Almost a new year

so I haven't posted since September...yes, I'm a slacker, but I'm going to change that attitude...and this time I mean it!  No, really, I mean it.  I'm working on an idea to get me started, but it's just not ready.  But I felt like I needed to get something updated on this page...so here's the filler!!  I'll be back later.

Enjoy Banned Books!

Since it is Banned Book Week, I started my morning with an out-loud recitation of Ginsberg's Howl, one of my favorite poems of all time - banned or not banned, controversial or not, modern or ancient - and then settled in to another read of Faulkner's As I Lay Dying.  It's time for a reading break, so I decided I best jump online and update the blog as to what I'm doing.  [Yes, once again, I have dedicated myself to updating this site to make it a habit!  We'll see how long it lasts this time...]

I took a look through my bookshelves yesterday and started a stack of banned and challenged books that I own.  It was an impressive stack.  Then, I started to peruse the list posted by the ALA on their site and noted that there were some I had read in the past, but did not own.  So acting as if I do not own enough books already, I'm taking my break to get outside and make a trip to Half Price Books and see what I can find on the list that I don't already own.  They're having a half price sale on their smaller paperbacks, so I'll be glad to drop a bit of change in their coffers for the cause today.  My goal is to read as many banned books as I can this week.  Of course, I will throw in a bunch of poets; it's just may nature!

Before I get off here and out to the newly fall air, I'll just mention that today, on YouTube, I first came across footage from the International Poetry Incarnation at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 11 June 1965 and I am enamored of the event.  It is my new research project and I will definitely write more about it [and it's influence on me] over the next few weeks.  But for this week, I promise to keep you posted on my banned books progress...for today, mark down Howl & Other Poems and As I Lay Dying.  Stay tuned!

Ramblin past the GRE

I don't know why I have the urge to ramble about the GRE, but I feel like I just need to get this story out of me and on here.  Last Friday, I gave in to my fear and took the GRE again - after a 12 year hiatus.  I don't even remember my scores from 1989; I just remember that I took it with a number 2 pencil in hand and filled in the dots...leaving streaks and remnants of pencil lead on my hands and across the page.  This time, I sat in a stark cubicle directing the mouse over my answers.  I still kept pencil in hand and used every inch of scratch paper given to me.  I guess that's just the type of writer I am:  no matter when or how things come to me, I do best when I have pen or pencil in hand and take it to paper.  I have to have the physical interaction before I start typing anything into some program or electronic media.

I finally made the decision that I want to pursue my MFA next year, but I haven't decided on whether to go low residency or full residency.  I'll leave that decision to another day (but I'll need to decide withint the next few months).  In looking at the schools that interested me, I saw that some on both paths required the GRE General Test and I just decided I needed to do it - get it out of the way sooner rather than later.  I spent the weeks leading up to it refreshing my vocabulary, writing notes on flash cards, brushing up on those high school math formulas, and writing a few essays based on the testing pool from the ETS site.  I think my preparations paid off.  At the end of the test, the screen displayed my estimated verbal and quantitative scores based on the old system (630 - 730 on verbal, 690 - 790 on quantitative).  They couldn't (or wouldn't) estimate the analytical scores, and that's okay.  I'll find out in November what I actually scored on the new scale.  Fingers crossed!

But now, I need to work on my Statement of Purpose for applications and all I can do is write poetry.  For some reason, the creative keeps flowing and I can't turn it off.  So, I'm going to ride this wave for the next few days and circle back to it.  Maybe this is a better time to edit my manuscript.  Now that I've got this little note out of my system, I can get back to writing.  Later!

Some times food is the inspiration...

When I decide to write, some times (actually, many times) food provides the inspiration.  Today, when I made one of my off-the-cuff summer salads in preparation for the week, I had the urge to get back to my blogging.  So, I thought I would share my recipe for my summer bulgur salad that you see in the picture.  It is both simple and tasty, as well as versatile.  I eat it as a light lunch or use it as a side with some baked fish for dinner.  Today, it's what's for lunch!

Any way, on with the recipe.  I start by warming some EVOO in a pot.  While it's warming, I chopped up a few green onions and mini sweet peppers (red, orange, and yellow).  When the EVOO reaches a good temp, I toast off a bit of garlic, cumin, celery seed, red pepper flakes.  Then , add the chopped green onions and sweet peppers.  As you can already tell, I'm not one for measurements.  My mother taught me to cook and still, to this day, I've never known her to measure, really, except when baking - which is much more precise.  But even then, it can be an adventure.  Well, on with the recipe...

After I warmed up the spices, peppers, and onions, I add in some chicken stock/fat saved from the chicken thighs I had baked off last week.  Add water and bring to a boil.  Then, add the bulgur.  For you measure freaks out there, you will need about 1 1/2 times the amount of water as you do bulgur.  Let everything return to a boil.  Cover and remove from the heat.  While letting it stand and absorb all the wonderful spices and chicken broth, I rough chop a cucumber and several cherry tomatoes and mix them together with juice of half a lemon and half a lime, as well as some fresh cilantro.  I let this mixture chill a bit while the bulgur is absorbing and cooling a bit.

When all is marinated and cooled, I combine the bulgur mixture with that of the cucumbers/tomatoes.  I also toss is a bit more cilantro and squeeze the other half of lime & lemon to dress it.  Then, toss until well incorporated.  You can keep it in the fridge and eat cold or warm it up a bit - either works for me.  You can also add some chicken or salmon if you want or need the protein.  Hope you enjoy this little bit o' summer from me. If you try it, let me know what you think in the comments below.

death, genealogy, and writing

It seems that a death in the family always refocuses my passions in genealogy and writing - that ending of one life dear to me only makes me want to find out more about those who came before me and to define better the path I want to continue during my own little snippet of time on this earth.  Yesterday, we lost my beautiful and feisty aunt Geraldine.  So after a few good crying jags last night and this morning, I have been wading through old family photographs and researching more of my family tree online.  I wrote a little in my journal and then decided to revisit this blog, since I haven't been here for over a month.  And the last time I was here, I made the resolution that I would continue working on it.  I guess resolutions are made to be broken, but I really want to get this one going.  Maybe this is the spark I need to keep going with this cyberspace sharing.  We'll see, I guess.

Figure 8 is really great!

Many years back, one of my favorite Saturday morning cartoons actually came between the shows in the form of School House Rock.  And on this eighth day of NaPoWriMo, I am going back to one of those early educational cartoons for my inspiration.  I'm keeping it simple today, so feel free to come along for the ride.  Just watch the video and let your pen (or pencil or marker or crayon) be your guide.  The only rules are to have fun and let yourself write for 5 - 10 minutes.

Enjoy!  Hope you are having a productive month of poetry!

Reviving Darlings

Today, for the third day of NaPoWriMo, I decided to revive some of my previously discarded darlings.  Some poets call them their murdered darlings (or babies).  Either way (or whatever terms you may use), they are the lines or phrases which you have edited out of your previous work after many long hours of fretting how you could keep them.  I keep a running list on my computer, because that's where I do my editing.  But I also have some sprinkled through my journals - those are the ones who don't even make it to the editing phase.  Also in my journals, I keep those phrases and lines who have come to me while driving, at the gym, or walking.  I may scribble them onto a random scrap of paper first, but then put them in the journal for safe keeping - sometimes, I transcribe them, but, most times, I just tape the scrap into the journal.  It helps to remind me of the moment of conception for it - and helps later on when I'm working it into a piece or building something new around it.

Constructing Sonnets on Day Two

With day two of NaPoWriMo, I turn to some interesting homework from my sonnet class at the Carnegie Center with Richard Taylor.  He gave us a list of 14 words around which to construct a Shakespearean sonnet.  Yes, the words follow the appropriate rhyme scheme.  Our charge: given the end-rhyme words, build the fourteen lines in iambic pentameter and follow the three quatrains / one couplet form and "plot line" conventions within the poem - laying out the story, building to climax, turn (volta), and then resolve in the final couplet.  If you would like to play along, here are the fourteen (14) words (in order)...

drift
leave
shift
weave

rack
cigarette
attack
forget

slight
loathed
tight
clothed

plot
lot

Good luck and great writing!

Day One

Being the first day of NaPoWriMo, I awoke to a push poem tapping on my shoulder.  I'll take some time later to explain push poems (and give proper credit to Katerina Stoykova-Klemer for the concept).  This particular little bugger wanted me to write about different things that I had given up.  And with it being the Lent season, I felt it would make for an appropriate prompt.  So today, fellow poets in the pursuit, write about something (or someone, even) you have given up.  As I always recommend, give yourself a set time frame to just write and let your pen, pencil, or your fingers go.  I usually do at least 15- to 20-minute free writing.  Don't stop.  Keep going.  Please take more time if you catch a good ride.

Settling

Finally, the craziness that comprises my life & work has begun to settle a bit, and just in time for NaPoWriMo to begin.  For the past few weeks, I have been writing like a fiend and National Poetry Month only gives me more reason to continue in that vein.  I will try to blog daily with some writing prompts to share some ideas for others who may be taking the 30 poems in 30 days challenge.  Good luck and I'll be back soon!

Ranting towards a crown

I have always had an interest in poetic forms, but over the past few weeks it has become an obsession.  I have tried my hand at sonnets and villanelles, but to no avail...until this week.  I was inspired by anger - my anger that someone thinks that they should have the rights to a submission for a poetry call.  Not just first publication rights, not just the rights for a period of time, and not just the rights to the selected pieces, but to the SUBMISSION.  It was right there on the computer screen in front of me.  I ranted about it for a few hours, tweeted my heart out about it, and posted my shock on Facebook.  Then, the flash of inspiration hit that I should focus all this negative energy towards something good.  And what is the most best goodest thing in the world for me right this very moment?  POETIC FORMS!!  So, I laid the challenge to myself to write a sonnet about it.

I jotted down a few lines and determined that the Shakespearean sonnet would be the easiest to tackle first.  If you are not familiar or just a quick reminder, sonnets have fourteen lines.  The two most common forms are the Shakespearean or English and the Petrarchan or Italian.  In the Shakespearean version, you have three quatrains and one couplet with an end rhyme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.  In the Petrarchan version, you have an octet and a sextet with an end rhyme of ABBAABBA CDECDE.  Before you say it, yes, there are variations in English version (i.e., Spenserian with ABAB BCBC CDCD EE) and in the rhyme scheme of the Petrarchan sextet (i.e., CDCDCD).  Nevertheless, I chose to go with the standard Shakespearean end rhyme scheme.  Also, purist poets write sonnet in iambic pentameter.  I'm not one for scansion but my OCD requires some adherance to whatever rules are at play, and I just wanted to get my words down.  In the end, I went with pentameter length and for as many iambic feet within them as I could.

While my initial journal jotting [and, yes, most everything I write begins with pen (G2 any color right now) on the page (definitely Moleskin journals)] spilled over to more than one page, I knew I would have a hard enough time confining my flourishing frustrations to sonnet requirements and to just fourteen lines of ten syllables each.  140 syllables to get this out of my system - no way!  So I took it one step further and decided to attempt to write a crown of sonnets.  A crown is a collection of seven sonnets that tell one story.  The ending line of each sonnet becomes the beginning line of the next sonnet in the series.  And to continue the crown circular imagery, the last line of the final sonnet in the series becomes the first line of the initial sonnet.  [Afterwards, my friend, Staci, had to remind me of the heroic crown which has 15 sonnets, but that's a whole different challenge that I will tackle later.]  So, I did most of the journaling in quick spurts as I had to go to work that Wednesday.  As I would catch a break, on my lunch hour, during a conference call that began to bore me, or when an idea hit, I just grabbed my journal and captured the inspiration before it got away.  When I got home later that evening, I did a final bit of rough sketching in my journal and moved to my computer to begin crafting something.  I spent hours selecting lines from the journal, looking up words in the dictionary, finding alternative options in the thesarus, and searching for appropriate end rhyme words in my new trusty friend, my rhyming dictionary.

Knowing the next night was Thursday and, of course, Poezia, I focused on getting it into some format that I could present to our poetry group and get their feedback.  I did get it ready and went to work full of anticipation to share my new creation with my poet friends that evening.  It was well received and they gave me some good suggestions for revisions.  Funny enough, I valued their commisseration and agreement that the rules that fueled my passion were crazy and they supported my venting through poetic form.  That crazy Poezia family always comes through for me!  So, after some minor reworks, I now present my first crown of sonnets.  If you have comments or would like to know more about other poetic forms, just let me know and maybe you will fuel my next tirade!  Enjoy.

Queen Oprah's Poetry Crown

The Proclamation

On first reading her grand proclamation
Just delivered by email this morning
Calling all poets across the nation
To accept her new whim, do her bidding,

It encthralled me, a most loyal servant.
National Poetry Month is April.
For years, she served prose to fans miscreant;
My rhymes to her court? An honor, a thrill!

Enlisting the likes of a Kennedy
For to judge her fair contest so regal.
Surely, O would propose no villainy,
No diabolical plan, no evil.

Reading the rules brought my arrant surprise -
Her point five in fine print captured my eyes!


The Fifth Rule

Her point five in fine print captured my eyes -
A simple request politely advance
In legal jargon construed, truth belies
The point 'round which she seductively pranced.

Renounce my rights in perpetuity?
Think only of benefits that be gained:
My meager words emblazoned with glory
Forever in Harpo Land well retained.

Why should be call the Queen on her carpet?
Question her clear intent, so very pure?
Minions, on such things, should not fret -
Simplest in mind, blind to her allure.

From toady status we poets can't hide;
So send her your best work crafted with pride!


The Poet

So send her your best work crafted with pride!
Don't wait, don't delay! Her deadline, don't miss!
Her online request went out far and wide;
No matter the price, her ring you must kiss.

Oh, let your rhyme and meter flow freely.
In sugary sweet tone, she reminds us,
Parting with such nonsense should be easy.
Her unjust demands should not cause a fuss.

Why hoard all your words with such fervor now?
You freely holler them with great rage;
Toss them around loosely at Bs, and how!
Just entice them from your mind to the page -

Lord knows, it is always the hardest part
To fill empty spaces with your bleeding heart.


The Sacrifice

To fill empty spaces with your bleeding heart,
She thinks should never take that much trouble.
Just put proverbial horse after cart -
Write not what you know! Burst your own bubble!

Children on the floor, excised through workshops,
Left battered and bruised, but yours none the less.
Maybe you should keep them? Then again, not.
Just work your way through this tediousness.

Slap some random rhyming words on the page.
Quick before moments pass, jot something more
About some bluebird that sings from her cage.
Sell yourself out as her poetry whore!

To you and the fair horse on which you rode,
I bid you, Farewell, my sacrificed ode.


The Genuflection

I bid you, Farewell, my sacrificed ode.
Tears gather in my eyes as I succumb
And bend to her will, so strong and so cold.
Grown men who curtsy look stupid and dumb!

My respect for myself has left the room
Before the almighty Queen of TV.
I'll wallow away in foreshadowed gloom
If she rejects poetic gifts from me.

So that's what I do.  Bend so precisely
At the waist; right foot goes back and behind.
The left knee bends and takes me down nicely;
Assume the position, I've lost my mind!

I would know better had I read more Rand;
Whenever you bow, you can't take a stand.


The Critique

Whenever you bow, you can't take a stand.
So lay your children down to go under
The rusty knife in an unsteady hand
Of some underpaid, patsy producer

Who thinks certainly all poems must rhyme
To be chosen by Her Exalted Self.
If your work makes one think, don't waste her time -
Better to let it ferment on some shelf!

Yes, they will own your submission.  Let it
Wilt in dark recesses, caverns, or caves
Never to see light!  Compost with shit,
last night's dinner, pieces, and parts one saves

To feed Majesty's glorious roses.
So submit, and another door closes.


The Resolution

So submit, and another door closes.
Careful! Your hands may just break in her frame
Like the Commandments given to Moses.
Lost to that one you cannot call by name,

You shake your head in pain and frustration.
If no words came as her deadline drew night,
Pay her no mind!  Forego the temptation!
Stand up for your writing! Hold your chin high!

This thorny crown serves as a call to arm
Poets with principles, conscience, and rights.
Do not go gentle, but first do no harm,
My fellow wordsmiths, turn up those spotlights!

Send no work less due consideration
On first reading her grand proclamation.

sharing my science geek!

I'm such a science geek most of the time, I couldn't resist sharing this page I found while Stumbling tonight...hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  It came from the OnlineSchools site.

Via: OnlineSchools.org

A Year of Means

"Out with the old, and in with the new."  Isn't that a saying which has become so cliche at the beginning of a new year?  Why do old things have to go out?  And why do you need new things?  Why not just recycle? Or work with what you already have?  These thoughts poured into my head yesterday as I was rummaging on my computer through some photos I took at the Biltmore Estate years ago on a trip with Jim.  The old memories came back and I don't want them to go away, so I've decided to make room for them.  Maybe I'll just get rid of some of the newer things I don't really need.  All this heavy-lifting thinking reminded me of what my mother has always told me, "You should never get above your raising."  I'm taking it as my tagline for the year and promise to take it more to heart than I have in the past.  How many times have you found yourself in a heap of trouble only because you tried to live outside your means - financially or otherwise?  I'm saying, "you," but I know it's me.  I know that's exactly what got me into hot water more than once.  It was a hard lesson to learn, especially growing up when you found that one (or more) of your friends had more than you did - whatever it was.  Strangely enough, Mother's words encouraged me to dive into my own mental tool kit and work with the creativity God gave me.  Sure, I may not have had the money to buy all the "necessary" bling, or the means to go to the moon on a whim, or the physical strength of Superman (not to mention the power to talk with dolphins like Aquaman -the greatest superhero in the League of Justice, or any other league for that matter - but that's a different blog all together), but having those restrictions and accepting them nourished my creative mind.  They gave me the energy and wherewithall to travel down the paths for my drawing and writing.  Anything was and is possible in my mind (or your mind, for that matter).  And they lead me to my love of reading - where I could escape from the daily grind and bounds of reality.

I'm afraid that this past year, I lost some ground with my creative mind by giving up time to watching some mindless television.  Even turning it on for background noise sucked out some of my creativity.  I could have been reading, walking, writing, hanging with friends, creating - even cutting up more of my old boxers into 2" squares for my quilt project (yet another blog story to tell later - I must make a list!!).  All of this rambling does come to a point.  This year, 2011, is a year within my means - and it's off to a good start.  I spent the past few days organizing and clearing some clutter.  I have some more clutter to go, but I'm on my way and dedicated to continuing this path.  I'm even considering a bigger jumpstart and cancelling my cable television all together - just go with the free airwaves.  I'll keep my internet so I can continue my blog and catch any of the television worth it online.  But it will give me back some of the time that I would lose to just random mindless watching.  It would give me more time to read, write letters & in my journals, explore my world, meet new people, enjoy my family & friends, volunteer and be more present in my community and my own life.  I've enjoyed writing more on my blog - even if only getting my thoughts out of my head and into the discussion, no matter how many people read it (and if you are reading, please feel free to comment or follow!).  So I'll continue this blog and come back to the ideas that just popped up and hopefully have a good years of means ahead of me.

Resolutions

For way too many years to count, I used to spend New Year's Day writing down all the resolutions that I wanted to tackle that year.  I approached the list with all serious intent only to lose the list or even change the goals only a few weeks into the year.  To start 2011, I decided to take a day off and spent the first day of this year just being comfortable with myself.  I did a mental inventory of where I began 2010 and where I was beginning 2011.  I've made some progress, so I am generally happy with what I accomplished this past year.  I decided not to make my list of concrete resolutions that would soon go to the wayside; but instead, I wanted to give myself some general guidelines to follow for this year.  I've talked before about my great grandmother's saying that God don't like ugly.  And I've always heard from my parents about always leaving things better than before you arrived.  Or that saying from a few years back, about paying it forward - or to borrow MSNBC's new tag line, "lean forward."  Those things sort of sum up what I'm thinking.  But I must admit that today I got some real inspiration reading Melonious Thunk, my friend Melony's blog,  She has some similar thoughts about having a guiding principle rather than set resolutions to follow during the year.  Her idea is to do what is "right and good" in any situation.  I think that's a great idea.  So, guess what?  That's what I'm going to strive for this year as well.

Moving forward

I sit down for a quick note today as I allow the cornbread to cool and let the black-eyed peas and greens simmer a bit more.  Dad just called to let me know he was pleased to see my Facebook status update from the other day about the Finley mine disaster and to wish me a happy new year.  It's a great way to start this year.  I am so blessed to have been born into the family I have.  I never knew that the Leslie County mine explosion forty years ago that took 38 lives gave my father a brush with national exposure.  Evidently, they were a customer of Austin Powder and he went to visit the site the day after the explosion.  The national media caught him on camera and the bosses in Cleveland saw it and called to let him know they saw him on the television.  I enjoy these times when I get a glimpse into my history.  Moments like these keep me grounded, so that I can build on a strong foundation.