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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 23 of 23. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Atticus on August 25, 2004, at 19:42:16
Bob to Register Three
The long white strip
Of printout paper
Looks like
Piranhas
Have been gnawing on it
When the kid
In the green apron
And the striped
Paper hat
Finally pops the lid
Of the machine
And stands there,
Hands on hips,
Brow knitted,
Like a novice auto mechanic
Staring under a car’s hood,
Looking intently
At the tangled wreckage
Of the thin ribbon of white
Enmeshed
In metallic guts
Like an origami tapeworm.He glances
At the growing horde
Of shoppers
In the express line,
Humans fused
Into a one long centipede
Issuing a rising,
Collective grumble,
Then swallows,
Holds down
A silver button,
Leans into a mike,
And calls
Upon his master
To deliver him
From this angry
Hive-mind
With the words,
"Bob to register three,
Bob to register three."The kid blinks nervous
Morse code,
One SOS after another,
At the door
To the manager’s office,
Then visibly relaxes
As Bob
Emerges
And begins
The long trek
From register twelve,
Trudging
With obvious weariness
To see just what
The kid
Has fu**ed up now.As he arrives
And surveys
The carnage,
He shoots me
A look
From the left corners
Of his dark eyes,
His lips pursed
In a bemused
Expression
That faintly suggests
The Mona Lisa’s
Smile
Pasted onto
Edvard Munch’s
“The Scream.”
The white glare
From the fluorescents
Flying in formation
Overhead
Temporarily
Obscures
The right side
Of his face,
Causing the flesh
To fade
From sight,
Gradating
Into invisibility.Bob begins picking
At the tortuously wound
Roll of register tape,
Attempting to ease
This modern-day version
Of the Gordian knot
From its passionate embrace
With the machine’s
Oily innards.
The colony animal
Stretching behind
My mother
And I
Grows ever more restive
As Bob attempts
One stratagem
After another
To extract
The paper
Without tearing it
To bits.He raises his head
And asks the
Snarling shoppers
To please be patient,
To please be courteous,
To please (knock off all
Their fu**ing bit*hing)
Be civil.
I can’t contain
My grin,
And my mother
Asks what’s so funny.
"Nothing," I answer,
"Just daydreaming,"
Before adding,
"The meds must
Be working,"
And she nods,
Reassured.The guy behind us
Snaps,
“I shoulda
Gotten on
Another line,”
And Bob sighs,
Murmuring,
“And I shoulda
Been a doctor.”
-- Atticus
Posted by malthus on August 25, 2004, at 21:24:02
In reply to poem ... Bob to Register Three, posted by Atticus on August 25, 2004, at 19:42:16
You may find this strange Atticus, but when I read the following lines...
"The colony animal
Stretching behind
My mother
And I..."...then later you write:
"I can’t contain
My grin,
And my mother
Asks what’s so funny.
"Nothing," I answer,
"Just daydreaming,"
I was certain this was a memory of when you were a small boy. I'm not really sure why but I pictured you (though I've not idea what you look like or looked like as a child) holding your mother's hand as small children often do when surrounded by strangers in stores. And the line of people is certainly portrayed in quite a scary light!But then I came to this part...
"Before adding,
"The meds must
Be working,"
And she nods,
Reassured..."And I then realized you wrote this from a memory of when you were a grown man. I'm not sure if this was intentional but I perceive it that way. As if in the first part you had no cares in the world as most children do not, but in the second part you are no longer a protected child, you've born the brunt of growing up which
leaves you in a state where you've reckoned with the heartsickening jolts that life so often dishes out. And then you reassure your mother, turning the tables from mother reassuring son to son reassuring mother.Please let me know what you think of my ~babbological~ (read psychological) analysis of "Bob to Register Three"
{:) <Bob wearing a bad toupee>
malthus
Posted by Jai Narayan on August 25, 2004, at 23:36:29
In reply to poem ... Bob to Register Three, posted by Atticus on August 25, 2004, at 19:42:16
Woa....I work in a Coop Grocery Store....
I am always trying to wake myself up to this fact. I work in a natural foods grocery store...
Sometimes it seems like so much more.
I would have loved to have been a doctor.
I love being an herbalist/ manager.
But, yes but it's still a grocery store.
The beehive mentality...yes, yes yes.
Buzzzzzz sting sting buzzzzz sting die sting buzzz
Posted by malthus on August 26, 2004, at 1:20:38
In reply to poem ... Bob to Register Three, posted by Atticus on August 25, 2004, at 19:42:16
P.S.
"from this angry hive-mind" got me on a roll about bees in "Acrimony I". I just couldn't stop with one. Lots of bile, just spouting out...
yikes!!!malthus
@:-) guy wearing a turban
oh, man am I exhausted.
Posted by Atticus on August 26, 2004, at 4:24:03
In reply to Re: poem ... Bob to Register Three, posted by malthus on August 25, 2004, at 21:24:02
Hi Malthus,
You're right, I'm definitely playing with a lot of things in this poem. Go back and read the physical description of Bob's face as he shoots me the bemused look upon arriving at the register, then scroll up to the photo in the upper left hand corner at the very top of Writing (or any other Babble page). Read Bob's third plea with the customers without the parenthetical "thought" that's inserted into it. And imagine a guy named Bob who wants to be a doctor. Then I guess people would call him Dr. Bo... Nahhh. Must be a coincidence. Surely. This scene, and the little daydream layered over it, took place when I was visiting my family in Jersey this past weekend, when the register did jam, and a manager named Bob was indeed summoned, and I thought, what if, in some other reality ... Hmmm. 'Nuff said. ;) Atticus, maker of mischief
Posted by Atticus on August 26, 2004, at 4:36:50
In reply to Re: poem ... Bob to Register Three, posted by Jai Narayan on August 25, 2004, at 23:36:29
Hi Jai,
Did you notice any similarities between my description of Bob's bemused face and, oh, say, I dunno, a certain photo at the top of this page? Or, if the parenthetical aside is removed, did Bob's third admonition to the crowd seem just a wee bit familiar? Maybe in a parallel dimension your doppleganger is a doctor, and perhaps people who are doctors in our universe are, well, doing something else in that other dimension as well. This was just meant as a bit of fun, based on a little daydream I had last weekend while stuck on a grocery line due to a gummed up register tape. Ta. ;) Atticus, that unrepentent rogue who is up to no good yet again, but hopes the powers-that-be have at least a little sense of humor
Posted by Atticus on August 26, 2004, at 4:49:36
In reply to Re: poem ... Bob to Register Three » Atticus, posted by malthus on August 26, 2004, at 1:20:38
Ouch! I just read your "hive-mind"-inspired "Acrimony" trilogy. No wonder you're exhausted; releasing that much anger would tire anyone out. I'm curious about one thing. Previously your poems have had a predominantly melancholy air that sometimes includes a bracing rush of fury lurking toward the conclusion. Was it different to just go straight for the jugular this time? I guess what I'm curious about is whether focusing on anger rather than grief makes you feel more empowered and emotionally satisfied once the poem is out -- if only for a little while at least. I ask because I know the tone of a poem and the emotions that underlie its creation definitely have a lingering effect on me afterward. Atticus
Posted by JenStar on August 26, 2004, at 12:21:38
In reply to Re: poem ... Bob to Register Three » malthus, posted by Atticus on August 26, 2004, at 4:24:03
hi Atticus and all,
I hope you don't mind that I have been lurking here the past few days & reading your poems & works. I don't have any poems of my own to post right now but I enjoy reading yours.This is pretty much off topic, but when I read the comment about Mona Lisa X The Scream -- after laughing -- I remembered this cool NRP talk I heard the other day. Two authors were speaking about art, the brain, and the Mona Lisa.
One author said that there has been scientific (sort of) analysis on the ML done explaining why her smile is so enigmatic. It had to do with direct and peripheral vision, and explained why looking at her head-on does not reveal the smile, but looking at her from an angle does make it seem that she's smiling.
The two authors were Margaret Livingstone who wroteVision and Art. The Biology of Seeing
and Bulent Atalay, who wrote Math and the Mona Lisa.
They both seemed really interesting, and I plan to see if the local libe had them (would love to buy them, but I'm over my montly book expense limit!)
Thanks for giving your motivations and hidden messages in the poem. It's always fun to re-read a poem once I know some 'inside info' from the author!
JenStar
JenStar
> Hi Malthus,
> You're right, I'm definitely playing with a lot of things in this poem. Go back and read the physical description of Bob's face as he shoots me the bemused look upon arriving at the register, then scroll up to the photo in the upper left hand corner at the very top of Writing (or any other Babble page). Read Bob's third plea with the customers without the parenthetical "thought" that's inserted into it. And imagine a guy named Bob who wants to be a doctor. Then I guess people would call him Dr. Bo... Nahhh. Must be a coincidence. Surely. This scene, and the little daydream layered over it, took place when I was visiting my family in Jersey this past weekend, when the register did jam, and a manager named Bob was indeed summoned, and I thought, what if, in some other reality ... Hmmm. 'Nuff said. ;) Atticus, maker of mischief
Posted by Jai Narayan on August 26, 2004, at 12:46:36
In reply to Re: poem ... Bob to Register Three » Atticus, posted by JenStar on August 26, 2004, at 12:21:38
Posted by Jai Narayan on August 26, 2004, at 13:03:01
In reply to Re: poem ... Bob to Register Three » Jai Narayan, posted by Atticus on August 26, 2004, at 4:36:50
Oh my gosh....that's too cool. How did I miss it? I tried to make an epic poem about babble and all the posters....
As I was crafting it all chaos broke loose on PB and I ditched the project.
PB can be an emotional roller coaster with the tilt-o-whirl and the scramble thrown in at times I just have to fasten my seat belt Dorothy, as Psycho Babble goes bye, bye....
The change of the energy can begin around the full moon.
We are coming upon that real soon.I loved your description of Dr. B being the "lidless eye"...
Jai Narayan the charming lady of the lake who greets all who are ferried, through the heavy mist, across the magical water to the mountain of enchantment
Posted by Atticus on August 26, 2004, at 13:40:27
In reply to Re: poem ... Bob to Register Three » Atticus, posted by JenStar on August 26, 2004, at 12:21:38
I do try so hard to be civil, I honestly do. ;) It just doesn't come naturally with authority figures. I just hope he takes it in the goofy spirit it was intended. Anyway, your info about the Mona Lisa was really fascinating. And as a painter myself, it makes a lot of sense. Da Vinci would have had to have been looking at the lips from off to one side as he painted them -- otherwise the hand holding his brush would have been directly in his line of sight and he couldn't have seen what he was doing. I've been to the Louvre and seen the real McCoy, but good luck trying to get anywhere near it. Ever since that guy tried to slash it, it's behind glass and a velvet rope, with a guard stationed continuously on either side of it. The closest you can get is about 10-15 feet away (the crowds there are insane, to boot). And the raised lip of the ornate gilt frame would keep you from being able to view the mouth at the angle you're talking about, even if you brought binoculors. I'm always curious to get reactions to my work, so no need to lurk invisibly. I think I have 25 or 26 pieces posted at this point, if you go back as far as July 19. A fresh pair of eyes is always fun. And remember the punk ethic: DIY! (Do it yourself). This notion was basically pioneered by the Ramones, the godfathers of punk, who couldn't sing and only knew four guitar chords and didn't care how the audience reacted to their songs. They just felt like cranking out some hard-core rock. So if you feel like it, fire a poem or story or anything (except a gun) in our direction. I think, the more people expressing themselves on this page, the better. And in the end, the Ramones turned out to be pretty damned good. ;) Atticus
Posted by Atticus on August 26, 2004, at 14:19:11
In reply to Re: poem ... Bob to Register Three, posted by Jai Narayan on August 26, 2004, at 13:03:01
Actually, your note reminded me of something else about this little ditty that I forgot to talk about with you and Malthus. Bob's role on the checkout line is an allegory for Dr. Bob's role in Psycho-Babble. He comes in to troubleshoot problems (uncivil people, balky tech, redirects) and has to deal with a whole passel of sometimes unruly folks (like me), who are symbolized by the people on line. I was specifically thinking of the Administration page, where he has to work his way through "line" after "line" of typewritten complaints, etc., but it could apply to all of us Babblers, wherever we roost. The irony intended in the last line of the poem is that this hapless alternate-reality Bob at register three thinks all of the crap he has to put up with in the store would go away if he were a doctor. Not bloody likely. Anyway, this is the type of thing that goes whizzing through my head when I'm stuck in a line at a store or on a subway train stopped in a tunnel between stations. I actually came up with a pretty good title for a poem that way this morning. Now I just have to think of a poem to go with it. Beats just standing or sitting there fuming. :) Atticus, swashbuckling rogue who'll entertain you with swordplay or wordplay for a flask of fine Atlantean wine
Posted by malthus on August 26, 2004, at 20:56:58
In reply to Re: poem ... Bob to Register Three » malthus, posted by Atticus on August 26, 2004, at 4:49:36
Yes, last night I was feeling particularly p#####
(rhymes with kissed~don't want Bob to be upset)
off. A few months I was diagnosed by my psych. as bipolar II which includes hypomania. I never really thought about why I would throw myself into something to the point of exhaustion but now I understand it. I am taking meds for it but I think sometimes they don't kick in. Unfortunately the flip side of hypomania, which I'm sure you already know, is depression which would explain the "air of melancholy". I cycle between these states of depression and hypomania pretty rapidly, I start out nostalgic and end up vitrolic. Last night however I felt particularly bitter. This came about from thinking about the last time I was hospitalized. Sean would come to see me every day I was there which was comforting but at the time we were broken up (which led to me downing vodka and Klonopin like nobody's business) He drove me home after I was released and I asked him if he ever thought we could make our relationship work. He became like a snarling dog, telling me how could he think about that after what I had done. He said "Can't you see that you are unstable and therefore unable to be in a relationship? I've been seeing someone else and today's her birthday so I just have to drop you off." I was dumbfounded. This was after his supportive and kind visits to the hospital, bringing me flowers, the whole nine yards, so I suppose that I thought maybe he was considering getting back together. I made him a bookmark when I was in there during "art therapy" and proudly gave it to him (I was pretty drugged up from the constant supervision of medications where you have to stick your tongue out so the nurse makes sure your not burrowing the pills into the side of your mouth.) He seemed so thankful for this thing I'd made for him (he probably added it to his collection of pictures and memorabilia from the plethora of women he's had.) Last night, looking back on that and what he said to me in the car brought up all these feelings of the worthlessness I felt about myself when he made those remarks.Certainly writing afer I've thought about such an event makes me feel more empowered and emotionally satisfied. But when I woke up this morning I remembered another incident, putting an idea into my head all day for a poem. The hypomania is in full force right now (which may not be a bad thing because I can purge by writing.) I know the "crash" is coming soon as it always does.
>:(Thanks for asking me questions about my trilogy, it allows me to open up and reveal some details to you about my past.
lovelorn malthus
Posted by malthus on August 26, 2004, at 21:03:44
In reply to Re: Acrimony, posted by malthus on August 26, 2004, at 20:56:58
Posted by malthus on August 26, 2004, at 23:50:30
In reply to Re: Acrimony, posted by malthus on August 26, 2004, at 20:56:58
Posted by Atticus on August 27, 2004, at 9:20:10
In reply to Re: Acrimony, posted by malthus on August 26, 2004, at 20:56:58
This is one of those times when I wish I knew something helpful to say, but as the other broken-hearted puppy with the sometimes lovelorn and serious face on this page, I have too many of the exact same issues in terms of my emotional responses to really offer any sage advice. All I can say is, let's keep talking, let's keep exchanging our thoughts and feelings via the poems, and maybe that'll help on both sides. :) Atticus, who, to everyone's astonishment (and some people's relief) is temporarily at a loss for words
Posted by Dr. Bob on August 27, 2004, at 11:04:51
In reply to poem ... Bob to Register Three, posted by Atticus on August 25, 2004, at 19:42:16
Posted by Jai Narayan on August 27, 2004, at 14:12:19
In reply to Re: lol (nm) » Atticus, posted by Dr. Bob on August 27, 2004, at 11:04:51
Never in my 11 months on this Psycho Babble have ever seen Dr. B say that!
I am impressed.
Atticus you have tickled his funny bone.
Posted by malthus on August 27, 2004, at 19:25:04
In reply to Re: Acrimony » malthus, posted by Atticus on August 27, 2004, at 9:20:10
I want to thank you, first for making me feel at home here and not like an unbidden guest! I also want to thank you for increasing my vocabulary.
I've always thought I was pretty adept with vocabulary but I find myself reaching for the dictionary and looking up words I don't know in your posts (this was my favorite activity in the 6th grade, ~~looking up words Mr. Francis gave us and writing the definitions
on my favorite lined pink notebook paper.) Somehow it was comforting due to the school environment being distressing~~I, along with my friends, were the guinea pigs for the first wave of the integration movement in the seventies, enduring long busrides to the bowels of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Boy did I learn things (not limited to academics) there that a 12 year old should not learn so early. That experience has profoundly shaped my mental landscape. Anyway I wanted to share some of the words I have written down from your posts (now on a yellow legal pad~~where have all the pastels gone, long time passing):
"doppelganger", "Atlantean", "metier" etc.Secondly I'd like to thank you for always responding to my poetry. Your posts buoy me and I don't feel so alone with some of the agony I experience. While I don't want either of us to feel agony, I realize that writing is a pivotal part of moving on. I certainly don't wish to tote and lug all this into my next relationship (if I ever have one; I'm a bit pessimistic that I will.) Trees with their roots can be moved and prosper in new soil in a far away place. My Dad moved some of his mother's iris bulbs from Quantico, Virginia to Arkansas before she died. He just moved to Charlottesville, Virgina and brought the bulbs with him and has planted them in his front yard where they are flourishing once again. I want to flourish, I want you to flourish and I look forward to our communication.
malthus, the forsaken
Posted by Atticus on August 27, 2004, at 20:03:21
In reply to Re: Acrimony » Atticus, posted by malthus on August 27, 2004, at 19:25:04
Thanks so much, Malthus. I find that I communicate best through writing, especially poetry. Without that structure, I tend to ramble and get off-topic really easily. Just keep posting and talking about our mutual posts, and I will, too. It's a huge help for me, too (plus I enjoy reading your work :) ) Just try to remember: you may be hurting very badly, but you haven't been forsaken by everyone, especially Babblers like me. Atticus
Posted by 64Bowtie on September 12, 2004, at 14:23:51
In reply to Re: Acrimony » Atticus, posted by malthus on August 27, 2004, at 19:25:04
>
> malthus, the forsaken
><<<....as in abandoned, or snubbed by false friends, or???
Rod
Posted by malthus on September 12, 2004, at 14:56:08
In reply to ...great stuff, thanks » malthus, posted by 64Bowtie on September 12, 2004, at 14:23:51
Your message is very cryptic. Care to explain?
malthus
Posted by 64Bowtie on September 13, 2004, at 2:45:24
In reply to ...great stuff, thanks » malthus, posted by 64Bowtie on September 12, 2004, at 14:23:51
> >
> > malthus, the forsaken
> >
>
> <<<....as in abandoned, or snubbed by false friends, or???
>
<<< ...all synonyms for forsakenRod
This is the end of the thread.
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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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