Another glorious night of trivia at Sip This! So glorious because I put together a spectacular team (which, might I remind you, is my job--to put the team together), and this team did not come in last!
The topic: Marvel, mostly movies but some comic books
The plan: Read wikipedia daily to learn everything there is to know about Marvel. Look on YouTube to learn about Marvel (and then stop watching because it's just way too complicated). Read IMDB for everything about all Marvel movies. Look up all of Stan Lee's cameos. Go see Doctor Strange. Write as many words on the answer board as possible so that one word might be the right answer.
After a month and maybe twenty pages of notes, I was prepared! Eddie was prepared because he has the ability to watch a movie and remember a lot of stuff about it simply by watching it.
Sidenote: When I watch a movie, I don't know any of the characters' names, and I pretty much forget almost everything it was about except whether or not I enjoyed it. I need to start eating peanuts or whatever it is that makes your memory better.
Also on the team were D and F. D doesn't pay attention to pop culture anything, so this was not her forte. F said he knew some stuff. Some stuff is better than no stuff, so our team was solid!
When Eddie and I walked into Sip This, he told me we'd already lost. He saw someone wearing a Captain America jacket in the back. Maybe it's just a fashion choice. Maybe he doesn't even know it's Captain America. Plus, Captain America is on our side because that's the movie we watched on our honeymoon when the weather took a turn towards torrential downpours, so, you know, that matters.
Trivia started with a question that may as well have been in Japanese because I didn't understand anything it was asking. Then F said, It's Guardians of the Galaxy. I was like, oh, yeah, the one movie I decided not to pay attention to. And so the next two questions were also foreign because they were about the same movie.
Then it took a turn. There was a question and I knew I knew the answer. I wrote it down. We got it right. A point! We got a point!
And on it went. We got a few right in a row. Then we made up a really good answer for a bonus question: What does Jarvis stand for? I could tell you that Jarvis was in the Royal Air Force, but I couldn't tell you what it stood for, so I came up with Just for the J. And then we all added in words. Turns out, we got pretty close, as noted the trivia host. No points for close.
In an attempt to earn points on wrong answers, I took to waving my hand in front of the answers like one of Barker's Beauties. I also waved around the whole board, to which the host replied, That's not working but if you flip it around and do tricks, then maybe. I did not flip the board around for fear it would hit someone in the head.
I also tried smiling really hard and keeping the wrong answer up, which simply led to the host shaking his head "no."
Eddie completed his self-imposed task of getting one answer right. He knew the thingie the Hulk spoke to was called Blue. Then he exceeded expectations during the written portion.
Yes, there was a written portion! They gave us the super hero name and we had to fill in the real name and then the actor name. For any actor I didn't know, I wrote Zach Effron because, you know, why not. Also, I now know his name is spelled Zac Efron, so even that was wrong. There were two or three heroes we'd never even heard of. For those, I made up alliterative names like Bill Bobins and Ned Nevers because most real people names of superheros are alliterative i.e. Peter Parker and Wade Wilson (Spider-man and Deadpool).
The last round was about the comic books, and the final question was about the sinister six, and I knew I had the answer written down on one of my many pages of notes, and I knew that Doc Ock was one of them. So we wrote Doc Ock and then a bunch of other names that may or may not have been actual names of comic book characters.
When all the points were tallied, we came in fourth out of six. Actually, we tied, which according to the host meant there was no last place because no one came in sixth. Sure, I'll go with that. We got 22 points. The winning team got 77. Hooray for mediocrity!
The best part about throwing myself fully into the Marvel world was that it's going to be really helpful for my next poetry collection. The one coming out in March is Liberating The Astronauts, which leans towards sci-fi and science. The one I'm planning after is moving towards superheroes, at least in part. Geekery and poetry and trivia--it all falls into place.
Finally, whenever I start to put a team together, I get a lot of suggestions for trivia in the future, like, I'll be on the team if they have this kind of trivia. So, here are the suggestions even though I have no control over trivia topics:
1. Chinese History
2. History in general
3. War history
4. Cars, as in the automobiles, not the movie
5. Another Seinfeld
6. Another Disney
7. The Big Bang Theory
8. Music
9. Indiana Jones
My only suggestion is me winning.
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Sunday, December 4, 2016
Monday, November 28, 2016
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Monday, October 17, 2016
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Monday, June 27, 2016
Dancing Girls And Poetry At The BookMark Shoppe
In 2014, dancing girl press accepted and published my first chapbook For The Girls, I. I was over the moon excited. I'd loved the work put out by dancing girl for such a long time, and then I was one of those works in the catalog.
I've always been a get-it-together kind of poet, so as soon as I had book-in-hand, I put out a call for other dgp poets to do a reading together. I got a lot of takers. I contacted stores and cafes and things would line up and then fall through. The poets dropped out and the poets signed up and this happened over and again.
Poetry rarely makes itself easily available. Poetry likes a challenge.
In the meantime, WakeBreatheMove found a home at Finishing Line Press. Kimberly Jackson also had her chapbook published by FLP in 2015, so she put out a call for other FLP poets to read for At The Inkwell, a series that runs across the country; in NYC it's at the KGB Bar. I got to read there along with a few other FLP poets.
Now that I'd read with other FLP poets, the dancing girls needed to make this happen. Almost two years later, I dropped a line to The BookMark Shoppe. They were like, sure thing let's do it.
Sometimes poetry is just that simple.
After emails and calls and poets signing up and dropping out, we coordinated a reading--we had a date, we had a time, we had a plan.
Then it happened. I don't usually go whimsy, so when I say it was magic, you know it was truly magic.
Susan Lewis has authored several beautiful collections. Her prose poems captured and stunned.
Abigail Welhouse offered a wealth of poetry, pictures, and ephemera of life. I now know I have to have my colors done to see if I'm an autumn or a spring.
Janeen Pergrin Rastall shared quiet, powerful verses. Her visions of lakes and nature resonate imagistically. (apparently imagistically is not a real word, but it's the only word that describes what her words do).
I've known Vicki Iorio for years, and I've enjoyed hearing her read over these years. This reading, however, she shined at her best.
Katie Longofono's work is fresh and gripping. She tells stories with her poems in a lovely way. I'm thankful that she read my bio to introduce me so I didn't have to read it myself because that would have been weird.
I pronounced everything right with my mad hosting skillz except for calling Katie's next book Angelitis, making it sound like a disease rather than what it's really called, Angeltits, making it sound heavenly. Otherwise, it went great.
I also made crazy poet face only a few times.
Riding high on the poetic magic, I gushed to Abigail that we could do this again, and then had the thought that we should do it every year, an expanding reading of dancing girls across the land. Starting to plan right now.
I've always been a get-it-together kind of poet, so as soon as I had book-in-hand, I put out a call for other dgp poets to do a reading together. I got a lot of takers. I contacted stores and cafes and things would line up and then fall through. The poets dropped out and the poets signed up and this happened over and again.
Poetry rarely makes itself easily available. Poetry likes a challenge.
In the meantime, WakeBreatheMove found a home at Finishing Line Press. Kimberly Jackson also had her chapbook published by FLP in 2015, so she put out a call for other FLP poets to read for At The Inkwell, a series that runs across the country; in NYC it's at the KGB Bar. I got to read there along with a few other FLP poets.
Now that I'd read with other FLP poets, the dancing girls needed to make this happen. Almost two years later, I dropped a line to The BookMark Shoppe. They were like, sure thing let's do it.
Sometimes poetry is just that simple.
After emails and calls and poets signing up and dropping out, we coordinated a reading--we had a date, we had a time, we had a plan.
Then it happened. I don't usually go whimsy, so when I say it was magic, you know it was truly magic.
Susan Lewis has authored several beautiful collections. Her prose poems captured and stunned.
Abigail Welhouse offered a wealth of poetry, pictures, and ephemera of life. I now know I have to have my colors done to see if I'm an autumn or a spring.
Janeen Pergrin Rastall shared quiet, powerful verses. Her visions of lakes and nature resonate imagistically. (apparently imagistically is not a real word, but it's the only word that describes what her words do).
I've known Vicki Iorio for years, and I've enjoyed hearing her read over these years. This reading, however, she shined at her best.
Katie Longofono's work is fresh and gripping. She tells stories with her poems in a lovely way. I'm thankful that she read my bio to introduce me so I didn't have to read it myself because that would have been weird.
I pronounced everything right with my mad hosting skillz except for calling Katie's next book Angelitis, making it sound like a disease rather than what it's really called, Angeltits, making it sound heavenly. Otherwise, it went great.
I also made crazy poet face only a few times.
 |
| Credit: emilyhegarty instagram |
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| Credit: Abigail Welhouse instragram |
 |
| Credit: Eddie |
 |
| Looks like we've got it all together |
 |
| Then again.... |
Friday, May 20, 2016
Sabbaticalling: Weekly Roundup #20 -- The End!
With an epic push towards reaching goals, creativity and progress revved up immensely this past week. I found the core of my full collection and a way to go about revising it. I read a little, I wrote a lot, and I even researched.
Let me say that again. I researched.
Me. The lazy poet. The lazy writer. She who makes things up because she is also the she who does not do research. She did. Me did. I did!
I workshopped with my artist friend. That lead me to figure out how to set up a new order for my poems and where I need more.
I listened to back episodes of both Golden Walkman Magazine and The Other Stories. Give a listen when you have a moment. I also listened to Two Dope Queens, not that that has anything to do with sabbaticalling other than I had time to listen to it.
I went to the Public Art Fund exhibit at Metro Tech Commons with S. Hank Willis Thomas's The Truth Is I See You stretches out along the walking path. A line of poetry appears in either a conversation or thought bubble attached to a lamppost. Each line is in English on one side and in another language on the other side. The pole has a sign that says the language and how to say the phrase phonetically. Poetry is art. Art is poetry.
And then there was the everyday art, which is always inspiring.
I submitted work to journals. I applied for a blogging gig and a workshop teaching gig. I also began to watch Transcendence to get sci-fi inspired, but it was so horrible that I turned it off. I rarely turn off movies. It was pretty bad.
And since this past Monday was the last day of the Spring semester, my sabbatical is now over. I don't have a final full collection published to show as an outcome. I don't have something that recognizable or tangible. I mean, I have poems. A lot of poems. Those are tangible. But the overall outcome of what I got from sabbatical is not something anyone can hold. The experience, the being in it and doing the everything in it and the savoring the ability to be able to do it, is the best outcome here. Passion for reading -- reignited. Passion for writing -- reignited. Passion for going out in the world to do lit and art related things -- reignited.
I'm not exhausted or fuming. I'm exhilarated. I'm not saying that returning to teaching will make me exhausted or fuming. I'm saying that the years of teaching, and dealing with all the politics that come with it, had brought me to a brink of sorts. Sabbatical allowed me to decompress, revisit the core of who I am, what I do, and what I'm capable of doing, and now I'm back to good. (Side note: Wasn't there a song in the 90s called Back to Good?)
But for anyone who needs something more concrete than all that, this final week brought me a new best friend. His name is Sinbad. Such an awesome way to end all this.
Let me say that again. I researched.
Me. The lazy poet. The lazy writer. She who makes things up because she is also the she who does not do research. She did. Me did. I did!
I workshopped with my artist friend. That lead me to figure out how to set up a new order for my poems and where I need more.
I listened to back episodes of both Golden Walkman Magazine and The Other Stories. Give a listen when you have a moment. I also listened to Two Dope Queens, not that that has anything to do with sabbaticalling other than I had time to listen to it.
I went to the Public Art Fund exhibit at Metro Tech Commons with S. Hank Willis Thomas's The Truth Is I See You stretches out along the walking path. A line of poetry appears in either a conversation or thought bubble attached to a lamppost. Each line is in English on one side and in another language on the other side. The pole has a sign that says the language and how to say the phrase phonetically. Poetry is art. Art is poetry.
 |
| Cranes can talk, too. |
And since this past Monday was the last day of the Spring semester, my sabbatical is now over. I don't have a final full collection published to show as an outcome. I don't have something that recognizable or tangible. I mean, I have poems. A lot of poems. Those are tangible. But the overall outcome of what I got from sabbatical is not something anyone can hold. The experience, the being in it and doing the everything in it and the savoring the ability to be able to do it, is the best outcome here. Passion for reading -- reignited. Passion for writing -- reignited. Passion for going out in the world to do lit and art related things -- reignited.
I'm not exhausted or fuming. I'm exhilarated. I'm not saying that returning to teaching will make me exhausted or fuming. I'm saying that the years of teaching, and dealing with all the politics that come with it, had brought me to a brink of sorts. Sabbatical allowed me to decompress, revisit the core of who I am, what I do, and what I'm capable of doing, and now I'm back to good. (Side note: Wasn't there a song in the 90s called Back to Good?)
But for anyone who needs something more concrete than all that, this final week brought me a new best friend. His name is Sinbad. Such an awesome way to end all this.
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Sabbaticalling: Weekly Roundup #19
As the end fast approaches, my sabbaticalling has revved up in an attempt to squeeze out every final moment of non-teaching time. My new focus on astro-stuff propelled me forward into all kinds of progress.
Reading-wise, I finished reading a poetry collection and read some works in a few journals I got in the mail. Sometimes when I submit to a contest, I pay the fee so that I also get a subscription. That's really the only kind of payment-to-submit I'm comfortable with. I now have two journals sitting in my living room that I can read through and choose to keep or give away when I'm finished. Also, and I think I've never mentioned this before, I read through online journals as part of my submission process. Whenever I submit to a new journal, I read it first. That's why maybe two submissions can take hours. So I read lots of new and different journals.
Which means I submitted to journals this week. I also found some new paying journals to add to my list of to-submit, and I updated my submission/acceptance/rejection tracking. I had a few poems accepted recently, which lead to the task of withdrawing from other journals.
I wrote a lot. I revised a lot. I tore apart the Astronaut collection. The creatures and critters are on the backburner for now. I workshopped with my artist friend, and that helped lead me to saying what I kind of already knew--the creatures and critters collection is not going to work as a traditional poetry collection, so as I write and revise those poems, I have to think about how I'm going to present them as a whole. So while that simmers, space is the place. The bulk of my writing this week was spent over the course of five days writing and revising a giant erasure poem based on Solaris. Well, it started out as a strict erasure poem, but now, it's kind of erasure and then reorganized. Perhaps now it's a found poem. I don't know. Eddie read it and said it's a poem about space, so that's a good start. It's recognizable as both.
Additionally, I went back and forth with my online poetry feedback group. We have a second Sunday of the month deadline for sending feedback and submitting a new poem, but that sometimes doesn't go as planned, mostly because realizing it's the second Sunday usually happens as a surprise. I don't know why it's surprising. We all know how to use a calendar.
I watched Home as part of my space exploration. It's an animated movie. For children. I love sabbaticalling.
I listened to two literary podcasts that I recently found. One is The Other Stories, which scores short stories and then offers an author interview. The other is Golden Walkman Magazine. I submitted to it and was accepted, and I'm catching up with the older issues now.
My getting out of the house came in the form of hosting a Poets in Nassau reading at Turn of the Corkscrew in RVC. Our Writers Raise A Glass series is going strong with some cross-genre features and an open mic that asks its participants to read one work by someone else along with their own work. I'm looking forward to finishing out the year hosting there. Then we'll see where I land after being back on the circuit as a host.
A touch of work came home to me this week as the 2016 issue of The Nassau Review arrived in the mail. I'm sabbaticalling not only from teaching but from all things working, which includes serving as Editor in Chief for the review. I left the task of getting it from layout to proofread to printer to the fiction editor, who is also my office mate and part-time trivia team member. And it's amazing. It made my heart sing. It did not make me want to return to work, but it did make me want to return to my office to hang out. That's a step in the right direction I suppose.
I have to go back. Not until September to teach, but I'll go back in August to prepare to teach and catch up on committee work and all things professorial.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The semester ends on Monday. Because that's when semesters should end--on the first day of the week. I think my sabbatical application goes through May, and I plan to keep on doing the kind of work I've been doing well into August. However, technically, a sabbatical is a break from the day to day task of being a college professor. That means, technically, my sabbatical ends on Monday, too. I might have a serious case of the Mondays when this weekend is over.
Reading-wise, I finished reading a poetry collection and read some works in a few journals I got in the mail. Sometimes when I submit to a contest, I pay the fee so that I also get a subscription. That's really the only kind of payment-to-submit I'm comfortable with. I now have two journals sitting in my living room that I can read through and choose to keep or give away when I'm finished. Also, and I think I've never mentioned this before, I read through online journals as part of my submission process. Whenever I submit to a new journal, I read it first. That's why maybe two submissions can take hours. So I read lots of new and different journals.
Which means I submitted to journals this week. I also found some new paying journals to add to my list of to-submit, and I updated my submission/acceptance/rejection tracking. I had a few poems accepted recently, which lead to the task of withdrawing from other journals.
I wrote a lot. I revised a lot. I tore apart the Astronaut collection. The creatures and critters are on the backburner for now. I workshopped with my artist friend, and that helped lead me to saying what I kind of already knew--the creatures and critters collection is not going to work as a traditional poetry collection, so as I write and revise those poems, I have to think about how I'm going to present them as a whole. So while that simmers, space is the place. The bulk of my writing this week was spent over the course of five days writing and revising a giant erasure poem based on Solaris. Well, it started out as a strict erasure poem, but now, it's kind of erasure and then reorganized. Perhaps now it's a found poem. I don't know. Eddie read it and said it's a poem about space, so that's a good start. It's recognizable as both.
Additionally, I went back and forth with my online poetry feedback group. We have a second Sunday of the month deadline for sending feedback and submitting a new poem, but that sometimes doesn't go as planned, mostly because realizing it's the second Sunday usually happens as a surprise. I don't know why it's surprising. We all know how to use a calendar.
I watched Home as part of my space exploration. It's an animated movie. For children. I love sabbaticalling.
I listened to two literary podcasts that I recently found. One is The Other Stories, which scores short stories and then offers an author interview. The other is Golden Walkman Magazine. I submitted to it and was accepted, and I'm catching up with the older issues now.
My getting out of the house came in the form of hosting a Poets in Nassau reading at Turn of the Corkscrew in RVC. Our Writers Raise A Glass series is going strong with some cross-genre features and an open mic that asks its participants to read one work by someone else along with their own work. I'm looking forward to finishing out the year hosting there. Then we'll see where I land after being back on the circuit as a host.
A touch of work came home to me this week as the 2016 issue of The Nassau Review arrived in the mail. I'm sabbaticalling not only from teaching but from all things working, which includes serving as Editor in Chief for the review. I left the task of getting it from layout to proofread to printer to the fiction editor, who is also my office mate and part-time trivia team member. And it's amazing. It made my heart sing. It did not make me want to return to work, but it did make me want to return to my office to hang out. That's a step in the right direction I suppose.
I have to go back. Not until September to teach, but I'll go back in August to prepare to teach and catch up on committee work and all things professorial.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The semester ends on Monday. Because that's when semesters should end--on the first day of the week. I think my sabbatical application goes through May, and I plan to keep on doing the kind of work I've been doing well into August. However, technically, a sabbatical is a break from the day to day task of being a college professor. That means, technically, my sabbatical ends on Monday, too. I might have a serious case of the Mondays when this weekend is over.
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Sabbaticalling: Weekly Roundup #18
Eighteen! My sabbatical is now a legal adult!
This week went back to semi-normal with more reading and writing. I finished reading one poetry collection and began reading another. I also read online a lot, lots of journals, some Tumblrs, daily poems, and random links.
Writing came in both prose and poetry. I finished up and submitted my April Poetry Has Value guest-post. That should appear any day now. Then I got to revising old poems, some that I didn't even remember writing. That's the best kind of revision; it's like giving feedback on someone else's poem. Sometimes I'm like, Oooh! I wrote that! That's so good! Most of the time, though, I'm like, What? Huh? What does that even mean? Then I wrote some new almost-poems, though I think what I wrote is stealing from other poems I wrote at the beginning of my sabbatical. Does that mean it's over? I've come full circle? I've nothing left? Well, sabbatical is almost over, but I do have a lot left to do.
The a lot left to do is because of my change of course for Liberating The Astronauts. I'm now focusing on space. The fairies, nymphs, and gnomes have allowed me to give the astronauts some time off, and now that I've returned, my focus is on space. I do have a mermaid on the moon poem (entitled "Mermaid On The Moon" because I'm really creative), so that kind of allows me to move back and forth between the two collections. And the creature/critter poems may not be a full collection after all. They may find their separate ways into different collections or simply individual publications or just hang out on my laptop for eternity. In the meanwhile, the focus is on space and liberation.
So I watched Gravity. It was neither good nor bad. It was short. Like barely an hour and a half. But it was a good start. I made a list of movies I want to watch: Home, Stardust, Paycheck, Serenity (2005), Paradox (2016), Time Lapse (2014), Earth to Echo, Time Line, Upside Down (2012), The Martian, Interstellar, Starman, Barbarella, and The Day The Earth Stood Still. Then I'm going to rewatch Blade Runner, Space Camp, 2001, 2010, Contact, Men In Black, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Space Balls. Some of these are about space. Some of them are space-adjacent. Some are simply guilty pleasure. I also started following some space-related sci-fi artwork accounts on Tumblr, some of which show book covers for books that I will then read or skim.
I'm also going to create erasure poems from Stanislaw Lem's Solaris. Like, the whole thing. Maybe.
After planning all this, I submitted to journals and a reading series. To top off the week, I met up with my brother to see the Warhol exhibit at The Morgan Library. The show is about his books and book cover art (because it's a library), and you're not supposed to take pictures. I took covert pictures. My brother kept walking away from me whenever I did. They are very artsy because they were taken at weird angles. I'm so artsy. However, since I'm not supposed to take photos, I'm not sharing them here so that I don't get arrested.
There were other people who were taking photos non-covertly. They were getting yelled at by security. One woman continued to take pictures and continued to get yelled at. I overheard her telling her friends, What's his problem? These pictures are for educational purposes! I'm all for teachers, of course, but I also understand the rules of copyright, and being an educator doesn't mean you get to break the rules. Plus, showing your students pictures on your phone really doesn't make for a Warhol experience. Buy the book. Or take covert pictures and teach your students something really useful.
The only thing security told me was that I needed to put my coat back on or check it. I put my coat back on.
We also saw the photography exhibit across the hall. We were allowed to take pictures, so my brother didn't pretend to not know me. We liked a lot of the show, but there was this one photo that involved a rock and a cactus and a ruler and we were like, What the?
Two serendipitous instances:
1. Sophie Calle is part of the exhibit and she's one of my favorite artists in the history of art. She includes a lot of writing in her art, and that's probably why I love her so much.
2. There were space things!
We checked out the second floor exhibit while we were there. It was pastel drawings, many of heads that were numbered into the hundreds. The wallpaper was the stunning part, but I have no record of that. We were a bit taken with the heads.
To end the night, NYC's skies confirmed that space is the place I need to be poetically.
This week went back to semi-normal with more reading and writing. I finished reading one poetry collection and began reading another. I also read online a lot, lots of journals, some Tumblrs, daily poems, and random links.
Writing came in both prose and poetry. I finished up and submitted my April Poetry Has Value guest-post. That should appear any day now. Then I got to revising old poems, some that I didn't even remember writing. That's the best kind of revision; it's like giving feedback on someone else's poem. Sometimes I'm like, Oooh! I wrote that! That's so good! Most of the time, though, I'm like, What? Huh? What does that even mean? Then I wrote some new almost-poems, though I think what I wrote is stealing from other poems I wrote at the beginning of my sabbatical. Does that mean it's over? I've come full circle? I've nothing left? Well, sabbatical is almost over, but I do have a lot left to do.
The a lot left to do is because of my change of course for Liberating The Astronauts. I'm now focusing on space. The fairies, nymphs, and gnomes have allowed me to give the astronauts some time off, and now that I've returned, my focus is on space. I do have a mermaid on the moon poem (entitled "Mermaid On The Moon" because I'm really creative), so that kind of allows me to move back and forth between the two collections. And the creature/critter poems may not be a full collection after all. They may find their separate ways into different collections or simply individual publications or just hang out on my laptop for eternity. In the meanwhile, the focus is on space and liberation.
So I watched Gravity. It was neither good nor bad. It was short. Like barely an hour and a half. But it was a good start. I made a list of movies I want to watch: Home, Stardust, Paycheck, Serenity (2005), Paradox (2016), Time Lapse (2014), Earth to Echo, Time Line, Upside Down (2012), The Martian, Interstellar, Starman, Barbarella, and The Day The Earth Stood Still. Then I'm going to rewatch Blade Runner, Space Camp, 2001, 2010, Contact, Men In Black, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Space Balls. Some of these are about space. Some of them are space-adjacent. Some are simply guilty pleasure. I also started following some space-related sci-fi artwork accounts on Tumblr, some of which show book covers for books that I will then read or skim.
I'm also going to create erasure poems from Stanislaw Lem's Solaris. Like, the whole thing. Maybe.
After planning all this, I submitted to journals and a reading series. To top off the week, I met up with my brother to see the Warhol exhibit at The Morgan Library. The show is about his books and book cover art (because it's a library), and you're not supposed to take pictures. I took covert pictures. My brother kept walking away from me whenever I did. They are very artsy because they were taken at weird angles. I'm so artsy. However, since I'm not supposed to take photos, I'm not sharing them here so that I don't get arrested.
There were other people who were taking photos non-covertly. They were getting yelled at by security. One woman continued to take pictures and continued to get yelled at. I overheard her telling her friends, What's his problem? These pictures are for educational purposes! I'm all for teachers, of course, but I also understand the rules of copyright, and being an educator doesn't mean you get to break the rules. Plus, showing your students pictures on your phone really doesn't make for a Warhol experience. Buy the book. Or take covert pictures and teach your students something really useful.
The only thing security told me was that I needed to put my coat back on or check it. I put my coat back on.
We also saw the photography exhibit across the hall. We were allowed to take pictures, so my brother didn't pretend to not know me. We liked a lot of the show, but there was this one photo that involved a rock and a cactus and a ruler and we were like, What the?
Two serendipitous instances:
1. Sophie Calle is part of the exhibit and she's one of my favorite artists in the history of art. She includes a lot of writing in her art, and that's probably why I love her so much.
2. There were space things!
To end the night, NYC's skies confirmed that space is the place I need to be poetically.
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Sabbaticalling: Weekly Roundup #15
It all started with an afternoon poetry reading on Sunday. My workshop friend gave her final public musical performance, so I went along to listen. There were some main featured poets who read and also an open mic. There was also an interpretive dance to "Eye of the Tiger." Whole song. Start to finish. Yep, that happened. It was pretty amazing.
Monday night I hosted the Poets In Nassau reading Writers Raise A Glass at Turn of the Corkscrew. It's usually a cross-genre reading, but since April is poetry month, I slotted five poets and had an open mic. I asked all the poets and open mic readers to read at least one poem by someone else. I loved how it went, so I'm making that a thing for open mic moving forward. Everyone has to read a little something by someone else. We get to see other people's reading habits. I've been posted Suggested Poems For Today on the Poets In Nassau group page on FB, and I'm going to keep doing it because I like it and others seem to like it, too.
Wednesday morning was workshop day where I gushed to my friend about her performance. We then did some poetry workshopping, which led me to revise a bunch of poems, and write some more. Then that night, I participated in a Beat Voices reading. I read a poem by Diane DiPrima and a poem by Anne Waldman. Then I read two of my own "beat" poems that I wrote probably sixteen years ago when I thought I was beat. They were okay. They weren't bad, but they weren't great. Still, that's the only beat stuff I have, so it worked. I found out at that reading that the music stand I'd donated to Sip This is kinda broken. Actually, thinking about it now, it might not have been the stand I donated. Perhaps someone took the one I donated and replaced it with this one because this one was wobbly and moved on its own. Whatever the case, it was a fun night of Beatific poetry, even though the host's camera died. I took moody pics, though, and shared with him to commemorate the event.
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| Moody selfie. So beat. |
The event-going ended on Saturday where I participated on a panel for Reading Poetry Aloud. There were three of us on the panel. There were three people in the audience. So we wound up having an informal chat about readings and hosting and how to navigate the local scene and how groups can support each other. I got an awesome sticky-note pad for my participation, and given that I love office supplies, I was elated. Eddie also loves office supplies, but this is mine, all mine.
In the interim of going out, I did some necessary staying-in work. I finished reading a non-fiction essay collection, and began both a novel and a poetry collection. Then I read through some old and new selections in Flapperhouse, Electric Literature, The Toast, Booth, Okey-Panky, McSweeney's and Queen Mob's Tea House. I listened to one more episode This Podcast Will Change Your Life, and then decided it's not quite what I want to listen to. The early episodes are difficult to hear, and I'm not sure if the quality gets better, but I don't want to be challenged to listen to something, especially when I'm driving, which is when I do most of my listening. I also listened to Catapult and PoemTalk, both of which had new episodes.
The most blogging I did was writing this. Instead, I worked more on my website, which is now fully functional. Save the blogging. Obviously, I'm still here to blog. Giving it a few more weeks. Or months. Change is bad!
I wrote a lot this week. I usually write during readings. It's not rude. I encourage everyone to do it. I revised a lot, too. Then I exchanged feedback with my online poetry workshop. That led to some submitting, both my full manuscript and individual poems.
On the business side, I updated my submission tracking sheets and my email list. I continued to plan a few readings and got myself invited to another reading someone else runs.
All this activity means I'm killin' it sabbatical-wise. I'm also very tired, but it's the good kind of tire. It's the poetic kind of tired. It's the freelance writer kind of tired. Plus with all this running around, Project Pants Fit should see some benefits. I'm using today to unwind a bit, maybe read a little, because this upcoming week is just as eventful. I figure I'll be going out a lot until the end of April when we poets all get to take a collective breath.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Sabbaticalling: Weekly Roundup #14
I went outside into the world twice this week. Like I mean out out.
1. I read for First Tuesdays as the feature at Terraza 7 Cafe in Queens. That's right. Crossed the county line and everything. It was a great gig for a really supportive and fun crowd.
2. I went to the Whitney Museum to see two exhibits. The new location necessitates lots of walking, which is beneficial for Project Pants Fit. Also beneficial was taking the stairs throughout the museum instead of waiting for the elevator. Waiting for a museum elevator is like waiting for Godot, except that, well, I have no idea what Waiting For Godot is about, so really, I wrote it because it sounds like it's probably true. (Sidenote: I fuzzily remember S reading it for a college class when I visited her in Boston. I could be making this up.)
So far, I have no signs of having picked up any kind of illness from any kind of germy tissue-carrying man on the subway. Hooray.
Another out was workshopping with my artist friend. I got some good ideas for reworking some of the newer poems I wrote. I wrote and revised a bunch of poems this week both before and after workshop. I also submitted to a bunch of journals and updated my tracking spreadsheet for submissions and places to read.
After months of back and forth emails and planning, I finally finalized the first phase of setting up a reading for some Dancing Girl Press poets. I also kept planning some Poets In Nassau events. More on all of those as they develop.
Between getting out, I read. I finished a novel, began a non-fiction collection, and checked out Blunderbuss, Flapperhouse, Electric Literature, The Toast, and Fence. Then I listened to a podcast I found that's new for me but has been around for years called This Podcast Will Change Your Life. I also listened to Serial and I realized that listening to Serial really is part of my sabbatical because it really shows how to put together a stellar podcast in addition to how to tell a story from different points of view in different ways without it feeling scattered or getting confusing. So there. Sabbaticalled!
I blogged a bit--I Am Blogging Now--and then updated most of the pages of this blog to redirect to my new website. I'm almost there with the new site. I've added a bunch of pages, and once I get the podcast going (oh, yeah, I should keep working on that and not think it will create itself), I'll be able to link that there, too. I need to make the jump from here to there for blogging eventually. Right now, ooh, blogger, it's my home and I can't move right now.
A lot of the work I completed this week took place at my new desk.
As part of Project Pants Fit, I want to stand more. So instead of purchasing a desk that can go up and down electronically with the option of a treadmill below it, Eddie made me a desk out of a cardboard box. I stand at it and dance to the radio as I type. It's an excellent addition to Project Pants Fit as well as my home office decor, even if it's not exactly in my office and is in my kitchen.
1. I read for First Tuesdays as the feature at Terraza 7 Cafe in Queens. That's right. Crossed the county line and everything. It was a great gig for a really supportive and fun crowd.
2. I went to the Whitney Museum to see two exhibits. The new location necessitates lots of walking, which is beneficial for Project Pants Fit. Also beneficial was taking the stairs throughout the museum instead of waiting for the elevator. Waiting for a museum elevator is like waiting for Godot, except that, well, I have no idea what Waiting For Godot is about, so really, I wrote it because it sounds like it's probably true. (Sidenote: I fuzzily remember S reading it for a college class when I visited her in Boston. I could be making this up.)
So far, I have no signs of having picked up any kind of illness from any kind of germy tissue-carrying man on the subway. Hooray.
Another out was workshopping with my artist friend. I got some good ideas for reworking some of the newer poems I wrote. I wrote and revised a bunch of poems this week both before and after workshop. I also submitted to a bunch of journals and updated my tracking spreadsheet for submissions and places to read.
After months of back and forth emails and planning, I finally finalized the first phase of setting up a reading for some Dancing Girl Press poets. I also kept planning some Poets In Nassau events. More on all of those as they develop.
Between getting out, I read. I finished a novel, began a non-fiction collection, and checked out Blunderbuss, Flapperhouse, Electric Literature, The Toast, and Fence. Then I listened to a podcast I found that's new for me but has been around for years called This Podcast Will Change Your Life. I also listened to Serial and I realized that listening to Serial really is part of my sabbatical because it really shows how to put together a stellar podcast in addition to how to tell a story from different points of view in different ways without it feeling scattered or getting confusing. So there. Sabbaticalled!
I blogged a bit--I Am Blogging Now--and then updated most of the pages of this blog to redirect to my new website. I'm almost there with the new site. I've added a bunch of pages, and once I get the podcast going (oh, yeah, I should keep working on that and not think it will create itself), I'll be able to link that there, too. I need to make the jump from here to there for blogging eventually. Right now, ooh, blogger, it's my home and I can't move right now.
A lot of the work I completed this week took place at my new desk.
As part of Project Pants Fit, I want to stand more. So instead of purchasing a desk that can go up and down electronically with the option of a treadmill below it, Eddie made me a desk out of a cardboard box. I stand at it and dance to the radio as I type. It's an excellent addition to Project Pants Fit as well as my home office decor, even if it's not exactly in my office and is in my kitchen.
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Who Knows Harry Potter?
I don't know Harry Potter. Trivia this month was all about Harry Potter, and I haven't read or seen a movie in more than a few years. I did what I do best concerning all kinds of trivia: I put the team together. This month's team was SD and B, my officemates. We didn't do so hot during movie trivia, but in not coming in last, we had a glimmer of hope here. Also, SD has listened to the books several times during long car rides, so this was all her wheelhouse.
The night before trivia, I went onto Goodreads and took all the Harry Potter quizzes I could find. I earned 2 out of 10 and 7 out of 20. Things were not looking too swell for me, so I did what any teacher nerd would do: I took notes. Then, because I'm really a teacher nerd, I made a study guide from my notes.
I went to trivia early the next night to get in some studying time. B was already there, studying from her own notes that she took while re-watching the movies. That meant SD had books covered, B had movies, and I had random notes that I couldn't remember. Sweet. SD showed up soon after and we were all ready, really psyched about our chances. Until two teams walked in dressed in Harry Potter attire. Then I pointed out that the rest of the teams were quite a bit younger than we are, meaning they probably had more Harry Potter in their lives during more impressionable times. As trivia began and we were called upon to show our answers rather quickly, I suggested that perhaps our team should get more time because we were older, and therefore, we have more stuff in our brains to sift through to get to the answer. That did not happen mostly because I didn't suggest it to anyone other than my teammates, who by the way concurred.
There was a written portion, again, and something about being able to write answers down for a lot of questions all at once speaks to me more than answering one at a time. Not that I knew any of the answers. I tried, though, by doing things like pointing at a quote and saying things like, That sounds like something Dumbledore would say. See? Helpful.
There were two questions that related directly to things I had written down and discussed with my team right before starting. So all that study guide making had come in handy for two solid points.
And in the end, we did not come in second to last. We did not come in last. We tied for 6th place. 6th! Things are looking up.
The night before trivia, I went onto Goodreads and took all the Harry Potter quizzes I could find. I earned 2 out of 10 and 7 out of 20. Things were not looking too swell for me, so I did what any teacher nerd would do: I took notes. Then, because I'm really a teacher nerd, I made a study guide from my notes.
There was a written portion, again, and something about being able to write answers down for a lot of questions all at once speaks to me more than answering one at a time. Not that I knew any of the answers. I tried, though, by doing things like pointing at a quote and saying things like, That sounds like something Dumbledore would say. See? Helpful.
There were two questions that related directly to things I had written down and discussed with my team right before starting. So all that study guide making had come in handy for two solid points.
And in the end, we did not come in second to last. We did not come in last. We tied for 6th place. 6th! Things are looking up.
Friday, April 1, 2016
Sabbaticalling: Weekly Roundup #13
Every time I write one of these posts, I cringe a little. The number keeps going up, which means my sabbatical is dwindling down. I've started to get a little burned out, a little restless, because of all the sitting. My pants fit differently. The positive side of teaching where I teach is that four days a week, I'm walking across campus several times a day, and then standing and walking and sitting and standing and walking as I teach, so there's a lot more movement. In exchange for movement, I've read more books than ever and I'm writing more poetry than I ever thought I could after graduating my MFA program. An even exchange, sure, but I'd like to fit into my pants.
The first day and a half of my week was dedicated to a freelance gig for reviewing materials about literature. Totally in my element. Lots of proofreading. Lots of editing. Lots of suggestions for analysis. Lots of nerdy reading and writing. This kind of writing was a nice break from the creative stuff. It really cleared my head.
Also within the first day and a half of my week, I went to Harry Potter Trivia. Also very literary. My team tied for 6th place. This is what sabbatical is for.
I read a poetry collection this week that I thought would be about gnomes but it wasn't really about gnomes. I also read Blunderbuss, Flapperhouse, Electric Literature, Booth, The Toast, McSweeney’s, and The Paris Review. Then I listened to the most recent episode of The Catapult (and man! Corinne Manning! amazing!). I went to the library and picked up two novels and a non-fiction book, and I have a stack of poetry collections one of my friends gave to me to read and then give away. Lots of reading coming up soon.
More writing: some poems (and then organizing notes to write future poems) and blog posts for here and for Poetry Has Value's March edition (coming soon). I also wrote some samples to apply for a freelance gig that entails writing about books. I mean, come on! I also started doodling down some ideas for this podcast I have in mind. I have a Soundcloud account and an email account for it. So far, so good. Now the actual planning and writing of it needs to happen.
Some journal submissions--one to a journal that I'd submitted to a while back that I found out never got my submission in the first place, and then I found out another journal also never got my submission, so I'm left wondering how many submissions are not landing anywhere to be read--and a MS submission to a press.
I got some poems accepted to some journals--yeay!--which is how I found out that some other journals have no record of my submissions. I wrote to them to withdraw the simultaneously submitted poems, and they were like, Who are you and what are you talking about?, in a nicer way.
Heehee--sidenote--that totally reminds me of the time my mother called me and was like, Your bike is here. And I was like, What? And she was like, Your BIKE. Is HERE! And I was like, I have no idea of what you're talking about right now. (I'm aware that maybe three people aside from myself will find this Hil. Air. Eee. Us. and I'm okay with that).
The new website is coming along. It's live, so you can go see it. Feel free to email me suggestions. I'm slowly bringing everything over there. But my blog? Do I blog there? Oooh, decisions!
For the rest of today and the weekend, I'll be reading and submitting and writing in between Ranger games and errands and time with Eddie and the fam. And working out hard core. I really don't want to buy new pants.
The first day and a half of my week was dedicated to a freelance gig for reviewing materials about literature. Totally in my element. Lots of proofreading. Lots of editing. Lots of suggestions for analysis. Lots of nerdy reading and writing. This kind of writing was a nice break from the creative stuff. It really cleared my head.
Also within the first day and a half of my week, I went to Harry Potter Trivia. Also very literary. My team tied for 6th place. This is what sabbatical is for.
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| This was in the library parking lot. For convenience, I suppose. |
More writing: some poems (and then organizing notes to write future poems) and blog posts for here and for Poetry Has Value's March edition (coming soon). I also wrote some samples to apply for a freelance gig that entails writing about books. I mean, come on! I also started doodling down some ideas for this podcast I have in mind. I have a Soundcloud account and an email account for it. So far, so good. Now the actual planning and writing of it needs to happen.
Some journal submissions--one to a journal that I'd submitted to a while back that I found out never got my submission in the first place, and then I found out another journal also never got my submission, so I'm left wondering how many submissions are not landing anywhere to be read--and a MS submission to a press.
I got some poems accepted to some journals--yeay!--which is how I found out that some other journals have no record of my submissions. I wrote to them to withdraw the simultaneously submitted poems, and they were like, Who are you and what are you talking about?, in a nicer way.
Heehee--sidenote--that totally reminds me of the time my mother called me and was like, Your bike is here. And I was like, What? And she was like, Your BIKE. Is HERE! And I was like, I have no idea of what you're talking about right now. (I'm aware that maybe three people aside from myself will find this Hil. Air. Eee. Us. and I'm okay with that).
The new website is coming along. It's live, so you can go see it. Feel free to email me suggestions. I'm slowly bringing everything over there. But my blog? Do I blog there? Oooh, decisions!
For the rest of today and the weekend, I'll be reading and submitting and writing in between Ranger games and errands and time with Eddie and the fam. And working out hard core. I really don't want to buy new pants.
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Sabbaticalling: Weekly Roundup #12
We'll jump right in here:
I finished the short novel that was taking me pretty long to read. I also made a trip to the library and stayed for three hours, reading up a storm about fairies and elves and gnomes and garden gnomes, which are NOT the same thing. Online it was all about Fence, Blunderbuss, Flapperhouse, Queen Mob's Tea House, Electric Literature, The Toast, McSweeney’s, and The Paris Review. Then I listened to the last third of the most recent episode of The Catapult.
I submitted both prose and poetry to websites and journals. The prose got immediately rejected from two places, but I'm waiting on a third. The poetry did not get immediately rejected, though I did receive a few rejections from older submissions. I also received an acceptance, so that evens it out cosmically.
After workshopping with my artist friend this week, I revised some poems. I didn't write any new ones. Research, note-taking, and revising were more my speed this week.
I got the educational freelance gig I applied for last week, so I spent some time this week doing business stuff like printing and signing and scanning contracts for this gig and for the reading I'm doing in CT next month. I also worked on planning some new Poets in Nassau readings and some more of my own.
Staying in my house for the most part has been wonderful. I like staying at home. I rarely get antsy. That means when I get out in the world, it gets to be overwhelming. There are people everywhere! I read for Flapperhouse at the Pacific Standard with a wonderful line-up of writers, and the room had other people in it, and there were people in the bar and people on the street and people everywhere, walking, driving, standing, breathing. Like, lots of people. These were all nice people. At least the ones I met were.
Probably the most out-of-the-ordinary thing I did this week was buy a domain name and start building a website. I enrolled in a free Coursera course about website building, and it shows a lot of step-by-step planning for building something on Wordpress. I'm already familiar with Wordpress as a blogging site--because I'm a blogger--so I jumped in and did it. Pretty soon, all my info will be up at christinamrau.com. I don't know if I'll keep blogging here or move it totally to there. I mean, I've been blogging on Blogger since 2005, first with Livin' The Dream and now this. Moving out of here completely would be pretty interesting. Terrifying. But also interesting. We'll see how it goes.
I finished the short novel that was taking me pretty long to read. I also made a trip to the library and stayed for three hours, reading up a storm about fairies and elves and gnomes and garden gnomes, which are NOT the same thing. Online it was all about Fence, Blunderbuss, Flapperhouse, Queen Mob's Tea House, Electric Literature, The Toast, McSweeney’s, and The Paris Review. Then I listened to the last third of the most recent episode of The Catapult.
I submitted both prose and poetry to websites and journals. The prose got immediately rejected from two places, but I'm waiting on a third. The poetry did not get immediately rejected, though I did receive a few rejections from older submissions. I also received an acceptance, so that evens it out cosmically.
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| Photo by Kaeti Wigeland. During workshop. |
I got the educational freelance gig I applied for last week, so I spent some time this week doing business stuff like printing and signing and scanning contracts for this gig and for the reading I'm doing in CT next month. I also worked on planning some new Poets in Nassau readings and some more of my own.
Staying in my house for the most part has been wonderful. I like staying at home. I rarely get antsy. That means when I get out in the world, it gets to be overwhelming. There are people everywhere! I read for Flapperhouse at the Pacific Standard with a wonderful line-up of writers, and the room had other people in it, and there were people in the bar and people on the street and people everywhere, walking, driving, standing, breathing. Like, lots of people. These were all nice people. At least the ones I met were.
Probably the most out-of-the-ordinary thing I did this week was buy a domain name and start building a website. I enrolled in a free Coursera course about website building, and it shows a lot of step-by-step planning for building something on Wordpress. I'm already familiar with Wordpress as a blogging site--because I'm a blogger--so I jumped in and did it. Pretty soon, all my info will be up at christinamrau.com. I don't know if I'll keep blogging here or move it totally to there. I mean, I've been blogging on Blogger since 2005, first with Livin' The Dream and now this. Moving out of here completely would be pretty interesting. Terrifying. But also interesting. We'll see how it goes.
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Sabbaticalling: Weekly Roundup #11
The Great Germ Infestation of 2016 posed a challenge, (I haven't been sick like this since that terrible case of Casino Cough, but this thankfully hasn't been quite as severe) so this week's plans of 4-dollar-Zumba and poetry readings and live music fell very short (like me!). I stayed in my house in comfy pants, venturing out twice only--once to buy laundry detergent on sale from the CVS and once to return library books that were due. No Ides of March celebration. No St. Patrick's Day cheer. Only me and my throat lozenges and my tissue box on the couch. Everything I had to do sabbatical-wise was doable--sitting, reading, writing--so I still got stuff done.
I read a poetry chapbook, a full poetry collection, and more of a very short novel that has no chapters so it's proving a bit difficult to get through. I also read poetry, listicles (which is a thing), articles of inspiration, fiction, and non-fiction on Booth, Blunderbuss, Flapperhouse, The Toast, McSweeney’s, and The Paris Review. Then I listened to 2/3 of the new episode of The Catapult.
I planned to read more. Added to the books I plan to read at Poets House. Began a new list of books relating to fairy tale critters at the local library.
I submitted prose pieces and poems to websites and journals. I queried and submitted Liberating The Astronauts to presses. I updated my writing resume and applied for a freelance writing gig concerning educational materials in literature.
I wrote a lot. Lots of poems. A few prose pieces. Some blog posts. Then revised the poems I wrote. Then I emailed back and forth with my online workshop to revise an older poem.
On the business side, I continued to plan some Poets In Nassau readings. Then I followed up with some readings I'll be doing for two different colleges in Connecticut. Crossing the state line. So much like Kerouac (except for everything). I also made a plan for creating a new website for myself. Shhh, don't tell Blogger.
So despite fighting through a nasty cold, sabbaticalling was pretty successful.
I read a poetry chapbook, a full poetry collection, and more of a very short novel that has no chapters so it's proving a bit difficult to get through. I also read poetry, listicles (which is a thing), articles of inspiration, fiction, and non-fiction on Booth, Blunderbuss, Flapperhouse, The Toast, McSweeney’s, and The Paris Review. Then I listened to 2/3 of the new episode of The Catapult.
I planned to read more. Added to the books I plan to read at Poets House. Began a new list of books relating to fairy tale critters at the local library.
I submitted prose pieces and poems to websites and journals. I queried and submitted Liberating The Astronauts to presses. I updated my writing resume and applied for a freelance writing gig concerning educational materials in literature.
I wrote a lot. Lots of poems. A few prose pieces. Some blog posts. Then revised the poems I wrote. Then I emailed back and forth with my online workshop to revise an older poem.
On the business side, I continued to plan some Poets In Nassau readings. Then I followed up with some readings I'll be doing for two different colleges in Connecticut. Crossing the state line. So much like Kerouac (except for everything). I also made a plan for creating a new website for myself. Shhh, don't tell Blogger.
So despite fighting through a nasty cold, sabbaticalling was pretty successful.
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Sabbaticalling: Weekly Roundup #10
After returning from the mountains (more on that later in the week), I found myself feeling behind in all things sabbaticalling. I’m not really behind in anything. According to Goodreads, I’m actually ahead of my reading schedule (Goodreads allows you to set a reading goal of how many books you want to read in a year and then keeps track of how many you’ve read, letting you know if you’re averaging ahead or behind schedule. My goal this year is 80. I’m about five books ahead of schedule). This week, I focused back on writing, planning reading events, and submitting.
I did read, though. I finished the young adult novel, started a new novel on the shorter side, thumbed through the poetry collection I’ve been almost-reading again, and finished doing research from my encyclopedia of faeries.
Additionally, I read online: Fence, Blunderbuss, Flapperhouse, The Toast, McSweeney’s, and The Paris Review. Lots of poetry, short fiction, non-fiction, and, again, oddities to peruse.
Submitting came in all forms. I submitted individual poems to a journal. I submitted Liberating the Astronauts to two presses. I submitted a prose piece to a website. I also applied for a freelance gig that involves writing clues and questions for a board game about 80s movies. Since my trivia skills are so incredibly powerful, especially concerning movies, I figured this gig is perfect for me.
Workshop came back this week, but instead of going over individual work, we focused on overall goals. We also discussed my reading style and how I can make more of a memorable presence. This discussion came right before the At The Inkwell reading at KGB Bar that night.
The night of the reading was that typical winter day, you know, the one when it was still 70 degrees in the city after the sun went down. Ha! It was like summer. By the time I got into the city, the temperature had been lingering around 80 all day, so I in my riding boots was having a fun time zig-zagging downtown on sidewalks and trains. When I got to 2nd Ave, I walked a block in the completely wrong direction because that’s just how I roll.
Also how I roll: I walked so hard and so fast in my riding boots and a shrug, that I had to take off the shrug, realizing it was the aforementioned 70 degrees outside (it had been cooler on the island). Block by block, I passed outdoor seated dining. People were everywhere. It was summer in March! I loved the buzz.
I got to KGB to find a very steep set of stairs outside. I climbed them. I got inside. There was yet another steep set of stairs. I climbed them.
Quiz Time!
By the time I got to the first landing up the stairs at KGB Bar, was I:
(a) shivering from the A/C
(b) feeling fresh as a spring dove or whatever kind of season and animal seems freshest to you
(c) sweating
If you chose (C), congratulations! You win the happiness that comes with knowing you know me well.
If you did not choose (C), then you need to pay attention more. I sweat for no reason at all, so if you think I didn’t sweat after a brisk five city blocks in riding boots in 70 degree weather, you need to reevaluate your reading retention skills.
Luckily, the bathroom was at the first landing, so I was able to cool down and stop sweating before entering the room where the reading was.
Upon entering the room where the reading was, I began sweating because there were about 50 people in a room the size of a closet. I maneuvered my way to the bar to get some water. Then I got myself to a table, introduced myself to a woman who I thought was reading that night (she was—I have good poet-detection skills) and sat with her and her posse the rest of the night.
I introduced myself to anyone I saw whose face I recognized from our program. All networking would be easier if life came with a program filled with headshots. Of course, in my photo, I have my hair up and I’m wearing a tiara, so, maybe not exactly easy, but still, easier than not having any photos at all.
The night’s reading showcased eight poets. Usually, something like this would go over by an hour and a half and weird things would happen. This time, everyone stuck to their time limit, read some amazing work, and nothing weird happened. Seriously. Nothing weird. Or maybe I was the weirdo. My portion didn’t go spectacularly as this was a completely different crowd from what I’m used to, but I was myself and I read from several different collections, so I figured I was entertaining. At least I entertained myself. And I wasn’t sweating by the time I read, so that was a plus.
On a Small World note: about two weeks ago, I received an email from an editor at Broadstone, rejecting my manuscript. It was a great email, and I'd emailed him back. He was at KGB because one of the other readers has a book out published by Broadstone. He introduced himself to me and we chatted a while. What a nice guy! So even in rejection, there's something positive.
The night had cooled off only a little by the time the reading was over, so walking back to the train was just as energetic with the sidewalk diners still out and about. The train back to Penn wasn’t as crowded, though there was a lot of waiting at 14th when I decided to change from the F to the ACE to get directly into Penn instead of having to walk. Still, this was better than the ride the other way during which I stood next to a man who got on the train with a dirty tissue in hand and then stood in such a way so that my head was directly in his arm pit. Gotta love public transportation.
A huge plus of train riding is the time you have on the train to get things done. I wrote. Though the train can be bumpy, I can still write neatly enough to go back later and see what I’ve written. So I wrote poems. Several. Later on in the week, I revised them. I wrote more.
Then I revised the overall organization of Liberating The Astronauts. Yes, I’ve been submitting it. Yes, I thought it was done. Then I saw that I really wanted to re-do the whole order, so now it’s actually done again. Until I change something else.
Ooh! In changing the order, I got all bold with Word and taught myself how to insert a TOC without manually typing it. It did change how my titles are spaced, but it looks so much better than when it’s done manually.
I blogged. I’m blogging. I’m a blogger.
I got some rejections, including one for the prose piece I sent at the beginning of the week. As a counter balance, I received payment for an upcoming publication of poems. It’s a tiny payment, but it still more than what I started with.
Throughout the week, I worked on planning a reading for Poets In Nassau, updating the event page for the reading I’m hosting for that group on Monday (if I’m able to host it…you’ll see), and then planning several readings for which I will be featuring. I sent out a mass of emails to colleges in the tri-state area to see if they’d want me to visit. Most haven’t responded, but all ya need is one to start. Also, someone emailed me and asked me to read somewhere I hadn’t even contacted, so things are looking up in the appearance department.
I’d planned to finish the novel I’m reading over the weekend, but instead, I found myself up at 3 AM on Saturday morning, unable to fall back asleep because I was unable to swallow. That germy subway guy with the tissue clearly shared his bug with me, so I’ve sat with my head feeling like it was going to explode and my throat in all kinds of scratchy terror for the weekend. I’m starting to take a turn having already ingested some zinc—that stuff does work—but it did put a huge damper on weekend plans of attending a free travel show during which I would’ve gathered up lots of free stuff and bowling. Bowling will always be there, but now I have to wait a year for the travel stuff.
Anyway, this is getting way off sabbaticalling. Hopefully, I’ll feel better for Monday’s reading to start my week off with an event. I want to go to as many more events as I can because now’s the time. Because it’s sabbatical time.
I did read, though. I finished the young adult novel, started a new novel on the shorter side, thumbed through the poetry collection I’ve been almost-reading again, and finished doing research from my encyclopedia of faeries.
Additionally, I read online: Fence, Blunderbuss, Flapperhouse, The Toast, McSweeney’s, and The Paris Review. Lots of poetry, short fiction, non-fiction, and, again, oddities to peruse.
Submitting came in all forms. I submitted individual poems to a journal. I submitted Liberating the Astronauts to two presses. I submitted a prose piece to a website. I also applied for a freelance gig that involves writing clues and questions for a board game about 80s movies. Since my trivia skills are so incredibly powerful, especially concerning movies, I figured this gig is perfect for me.
Workshop came back this week, but instead of going over individual work, we focused on overall goals. We also discussed my reading style and how I can make more of a memorable presence. This discussion came right before the At The Inkwell reading at KGB Bar that night.
The night of the reading was that typical winter day, you know, the one when it was still 70 degrees in the city after the sun went down. Ha! It was like summer. By the time I got into the city, the temperature had been lingering around 80 all day, so I in my riding boots was having a fun time zig-zagging downtown on sidewalks and trains. When I got to 2nd Ave, I walked a block in the completely wrong direction because that’s just how I roll.
Also how I roll: I walked so hard and so fast in my riding boots and a shrug, that I had to take off the shrug, realizing it was the aforementioned 70 degrees outside (it had been cooler on the island). Block by block, I passed outdoor seated dining. People were everywhere. It was summer in March! I loved the buzz.
I got to KGB to find a very steep set of stairs outside. I climbed them. I got inside. There was yet another steep set of stairs. I climbed them.
Quiz Time!
By the time I got to the first landing up the stairs at KGB Bar, was I:
(a) shivering from the A/C
(b) feeling fresh as a spring dove or whatever kind of season and animal seems freshest to you
(c) sweating
If you chose (C), congratulations! You win the happiness that comes with knowing you know me well.
If you did not choose (C), then you need to pay attention more. I sweat for no reason at all, so if you think I didn’t sweat after a brisk five city blocks in riding boots in 70 degree weather, you need to reevaluate your reading retention skills.
Luckily, the bathroom was at the first landing, so I was able to cool down and stop sweating before entering the room where the reading was.
Upon entering the room where the reading was, I began sweating because there were about 50 people in a room the size of a closet. I maneuvered my way to the bar to get some water. Then I got myself to a table, introduced myself to a woman who I thought was reading that night (she was—I have good poet-detection skills) and sat with her and her posse the rest of the night.
I introduced myself to anyone I saw whose face I recognized from our program. All networking would be easier if life came with a program filled with headshots. Of course, in my photo, I have my hair up and I’m wearing a tiara, so, maybe not exactly easy, but still, easier than not having any photos at all.
 |
| I look exactly like this all the time. |
On a Small World note: about two weeks ago, I received an email from an editor at Broadstone, rejecting my manuscript. It was a great email, and I'd emailed him back. He was at KGB because one of the other readers has a book out published by Broadstone. He introduced himself to me and we chatted a while. What a nice guy! So even in rejection, there's something positive.
The night had cooled off only a little by the time the reading was over, so walking back to the train was just as energetic with the sidewalk diners still out and about. The train back to Penn wasn’t as crowded, though there was a lot of waiting at 14th when I decided to change from the F to the ACE to get directly into Penn instead of having to walk. Still, this was better than the ride the other way during which I stood next to a man who got on the train with a dirty tissue in hand and then stood in such a way so that my head was directly in his arm pit. Gotta love public transportation.
A huge plus of train riding is the time you have on the train to get things done. I wrote. Though the train can be bumpy, I can still write neatly enough to go back later and see what I’ve written. So I wrote poems. Several. Later on in the week, I revised them. I wrote more.
Then I revised the overall organization of Liberating The Astronauts. Yes, I’ve been submitting it. Yes, I thought it was done. Then I saw that I really wanted to re-do the whole order, so now it’s actually done again. Until I change something else.
Ooh! In changing the order, I got all bold with Word and taught myself how to insert a TOC without manually typing it. It did change how my titles are spaced, but it looks so much better than when it’s done manually.
I blogged. I’m blogging. I’m a blogger.
I got some rejections, including one for the prose piece I sent at the beginning of the week. As a counter balance, I received payment for an upcoming publication of poems. It’s a tiny payment, but it still more than what I started with.
Throughout the week, I worked on planning a reading for Poets In Nassau, updating the event page for the reading I’m hosting for that group on Monday (if I’m able to host it…you’ll see), and then planning several readings for which I will be featuring. I sent out a mass of emails to colleges in the tri-state area to see if they’d want me to visit. Most haven’t responded, but all ya need is one to start. Also, someone emailed me and asked me to read somewhere I hadn’t even contacted, so things are looking up in the appearance department.
I’d planned to finish the novel I’m reading over the weekend, but instead, I found myself up at 3 AM on Saturday morning, unable to fall back asleep because I was unable to swallow. That germy subway guy with the tissue clearly shared his bug with me, so I’ve sat with my head feeling like it was going to explode and my throat in all kinds of scratchy terror for the weekend. I’m starting to take a turn having already ingested some zinc—that stuff does work—but it did put a huge damper on weekend plans of attending a free travel show during which I would’ve gathered up lots of free stuff and bowling. Bowling will always be there, but now I have to wait a year for the travel stuff.
Anyway, this is getting way off sabbaticalling. Hopefully, I’ll feel better for Monday’s reading to start my week off with an event. I want to go to as many more events as I can because now’s the time. Because it’s sabbatical time.
Friday, March 4, 2016
Sabbaticalling: Weekly Roundup #9
This week is a bit short. Weekend getaway starts today! But first, sabbaticalling…
A whole lot of reading this week led to some revision and writing towards the very end. I finished a novel, read and finished a poetry collection, am partway through another poetry collection, and I’ve been reading a novel by Lauren Conrad because they all can’t be great literature.
I also read the new issue of The Volta, back issues of Booth, This, Fence, and Blunderbuss, and some poetry and prose and all kinds of oddities in Flapperhouse, The Toast, Electric Literature, McSweeney’s, The Paris Review, and The Rumpus. Okay, I didn’t actually read The Rumpus. I visited the page, clicked open some things, got confused, and clicked out.
Since February ended and March began, it was time for the next installment of Poetry Has Value, which I compiled and completed and submitted. I realized that I miscalculated last month’s earnings because I can’t do math. Because I’m a girl.
Also because the month changed, some new open reading periods came about, so I submitted a whole lot of poetry. I also submitted some audio for a journal that has a podcast. Then I started to think about doing my own podcast. All in due time. Focusing on the poetry for now. Or not. We'll see.
Even without a workshop this week, I found myself revising a lot. I also wrote some poems. Rather, I wrote one whole poem and then pieces of other poems.
I’m blogging right now. Writing is writing is blogging.
And I caught up to the most recent episode of The Catapult. Which means I now actually have to wait for the next one to arrive in the queue. Whoa. In the meantime, I found that Flapperhouse has a podcast, so I’ll check that out while I wait.
Finally, I contacted a whole bunch of places about doing readings and workshops. The most acceptance I got was “we’ll put you on our list.” Otherwise, I’m waiting for answers, except for one place that informed me their calendar is filled up, but their response had really bad grammar in it, so I’m okay with that. Because I judge people on their use of language.
And now, it’s the weekend, yo.
A whole lot of reading this week led to some revision and writing towards the very end. I finished a novel, read and finished a poetry collection, am partway through another poetry collection, and I’ve been reading a novel by Lauren Conrad because they all can’t be great literature.
I also read the new issue of The Volta, back issues of Booth, This, Fence, and Blunderbuss, and some poetry and prose and all kinds of oddities in Flapperhouse, The Toast, Electric Literature, McSweeney’s, The Paris Review, and The Rumpus. Okay, I didn’t actually read The Rumpus. I visited the page, clicked open some things, got confused, and clicked out.
Since February ended and March began, it was time for the next installment of Poetry Has Value, which I compiled and completed and submitted. I realized that I miscalculated last month’s earnings because I can’t do math. Because I’m a girl.
Also because the month changed, some new open reading periods came about, so I submitted a whole lot of poetry. I also submitted some audio for a journal that has a podcast. Then I started to think about doing my own podcast. All in due time. Focusing on the poetry for now. Or not. We'll see.
Even without a workshop this week, I found myself revising a lot. I also wrote some poems. Rather, I wrote one whole poem and then pieces of other poems.
I’m blogging right now. Writing is writing is blogging.
And I caught up to the most recent episode of The Catapult. Which means I now actually have to wait for the next one to arrive in the queue. Whoa. In the meantime, I found that Flapperhouse has a podcast, so I’ll check that out while I wait.
Finally, I contacted a whole bunch of places about doing readings and workshops. The most acceptance I got was “we’ll put you on our list.” Otherwise, I’m waiting for answers, except for one place that informed me their calendar is filled up, but their response had really bad grammar in it, so I’m okay with that. Because I judge people on their use of language.
And now, it’s the weekend, yo.
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Sabbaticalling: Weekly Roundup #8
Sometimes I feel like I’m getting nothing done and then I look back and see that I did get stuff done, and that’s what happened this week and last. I did stuff. Lookit.
I’m almost finished reading a novel, and I’ve got two poetry collections I’vestarted reading because I suddenly like to read more than one book at once. I never used to do this, but I like it now.
As far as online reading: The Rumpus, McSweeneys, Electric Literature, Fence, Booth, Blunderbuss, This, The Toast, and Paris Review.
I submitted to seven journals, some of which required paper snail mail submissions. I also received one acceptance (yeay!) and was asked to record some audio for it (double yeay!). That meant withdrawing the piece from several other journals. It’s an off-beat poem, so I hadn’t submitted it to many other places.
I submitted to seven journals, some of which required paper snail mail submissions. I also received one acceptance (yeay!) and was asked to record some audio for it (double yeay!). That meant withdrawing the piece from several other journals. It’s an off-beat poem, so I hadn’t submitted it to many other places.
I also had to withdraw some poems from some journals that don’t accept simultaneous submissions and I’d either inadvertently submitted simultaneously or I submitted pieces that I thought had been rejected elsewhere but weren’t. For one particular journal, I explained this dilemma, all apologetic, and they were like, Next time read the guidelines. Um, I did read them. I made an error. Maybe YOU should read the guidelines next time.
I realize this mockery is not going to get me published.
I received a very nice manuscript rejection. The publisher actually discussed some of my other writing he’d found online that he found entertaining, and indicated that the collection wasn’t for their press but it had elements he really liked. So that’s not so bad.
Oh, I also received a record-time rejection. In under five minutes, I submitted and was rejected. Talk about amazing turnaround!
I wrote some notes for poems. I wrote some poems. I workshopped and then revised some poems. Poetry writing: it’s what I do.
Also, blogging. Clearly.
I’m almost caught up on all the episodes of The Catapult, the podcast.
I’m almost caught up on all the episodes of The Catapult, the podcast.
I planned a bunch of readings and publicized a bunch of readings, both my own and ones for Poets In Nassau. Then I researched some places I might be able to read, so I can take this poetry show on the road. I sent out a bunch of query emails. So far, I got one auto-reply and one reply that had grammatical errors. Even when I’m not teaching, I can't escape them.
In addition to readings, I had a few people contact me about holding workshops and being on a panel, so I started looking into those endeavors, too. (Email me if you want to take a workshop on contemporary poetry. See? I'm efficient).
I also enrolled in a free online class through Coursera about website building. I don’t know if I’ll actually take the class, but I did want to take a look at their course materials.
I also enrolled in a free online class through Coursera about website building. I don’t know if I’ll actually take the class, but I did want to take a look at their course materials.
Oh, I found out that Book/Mark Review ran a review of WakeBreatheMove, so I’m ordering a copy of the journal today. Let’s see if it’s a good review. Let’s assume it is (or so I’ve been told).
And rounding out the week of sabbaticalling, I went to work. Like, campus. Like I was in my office and everything. No, I’m not a maniac who can’t help myself from working. I mean, sabbatical itself is work, so I’ve been working. I had to go to campus to sign my promotion binder. I didn’t seek out committees to serve on. I didn’t pop into a classroom to teach a lesson. I went to my office. I chatted with my officemates. I went to the main English office. I went through my binder. I signed it. I put it back. I chatted with the admin assistants. I went back to my office, chatting with a few people along the way. It was all very non-teachery.
If you want to feel good about your-work-self, go on sabbatical and then go back to work when you’re on sabbatical. Everyone I saw smiled at me, surprised to see me, and without saying “hi,” said, “You’re not supposed to be here,” but they said it in a way that was all cozy and warm and happy for me.
Also, seeing that many people and being out in the world spun me for a loop, so, of course, as I walked to my car, I rejoiced in the way I usually do.
Ooh! This is a good opportunity for a quick quiz.
Upon walking to my car, did I:
A. Do summersalts across the football field covered in goose poop
B. Sing "Climb Every Mountain," asking those around me to join in
C. Sweat uncontrollably for no apparent reason other than I’m me
If you chose C., you know me well. If you did not choose C., for shame!
Anyway, sweat and all, it was fun to see everyone. I really miss the people I work with. However, if I were teaching this semester (and doing all the work that comes with it), there’s no way I’d be getting all this other stuff done that’s necessary for being a writer. And that’s the whole point of sabbatical.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Sabbaticalling: Weekly Roundup #6
I’m writing this on Valentine’s Day, just having come home
from the Waffle House. I have traveled to my breakfast mecca and life is good.
Books read: One full novel that was a challenging read, and then started a non-fiction book.
Journals and mags read: The Rumpus, back issues of Fence and This, and McSweeney’s. Read through The Paris Review for poetry and interesting tidbits about the world—these tidbits usually lead to poems. I added Blunderbuss and Flapperhouse to the list this week.
Books read: One full novel that was a challenging read, and then started a non-fiction book.
Journals and mags read: The Rumpus, back issues of Fence and This, and McSweeney’s. Read through The Paris Review for poetry and interesting tidbits about the world—these tidbits usually lead to poems. I added Blunderbuss and Flapperhouse to the list this week.
Listened to: The Catapult Podcast and I’m still not caught up. Getting there. I tried out Literary Disco but couldn’t get past the introductory episode, maybe because it was just people talking about how they knew each other in college and not about literature. I also listened to Serial because I’m incredibly into it, though it has nothing to do with sabbatical.
On Writing: The Workshop was back this week! We revised poetry and discussed stories and did all kinds of artsy things. By the time I got home, I was a big ball of revising energy. Then I wrote poems, some about critters and creatures, others about outer space.
I followed up on last week’s Poetry Has Value posting by crossposting
on this blog and then re-Tumbling and re-Tweeting all I could find that was
relative.
I sent some pitches to some non-poetry places. Those were rejected. I love not waiting and wondering. I also received some poetry rejections, one in snail mail form. It was a week of “we don’t want your stuff,” which means it was a typical week for writing.
I sent some pitches to some non-poetry places. Those were rejected. I love not waiting and wondering. I also received some poetry rejections, one in snail mail form. It was a week of “we don’t want your stuff,” which means it was a typical week for writing.
Submitting: I submitted poems to six journals. I’ve found that in January, I submitted to most of the journals on my list that have reading periods through February. March should see an uptick in submitting again.
Reading: The Poets in Nassau reading I coordinated at TheCradle of Aviation happened, and it was an amazing night. I’m already planning another
one.
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| This is the exhibit that sparked our reading. |
 |
| Most photos courtesy of John Brennan |
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| Crazy poet face! |
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| Photo courtesy of Marie Ilardi at the museum. I'm with a new colleague. |
Business-y stuff: My email events list saw an update as I added new people who
signed up for it at the Cradle reading.
And now it’s back to my love to spend the rest of the day indoors
because this Valentine’s Day is arctic.
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| That temperature is in Farenheit. |
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