Well… that didn’t take long. I was in the middle of writing something (sure to be profound) about change when an email popped up from the journal I submitted to last night. Being of little will power and unsound mind, I opened it up to read the form rejection. I remember way back when I…
IF THIS ISN’T NICE…
Tiny moments of joy, amusement, and recognition. That is what art can do when it speaks to you – at least it’s what it does for me. I am thinking of the poems I started to read this morning, but for me, it also applies to music, other writing, and visual arts as well. There…
FINISHING WITH A WHIMPER
Mindfulness be damned…. while my night became considerably less full of the annoyances that were putting me in a bad mood earlier- I sort of fell in to a state of bummed paralysis fueled by indecision. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to venture out to get more wine or beer (I stayed in). I…
ATTENTION
I wasn’t going to post anything tonight/this morning (it’s midnight here in Memphis). Actually, I started a post around dinner time, and decided against it. Wanna hear the story about the military blogger who was great at writing drafts? He was fired for abandoning his post….. I came up with that one all on my…
SOGGY ROLL / ROLE
I wish my memory were better. More specifically, I wish it were better for certain things, and maybe a little worse with others. It would be good if I could remember whether or not I brushed my teeth or already washed my hair (that’s more a result of distraction than anything else). I’m not sure…
GUSTING THROUGH THE AFTERNOON
Firetruck sirens have been wailing all day. The wind is whipping something fierce. This isn’t the start of a fictional piece, just the state of things in Memphis today. I went for a walk that I cut short because it was so windy – blow your hat off your head and lift your shirt up…
THERE ARE, OF COURSE, OTHER WAYS TO LIVE
Like many people (I think), I am a creature of habit. I like my routines, I probably need my routines. They are crutches that free up mental space for other things (or so I think). I can already feel myself making the counter-argument that they are simply a default setting, a way of not thinking,…
GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF WITH FEAR
Tonight I spent the better part of two hours looking for jobs…. in particular giving very serious consideration to one specific job. It’s a CEO position for a smaller United Way in Grand Junction, Colorado. I assume everybody does what I do when they consider a job – they try to envision their life in…
WORK, LOVE, CREATIVITY
Today felt like a productive day. I enjoyed reading and writing in the morning, researched jobs, applied to two, posted a new poem, and submitted some poems for publication. I’ll meet my goal of new poems written for the month and I should be able to meet my goal of submissions. All of that in…
META (MUCIL), PART II
Writing is a very solitary endeavor. It requires time and space and concentration. For me, it’s really easy to get lost in my own head; to become hyper-aware of the process, the metacognition that’s taking place, the rabbit hole, the infinity mirror of writing about thinking about writing about thinking ad nauseam and ad infinitum……..
PORCH EDITION (SOME THOUGHTS CONTINUED)
I suppose this is technically the balcony edition. It’s a beautiful night here in Memphis. After an afternoon run (and shower) I opted for a beer and some music on the balcony. The hair is getting a little long – not sure I’ve actually “done” it with product or anything for a while. I love…
CIRCLE BACK, PART II
A few weeks ago…. god, who can even keep track of days or weeks anymore, I wrote a post, “Circle Back.” It was about an ex-girlfriend, D, reaching out, and a woman I know, C, who had gone back to her boyfriend. I ended that post questioning why some of us (I’m certainly in this…