Would you like a side of blog with that ego?
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.
William Carlos Williams
Photo credit: www.gpaulbishop.com
Carlos looks a guy who you would enjoy sitting down with a beer and just discussing stuff..
Okay, on to the main dish: A serving of humble pie. Mmmm!
Why bring into this world yet another blog when there are so many are already out there, neglected and alone and desparately needing food for thought? Is it because I want to 'be blogging', to experience it for myself, from conception to conclusion? Or is it because I just really love writing?
I took a look at my past blogs, and golly, folks...I didn't realize how overcome I was with English Degree uppityness -- and the worst offender of all..boredom from taking oneself too seriously! Unnnh, ! The last thing this world needs is another self-absorbed blog.
So, on that note here are a few mental sticky notes:
- I love blogs! I love reading other people's snapshot stories of life. Their life. Makes you feel more connected.
- I love to write. Writing makes me happy in some visceral, very-hard-to-explain way. I figure if I'm feeing happy, maybe I could inspire a few others to the keyboard to be happy, too. If I do, let me know!
I'll keep it simple, I promise. No long poems, no windy exhortations. Okay, maybe a long joke or two, since I'm partial to those. Mainly, it's just a place to fire up my writing neural networks before taking on the day. Who knows where it will go and how it will end up!
Thanks for coming along for the ride!
Dreams
Dreams Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
by Langston Hughes
Source:
favoritepoems.orgPhoto credit: www.nku.edu/~diesmanj/ hughes_young.jpg
I woke up this morning from a dream where an old school friend of mine was insisting I get out a second mortgage in order to move closer to where they lived. This person was someone whom, in real life, I willingly followed since ordinary life was often too overwhelming for me to be a consistent participant out at the front; I was just unable to keep up pro-active efforts instead of reactive efforts. My docile acceptance was not without cost, though. Eventually, this person came to be an icon for all things I failed to achieve, and my dreams about about this one friend always contained intense and disheartening feelings of insecurity and lost opportunity.
Not so this morning. I awoke with a mindset of contentment, of acceptance, of both my situation and my friend's. Neither happy or sad...just a sense of "It is what it is". A subtle breakthrough in my psyche, apparently.
And a good way to start the day.
The Muse Takes A Day Off
After several trials of color, layout, and font, I think I have finally landed on the final layout of this blog. And wouldn't you know it, simple is better.
A change from poetry today. I feel like a joke or two...
Q. How many writers does it take to change a light bulb?
A. Ten. One to change it; nine to think they could have done it better.
Q. How many publishers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A. Three. One to screw it in, two to hold down the author.
(Jokes have been shamelessly lifted from JamesPHogan.com.
Thank you James Hogan, whoever you are!)
I put that picture up because that's what I'm wishing I could do! I've grabbed hold of my muse several times today and have soundly beaten her each time. Still nothing. She just flits away and laughs, only to return to her poolside lounge chair, her frosty strawberry daquiri, and her Cosmopolitan Magazine, which is now sporting shiny fingerprints from her suntan oil.
Okay, on to organizing my desk and brainstorming more article ideas. God knows the only way I'm going to get my Muse's attention is by disguising myself as a tan, muscular cabana boy, and that's not going to happen anytime soon to this pale Irish girl.
Awe Spreads
The Lower Leaves of the trees
Tangle the sunset in dusk.
Awe spreads with
The summer sunlight.
by Sone No Yoshitada, translated by Kenneth Rexroth
Source: Favoritepoem.org
Astrologically speaking, the country of the United States was born in the year of the Monkey (Chinese astrology). The manner of the Monkey is quick, impatient, and always striving for more. The United States definitely embodies those characteristics: fast food, fast communication, fast schedules. I'm as much caught up in it as you are.
That's why I like to start out with a brief poem before I write. Because a poem (at least a good one) draws on all senses, you naturally take more than the usual amount of time to read it. A soupcon of hush in an otherwise agitated day.
Oh, which reminds me... I am looking for more published short poetry -- international poetry. Something Indian, something Chinese, something Venezualian. You get the drift. The two words to keep in mind, though, is a.) international and b.) short. I have a pretty moderate case of Attention Deficit Disorder, so anything longer that what you have seen on this web site will be met with a blank stare and a click of the delete button.
Drop me a line and let me know where I can find some. Thanks!
Wild Things
I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
Without ever having felt sorry for itself.
D.H. Lawrence
(Photo credit: Wikipedia.org)
I began the day by skimming bOINGbOING. I'm new to blogging and was searching for Hoyle's Rules of Games, so to speak. I managed to spend most of my writing time slot reading the entries by Cory Doctorow. He makes wordsmithing a joy and brings a more little respectability to all others who are attempting the same. I'm not big into science fiction, but I may have to change that.
In my novel-in-progress, GhostSeeker, I follow the life of Ivy Anne, a fifteen year girl who discovers her ability to see, hear, and talk to the dead. A self-proclaimed science geek, Ivy Anne struggles to dovetail both worlds: the natural and the supernatural. The school science experiment she is working on is based in real life on the astounding findings of naturalist John Mionczynski. He has discovered acid rain is cutting short the lives of Big Horn Sheep and other mammals in certain areas of the country. The structure of their food and soil has changed so dramatically, it is to the point where essential minerals are blocked out and toxic metals and locked in.
Why should this be of concern to us? Because it rains everywhere, and what is happening to their food is happening to ours.
Lots of wild things in this world, not all of them animals.
We Real Cool
We Real Cool
The Pool Players.
Seven at the Golden Shovel.
We real cool. We
Left school. We
Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We
Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.
Gwendolyn Brooks(photo credit: poetryconnection.net)
I'll be keeping track of my efforts here at the blog. In the meantime, Be Cool!
Hot enough to make the Devil sigh
Leafless trees stand still
Autumn stole each leaf by leaf
Winter's sleeping pill
Peter Forrest
The first soft snow!
Enough to bend the leaves
Of the jonquil low.
Matsuo Basho
Sultry. It is a word you don't hear much anymore. We seem to focus on only one aspect of the weather when we converse these days, perhaps due to our sound byte culture. It's hot, we'll say. Or, it's humid, we'll say. But not both. Like our sentences would somehow weigh too much in our mouths and on our audience's attention span if we mention anything more.
Ohio is quite sultry today. Hot and humid enough to the make devil himself sigh. In the spirit of all things July, I decided to post a picture taken in my front yard around 5 months ago.
Oh, and be sure to enjoy the side sampler of chilly Haikus.
