In My E-mail This Morning

• A rejection letter for 3 poems.   :(
• Word of the day - dysgraphia. Bad news nearly always follows when dys- begins a word, and so it does here: dysgraphia is an inability to write coherently, either as a learning disorder or a result of brain damage or disease. The Greek roots mean "difficult writing."
• $30 Amazon.com birthday gift certificate.   :) Yeah!
• Urgent Attention, I am here on off-shore banks inspection exercise. Based on the report on your abandoned transaction file, only $2M have been approved to your family from the will.  [Oh Darn, I was hopeful it would be at least $5M]

Quote for the week

Books, like friends, should be few and well chosen. Like friends, too, we should return to them again and again for, like true friends, they will never fail us - never cease to instruct - never cloy.  ~ Charles Caleb Colton

Unconscious Mutterings - Week 363

Subliminal word associations. You say.... I think:

1.Resolutions :: New Year

2.Page :: turm

3.Narrow :: ruled

4.Refuse :: decline

5.Fountain ::  pen

6.Grunt :: strain

7.Construct :: build

8.Nightmare :: dream

9.Inch :: worm

10.Instant :: message

get your own list at Unconscious Mutterings

Coffee Break - Announcements

Taking a short break from writing today to have a salad and post a few notes here.

Here's an announcement for those in our neighboring state of Kansas.
Kansas Voices writing contested, sponsored by the Winfield Arts & Humanities Council, is back for its 21st year. Authors are urged to submit short stories, prose or poetry.  Details here.

Issue 30 of Right Hand Pointing is up.

TWP POETRY READING SERIES @ THE JOHNSON COUNTY LIBRARY

Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - 7:00 pm  - Johnson County Public Library, 9875 W. 87th, Overland Park, KS

Featuring Jo McDougall and Steve Paul

TWP SALON  - Monday, January 25, 2010 - 7:00 pm - Open Mic opportunity hosted by Sharon Eiker
3607 Pennsylvania  - Kansas City, Missouri


Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tails Of The City : National children's pet poetry contest deadline extended

The American Pet Products Association (APPA) will be accepting poems for its 2nd Annual APPA National Children's Pet Poetry Contest through February 15, 2010 at 5 p.m. EST.

Third, fourth and fifth grade students are invited to pen a unique poem about their pets and then post it to petsaddlife.org or mail it to: Pets Add Life, 45 Winter Street, Reno, NV 89503.

Two students from each grade level (six total) will win a $250 gift certificate for pet products, and a by-line in a nationally circulated publication. In addition, the six winning students' classrooms will each receive a $1,000 scholarship to spend on pet-related education.

Posted By: Amelia Glynn (Email, Facebook) | January 08 2010 at 11:40 AM

Tails Of The City : National children's pet poetry contest deadline extended

 

Technorati Tags: childrens pet poetry

Brrrr...

Single digit temperatures and -0 wind chill, this was my view leaving work yesterday. Each day we seem to be redefining cold here in the Midwest. Tonight is supposed to be a new low. Given how things look, this weekend should/could be a great weekend for writing.

I've drug out my copy of The Artist's Way again and decided it's time to re-examine what I'm doing for the sake of creativity.  Especially since I feel like I'm in a somewhat conflicted state at the moment. I'm trying to look at it positive and a growing place but frustration isn't affording me any particular comfort. Basically I'm trying to project a different style of writing but I'm less satisfied with the results (more often then not) and it wants to pull me back to a more abstract approach. I'm thinking what I really needs is to be someplace between the two. I'm feeling as I move away from the abstract my voice becomes bland. There are other poets I admire who can do this well- I know it can be done.

Attention Metrophobics

"Does the thought of poetry make you nauseous? Does it trigger a dry mouth and clammy hands? Does your heart feel like it’s going to pound right out of your chest? Do your legs turn to rubber bands?" If so, help is on the way. For only $147 you can get a Home Study program of CDs and a Work Book or if you prefer, for the paltry sum of $2497 you can get one-on-one Private Sessions with Board-Certified Specialist to help you eliminate your underlying fear. This according an internet site that can be found here.


I’m so glad there is hope for people suffering from metrophobia. It seems there are so many metrophobics out there. Some of my own family may be metrophobic. This of course causes me to wonder why or how I escaped the condition? Is there a genetic predisposition towards this condition? If so, perhaps we can isolate the gene that controls our poetic responses and tweak it a bit to make poetry a little more palatable. Of course, if such therapy became possible, poetic gene therapy could put the previously mentioned site out of business.