Monday, May 21, 2007
If pigs could fly and Bush were irrelevant...
Responding to comments made Saturday by former President Jimmy Carter about the adverse impact on the nation around the world that the present (Bush) administration has had, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said, “I think it’s unfortunate, and I think he (Carter) is proving to be increasingly irrelevant with these kinds of comments.” Oh man, I could only wish Bush were irrelevant... just think where we would be today!
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Barry is four!
Yesterday, I was out of the house almost all day long. Attended the Kansas City Literary Festival during the day. The weather here was awesome for the event. Lots of booths with exhibitors. Tons of give-a-ways. A poet's stage that was ongoing. While I can't speak for the organizers, from my vantage point this was a big success.
The evening was rounded out with a pig-roast we were invited to. I ate more than I wanted to... but I planned on eating light and overall I didn't do too badly. That pretty much killed the first half of the weekend. I have a few chores selected for today and already some are completed.
Was looking around at some of the blogs I read and found an interesting post on First Draft. A poetry writing exercise for pop culture poetry. Something I'll start working on after while and see how it goes.
Today is Barry's fourth birthday! There will be doggy celebrating later today!
The evening was rounded out with a pig-roast we were invited to. I ate more than I wanted to... but I planned on eating light and overall I didn't do too badly. That pretty much killed the first half of the weekend. I have a few chores selected for today and already some are completed.
Was looking around at some of the blogs I read and found an interesting post on First Draft. A poetry writing exercise for pop culture poetry. Something I'll start working on after while and see how it goes.
Today is Barry's fourth birthday! There will be doggy celebrating later today!
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Two Things....
I have mentioned this subject before but I just came from a myspace account that has a ton of poetry posted from various poets and I think one can conclude with relative certainty the author of the site has likely neither sought or been given consent to post the material from the copyright holder. There is a lot of material I'd like to share with others, but don't because I respect the individual intellectual rights that artists have. Excepting to quote from something, if I am going to post poem from another poet here, you can bet I've gotten permission first. It is highly disrespectful otherwise.... besides unlawful. Go ahead, call me an old fashioned if you wish.
And while on the subject of myspace... Am I the only artist in this hemisphere who is without a myspace site? I'm seeing more and more poets, musicians, photo artists, etc that have myspace sites. Geeze.... do I need to get one?
And while on the subject of myspace... Am I the only artist in this hemisphere who is without a myspace site? I'm seeing more and more poets, musicians, photo artists, etc that have myspace sites. Geeze.... do I need to get one?
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Yeah!!!!
I almost missed an e-mail that went to my spam folder yesterday, a portion of it follows:
"Good News! I am pleased greatly by your poem "Beautiful Music" and shall publish it... Unfortunately, "Playing Solitaire" and "Freedom Summer Redux" pleased me insufficiently, and will thusly need find homes elsewhere."
Rejections are much more palatable when they are accompanied with acceptances.
"Good News! I am pleased greatly by your poem "Beautiful Music" and shall publish it... Unfortunately, "Playing Solitaire" and "Freedom Summer Redux" pleased me insufficiently, and will thusly need find homes elsewhere."
Rejections are much more palatable when they are accompanied with acceptances.
Monday, May 14, 2007
As If There Wasn't Enough Going On Tuesday Night
Two More Locals read May 15th (Tuesday Night)
The site of this reading is The Johnson County Central Resource Library at 87th & Farley in Overland Park. Starts at - 7pm.
The poets reading:
Patricia Cleary Miller, professor of English and chair of the Humanities Division at Rockhurst University. She has published three books and dozens of poems in various venues. Her poetry collection, Starting a Swan Dive (BkMk Press) won the Daniel S. Brenner Award for Scholarly Achievement. In 1986 she founded the Rockhurst Review: a fine arts journal, which she continues to serve as editor-in-chief. From Harvard University she received the Hiram Hunn Award and the Harvard Alumni Association Award for distinguished service, and a Bunting Fellowship in poetry for a post-doctoral sabbatical year.
Walter Bargen,who has published ten books and two chapbooks of poetry. The three most recent books are, The Body of Water, from Timberline Press (2003), The Feast, from BkMk Press-UMKC (2004), which was awarded the 2005 William Rockhill Nelson Award, and Remedies for Vertigo from WordTech Communications (2006). His poems have appeared in appear the Iowa Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, Notre Dame Review, Poetry East, Seattle Review, and New Letters. He was the winner of the Chester H. Jones Foundation prize in 1997, a National Endowment for the Art Fellowship in 1991, and the William Rockhill Nelson Award in 2005.
The site of this reading is The Johnson County Central Resource Library at 87th & Farley in Overland Park. Starts at - 7pm.
The poets reading:
Patricia Cleary Miller, professor of English and chair of the Humanities Division at Rockhurst University. She has published three books and dozens of poems in various venues. Her poetry collection, Starting a Swan Dive (BkMk Press) won the Daniel S. Brenner Award for Scholarly Achievement. In 1986 she founded the Rockhurst Review: a fine arts journal, which she continues to serve as editor-in-chief. From Harvard University she received the Hiram Hunn Award and the Harvard Alumni Association Award for distinguished service, and a Bunting Fellowship in poetry for a post-doctoral sabbatical year.
Walter Bargen,who has published ten books and two chapbooks of poetry. The three most recent books are, The Body of Water, from Timberline Press (2003), The Feast, from BkMk Press-UMKC (2004), which was awarded the 2005 William Rockhill Nelson Award, and Remedies for Vertigo from WordTech Communications (2006). His poems have appeared in appear the Iowa Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, Notre Dame Review, Poetry East, Seattle Review, and New Letters. He was the winner of the Chester H. Jones Foundation prize in 1997, a National Endowment for the Art Fellowship in 1991, and the William Rockhill Nelson Award in 2005.
My little Poetry Manifesto
I find taking a pen in hand and giving myself the freedom to resist a prescribed text can be a very cathartic experience. Allowing the pen to be taken, not on some planned outing but to follow instead the arbitrary journey of the mind in motion, as opposed to a set mental moment— this gives poetry a life of its own. Not so much any specific meaning, but the very essence of the poem’s existence, the point at which it becomes something unto itself. That is so liberating. It is the birth of a separate creation from one’s self. Once established, its meaning is no longer up to me.
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