Kelli Russell Agodon's Blog, page 40

Free downloadable "Success Chart" to keep on your desk

It is so easy to forget about all the daily successes you have over the year.



Because of that, I created this simple "Success Chart" to print out and keep on your desk.





See how simple it is?



But it's a reminder to yourself to put down anything that was "good news." From getting a poem accepted, to winning a random drawing, to doing something you were afraid to do, to someone complimenting your work (or your hair) or whatever you want to remember.



We can be so focused on what we don't have or didn't get, we lose track of what we have and what we've achieved, or any of the good news that comes our way.



Consider it a gratitude journal of successes!



Anyway, if you want your own you can download it here at MediaFire for free:  Success Chart



Enjoy!  And chart those successes!



best,

Kells



 
~ Click here to subscribe to Book of Kells by email or in your favorite readerKelli Russell Agodon
www.facebook.com/agodon

My Best Friend: Spoon

Someone asked to see my spoon (okay, that sounds rude...) 

But this is what they meant and what they wanted to see:










Note:  Spoon in photograph may not appear as special as it is in real life.







~ Kells



 
~ Click here to subscribe to Book of Kells by email or in your favorite readerKelli Russell Agodon
www.facebook.com/agodon

Confession Tuesday: The Details Edition

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Albert Einstein in fuzzy slippers... 





Dear Reader,


It's been a week of cold blue skies since my last confession.


My new year, which started out as scattered and confused, has become more focused.  I'm feeling better about where I'm going, what I'm working on, and my upcoming year.



So let's get going... To the confessional--



I confess I like to have some sort of plan.



I have given up to really believing that I'm in charge, but I like to know as our planet spins and continues its loop around this beautiful universe, I have something to do, something to work on.



~



I confess I keep a TO DO list on my desk that I write before bed so I know what the plan is the next day.  Without this list, I end up wandering the house aimlessly unsure of what I'm supposed to be doing.  My morning head is always cloudy, and where some people get their best thoughts in the morning, I do not.



My best thoughts come once I'm in the shower (as did Einstein's...though I am no Albert Einstein).



~



I confess I have a spoon I got at the Goodwill that looks like no other spoon in the drawer.  It's small, with a black handle and for some reason, I just see it as the most perfect spoon in the world.



When I have my morning cereal with this spoon I feel more relaxed, like I'm camping and this is my camping spoon.  It's the weirdest thing, but I have deep feelings for this spoon.



~


I confess I also love slippers and feel that the secret to a good life is - a full night's sleep, a warm house, good food, time for what you love, & slippers.



~



I confess this year one of my focuses is get me out of my comfort zone.  I like it here way too much for my own good.  I know I miss out on things because it's easier just to stay in the comfort zone than to stretch myself, but I don't want to be shrub all my life, I want to stretch tree-style and reach out for something more.



Amen.



~ Kells



 

~ Click here to subscribe to Book of Kells by email or in your favorite readerKelli Russell Agodon
www.facebook.com/agodon

Great Apps & Websites for Writers, Poets & Creatives

Salvador Dali jumping rope. . .just because.








Over the last month I've found a few things that might help you be more productive, gather information or be creative in other ways.



Here's a few of my favorite apps & websites I've found recently:



Creativity:



Dreamboard:  An app & a website where you can record all your dreams.



Pros: really easy to record your dreams.  Keeps track of how many times you dream of the same people, reoccurring images, how often you dream.



Cons: Sometimes double counts people if you mention them in your summary, doesn't track reoccurring places.



***My note:  I use it every morning (instead of doing morning pages for Artist Way) and it's basic but works.



~



The Email Game: www.emailga.me:  Answer your gmail more quickly because you get points for taking care of email and scheduling it to return (aka boomerang it back at a better time).



Pros:  If you're competitive as I am or like playing games, this will challenge you to get through your email.  I cleaned out I email box the first day.



Negatives:  A couple people received a note in my email that it might not be from me because it was sent from an outside website.  But that only happened a couple times and seems to be fixed, though I'm not sure how.



Also, it's only for Gmail.





And if you find you like, that you can download--



Boomerang: http://www.boomeranggmail.com/  to your regular email.



Pros: It's free for the first month.  And you can schedule things to be sent later or have emails you aren't ready to work on to be sent to you later.



Cons:  There's a small monthly fee to keep it if you like it.



My Note:  I love it and will definitely continue with it.



~



1 Second App by Cesar Kuriyama:    A fantastic 99 cent app you can get for your phone.  Every day you take video that reflects a moment in your day.  Then you choose 1 second from that day. In a month, you have 30 second of video.  In a year, 356 seconds of video.



My note:  I've been doing this since January 1 and I'm looking forward to seeing my year in review.  I've missed two days, but they let me put in a photo.  I supported his Kickstarter campaign, which might make me like it more.





~





The Emergent Task Planner:  This is a great to do list to help organize your day and the top three things you want to get done.



I think there's actually a book that goes with this as well, but I haven't read it.  But love this sheet to help me organize.









~ Kells



 



 ~ Click here to subscribe to Book of Kells by email or in your favorite readerKelli Russell Agodon
www.facebook.com/agodon

Confession Tuesday

Dear Reader,



It's been a full week and one upcoming birthday since my last confession.



Where to begin?  To the confessional--





I confess I basically let my house become a messy kingdom over Christmas break.  I knew it was really bad when my husband said, "Did you see I cleaned?"  When he starts picking up things and organizing, you know it's bad.


And it's not as if he doesn't clean up, but I am the OCD girl, I am the one who likes things in their place, the microwave on 0 (no numbers left in space, please), the mail put away, keys hung on the keyrack, and clean surfaces.  But I let it all go.



I said to my daughter, "We could be on the Hoarders Christmas special."  Manger: ✓. Ceramic Christmas Village: ✓.  7-9 Nutcrackers: ✓.   Shelves of wooden snowmen: ✓.  Scissors, tape, and wrapping paper everywhere: ✓✓✓



Now the house is clean again.  My office is clean again.  The guest room is clean again.  Simple stuff, straightening up, but wow, can it soothe the soul.  It feels good not to be tripping over our overflowing recycle bins.  And I love organizing things.    Ahhhh, I can create again.



~



I confess I've been trying a few new productivity things for the new year and here's a few I love:



Boomerang for Gmail:  http://www.boomeranggmail.com/



If you ever had to read the Personal Efficiency Program  (aka PEP) by Kerry Gleeson, you might really like this.  The PEP program when I read it, was a series of folders you keep in your desk, all dated, and you organized your week, month and year through them.  Basically, if you're not working a project, it shouldn't be in your mind.  So you file it under the right date.

The Boomerang program (which only works on Gmail I learned) does the same thing.  If an email comes and it's something you plan to do in 1hr, 2 hrs, the evening, the next day, etc. --You mark that email with the date/time you want to work on it and it comes back to you (like a boomerang).  That way, your inbox isn't filled with a bunch of gunk to look at that you don't need to do.



To make this even more fun, they have The Email Game - www.emailga.me where you answer, respond, and boomerang emails as quickly as possible to earn points.  If you're competitive, this may be the thing for you.



For example, on my first day, I cleared out my entire email box.  Seriously.  It was empty.  And it was fun to do.



Realize, I am an organization nerd who loves these things and loves finding new systems and ways to do things differently/better.  This has been my best find of 2013 and it's only day 8.



~



I confess tomorrow is my birthday and I LOVE birthdays on Facebook.  That is really what Facebook is good for, wishing people a happy birthday.



Cheers!
Amen.




~ Kells



 

~ Click here to subscribe to Book of Kells by email or in your favorite reader


Kelli Russell Agodon
www.facebook.com/agodon

The Writer's Complaint - Editors Who Solicit Your Work, Then Reject You (A Prom Sucks Rant)

I'm the one on the right...





I have an interesting pet peeve that has been happening to me and some other writers I know.  Some of these writers are very well-known.  Some are not as known, but you'd recognize their names.  You'd say, I can't believe they rejected him or her. I'm going to leave them anonymous to protect the innocent, but I've been talking with them to make sure this just wasn't a *me* thing, this wasn't just something that felt bad to me... and they said they dislike too, so I'm going to jump into this topic fully, reveal how I've been feeling about editors who solicit your work, then reject you--> I hate this new/old trend.



Here's the deal--  In the last year, numerous editors asked me to submit to their journals.  My thought?  Wonderful! I haven't been submitting and I never know where to submit, so when someone writes me and says, "We like your work and would love for you to submit to our journal," I'm excited because now I have an idea where I can send my poems.



I submit to well-known, well-read journals as well as new journals and teeny-tiny journals.  I don't judge the journal on anything except the editor who asked and if I have work to send. Basically, if I like the editor as a person, I submit...though sometimes I don't have anything available or get busy, etc and don't submit, but mostly, I've submitted to all the folks who asked me to submit to their journals this year.



But this is not the problem.  In fact, this is a problem to have--being asked to submit work.  I agree, it's a blessing. And I love being asked to submit work and I'm thankful I'm in a place where people do ask.  And yes, it is still an honor to be asked.  I love receiving those notes because it makes me feel good and as a head-in-the-oven poet, any sort of nod that someone is reading and liking my work matters to me.



For me, the problem comes after sending work to these editors as requested and then they reject me.  Or when any writer submits to a journal that specifically emails them and asks them to "please submit to our journal" and they are rejected.



Because it totally sucks to be rejected after being asked to submit.  Rejection sucks anyway.  After someone has taken the time to call you beautiful then shrugs you off, it feels worse.



A few facts:



1) I know when I submit to these journals even AFTER being asked, it's not a guarantee I'll have work chosen.  I know this. I know this in my heart of hearts.  Still, when you specifically ask a writer to submit to your journal and you reject him/her-- it stings even more.



Or maybe just for me.



Rejections after being asked to submit make me ache and doubt.  It's as if I was asked to the dance, I show up in my best outfit and my date doesn't want to dance with me at all.  In fact, he sends me home.  He gave me the corsage, but wants nothing to do with me.  You were prettier before you arrived at the dance, he says.





2)  I am an editor myself at Crab Creek Review.  Occasionally an editor at our journal will ask someone to submit (this tends to be rare because we all believe as writers ourselves-- if we ask you to the dance, we're going to dance with you).



Some times those writers/poets have submitted but the work they submitted isn't exactly what we were looking for or what we expected from them.



Do we reject them?  No.  What we do is work with the poet/writer and ask them to send something else.  Why?  Because *we* asked them to submit to us.  And they did.  We asked them to the dance so we plan on dancing with them even though their blue tuxedo doesn't match our fuchsia gown.



3) No matter how nice and personal the rejection letter is written, it's still a rejection.



~~~



What do I think should be done about this? Honestly?



Editors-- Do not ask a writer or poet to submit to your journal UNLESS you are going to work with him/her to find something you can use and publish.



Otherwise, it feels sleezy.  How many other people are you asking to submit to your journal?  How many others are you asking to the prom?  How many people are you asking to help you get the writers you want, but in the end, you're stepping on their heads to get to the top of whatever mountain you're trying to climb.



If you want to get better poets and writers to submit to you, then publish a better journal.  Do better advertising.  Expand your readership.  Pay them.  Give them more copies.  Give them publicity.  Support their projects.



Don't write to the writers and ask them to submit because you want "the best of the best" or better writers to choose from.



And this is not to say I'm the "best of the best," this is only to say, I was asked to a few dances this year, showed up, and cow's blood was dumped on me... No wait, that was Carrie.



I was asked, I showed up, and I was rejected.



In the big picture of life, this isn't a huge deal.  In the moment of having a bad week and being rejected after being asked, it hurts a little more.



So editors, as an editor myself and a writer too-- be careful with the artists you play with.



We can be big & tough, well-known, sort-of-known, kind-of-known, not-known, but in so many ways every time we start a new poem or essay or story, we are beginners again.  We may look as if we're made of bricks, but we're made of paper and we crumple easily.



Remember that, dear ones.







~ Kells



 

~ Click here to subscribe to Book of Kells by email or in your favorite readerKelli Russell Agodon
www.facebook.com/agodon

Attn: Women Poets! Poets on the Coast Writing Retreat in #Oregon, Sept. 6-8th

Kelli & Susan at the Poets on the Coast!





Susan Rich & I are part of the 3rd Annual Poets on the Coast: Weekend Writing Retreat for Women in Newport, Oregon September 6-8, 2013.  The event is held at the Sylvia Beach Hotel, the greatest hotel for writers I've ever been to!



We have 5-6 more openings in you're interested in joining us.  Prices go up after February 14th, so if you're considering going, this may be the time to register.



You can register online or by PayPal-- just drop me a note at my email (kelli at agodon.com) that you'd like me to hold your place and I'll get you on our list.



Here's more info below:





POETS ON THE COAST
September 6-8, 2013
Join Kelli Russell Agodon and Susan Rich for the third Poets on the Coast Weekend Writing Retreat September 6 - 8th, 2013 at the Sylvia Beach Hotel in Newport, Oregon on historic Nye Beach. We will gather to write, read and share our work inspired by the landscape and creative energy around us.

This retreat has been designed for women writers of all levels, from beginning poets to well published. Sessions on creativity, generating work, publication, a Master Class workshop, and one-on-one mentoring are included as well as morning yoga. 
 


We only have a limited number of spaces available and they will be filled on a first-come basis.


With the Sylvia Beach Hotel, designed to inspire writers with its literary-themed rooms, this retreat will offer you a unique experience to explore your writing and creativity. Come spend a weekend with other women poets. Be ready to be nurtured, inspired and creative. 



Also, this year we're including an OPTIONAL Manuscript Workshop on Friday, September 6th from 10 am - 1 pm for $75

(This workshop is designed to help poets put together a full or chapbook length collection.  All participants will receive a free chapbook by another poet to help them after the class.)



If you're interested in learning more, go to: http://www.agodon.com/poets-on-the-coast.html


~ Kells



 
~ Click here to subscribe to Book of Kells by email or in your favorite reader
Kelli Russell Agodon
www.facebook.com/agodon

Confession Tuesday: New Year's Edition

Dear Reader,


It's been a new year since we've last connected.  It's been a new year, a lot of chocolate, a week in my pajamas since we last spoke.



I could go on like this for hours.  It's almost the second day of 2013, so let's move forward--



To the confessional--



I confess I like doing nothing. Not answering the phone.  Watching Glee reruns.  Not getting out of bed.  Not leaving the house.  It kind of scares me and yet makes me feel thankful for not having any place to be.



I confess that today, I showered and dressed and went out onto Puget Sound (that large body of water between Seattle and rural Washington) on a surfboard.  It was beautiful. I saw killdeer, a kingfisher, a blue heron, and a harbor seal, who I learned was named "Andre." (Yes, that's a bit weird.)



I confess I love doing nothing.  And I know the more nothing I do, the less I want to do.  Bodies and humans are funny this way, bodies in motion stay in motion.  Bodies at rest, stay in their pajamas.



I confess my house is a mess, but I'm not cleaning it up until Christmas break is over.  This is because I know that "winter break" is a synonym for "no one is putting anything away."



I confess I have a future goal of living on in a waterfront home. I don't care if I own or rent it, I just want to be there.  Give me my own patron. Let me be independently wealthy.  Or just let it all work out.  I don't need much, but I love the sea more than I realized and I want it to be my neighbor.



I confess I hope of doing a brainstorm of all my resolutions, but for today, this is what you get.

Happy New Year!

2013.



Amen.



~ Kells



 

~ Click here to subscribe to Book of Kells by email or in your favorite readerKelli Russell Agodon
www.facebook.com/agodon

New Look at Book of Kells...

Anyone who has read this blog for a while and actually at the blog address (www.ofkells.blogspot.com) knows that each year I change banners and backgrounds.



This year, I've done that as well.



I like my new banner, but am not 100% sold on the spotted background.  So I may be working on that.



Note:  The banner is my Corona Typewriter which I've been photographing all year.



Change has always been hard for me, so as you get used to this new look, I do too.

I think it's good for me.  I need to keep moving forward...







~ Kells



 

~ Click here to subscribe to Book of Kells by email or in your favorite readerKelli Russell Agodon
www.facebook.com/agodon

It's Almost 2013, Do You Still Have a Blog?

There was a time when blogs were new and hip and happening.



Now to some, saying "I have a blog" is similar to riding around in your Cadillac while everyone is in driving SmartCars.  Except for one thing--while SmartCars are efficient, the Cadillac is comfortable and everyone can ride with you.



Or maybe unlike gas, words aren't a natural resource that we will run out of one day.


Maybe unlike Facebook or Twitter, where we create our lives based on "short content," blogs offer us the opportunity to expand our thought.

We are not limited to 140 characters or a status post where if you write too much, it covers up the final paragraphs with a link that says "more."

No, with blogs, every day is *more.*



But here's the question--



If you have a blog, does it offer you enough to keep it up?  And if yes, what does it offer you?



One reason I like blogs is that before Facebook, blogs were a way of seeing that the person was alive.  Sometimes I'd come to a writer's website and it felt as if there were cobwebs on it-- (c) 2003.  Is this website updated?  Is the person still writing?



A blog was a way to immediately hookup with a person and what was going on in their life.



When Facebook and Twitter came along, a lot of bloggers left to use their time there.

And there is a more immediate satisfaction to Facebook and Twitter.  You post something and people either LIKE it or respond.  Here on a blog, I can post something and wonder if anyone read it, did it make a difference to anyone?  Here, not everyone comments, nor should they feel as if they should.



Facebook became the mini blog.  Twitter, the minuscule blog.



I have both a Facebook account & a Twitter account.  Both are fine and dandy, but what I like about the blog is that I can delve a little deeper into things, I can share more (and I'm a huge sharer).  Plus, there can be a few extra bonuses...



Below are the main reasons I will keep my blog for another year--



1)  Connection -- I feel as if it's another way to connect with people about things that are important to us-- writing, poetry, creativity.



2)  Sharing info -- As a writer, you can feel cut off or out of the loop, I like that I can post things on this blog and they are there forever as resources to myself and others.



3)  Helping others -- One thing that I've always appreciated about this blog is that I can post things here to promote other poets, writers, and artists.  I can promote books and creative projects, websites and journals.  And it all can be found with Google, so if someone is looking for info on something 5 years from now, they can still find what they need.



4)  Free books & things -- I love that people send me books to read and possibly share here.  I also love being able to give away stuff.  I love getting mail, so I always appreciate the things that arrive in my PO box.



5) Your comments and emails-- Sometimes when I worry that no one is reading this, I'll get a note (or check my stats) and realize, there are quite a few of you out there who are listening and reading.  Thank you.  Your notes to me always make me thankful, and I'm thankful that you're thankful.



6)  Documentation -- I love having this public online diary to look back and see what was on my mind and what was happening at the time.



7)  I'm Old School -- I still have a rotary phone and a typewriter.  When it comes down to it, I'm into vintage, I'm into "what was."  So if blogs are old school and something "we used to do," well then, I'm a perfect fit.



So, yes, I guess I will continue blogging at least once a week (I know people still like Confession Tuesdays), so plan on hearing from me at least once a week.  I'll try to keep things interesting... so hopefully, you'll get something out of this experience as well.



Cheers to 2013!







~ Kells



 

~ Click here to subscribe to Book of Kells by email or in your favorite readerKelli Russell Agodon
www.facebook.com/agodon