Girls, Girls, Girls, and Women

(Image from http://weheartit.com/entry/22104965)

Sometimes I am bias-- when it comes to a choice between men and women, I can't help but favor women (in literature, in advertising, and in fashion, often times my philosophical preferences are female-centric too). When I lived in Pittsburgh, I had a male friend who would sometimes call me out on my preference... err... bias nature, and I appreciated it, yet every now and again, I would hush. I do believe in equality, of course, but know I am fallible of favoring women... no! Not fallible, but happy to celebrate women in all ways.

And so: three lady-centric things I like this week:


Young Heroins in Literature . This list made me think back to my Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables reading days. I had a friend who lived on something of a farm; her family had pastures behind their house, and they kept horses and other 4H animals. I remember pulling a red wagon through their yard and pretending it was a horse covered wagon.

And on a more adult note: Sexism in advertising-- well sex sells, BUT must super hot women always be linked with the Internet consumerism? In this article, I wanted for more examples of sexist advertisements, but I might have to make that an independent project.

I fell upon Kimbra through her duet with Gotye. Her voice is phenomenal. In fact she gives me chills, and this video just blows my mind for its commentary on gender identity and the messed-up-ness of it all. The burning dolls say something like this: girls and children in general are exposed to weird ideals (of love and the like) and childhood comes melting down. The contrast of Kimbra's baby doll face and the melting plastic strikes a bazillion chords.

Imagination Verses Reality

(Hide Away by Ana Mouyis printed in Annalemma Issue 8: Creation.)

My friend, Kim, came to visit me in December, and she brought with her a copy of Annalemma Magazine. Last minute, before she left, she said she'd loan it to me, and I read it, which felt good because prior to reading it I was mainly reading textbooks, and my student's final papers. God. I coveted that journal. I took it with me on the train, kept it in my purse, pulled it out to read bits in between things. It was like I re-discovered reading literary work.

Blake Butler has an essay in my coveted literary magazine, "I Tried Really Hard to Play." I fell deep in love with the essay and with the accompanying drawings by Anastasia Mouyis. Butler's essay contains a strange kind of depth (nearly cabalistic). This particular issue of Annalemma has a theme of creation, and Butler explores ideas of creation through role playing games.

This semester I am teaching an intermediate level writing class, and after reading Butler's essay I decided to make the classes' focus arguments in the media. I assigned Butler's essay for homework on Wednesday night and bright and early this morning we had a discussion. What we came up with: Butler creates a layer of settings-- the beach, the condo, and the world of his imagination, and in these settings we can find common themes of fear, solitude, a need for discovery. The memories he gives us are much like the drawings he makes as a child: pieces of something incomplete, a way of discovery. Butler approaches big ideas here: it's hard to create when we are still trying to figure out reality. Coming of age is a strange process and it never really goes away.

One of my classes' essay options is to write about role playing games, and how they might affect a society, the world, an individual, and the problem solving skills related to them. I will encourage them to use Butler's essay as a source, and I am already looking forward to their responses.

(I also decided to use Butler's essay as a model for a narrative essay in EN 101 class, and while the focus of the discussion was different, the students had a lot to say about role playing games, solitude, and identity.)

Sooo thank you, Mr. Butler for writing good words. And thank you, Kim, for always putting good words and inspiration in my life!

Poetry and the Body

Poetry and the body go together. Hand and hand. Brain and brain. Skin to skin.



And poetry is a body of imagined things. A doll. A strange doll. This is what I am pondering on before I hit the hay tonight: poetry is a stamp and a maker of history, as with all writing. The form poetic verse takes is more like that of a body than prose, however, as the lines are often defined and linked together by enjambment (bones or glue).

Best Of...

2011 was a year of many changes for me-- a rollover from 2010. Everything rolled on and on into a whole year: I worked in four different cities, lived in three different houses, picked things up, put things down, misplaced myself, and found myself again.

Not much stayed the same for me in 2011, and with things so rapidly changing, I didn't dedicate myself to many full length collections of poetry (or to reading full novels for that matter). My attention span fractured into many small pieces, but I did pick up literary goodness here and there, and where and when my brain would allow. However, making a best of list isn't something that I can rightfully do this year.

I feel guilty about that, but on the upside, I have some awesome friends in poetry who run an awesome vlog, and I'd like to share their best of videos here.



Jess was my neighbor in Pittsburgh, and we attended Chatham University's MFA program together. She is an amazing, hilarious woman, and soul sister in verse. I trust her taste in poetry more than I trust my own taste in shoes. I haven't read any of the books on her list, but I plan to, and so should everyone else out there who has a brain.



I also met Carolyne at Chatham. We attended a summer program together, and I will never forget how I immediately wanted to be her friend (she had on pink and leopard print). Her taste and love for Pittsburgh is impeccable, and I cannot wait to read her book! One of the books she mentions, "Border Theory," is also written by a Chatham alum, Stephanie Wielkopolan. I used Stephanie's thesis as a guideline for my own. What I know of her poetry: the words are of place and brash truth. I look forward to reading more of this book.

Thanks Jess and Carolyne for your voices, opinion, and being who you are!

Some Things I Learned as an Adjunct English Professor (in my first semester teaching)

(In no particular order)

1. Too much exposure to passive voice can make one delusional.

2. Know your physical peripheries: the desk is in the same place as it is always in, be aware of its placement in relation to your body. You can and will bounce off of it (and it's best to call yourself out on this... somehow).

3. Do not attempt to scale a random bag of potting soil at 8 a.m. Sprained ankles hurt and the focus on teaching is lost when body parts throb.

4. Set three alarms for 8 a.m. classes.

5. Many will fail to tell you when you are teaching with your jacket on inside out/ turn on the light in the morning when getting dressed.

6. ALWAYS check the marker you are writing on the board (it may be permanent and permanent markers do not erase easily-- even with cleaning agents).

7. Just buy a parking permit (the $12 it costs for the semester is MUCH cheaper than the endless quarters fed into the meter/ parking tickets collected).

8. Smart classrooms are at times possessed and not much can be done about it.

9.Do not leave glasses of red wine near ungraded papers.

10. If you are low on parking meter change, but have a few dollar bills, you can stick them in the Coke machine and hit cancel, and get quarters in return.

11. When the sun shines in classroom windows, the shadows on the white board can be really beautiful.

12. Boots without traction are a bad idea when lecturing.

13. Running after the meter maid and waving your arms in the air, shouting, "I'm coming. Don't ticket my car. Please don't ticket my car" can work as a method to avoid getting a ticket.

14. It's nearly impossible to grade with a pug dog on your lap.

15. Red ink is both powerful and intimidating.

16. Grading takes a lot of freaking time, and snacks are a good interruption.

17. The phrase, "Just kidding," has the potential to erase what you've just said.

New Publication!

My poem, "After 7 am," is published in the most recent issue of dot dot dash, the "Gambit Issue." I haven't received my copy yet, but I'm very excited for when I do, and happy to be a part of an international publication. The idea of themed magazines is a good one, not to pigeon-hole, but to open a discourse and to reinterpret words, meanings, definitions, themes.

Prior to submitting to dot dot dash, I didn't know what a gambit is... a wacky chess move? When one makes a sacrificing move to get ahead. So... interesting. I originally heard of the publication through a colleague at Chatham, Miss Laura Davis, her poem is published in the Feast Issue (#5). I love the design choices of dot dot dash, and decided to think about what the word "gambit" means, and if I had a poem suitable for the word/ idea. Looking through my manuscript, I found a plethora of poems on sacrifice, and I'm happy to have found, "After 7 am" a home. The poem personifies Tuesday, and approaches friendship and love.

I'll do a write-up on Issue 8 (examining other writers' interpretations of gambit) when I receive the magazine in the post.

Thanks dot dot dash! For including my work!

A Handmade/ Secondhand Christmas/ Playing a Good Santa

This year I have decided to shop only secondhand, handmade, independent, or at local shops for Christmas. Not only does it save (slightly), but it's also so nice to the earth and to the community. I wanted to avoid online shopping, but along the way, I found some great sites that have allowed me to stick to my promise to myself.

I am brought back to the times of my teenage hood, when I saved up my babysitting money, and shopped at thrift stores for gifts. Finding vintage treasures has the same magical feeling as it did then, and each gift given is bound to be unique, truly the chances of repeat gifts are cut back, and the surprise will always be bigger.

With two weeks left until Christmas, I find myself still shopping, and I figure others are doing the same. I've compiled a list for smart shopping/ unique holiday gift ideas I've fallen upon along the way:

1. Mystic Monk Coffee : For the days when it's hard to make it to the coffee shop to write, this stuff is amazing. My parents first brought home a bag from the National Cathedral in DC. I honestly could not believe the alert state my mind took after drinking my first cup. Brewed by the Carmelite Monks in Wyoming, the blends are all remniscent of their name: mystic. This is a fly high drink, and it really will make the coffee drinkers in your life happy. The coffee/ tea also makes a good gift to the self!

2. For the literary lovers in your life: Small Press Distribution is running a 40% off sale for the holidays. SPD is wonderful. I always feel good shopping with them, a hub for small presses, the non-profit company carries an excellent array of publications from the independent literary world... from Alice James Books to Zone 3 Press.

3. Etsy carries just about anything and everything colorful and unique. Among my favorites are the handmade journals.

4. Book-y earrings -- way cool!

5. Vintage books / things made out of vintage books Story-time clocks? Yes!

Happy Smart Shopping and Merry Merry Everything!