Did I just start a List of Lists?

If I had a List of Lists.... I'd rank Catherine's "people/things I'd stalk if I was a crazy stalker" list ahead of Jimmy Behrle's famous This Week's Crush List I'm really into the stalker list idea - hee he.


I want to acknowledge Alli Warren's - Ballot: "a truth cannot lose anything by being written down" is such a powerful affirmation. Come to think of it, writing is itself empowerment.

Irving Layton once said, "If poetry is like an orgasm, an academic can be likened to someone who studies the passion-stains on the bedsheets." So, if I understand what Chris is saying... he wants to talk more about the orgasm and spend less time analytically looking at the bed stains. That's ok by me.

Tuesday's tinder vittles...

Looks like Amiee has a new writing bud. I have to tell you I adore longhaired dachshunds. I had the greatest... Barron, who was the most beautiful red haired. He had an enlarged heart from a valve problem and passed away in my arms on this past thanksgiving. We had been treating him for about a year and a half for the problem.

Now, I have a red longhaired puppy, also a male. His name is Barry and he is approaching five months. A stinker... but starting to mellow just a bit. We got Barron as an adult so I never got to experience the puppy stage till now.
They are great companions.

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If you haven't already checked out Circulars- do so.

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Milky Way is munching on another galaxy

NPR related link

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California to close to call

Tuesday Vittles In Verse

Amiee has a doggie
needs a literary diminutive
the galaxy is turning and
turning
sucking
to close
way to close is Arnold
groping
voting
groping
voting
California is voting
to close
latinos needed
as much as 22 percent
to close
Arnold is groping
Cale-forn-ia
groping the milky-way
to close
to close for comfort

I Won't Self Medicate Today...

The above is the opening line from Vow to Poetry. I love it in connection with poetry. It seems to me that poetry is in fact a good deal like "self medicating" and in this instance, I don't think that is half bad.

My profession in life, involves mental health issues. Self medication is a concept I am quite acquainted with, and it usually has negative implications. However, to actually "vow to poetry" is interesting in that to me, it conceptually commits one to self discovery and rediscovery.

In a session at a writers conference this weekend I was blessed to hear a woman of color named Bonnie Lynn Tolson. Bonnie is the author of a poetry book entitled Naturally Nappy. Of her work in the book, Bonnie shared that "this is where I was then." This comment underscores a point I believe is valid in terms of any commitment or vow to (write) poetry. By dedicating oneself to writing poetry, you are putting yourself in a position (like it or not) to find out things. To discover... More importantly self discovery. It can be scary but it can also be a very cleansing action in life.

I'll have a hot dog
then go off to a cave... Is this what we do when we don't write? When we refuse to medicate ourselves with poetics... or get in touch with our deepest insights? Yes, just like blogging, I've had those days I just fluff it off. Take my non-functional self to the caves... Or is poetry the real life, and going to the cave is the real self-medication. Equal to all the negative stereotypes associated with normal self medication. Either way, in the end the fact remains... poetry feeds the soul.

Weekend Wrap Up...

The Weekend is nearly over. The focal point of it was the Maple Woods Writers Conference.

I have to say that Friday and Saturday's writers conference was well worth the money and time invested. Presenters were for the most part excellent. Everyone was good... Most reached above the level of expectation I had.

I was disappointed that we did not have more opportunity to here Gloria Vando - her presentation was cut short by another presenter running over. She is local and the opportunity to exposure to her again is good, so I have tried not to stress too much about this.

My hats are off to the administration of Maple Woods - this is their 20th year and they did a bang up job.

Friday night - there was a special event off campus where Naomi Shihab Nye, poet and essaiest spoke. She is a remarkable woman with a world of contacts in poetry.

Saturday I met with an agent from NY and had a brief discussion of my Candlestick Park book project. More presenters Saturday and finally - (sigh) I was able to catch up on my San Francisco Giants, who were eliminated in divisional play after a wild ride in first place in the NL West from opening day to the last, winning 100 games and the NL West Division Championship.

You must know that I live for these games. I often score the games - so I am into every detail. Being out of the loop Friday and Saturday was killing me, and their whole post season now seems surreal to me. It's almost like it never happened.

I will have much more to say about Naomi Shihab Nye. Perhaps more about the conference too over the next few days. Plus I have some other blog reading to catch up on. Right now, I need to head to bed.

Thursday Thoughts...

Can one carry the weight of endless suffering of the world in it's entirety upon his or her shoulders... And then actually sleep? Thanks Alli Warren for a sleepless night.

Michaela Cooper, had forsaken her fans for LA (good lord [spoken in my best San Francisco Giants fan voice] what of value exists in LA?) but alas has returned, along with some of her brain cells. This is evidenced by her role as promulgator of Blake on matters of "sexual love".

For those who are wondering "what the hell men are thinking"? - try this site.


I'll close with a poem I did maybe a month ago...

TWO DOGS

two dogs at feet
begging attention
ancy
dancing
craving treat

reward in had
wants no part

The Wit and Lack of Wisdom of Donald H. Rumsfeld

I've seen this book at B & N and chuckled a few times. Then it sunk in that this man is dead serious.

Bly & Bly

And so it came to pass, that I spent a good deal of yesterday on a bus with my youngest daughter and many of her classmates on a trip to Hutchinson, Kansas to visit the Cosmosphere. First of all, let me say that if the Cosmosphere was not in Hutchinson, there would be no real reason for Hutchinson to exist. Truly, it may not, because of course Kansas is only a theory at this point.

The space museum was awesome. Unfortunately it took longer to make the trip there and back than we had time to spend in the museum itself. I spent a good portion of the trip commute reading from Robert Bly's Morning Poems. I didn't ignore my daughter. We actually read parts of it together. She particularly enjoyed (as did I) his poems, Bad People and The Old Woman Frying Perch. AKA - The Cat in the Kitchen.

One of the things I am discovering that I like about Robert Bly is the vast usage of commonplace words to develop his poetry with topics that range from his childhood to thoughts on writing itself. He definitely stretches the imagination, but not completely out of the cerebral cavity, if you know what I mean.

Ha! Who says you can't combine science and culture?