Blog Post for 2/18/15

I began reading the fiction story packet from "Micro-fiction An Anthology of Really Short Stories". The first one I read was "Survivors" by Kim Addonizio. I instantly knew what the story was about by the starting words: "He and his lover..." This short story was very eye-opening to me. A lot of my closest friends are of a homosexual orientation, and I have personally seen them go through just as much pain and heartbreak as somebody of a heterosexual orientation would. It is absolutely absurd, in my personal opinion, for anybody to discount the value of love someone has for another individual, no matter what their gender. I especially loved the line about one of the characters fathers "(tried) to beat his son's sexual orientation out of him with a belt on several occasions during adolescence".

"Dear God, let me die first, don't let me survive him."

Throughout the packet, the next story to instantaneously catch my eye was the one titled "Walking the Baby to the Liquor Store".  I loved how the title pulled me in as a reader without giving me much of a choice: with a title like that, I had to see what it was about. "This morning she's Cleopatra and the liquor store is Rome." I have a difficult time understanding exactly what this one is about -- but I like the context in which it is written. I feel like I am reading a letter that was sent specifically to me from the author, telling me what he is feeling and thinking about his child and his social role as a father.

"....watching the fireflies coming on and going out again in the long grass like so many sparks flying off the anvil of the world."

The "mystery stories" by Sharon Krinsky were really mind-boggling to me. It bothers me when I read something and cannot interpret what the point they are trying to get at -- it can be a big fault for somebody who loves reading as much as I do and is well aware that most writers don't have a big picture anyhow. I'm figuring that it is all based on personal interpretation, but it still stresses me out that I don't know what they were thinking when they wrote it. The only short story of hers I remotely understood was the "Poetry": I believe she made the china cup reference to metaphorically describe how delicate her poems she had written for her crush were, and this makes me think of how heart-breaking it would be for me to profess my feelings for somebody and have them think it is plastic-cup material.

Blog Post for 2/11/15

   I think I'm becoming a little bit more comfortable writing poems. At first the idea was terrifying: I have always been more of a short story writer, certainly not poems. As I was writing the poems due for workshop this week I realized that my first instinct (with the guidelines I was following that is) was always to take the poem a depressing route. That's not how I feel in everyday life, however I have found that is a lot easier for me to think of ways to stem off of a depressing basis rather than a happy one. I am also realizing that the more poems of others that I read they become a source of inspiration for me to take my story a little further or maybe in a completely new direction. I don't think writing depressing pieces of literature this entire semester is wrong -- but I am definitely anxious to see what I can do with a more positive source of inspiration.

   I also finished the rest of the provided packet of "Writing Down the Bones" that we were given... it is still one of the best books I have ever read! I don't think I have ever read another book required by a college course that I actually felt like I am benefitting from in a great way. Every time I read an excerpt it gives me more and more inspiration to carry my own notebook around with me to express my thoughts. There were a few quotes that greatly impacted me:

"Even miracles are mundane happenings that an awakened mind can see in a fantastic way." p.74

I had to look up what mundane meant ("practical details of regular life") but I knew that this was a fabulous sentence the second I came across it. The words are so clear, short and concise; yet when it is all put together it could change thousands of perceptions and views in many aspects. I really enjoyed reading about how you need to get to know your environment in order to become a great writer (i.e.: knowing the names of flowers that are in your neighborhood to be able to describe them beautifully and accurately. They are a living thing and deserve the dignity of having its own name.) It makes me realize how unaware we actually are -- we think we are conscious and nothing can get by us, however we miss thousands of opportunities to learn or explore everyday even when they are right under our nose.

"Often, as I write my best pieces, my heart is breaking." p. 103

When I wrote the first couple of poems we were supposed to write, I was going through quite an emotional upset. To top it off, I did not even want to write the poems in the first place. However when I sat down to write them, I found my pen practically unable to keep up with everything I had wanted to write down. They were effortless poems that I created and covered in tears, I did not hold back anything -- this doesn't mean that they weren't in fact terrible; they totally are. Nevertheless, I felt a lot better just even writing down everything I felt I needed to express. Plus: We didn't have to turn them in, so nobody ever was forced to read them! :)

Blog Post for 2/8/15

I read the rest of the Tocqueville book -- I am beginning to understand why it is important to have some knowledge of historical events even in today's world. The more I learn the more empathetic I find myself becoming towards the individuals who went through the events described within the poem. This is something that can be considerably beneficial for my career goals: the more information I have on an event that strikes an emotional nerve, the higher the chances are that I will be able to relate and help somebody overcome the turmoil of a similar situation. This is especially helpful because I am pursuing hospital administration (and plan on studying abroad) there is a high likelihood that I will run into people of many different backgrounds.

I was even more excited to read some more pages of "Writing Down the Bones" -- even though I have completely given up on the idea of it coming into the bookstore. One thing that I found very interesting was the mention of 'Shout, Applaud'. It could be difficult to successfully recommend a book of poems written by a group of mentally retarded women from Norhaven, but the way Goldberg spoke of the book had me researching where I could read a few more excerpts. I never pondered the thought of syntax in writing much. The whole rearranging of words (ice is dry, etc..) was really eye-opening, I thought it was a great way to show how to exercise syntax.

One of the quotes I loved: "We are not ruling the world. It is an illusion, and the illusion of our syntax structure perpetuates it." This spoke to me because I had recently saw online a very powerful image that also related to the flourishing sense of egocentricity that humans have been watering and fertilizing with development of our "me, me, I, me, I, me" language.