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Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts

Saturday, October 06, 2012

Writing and Family Response


HOW TO HELP FRIENDS AND FAMILY UNDERSTAND YOUR WRITING...

I saw this and it stood out like flickering neon. So, naturally I was drawn to read it. [FULL INTERVIEW HERE] The bonus was it's an interview with a poet whose work I greatly admire. 

Mary Biddinger tackles the anxiety that many poet have over family response. I'm not talking about criticism of the quality of one's writing - that could be another whole blog post.  Biddinger talks about the tendency to view what poets have written as autobiographical which can often lead to family and friends reading the poet into the poem literally or perhaps thinking they have been drug into the poem too. Hurt feelings, uncomfortable assumptions. Things less likely to plague an aspiring fiction writer then poet. 

Mary has notion as to what is partly to blame for this problem. It's also interesting to hear her perspective on all of this because she is teaches literature and poetry writing on a University level so she has experienced students who deal with this kind of anxiety but also has the personal contrast of growing up in an art rich family environment that understands the connection of artist to art. 

It's an interesting read. Speaking of which I can't wait to read her next volume of poetry due out this month titled O Holy Insurgency.




Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Sweet Land of Liberty

Hope everyone is having a joyous 4th of July.  Because of the string of extra dry weather we've been having I know some communities have banned or at least discouraged fireworks. Whatever you are doing today, grilling, at the lake, baseball game, looking for 4th of July sales, visiting family of just hanging out at home. Be safe and be mindful of how precious our freedom is.

HAPPY 4TH of JULY AMERICA

And Happy Birthday to my daughter Shannon Wells!  :)


Friday, June 22, 2012

Celebrating 38 Years of Marriage


Before I retire for the night I feel compelled to say a few words about the number thirty-eight. Poets normally deal with words but at the moment it's the number thirty-eight that pretty much sums it up.

It was thirty-eight years ago on the 22nd of June, that my wife Cathy and I were married.  We dated for three years prior so really our lives have been entwined for essentially 4 decades. No one lives 4 decades without trials and tribulations and we have had ours; but I cannot think of having gone through my life without the partner I've been privileged to have by my side.

Through numerous endeavors over these years I have been blessed by her support, her faith in me, and her gentle encouragement at times when I have needed it the most.  I'm not an easy person (I'm a poet for God's sake) at times. She has tolerated the many flavors of idiosyncrasy that I tend to embrace. Overlooking faults and bring out and celebrating the best in me at times when I have trouble seeing the best myself.

~0~

Love you Cath!!  Looking back all these years later I might have done a lot of things with my life different, but not you. I would do this all over. Here's to a long life together!


Friday, February 17, 2012

Finally Friday

It's finally Friday. Yeah!

A bit of an oddity to report - I went nearly two weeks without a Diet Coke but alas I had one last night. That's a really long time for me to abstain. It is a legitimate food group in my book.

Lot of ups and downs this week, and there is nothing metaphorical about that comment. Some grueling work days and some good stuff too. There was Valenine's Day.  That evening - well, after midnight our time we got a call from our youngest daughter Meghan. To set the stage you need to realize that clear back to her high school days Meghan would always stop if she reallized it was 11:11  be it AM or PM and say, "11:11 Make a Wish."   So a 11:11PM (her time) she is awaken by Brandon who tells her it's 11:11 and to make a wish.  (I picture her as perhaps a we bit foggy as she is waking up...  anyway, I'm sure her eyes popped wide open as he presented her with an engagement ring. How freek'n romantic is that! The guy has class.

I'm reading tonight at an open mic. I have no read in a while. I used to read publicly fairly frequently but not so much these days. Having been under the weather off and on these past three months - at times with incessent coughing, I'm a little nervous about tonight.  I've been beter these past few days but even yesterday as I was ingagued in a lenthly meeting with a cliant my throat became a little horse and I was fighting back coughing sperts.

A mail bag note for the week:  On Wednesday I received a cool Valentine from Kelli Agodon...  The poet Pablo Neruda on the front... it was a cool picture and of course what poet would better represent the best of Valentine's day. Thank you Kell!

That's it for this morning... wish me good luck tonight!

Monday, July 04, 2011

Reflection on the 4th of July

July 4th is an air born holiday. Fireworks like fireflies dot the night sky and the smell of sulfur permeates the air, strong enough at times to get choked up.

It's a day in which we will often go outside into that summer heat and start the grill and burn burgers and brats, etc. and  hep our plats and dig in. A day families gather and there are so many smells on this day.

Less tangible but more important are the freedoms that we have. Freedoms that have come and continue to be protected at a very high price.

The freedom to express ourselves creativity in all forms of art. The freedom of the press... perhaps the most critical cornerstone of the success of our democracy.

In many places around the world people are not free to practice journalism without fear for their families or themselves.  A free press is a paramount checks and balance to democracy. It's something to celebrate and not take for granted. 

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Thoughts on Family History

With everyone else out of the house today, I cleaned some and then listened to a podcast of an interview with Maxine Hong Kingston as she confronts aging in her book I Love A Broad Margin To My Life. She's a remarkable person to listen to. Kingston took the title of her book from the quote by Henry David Thoreau.  Her view of being an elder and living against the backdrop of mortality is fastening.  Listening to her causes me to think about genealogy (even though I've had it on my mind) in a different sort of way. Not just from a personal interest but in the context of a responsibility to collect and pass that information to those in the family younger then yourself.  Creating a history of heritage is an elder's responsibility and it seems to me that it is more than simply collecting a genealogy history, but seeing where we've come from so often helps define who we are.

It really seems quite natural to me that poets would feel such a responsibility quite natural in the same way we do story telling. What do you think?

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Happy Birthday Shannon!

 

My middle daughter was a 4th of July baby so besides the 4th we celebrate her birthday each 4th.  However this 4th she is overseas, although she will be leaving soon to return home. So Happy Birthday all the way down under to Australia & have a safe trip home!  Mom and I are having strawberry shortcake in your honor. ;)

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Dynamic Duo

Last night we went out to eat and then to the Elton John - Billy Joel concert at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. Talk about an awesome concert! We had great seats and the bands, the music, these two giants in music entertainment made this one of the best concerts I experienced.

Admittedly I don't go to a lot of concerts, but I've seen a few over the years, some good ones but this one had so much energy- between the music and the crowd. Billy Joel was more engaging with the audience than Elton John but that’s ok, they each were at peak performance.


A friend of ours that was with us shot some good phone photos, I’m hopeful she’ll send me some that I can post later.

Lot of my favorite songs were a part of the night...

  • We Didn't Light The Fire
  • You May Be Right  [this quite possibly was written about me] ;)
  • Only The Good Die Young
  • Piano Man
  • She's always a Woman to Me
  • Crocodile Rock
  • Rocket Man
  • Saturday Night's Alright
  • Candle In the Wind
  • Can You Feel the Love tonight

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Race Day

dp500

Race day at Indy. I'm a big Indy Car fan. Waiting to connect with my daughter on Skype to watch the race. I grew up loving Indy Cars but I've never had any interest whatsoever in NASCAR. It's ONLY open wheel racing for me!

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Fools Gold?


Wine anyone? At left is a snapshot of a portion of an art piece that was done the the top raps of wine bottles the cover the corks. A gripping piece of art work my daughter and I saw yesterday. When I first saw it from a distance I had no idea what the medium was but it locked on me like a heat seeking missile and we were inseparable at that point. I had to see it up close.
The brilliance reminded me of fools gold. Sort of chunky and multi layered in texture. I wanted to bring it home though it would have taken a massive wall to display it on.
We saw a number of exhibits - many old black and white photos - lot of them civil war era. I am continually impressed with what a talented photo artist can do with black and white.
There were some civil war battle photos. I was remarking to my wife how gory they were when Meghan (daughter) took issue with the gore description. And she was right. They were certainly not gory by cinema or even news standards today, but they were disturbing none the less in a very real way.
While there was not the blood and or mutilation we often equate with gore, many were battlefield shots taken the day after a battle. The stiff and sometimes bloated bodies would have configurations of limbs that suggested that many were left dying - scattered about the landscape perhaps for hours in pain, or one reaching for another nearby in life and frozen in that reach to their final ounce of remaining life was gone. It was perhaps more properly a morbidity than gore.
Today we took Meghan to Christopher Elbows Chocolate to celebrate her birthday. You want decadence? Try it. There is supposed to be one opening in San Francisco for you out west.

Friday, November 23, 2007

A pitiful bird

Thanksgiving day is over, but there are leftovers and plenty of things to remain thankful for. My oldest daughter living in Phoenix informed of of her 8 lb turkey. Eight pounds? I thought, ok, they bought a bird indigenous to Arizona. I mean what could it find in to eat there? Besides in the heat it would sweat off any fat it was otherwise unlikely to accumulate. So youngest daughter (like her father) especially enjoys turkey wings. Youngest daughter is also having Thanksgiving Day meal with oldest daughter. No one else is interested in fighting over wings. Which is a good thing. Poor bird probably had inch and a half wings. :: add inappropriate chuckle here:: I think I've seen larger Cornish hens.

It's crazy.... As I sit here at 7:15 AM there are actually people all over this crazy city that got up and went to malls and stores that were opening (some as early as 4 AM) early with special deals. Those poor souls in some cases had to get there and stand in lines that formed like 2 hours before opening. So like about 5 hours ago. Crazy Crazy People. Amazon lets you be crazy shopping like a fool from your home for Black Friday deals on all kinds of things.

On the actual subject of poetry, I did manage some rewriting yesterday. With success, I might add. Still, at one point I felt a bit of writers burn out coming on. I don't know what triggered it. It happens from time to time. I think mostly it seems to be associated with some overwhelming anxiety - not necessarily even related to writing. At any rate, it appears past for the moment.

Read a fun piece from Poetry Foundation dot org titled 1,1,2,3,5,8, Fun - What's a Fib? Math plus poetry. Their basis is the Faonacci sequence. The number of syllables in each line of the poem is the sum of the previous two lines: 1,1,2,3,5,8. It becomes a six line twenty syllable poem. I though I'd play around with it a bit and seewhat I can create. It's not at all new, some of you may have already been writing them.

Wow... here is a surprise! The Amazon Kindle is out of stock already! They only went on sale Monday.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Gratitude

This time of the year always seems ripe for gratitude. Maybe it's the coming of Thanksgiving, but I suspect it is a deeper rooted internal thing that perhaps comes with the end of summer and seeing changes occur. A passage from the green of summer to the multiplicity of fall colors remind us that things can and do change. Could it be that the abundance of change around us reminds us that those things which we appreciate can be delicate in their very existence?

At any event, I felt an overwhelming desire to make note of a few things that I feel a true gratitude for. Some are small things, some are much more significant and as such the order of their mention here has nothing to do with the level of significance from one to another.

  • an occasional glass of Chardonnay
  • a good nights rest
  • the clasp of my wife's hand when walking together
  • the Fire Red Oaks in our back yard in fall
  • a bite of dark chocolate
  • a call or text message from the kids during the day
  • my wife's voice on the phone in the middle of a busy day
  • white - sweet bread
  • a book of poetry within reach
  • Clairton - D when needed
  • a taste of honey
  • the smell of Brazilian Nut Butter
  • NPR radio
  • every single day of the baseball season
  • a/c in the car
  • a fountain pen
  • paper to write on
  • a furry four legged friend
  • hair on my head


Monday, September 17, 2007

Curling with Cathy


Sunday was a very refreshing day. My wife and I tried something different. We took a Curling lesson. There is far more athleticism involved than you might imagine by watching it. It was fun trying something totally different.
We also went out to eat at Hash House A Go Go located at Legends. We walked around and checked out shops. It's a pretty cool place. Basically spent the entire day together which was the best part.
Weather has been so nice these past few days. Cooler and we actually had a few showers... just the right amount and it didn't get muggy or anything.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Back home....

It's good to be back at home. I was so delighted to see Cathy (wife) at the airport last night. Plus, I had a great night of sleep. Best in a long time. What is not good, is this morning I see little things around the house that belong to Meghan and it's sad because I miss her terribly already.

Talked to her on the phone late last night when we got in. She had made a new friend on campus (which delighted me) and I know she is going to do so well there. I am quite proud of her.

I'm not looking forward to work tomorrow. I imagine my plate will be quite full. It is normally, so this is only going to to set me back. (sigh) But I have decided to keep a smile on my face and roll up my sleeves.

Good News!!! I had a card in the mail when I got home that Dana Goodyear is going to be in town in September. I have greatly enjoyed her own poetry as well as some of her commentary I've read. I am looking forward to meeting her and hearing her read!

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Weary and wilted

In the course of my visit, I have now misplaced a shirt and shorts. Considering I came with extremely limited clothes this trip, and they seem to be disappearing at the rate of one item a day for the past two days, I could have difficulty being able to dress for the flight home by Saturday.

The trip is truly a mixture. I have greatly enjoyed being able to see my oldest daughter. That's been a blessing. I am however homesick- missing my wife tremendously, and beginning to feel a bit emotional already about the fact that when I leave, my youngest will be staying behind. So the emotions for the trip are a bit like taking a jar and putting the good and the bad together and shaking them up. What you get is pretty messy emotionally.

Writing has been difficult. Still a sampling of my journal from the last few days:
  • These are not afterthoughts / That spill over the levee / But plateaus of articulation
  • Things I wanted to say in deep cobalt blue
  • Raining syllabic utterances
  • His skin circumcised by a combination / Of sun and shifty motivations
  • We saw in him all the signs / Of a man able to straddle / the Continental divide

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Arizona Sunset


Arrived late last night in Phoenix on a mission to safely deliver youngest daughter to Arizona for her next phase of education at ASU. The picture here is taken from the car window in Flagstaff.
Slept so-so last night. Awoke this morning and checked into the office to deal with a couple of matters.
Having a diet coke and trying to orientate myself to the day. Staying with my oldest daughter who I haven't seen in gee, I guess about three years.
Evidently I upset Storm's (the cat) apple cart. Sitting in his place on the couch. Taking over the bedroom where he's been hanging out lately. He had already made it know that I was an encroachment. But when bedroom was readied for me he was totally pissed of. You would not have believed the mean-mugging stare!
Of course I had to stop in Winslow, Arizona of Eagles fame in the song Take It Easy . First time I ever came out here we made a road stop there at a little shit & get place and as we were getting in the car I kept saying Winslow, Arizona over and over to myself and as we were driving away it hit me why it was familiar. Duh!
I'd like to say that the scenery was so inspiring that I stayed up last night writing great material. In the alternative, I'd like to say I slept well. Unfortunately neather would be accurate.
I think it's time to do breakfast...

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Stickpoet will be dark for a few days

I will be tied up (nothing kinky) for a few days and if I post at all,
it will likely be very sporadic. Everyone have a good weekend and week ahead.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Five was all I could do

Yesterday, we tried a family outing to Waterworks Park to play Disc Golf. The course there is much bigger than what I have played on. It is challenging enough, but the killer for us was the oppressive heat and the steep hills. We were ready to play hole 6 when we decided we could not go on. We had already decided that 18 holes would be too much, but we were hopeful we could get the front 8 in. We won't talk about my score.

Tomorrow, I have a reception for Dana Gioia to go to. Then Saturday night I have a reading to do so there are some extra curricular art events going one this week. I think I need to focus on some rewrites this week. I didn't have much success with new stuff over the weekend. Time to revisit old ideas.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Lazy Saturday Morning...

Not much of my plans for the day have quite unfolded yet and it is just past noon. I sit drinking a diet coke - the rest of the family is out on a shopping adventure.

Was writing earlier and came to a standstill.

We cling to the handles of customs
Crusted through years of oxidation
In the hands of others through
A buildup of broken resistance

... then the wall. But that's ok, I had not planned on writing this early in the day anyway, so I suppose I am ahead of the game.

As I surveyed the news this morning, I see that Russia has suspended its participation in an European arms control treaty that governs deployment of troops on the continent. This in response Bush's plans for a missile defense system in former Soviet bloc countries. I suppose his Iraq war legacy is not sufficient, he feels to need to refuel the cold war.

Nothing is ever simple... Harry Potter's success has the publishers fighting bootleggers. A legal team has been commissioned to prevent copies of the new book being pirated on publication.

Last night we went to see Wild Hogs at the $2 picture show. It was really kind of mindless fun. I didn't have any expectations going in so I was pleased that it was entertaining. Last week my wife and I watched The Devil Wears Prada in bead on a portable DVD player. Besides enjoying the movie, I really liked that atmosphere. I could stand to watch a lot of movies that way.

Was planning to take my daughter and do some video footage today to incorporate into a poetry video. With any luck, when they get home from shopping it won't be too hot and she won't be exausted. We shall see.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

WISHING EVERYONE A SAFE & HAPPY 4TH

Things I'm Thankful For
  1. A radio knob that responds to my prompt
  2. The rhythm of her breathing beside me each night
  3. My glasses that have become my eyes
  4. A book of poems always within reach
  5. Seeing a part of yourself in your children
  6. And recognizing the individualism in your children as well
  7. Four legged friends that look up to you
  8. The cycle of a baseball season and knowing a new one comes each spring