Artist's Way Journal - Week Fourteen, Day Four

I'm thinking about renaming these pages to Morning Pages, even though, more often than not, they are really nighttime pages.  

Wrote the beginning of a poem yesterday, to go with a new weekly prompt from Poetic Asides.  Here it is:

Anyway, now that we're in a new year, I think it makes sense to make this week's prompt to write a poem that deals with something new. You can decide what that new thing is. You could write about the new year, a new item (many people just received gifts during the holidays last month), a new relationship, or even the lack of anything new.

So, I let myself have a go at it.  I took into account the flooding in the state, the rearranging of our furniture, current and future remodeling we are doing/plan to do and what we found in doing so.  It just felt good to have written something.  I think now I'm going to allow myself some sleep, so that I can feel more rested tomorrow.  I taught three classes at the gym today, and that's a challenge.  It'll be interesting to see how my body translates that during the night, and how I feel in the morning.  Right now I feel better than I expected to.  

I also got my hair cut, again.  And next week I have a reading in Redmond.  Wonder what I'll read?

Artist's Way Journal - Week Thirteen, Day Seven

Phew!  Just got home from DM and DDad's.  It took us about 2 hours plus, one hour to get to the ferry (which usually takes us 20 minutes).  While that may not sound bad, it was a little bit tense as there were cars in the ditch, and roadblocks causing us to have to reroute down unfamiliar back roads in the dark, in the driving snow.  

Okay, it may sound like we're wimps.  The Passat just isn't good in the snow.  We made it, but if we don't get somewhat of a running start up any sort of inclines, we're almost certainly doomed.  And, to top it off, we were just yards away from turning into the road that leads to our house when we encountered more flashing lights, and traffic stopped.  I knew that, over time, people would be trying to turn around, and that eventually we'd get a good shot at the road.  It took only ten minutes, and we were homeward bound.

Just after turning onto our little road--did I mention there's a little incline here, right after the turn?--we got stuck in the new wet slippery snow.  We had to make the kids get out and walk while we tried to get the car moving.  DH got out and kicked some of the snow piles clear of the tires, and I tried getting up the little hill.  With a push, and succeeded and I drove home while the other three walked.  But, try as I might, I couldn't get up the last little hill to our carport.  Oh well, I tried three times, and finally DH, arriving down the drive himself, said, "Why not just leave it where it is?"

So, there it is.  And our Christmases are done for the time being.  No more until December 2009.  Apparently the snow isn't done yet, however.  DS has a two-hour late arrival time; DD, grumpy about it, doesn't have any special notifications at this time.  Being, this year, in a public school, I'm sure with all the recent closures the district isn't too eager to call the shots too early.  Wait until 4 or 5 am.  Then make the calls.  I can see their point; DD just wants more time off.  

Where's the creativity in all of this?  It's in imagining all the photos I could have taken with my phone on the ride home, if it weren't for thinking DH would become even more unnerved if I did so while he drove.  It's in seeing the world a little whiter again, even though we didn't quite shed all of our previous snow.  It's in wondering what life has in store, now that kids are going back to school, and life is returning to some sort of normalcy.  How will I adapt, and how quickly?  Back to making school lunches, back to badgering about getting up and taking blood sugar tests and eating breakfast.  Back to driving to and from, to figuring out who's driving where and when, and how I'm going to fit it all into a day.  Or a week.  Or the next two weeks.  

And what will I read at my upcoming reading?  What time will I have to leave to get the right ferry and make it on time?  Will there be snow in the near future again?  

Best thing to do now is to sleep, and hope for some interesting and enlightening dreams.

Artist's Way Journal - Week Thirteen, Day Five

I finished reading my friend's story.  The story isn't finished, by any means, but it is good.  It's just Book One.  There's more to come.  I'm impressed, for all the reasons I mentioned yesterday.

Today while walking some trails not far from our home, I felt some creativity seep in.  It was in the mid 30's outside.  This morning I'd noticed a significant drop in my emotional well-being, and it became apparent I needed to get out and walk, with my family.  They were very good about it.  DH is always game for being outdoors. But the nice thing was that DD and DS obliged me, and did so without bickering, spending half the time walking together.  We became separated a few times, but always found each other, without the help of the cell phones, which we did have.  

It was a gorgeous day.  At one point DH saw a bald eagle, which he pointed out to me.  I got as good a photo as I could, having to shoot into the sun, and not being able to focus as closely as I'd like to.  As I was fiddling with the focus, another large bird--either a hawk or another eagle--was wheeling overhead, finally landing on the very top of a dead, limbless tree.  I realise now just how much I'm enjoying photography again, and that I'd like to save up for an SLR, and something that I can bring things into sharp focus from afar.  

Something else that sparked my creativity, as I was putting together a new puzzle this evening, came while listening to Bill Moyer's interview with John Lithgow, and hearing Lithgow reading work from his book, Poet's Corner.  He read Gwendolyn Brook's "We Real Cool," some Shakespeare, Wm. Carlos Williams, and gave a wonderful recitation of "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night."  So good.

Well, tomorrow is a busy day, with taking kids to the ferry so that they can have a day in Seattle, and then a little shopping with DF in Gig Harbor.  I'm off to bed...

Artist's Way Journal - Week Thirteen, New Year's Day

A day of reading.  A friend at church is writing a book, and I'm lucky enough to get to read it.  Admittedly, I'm finding it very compelling.  I'm amazed at the ability to weave the story around a plot that grows constantly, to move between chapters smoothly, to build tension and move the story forward with enough force to make it hard to put down.  This is an ability I wonder at, wonder if I have it in me to do it, too.  I hope he gets this book published.  With a little honing, it'll be a worthy kids book.  And I feel honored to be reading it in it's infancy.  

Today I transferred files from my pc, to my mac, which is what I work on primarily.  I'm hoping this will be further incentive to send stuff out on a more regular basis.  True, I sent out two mss. yesterday, which was the right way for me to end the old year.  Getting the laser printer, and transferring the files this afternoon was a good way to get the new year underway.  Get organised, see what I've got that can be sent out.  I just need to get my submissions book updated.

Up until just a few months ago, I used to be obsessed with updating and studying my submissions book.  Who accepted which pieces in what amount of time?  Who rejects the fastest, and at what time of year?  Which journals encouraged me to "send again soon?"  Since summer, I've let it go, and now I'm going to be quite "off" on my logging in of dates that I've received the latest rejections from.   I think I *did* log in my Pushcart nomination, though.

There is no really good excuse for not sending work.  And at this point, I will have lots of options, as many of my simultaneous subs have been narrowed down.  I m

ight even have enough material to send to the places that don't accept sim. subs.  Maybe this is a hint to be daring, and aim higher, just for jazz.  Can it hurt?  Not if I'm open-minded enough.  It's worth a try.  (Only thing I don't like about that is my pieces are tied up in one place for who knows how long... but it's probably worth doing once in awhile.)

Photos from yesterday's feast:

My Potato Cakes

My Pecan Pie

A bowl of Kimchee

Empanadas, made by DF

British Bangers

My cat is settling into one of her spots, this one in front of my PC.  Up until yesterday, she slept on one of my printed mss.  Fortunately, I'd printed out an extra cover page, recycling the original one, with it's smudges and dirt.

Time for sleep...

Kim chee

Kim chee
Originally uploaded by Jaemes Sister

Photo note:

Kim chee

A neighborhood old folks recreation center has an annual project of making kim chee that is given to shut ins, orphanages, old folks rest homes, etc. Local companies send volunteers to help and it becomes a two day community project. Sadly I didn't have my camera on the first day but the real work is here on the second day.

Artist's Way Journal - Week Thirteen, New Year's Eve

So, it's been a few days.  Already I've slipped a little bit.  Okay, granted it *was* Christmas, and because of the snow we had to make up a couple of celebrations... and tonight's New Year's Eve.  The Best of the Cars is on the CD player, DH is in the kitchen making Figgy Pudding, DD, DS and DF are in the yard shooting things off, my pecan pie is cooling on the counter, the veggies are on the table, and friends are on the way.

Also in the offing is pickled herring, salted herring, kimchee, smoked almonds, Asian pears, mango, and whatever else our DF's are bringing.  I'm sure we'll all be slow and foggy tomorrow, but well-fed.  Did I mention wine and champagne?  (Hmm, spellcheck doesn't like my spelling of kimchee...)  (Well, according to Wikipedia, "kimchi" and "gimchi" are also correct.)

I did manage to send out two full mss. today.  That was good.  I got a new laser printer on sale a couple of days ago.  I think the copies look much better than the ones I do on the deskjet.  So, here's hoping for something published in 2009!  

Seeing as I'm expecting guests soon, I'm going to abandon this until later... hopefully adding food photos soon.

Artist's Way Journal - Week Twelve, Day Five, again

I think I will be stuck in the Artist's Way week twelve groove for a while.  I should try to come to some sort of completion by New Year's Eve.  Then, who knows?  I may try to continue doing some sort of "Morning Pages" beyond this.  Something to keep the creativity level up.  Just the act to typing is good, freeing.  

Cheese muffins are in the oven, the stuff I ordered for Christmas is still "on the truck, scheduled for delivery."  DD is in a very bad mood.  It's amazing how her moods darken the day.  I'm amazed at how powerful that is for me, how hard it is to escape.  Even when she is in her room, with the door locked.  Yuck.

DS just got the movie "Batman Begins," and wants to watch it on the Mac, as opposed to the tv.  I said no, because I didn't want the Mac tied up right now.  ... 

TBC...

White Christmas

One more...

such a classic.

Merry Christmas

And, this is one of my favorites:

Merry Christmas