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Sunday, October 26, 2008

The leaves & cold of fall

Yesterday afternoon I stopped by Boarders Books in northland to see local poet Rebecca Stallard read from her new book of poetry and and sign copies.  The book, And the Birds are Singing is available here.rebstal1          

This morning I mowed the front lawn. The air was crisp and fallen leaves laced the lawn. Just a preview of more to come.

This time of year is a mixture of things I like and things I dislike. Usually about October I start feeling the effects of the shorter days and it manifests itself in the form of feeling melancholy, especially in the early hours after rising in the morning. I use a special lamp which has lessened to some degree the impact but the period October through say March can be rough. This is not to say I don't find enjoyment in fall and winter. I prefer the cooler temperatures to hot summer days. I love the multicolored landscapes that we have available to us in Missouri. 

After the end of the World Series I miss that baseball goes away. Football just doesn't have the same magic that baseball has.

It seems that fall is ripe for writing. I don't know if it is the stark changes that occur but there is something that seems transformative and this seems to feed the creative process. I seem to often get a boost in my writing output. I don't mean quantity so much as I do that I seem to be happy with more of what I write.

I've actually given thought to signing up for nawrinomo but I don't know if I can break myself away from poetry for a month to write [insert shudder here] fiction.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Md. Police Listed Green Group As Terrorist : NPR

Md. Police Listed Green Group As Terrorist : NPR: "Nation
Md. Police Listed Green Group As Terrorist
by Libby Lewis
Audio for this story will be available at approx. 7:00 p.m. ET
All Things Considered, October 24, 2008 · Three staff members of a Chesapeake environmental group were surprised to learn they were spied on by Maryland State Police and named as suspected terrorists on a state list. The state police has acknowledged it spied on anti-death penalty and anti-war activists."


Gee you just never know do you. So many terrorists and so little time.
We went through this kind of shit during the Nixon years. It gets old.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Three Poetry Events in a Row in Kansas City

Thursday 10-23 6:30 PM Charles Simic
Reading
Mabee Theater Rockhurst University
54th Street and Troost Avenue
Friday 10-24 8:00 PM Dan Jaffe Reading Writers Place

3607 Pennsylvania

Saturday 10-25
1:00-PM
Rebecca Stallard
Reading and book signing
Boarders
Boardwalk Shopping Dist.
Just off N.W. Barry Rd & I -29
       

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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The space inside the poem

Inside my empty bottle I was constructing a lighthouse while all the others were making ships. - Charles Simic

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Monday, October 20, 2008

Like they say, if you don't play you can't win.

Patting myself on the back for submitting work to a venue I've never tried before. More because I submitted than anything else. Last year I submitted a lot of work early in the year and had great success. Then there was a brick wall. as a result, this year I have been lax in sending material out. Not lax in writing, so I'm not feeling like I've been lazy or anything, just not so focused on the administrative side of things and more on the art itself. That is a good thing isn't it? I think so. Still a balance between the two would perhaps be more desirable.

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Unconscious Mutterings Week 299

Unconscious Mutterings ~ link

Word & Thought Associations

here's mine:


Magical :: Mystery Tour
Shrimp :: Cocktail
Project Runway :: Fashion
Economy :: Tank
Porch :: Front
State of affairs :: dire
.com :: bubble burst
Fifty cents :: Rap
Ripping :: Christmas
Bull :: Shit

Correction on Rebecca Stallard's Reading

Please note that I made an error with respect to the announcement of Rebecca Stallard's Reading this coming Saturday- Is is at Border's but I was thinking Zona Rosa Shopping district and that would be a competitor to Boarders. It is on the opposite side if I-29. It should read Border's Books - just off N.W. Barry Rd and I-29 in the Boardwalk shopping district in Kansas City North on Saturday, Oct. 25th 1-3PM.

I will make the correction by edit in the original post as well.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

The Series I Wanted!!!

Well, assuming I couldn't have my Giants in the World Series, I wanted to see the Phillies  and the Rays.  Hot Damn!!!  They finished off Boston tonight.  Great pitching. It's time for fall ball!!!

CHARLES SIMIC - Thursday - Oct 23 - Kansas City - Rockhurst University 6:00 p.m.

The Midwest poets series in Kansas City has once again tapped a top flight reader for its reading series. Poet Laureate Charles Simic, Pulitzer Prize winner, SimicMacArthur Fellowship recipient, and winner of the Wallace Stevens Award will be here to read.

Simic has as I count them, something like 28 books (but that is more fingers than have and I may be off by one or two) of which four were released just this year.

The event is at Mabee Theater located at 54th Street and Troost Avenue on the Rockhurst Campus in Kansas City, Missouri. Reception at 6:00 p.m. - Reading starts at 6:30 p.m.

Kansas City - 75,000 turnout for Obama

Following the record crown Obama drew in St. Louis earlier yesterday, he found Kansas City supporters awaiting his arrival 75,000 strong. Recent Rasmussen poll shows Missouri: Obama 52% McCain 46% an important number given the fact that Missouri the last two elections was a red state.

Is the spread that wide in Missouri? I wouldn't call Missouri a safe state for Obama, but if the turnout is high in St Louis and Kansas City, both Democratic strongholds, 2008 might just go blue. A video clip of Obama in Kansas City can be seen here.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Record Crowd in Saint Louis for Obama

Missouri Republicans must be seeing blue tonight.... Over 100,000 turned out in St. Louis earlier today for an Obama rally. This surpassing the previous record crowd of 75,000. large_obamastlouisIt is on to Kansas City here in the western part of the state where another large crowd is growing for an evening rally.

Anxious to see what we draw here. I don't expect anything like 100,000 but the crowd has been growing nicely.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Book Reading & Signing Saturday Sat. Oct 25th

rstallardFront_Cover_262x400Local Kansas City area writer Rebecca Stallard will appear at Boarder's Books - Border's Books - just off N.W. Barry Rd and I-29 in the Boardwalk shopping district in Kansas City North on Saturday, Oct. 25th 1-3PM.

Stallard will read from her book And the Birds are Singing, a poetic narrative that chronicles four generations of a family, their happiness and desire for laughter against a backdrop of their tragic hereditary plight

Rebecca Stallard is a member of the K.C. Metro Verse - a local chapter of the Missouri State Poetry Society. Her book is an extraordinary work of ancestry and poetic style.

rebeccastallard.com

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Unconscious Mutterings Week 298

Unconscious Mutterings ~ link

Word & Thought Associations

here's mine:


Zoo :: New Zoo Revue
Neighborhood :: watch
Salute :: tribute
Immortality :: uh, poetry :)
Dominion :: dominate
Rhonda :: help me
Parties :: political
Prince of Darkness :: Joker
Garbage :: collection
Standard :: time

Monday, October 13, 2008

Bohemian Ball

Saturday night I attended the the Bohemian Ball - a fund raiser to support the operations of the Writers Place in Kansas City. There were a few in costume and many who weren't. The evening got off to a rocky start when writers arrived to find the building dark and candle laden. The power on the entire block had gone out at the most inopportune. The muse in the end smiled upon us and the night ended in the light. Photo_101108_006 Photo_101108_005

Among the food and drink there were these long flat crackers that were so damn addictive. Picture wine + poets, only more. We just shortened the word cracker by dropping the er.

At one point a chorus of singers did a ditty to the tune of Abbas' Dancing Queen changed to Writing Queen.

Lots of silent auction items. People were carrying out tons of spoils at the end of then evening. The only downer beside the initial dark was the Chardonnay running out quickly. I don't do red wine.

Photo_101108_001 Photo_101108_003

Some upcoming Writers Place events:

Sunday, October 19, 2008 -- 7:00 p.m.

Main Street Rag Poetry Showcase Featuring Tim Pettet and Prometheus Unbound

Main Street Rag hosts a production of "Imagination, Please" featuring the voices of Sharon Eiker, Shawn Pavey, Timothy Pettet and others.

Friday, October 24, 2008- 8 p.m.

Dan Jaffee Reading

Poet Dan Jaffee will read political and social issue poems for the "First Tuesday in November".

Political Poetry


Just in time for the election a new version of the Magnetic Poetry Kit lets you add a bit of political rhetoric to your verse. It comes with 200 nonpartisan words, but you can change that!

The kit has a suggested retail price of $9.95

Saturday, October 11, 2008

October Surprise

Photo_100508_001Saw white pumpkins for the first time recently. I guess you never get too old to be surprised.

Surprises can be a good thing. But we often see them in a

negative light. Unpleasant surprises. In politics there is the often dreaded "October Surprise".  You probably never want to see a mobile news team pull up unannounced at your business. The present economic turmoil, while somewhat predictable puts us in uncharted waters that continues of offer unpleasant surprises.  

I think poetry often embraces surprise. Certainly learning to find the surprise in even the simplest of daily life has been a paramount importance to me as a poet.  I think all art is about a perspective of view. Perhaps poetry more than any art form requires us to present unique perspective. It seems to me people that are most appreciative of poetry are the ones who are able fined the surprise elements in verse, who can read something and have that "Ah ha!" experience, seeing something in a different light.

I hope your day is filled with surprises... and I hope they are all good ones!

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Thursday, October 09, 2008

OMG this is too Funny!



Ouch!

I must confess my negligence in not stopping by This is All Your Fault of late. I have no excuse. Of course having seen one of Christine Hamm's latest posts a little self inflicted pain is in order after realizing what I'm missing. My First Death: The High Window ~ such image... wow!

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Bohemian Ball 2008

wpe1

This Saturday night - 6:00 to 9:00 PM all of the serious local writers in the Kansas City area will be in one place... The Bohemian Ball!

  • Wine and beer
  • Lavish buffet coordinated by Murray Gorman,
    Food and Beverage Director for the Nelson-Atkins Museum
  • Jazz and blues by Brother Iota
  • The opportunity to bid on our 100 Silent Auction items, including
    • Theater tickets - American Heartland, KC Rep, and The Unicorn
    • Gift certificates from popular stores and boutiques
    • Feasts at favorite restaurants
    • Gift baskets for holidays, cat lovers, kids, homes
    • massage, yoga , language lessons, creativity coaching, computer repair
    • One-on one sessions with some of Kansas City's best writers

    Proceeds from The Bohemian Ball support The Writers Place’s community literary programs, readings, and workshops.

  • Sunday, October 05, 2008

    Unconscious Mutterings Week 297

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    Unconscious Mutterings ~ link
    Word & Thought Associations

    here's mine:

  • Insight ::  view
  • Irksome :: annoyance
  • Maybe :: possible
  • Confirmation :: Bishop
  • Bib :: overalls
  • Stop! :: sign
  • Lobster :: red
  • Boys :: choir
  • Fire away :: militia
  • Give up :: white flag