Yes, I’m Writing, But… There Were Goldfish, You See…

It started inauspiciously enough. I knitted a few balls out of leftover black, white and gray yarn. Little, round, baseball sized orbs that quickly became dog and cat toys. I knitted more, up to softball size, some with color changes of black to gray to white. I decided they were Zen balls, good for squishing while attempting to meditate on life, and gave them away, mostly for people to throw at each other in a very un-zen like manner. I’d post a picture, but unfortunately, the only one I retained is thoroughly covered in dog slobber, and is not a very appetizing sight.

Then came the goldfish. Innocently enough, I spotted the pattern, and thought ‘Wow, I know a few pint-sized people who would like those.’ So I knitted orange goldfish and dropped them in the mail to swim their way around the country.

Knitted Goldfish

Apparently, knitting four goldfish didn’t get them out of my system, so I knitted two more, one in the last of the orange, and one in purple, because really, what small fry is going to complain if his goldfish isn’t regulation color? The more obnoxious the better, when it comes to kids and stuffed animals.

Knitted Purplefish

Of course knitting is like writing poetry, you can’t stop with just one. So I knitted socks,

Hiking Socks from my hand-dyed wool
Wyoming Autumn Colorway

and a beanie,

Beanie from my hand-dyed wool
Berry Picking Colorway

and now I’m working on a Norwegian mitten pattern.

Star Pattern Norwegian Mitttens
Knit Picks Swish Wool

I could say all the knitting cuts into my writing time, but frankly, I can’t do one thing continuously all day, even write, as much as I'd like to. I knit when I have a free moment; before work, after dropping Son Two off at the high school - they start earlier than I do, waiting to see the doctor, dentist, etc., before bed in a vain attempt to relax, (Ack! I followed the wrong line on the chart and the pattern is off… eh, no one but me will notice) and while waiting for dinner to cook... instead of washing more dishes. (That’s why doG made paper plates…)

Knitting is a great way to two-track your mind, I can ponder character motivations, or poetry revisions while adding a few rows to a project. And I’m never without a project to knit on, at last count, I had nine UFO’s. (Unfinished Objects) Well, nine that I'll admit to...

The drawback to this method is forgetting about a project for say, oh, a year, and picking it up again and having to figure out where I left off in the pattern, because I am not all about notes and details like markers, you see. The advantage? I’m a much better knitter than I was a year ago, so I’m quicker to figure out where I left off. Just think, in another year or two, I might be able to knit a project straight through, without dropping it for a neat sock pattern I just found on the Internet. (Darn you, Ravelry!)

I’m sure there will be loads of other distractions to keep me from doing what I should be doing at the time. And for the record, yes, I wrote a poem today. A rather harsh poem about my intense dislike for telephones and their annoying rings, and how I should yank the darn thing right out of the wall, and just keep my cell, which I can put on silent and ignore if I wish. I know, I know, I could ignore the landline, I should ignore the landline, but I can’t ignore it … and that’s a whole 'nother fish story.



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Why Yes, I Am Writing, Why Do You Ask??

Busy -actually still writing my Poem A Day, editing the Novel From Hell, reading slush for EDP , and contemplating a Return to the PhD program. Yes I'm still keeping up on Poem A Day. No, you can't see any poems yet. Yes, the Novel From Hell actually has Hell creatures in it. No, my Slush Ninja sword is not getting dull. Submit more poems. Yes, I am insane to contemplate adding PhD work my life at this time - I don't think even ADHD would save me, but hey, what's writing more papers and a dissertation in the grand scheme of my hyperactive universe? Then again, I'm never too busy to pass up YouTube goodies. Here's something to keep you entertained while I work my way to a more interesting and coherent future post, one containing goldfish.

Dedicated to Anonymous.

How To Talk Like A Corgi

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Poem a Day Update, By The Numbers

It's Day 8 of the NaNoWriMo for Poets, or Poem a Day Challenge. Being a hyperactive overachiever, I have 16 poems. Of those, I'm very happy with 4, fairly happy with 4, and figure another 6 need a lot of work. There are two that have terrific opening lines and little else, and one of those came so far out of the blue I have no idea what I was thinking at the time.

The longest one is 48 lines, the shortest is 8 lines. It was interesting to see a call for myth in the poem prompt, I have no problem there, several of the poems have mythology mixed in, Castor and Pollux, Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. I bounce from karma to Christianity, music to baseball. There's even a scifi poem that snuck in when I wasn't looking - the out of the blue poem mentioned above.

Maybe you can get the feel for things from my on the go titles. Subject to change, of course. Not posting anything at this point until the poems are thoroughly vetted by my hopelessly picky internal critic.

Titles to Date:
Metronome
Music Like A Punch To The Head
Orion On The Horizon
A Passionate Love
Acting Lessons
Deep Breathing
Midas Gold
Litany
In The Beginning
Karmic Intervention
Snapshot
Love, Apportioned
Reconstruction
Nuptial ABC's
Playing God
They've Come For The Butterflies

I still have todays poem to write, so I'm going to take the dogs for a walk and hope the inspiration squirrel* runs up my leg...


(Second cousin, twice removed - by force - of the infamous Plot Squirrel)
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NaNoWriMo for Poets, or the Poem A Day Challenge

Since I already have two novels to play with, and need no more, I decided to take on the Poem A Day Challenge from Robert Lee Brewer's (no relation) Poetic Asides. You can see the details HERE and read his Day 1 Chapbook Challenge HERE.

Basically, the challenge is to have a chapbook's worth of poems done by the end of November. Robert is offering prompts to help you get started, so if you're a poet, or like writing poetry and have nothing better to do for November, jump right in!

Gratuitous Corgi Pic of the Week

Is it Dinner Time?
or
When's Dinner?
or
Is our Food Done Yet?

Something New For November

The new online poetry magazine, Every Day Poets debuts today!

Every Day Poets is a magazine that specializes in bringing you fine, short poetry. Starting on 1st November 2008, Every day at 12:01am Pacific Time (8am GMT), we will be publishing a new poem of up to 60 lines/500 words or fewer that can be read during your lunch hour, on transit, or even over breakfast.

Every Day Poets is the sister publication to Every Day Fiction.

Drop over for a visit, and sign up to have a new, short poem delivered to your email every day. We are currently in need of December holiday poems in addition to good short poems. If you're a poet, submit! We'd love to see your work. EDP is dedicated to a quick response, and feedback to its submitting poets.

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