch. Officer Jim Bonneau will be secure.”

It was an especially emotional moment during a funeral that brought tears to the eyes of many police officers who gathered at St. Michael Lutheran Church in Canton Township to remember Bonneau, 26.

Injured Blackman Township Public Safety Officer Darin McIntosh was determined to attend Jackson Police Officer James Bonneau’s funeral, March 12, 2010.

CANTON — Moments before the sanctuary filled with more than a thousand men and women in uniform, Blackman Township Public Safety Officer Darin McIntosh offered a solitary tribute to his fellow officer James Bonneau.

After a Jackson Police Department Honor Guard rolled Bonneau’s flag-draped casket down the center aisle of St. Michael Lutheran Church on Friday morning in Canton Township, McIntosh, sitting in a wheelchair at the back of the church, brought his hand to his brow in a salute.

“It meant a lot to him to be here,” Blackman Township Public Safety Director Mike Jester said.

Police say calls for domestic disturbances are fraught with danger, March 13, 2010.

Police officers often work alone. They pull over speeders, follow up on missing persons’ reports and investigate crime typically by themselves.

A domestic disturbance or assault is a different story. Most local departments send officers to those calls in pairs.

“There’s a lot of emotion in them,” said Blackman Township Public Safety Director Mike Jester. “Officers know that it is a dangerous situation. It’s something that’s always in the back of their mind.”

Jackson Police Chief Matt Heins says phone call about slain police officer changed his life; hundreds head to graveside service after funeral, March 12, 2010. (with audio recording of Heins’ eulogy)

Jackson Police Chief Matt Heins said it was a call no chief wants to get.

Heins told an overflowing crowd of police officers from around the country, and friends and family of slain Jackson Police Officer James Bonneau the magnitude of that phone call he received Tuesday morning when he learned one of his officers had been shot.

“That phone call changed my life, the officers’ lives and certainly the lives of Jim’s family forever,” Heins said.

Wounded Blackman Township officer hit hard by shooting death of Jackson cop, March 11, 2010.

When Darin McIntosh came out of surgery Tuesday morning, he immediately asked about his fellow police officer.

“He was devastated,” said his mother, Jeanine McIntosh.

The 22-year-old Blackman Township Department of Public Safety officer took a bullet in the leg during the Mitchell Street shooting earlier Tuesday that killed Jackson Police Officer James Bonneau, 26.

Video: Reaction to Officer James Bonneau’s death, March 10, 2010.

Reaction to Officer James Bonneau’s death

Jackson Police Officer James Bonneau remembered by family, friends, colleagues as genuine, good-natured, March 10, 2010.

Overwhelmed by grief and often unable to check her emotions, Rachael Maloney at first did not want to speak about Jackson Police Officer James “Jim” Bonneau. She later changed her mind, saying she wanted others to get to see the man she and his father called loyal, genuine and good-hearted. “I got to,” said Maloney, Bonneau’s girlfriend. “I was very lucky.”

>Jackson police officer shot to death identified as 26-year-old James Bonneau; Blackman officer wounded identified as Darin McIntosh; suspect killed identified as 63-year-old Elvin Potts, March 9, 2010.

Jackson Police Officer James Bonneau remembered by family, friends, colleagues as genuine, good-natured The Jackson police officer killed in a shooting early Tuesday on Mitchell Street was identified as James Bonneau. A Blackman Township Department of Public Safety officer also was wounded in the shooting. Jackson police officer killed in Tuesday shooting is 16th area officer to die in the line of duty Jackson police officer killed, Blackman Township public safety officer wounded in shooting early Tuesday; suspect also killed Bonneau died at Allegiance Health. He was 26.

Video: From the shooting scene, March 9, 2010.

Shooting scene on Mitchell Street

Jackson police officer killed, Blackman Township public safety officer wounded in shooting early Tuesday; suspect also killed, March 9, 2010.

A Jackson police officer was killed and a Blackman Township Department of Public Safety officer was wounded in a shooting early Tuesday morning on Mitchell Street.

The officers shot and killed the suspect, Jackson County Undersheriff Tom Finco said.

The Blackman Township officer was shot in the leg, an injury Finco did not believe was life threatening. The officer was taken to Allegiance Health.

life without the Internet

Posted by Aaron - 03/04/10 at 06:04:30 pm

Hey yall. Wanted to throw this up here, sort of an explanation.

I’ve decided to not hook my Jackson apartment up to the Internet. I just couldn’t justify the price charged both AT&T and whatever evil cable company has the Jackson market cornered.

Plus I sort of like not having the distraction of constant connectivity tempting me at home. I have got all the internets I can handle at work, and my trusty Blackberry Curve does just fine for e-mail, Twitter and Facebook. Which honestly, are the only good uses of the Internet these days.

All this means the blog will once again be sparse to dormant.

It is not that I don’t like blogging, but I sort of like reading and writing without the pressure of publication — even if just to those who stop here — more.

Not sure when I will break down and hook up. But until then…

Michigan Winter Beer Festival 2010

Posted by Aaron - 03/03/10 at 01:03:34 am

Nothing like meeting up with folks from the Kalamazoo Gazette’s Kalamabrew beer blog for the 2010 Winter Beer Festival in Comstock Park, Michigan.

Michigan Winter Beer Fest…first course

Posted by Aaron - 28/02/10 at 05:02:14 am

This should wet your appetite for now.

More from the Michigan Winter Beer Fest soon.

Beans!

Posted by Aaron - 27/02/10 at 05:02:20 am

Like most of New Years Eve, a forgotten gem.

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