Kelli Russell Agodon's Blog, page 116

Confession Tuesday - 7 Deadly Sins

Dear Reader,



I have taken part in most of the seven deadly (deadly? that's such a strong word) sins this week. How does things happen to me?  So since it's Confession Tuesday I thought I'd go over what I've done



Gluttony-- I confess I'm a sweet tooth to the point where I prefer dessert over small talk.



At Elizabeth Austen's reading for her new book (which was awesome!), she mentioned she was serving pie.  Dear Reader, this was enough for me to completely lose focus on the poetry and...

My new Hawthorne Yellow front door (peace door knocker circa 1969)

If you can't read the sign it reads:  Peace to all who enter here

Happy 4th of July

Introverted Artists...

Here's a great interview with an introverted musician.  

It's from a blog called Introverted Church that deals which has to do with people who attend or are part of the church that are more introverted.  While I grew up in a Catholic home, I would define myself now as "spiritual" instead of "religious," but this interview really deals with the creative points of being an introverted artist (I could relate to many of them) and less about religion.

I found it quite interesting and I was...

Summer Reading! Poetry!

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I am so behind sharing my summer reading list with you.



Here are the book of poems I am currently reading (or have read):



Allen Braden: A Wreath of Down and Drops of Blood (The VQR Poetry Series)



Elizabeth Austen: The Girl Who Goes Alone (Floating Bridge Press Chapbook)



Rachel Contreni Flynn:  Tongue



Alexandra Teague: Mortal Geography 



Arda Collins:  It Is Daylight (Yale Series of Younger Poets)



Karen Finneyfrock: Ceremony for the Choking Ghost



Robert FanningAmerican Prophet

Summer Reading List!

The Creative Habit: Learn It And Use It For Life by Twyla Tharp - I highly recommend this book.  This is my second time reading it and I love it. While she is a dancer, her words help all artists with routine, inspiration, ideas.  Probably one of my all time favorite books.



~



The Artistic Mother: A Practical Guide to Fitting Creativity into Your Life by Shona Cole.   A great book for people who want to try new ways to create such as photography, collage, and even poetry gets a mention!  I l...

Moving the Furniture Around - 3 months until publication!

Today is exactly 3 months before my book is scheduled to come out.  In celebration of that, I've moved replaced the door and painted the walls.



I must be honest, I am what you refer to as "slow to warm up," an expression adults use on toddlers and kids who need a few minutes to settle into a new place or aren't exactly crazy about change.  These are the kids who like routine, who like to return to places that look the same and when something does change, they may not like it at first.



So ...

Confession Tuesday -

Dear Readers,



I just realized that it's Tuesday!  In the summer, days of the week slide off our deck and into the saltwater roses.



But what to confess in these days when I can't even remember what I've done, where I've been, what I can share with you.



I'm not sure, so let's begin....





I confess we are painting our house pretty much the same color it was.



I am confessing this because it makes me laugh given that 1) our house is 13 years overdue for its paint job and 2) we've talked for 1...

The Quotable Sherman Alexie

I can't believe I forgot to blog about this, but this goes way back to the Skagit River Poetry Festival.



It was a comment Sherman Alexie made that he said got him into trouble, but he stands by it. An interviewer once asked him who he wrote for and he said, "College-educated white women because they are ones who buy books."  Apparently this comment caused a bit of a brouhaha.

But at the reading in Skagit he said this is what he believes because these are the people who make up...

Significance vs. Success - A New Way To Think about Achievement

Stop Chasing Success. Seek Significance.





The other day I posted a past blog post on success.



Today on Becoming Minimalist, a blog by Joshua Becker about the simple life and beyond ( living as a "minimalist" - a term to describe those who live on less, sometimes less than less), they had a great article about why to see significance and not success.



I had never thought of it this way.  Well, I had, but I didn't use or think of the word "significance."



I think in our culture that...