Here's 52 seconds of life

...as I saw it yesterday.



We saw these ptarmigan along the West Arm Road, just a few km from here. I spotted them up in the rocks as we were heading home. I rolled down my window and H leaned across and shot some video. Just two birds, wandering along. Just trying to get by.

This is how it looks

...across the street.


Well, how it looked 10 minutes ago. I was just out taking pics of a little culvert that was installed this fall. So there I was, squatting in the ditch, freezing my fingers. But the light was right. I couldn't resist.

So we purchased a season pass

...for the Flin Flon Arts Council's 2008-2009 season, which I think will work out great for us. In the past we've missed a lot of shows either because we've been out of town or simply because we heard about them after the fact. Now the list of upcoming shows is pinned to my bulletin board.

Tonight we ventured out to see "Re-Fractured Fairy Tales," adapted from Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes and Rhyme Stew, starring the local drama group Ham Sandwich and directed by Doug Peterson. Because I've been working to meet a deadline, I didn't take the time to google and see what I was getting into. Boy was I surprised. It kicked off with a Mom in a chair and Dad beside her on a chest and kids in front of a tv. Mom and Dad broke into Dahl's poem "Television". After that Dad picked a book off the shelf and began reading Dahl's "Jack and the Beanstalk" and as he read the curtain rose and there was Jack and his drunken mother. And the giggling began.

In the "Director's Message" Peterson says "involving a growing group of young actors was an amazingly unexpected treat." Indeed, it was a treat. The cast included quite a number of young people who all did an amazing job of narrating and acting. And the sets, props and costumes were incredible. In addition to "Jack and the Beanstalk," we saw "The Emperor's New Clothes," "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Hansel and Gretel, "Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf" and "The Three Little Pigs" in a whole new rhyming light. It was great.

I just listened

...to my "Songs from the Stelcoat Barn." I missed the show when it aired, but Kelley Jo Burke, the spoken word producer and host of SoundXchange, sent me a cd of the poems. It arrived a while back. H listened to it when it came and gave it the big thumbs up, saying the readings and the sound effects were amazing. I knew they would be. So I decided to wait for the perfect day to listen to it. Today is that day. It's grey. Snowing. I'm in a mood I imagine is quite similar to the one I was in when I wrote the poems, later versions of which can be found in Cantos from Wolverine Creek. So I listened. And listened again. Ariel has described me as a northern mining town gothic poet, a description I love. And listening to "Songs from the Stelcoat Barn" makes me think she's bang on. Hats off to Kelley Jo! What a beautiful job. I'm totally thrilled.

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Nov.19

Update: I failed to mention that the poems were read by an actor. I'm not sure who, but what an amazing job.

Last night I created a blog

...called Rolling Change. It was meant to be a team blog, a place to have fun and bang around ideas. The idea came to me when I was reading "Living on less" in the Nov. 3rd issue of Maclean's. Later on I read about the cuts proposed to balance the City of Ottawa's 2009 budget. My mind naturally turned to the Schmidty of Creighton's 2009 budget. I had the sudden urge to open photoshop. Or maybe write a poem. But instead of posting some kind of response here, I built a new blog. Yet said nothing.

I had fun setting it up though. I was sitting here, trying to come up with a name for the blog, when H walked by. I asked him what he was up to. He said he was rolling change. Thank you, I said. I proceeded to photograph change. I tried pennies first, but they were too harsh for the header. The tube for nickels was much softer. And it turns out H has a bunch of nickels with rabbits on the back. Perfect. So there they are, running the wrong way.

Today I'm rethinking the blog. While I think another team blog would be fun, many of the people I'd invite are already stretched for time. I have a pile of work staring at me as well with a deadline fast approaching, so Rolling Change will likely sit there for a while. I might play around with the layout now and then when I'm procrastinating. I might post fiction there instead. Maybe I'll pull it down in the end. Who knows.

Today on Lemon Hound

...you'll find a guest post by me: Brenda Schmidt reads Kerry Ryan. I've been following Lemon Hound for quite some time and have enjoyed the variety of voices and approaches I find in the guest posts. I'm delighted to be part of the mix.

War Poet

...is a Canadian Forces Artist Project by Suzanne Steele, a writer I met a few years back. Steele is one of five artists nationwide to participate as a war artist in the 2008-2009 Canadian Forces Artist Program and the first poet to be chosen for the program. Hats off to her. What an incredible opportunity.

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While I haven't got what it takes to be a war poet, I could be considered a cake poet. I like my cake. So when I was over at Animal Effigy today, I clicked on the link to Cake Wrecks. I must say I was shocked at what I saw. I dunno if I could eat that.

My work has been ripped apart before

...but never like this! I'm delighted.