Monthly Archives: April 2012

Make Friday Write

Posted on by
30

Woo hoo it is Friday! Last full week of the semester. I’m exhausted but feeling a bit excited about the prospect of – while not really taking a lot of breaks a I have lots I want to do – the sleeping in portion of summer is fast approaching. Old people love their sleep :)

I had some fun the other day finally making a breakthrough on my poem organization which includes a project I’m calling “the painter” for now. One of the 10 poems in what I hope will be a chapbook is in the current edition of Pirene’s Fountain. Also while I was doing my re-org I finally decided what to do with all my poems that have been published but aren’t in any particular collection. This means poems I don’t think will ever end up in a specific collection including things I wrote *shudder* and had published *double shudder* in small places in my teens. Some of these have NEVER been online before. The project is called the sundries. What is cool about doing this as a blog format is that I can pull ones off If I do put them in a collection or add more!

So I’m not exactly writing what I know which Sandra Beasley has an interesting discussion of on her blog.  And if you didn’t get enough of what I supposedly know why not read an interview with me about writing spaces etc? Or if you want to actually SEE me in person and you are near Atlanta I’ll be one of several Sibling Rivalry Press readers at the Decatur Public Library from 3-5 tomorrow. Yep. TOMORROW. Here is an interview with one of the other writers who will be there.

The other project I have is more of a full length tentatively called Job2. I know, exciting right? Here is the latest poem I put together for that in a very early draft. As always feel free to post your work in progress and/or to comment on mine or others in comments. I will take mine down and any others posted in a week.

I have other things I could possibly post today but this blog is over 500 words! Let’s stay short: like me :)

–time to revise!

What We Are Watching

Posted on by
9

Tuesday you had a blog post about some of what I have been reading so I thought I’d report in a bit on what I have been watching as well.

  • Fagbug This one is a hard one to put my finger on. I feel terrible for the young woman whose car was vandalized but I was impressed with her idea to travel around the country driving the vandalized car. There were times, however, when the documentary felt a bit hmmm well let’s say at one point she complains that some people have accused her of just using what happened as a way to have a vacation. Ok there is a bit of that, but the documentary does become stronger further in. In either case it was an interesting watch and a hope that perhaps people can just learn to be a little bit more kind and tolerant.
  • I often talk about how we (consciously or unconsciously) find ourselves drawing what, at first, may seem like unlike entities together. I just made the connection now with another documentary I watched called Off and Running which is a coming of age story of a female black teenager who was raised by a Jewish lesbian couple. Besides the gay connection, both of these documentaries have something to say about identity and the “tribes” we belong to by genetics and/or choice.
  • So now that I made those connections I’m looking at my list of what I last watched and wondering if I can make any others which makes me ask: isn’t this – in some ways – how I create poetry?
  • How about the documentary A Man Named Pearl which makes me want to drive the two hours to Bishopville, SC to see this self taught artisans topiary work. And, I might just do it someday. I like how he tells some art students how he doesn’t sketch. That isn’t part of his process. When I teach (composition or creative writing) I try to emphasize “ways.” Maybe I like to free-write as a way to pre-write maybe other people make picture clusters or brainstorm. But, I think we all should try different things until we find what works for us.
  • And speaking of writers and creating. I decided to watch the movie Limitless. The movie itself was actually pretty interesting from a stylistic and concept point of view, but it did make me sad that the main character, a writer, goes from wanting to write to being obsessed with money *le sigh*, but I can’t say that isn’t what I did in my 20′s when I gave up on writing for a good 5 years for my “career.”

What have you guys been watching or taking in? Seen any of the above and want to discuss?

As always – join the conversation :)

Recently Read

Posted on by
19

I like to share what I have been reading. I used to do so via reviews first on Amazon, then for a variety of litmags, and also on Goodreads. I’ve decided, however, to talk about books a bit more informally right here on my blog. Here are a few I rounded up recently.

First up is Dead Glass by Tom Mahony is a Folded Word micro publication. These stories come together to form a bigger whole but you can pause on each twitter length segment as well. This is also wonderfully illustrated and is either available in a small handmade edition (1st press run sold out and a 2nd is running) or e-book. I have a first run hand-made edition but now I’m tempted to get the e-book as well.

Speaking of e-books I finished two recently. The first was The Year of the Flood by Maragret Atwood. It was kind of strange reading that book because I read the companion book “Oryx and Crayx” years and years ago.  In many ways I actually like TYOTF better than O & C. I found the characters more engaging and theirs was a story I wanted to hear because O & C felt like it ended with a cliffhanger. If you haven’t read either you might want to read them simultanteously. I think that would be interesting to do.

I also finished Stiff by Mary Roach which had been on my list for a long time. Mary makes scientific writing interesting. I could easily see myself using some of her work in my classes to show students what you can actually do with research. This isn’t one for the squeamish though. There aren’t pictures but there are well-written descriptions of cadavers in various states of decomposition.

Last up in paper was Cornelia Funke’s The Thief Lord. In many ways I am actually surprised that I read this book because the first book by Funke I read (Inkheart) I wasn’t overwhelmed with. I liked her imagination and ideas though so I decided to read another one of her books. I really loved “The Thief Lord.” It is one of those young adult books that would be a great read for a variety of ages. The chapters are nice and short so it would make a great before bed read as well. I’ve now added Funke back to my list of authors I’ll read more work from – just not the rest of the Inkspell series I guess.

I still have several other books in my reading stack and in my to read piles so I’ll be checking back in to go over some more. What have you guys been reading?

Make Friday Write

Posted on by
22

I wasn’t sure if I was going to find the time to post my Friday blog, but it has become such a ritual to share what I’m working on, reading, watching etc. And, I LOVE to hear what you guys have been up to.

  • Here is a very powerful essay that discussions a writer’s personal response to The Hunger Games
  • I have a big round up of documentaries that each, in some way, tie into the movie and celebrity. There is Strictly Background about those who try to make a living just playing those small, no name parts. Double Dare which is not about the kids game show but was about female stunt women. Very interesting. And then how about Almost Elvis about those who try to work as professional Elvis impersonators. Or maybe you’d be more up for For the Love of Dolly which follows some pretty “dedicated” fans of Dolly Parton’s. And last, but not least, American Scary which had somewhat annoying audio (just bad/cheap audio?) but made me think back to my childhood and our local horror host: Dr. MadBlood. Do you remember yours? What I thought with each of these was of how people are always trying to find a way to have some kind of shared experience no matter what your hobby/habit/passion ends up being.

I won’t get into the books right now because I only have a few and I am going to try and do a separate post about them. I had a pretty busy week which was further complicated (yet also fun!) by being Freshly Pressed which meant over 10K views in a manner of days! That (oh poor poetry) did not translate into book sales, but it was still interesting to meet a lot of new virtual people.

The poem I started during last Sunday’s writing marathon is posted below. Feel free to comment on it and/or to post your own work in progress. I will take down my work and anything posted in comments one week from today. And a small side note. A poem I posted recently “Visions of the Monster” was revised and sent out. It received some positive feedback on a recent rejection so that YOU GUYS for helping me to keep that poem going.

–goodbye poem! Time to revise

Writing Marathon

Posted on by
10

On Sunday April 15th I took part in a Writing Marathon as sponsored by the UNC-Charlotte branch of the National Writing Project. There is no hard and fast rule on how a writing marathon should be set up but Lacy Manship did a great job!

We started out at Amelie’s French Bakery in the NoDa area of Charlotte (which I always get lost getting to – which became something I wrote about during the marathon!). There were at least two dozen people who came to meet up. After a snack we all “wrote into the marathon” on the topic of our choice before grouping up to head out to a new location. I drafted a poem idea that came to me on the drive over. I’m hoping to post it tomorrow for Make Friday Write.

We wrote for about 15-20 minutes and then shared within our tables since there were so many people. The group I was with then decided we would head to The Last Word Bookstore. You were also supposed to say to someone when you arrived at your location: I’m a writer, but we didn’t all do that. Instead we wrote and shared and then picked another location to go to.

The group I was with decided to finish up at Ikea which made me happy! I LOVE ikea and when I had heard previous writing marathon participants had written there I just knew I had to be one of those people.

But, no, no one bought meatballs this time :) It was great to hear what other people were writing and how we could help each other yet keep our work individualized. There was such great energy amongst the participants. I hope to do this again and I wonder if I can figure out a way to do something like this with my students? I had them write a journal about it after I got back to see what they thought a writing marathon would be. They had terrific ideas as well.

Our last stop was to the Wine Vault where, despite the loud music, we had an open mike type share. I left my house at about Noon and I was home by about 5pm. This was well worth my afternoon. If you ever hear of anyone holding a writing marathon you should definitely consider going. Or, why not try one yourself? If there is enough interest, and we can find a good date and time, I think it’d be fun to host one here via the blog or via a twitter hashtag soon? Any takers?

Write on :)

What I Think About When I Think About Running

Posted on by
230

Or when I think about exercise in general with some thoughts on my writing process thrown in.

I’m not sure who told me about Haruki Murakami, but I’m glad they did. I first read his novel “Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World” which was a great read. I have had his other books on my list, but finally decided to read his memoir “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running” next instead of his fiction (although I have one of his novels waiting on my to read shelf).

“Running” is a memoir about running, but moreso about how it fits into his overall life which – of course – includes his life as a writer. Almost two years ago I posted a sort of an essay on the blog about my inability to “run.” But, even before picking up this book I had been toying with the idea of trying to start running again. Running, for me, is like the epitome of fitness and I’ve never been (even when thinner) particularly “fit.”

In this memoir, Murakami basically says one day he decided to start writing novels, and one day he decided to start running. What does that say about himself as a writer and athelete versus what I think of myself as a writer and never-been-an-athelete self? What does how we take care of our physical say about our ability to also be artists?

These are some of the questions I found swimming (working in a change from the writing metaphor) in my head as I read Murakami’s book. Coincidentally, I reached this book in my pile a few days after I decided to try the Couch to 5k app. I liked it. I was sort of jogging with walking thrown in as the app said, but I wanted to hurry the process along. Everything I read says to take a rest day in between a day of jogging, but as an avid walker I don’t like to do that. I feel antsy when I take days off (although I pretty much always take Sunday off from everything). The things I do well on seem to go that route. When I decided to start writing again I just started and worked out the kinks as I went along. Working with the app has made the process of running boring for me, especially since I am overweight and slow. What if I just went back to my old mode of operation and simply ran until I was tired and then revised that process the better I became?

This morning I got up, tired, after an hour walk yesterday but not a good eating day. I had a decent breakfast and I’m working away in my office. I have meetings to attend today so I’ll have little time for exercise and certainly not to change out to run because I’d also need to find a place to shower. Instead, I’ve scheduled in an hour to walk. I don’t think it will proclude me from finding time to jog/walk again, but like my writing I don’t want to force someone else’s schedule on myself. I have to find my own path.

Remembering to chart your own way is perhaps the best thing I took away from Murakami’s book. There are no life changing quotes I can pull, but just know I’d highly recommend the book to anyone if – for nothing else – to peek into someone’s elses relfective process. Isn’t that at the heart of our endeavors? The chance to do something and then to look back with the power of recall . . .

Make Friday Write

Posted on by
23

I’m thrilled to start my Friday post with some great shout outs for publisher Folded Word Press. First up my first full length collection Paper House is on sale throughout April to celebrate it’s two year birthday! Secondly, Folded Word (and Mel Bosworth’s AWESOME novel) get a shout out in an article in WIRED. Yes, you read that right, freaking WIRED!

As we continue to celebrate and reflect on poetry for National Poetry Month I’ve found myself on Poetry Foundation’s website quite a few times. One of the many articles I’ve enjoyed is this one from Cathy Park Hong about the recently deceased Adrienne Rich. I had a great time working with Cathy during my MFA experience.

Google Alerts let me know recently that my name came up in a mention for readings in Atlanta. Yep. I’ll be reading from “Fat Girl” on Saturday, April 28th as part of a Sibling Rivalry Press event. I was supposed to go to an open mike last night and to another reading on Saturday out of town but my schedule just wouldn’t quite flex in those directions.

My poem for you today is so rough you might as well call it Sandy. Get it, Sandy – rough. Like sandpaper. Ok, I know, it isn’t even sort of funny if you explain it. A lot of what is in this “poem” is me considering some possible ideas of where the poem could go in revision so feel free to share your thoughts on where you think it could go. The trash bin is also an option . . .

—Time to revise the poems!

-
As always I want to hear from you and for you to post your works in progress (any genre) which I will then take down (along with my work) one week from today. Sometimes we just have to show even the little bits of ourselves that we are tempted to keep hidden. Perhaps I was inspired by the movie I recently watched I’m a Cyborg, But That’s Ok because maybe just maybe it is ok.