Bike-to-Work Week -- at least do it Friday?

May is National Bike Month. And this week is Bike-to-Work Week, promoted by the League of American Bicyclists. (I'm a bit late in promoting it, but it just came to my attention.) And Bike-to-Work Day is Friday, May 18.

speak up, Americans

Remember when shock-jock Don Imus used racist and misogynistic terms to refer to a women's college basketball team? Well, it took CBS two weeks to fire him for that but it only took them TWO DAYS to fire a respected General from Iraq for speaking out against the president on the war.

CBS shouldn't be censoring or firing people for speaking their mind. I signed a petition urging CBS to re-hire General Batiste -- can you join me at the link below?

http://pol.moveon.org/batiste/?r_by=10331-8068908-kHYYD2&rc=paste

There's more information on the firing on that page, too.

what's on my mind

how cool it was that Sheryl Crow stood up to Karl Rove
how MoveOn.org is totally what the American people need now
why I rode my bike last weekend from home to downtown and back last weekend -- twice!
and this...

washington state poets rejoice

the WPA announcement letter...

Dear Washington Poets Association Members, Friends, and Subscribers:

It’s official!

Gov. Chris Gregoire has signed Substitute House Bill 1279, the long-awaited
legislation that creates the position of Washington State Poet Laureate.
The signing makes Washington the 41st state to have such a post.

“It’s about time,” exclaimed Karen Bonaudi, who, with WPA secretary Ed
Stover, co-chaired the WPA committee that has worked for months with
the state Arts Commission and Humanities Washington, a nonprofit, to
steer the bill through the legislative process.

Bonaudi, a former WPA president, has seen that process falter at least
four times in the past 10 years. “We could never get it passed out of
commmittee before--the interest just wasn’t there.”

Not so this year, and certainly not on Thursday, April 19, at about 1:30 p.m.
when Bonaudi, Stover, Kris Tucker of the Arts Commission, Karen Munro of
Humanities Washington, and a host of others were ushered into the
Governor’s Conference Room for the big moment.

“Everybody who comes in has to have a poem for me,”  joked Gregoire as
the group filed in.

Stover actually had a poem. State Rep. Mary Skinner, R-Yakima, the prime
sponsor of SHB 1279, had asked Stover, who is from Yakima, if he would
prepare a poem for the occasion. Stover wrote a short poem, “Waiting
for the Poets” (see below), which Skinner had framed for the governor.

And Roosevelt High School senior Nick David, Seattle, who is poet laureate
of his school, read a poem, “Strung Out,” which metaphorically explores
the strands of life we cling to at the expense of other things that might
seem small but turn out to be important.

The idea seemed appropriate, said David, a grand-nephew of House
Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam. “It might seem like small
legislation, but I think it will have a big impact,” he said.

Gregoire agreed: “Creating a poet laureate for Washington honors the role
played by poetry and poets in the creative culture of our state,” she said
as she signed the bill.

That role will be a proactive one, said Skinner following the ceremony: “The
poet laureate will be the state’s official spokesperson in verse,” she said.
“This person will be asked to share poetry and write it for special occasions.
This individual will go into communities and work with groups, organizations
and schools to expand the use of poetry.”

Stover said the partnership of the WPA, Arts Commission and Humanities
Washington will work together to develop the program, which will be
administered by the Arts Commission.

Under the law, the commission gets a start-up appropriation of $30,000 for
the 2007-09 biennium to cover expenses such as travel and a stipend for the
poet. Future funding will come from other sources: gifts, grants and
endowments. The WPA will spearhead that effort, said Stover, adding the
partnership is lucky because Humanities Washington director Ted Lord has
extensive fund-raising experience.

“Ted will be a great resource,” said Stover. “Humanities Washington
also has people in place to provide the administrative support we
need to conduct a fund-raising campaign.”

Obviously, poetry lovers throughout the state will be asked to contribute
whatever they can. “We hope people will be generous, give what they can
afford,” he said, adding the goal is to create a $300,000 endowment fund
that will generate enough interest to fund annual program expenses.

Bonaudi said the immediate task at hand is deciding who will be the poet
laureate. The law calls for the Arts Commission to appoint a selection
committee. Kris Tucker says that committee will represent education, the
publishing industry, the state library, Humanities Washington and the WPA.

Under the law, the poet laureate will “promote and encourage poetry within
the state, including but not limited to readings, workshops, lectures ...
in geographically diverse areas over a two-year term.” The selection
committee will establish final critieria, but candidates must be state
residents who are published, who are active as poets, and who are
willing to serve a two-year term.

“We hope to have someone named in 2008--between now and then we will be
working on the process,” Bonaudi.

Tucker, who likes to call poetry “the people’s art,” said the signing
of the bill after so many years, is cause for poetry lovers throughout
the state to rejoice.

“And it couldn’t have happened at a better time because April is National
Poetry Month.”

* * *

--For Gov. Chris Gregoire on the signing of SHB 1279
establishing the position of Washington State Poet Laureate
   —April 19, 2007

Waiting for the Poets

They will come bearing words
and I will be here with my yearnings,
this aching need to speak from my heart
about what I wish for this world.
Together, we will weave a poem,
a constellation of sounds
that will fall like cooling rain
along the parched margins of the way.
I have waited so long,
I have been patient,
but now the poets are coming.
They will help me say what it is that I need to say.

 —Ed Stover

Anne Sexton 101

“When I'm writing, I know I'm doing the thing I was born to do.” - Anne Sexton

a video for beginners

just add a few line breaks

Tuesday's War Poem

There will not be a military

solution to Iraq
It belongs

to the 25 million Iraqis who live

there. It doesn’t belong to the United
States and is not a prize

to be won or lost

- Senator Hagel's slightly-altered quote from today's NYT article, "Senate Supports a Pullout Date in Iraq War Bill"

today it's franz

Kindred Poet

You have a special kinship with Franz Wright. You're meditative, lyrical, devoted to your spirituality and sobriety. May a Pulitzer be in your future. Take this quiz! Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

what you should do April 18-27th

Seeking a literary vacation? Wanna mingle with poets and other writers? Come to Spokane in April for Get Lit! ... seriously, the BEST literary event in Washington State...perhaps even the Northwest (Portland has a similar event, but I've never been).

Hang out with Sherman Alexie, Jess Walter, Alberto Rios, Tess Gallagher, Timothy Egan and more in Spokanada. The city's vibe during this time is amazing. Creative kharma to get you through the spring season of writing.

the desperate

Bush Posts Classified Ad For 90,000 Troops

for happy ex-HS teachers

Principal Hates Underachievers, Overachievers

earth baby

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Spring still makes spring in the mind,
When sixty years are told;
Love wakes anew this throbbing heart,
And we are never old." - from today's The Writer's Almanac, by Garrison Keillor

my poetic attempt (in 10 minutes or less)...

First Day of Spring, 2007

It's a wild March morning in Spokane, the wind
snags my hair and catches it
in my lips and jagged corners
of my sunglasses. My contact lenses
itch my retinas like cayenne pepper bagels,
cat hair covered eyelids,
chlorine pool water, dandelion weeds.
Later, I will take my eight-year-old dog
for a walk through the neighborhood,
along the soccer park fence that borders the cow pasture.
Emerson will drag his nose along the grass,
following urine tracks
and small shit piles. He'll add his own
thin drizzle and scratch the ground
with his back paws,
kicking up mud and grass.
I'll urge him on with my voice, then a strong tug
of the leash. He’s stubborn.
And after a twenty-second tug-of-war, we'll move on
to the next lonely tree.

* * *

“The planet has a fever. If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don’t say ‘I read a science fiction novel that says it’s not a problem.’ You take action.” - Al Gore, from NYT - Gore Warns Congress of ‘Planetary Emergency’

totally Texas: Representative Ralph Hall, Republican of Texas, said that calls for cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases amounted to an “all-out assault on all forms of fossil fuels” that could eliminate jobs and hurt the economy.

huskypoet says: Well, if there is no healthy future, who freakin' cares about jobs or the economy? And what about the jobs and economic boost that occurs because of research and production of alternative fuel sources? Corporate-puppet politicians, get real.

in revision

seeking more color...blog revisions in process

Anne Lamott coming to Spokaloo

(Photo by Mark Richards)

In partnership with Whitworth College
and the SCC Hagan Center Foundation for the Humanities,
Spokane Community College's
President's Speakers Series is honored to present
Anne Lamott
on Saturday, May 12th, at 7:30 p.m.

Ursula's encouraging words

A Few Words to a Young Writer:

Socrates said, "The misuse of language induces evil in the soul." He wasn't talking about grammar. To misuse language is to use it the way politicians and advertisers do, for profit, without taking responsibility for what the words mean. Language used as a means to get power or make money goes wrong: it lies. Language used as an end in itself, to sing a poem or tell a story, goes right, goes towards the truth.

A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it. Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight. By using words well they strengthen their souls. Story-tellers and poets spend their lives learning that skill and art of using words well. And their words make the souls of their readers stronger, brighter, deeper. - Ursula K. Le Guin

Photo credit: Copyright © by Marian Wood Kolisch (permission granted)

science lessons in Alaska

“They do things like throw boiling water in the air and watch it freeze like marbles before it hits the ground. They blow soap bubbles, which freeze solid and roll around on the ground like Christmas ornaments. They put bananas outside to freeze and then use them as hammers to pound nails into two-by-fours.” - from The Cold Show in Fairbanks, Alaska

my newest poem

CT Scan

like snow flakes falling, maybe,
or ice particles avalanching off a rocky slope

hard to see the husband-father under skin
after Iraqi earth and rocks imbedded his face, neck, all around his eyes

easy to believe this 3-D image,
medical photography to peer inside a damaged body

but I see a wife
wondering how to understand her husband's face,
knowing a rock still rests
against his carotid artery, after passing through his throat

a throat that said “I love you”

Picture is from the book, In An Instant, by Bob and Lee Woodruff

Spokane is Reading...

Here are some miniscule details about the 6th annual event happening this Fall.

highly recommended

oh, brother

PG-13 picture book, c/o Brotherhood 2.0

oh, those poor high school kids

Bored high school kids? "...while 80 percent of students said doing homework was important, less than half reported doing an hour or less of it each week."

And the problem is [insert any semi-reasonable answer here].

Finger pointing at teachers? Parents? Or, god forbid, the students themselves?

Today, 8 students did not come to Eng 120 (Technical Writing) today. And I don't lecture. In fact, a major project rough draft was due today.

Here are 4 communicated excuses/reasons that came to me either by phone or email (some more valid than others):
1. cancer-stricken mom in ICU
2. needed to stay at home and wait for a tow truck to take my car to the shop
3. my roommate (and ride to campus) needed to stay at home and wait for a tow truck to take his car to the shop, and our other roommate couldn't bring us to campus on time
4. court (and missed the class before because girlfriend had to be taken to the clinic)

Listen Up High School Teachers:
Keep up your high expectations for attendance, work completion, and quality of work. Do not give in to the temptation to lower standards. Do not dumb down your curriculum. And do not sacrifice quality course content just to make class time all fun and games. (You know those in your building who show movies and do other non-sensical activities way too often.)

Your students become the college's incoming class (if they make it to the next step), and here at the college, the faculty don't hold students' hands and gently guide them on their educational journeys (they're adults!!), we don't report their absences to their parents, and we don't lower standards to accommodate each individual's "personal life struggle" to manage his/her time and dedicate brain attention to homework. Yes, there are counselors, advisors, tutoring centers, learning labs, writing centers, etc. to assist them. But Faculty actually get to spend their time teaching (vs. "class managing"/disciplining), grading/assessing, guiding, encouraging, but also expecting students to put in their full share of effort.