May's list

1. moss, 2. roots, 3. one dock, two directions, 4. Untitled, 5. Waiting for Spring, 6. paper-thin meyer slices, 7. Untitled, 8. film.168, 9. IMG_8755lrz, 10. Untitled, 11. Thesis, 12. helicopters

May, where flowers finally rise up from the loam and green. Things settling into my heart as I look into the month of May:

- officially becoming a Wings mentor
- going through that bookcase of poetry, book by book
- hard raspberry iced tea
- watching the tulips bloom
- humanities: The Awakening
- english-9: The Whale Rider
- carrying out those last units with five weeks until summer
- the lives of others
- replacing those plastic venetian blinds in the living room with roman blinds
- daffodils
- blue. green. always.
- camping: this month, afton
- celebrating our young planted trees wintering over: the dogwood, the apple, the maple
- getting a kick out of netflix for books: bookswim
- finding places to pick your own berries
- in the beginning, watching the buds bloom on the trees; at the end of the month, the true unfurling
- finishing oz and now moving on to alias
- baby showers
- pomegranate blueberry juice
- thunderstorms!

two months, minus a day

Check out all these gorgeous original photographs by some really talented photographers on Flickr: 1. cuddle, 2. napping, 3. Marisa, 4. Sophia, 5. 12 weeks old, 6. Hayley Three, 7. sleepy., 8. "my new hat rocks! yeah baby!!": ZED 69.365, 9. Room With a View, 10. Untitled, 11. painter, 12. hello big ocean

My best friend is due in two months, minus one day. Her life is going to shift so strangely--another person demanding so much more, tugging so much at the heart. And I will be able to be witness to so much of it, a fact to which I believe makes me blessed.

friday

Good things:

- Today, dozens of adorable elementary students came in to learn about conservation during Earth Week festivities. In our pod, there were erosion displays hosted by a few of my own students--water runoff and wind erosion complete with dirt and grass and trees and leaves, all blowing about in the pod, reconstructed between each migrating group.

- Finding a website where you can search for berry picking farms. In just a month, we'll be able to take advantage of our first CSA (half share) membership. I am thrilled at the idea of eating something crisp and true. Freshness. Ryan just finished In Defense of Food, and last time we went grocery shopping, and he told me about how we ought to shop from the outer rim of the grocery store as everything else as you draw to the center becomes more and more processed. I think we do a fairly good job, though I have the naughty habit of letting some things rot (asparagus, strawberries) before I think to eat them. Bananas are eaten immediately; they are readily available. Blueberries get shuffled to the back. Both are glorious when fresh.

- It is Friday, and I am grateful. The weeks are jumbled lately. Six weeks left to the school year (not that I'm counting), and every day closer to the weekend is a favorite. I look forward to sleeping in a little tomorrow, but not too much: I have plans for that rascally yard of ours.

- Finding Beth on Flickr. She's a friend from high school (of the herd variety I've mentioned before), and is talented on many levels, including artistic; I have a few bits and pieces of hers tucked away, actually. I especially love this photo and this one.

- Other simple beauties found on Flickr:


1. aging, 2. seedlings, 3. 2, 4. wednesday evening, 5. Hayley Three, 6. Knit, 7. sink, 8. new loaf, 9. Untitled, 10. bulbs, 11. day 11 of 17 (catching up), 12. uprooted

- Molly Peacock's Cornucopia. Donald Hall's Without. Cate Marvin's Fragment on the Head of a Queen. Elizabeth Alexander's American Sublime.

- Listening to the sounds of an empty classroom and writing poetry. Actually seeing the end of the grading tunnel. Actually feeling motivated to grade--this, my friends, is a gift. I shunned grading for so long, would do it oh so grudgingly and while I must admit, I am still not enamored of the piles of essays I must plod through, I will say I do so without wanting to gouge my eyeballs out with a plastic spoon. Indeed, this is how much I hated grading last week. And the week before. And the... well, you know.

- The weather. The crashing thunderstorms, the foggy mist. I heard on the radio we might get up to six inches of snow in northern Minnesota. How can that be? Our grass is green here and in the same state, snow is possibly landing on the ground.

- Two camping trips coming up: Afton with my husband in May, and Jay Cooke with our friends Lane and Angie and Chad in June. Possibly July with Emily and her husband Pat? I am thinking I might add something to that life list (so I must hurry to get one off): camping in every state park in Minnesota at least once.

What about you? What are some of the good things surrounding you this wet weekend?

April's list

To see each of the above images by some of my favorite flickr photographers, click on the following links:

1. for bokeh Wednesday :-), 2. scent of grass, 3. Earth and Growth..., 4. Rowan Wool Cotton, 5. Carrots 12.15.07, 6. June in Scotland, 7. ranunculas, 8. 9::366, 9. grass and driftwood logs, 10. IMG_0464, 11. Nature's Candy, 12. Delicacy numero due

April, when the snow and ice and all fade into slushy mud, when the world is reborn, when the landscape gets colored in again. This April, I am in love with:

- The colors and images above (and many others on flickr)
- April is National Poetry Month: How are you celebrating?
- The University of Minnesota (hello again)
- and ten other choices
- Hope for GREEN (the world awakening)
- Loft coursework: The Very Short Poem and Finding Your Poetic Voice
- Midsummer Night's Dream in freshmen English
- Wuthering Heights in Humanities
- the color of stones
- Sherman Alexie's book of poems, First Indian on the Moon
- mental floss: I love this shirt
- new bamboo blinds to replace the lace curtains on our porch
- the way words can move in an echo chamber
- Poetry Daily
- looking closer, every day, again and again
- reading lists, independent reading challenges, trying to eek out just one more...
- book clubs with good girl friends
- plotting out a first baby shower

Week 2: Friday Favorites

To see the originals, click on the links:
1. thank you alyson!, 2. come lets sail away in orange boats..., 3. Red flowers, 4. *, 5. Untitled, 6. poppies, 7. 57/366: Inner beauty..., 8. office light, 9. Untitled, 10. Bunched, 11. thank you alyson!, 12. upside-down


Book: Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. I can cite several living authors I am absolutely in awe of, and Toni Morrison competes with Sharon Olds and Margaret Atwood for that top spot. I read this book in high school; this is one that I promise you is well worth your time, and it's one of those magical books that slides together in the end. A satisfying read.

Film: Sex and Lucia. I thought, originally, that it would be a terribly naughty movie, but it's essentially a character study in a beautiful setting. The images are absolutely gorgeous. I fantasize about escaping with a typewriter to a sun soaked location, isolated, but a quiet part of everything around me.

Music: Tori Amos is another one of my earlier loves. Hers is also the first concert I attended (with Kelly, at the Weidner Center), and most recently, with Becky and Eireann at the U of MN (years ago now, and strange, because both have gone on to become successful poets). She was before Ani Difranco even, as far as music loves goes, and I love "Take to the Sky" especially.

Eco: Eco Choices. Another shopping site, but this one was particularly of interest to me because of its biodegradable cat pan liners (and pooper scooper bags). I've stocked up!

Get Involved: Eco Libris: plant a tree for every book you read. Ryan is always looking around the house, laughing at me and how I hug trees but have so many books. Here's an idea on how to make up for it.

Blog: 3191 Immerse yourself in wonderful photo images. After a year of mornings (which has been picked up by a publisher), we are on to enjoy a year of evenings. Much quiet simplicity here, something I adore.

Etsy: Yes Press. Poetry, letterpress, postcards, broadsides. Never a better combination.

Week 1: Friday Favorites

1. 11 of 17 (catching up), 2. have i mentioned..., 3. Untitled, 4. Moss Sprouts , 5. dandy 2, 6. natural, 7. japanese autumn, 8. Bowls, 9. winter scene, 10. Saturday raspberries, 11. Seeding..., 12. seeing stars

A new tradition here, an adaptation of what had already been brewing. I had loved mav's Friday flickr favorite tradition, so I started collecting little crumbs on this addictive site. I loved Abby's film week, Emily's green week, Shari's white week (and previously, her five senses Friday). I love the idea of taking the time to reflect on the other (and when I say this, I don't mean "otherness" in that sense), on the creativity and beauty of the world around us. On the fact that this is a blog, which has readers, and we exist within a community of bloggers.

And I want to call attention to things (ah, the vagueness of things). So Fridays are going to be more than just flickr favorites around here, though I will keep that tradition up. But other "of-the-week" sort of things too. Images with other adornments. Maybe not recent experiences, but little bits of love I want to point out to you, and maybe hope you'll find something you love too.

Of-the-week: First impressions, first inspirations, first favorites. What woke me up to the world.

Book: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. This, and The Diary of Anne Frank, were two of my main inspirations for focusing my own life on writing. I love her prose; I love that she's a poet too. This is the story of Esther Greenwood, her life as a college student, as someone whose live descends into madness, whose life is based on the author. There is a cultish following to this novel, a kind of frightening worship of Plath, and I'll have to admit this: it's where "sylvia" came from in "the teacher," my long ago attempt at anonymity.
Film: High Art. This was one of the first movies to draw me in that wasn't a blockbuster. This film opened up a world of gorgeous more independentally minded films, films that focused on character development, on the image as art, on setting and scenery. I think the tag line is something like, "A story of ambition, sacrifice, seduction, and other career movies." This is a movie about photographers, and I was really drawn into how the framing of the film shots mimicked the framing of the photographic shots. I loved the conversation. I loved the colors.
Music: Ani Difranco. For the longest time, my friends in high school would nudge me, try to convince me to tell me who my favorite band / singer was, but I'd refuse, saying I loved too much, that I didn't mind any of it. And when I heard Ani for the first time, I'll admit, her angry Dilate was not love at first listen. But now, I don't know what I would do without her--the way I made mixed tapes of her songs for my then-crush, now-husband; the dozen concerts I've been to; the way certain songs were about me, right at that moment.
Eco: Six Energy Saving Tips for the Dishwasher. We were recently in the market for a dishwasher, but in the end, we decided against it because ours still runs okay. Not great, but better than tossing it, the thought of which made me cringe--such a hulk of something to be rid of. I was searching the energy efficient models, and thought: Is it worse to replace or to wait? I don't know the answer, but I can use some of these tips in the meanwhile.
Get Involved: MPIRG. A student-run non-profit focusing mainly on environmental and social justice issues. What makes this one different? The empowerment of the students. Petitioning, lobbying, getting involved in actual issues, making change both on campus and beyond. Ah so long ago, in my undergraduate days, I was heavily involved in this organization. I was task force leader for women's issues, worked on producing The Vagina Monologues for the first four years, helped organize Take Back the Night, was on the local board, then the state board and even was secretary, and I canvassed for them.
Blog: I must feature my topography as my first blog because it is what jump started a new way to use this space. Before, it'd just been about teaching, about little snippets, when I thought about it. Not a way to record the everyday. She writes beautifully, is an artist, a mother, a fallible human being. And I return, again and again for inspiration.
Etsy: pearl + marmalade. Beautiful letterpress cards. I love them so much, I ordered my holiday cards for next year through them.

What about you? Any suggestions for next week? Reflections on what I've included here?

Friday Flickr Favorites: On the Page

Click the links below to see each photograph individually:

1. unexpectedly, 2. should I or should'nt I ?, 3. Perhaps..., 4. three trees, 5. ACEO- Girl No. 1, 6. puzzle cover, 7. glisten sea, glisten, 8. spring, 9. bear, 10. Untitled, 11. words_under_leaf, 12. notebook

I am feel quiet, drawn inward today. As if this week of high emotions, panicked and tormented attempts at decision making has worn me out flat.

Tomorrow: First meeting for a new Writer-to-Writer session. Did I mention I got in? I did. This one is on bookmaking, manuscript shuffling. After, dinner with friends.

Sunday: Writing from the Visual Arts with Jude Nutter (who was my first Writer to Writer mentor). A relief to be with someone who has confidence in my writing; I can stop this mental ping pong with my own self doubt.

I am looking forward to the calm of the weekend. I hope to read a thick book. Just read I Know This Much is True and have moved on to Wally Lamb's other tome, She's Come Undone. I'm trying to read all the books I don't think I'll give another go, so I can strip down the bookcase, finally be rid of one hulking mammoth in the dining room. Maybe actually clear a path to get around the table.

Happy weekend, all. xox

March List

Click on the links to see these images by my favorite flickr photographers individually:
1. flaxseed bread, 2. Untitled, 3. evergreen tea, 4. hohoho, 5. spider plants, 6. ───/IIII───, 7. good morning sunshine, 8. morning light, 9. a beautiful day, 10. Toni Frissell (1947), 11. Untitled, 12. The day after

Ah, March, the month where my love turns another year over, where we celebrate the wonderful Irishness in our blood, where we get fat with corned beef and cabbage, where the last snow storms wander in and just as we begin to lose hope that spring will never come... (It's also the month where I should hear back from the remaining graduate schools--just in case you thought I'd post once without mentioning the wait!)

This March, I bring with me:

- the colors & images above (and many others, of course)
- the light coming earlier, staying later
- Dancing Girl Press
- thick novels, slim books of poetry
- spoons and spooning, the fitting together of layers
- la fovea and the poems they took
- snow, melting and storming, and the dogs leaping through it
- Ingrid Michaelson
- a little aggression and movement being let out on my husband's new Wii
- thinking about July at the Cloquet Forestry Center
- Iron & Wine
- anticipating spring
- bringing myself closer to a decision on graduate school and next year (oh tell me in April I can write, "Looking forward to starting next year at X school...")
- binding books
- the beauty of (newly discovered) cyanotype
- Brett Dennen
- putting up new prints in my etsy shop (yay!)
- St Patty's day and all that corned beef and cabbage
- excitement for my husband's birthday!
- King Lear in Humanities; The Odyssey with my freshmen (back full circle, I suppose)

In the past:

April 2007 :: May 2007 :: June 2007 :: July 2007 :: August 2007 :: September 2007 :: December 2007 :: January 2007 :: February 2007

What's on your mind this March?

FFF: Happy Leap Year!

It is leap day, and I am full of snot. Gross, yes? This is my second cold of two thousand eight, and I am wondering at how easily I am getting sick. Until I remember: ah yes, the stress of waiting-for-the-phone-call. My immune system completely shuts down when I worry something into slivers of nothingness, and though I've essentially found ways to distract myself, one of which is eating chicken noodle soup and drinking orange juice and miserably tossing and turning in bed, I'm still wishing all the cards were on the table so I could move on to other distractions.

In good news though, I was accepted into a second session of Intermedia Arts' Writer-to-Writer program. This session is on bookmaking (chapbook or otherwise) and focused on writing as memoir, poems from the personal. This is ideal for me, as I have that body of work from early winter when my grandfather passed away from Alzheimer's. I'm always grateful for these opportunities; they keep pushing me a bit further in my own writing. This session will be with Sherry Quan Lee, who is familiar from my work with Split Rock Arts, though I haven't met her beyond hello. Last session was with Jude Nutter, and I absolutely adored it and miss my group terribly. It's tough when you get a group as helpful as that, and it disbands, but this is life--the ways in which strangers enter and disperse, inspire and move on.

I hope this leap day finds you well, a bit healthier, with exciting things for the weekend. Today is my friend Mandy and her husband Chris's first wedding anniversary--very sneaky, yes? They've been married four years, of course, and have a beautiful baby girl. Happy first anniversary!


To see the originals, click on the links:
1. 52 week 1: my kids & me, 2. the leap, 3. Leap Of Faith, 4. A Leap of Faith, 5. A leap for cloud 9 :), 6. Leap

The Inevitability of Snow

To see these images in their original form, go to:
1. Untitled, 2. winter garden detail 1, 3. Untitled, 4. fog, 5. Untitled, 6. P1010005.JPG, 7. frozen bubbles, 8. winter i, 9. Duluth on Ice, 10. I'm unique ..., 11. snow horse, michigan 2007, 12. Cascades

Other bloggers are reporting signs of spring: the subtle budding of trees, bulbs pressing through loam and wet earth, the world being swept clean of snow and slush.

Here, it is still deep in winter. It is slippery sidewalks and chipping away at slushy driveways. It is watching our dogs leap and smash through drifts. It is nothing but white, and dirty white.

A year ago: I was so frightened of losing my job due to budget cuts, wondering at the lump, battling fierce bouts of anxiety. But also, spring. Spring came, and with it came change, came luck, came transition. I will forever associate the way the world buds with the way in which I came out of that wintery shell--with hope, with wonder (camera in hand, indeed).

I've created four new sets on flickr, to celebrate the seasons, the indications of change: spring :: summer :: winter :: autumn (Also: 2007 and 2008, thus far--funny how my best friend Kelly starts each set.)

And while we are still slopping away, the sun is coming out, the skies are getting bluer, and we are seeing some melt. And while the world is still mostly blue-and-white (gorgeous colors, those), I can immerse myself in the memory of other tilts to the globe. My heart gets so excited seeing those images of spring. Oh!

Friday Flickr Favorites: more trios, with me in the middle

To see the originals, click:
1. easing, easing, 2. Untitled, 3. meyer

Dream Deferred
(Langston Hughes)


What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore--
and then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load

Or does it just explode?

1. that drain needs cleaning!, 2. Untitled, 3. coffee cup lives- spent mostly here

Friday Flickr Favorites: Seeing Patterns

1. Untitled, 2. Flicca3, 3. little bits

1. Oeufs, 2. banana + dark chocolate bread, 3. Tea eggs closeup

1. Untitled, 2. Untitled, 3. Je

1. saturday muffins, 2. Untitled, 3. Untitled

1. breakfast, 2. kitchen prep, 3. what can i say? i like order.

1. untitled, 2. from the top, 3. urchins

1. grouped, 2. knitting, 3. Untitled

1. ruby red grapefruit, 2. happy new year, cuties, 3. anatomy of a clementine

February list

1. Still 3 (dust covered), 2. Untitled, 3. Passeggiata, 4. breakfast, 5. what luv looks like, 6. Sustenance.., 7. spoons, not mine, 8. 281.jpg, 9. Framing a Barn, 10. everday living as art 2, 11. Untitled, 12. Untitled

Oh, February, blustery days, heart shaped holidays, and coursework. These are the things I am thinking about now:

- those colors above
- terrariums and potted plants (and tiny terrariums)
- string music, particularly that of the cello and viola (I miss playing violin!)
- Claudia Emerson
- snow rescheduling, jouncing the beginning of the semester, and, of course, the fresh start of a new semester
- boiling "homemade" potpourri, steaming up the windows
- quilted postcards
- images of brown eggs
- low-residency MFA applications (have my cake, eat it too)
- reading poetry, out loud--to myself, to others
- 100 foot diet challenge
- chowder
- big huge lab's flickr mosaic maker (clearly)
- thinking about living somewhere with acres of land, with big trees, secluded a bit, away from the sound of tire on pavement, trash at the corners of our lawn
- writing little lines of poems, little snippets in my black notebook, pages lined with graph paper
- starting my letterpress and printmaking course
- starting my introduction to bookbinding course
- Margaret Atwood
- flannel pajamas
- thinking back on Palm Beach

What are you interested in this February?

Friday Flickr Favorites: Shades of Gray

1. Untitled, 2. Untitled, 3. an enchanted place, 4. {January 14} view from the curry house, 5. Untitled, 6. A Gaggle of Birds, 7. Untitled, 8. Stones, 9. Untitled, 10. simple setting of grays and whites, 11. en mémoire, 12. urchins

Inspired: mav from port2port, an incredibly talented artist, has a tradition on her blog. Friday Flickr Favorites. What I love so much is seeing images clinging to each other, the way they work in concert with one another. Think: 3191, noticing project, six one way. I am in love with mornings, with everyday life, with quiet beauty. With subtleness, with the stark majesty of the ordinary.

And these images above, oh how much I love them together. I'm enjoying playing with flickr, even a little too addicted maybe, but Florida will distract me--the beaches, the poetry, the hotel linen.

But before there is Florida, there is snow. Temperatures are supposed to plummet this weekend, which happens to also be the weekend the Urtels are making the trek from Winona to the Twin Cities. Oh, how cold it will be!

I remember when I first moved to the Midwest (from Chattanooga)... I remember the sprinkling of snow in October, the shock of slipping on the ice, wearing snow boots to school. I remember that one day in December, I was a freshmen at the University of Minnesota, and I had to drop off a paper--that's all--and how it took me so long to get off campus, how I had to stop in the old pillared buildings to thaw before I could move on, how I couldn't imagine waiting for a bus, but I also couldn't imagine the walk home either. I remember there was a time when I'd wear long underwear through the whole winter, not miss a day, how it was a period of something like five months.

How I haven't worn long underwear in years, so sturdy I've become, so used to this town and the way the wind whips as we walk the dogs. But you can be certain I will wear everything possible, will layer myself to Michelin-man status, will roll myself along with the furniture, the boxes of books.

I'm so grateful the Urtels aren't hoarders, like us. :)

Currently:

- trying not to feel shame at my low vocabulary while donating rice
- discovering this fun home site
- switching over to 100% wind energy

January List

1. Turning?, 2. window, 3. Framed, 4. All Your Life, 5. little treasures, 6. fairy lights: one of my favourite things, 7. something special from the recipe book..., 8. chilly morning, weekend baking remains, & hot ginger tea..., 9. It rained today, 10. Silver and Steel, 11. autumnal still life, 12. Crocodile Tears

This January, I bring these interests with me:

- fog: the color, the texture, the event
- water (& cleansing)
- the act of knitting, the small handmade gift, the peaceful rhythm of bamboo and wool
- crusty breads, brie
- Kenneth Branaugh
- William Shakespeare's The Tempest
- early morning light
- still with the sea washed color: the blues, the woody browns, the wooly whites
- old windows
- Palm Beach Poetry Festival (and fancy old hotels!)
- photo postcards
- observing the landscape, taking in the bluffs in winter
- baking bread, especially zucchini and banana
- quiet space, emptying, moving the clutter out
- the smell of soap
- The Shins
- buying adorable handmade onesies for Kelly's baby

12/30: Flickr Favorites

1. Untitled, 2. full, 3. llibreria - bookstore - Amsterdam, 4. This is a fish., 5. cisiamoquasi, 6. Banana Bread Slices, 7. IMG_5155, 8. morning/down

I'm loving browns and whites lately--the banister, the chair back, thick bread and porcelain, linen, winter light.

I'm loving the comforts of home--the warm meal, the chair passed down from generation to generation, the cat who will wedge himself into your armpit as you read.

I signed up for Blog 365, maybe because I am crazy. But I'd love for you to join me, or maybe encourage me. I know I was doing well in the spring, in the summer, and I know I have been lagging. But I feel re-energized here, and I'm going to get behind my camera with a new passion. I am thinking about my picture a day project (Angie's inspiration), and it sounds like she is done. I don't think I am, though.

Anyway, here's to another blogging year, one with more readers, with more reading. I'm so happy to have had all of you with me on this journey--thanks so much for the comments (I love them!) and the sweet thoughts in all the ups and downs. I will blog again tomorrow (there was a holiday party at my husband's work that deserves addressing), but for now: Happy New Year.