What To Do?

I have been away for a little while, trying to make a decision of what I want to do when I grow up. I finished my last show in the middle of June and have been pondering this decision ever since.

I needed to choose from among my several talents and focus on one of them. You see, I've been floating lately - Jumping from Photography,

To Acting,

To Writing, to Drawing, to Designing, to... you get the idea... I have a lot of different talents to chose from. and I'm not complaining. It's nice to be able to do so many things (If my friends are to be believed...) well.

I've even been taking some workshops and classes...

The only thing that was clear to me when I started this process was the fact that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I never wanted to produce again... At least, not until I was getting paid for it.

Producing for small theater had no real rewards to it. It's like herding kittens. I used to produce for my ex-wife, before she became my Ex, until one time I couldn't and it was one of the (minor) contributing factors to my divorce.

Don't get me wrong, we put on good to great shows, but the headaches were many.

This time, it looks like it cost me a friend. I'm still connected to him on Facebook, but I haven't heard from him in months.

Anyway, back to what to do about focus...

I have always been a jack of all trades creatively. It's really like trying to chose your favorite child. I've gotten suggestions from different people whose opinion I trust, but haven't got more than two votes for any particular talent.

I really don't know... Suggestions anyone.

NaPoWriMo - Day Six

I had to go into work today to email out something I promised someone on Thursday... Thus I was here and able to post Day six on day six.

Huzzah!

The Prompt: (I don't think I got it quite right...)

And now, our (completely optional) prompt for the day! This might seem like a bit of a downer, but I challenge you to write a valediction. This is a poem of farewell. Perhaps the most famous one is John Donne’s A Valediction Forbidding Mourning, which turns the act of saying good-bye into a very tender love poem. But your poem could say “good-bye” (and maybe good riddance!) to anything or anyone. A good-bye to winter might be in order, for example. Or good-bye to the week-old easter eggs in your refrigerator. Light or serious, long or short, it’s up to you!


_____________________________________________________________________________________

Because:

I close my eyes

and you are gone,

a figment of what was.

a wisp of dream.

a happy home.

gone all because... "Because".

You had no reason.

you gave no signs.

spoke only that cursed word.

I want more,

I needed more,

though none was ever offered.

An absent love

now hides my smile.

I only feel my flaws.

my heart is broke

I am alone

And all because... "Because".

4-6-13

Day 5 NaPoWriMo - Cinquain

The prompt from NaPoWriMo:

But now we have a new prompt to deal with! Because I am a rather obvious person at heart, I challenge you to write a cinquain on this, the fifth day of NaPoWriMo. A cinquain is a poem that employs stanzas with five lines. Each line has a certain number of accented or stressed syllables, and a certain number of overall syllables per line. In the “American” cinquain, a form invented by a woman with the highly unfortunate name of Adelaide Crapsey, the number of stresses per line is 1-2-3-4-1, and the number of syllables is 2-4-6-8-2. So the first line would have two syllables, one stressed and one unstressed. The second line would have four syllables, two of which are stressed, and so on. This kind of accent/syllabic verse can be a bit frustrating at first, but it’s useful for learning to sharpen up your language!

The Definition I follow...

Cinquain Poetry has five lines.

Line 1 is one word (the title)
Line 2 is two words that describe the title.
Line 3 is three words that tell the action
Line 4 is four words that express the feeling
Line 5 is one word that recalls the title

__________________________________________________________________________________

1)

Writing

Myriad Words

Thrown On Pages

Trying To Make Sense

Author

2)

Heartbreak

Emotional Loss

Pulled From Within

Where Did We Fail

Farewell

3)

Breathing

Lungs Expand

Precious Air Intake

Chest Feels So Tight

Exhale

4-5-13

Okay, I'm all caught up - Have no internet until Monday - and will have to play catch up again - You all have a wonderful weekend.

NaPoWriMo... Day 4

The prompt:

Our prompt for today (again — totally optional!) is a little odd, but here goes. Recently, I read an article about the Scottish science fiction writer Iain M. Banks. His books often have spaceships in them. And those spaceships have extremely odd, poetic names. Like:
Prosthetic Conscience
Irregular Apocalypse
Unfortunate Conflict of Interest
Gunboat Diplomat
Very Little Gravitas Indeed
A Series of Unlikely Explanations
Just Another Victim of the Ambient Morality
Jaundiced Outlook
Frank Exchange of Views
Lightly Seared on the Reality Grill
Falling Outside the Normal Moral Constraints
Abundance of Onslaught
Refreshingly Unconcerned With the Vulgar Exigencies of Veracity
A Fine Disregard For Awkward Facts

So your challenge for today is to write a poem with a title drawn from one of these spaceship names. Feel free to pick a genuine Banks, like the ones listed above, or to take one from the twitter. And if you think of your own Banks-like spaceship name title, feel free to use that!

__________________________________________________________________________________

Very Little Gravitas:

So
serious...
she
said.

Words
that
strike
me
to 
the 
utmost.

Her
bored
eyes
bare
no
malice,
but
no 
interest
is
born
there
as
well...

I 
know
what
it 
is
to
have
fun.

The
type
ten-
year-
olds
crave
when 
faced 
with
homework.

Avoidance
tactics
serendipitously
performed
when
parents
ask
you
to
take
out
the 
trash...

Or

When 
they 
want 
you 
to 
walk
your
little
sister
to
school
when
you
only
hunger
to 
run 
with 
the
other
boys.

The 
type
of 
boisterous
ballyhoo
that
adults 
rarely
understand
nor 
can 
achieve
without
the 
proper
amount
of 
alcohol
consumed.

I 
know
how
to
have 
fun!

You 
just
don't
know
how
to
recognise
it...

4-5-13

Very first draft, but I'm behind in my posts. So bare with me.

NaPoWriMo Day 3

Okay, the last few days have been hell, and this &%&%^@)%^ prompt for day three of NaPoWriMo drove me insane...

And now, our prompt (remember — these are optional, so if they don’t inspire you or you have an idea of your own you want to work with, go ahead!). I’m playing to my own strengths here, but I challenge you to write a sea shanty (or shantey, or chanty, or chantey — there’s a good deal of disagreement regarding the spelling!). Anyway, these are poems in the forms of songs, strongly rhymed and rhythmic, that sailors might sing while hauling on ropes and performing other sea-going labors. Probably the two most famous sea shanties are What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor? and Blow the Man Down. And what should your poem be about? Well, I suppose it could be about anything, although some nautical phrases tossed into the chorus would be good for keeping the sea in your shanty. Haul away, boys, haul away!

___________________________________________________________________________________

I spent two days trying to come up with a Sea Shanty, half a dozen versions which I WILL NOT post here, because they sucked...

But I had an out - You don't have to follow the prompt, so after trying, and trying and trying I gave up and wrote this:

Sea Alt:

A little "c" saw
what the Bering Sea sees
and was over come
with jealousy.

"I'll never be
as mighty
as the raging sea..."
The little "c" said to the lower case "b".

"I know what you mean."
said the lower case "b",
"I want to fly high,
see what the bumble bee sees."

"To fly in the sky,
over long, tall  oak trees
is a dream I still dream."
Said the lower case "b".

"Then, I'll see you tonight."
Said the tired little "c".
"When we sleep and we dream,
and can be what we'll be."

So, off they both went.
The "c" and the "b".
To their own little beds
and to dream mighty dreams,

4-4-13

Okay, it mentions the sea in it, does it count?

It's not done, but it tickled my fancy...

NaPoWriMo Poem - Day 2

Not quite sure this fits the prompt - but what the hey...

The Prompt:

And now, the prompt! Today’s prompt is drawn from an idea that Kelsey Howard gave me — that of a poem that tells a lie. I think you could have a poem that’s all lies (that could be very funny — full of things like “the sun is the size of a nickel”) or a poem that steadily builds to telling one big whopper. I can imagine these being very poignant, or very much like goofy shaggy-dog stories. I suppose it all comes down to what you want to lie about!

The Poem:

Catch me if you can:

Somewhere in the pink ocean

delicate red jays swim,

through Asiago coral

and spaghetti squash sea weed,

nibbling on giggling lady finger flesh.

It tickles their blood streams

to wiggle through the water

torturing  tortellini turtles,

and half-baked bandicoots

in their wake...

Spelunking never tasted

so good.

04/02/13

I'm about to join a friend of mine in the NaPoWriMo. Writing one poem a day for the month of April.

Let's see... They give prompts, but you don't have to use them...

PROMPT:


And now, our prompt! (The prompts are totally optional, by the way — use ‘em or ignore ‘em as you see fit.) Continuing with the theme of firsts, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that has the same first line as another poem. You can use a favorite poem, pick up a random book of poetry and get a first line that way, or perhaps use one of the following:
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
She walks in beauty, like the night
Slowly, silently, now the moon
anyone lived in a pretty how town


Can I find my own in the short time I have to do this?

Poem I like:

from the long hallways
voices of the people rise
in the morning haze
- Oshima Ryota 

Take the first line -

from the long hallways

Then add my lines

cold light seeps beneath locked doors
what lies behind them

My haiku from the prompt...

from the long hallways
cold light seeps beneath locked doors
what lies behind them

Well, that was my first shot - we'll see if i can keep up with them - even though I may not get to post until I'm at work. Limited access to the internet on weekends...

Wish me luck.