What's your first thought

...when you look at this pic?


I'll add to this post once I finish the book.

*
June 28

I finished reading the book last night. Its conversational tone made the pages go by quickly. While I wasn't taken with many of the sample poems or his treatment of sound and form, I was impressed with the chapter called "Fine Tuning Metaphors and Similes."

Now to the pic above. The other day I was reading this book outside. Every time I got up to get a cup of tea or pull a weed or check out a butterfly, I put the book on my chair, face down. The last thing I wanted was a neighbour, relative or friend seeing that title. When I see someone holding a book, I always check the title. I know I'm not alone in this. Of course I giggled at my own silly pride every time I put the book down, but still it went face down. It's the word repair that gets me. Writers know revision is key, but I can only guess what the neighbours would think if they saw me holding a repair manual. I'm pretty sure I would not have picked this book off the shelf in my early days no matter how badly I wanted to. A Poetry Handbook, on the other hand, sat in my chair sunny side up. Its title respects my dignity.

I placed some orders

...thanks to the comments on this post, and the first box of books arrived today.

One day my inbox will be empty

...and I won't know what to do with myself. But that day is not today. I've been on the road the past while and my main inbox has become a mess of stars and arrows and paper clips. It will take a week to sort it all out.

I took Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life with me. What a wonderful book for a road trip! It's funny and smart. The chapter on jealousy had me giggling.

I also read A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver. Its clarity impressed me. It made as much sense as the sky last week. We were driving along on a highway east of Yorkton, Saskatchewan when the clouds started taking on shapes that clearly spelled tornado. I was so excited. Follow that cloud, I said, follow that cloud! But H just shook his head. The passenger in the backseat threatened to crawl in the trunk. Alas, despite my pleas, we drove away from the storm. Sure enough, the next day I learned a tornado had touched down. I was that close!

I plan to follow

...Animal Effigy closely. It's a brilliant new project. I love what it's about. It's so relevant.

I'm guessing there's a time

...to read books on writing and that time is not right after you print off your manuscript. I started reading The Writing Life by Annie Dillard yesterday right after I finished printing, and finished it this morning. It was enjoyable enough, but it will be a while before I know how much of it stuck or what might prove useful or inspiring. As I read I kept trying to push away the usual questions I have when faced with a fresh draft, but they wouldn't leave my head. Questions like so now what? How long should I sit on it? Is it time to find some readers and get some feedback? Knowing me, it will likely be a good year or so before I can come up with any answers.

I now have a habit

...of writing poems in the body of an email. This has been going on for some time. I guess I feel most at home in the message composition box. I then copy and paste the poem into Word and print off a copy. Most of the poems in the manuscript I'm working on now have been composed in this manner. I think it has influenced the overall tone of the work.

More books

...in the mail today.


Some of these were recommended by writers I know. A couple were mentioned on blogs that I follow. I look forward to reading them all.

The other day

...I got an email from Gerry. He had an idea. It was a dandy. I said I was game. We decided to use the blog format. I left the title of the blog to him. He came back with Select Hops. Perfect. So yesterday I set up the blog. Grey and white. But a bit bare. I then asked H if he ever got that chunk of hops from his co-worker. Yes, he said, that was last year, but it didn't root. So H picked up the phone. Within the hour a car pulls into the yard. The hops had arrived. H took a spade and dug out a chunk of our lamium to give in exchange. The deal was done. The hops is just beginning to leaf out. There's plenty of roots, so it should take to its new spot. I photographed it and added the pic to the blog. According to my trusty book on perennials, this plant won't produce flower cones, the actual hops, for a couple years. But I'll have no trouble finding some hops later on this year. It's everywhere. Grows like a weed.