Razor's Edge: 3/19/10

Before you look at the prompts today, let your mind drift. Close your eyes if it helps, and let your mind drift to a place of calm, quiet, and reflection. After you have let go of the things that fill your mind or pull your attention away from your creativity, inhale deep and release it slowly and steadily.

Start the music video, keep your relaxed mind open, and take in the pictures. When you feel ready or when the song has ended, let your creativity flow. Put pen to paper or fingers to keys, pick up the brush/pen/pencil, put notes on the clefts, dance.

Create.

Go - for 8 minutes. Express what is inside of you and ready to come out.




xxxx


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[music by Philip Glass]

From WOW!: slowing down

Here is a link to a great article about slowing down in writing and how it sometimes takes illness to get us to pay attention (kind of like my lessons learned post - but with more reflection). And last week a wrote a piece about slowing down for my writing workshop... It's in the universe right now, apparently.

Enjoy:

WOW! Slow Down!

lessons

Note to self (and the person I was conversing with last week about this - about having life hand out lessons if we forget)...

Note to body, more accurately. I got it. Yes, I pushed a little too hard. I got it. Drained the resources.

Yes, I know. Tomorrow is the final day in this too busy schedule. Then three days of rest. And I'd rather not spend them being sick. This sore throat and scratchy ears and fatigue made the point.

Thank you.

Today I rested (and graded); I even missed practice. Tomorrow I have to work.

Then I will rest.

I "got it" this time. Really.

Bonus prompt: Overheard Conversation

...just a snippet..

Two students waiting outside the college classroom.

A: doughnut holes, man. Sugar-coated, frosted, doughnut holes.

B: ooh. Wicked. Really?

A: yeah. I figure, if I gotta listen to 21 speeches, I need somethin' to get me through, man.

B: I hear ya.

A: yeah. Sugar, caffeine, and chew. I'm good to go for hours.

B: awesome, dude.

Impromptu prompt: who are they? Where? What's about to happen?

Go...
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Writers' Retreat

Today my blog reader included an article about artists' retreats. I've been wanting to take one of those. I drool over the pages of stories and ads about or from Caldera, Soapstone, Hypatia, and more. I dream of being given the gift of time - just a week, I think; no, a month, I whine - and a clean calm place to stay and food delivered and no alarms, no appointments, no place I have to go. And preferably near the ocean/in the mountains/on a lake/ with a view. And a place to walk. Nature.

Then I think about the money. Always the money. Why? Because being self-employed makes it expensive to take time off work. And the part-time job I have, I might be able to do somewhere else, at another office, but then I'd be working. Not retreating.

Hey, some of the retreats have stipends: writers in residence; some do.

But would my credentials qualify me? Depends, I know. Some yes; some no. If there were a stipend, maybe I could make the finances work. Or take on some extra work as I can and save it up and then. Maybe.

Or.

Or maybe I can make my own retreat. Find someone with a cottage or cabin to loan me or rent cheaply. (I know one place that is sometimes available; and a friend who has a friend who....) I'll have to do the cooking myself and that's okay. Preferable, actually; cheaper. Healthier. Unscheduled. Exactly what I want and when I wanted it.

And I could make it a writing group retreat if I wanted; for the entire time or part of it. A time and place dedicated to writing and soaking in the nothing mandatory and lounging and letting thoughts percolate. Just like the coffee in the kitchen. Or the wine aging on the shelf. Good things come from time.

Like the final revisions on my 2008 NaNoWriMo novel.

Yes.

A retreat for and by me.
.

Photograph from HomeLife

Razor's Edge for 3/12/10

In honor of Oregon's Poetry Out Loud state championship competition, this week's theme is, you guessed it, poetry!

One of the poems on my list to interpret is "What Kind of Times are These" by Adrienne Rich. There are about 70 poems on our list that the students will be performing (with five or six being done twice). This is one that stands out for me and fitting as a prompt.

So -take a moment to center yourself. Or go for a walk or a bath or a bike ride and return. Then read the Adrienne Rich poem below. Next start the Ani DiFranco video, Evolve, and look at the picture.

Take 10 minutes to write. Or paint. Or move about. Or sculpt. Create what you see and feel in this week's trio.

What Kind of Times Are These

by Adrienne Rich

There's a place between two stands of trees where the grass grows uphill

and the old revolutionary road breaks off into shadows

near a meeting-house abandoned by the persecuted

who disappeared into those shadows.

I've walked there picking mushrooms at the edge of dread, but don't be fooled

this isn't a Russian poem, this is not somewhere else but here,

our country moving closer to its own truth and dread,

its own ways of making people disappear.

I won't tell you where the place is, the dark mesh of the woods

meeting the unmarked strip of light—

ghost-ridden crossroads, leafmold paradise:

I know already who wants to buy it, sell it, make it disappear.

And I won't tell you where it is, so why do I tell you

anything? Because you still listen, because in times like these

to have you listen at all, it's necessary

to talk about trees.

What do you know about this place. Who or what goes there? Why? Tell me a story of those who are in the place and what they do.

photograph of Cukang Taneuh

Poetry Out Loud

The semi-finals were great in the POL first two rounds tonight. Tomorrow morning the field will be reduced to 6-10. Some of the competitors were amazing; they all did a great job.

It's nice to see the numbers expanded from last year, too.

How cool that poetry recitation is being revived. Even though interpreting poetry (into ASL) has its own special challenges, I still enjoy doing it.

Yes, I'd come back for a third round next year.

from WOW!: Dog Ear Publishing

An interesting article -- click on over to read about using "self publishers" -- one company's view and services. Brought to you by WOW!

WOW! Women On Writing Blog: Straight Talk About Self Publishing: An Interview with Miles Nelson of Dog Ear Publishing

Blog Tour and Book Giveaway

Be sure to check back on March 29th. Published author Bonnie Hearn Hill will be stopping by on her blog tour to talk about her new Young Adult series, Star Crossed, and to discuss the next steps authors can take after they've written to "The End."


As a part of this event, there will also be a book giveaway. Keep your eyes open for details and the chance to win a copy of Bonnie's newest book!

Life is Amazing

I didn't get a personality transplant; but Bonnie Hearn Hill did get in touch with me. I feel - fortunate; humble; amazed; happy. And I'm still digesting this bit of pleasant happening.

My partner asked me if I realized that Bonnie would find my post and I answered, honestly, no.

I'm glad she did. And Bonnie and I did meet many years ago; I wish I remembered, but I don't. My uncle Delbert was one family member I really wanted to see more of and the one - I think - I saw the least.

Good news, too: Bonnie will be stopping by here on her blog tour later this month. She will be a special guest and will be talking about where to go and what to do with your novel after you reach The End.

I guess I didn't need a personality transplant. I just needed - once, again - to put out into the universe what I wanted.

Ah.

Razor's Edge for March 5th, 2010

Today's theme is TRUTH.

The thing about "truth" is that there is very little that can be said to be absolutely 100% true 100% of the time. I know there are those who would argue otherwise and I know there are those who can find things that are always "true." But an individual's truth is often relative. And the truth of a statement or an event or a look or an action depends on who experiences it and where and when.

Instructions:

Take a couple minutes to center yourself, breathe, relax. Closing your eyes is optional - only do it if it helps you enter the place where you are and be present with what you are about to create.

When you're ready, look at the set of prompts and let them guide you to your creation. As a suggestion, look at the painting, watch the music video (it is both sound and visual stimulus), and the read the word prompt.

Notice what bubbles up to the surface for you.

Then create: write, draw, dance, cook, plant a garden. Follow where your heart takes you.


the painting:

Truth Wanders Alone
by Andy Kehoe

the music video:

Cynthia Hopkins,
of Gloria Deluxe.

the words:
Put two characters in a restricted space. One is content to be where they are because that character understands the importance of this meeting. The only negative thing is that there is no food and that character hasn't eaten since morning. The other character is anxious to go home, but can't do it without the first character's assistance, due to a physical limitation.

What is their relationship? Where are they and why? How do they resolve the conflict and both feel satisfied? Show me a story.

intentions

I had a massage today. Not the deep tissue it-will-feel-great-later type - but very effective. This LMT's approach addresses issues at many levels and sometimes I set an intention before we begin.

Today was one of those days.

Today I set my intention for the session to keep connection to my body during the next two weeks; to stay "in" my body.

You see, it's finals time. And I'm still scrambling to catch up with grading homework before I have those final assignments and videos and journals. I have 3 1/2 days off (all in a row, amazing for me, I know!) after I give my last final and I don't want to spend all those hours on grading.

I have more work to do than there are hours to do them and sleep and eat and shower. Let alone work out and go to dragon boat training and prep for the big job I have coming up next week.

So, my tendency is to dig my heels in and "get 'er done." Regardless of how I feel. No, that's not quite accurate, either. I slip in to not noticing and not feeling on some levels. I slip into being able to function on very little sleep and effectively "forget" that I haven't gone for a long fitness walk for a little while, and so on.

My intention is to not do that now. It doesn't make it any easier - but I'd like to keep "conscious" of the whole me through this process. Maybe next time I will remember what this feels like before I take on more than one human can sanely do. Keeping conscious may ease the transition into not being so busy and I will take better care of myself and not slide back into less than good for me ways.

I will get student work graded. I will keep my thoughts and body intact. I will sleep and walk when I can and forgive myself for not doing 4 or 5 miles. And after those final grades are turned in, I will rest. And I will try to rest a little before then - but I will definitely breathe easier when I'm teaching only 3 (or is it 4) credits instead of 10.

Gabrielle Rivera - big apple poet extraordinaire

I met Gaby at an Ariel Gore writing workshop in December 2008. I wish I could have been in NYC for her recent reading - but here's a clip.

Enjoy!

Congratulations, Gabrielle Rivera.

May I Have a Personality Transplant, Please?

This is one of those days when I wish I was a different type of person. The type of person who looks for connections and grabs them. And notices any little connection to someone famous (or at least famous in some small circle of the world) and is willing to contact them and say,

"Hey! Hi, there. My name is Dot and we lalalalala...." Replace the lalas with the relationship or commonality.

But I'm not. I tend to shy away from that. To be honest, I will probably keep my head down and try to avoid contact and not be noticed first. If noticing does happen, They must notice me. And, even at that, I hesitate to use that potential familiarity to my own advantage.

This is to an extreme. I don't envy the social butterfly who is acquaintance-friend to everyone but best-friend to none. I don't wish to be the kind of person who is always always "on" so that every breath and step and glance must have meaning and significance. That would be exhausting and I have to know what is real and what is less or not real.

Today in my blog reader, WOW! Women on Writing popped up with a name right there that I know. I've never met her, but, gasp, the featured interviewed writer is a relative. (Or was a relative; her marriage to my paternal uncle lasted 16 years - and that ending was a long time ago.) My uncle was a writer - whom I rarely saw. He lived an exotic life in other cities and was married several times. I never met this wife - only heard of her in whispers for reasons that are publicly available on the eHarlequin website.

But now, Bonnie Hearn Hill has written a popular YA series, the first book, Aries Rising, has just come out and she's taking it on tour. WOW! talks to her about this book and her jealousy-inducing three-book-deal on their blog.

And I thought, for a minute, "Cool! A connection. A published author (she has a bunch of mystery books before the YA) with newspaper experience." And I imagined for another minute that I could call her up and say

and say

"Hi, my name is Dot Hearn and, why yes, we are sort of related in a long ago and distant kind of way. And I am an author, too, and can you help me get an agent and an editor and a publisher, please?"

...not...

That bubble burst really quickly. But for a moment I almost imagined Me being a They with connections.

And a book deal.

With royalty checks and plenty of hours to think and percolate stories and have literary gems roll off my fingertips with minimal effort. And trips and retreats and bubble baths and. Time.

Hey, Bonnie, remember me? Oh, right, we never met.
.

Razor's Edge: late!

I knew there was a chance I would miss a deadline. But I didn't think it would come this early.

I did.

I hit the wall of busy-ness on Thursday and am still clawing my way out of that hole.

Not an excuse.

Just saying.