Kelli Russell Agodon's Blog, page 60

Confession Tuesday - The Haunted Armoire Edition

[image error]




Dear Reader,



It's been one week and two full nights sleeps without a visit from the 2 hours-of-insomnia Fairy.  I have a lot on my mind, so let's just begin.



To the confessional--



I confess after WAY too many years (eighteen, I think) I am getting rid of my haunted armoire.





Hello, I must be going...

For the last eighteen years, I have had sleep issues that I have blamed on this armoire.  From waking up in the middle of the night searching for medicine (I don't have or take) in the armoire to believing a keep a small bird in there that I've forgotten to feed.



I use the haunted armoire to keep my lingerie and pajamas in.  So you can only imagine what my family thinks to find me standing in front of it at 2 am digging through my bras asking questions like, "Do I take medicine?"  And saying random things like, "Oh my God, I've forgotten about the bird."



You may wonder why someone would keep a haunted armoire for so long, especially one that I have such a strange midnight relationship with.



Well, because as much as I've blamed my sleep issues on this armoire, I guess I really haven't believed it's been the real cause of it.  I mean, can you imagine me telling my doctor that I have terrible sleep issues (and have since I was 24) and it's not because of anxiety or stress, but because I purchased a haunted armoire in 1993 that brings me over to at night searching for medicine or birds.  She would think I was looney.



So I've kept it, for the last 18 years believing it's not you, Armoire, it's me.  



But this weekend I visited my friend Nancy Pagh (who is an incredible poet by the way--here's her book, No Sweeter Fat) and I went to sleep in her armoireless room and slept for 10 hours straight.  No waking up, no insomnia, no trying to feed dead birds that don't exist.  It was magical.



I texted my husband from Nancy's house, "When I get home, we must move the haunted armoire out of our bedroom."  When I came home, the had already moved the armoire  out.  And for the past 2 nights I have slept.



I now however am taking the next big step, I sent out an email this morning to my friends that says my haunted armoire is up for grabs or it's going to our local donation center this Friday.  Yes, I am breaking up with my armoire (and I should have done this YEARS ago).



Oh and I did include the details that the armoire is in fact, haunted, or has weird energy that makes you think that birds and medicine live in it, but they already knew that--it's not as if I haven't spent the last eighteen years talking about this.



So I feel as if I'm moving on.  I cannot wait to get to it out of my house completely.



I told my daughter I was thinking of dragging down to the corner and putting a FREE sign on it and she said that we'll probably look out window and see all our neighbors looking for medicine in it and not understanding why.  Which made me laugh.  Which made me realize I have put way too much energy in this armoire and while I love how beautiful it is, it really needs to go.



Amen.






Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Fran Lebowitz, Public Speaking Documentary: Movie Recommendations for Writers:

I just watched the documentary Public Speaking with Fran Lebowitz, which I highly recommend.



Okay, I should of course, point this out-- if you don't like Fran Lebowitz or think she's incredibly funny, witty, and smart like I do then you'll hate it because the whole film is her talking, Fran being Fran.



I became a Lebowitz fan a couple decades ago when I read her book, Social Studies.  (You can get both her books, Social Studies & Metropolitan Life here for a lower price in the Fran Lebowitz reader--but I think Social Studies is a much better book).  But I hadn't heard anything really about her in years...



You can imagine how thrilled I was to find this DVD on Netflix (no, it's not play instantly, I had to order the DVD old school).



The film was wonderful in how it explored writing, her life, and her opinions of the current culture. I watched it all including the special features (which I also recommend at the end if you enjoyed the movie).



I just love how her mind works, from her thoughts on women having babies to the color of her car (It's such a subtle shade of pearl gray, straight men think it's white).





I know some people will find her annoying, judgmental, and opinionated, which are all the things I love about her.





Below is a clip from the film that starts out with an old interview clip of a younger Fran talking about writer's block and moves into Fran today.  If you have never seen Fran, this might be a good intro to her and her style--























Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Northwest Poets--1 Day Class with Poet Elizabeth Austen @hugohouse

[image error]

Ready to try something new?

 Elizabeth Austen is teaching a couple of poetry writing workshops in February:

Poems from Poems: Call and Response "Good poems are the best teachers. Perhaps they are the only teachers," writes Mary Oliver in A Poetry Handbook. This workshop explores ways to let others' poems not only teach you, but lead to new poems of your own. We'll experiment with po-jacking, sonic translations, echo translations and other ways to use one poem as a jumping off point for another. Come prepared to write and stretch your craft – participants will leave the workshop with fresh drafts of new poems.

February 4, from 1 to 5 p.m. at Richard Hugo House $96/$86.40 for Hugo House members. Registration is open online or via phone at (206) 322-7030.

Elizabeth will also teach a shorter, free version of the class on February 26, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Lopez Island Library.



Contact Elizabeth at eaustenpoetry(at)gmail.com for more information.



Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

thankful Thursday: storybook mushrooms

On the ferry home from a literary day and thankful for writer friends as well as my life as a poet, editor, and writer.

This is how writing makes my life feel-- a red umbrella sheltering me in a gray world.




Yesterday I felt sad. I felt as if I couldn't or didn't do anything right. I felt worried and anxious and all the emotional stuff that comes with being human and caring about other people and wanting to do a good job.

I was a gray world.

Today my writing life reminded me that there can still be beauty, art, friendship, inspiration, even when another part of your life feels bad. I needed to be reminded of this. I needed to remember I am more than just a mushroom, but a storybook mushroom. I have no idea what my purpose is, but I do my best to be me.
Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Confession Tuesday - the Yin & the Yang

[image error]
"Purple Love" by Lawrence Yang - http://www.blowatlife.blogspot.com/




Dear Reader,



It's Tuesday again and time to confess all I've been up to.  Yesterday, I spent the afternoon with Brenda Miller's class at Western Washington University, where the students are making their own blogs.  They were a great group who asked smart questions and their blogs varied from life in the Roller Derby to making beer.  Pretty interesting stuff.



But now, it's my turn again to confess confess confess.  So off we go.  To the confessional--



I confess I do censor myself on my blog and on Confession Tuesday.



This was a question asked by one of the students and I thought it was an incredibly intriguing question.  My first gut response was to say, "No, I share what's on my mind," but I realized there are things I don't post--say confessing how there's a male poet who annoys me just for being him or personal things about my family as I try to keep their lives private.



While my main promise to myself when doing this blog was --be honest--I also have a stronger belief that comes first-- do no harm.



So instead of ranting about a specific poet who drives me nutty (and not in that good happy way), I leave out names.  I guess I feel life is hard enough for all of us and who I am to smack down someone who could be an incredibly kind and wonderful person, but through my dark-cloud sunglasses, I only saw ego, coldness and more ego.



~



I confess while I do censor things on my blog that may hurt other people, I think it's important to point out the bad stuff along with the good.



Like rejections.  Like feeling down about the writing life, or stuck, or just unconnected.



I think a blog that just shows a well-painted home and happy smiley people leads others to believe their lives are inadequate.



And it's not true.  We all struggle with something.



I think blogs like poetry, needs to be a mix of both, the sugar and spice.  The wow-I'm-so-excited-about-this and I-may-never-write-again-I-have-been-fooling-myself-for fifteen-years-that-I'm-a-writer.  Two completely true thoughts that can happen in one person's life.



John Berryman would wake up feeling like a genius and go to bed feeling like a failure, a hack.



While regular folks have these feelings, I think many times they are stronger in artists.  Sometimes I wonder if it's because we are responsible solely for us and what we achieve, accomplish, or spend our time doing.



There is no middle manager, no receptionist to blame that we didn't get that call.  Our lives are our own creation, they can please and disappoint us daily.



~



I confess I used my birthday money to buy a surfboard--a SUP board (stand-up paddle board).  It's currently in my living room taking up a huge amount of room.



Amen.





Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Hello Western Washington University!

[image error]



I'm heading up to WWU today to talk with Brenda Miller's class about blogging!



Brenda (author of Listening Against the Stone & Season of the Body: Essays) has started her own blog here, Spa of the Mind.  You may want to check it out as her posts are small gems about the world around us and our walk through it.



Today in class we'll take a tour of Book of Kells, share how it developed, and the role of blogging in the writing life & the business of writing, along with a few other things.



I'll do a follow-up post to this one and let you know how the day went!



And HELLLLLLOOOOO Brenda's Class!







Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Carbon Copy Magazine Issue #1 is Fantastic!

Just received my contributor's copy for Carbon Copy Magazine in the mail.  I LOVE it. (You can buy a copy here, or learn how to submit to it here.)



It's a pop-culture issue so it's ridiculous fun.  I have a poem called "Because I'm John Stamos" which basically makes fun of myself for being a B-list poet, along with another poem called "American Gothic in Technicolor" and "Unfinished," a poem which suggests God was Marilyn Monroe.



There are other pop culture poems throughout, my favorites being "Word of the Day" and "Upbraiding Amy" about Amy Winehouse by Allison Joseph, and three incredible poems by Denise Duhamel, my favorite being "Facebook Kisses Off."



But the magazine is packed full of poems mentioning Anne Sexton & Grace Kelly, Batman, Graceland, & Abe Lincoln.



It's what I loved about the magazine, each poem a surprise, and full color artwork included in the pages.  I know how much it costs for full-color pages, so I appreciate Carbon Copy for going the extra mile there.



Oh and they are playful with their bio notes, which I love.  None of that, Kelli was published here, here and here, they have me admitting to using lines from a Marilyn Monroe biography on my dates when I was younger.  How can I not love a magazine that turns bio notes into intriguing reading






Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Thankful Thursday: Diane Lockward Reviews Fire On Her Tongue @dianelock

I'm so thankful to read this incredible and generous review by Diane Lockward on her blog, Blogolicious



Here's part of the Fire On Her Tongue: An eBook Anthology of Women's Poetry Review



This 460-page anthology includes over 70 women poets. Each poet is represented by 2-5 poems. Each poet's poems are preceded by a brief bio and a link to the poet's website. Acknowledgments follow each poet's poems. Given the way an ebook works, this arrangement makes good sense as it eliminates the need to scroll to the end of the book to find this information.



As might be expected, there is an enormous variety of poetry—formal, free verse, prose poems. The poets cover the US landscape from East Coast to West Coast. One characteristic the poets have in common is that they are all still living. 





and 





This book is ideal for curling up in a comfortable chair but also makes a terrific traveling companion. In print such an anthology would most likely be priced around $30. But this ebook is available for a mere $7.99!  





***NOTE:  I just checked and it's on Kindle for $6.59





As I said, you can read the full review from Diane  on her blog, Blogolicious and check out today's post on what's the right time to submit a poem...  It's a good one!



Thank you, Diane!!





Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Asking for a vote is a sign of desperation, but life is short and ...

I've never won a trophy.



For good karma points, click below. Thank you all!



Nominate Kelli Russell Agodon for a social media award in the Shorty Awards



Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

What's @Klout? How I raised my score & why I received free #MOO Cards #socialmedia

[image error]



For the last couple months, I've been trying to figure out what Klout is.



When I first went to their website, it said I had a "Klout Score" of 36.  I had no idea what that meant, but I could see that it wasn't the lowest score nor the highest score.  But what was I being graded on?



What Klout says on it's website is that it believe "Everyone has Influence" and "Our goal is to help you understand and leverage that influence."



I learned it uses social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc. to measure your ability to reach and/or influence others and then Klout gives you an overall score.



Because I had a relatively low score, I decided to challenge myself to raise this score.



I wasn't sure exactly what to shoot for, but I realized you're invited to "Perks" (something I'll talk about more below) if you have a score over 40, but being a competitive person, I decided wanted to shoot for a Klout score over 50 and figure out how to do it.



As I said, one reason for choosing this number is that I noticed there were these things called "Klout Perks" where you could get free items (from business cards to $10 at a sports store) or be part of things.  To be eligible, you needed a higher score. I would see these perks and all of them said, "You are not eligible." (Gee, thanks for giving me a low score then keeping me out of the prize club too.)



So I added the Klout website to one of the first webpages I checked in the morning and they gave me perks (such as +K, which were Klout points I could give other Klout users I liked such as Collin Kelley, Jeannine Hall Gailey & Michael Wells.)  And usually, whoever gives me Klout, I give them Klout back in that good karma sort of way.



What I learned was, checking in to see my Klout score daily, made me use Twitter more and Facebook (because if people share your tweets or respond to your posts, your score goes up...)  This fascinated me.  And I loved that I could see it rising, though honestly, wasn't really sure what would make it go up.



I don't take part in Google+ (honestly, it confuses me), but I have a Twitter, blog and Facebook account.  I began to use Twitter more, tweeting articles I found interesting, using it in ways I hadn't really-- like engaging more in conversations with others and when I found things other writers and creatives would find interested, I tweeted them.



In the last few days, my score took a big 4 point jump and have no idea why.  I had a few people retweet me and a few Facebook posts people responded to, but nothing huge.



And since "joining" Klout, my score has risen from 36 to 57.



Here's my page on Klout if you want see what it looks like.  Each person who has connected with Klout get their own page with information created for you.



But what does this mean?



I'm not sure except I have finally earned a few perks from all of it.



My favorite perk being Moo Cards (which are the coolest business cards ever).  I have known about Moo Cards forever, but never bought them because they were $20.  I know, that makes me sound a little cheap (I prefer thrifty), but I just never wanted to buy a set and be disappointed as I had only seen the online.



Here's what I received from MOO-- very cool literary cards I created myself--





I chose image of my book and other writers for the backside, then the front is just your basic information.  They are about half the size of regular business size.  I ended up just paying shipping for them ($6).



And if I understand this correctly, I can send this same benefit to you with this link.  (let me know if this works or not, if you choose to do it. I don't get anything out of it, I'm just still trying to figure out the point of Klout.)



So if that works, that's cool.











I also received this Person of Interest TV Show Screen Cleaner (that they mailed to me at no cost).  And I think 10 people can receive these too.  It's kind of weird because Person of Interest is not my type of show, but I like the cleaner and I maybe getting a surprise in the mail--okay, I liked getting a surprise in the mail, I am a twelve year old girl.



So I like that aspect of Klout, you get things and you can share the wealth.



Also, when you're signed into Klout, you can search for people who are "experts" in certain areas, and I like being able to find new people on topics I'm interested in such as creativity, books, authors, etc.



Klout also has decided I'm "influential" on a few things-- poetry, writing, eBooks, spoken word, books, libraries, and coffee.  Coffee?  That one made me laugh, but I am in Seattle so I still think Starbucks is a good thing.  Plus, I do have a beautiful large cup of coffee every morning, and I'm guessing I must put that in my blog or status update more than I thought.



The other strange topic to me is I'm influential about economics.  Economics before editor?  This is the part of Klout where I'm just not sure where they grab their info from.



As for my final thoughts are that I'm still not 100% sure I even get what Klout is or why it's important.  I wonder what they will do with this info, of knowing who is influential in what?  If you have a high influence in coffee, will coffee companies want you to try their coffee?  Or does it just mean, I'm highly addicted to caffeine.



Whatever it is, Klout does have a fun element to it as well as one that can help you find other interesting people or topics, and there is satisfaction of the score going up... of course, what goes up, must come down...so I'm guessing as this experiment comes to an end (and as summer comes and I'm not as active online) my score will drop.  And that's okay.



I will stay on Klout and as I learn more about it, will let you know.  I'm hoping one day to get a better understanding of lists and doing more with those.  And maybe use it more as a tool for helping me research topics I'm interested in.



In the end, I doubt my Klout score will be featured in my obituary, so it's something to know is out there, but it's probably not something that will change your life too much, with the exception of perhaps, some new business cards.







Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com