Kelli Russell Agodon's Blog, page 57

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hoping your St. Patrick's Day is just as crazy...





Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

For the Poets, Artists, Writers & Dreamers...

This made me laugh today--





True story.  ;-)






Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Confession Tuesday - the Comfort Zone Edition

Dear Reader,



It's been a week of the-chick-can't-handle-the-stress and just craziness in my life.  As someone who doesn't crave drama or being overly-busy, some who is in love with her comfort zone, I've been trying to breathe.



I feel I haven't been around this blog too much, let's talk about that, that and how I need to expand my comfort zone a bit. . .



To the confessional--



I confess I haven't been blogging as much because I've had quite a few writing projects going on and have been doing some consulting jobs with a couple poets.



As a freelance writer, poet, and editor, I struggle with the money-thang.  Trying to make sure I have enough to keep the family fed, clothed, and warm, but also making sure I have time for my own writing.  It's been great to have some paying jobs lately as our expenses have been >= to what we're bringing in.



However, when things get too hectic for me, the blog loses.



Today I even thought about putting a "donate" button on my blog then decided that felt cheesy (no offense to anyone who has one).  I have kept my blog ad-free (I tried adsense once and it wasn't a good feeling).



I enjoy keeping a blog because I know many of you have contacted me and said this blog makes you feel good or you enjoy it or it helps you with your own writing or...  



But lately, I've felt I haven't had anything of interest to blog about.  And I don't like.



I want you to come here and read interesting relevant things, not about how I had a new stove in the middle of my living room for a week and that I woke up and realized how much I hate the word "tippy-toe" (which is true, that happened yesterday).



I think I might be in one of those dips where I'm pulled with other projects and jobs-- maybe I won't be here as much until things even out or we've caught up on our bills.



But we know I'll be here next month for the Big Poetry Giveaway--that will give me a few things to blog about in the next weeks!



~



I confess I'd like a patron.  And a trophy.  Just putting that out there Universe.



~



I confess I have totally broken my New Year's Resolution about only going on Facebook only on Fridays.  I have also broken my habit of sketching daily.



I don't really have anything to add about this except more proof I am not anywhere close to perfect, though I could have told you that long before I broke these resolutions.



~



I confess the most imperfect thing about me is that I have a hard time feeling normal when  I'm in that in-between spot in life, the climax of the story before the ending.



I love my comfort zone.  We're kind of best friends.



And I like beginnings and can tolerate ends, but it's that middle period that always gets me.



A good friend told me that when I'm in that spot I should enjoy it and look for possibilities.  I'm going to try this instead of trying to run to the ending, finishing things up.  Basically, I'm not crazy about the "unknown" part of life-- um, which is pretty much every day of our lives if you think about.







Here's the thing, like the sign says, life (and growth) happens outside your comfort zone.



And I know this.  But I was the girl in the backseat of the car with a bag of snacks.  I am the person who arrives early so I know where something is, but doesn't want to be the first one in the door.  I thrive on routine... way too much than I should.



So I'm going to try to appreciate those moments when I'm out of my comfort zone and what I can learn from them.  I'm sure many have learned this lesson a long time ago, but I learned always bring an extra pair of socks and have snacks.  Or "why risk it?"







So here's why I am -- wanting to live a wildly adventurous life where I am happy-go-lucky and playing it safely.



I confess I've been here all my life.



Amen.



P.S.  If anyone would like to share a time where you took a risk and it worked out, I'd love to hear it!  (Comments can be anonymous to protect the innocent sharers...)



























Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Big Poetry Giveaway 2012 - Coming to a Blog Near You!

Here's a preview of this year's badge...



So it looks as if we have enough interest in the Big Poetry Giveaway, so it will happen!



Here's the details and frequently asked questions from last year I'll be updating. I was thinking about making this a BlogHop, but am not exactly how this would work and when the person reaches the end, then what?  Still, I'll think about it (would love to hear any thoughts or ideas on it...)



So here's what you can be thinking about--



What book (besides your own) you'd like to give away and something you can say about yourself and either your creative process or your writing life.



I think this might be a nice introduction for folks when they come to your blog.



Near the end of March, I'll put something up for those who want to participate and how to proceed.



But for now, if you want to ask any questions, offer any ideas, please do.



Looking forward to some free poetry books!

cheers!






Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Confession Tuesday

Dear Reader,



It's that time of the week and I am a big cranky mess.



Really, this should just be my confession.  But I'm going to go on because there's no better thing for a cranky person to do than to blog... okay, that's probably not true at all.



To the confessional--





I confess I am typing this with a HUGE headache. I don't get headaches. Okay, I have a headache right now, but I'm not one of those people who complains about them or needs to turn off the lights to exist peacefully.

Mostly, I'm just tired.  The other night I woke up at 1:57 am.  I feel back asleep around around 4:45 am.  You can imagine what I pleasure I was to be around yesterday.  I swear, I think I wore my angry-eyebrows all day. I was also making big deals about little things-- oh no, I have to go to the post office!  I was emotionally defunct.

Today is slightly better, but I'm still ready to rip the stuffing out of a Raggedy Ann doll.

~I confess that Raggedy Ann doll reference might seem odd.  It is.  

When I was girl, I had a friend who always lied.  She was a lot fun, but always lying about something.  Her biggest lie was when she tried to get me to cut under the heart of my Raggedy Ann doll.  She told me that inside I'd find candy.  And as convincing as she was, I never cut open my doll.  

Today, I would like to cut open a doll.  I am that cranky.

~

I confess there were a lot of little liars in my neighborhood growing up.  

Lies I have been told:

I have a carousel in my backyard.

If you pull out grass by roots, it will never grow back and there will be a bald spot in the yard forever.

Good doctors pop out your eye, clean it, and put it back in.  

If your family takes showers naked, then you are from a perverted family.  Normal families shower in their clothes. 

You will die if you drink poprocks with coke or aspirin with coke.~

I confess when I am extremely tired, it is hard for me to look at things with rationally.  I am the adult version of the 3 year old falling down on the mall floor and crying.



I find lots of fault with myself and if I'm in a really emotionally-tired mood, I start going back into the past and beating myself up over dumb mistakes.  This is good times for sorrowfilled.



~

I confess I think I need a nap.



Amen.





Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Big Poetry Giveaway 2012....Are you ready, Poets?

So for the last 2 years, I believe, I've been hosting the BIG POETRY GIVEAWAY--

basically, it's what it sounds like-- a big giveaway for poets or poetry lovers.



Here's the Deal:  





For National Poetry Month--

Bloggers give away 2 books of poems-- the first can be your own & the second book must be of another favorite poet of yours.  



The reason I have two books of poems is that I want to introduce people to your work as well as the work of YOUR favorite poet.  (I don't want this to be a big ego trip, but a sharing of poets with readers.)



But you ask, I don't have a book, can I participate?  YES!  You just give away 2 books of your favorite poets.



If you don't have a blog, you can be sponsored by another blogger.  For example, Rachel Contreni Flynn didn't have a blog, but had an excellent book of poems and I did a post for her.



The giveaway lasts all the way through April (National Poetry Month) and then the first (or 2nd) day of May you choose a winner.



So what do you think?  Does anyone want to participate this year?  I'm happy to host it again and will make a snazzy BIG POETRY GIVEAWAY badge for your blog.



One new thing I want to incorporate is linking each other up (I saw this on Collin Kelley's Friday the 13th Blog Hop, which was awesome by the way).  Will think more about this, but if you're interested, leave a quick comment.  I will definitely organize this again if we have some people who want to share poetry with others...



Here are the link from last year if you want to get full details.  And if you have any questions, leave me a note!







Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Mini Writing Retreat

It was a clean room with good snacks when we arrived...


Okay, this photo makes me laugh as it shows our an innocent writing retreat day can turn into a scene from Retreat of the Paper Monsters...



So, what's going on in this photo--



This is the very very end of the day.  We are having a glass of wine and those are my pretzel sticks near the rocking chair (classy...)  



The Mac on the floor is mine and the strips of paper are from one of our writing exercises. I cut up lines and images from Sylvia Plath's journal, mix them up, and as an easy final poem exercise, I hand them out in envelopes.  Basically, we rearrange them on the floor and try to make our own poem from them.  I think it may be one of my Surrealist Exercises from this book-- The Surrealist Book of Games.  Martha Silano clued me into this book.



That's Ronda Broatch on the couch with her laptop.  Annette (Spaulding-Convy) is to the side (her new book, In Broken Latin, is coming out this fall and I'll have more about that later.)  And Luna the cat is behind Ronda looking sneaky.



I basically ate all the Trader Joe's Pico de Gallo on the table, which I think I may be addicted to.  We have no sweets on the table since I gave them up for Lent, everyone was kind enough to bring foods that wouldn't damn me to hell, I mean, that aren't sugary.  Other foods we had were yogurt, deli meat, rice crackers, hummus, cheese, trail mix, nuts, and probably other food I've forgotten about.



The penny on the book was from another exercise where we each had to put a book on the floor and drop a penny on it.  Whatever line the penny landed on would be the first of our 3 stanza poem.  We'd write for 5 minutes then the next person would drop their penny on a book, and we'd write from that line for 5 minutes.  It's kind of weird, but offers a bit of surprise to our writing.



I lost count of how many poem-starts we got, but in the end, I have at least 3 poems I'm going to continue working on.



We were there from 9 am until 6:45pm  -- It's a great way to generate new work in a fun and inspiring environment.  And you don't have to go to far away from home.











Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Sarc: my second favorite -asm

This made me laugh today...

It immediately makes you ask, "So what's the first?" ;-)









Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

New Washington Poet Laureate Blog - for Washington State Poets!

I mentioned that Kathleen Flenniken started a new blog for Washington State poets and poetry events.





Yesterday she featured my poem, "In the 70's, I Confused Macramé and Macabre"  on it.



Also, the title banner is a Where's Waldo of Washington State poets -- see if you can find me, Susan Rich, Martha Silano, Oliver de la Paz, Elizabeth Austen, Peter Pereira, Nancy Pagh, Heather McHugh, Linda Bierds, Sherman Alexie, Tess Gallagher, Richard Hugo and many many others.



Thanks, Kathleen!











Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Confession Tuesday: The Cheese Edition

cheese jacket



Dear Reader,



It's been 6 days of Lent and no sweets or dessert.  What on earth to people eat when they don't have sugar or treats?  I'm so bored of my diet AND I have 2 boxes of unopened Camp Fire Mints in the pantry.  Let's just say I'm eating a lot of vanilla yogurt, raisins, and triple berry bran muffins.



But 34 more days for this nonsense to end... wait, that's not a good attitude...

To the confessional--



I confess I recently wrote this in an email:  My life motto in regards to writing is not to be cheesy.



Looking it over I could have written "regarding" instead of "in regards to," but the point is the same, I am afraid that one I will wake up cheesy.



I guess one just doesn't "wake up cheesy," but as someone who mostly writes poetry, I feel I have one foot in the door to the cheesy world already-- add on a fancy scarf, a whimsical pin and/or hat, and give me a wine spritzer and we've hit the cheese-factor like 7-11 nachos.



We have to be careful--cheesiness is everywhere these days.



And there are so many ways to become cheesy--what separates the George Clooneys from the David Hasselhoffs?  It's hard to name, but I know it when I see it.



And I have huge fear about putting on the cheese jacket.



~



I confess I just splurged and paid $7 for a small container of "Wee Bries" at the store because I didn't want to drive 30 minutes to Trader Joe's because of my daily habit to cheese.  (Note: Trader Joe's Mini Brie's are my favorite and are a lot less.)



~



I confess that sometimes I buy cheese because of the name.  Muenster is an appropriate example of this.



~



I confess my family and I have been watching Modern Family and we have two favorite lines, this is one of them--







The other is--



"It's a freak show, but it's *their* freak show!"



This last one has been great as a reminder not to worry what other people are doing.  And it's fun to say.



Amen.






Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com