memories

so this past weekend jeremy and i went letterboxing and walked around a beautiful forest perserve in romeoville, il. we found a bunch of different stamps and had a grand old time. jeremy stalked some animals so he could get some pictures. he got some good one's of a woodpecker and of a hawk. while we were at the park there was a swing set and since we are both kids at heart, we totally went and played on it. of course i was there with my point-and-shoot camera and took pictures of our day. and while looking at the pictures yesterday night it reminded me of some old (and i mean old, these were before i had any formal training) poems i had written many years ago. i remember when i wrote those poems. i was having a blah day and so i went to the park and took a notebook with me. i wrote a little bit about the what was happening around me and how i felt. so i thought i would share some new memories (the photo's from this weekend) with some old memories (the poetry from years and years ago). the first picture can explain its self. the second picture is jeremy stalking the woodpecker.


-one is never to old to play on the swings.

-a nice day brings all kinds of people outside. father and son. mother and her little ones. the swings creak as loud as the see-saws.

-when does a father decide that they are just your parent and not the one to push you on the tire swing?









-why does the woodpecker peck at a tree? is it for truth? or does it just look to make a hole in the tree's life. does the tree want truth? or does it just want a hole in its bark.

swag

i thought i would share the with you all the things i got at the book signing. here's my book and two of the three bumperstickers i got that night. the third bumpersticker is already on my car (i put it on that night) and it's a picture of just the wheel and the snake. also, the top signature is a copy of the author's that had died, robert jordan. that is in every book. the signature that i had gotten is the second one.

working at work

so today at work a bunch of little tidbits of poems hit me. and different parts that would go together hit me at different times. luckily i don't have to remember it all by heart, i get to write down my ideas as the hit me. when the full poems take bloom i will share them here. hopefully they will come out awesome. if nothing else, i will share the tidbits that have inspired me to write.

...called it macaroni

so last night i was talking to jeremy on the phone and he was telling me about renaissance art. he was saying that the reason you barely ever seen people smiling and showing their teeth is because their teeth were usually rotted out. so if you do see someone with their teeth showing then it means that they are probally in their teens. he also said that the prostitutes of the time would tell everyone they were a prostitute by wearing a feather in their hair. both of these tid-bits i didn't know and he said that he learned in art history. well when he was telling me about the feather in the hair (i keep wanting to write cap. hehe) i couldn't help but write a line or two of poetry in my head right away. it was too cool. i love when things like that happen. i have no idea what i'll write about, i only have a couple lines, but i think it will be fun just to finish what jeremy had started in my head. so now i'll be thinking about the poem at work all day and when i come home i'll probally have it all written out. woot woot for getting inspired just by talking on the phone about art history.

comic review: this time for reals

so this week at work at graham craker comics (which by the way, is a mouth full when you answer the phone and have to say that) my boss asked me to write a review for one comic and he promised he would send it out this time. well he came through and sent it and i got published on the website! i wrote a review for marvel holiday spectacular (the link takes you to where my review is). i haven't written a review in a long time so it's a little ruff. i like the review but i think i could have ended it better. the more i write though, the better i will get at it. either way i'm happy to present it. hope you enjoy it and hope it makes you want to go and read the comic.

the wheel of time turns

so last night i got to go and meet brandon sanderson who is the writer now for the wheel of time series. the original writer, robert jordan, died before he could finish the series. but he left many notes and instructions (even full chapters written) on how the series should be finished. his wife harriot hired brandon to finish the series. the first book of three, that brandon will be writing to finish the series, came out this tuesday and it's called the gathering storm. i posted earlier this week that i stopped reading vonnegut so i could read this book. well last night brandon had a book signing in my area so i made sure i went. while we were waiting for him to come out, the people passed out three different bumper stickers, each having to do with the book. only a geek about the books would understand (i already put one on my car). Brandon seemed like a really down to earth guy. he read a the first page of the first chapter. then he did some q&a. he didn't give any spoilers out, but he did talk about his work on the book. after the q&a he started signing books. i didn't stay so i could get him to personlize it, i got a book he had pre-signed and went home. i have to get up way to early in the morning for me to stand in line all night long to get him just to write mollie. either way it was way cool to go there and hear about how another writer goes about doing his work. he's a fantasy writer who has writen for teens as well as adults. his teen series seemed interesting so i think i might go get it. over all, i'm really happy i went and i would love to go to another book signing. if for nothing else to hear about how other authors go about their work.

prompts and practices

today before work at the comic shop i decided that i would do a writing excerise out of a book i haven't looked at in awhile. it's called prompts and practices by judy reeves. it's a cool book with a calendar for all 366 days out of the year. and with each day there is a little idea about what to write about for that day. it doesen't say how or what you should write. whether it's a poem, short story or prose. it just gives an idea and lets you run with it however you want. i really enjoy this book and it has some great ideas. for whatever reason i haven't looked at it recently so i thought i would open it again and see what today's prompt was. today's prompt was: it was a summer of blue-black nights. so i wrote this as my practice:


Kari sat on the front porch looking out into the world. Her chair was an old rickety thing that her grandfather had made when he first moved out west. Every time she rocked on the chair it creaked with a groaning of days long past. Even though her mother yelled at her not to sit in the chair, for she was scarred that the chair would break, the old chair was Kari’s favorite in the whole house. While rocking in the old chair Kari looked out into the wide open prairie of the west. Her family owned all the land around her to the point that she couldn’t see another house close to her. The closest person was 80 miles away in any direction. Kari liked it that way. It was like the land around her was her own personal ocean of green prairie and blue sky. Night time was her favorite time to site in the chair and look out into the world. The night was lit up with the stars and the prairie had a glow about it from the stars also. The world seemed so peaceful those nights. Tonight the sky was darkened. She couldn’t see the stars that well and the moon wasn’t shining like it normally did.
Kari heard the back door to the house slam and heard the old Chevy coaxed into being driven away. She ignored, for a moment, the silent sobs she heard from inside the house from her mother. All Kari could think about was that the sky wasn’t as beautiful as it normally is. Kari stood up and sighed. She opened the front door and walked into the house to help her mom with whatever she needed.


i must advise that i've just written this and it has had really no editing. but this is what came to my head when i read the prompt. there is a little symbolism with the sky not being as beautiful as it normally is with her family not working out as it should, but nothing too heavy handed i think. i like the short story i wrote and maybe one day i'll came back to it and expand on it. but for now i like it as it is.

thought for food

so i've been reading a bunch lately. i've bought so many books that i will be getting money back form borders next month. hurray! i've been reading for the mind and for the soul. for the mind i've read south park and philosophy and i've read some of xmen and philosophy. both books are a collection of different essays on different themes that south park and the xmen have struggled with. both are really smart books! though i will say that i've only read the first 2 essays in the xmen one. you might not like south park or the xmen comics, but both struggle with big ideas. ideas like: what makes us individuals, what makes us human, are we logical arguers, religion, politics and many other ideas. i strongly suggest to go and read them. and if you don't want to read those particular books, there are many others like: the office and philosophy, family guy and philosophy, metallica and philosphy; just to name a few. many of the essays in the two books i have read have made me think and have made me decided what i believe.

for the soul i've read mother night by kurt vonnegut, the gathering storm by robert jordan and brandon sanderson and i've bought the book sharp objects by gillian flynn (but i haven't read it yet). vonnegut is a genius and i love reading his stuff. i've read two others of his: slaughterhouse five and cats cradle. both were great books and when i saw that this one was for sale i had to get it. i'm almost through with it, i have 28 more pages to go. but i stopped for i got the book the gathering storm. i have been waiting for the book for a couple years now. it just came out today and i just had to jump right into it. i feel bad leaving mother night but i know i will be able to jump right back in when i'm done with the gathering storm. the gathering storm is the 12th book in the wheel of time series. it is the first full flegded fantasy series i've ever read and i just couldn't wait for the newest book to come out. i will fly through the book and be very sad when i'm done with it. there are only two more books left and then the series will be done. i will be VERY sad when the series is done. the wheel of time is what got me to love fantasy and fantasy has had a huge impact on my life. i just love(!) fantasy.

so those are the books i've been reading. it's always good to keep the mind active in deep critical thinking and in just some good old story. both are good for the mind and soul. both are good for the writer. it's always interesting to see how a writer creates their own story, it helps me find my own voice when i write.