Artist's Way Journal - Week Ten (Nine), Day Seven

What a weekend.  Two Thanksgiving dinners and three times to the gym.  And not much writing accomplished.  

Today I led the launch for the new weight routine.  It'll get better the second and third time I teach it, and I'll figure out where I might have made some changes.  This always happens.  I'll probably always find ways to improve what I've done.  That's why there's a next time.  

DD and I did some more driving, which ended up in Port Gamble, and then Poulsbo at the Village Bakers.  A pear and almond tart and a Napoleon, with Egyptian chamomile tea and some Chai.  It was good to get out, and that's probably the closest I will get to an Artist Date for the week.  In Port Gamble we visited an antique store, Dauntless Bookstore, and the Artful Ewe.  The antique store was too quiet, I got a phone call while in the bookstore so missed most of it, and the yarn store was filled with lovely colors and fibers.  Most of the stuff looked to be handspun, and there were some gorgeous felted blankets and sweaters, some knitted, some straight from unspun fibers.  

Here's an example of the gorgeous stuff they have there.  Reminds me why the seasons were always so distracting to me when I was spinning and dyeing and designing my sweaters - the colors of nature are so incredible to me that I was always imagining various combinations as yarns...

Sample of unspun fiber and the finished product, a two-ply handspun from the Artful Ewe site~

The rest of the day was taken up with hashing out medical insurance stuff, which always makes me crazy.  Finding paperwork for DH when he is in a "mode" is nerve-wracking, to say the least.  It makes me snappish and cranky.  We did make some headway, though, without much drama, (a little swearing at the current insurance agent for lying to us when he signed us on in the first place), and spent the rest of the time looking up alternatives online.  

DS, I found out, had more homework than he'd realised.  Tonight is, of course, the last of a four-day weekend, and the last minute to be doing homework.  So, what else is new?  I sat up with him to work on math until he just couldn't hack it any more (in part due to ADHD, and also the fact that he was at the neighbor's for an overnight).  I know how it is for him to try to concentrate when his brain has stopped cooperating, so I sent him off to bed.  I'm thinking Gingko might be good, if it doesn't mess with his diabetes.  I need to do some more research on that.  I know it can mess with Type 2; just not sure about Type 1.

Another shot of the shop--The Artful Ewe.  Quite tasteful and very enticing.  I will have to get my crampy fingers and pinched nerve under control so I can do this stuff again.  At least the knitting...

Oh, and here's the last poetry prompt:

For today's prompt, I want you to write a resolution (or lack of resolution) poem. This is the poem that puts THE END on your collection. Maybe you can wrap it up with a pretty bow, or maybe it's open-ended. But today is definitely Day 30 of the challenge--and your last poem of November. Great job!

Artist's Way Journal - Week Ten (Nine), Day Five

Today was more Thanksgiving.  I did the turkey this time, and had left-over sweet potatoes (yams) from yesterday.  These are really good, and different from previous years.  One difference: no marshmallows on top!  Instead I put in two eggs, some grated orange and lemon zest, cream, and pie spices. Butter and milk figure in there somewhere, too.  

We also had homemade rolls (DH made these), cauliflower casserole (from our friends who also brought roasted potatoes and an extra turkey drumstick and some very good cake), green bean salad with mustard dressing and red onions, homemade whole berry cranberry sauce, in-the-bird and out-of-the-bird stuffing, wine and sparkling cider.  Maybe tomorrow I'll upload the pie photo I took yesterday.  Pie's gone now.

Prompt:

Okay, with 3 days left, it's time to write a top-of-the-world or celebration poem. Even if your overall collection is a downer, try to find something related to your theme to celebrate. After all, you have 2 more days to get back to your overall mood.

I just finished the dishes, and the dishwasher is humming.  I'm going to head to bed asap so that I can fully enjoy the sound while I write.  There is something very soothing about that.  

Artist's Way Journal - Week Ten (Nine), Day Four

So I'm waiting right now for DH's sourdough to come out (first), then the cinnamon rolls he made (next), before I start in on baking the sweet potatoes (first), and the pumpkin pie (after that).  I've got until 8:30, then it's total focus so that everything is done and ready to ferry (literally) over to my DM and DDad's for dinner.

DD(aughter) was up until past 11:30 last night (!) washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen.  She even swept the floor, which isn't her norm.  She was mad, and waiting for the rest of us to go to bed before she started in on the rest of her work.  I have to say, the kitchen looked good.  Better than normal.  I guess she was showing us.  

So, I tried to find a good photo of pumpkin pie, and got a cool chair instead.  I'll just have to take a photo of my own pie, which is preferable, since I am making a pie.  I have one more sugar pumpkin to bake, but that'll wait for a bit.  

Today's poetic prompt (Robert, you're amazing.  Now go eat):

For today's prompt, I want you to write a poem that could be the climax of your collection. This is the take-no-prisoners poem you've been working toward all month. You get to decide how you're going to approach this poem, but keep it focused on your theme--and make it climactic.

Imagine that if people read the poem you're about to write that their faces would melt off from the brilliance of it--and that they'll all get together (at least the ones who are still alive) and sing praises to your poetic brilliance. No pressure.

I've got my work cut out for me.  People wonder why we do the things we do, on top of the other things we do, but I think this is because if we didn't try to cram in that "one other thing," we'd feel incomplete.  At least I do.  If I don't do something that resembles writing of some sort, I feel like a part of me has atrophied.  And, in a way, it has.  So these Morning Pages (and yes, today it truly is a Morning Page) are very good for me.  Best when I've given myself enough time to do them.  

I'd better go cut butter and put it in the freezer.  I totally forgot to get lard.  (Gasp.)  I'll have to use butter exclusively.  Well, I did that last Sunday, and it worked just fine.  I don't use shortening.

Question:  Do most people still automatically hit the space bar twice after each sentence?  I do.  But in my poetry group it came up in discussion that now the "norm" is to hit it once.  I don't know how long it will take me to "reform," or if I will even try.  Something to think about, anyway.  

On to butter things...  Back soon?  Maybe...

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie
Originally uploaded by The Crimson Ribbon

Wow, in looking for images of Pumpkin Pie, I found this. Here's a link to take you to the website.

Pumpkin Pie

Read all about it at my website The Crimson Ribbon.

Cool.

Oh!  I almost forgot to get the prompt for today's poem!  Here it is:

For today's poem, I want you to write a call-to-action piece that is related to your theme. Your call-to-action can be stated directly in the poem, or a more powerful way to attack this poem is to do it indirectly. Think of how The Jungle led to the establishment of the FDA and Bambiled to an interest in animal rights.

And by the way, these are just excerpt from the Poetic Asides website.  To view the whole thing, which I highly recommend, go here:

http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/

Cheers,

TKC

Artist's Way Journal - Week Ten (Nine), Day Three

Writing with a sore arm.  I've been having chiropractic work done, and it has produced several releases in my neck and down my spine, which is a good thing.  But, my arm is still suffering from a nerve pinch.  Sometimes okay, sometimes not.  

We spent much of the day brainstorming about reconfiguring our living room space, which then extends into the computer/laundry/bathroom (future den), and in turn radiates out into the little added on room in the back which will become (some day) our laundry room.  Of course, taking out the little bathroom in the computer/laundry room will mean putting it in it's new intended space: the mudroom.  

All this started with talk about putting in a dividing wall between the main thoroughfare from the front door to the stairs going up to the second floor.  And moving the woodstove.  But, if we move the woodstove and push the wall back toward the computer/laundry room, then where will the piano go?  Well, where the television is now.  And that?  Where the piano is now.  All of this will make sense somewhere down the line.

I have to admit, this talk has occurred intermittently over the past few years.  DH's idea, and I've always been reluctant, either because I liked things the way they were, or because it just sounded like too much to deal with when the kids were younger, or...  Today I felt much more interested, and am quite willing to give it a go.  Where will the computer go?  Out in the main area, around the corner from where the woodstove is now.  And the fish tanks?  Ah, well, I don't know.  At least I know that, when the woodstove is moved, we'll have a pantry/broom closet to house the broom, and all the stuff that litters our kitchen counters on a regular basis.

Perhaps what makes me more willing now is having gotten this far with Artist's Way, and the discussion about making the work space more inviting.  I think change figures into the picture, too.  I'm ready for a change.  Of course, doing all this means that we will be getting rid of some of our accumulated junk.  I just hosed out the knitting book shelf, and rearranged our music cd's, stacking the cassette tapes carefully in the spaces I created by getting rid of some of the the books.

Which is why my arm is sore.  Sitting in the corner, going through stuff to find things to get rid of, sometimes sitting on my feet, and often leaning in one direction too much.  

DD is upstairs.  I think I hear her coming down to do the dishes.  She's peeved, because DH either didn't cut her any slack with the dishes that are harder to clean, or commented rather gruffly that she needed to get them done, which means drying some to make room for others.  So, I ended up standing in the hallway, alternately reasoning through DD's locked door, and cajoling DS to take his Lantus (his long-acting insulin) for the night.  Now, a half hour later, DD is washing dishes.  DS has taken his Lantus (about half an hour ago), and is back up in his room reading either Eclipse, or New Moon.  (His math teacher said he really should read whatever comes after Twilight.)

I read Chapter Nine last night, finally.  I need to do some of the exercises now.  And, as I'm getting up early to make pumpkin pie (cooked pumpkin is in the fridge) and baked sweet potatoes, I think going to bed is definitely in order.  Hopefully DH is in a better mood. He'll probably be asleep, since (he thinks) he burned the section of the paper with the crossword in it.

Artist's Way Journal - Week Ten (Nine), Day Two

What that means is, I'm in Week Ten, but am doing Week Nine because I didn't do it last week.  So, what's the first topic in the chapter?  Fear.  And that "blocked artists are not lazy.  They are blocked."  It's not laziness that makes me 'not-do,' its fear.

Fear of failure, or fear of success...  crap!  Well, this is true if I think about it.  I worry that my work won't be accepted in the journals I want to be in, and then when something *does* work out, I'm fearful that those who know me might wonder about the poem.  

I remember when my first chapbook was due to be published, and I was working with the publisher, proofing and find-tuning, I got fixed on one poem.  I worried that my family might take objection to it, because it was probably totally obvious who it was about, when in fact I'd gotten the idea from that person, but took off from there into a slightly fictitious direction.  True, I did steal real bits and pieces from two family members--character traits, dress, and a dog--but I ran with the details.  I had fun doing the poem, and it was published in a couple of places, but I got cold feet and asked the publisher to replace it with another poem.  

Three years later my second chapbook was due to be published, and that poem was once again in the collection.  This time I just left it, and didn't have quite the panic attack I had the first time.  And, nothing was said from any of the family I expected to hear from.  Well, I didn't name names, so...

There's that kind of fear.  Any big success carries with it a responsibility, and that can make one fearful.  Will I be able to pull this off again?  What will people start to expect from me in the future?  That kind of thing.  Truthfully, I'd really like to be in that position right now!  

---> To the Universe At Large:  I wish to publish my full manuscript within the coming year.  By a known and respected publisher~  Please.

I had good experiences with my chapbooks, but am now wanting to go for the full glossy book at this point.  Vanity?  Somewhat.  Recognition?  Yes.  Proof of self-ability?  Uh huh.

But, right now I'm really not doing much at all with my poetry, either with submissions, reconfiguring the book mss, or, well, writing.  Okay, that last bit isn't true at all.  I *am* writing almost daily now.  I have written, for good or for worse, 22 poems this month.  (Poem-A-Day)  I've written on this blog, and in my leather journal.  That's better than before.

Okay, I don't see yet that this could stem from childhood, at least not in the way mentioned.  My grandparents, whom I lived with mostly, always nurtured the arts, coming from that background themselves.  No one acted hurt by my interests, except for when those interests took precedence over some other things I needed to get done, like other school work.

Feeling guilty?  Yes, that hits the nail on the head.  "Setting impossible goals creates enormous fear, which creates procrastination (uh huh), which we wrongly call laziness."  Um.  Okay.

"Use love for your artist to cure its fear."

Enthusiasm:

Renaming 'discipline' as 'play.'  

Creative Work = Joy + Play.  

*   *   *   *   *

So, on I read.  And think.  And now for today's poetic prompt:

Today, I want you to write a something-overlooked poem. Think about something that is often overlooked--as it relates to your theme--and then shine some light on it.

Artist's Way Journal - Week Ten, Day One

It doesn't seem possible.  But, as is happening with a friend who is doing this at the same time, we really are a week behind.  I still have Chapter Nine to do.  I wonder why it's so difficult, and why I procrastinate?  I think it is partly to do with the snippets of time I have, and don't have, and I fill those with more mindless things like Scavenger Hunt on Facebook.  (Oh, my! Another time sink.  But, I do like it.)

I need a poem.

Today, Robert is prompting us to :

Today starts our final week of this challenge. So, appropriately, I want you to write a hopeless or blues poem. We’re almost there, which is reason to celebrate, as well as reason to get the blues.

Sometimes I think this won't be too hard!  I'm shocked at the way the time has flown by this month.  (I just typed, and undid, "blown," but I'm thinking that that works just as well.)

Still need a poem.  DD had to read and analyse Billy Collins' poem "The History Teacher."  So, here it is, from Billy_Collins.com:  

http://www.billy-collins.com/2005/06/the_history_tea.html

The History Teacher - Billy Collins

Trying to protect his students' innocence
he told them the Ice Age was really just
the Chilly Age, a period of a million years
when everyone had to wear sweaters.

And the Stone Age became the Gravel Age,
named after the long driveways of the time.

The Spanish Inquisition was nothing more
than an outbreak of questions such as
"How far is it from here to Madrid?"
"What do you call the matador's hat?"

The War of the Roses took place in a garden,
and the Enola Gay dropped one tiny atom on Japan.

The children would leave his classroom
for the playground to torment the weak
and the smart,
mussing up their hair and breaking their glasses,

while he gathered up his notes and walked home
past flower beds and white picket fences,
wondering if they would believe that soldiers
in the Boer War told long, rambling stories
designed to make the enemy nod off.

And now I need to go up and "nod off" too.

Cheese Biscuits

Cheese Biscuits
Originally uploaded by Romantic Home

These look pretty darn close, too. I think this might be one of my creative endeavors this week. (Well, every week for the past 5 or 6...)

I just found a great blog called "and no cheese."  I was looking up Cheese Biscuit Poems, and that's how I found it.  

Here's a little bit from a blog entry from the 21st:

Simply can’t escape the poetics today, it seems.  Except that I haven’t found much of them in my head yet.

“I desperately, desperately need to write a poem,” I said, after I’d waffled on about the wild blue mountains of the North.

“Never mind.  You can have two ginger biscuits with your coffee when we get home and then perhaps you’ll feel better.”

The ginger biscuits were lovely.  They’d have been even better iced with a good stiff poetic frost but,– give me time.

Have a look-see, and click on some links for biscuit recipes.  I'm all over trying out the ginger ones now...

Artist's Way Journal - Week Five, Day Seven

Last day of Week Nine.  I may have to redo this past week.  I never even got there.  One of the other women in our group didn't get to complete last week, so I think we're in the same boat.  There is so much activity going on right now--DS and DH trying to figure out the carbs for DS's bedtime snack (3 cheese biscuits and a half cup of yogurt: 63.5 carbs).  Since we finished dinner a little less than 2 hours ago, a blood sugar reading wouldn't likely be very accurate.  And we were very happy not to get up in the middle of the night for the first time.  

I'm going to see if I remember the recipe for cheese biscuits.  They're very good, and I'm testing m memory.

Cheese Biscuits

1 1/3 C. flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. dry mustard

1/2 C. grated cheese

1/4 C. chopped green onion

3/4 C. buttermilk

3 Tbsp. oil

Preheat oven to 450.  Mix dry ingredients together and add grated cheese and chopped green onions.  Blend together the buttermilk and oil and add to dry ingredients, and mix until just blended.  Drop onto greased baking sheet into 8 equal mounds with a spoon.  Bake 9 to 11 minutes.  

*   *   *   *   *

Sometimes we leave out the onions and dry mustard, and have plain cheese biscuits for breakfast.  They're relatively quick to make, and nice and light if you don't over mix the wet and dry ingredients.  Each biscuit is equal to 18.5 carbs.  

They kind of look like this.  These have dill in them, and can be found here:

http://www.companyscoming.com/recipes/2007/4/295/

________________________________________________________  

So, no energy left.  I'm going to go up to bed, and maybe read some first.  I am so behind in poems!  That makes me grumpy.  I'm still getting some Pages done most days, so that's some kind of record.  But, I want to have 30 poems this month.  I better get busy!!!  

Is it possible I'm just taking on too much?

************************************************************************

Forgive me, Robert, for glomming onto your poem prompts, and also Thank You, at the same time for providing them.  Here's today's"

Today’s prompt is to write a poem that I’m calling the “Been Everywhere” poem. If you’re doing locations, it would be a poem that gives a shout out to all the places you’ve been. This can be made metaphorical, though.

 

For instance, if you’re writing poems about cancer, you could write a poem about cancer cells that have traveled through different parts of the body. If you’re writing cooking poems, you could write from the perspective of a cook who talks about all the meals he or she has cooked. Definitely keep doing what you’ve been doing and get creative with it and bend the rules to your theme.

Okay, so Up I Go!  To write!  To write!

Artist's Way Journal - Week Five, Day Six

Here, before I forget, is the next prompt for Poem A Day:

For a collection (whether poetry, music, or whatever), I really like it when the individual pieces communicate with each other. So, for today’s poem, I want you to pick one of your earlier poems from this month and write a poem that is a response to that earlier poem.

 

To make it very immediate, you could write a response to yesterday’s confessional poem. Or you could reach back to Day 17’s Love Poem, Day 7’s Myth Poem, etc. I’m sure those reading along would love it if you include to which day’s poem you are responding, too.

 

*   *   *   *   *

Saw the Crucible tonight--very well done!  The cast was made of up mostly High School students, and some middle school, too.  Very powerfully done, with a great set and costumes.  The set was simple, with a sort of netting backdrop that allowed images of the forest to show through, and a black stage.  Two somewhat cross-shaped posts and beams on either side, and wooden benches as the only props.  The costumes were black dresses and black shoes, white shirts and tan vests.  The only really fancy attire was that of the Reverend, the Judge and Deputy.  Very striking indeed.  

This will be the first night of no 2 am check.  This will be strange, and weird to go through the night without interruption, save getting up for a bathroom break.  This will be good, especially as I turned off the alarm one night very recently, and didn't have any recollection of hearing it, or doing that.  Getting clever, my tired self is!

So, I'm off to bed now.  Good thing, too, as I'm running my words together, and have to back up and redo too often.