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!