Hermione's Yule Ball

The fog has been thick and lingering long in Spokane lately, making for ideal conditions in which to venture out to see the newest Harry Potter movie. My husband and I went to the 6:40 pm showing last Saturday night at the Imax Theatre. We got our tickets an hour early, and pe0ple were already lined up to be the first ones in the theatre. We left and got some calzones at a small local pizza place, and got back in just enough time to get the last two seats in the last row. Seeing it on the Imax was definitely the way to go, and although my husband has read none of the HP books and only see some of the first movie (he fell asleep!), he still enjoyed it. My favorite scene was the Yule Ball, and it was nice to not see fat Dudley or Harry's muggle aunt and uncle.

It is definitely not a kid movie. "Sequences of Fantasy Violence and Frightening Images" make it PG-13. Of course, that didn't stop some Spokane parents from taking their small children. The four-year-old sitting in front of us was riveted and scared at various points during the movie. Poor little boy is still probably having nightmares. I understand that some parents feel like they are doing the right thing, but really...that little child probably would not have cared if his brother saw the movie and he didn't. I was especially surprised that when we exited the movie at 9:20 pm, there are so many children in line with their parents waiting for the 10:00 showing. Dressed in pajamas, I wonder how many actually stayed awake for the entire 2-1/2 hour lenght of the film. Again, these parents were probably acting more out of their own selfish interests than their children. May I remember this when I'm a parent someday.

Super-Normal

"Even amidst fierce flames the golden lotus can be planted."
- from the Bhagavad Gita
. . . inscription on Sylvia Plath's tombstone in Heptonstall, Yorkshire in England

"...when Sylvia was seventeen and a senior in high school, she had mastered the art of achievement so well that she herself was deceived into believing she was super-normal."
- Anne Stevenson, from Bitter Fame: A Life of Sylvia Plath - (c) 1989

Do any kids today believe they are "super-normal"?

If only there were more high school students like this today in the public schools--those that are creative and unique, who possess a genuine interest and respect for learning.

I spent Tuesday teaching 9th and 10th grade Science as a substitute teacher. During my free period, I went to the library to ask the librarian if there was anything I could help with. (Though I would have rather found a quite place to read, my classroom was used by another teacher during that time and I wanted to show I was a "helpful sub".) As I put away stray books and tidied up the shelves, I was saddened to see what poor condition the books were in. Most seemed fairly well-used, with cracked corners on the spine. Yellowed pages and out-of-date covers. I suppose the condition is indicative of the general lack of consideration that students take when checking out books, but the books in these non-fiction shelves were generally not the latest, most interesting books. I remember how I've seen HS kids treat their library books, and it was mostly while they were in the library because the non-Honors kids didn't want to check out books. Mostly because they figured they would lose them and didn't want to have to pay the fine (which eventually caught up with the kids because they wouldn't be able to receive their transcripts if transferring schools or their diplomas upon graduating).

Jane Austen

"Sometimes the last person on earth you want to be with is the one person you can't be without." (movie tagline)

I'm excited to see the new Pride & Prejudice movie. I first read this novel in the summer of 1999, bought on a whim from a bookstore in the Frankfurt, Germany train station. I had finished the two books I had brought from home, and knew that in less than a week I'd be in London for the last leg of my European backpacking trip.

Austen did not disappoint, especially while reading her in the English garden of a B&B in the Cotswold, and eventually touring Bath and visiting the Jane Austen Centre there.

That next academic year, I taught the novel to my 10th grade Honors English classes. Overall, they loved it. The boys were a little less enthusiastic, at first...but once you start discussing gender issues, class, family dynamics--just about every adolescent becomes interested in the discussion. I livened it up and showed the novel's relevance to today with clips from "You've Got Mail". We also watched a bit of both movie versions that were available at that time--the BBC Colin Firth version, and the black/white Olivier one. Because these kids LOVED drama, we also had our own in-class version of "The Gerald Springfielder" show, where select students dressed up and got into the mindset of their designated character to "face off" on the set of our imaginary talk show. Of course, they also had essay responses, reading journals, etc...all that rigorous academic stuff because it is Honors, afterall. However, those more creative, non-traditional lessons are so fun to do with a group of responsible students who don't push the boundaries too much. They knew how to have fun, without taking advantage of the situation to goof off and ruin the spirit of the lesson.

My 14-year-old niece is currently reading the novel. I gave it to her as a junior-bridesmaid gift this summer. I can't wait to have a "book group" discussion with her. My sister tells me Jessica is savoring the book. This makes me so happy.

I'm tempted to read the novel again this weekend.

"New Music Throwdown"

Christopher Williams won! If he's coming to a venue near you, I recommend you go.

Trick-or-Treat Report

First: 2 teenage girls
Next: a group of 3 teenagers in non-descript costumes (one might have been going for the “80’s look” be the style of his windbreaker, but I actually think it wasn’t a costume). They also had a dog with them—a Bull Mastiff-Black Lab mix, dressed as a “ghost” (raggedy white t-shirt)
Then: pink butterfly (a cute little girl who redeemed my faith in the trick-or-treating tradition)
After that: various other groups of kids . . . little preschoolers dressed as animals, a duo from Lord of the Rings …Gandorf (which I initially thought was Moses with his staff!) and the shadowy villain from LOR.

The Treat: juice boxes—100% juice. (Judd remembers getting this as a kid and loved it because he always got so thirsty while trick-or-treating.)

Reviews: One girl exclaimed to her mother as they were walking down our path from the porch back to the sidewalk, “I got juice!”

Beatnik Jack: “That’s the coolest pumpkin we’ve seen tonight!”, from a group of middle schoolers—including one who said she was dressed as a “runner at night…it was a last minute thing”. (Costume: reflective vest, headlamp over a knit hat, plus other embellishments…creative.)

Back-up Treat: sour Skittles (tantalizingly sour!) … and one of Judd's favorite candies.
Reviews: big hit; preferred over juice, of course. I suspect word spread fast on the sidewalk which houses had the good stuff. Since Judd shopped for our treats at Costco, I was giving out 1.8 oz packages.

(Clarification: I had solo duty, because Judd worked late at the hospital—though he only found out about his schedule on Friday. We were disappointed to not commemorate our “First Halloween as a married couple giving out candy in our house”.)

Back to the Skittles . . .
There was the “transition group” where I was ran out of juice boxes and had to grab the Skittles. But then some of the first kids from this group wanted to trade in their juice boxes for candy. As the last girl was finished, one really little boy (age 4?) from the group came back up to me at the door with a forlorn look, clutching his juice box with both hands. I squatted down to his level and asked him, “Would you like candy instead of juice?” But he just shook his head, and turned away. (Some kids know that sour candy can be a wild party on the tongue!)

Resurgence of “older” participants: including a very developed, post-pubescent male with facial hair. Hmmm…

Interesting twist: 2 teenage girls collecting canned food items for their school club food drive. Young humanitarians.

Shop Closed, porch lights off – Skittles and juice are gone: turned away those still desperately seeking candy…in the 8:00 hour, a little “devil” girl; 9:00 hour, group of 5 gothic looking teenagers.

Total number of Trick-or-Treaters: 55

Emerson’s experience: not willing to keep his witch hat on, went crazy every time someone came to the door.

The Point of writing about this: there is none, really.

Emerson says, "Happy Halloween!"

"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble. See the little witch hat my mom made me wear? I can't wait for all those little kids to come to our door tonight. This year's pumpkin is pretty cool. It was a 25-pounder!" - Emerson, husky

beatnik poet face

nightcap: a glass of wine, "medium bodied with flavors of strawberry and spice"

Likes:

• cranberry and white chocolate chip scones
• Oregon Chai – instant chai tea latte mix … simple and tasty
• Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte (addictive sweetness, similar to but better than their Chai Tea)
• writing with gel pens
• wearing scarves
• sidewalks carpeted with golden-orange leaves
• Rockwood Boulevard
• artsy wine bottle labels

Indifferent:

• Houses with Halloween decorations

Recently spotted within a walk or bike-ride radius of our house -

1. Creative: a historic home with the simple decoration of Dracula’s crooked tombstone next to the stone steps leading up to the house
2. Tacky: blow-up ghosts
3. Cliché: white cotton fake spider web stuff stretched everywhere
4. Freaky: a collection of mannequin heads decorating the front porch (seriously, there were about 15-20 heads!)
   

Dislikes:

• taking I-90 to work and feeling like a “commuter”
• “decrapitating” the backyard (i.e., picking up Emerson’s poo)

* * *

If you come to our house on Halloween you might just get…a juice box or Sour Skittles.

* * *

In the book bag:
Always Beginning – Essays on a Life in Poetry, by Maxine Kumin
Published by Copper Canyon Press (one of my favorites), 2000.

This book is divided into six parts. I’m skipping around as the essay titles interest me. So far I’ve enjoyed:
“Interstices”
“Swimming and Writing”
“Motherhood and Poetics”
“For Anne at Passover” (Kumin’s analysis and explanation of this background personal context of this poem by the same name.)

. . . and I realize now that if I listed anymore essay titles, I might as well list the entire table of contents.

Kumin and Sexton were best friends, although that's not how I became interested in her. I first became interested in Kumin’s poetry after I read an interview with her from an anthology of poet interviews (whose title I can’t recall now). I’ve partially read through her book of poems The Long Marriage (I think is the title)—although I might be confusing Kumin now with Carolyn Kizer in this regard. The essential factor regarding my greater than keen interest in certain poets is when I’ve obtained biographical insight into their lives as writers…what forces breath into their poems, what feeds their writing life—hence my fascination with Sexton and Plath.

In regards to more contemporary poets, Paul Guest is a poet whose work I really enjoy. I read his first book last spring for thesis hours, based on Jonathan’s personal recommendation. I found Paul’s blog, heard an online recording of him reading his poems (from Slate.com), and have had brief email correspondence with him. I look forward to his second book of poems.

Meeting a poet face-to-face also makes a considerable impact on the amount of interest I have in a certain book, or in that entire poet’s body of work. It definitely increases the amount of compassion I have for that poet, whether stemming from my admiration in their accomplishment (as in, “You worked really, really hard to get this manuscript of poems completed and ready for publication”) or my respect for their character (i.e., thought going through my head: “I don’t always understand or love your poems, but there are a few I really enjoy…either way, because you are such a kind and interesting human being, I like your poetry”). I won’t list their names here, lest they someday are inclined to google their name to see who is “blogging” about them. (Yeah, like they have time for that!)

Throughout my limited exposure and intermingling with writers (of both poetry and prose) at readings and/or workshops in Seattle and Spokane, here is a list of the most memorable… Sherman Alexie, Malena Mörling, Gerald Stern, Michael Van Walleghan, Rick Bass, Anne Lamott, Rita Dove, Dorianne Laux, Lief Enger.

I think writers (as a type of celebrity, as opposed to actor celebrities) are the most gracious and kind. Don’t you agree?

I remember my response to a high school student who was questioning why I was making such a big deal (i.e., showing excitement) about Leif Enger reading in Seattle (author of Peace Like a River), and I responded: “He’s like the Tom Cruise of fiction.” Perhaps this was a slight mis-exaggeration, but my point at that time was that Enger’s book was incredible and therefore Enger was cool. His book was becoming more popular (this was fall of 2002), gaining interest from a broad range of literary readers, and I was trying to make a point to this particular 17-year-old that Writers are cool people, too—worthy of our attention…people who have achieved success; who impact our culture, cause us to think, contribute worthwhile substance to our lives.

distractions

"The northern city of Turin [Italy] passed a law in April to fine pet owners up to $598 ( 500 euros) if they do not walk their dogs at least three times a day." - from the article "Rome bans goldfish bowls, orders dog walking"

Death Cab for Cutie on NPR.

More from NPR:

• A Family of 'Vows': The Son of a Priest and a Nun
• Writer Walter Kirn, on a 'Mission to America'

Nebraska poet

Great story on NPR today... Poetry: At Home with Poet Laureate Ted Kooser

Very cozy, touching--and at the end of the interview with Melissa Block he reads his poem "So This is Nebraska".

Kooser, in this interview, discusses his daily writing routine--gets up at 4:30 in the morning and tries to write poetry until 7:00. Yikes! But he does admit that 9 days out of 10, no worthwhile poems result. But that at the end of the year, if he has a dozen good poems, that is good enough. "Be there when the geese come in"... or as Jonathan Johnson says, "It's like money in the bank." That investment of time in writing drafts, journal writing...nurturing the writing life.
Speaking of Nebraska, the summer issue of Prairie Schooner has 2 of Johnson's new poems in it.

quote of the day

"You're not qualified to govern this country at this moment in time if you don't understand the uses of TV. In fact, those in public life should be required to watch it. It's like Google Earth for the national psyche, hovering over the landscape, zooming in."
- Anna Quindlen, Newsweek columnist

Just this weekend I was introduced to Google Earth by my brother-in-law. Very cool.

What I mean is....

To follow-up on my previous post title, I reference myself with Plath and Sexton only on the basis of the historical context, and lineage, of women's poetry and the understanding that Poetry as an artistic expression of the human experience--and as such, the Poet draws from her own life for context and ideas, as either a focus or a springboard to another idea. Other than that, I do not associate or connect with either Plath or Sexton regarding their lifestyle or personal values. The more I've been reading about Sexton's life, the more appalled I am--at the same time I feel sorry for her. Not only did she engage in self-destructive behavior (though her mental illness did make her incapable of making safe decisions, for the most part), but she made really bad choices with her daughters--including sexual abuse. (Read Middlebrook's book regarding the details.) I plan to read Linda Gray Sexton's memoir next, Searching for Mercy Street: My Journey Back to My Mother, Anne Sexton. (That's one way to get back at your mom!)

Plath and Sexton were both extremely passionate about Poetry, obsessive even in some respects and perhaps unhealthy in ways.

Are we women poets all destined, statistically, to a lesser life expectancy?

Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and .... me?

I've been indulging in biographies about these two fascinating poets. This weekend I finished reading Her Husband: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, by Diane Middlebrook, which focused on the "literary marriage" of these poets and their mutual impact on each other as artists. And I just found some intriguing study questions for this book (as well as some Q&A responses with the author, a Spokane native). Middlebrook read all the other published biographies of Plath during her research for her book, which creates a more balanced and credible perspective. (Now I've started Anne Stevenson's biography about Plath, Bitter Fame--such a dramatic title!)

After reading in Sexton's biography (also written by Middlebrook) about Anne's friendship with Syliva, I wanted to detour for a little bit and catch up on my understanding of Plath. I am awed by Plath's intense determination to be a (famous) writer--a tenacious pursuit she exhibited throughout her life. And the irony of her being more famous after her death (like most writers)--which made Anne jealous. (And the romantized view of the writer's life ending in such dramatic fashion.)

Middlebrook documents the literary life of Sexton and how her life circumstances bled into the creation of her poems, detailing the specifics of how those poems were first drafted and the real-life inspiration for them. For example, I knew I had read somewhere a mention that Sexton and James Wright had an affair, but it wasn't until Middlebrook's biography that I learned the specifics of this connection. (Though it was brief as an "affair", they had a deep friendship and she dedicated one of her books to Wright.) Middlebrook then examines those loves poems which Sexton actually composed for Jim. So now, I'm slowing down with the biography and cross-referencing--looking through Sexton's Complete Poems and a collection of her prose and interviews, No Evil Star, which includes Sexton's memoir essay of Plath.

more later...

Today's food for my brain

Today on NPR . . . Joan Didion, Writing a Story After an Ending. Very touching. Some interesting comments by Didion on her faith or lack thereof. "I suppose it would be comforting [to have a certain kind of strong faith], but there is no way I could have it," she says in the interview. Sad. And after a pause in the interview, while Didion needed to collect her thoughts (and subside some tears), she was informed that her memoir was nominated for the National Book Award.

And the Quills winners. Anne Lamott was one of the nominees for the Religious/Spirituality award. And I'm slightly embarassed to say that I know of Debbie Macomber, the Romance winner. She's from Port Orchard, WA. My mom is a big fan of hers, all starting with Macomber's series of "Dakota" romance novels. I accompanied my mom once to an "Author Book Signing" event at Waldenbooks in the mall. There was no one in line, virtually no one else in the store except the bookstore employees and Debbie and her daughter. My mom got her book signed and a small tea sample. She was thrilled (my mom, that is).

back to poetry

age: 30 years, 10 months
significant life event: got married
next significant event: changed my last name, made maiden name my new middle name

I like the physical name change which corresponds with the life-circumstance transition. Not only am I learning to live with my new husband, but learning more about the way his analytical-science mind thinks. Learning how to be a more patient and selfless person. Learning how to love him better each day.

Not much poetry being written these days. Notes in my head. Ideas. Images.

I'm working full-time as a Technical Writer right now. At least that is one aspect of my job. I review (proofread/edit) background investigation reports on subjects seeking access authorization to privately-owned (corporate) nuclear power plants. I train the investigators on how to write succint, logical, and organized investigation notes, how to follow procedures, etc. I write the procedures, actually. Sometimes I do some investigating as well. Despite working long hours each week lately, I have had some time to read. Especially today while my husband was flyfishing in Montana with his father. (Think River Runs Through It.)

On the nightstand bookshelf:
Anne Sexton: A Biography, by Diane Wood Middlebrook
Poetry and Ambition: Essays 1982-88, Donald Hall

and Jeremy's back....with a picture of my dad, Chico (the family chihuahua), and me (see Sept. 19th post).

....one last thing...Rebecca, in Colorado, are you reading this?

One Month

First month of marriage. Good.

Busy at work, long hours. Bad.

Reading books on poetry. Trying to figure out who I am, again.

Missing Alaska...Resurrection Bay and Seward, time to play all day.

Honeymoon, Alaska's Kenai Peninsula

too busy for poetry?

Aside from reading a chapter or two of Sam Ligon's book every night, and sometimes in the morning during breakfast, I've been re-reading women who do too much: how to stop doing it all and start enjoying your life...an inspirational book by Patricia Sprinkle, published by Zondervan. It's written from a Christian perspective, but it's not like the typical "Christian devotional book"....it's part memoir, part instructive, with just a few questions thrown in to for self-reflection...it's like getting wise advice from a mom or aunt. And Sprinkle has published mystery novels, even though Christians in her life disapproved, but it was her passion and she was loyal to it.

I haven't been loyal to my poetry lately. I have lines and phrases written on napkins and scratch paper, gathering near my desk. I haven't fully unpacked and set up my study after moving the last weekend of June. My Technical Writing job keeps me busy 30+ hrs a week, and when I'm not there I've been either walking Emerson, unpacking, spending time with friends, working on the last of the wedding plans, spending time with Judd (which usually ends up being more wedding planning or discussion about key items)...and my Subaru Outbook has been chugging and coughing, and after a new fuel filter, spark plug lines, a $200 mechanic bill, and a $10.99 bottle of fuel injector cleaner it's still running bad. This is the NOT the month for extra car expenses! But there's no way that car, a 2002 with over 84k miles, is going to make it to Seattle and back unless it gets fixed.

So Technical Writing pays these bills, and it is interesting and I'm learning more, and I like my co-workers...but I'm anticipating the time when I can get into the new poetry books I've been wanting to read, come back to some drafts saved on my computer, put some new lines into Word, set up base camp at a coffee shop table for a few hours and feel like I'm really devoting time and energy into my craft. Life right now is just such a different pace than it was during grad school, especially the quarters preceding the last one which heavily-focused on thesis compilation, revision, and oral defense preparation.

Aside from work, the new house is cute...an old early 1940's looking house, close to Manito Park and Rockwood Bakery...Emerson loves lounging in the yard which offers shade, dirt to dig in, and grass to sleep in, plenty of sunshine, a concrete slab for his kennel, and a back door with a window for looking in. He loves to sit outside of it and look inside, or just nap outside the door with the big windchime that hangs above and plays the most beautiful tones. Raspberry bushes grow along one fence and the berries are starting to ripen this week. Last weekend I thought one was a salmon berry, and realized it had been way too long since I ate fresh raspberries off the vein--I was forgetting what they looked like! My parents have huge rows of raspberry bushes in their garden and my Fourth of July memories are filled with picking bowls and bowls of raspberries, my parents making jam, my dad's homemade raspberry pie, raspberries on vanilla ice cream, raspberries on cereal... For now, Judd and I enjoy them with French Vanilla ice cream. Judd wants to make jam. I've tasted his homemade jam before--not too bad. Another impressive quality in my fiance. And moving showed me he's great with tools, spacial conception (which I already knew, but it was strongly reinforced), disassembling and reassembling Emerson's kennel, putting up Emerson's zipline run, doing yardwork (edging, hedge-trimming, mowing--anything having to do with power tools).

This past week we went sailing on Lake Pend Orielle in northern Idaho and watched a fireworks show with our good friends who today moved back to Colorado (Ft. Collins/Boulder area), we also took swing dance lessons with them, drank margaritas, drank "Duck Farts" another night, enjoyed an enchilada dinner and went with them on a last walk to Manito Park. But they'll be back to Spokane, to visit family and us! And we're excited to visit them.

Also this week, my friend Teri gave birth to her twin boys (July 5) just as she was approaching the 36 week mark.

In other news, the bridesmaid dresses are stuck in customs in New York, RSVP numbers are lower than expected, meeting with our cool photojournalist wedding photographer tomorrow, and I leave in a little over a week for San Francisco for a business trip (which I hope to combine with some fun since I have some good college friends who live there!).

And tomorrow will be exactly 4 weeks before my wedding.

* * *
an excerpt from Patricia Sprinkle's book:
"...writing mysteries and other fiction is my call from God. Saying yes to that calling in spite of what others think released God to open doors in amazing ways. It has also been a major means of reducing stress and providing energy in my life.

Think for a moment about women who focus most of their time and attention on things they love. Aren't they women who smile and laugh a lot, women who have lots of energy, who have time to spend an hour or two with a friend without guilt that they ought to be doing something else? Those women are cooperating with the design Goid is weaving in their lives, functioning as God intends us all to funciton: energized by and enjoying what we do and living with enthusiasm, laughter, and leisure."

- from Chapter 4, Wise Up Before You Burn Out

lillian hellman and body odors

I'm not sure about this previous statement, but that is a phrase that someone put into google and then found my blog.

I did think of Lillian yesterday, because I ate a "Dash Ham Melt" sandwich--named after Lillian's longtime partner--at the Liberty Cafe next to Auntie's Bookstore. It was okay...ham was a little too salty.

At night before going to bed, I've been reading Safe in Heaven Dead, by Samuel Ligon and really like it...and not just because Sam is an EWU professor and the advisor for "Willow Springs"...or because I moved into his neighborhood. (Just a few nights ago, him and his two kids were coming down the sidewalk and we chatted for a few minutes.) The details about the union and political organization is a bit confusing at times, and I think I shouldn't read it so late at night...but the character development is compelling. And I enjoy the quick pace of the action.

I have two new poetry books I've been wanting to start reading--one is by Ruth Stone. I'm also set to begin Donald Hall and William Stafford's prose books on poetry. And there are some new poem drafts that need some attention again.

The post-MFA mission: how to figure out a schedule that allows for the creative process and production to occur, while maintaining a work and personal schedule that pays the bills and provides a meaningful, fulfilling life that imbeds purpose into my daily experiences.

Maybe I'm being too idealistic and asking too much. Maybe not.

Any suggestions from others who work at one job and then write at home in the evenings/mornings/weekends?

Photos from Memorial Day weekend trip

These are long overdue, but still beautiful to share. We traveled to Idaho and Montana over the course of 5 days. I had all my thesis books with me to read again and take notes. The fly-fishing wasn't too great, but the weather was very nice and we found a great (and free) campsite in MT.
(The pictures are in reverse chronological order from that weekend.)

Emerson wading in the north fork of the Bull River.