I work with over 200 writers in 5 languages, but Bogdan makes everything so easy. Their sixth 100-page collaboration has arrived today. As always, we renew our agreement and in this case I want to value your support for Masticadores and thank you personally.
j re crivello
Founder and director of Masticadores
MasticadoresIndia, MasticadoresUsa and Gobblers, according to our statistics, they will exceed 100,000 visits in 2023. Thank you all!
Taking a short break from doing translation work and now devouring Bogdan‘s 2020 poetry collection PourWhiskey Over My Heart And Set It On Firewhich carries with it the signature images that scandalizes, tears, and undo me every time. I love how Bogdan’s poetry disturbs the psyche and annihilates moral boundaries that sometimes Boccaccio’s The Decameron comes to mind and marries every heinous psychological thriller film there is. Great afternoon read!
5. Where did you get the idea for your Daydreaming as a Profession blog site? Was it something you’ve always wanted to do? And how long has it been in existence? Daydreaming is and was always my favorite activity. And the one I’m really good at (because it happens effortlessly). I’ve been doing it all my life, but never thought I could create something tangible from it. Now pretty much every poem is the result of daydreaming. Growing up, I’ve often been told that I daydream too much. The Romanian expressions for daydreaming sound something along the lines of, “to dream with one’s eyes open,” and my personal favorite, “to dream of green horses on the walls”. Goodness, I can’t recall how many times I’ve heard that in my life. If someone could show me snapshots of my life, 85% of them would probably be of me holding a fixed…
Welcome folks to the latest edition of my Brilliant Blogger Poet initiative which this week features what promises to be an intriguing and insightful interview with the daring & provocative Mr. Bogdan Dragos. He works in a casino by night dreaming of being a writer of renown, where I imagine he meets all sorts of interesting & strange people. Thank you Bogdan for agreeing to participate in this initiative.
1. First of all I’d like to ask you have you always been drawn to expressing yourself through the written word and telling stories?
Oh, absolutely not! I hated reading and writing as a child and as a teenager. I hated school and everything that resembled or reminded me of it. One time I got into a fight with a friend at the end of summer vacation because he wouldn’t stop talking about how eager he was for school to begin…
In the week following Christmases ago, an old timey preacher listened gravely, though not condemningly, to a young man as he confessed his love and determination to run off with a married woman in the congregation–after which–the tall grandfather clock in the far corner of the study seemed indignant and extra loud, as if it were counting down to the Day of Judgement instead of the new year.
In the thoughtful silence which ensued, the preacher removed his thick glasses, fogged the lenses with his breath, and wiped each slowly with a handkerchief–the one he always used to blot holy sermon sweat from his brow. Swiveling around in a squeaky chair, he reached for the paper tray situated beneath the HP printer he barely knew how to use and retrieved a clean sheet.
“Son, if you came here for my blessing, you certainly don’t have it. But…
Mi-am vizitat prietena în spital
după operația de apendicită.
Arăta bine
și zâmbetul ei a pus un zâmbet pe fața mea
– Mi-am făcut și o prietenă, zise ea.
Era o altă fată în salon cu ea
și fata asta,
cică a ajuns în spital pentru că ar fi șpreiat un
întreg tub de insecticid într-un pahar
pe care apoi l-a băut.
– De ce? Am întrebat eu.
– Ei bine, zise prietena mea, n-ai înțelege.
Hai doar să spunem că, draga de
ea voia să-și omoare fluturii din stomac.
– Ok...
Camera era rece
și flori gri de mucegai
înfloreau pe pereți.
Și-a dat jos papucii
și aceștia fiind cele mai calde
lucruri din cameră
puiul de pisică
se adăposti într-unul din ei.
El stătu pe o saltea în colț
și mângâie pisica
din papuc.
Deodată, zâmbi și zise,
– Eh, măcar n-am datorii.
Până și Dumnezeu
a fost de acord cu el. I-a făcut
cu ochiul
prin gaura din tavan.
Bogdan Dragos supervises casinos for a gambling company, working twelve-hour shifts locked in a dark office full of TV monitors. There he mostly daydreams and writes poems and stories. He also manages a poetry blog Daydreaming as a profession.
Daydreaming as a profession 