Kelli Russell Agodon's Blog, page 63

The Day After Christmas...

My golden retriever, Buddy Holly, wishing Christmas was more than just one day...

Ah, the day after Christmas...



I woke up today, our living room in happy shambles, turned on my 24 hr. a day Christmas music to hear REO Speedwagon instead (heard from a friend who, heard it from a friend who, heard it from another you've been messing around...)  Bummer.  Christmastime is over.



Because I'm not ready for it end and I consider December 26th as Extra Credit Christmas, I turned on my very favorite CD A Charlie Brown Christmas with one of my favorite Christmas songs "Skating" (YouTube link in case you want to hear it, I have it playing in the background right now).



I have big plans the day after Christmas and I tell my daughter this each year-- We have a lot to do tomorrow, I say on Christmas day night, Tomorrow we have big plans and are absolutely required to do...NOTHING!





Today is about squeezing the joy from togetherness for one more day, for winter-breaking it, allowing the day off to happen, to relax and do whatever you wish.  Napping is good.  Eating chocolate oranges is good too.



This next week I'll be organizing, getting ready for 2012, writing resolutions, maybe even painting the living room, but today, today is for letting things sit as is, as are.



As Andy Rooney says:








One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly.











 or TweetKelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Merry Christmas! May you always have enough books...

and the right words.



Wishing you all a joyous Christmastime, 

Kells



Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

You can't sleep either?

Happy Christmas Eve!



Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

The Day Before the Night Before Christmas...

and I'm busy busy busy being good.



~



I had to laugh this morning when I read my "Gratitude Thursday" post.  I was so emotionally tired from my Nana's surprise broken hip and then surgery, when I wrote the post, I could not remember what I called it when I gave thanks on Thursday.  Grateful Thursday?  Gratitude Thursday?  What was it?!



Ah yes, THANKFUL Thursday (alliteration), not Gratitude Thursday.



But this how my mind behaves under stress.   I cannot remember anything.



~



So on the Friday the 23rd, I'm settling in for a Christmas weekend.  Two major projects done:



Crab Creek Review



Crab Creek Review, Issue 2: 2011




And Two Sylvias Press's Fire On Her Tongue: An eBook Anthology of Contemporary Women's Poetry, has been approved and will be available on eReaders shortly.







It feels good to have both of these finished.  Of course, they are both good reminders of "Everything takes longer than I think."  It's so true.



~



I should have a few more blog posts these last days of 2011.  I'm thinking about resolutions, giving thanks for all I have, and trying to remember and keep in mind what is really important in life.



Thanks, as always, for reading.  Wishing you all good things no matter how or what you celebrate.  Happy everything.



xo,

Kells

Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Gratitude Thursday

Nana on her 99th!



I've kind of been waiting on this post to find out if I was going to be grateful for the time I had with someone or grateful in that I get more time in the future with them.



Let me explain-- yesterday, I received a phone call that my Nana had fallen and may have broken her hip.  This happened to her 2 years ago when she was 98.  Now, she is 99, one month away from her 100th birthday.



I knew what this meant, she would have to have surgery.



So I drove down to the hospital last night to see her.  She looked great and was in good spirits.  Yes, they said, she had broken her hip.



Today at 1 pm was her surgery, by 3:20 she was out and in recovery.  Amazing.  99 years old and 11 months and having surgery without complications, how can we live this kind of life?



All the nurses asked me, "I'm guessing your Nana never smoke or drank..." Well, I don't remember her drinking (but she is French) so I would guess she did in her younger years, and she smoked from age 20 until age 64 because, well, that's what people did.  She also drank a ton of Tab cola and her and my mum love Cool Whip!  They both do not even use the word organic.  She does eat a lot of apples.  And loves chocolate and nuts.



But one thing Nana has that other people don't is that laissez-faire attitude.  The world can be falling apart, but Nana, who has been alive since 1912 says, "Let it be, it will work out."  She likes solitaire and laughing.  She wears comfortable clothes and has never messed too much with her hair.



Nana told me she plans to live until 107, a year older than her mother.  I can see her living longer.  I would not be surprised if she ends up in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest life.



If she would just stop falling!  I told her last night she broke her hip and she said, "Oh, I'm just being clumsy again..."  and "So I'll live!"



When I left the hospital today she told me to "drive slow."



I have so much to learn from my Nana still as I plow through life with my hair on fire.



Laissez-faire, French that loosely translates to "let things alone."  Nana, I will try my best at this and I'm glad you're still with us.  I'll take as many days as I can get.








Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Confession Tuesday - Vanity Edition

Vanity kills, it don't pay bills...  Martin Fry from ABC, 1985



Dear Reader,



I confess, I almost missed today's confession as I'm already in Winter Break mode, which means that days lose their titles and dates run into each other.  In fact, I have spent most of the day thinking it was Sunday.



So I must confess confess confess...  Hmm, I've been on the nice list lately, what can I think of?



To the confessional--



I confess I have a love/hate relationship with my nightguard.  And no, I'm not a famous celebrity with hired help standing around my bed making sure I'm okay, but this clearish, plastic thing I wear at night so I don't grind my teeth.  Sexy, huh?



And I've been amazed at how many people wear a nightguard now, are we all completely stressed out or is this just a $500 accessory created by our dentists?  I'm not sure, but I was told if I wear this my gums will recede less.  Yes, I have receding gums (even more sexy).



I was told this by my dentist yesterday along with the hygienist who told me I need "more form" when flossing my teeth.  Apparently, I'm being graded on my flossing, but if they saw me in my bathroom doing the All the Single Ladies' dance when I flossed, they would certain say I had form.



~



I confess last week we recently bought a new scale because ours started counting up before you even stepped on it.  It was a digital scale (really, should it make a difference if I weight 138.2 or 138.6?)



Anyway, back to my old "I'm making you a few pounds heavier today" scale.  We decided to get rid of it because doing simple math every morning was giving my husband and me a headache.  So we bought a new scale, which is sleek and pretty and has one huge flaw-- you cannot lean to the side to change your weight.



What? you ask.   Yes, that's right, when you stepped on my old scale you would watch it count up, 130, 135, 135.7, 136, 136.2.... It was fantastic, when you got the weight you wanted, you leaned just a tad to the right, held yourself perfectly still, then BINGO! your ideal weight flashed in front of you 134.8 - Yes!



It was as if each morning I could play a carnival game in my own bathroom.  Lean a little to the right and get the score, I mean, weight, you want.  You win!   Now go into the world and have that extra dessert you've been desiring, the scale is here to please you!



This new scale has no carnival game ability.  You step on it and gives you your exact weight.  (This morning, 138.6 for me.)   What fun is this? There is absolutely no room for creativity with this factual, accurate weight.



When I told my husband about this flaw, he said he had noticed too.  And I found out that he would position his feet near the back edge of the scale to get his ideal weight (as you can see, we are two dreamers who are perfect for each other).



Now with the new scale, we live in reality.  My winter weight of 138.6 would have been a lean 135.8 on my old scale.  And men, if you're reading this and thinking what difference does 3 pounds make?, this is because you haven't been raised as a brainwashed girl/woman in American.



I confess I feel better when the scale reads any number between 130-139.8 than if it reads 140+.   It's stupid, it's vain, it's petty, but I'm guessing there's a few women out there who have special "validation weights" too.



~



I confess I'm currently reading this book, 

Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World  by Lisa Bloom, which talks about our "tabloid culture," "the beauty bias" in America and how girls are basically told by our culture to focus on their looks instead of on their brains.  Or sometimes they're told both, but that being pretty, in shape, etc. matters.

The author admits to "having to look good" for her job, though while I read the book I couldn't help but look at her portrait on the cover and kind of wished she looked a little more like Gertrude Stein.  A part of me keeps thinking, "I hear what you're saying, but do you?"  It's hard to buy what she's selling because while she's saying we're all being brainwashed into not loving ourselves as we are and completely unaware of the world, she's not making any changes in her appearance to change this.  

But I do get the vanity insecurities.  I know the fastest way to make girl feel bad is call her selfish or fat--two words that can begin the manipulation of many females (well, except if you call me selfish, I would most likely agree with you-- though I prefer the word "vainglorious" which sounds more positive.)

That said, Lisa Bloom is smart, well-educated, and well-spoken.   And honestly, I don't want to look like Gertrude Stein in my author photo either.  

The book is thought-provoking even while I don't agree with everything she says or believes in-- I think some of her statements about women getting plastic surgery and looking a certain way have to with where she lives-- Los Angeles.  Maybe she just needs new friends.  If you want to get out of the world of fake/reconstructed beauty, move to the Northwest where you're considered hot-fashion if you're wearing The North Face or have on new fleece.  



~

I confess there is a part of me that wants to not just be smart, but to look nice... or maybe I just want to be freshly-showered.  That said, I live by this motto-- "Dumb is not cute."  We are more than our outsides, much much more.  My favorite people can arrive at my home in sweats, glasses, and crumbs on their cheeks and I will always find them beautiful.     

There is a point when you no longer see the body or skin someone is wearing but past it, to the person who is created by their actions and their words, not their perfect hair or smooth skin.  I think it's harder to see this person in ourselves, but s/he is there.  

Maybe every mirror should come with the words:  You are more than this reflection can ever show.  

Because we each are.



Amen.



Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

FULL! New Year's Poetry Resolution Party (Online Poetry Class for Generating New Work)

Thanks everyone!  This New Year's Party is all filled up!  I may offer this again in April since there was so much interest.











A couple poets asked me create a schedule in the new year that would help them generate new work.  So I did.



I asked myself: what would be the best way to begin 2012 writing poems?  I came up with a 5-day schedule where I would email them a poetry writing prompt each day and they would write a poem to email back to me, which I would then respond to.



Because they asked, I wondered if others were interested too, so I decided to offer this 5-day online class to 5 (maybe 6) other writers who may be interested in starting off 2012 writing a poem a day.





Here are the details--



WHAT:

An online event to generate 5 new poems in the new year.



Starting January 2nd at 12:01 am, I will send a writing exercise to your email inbox.  You have that full day to write a new poem and email it back to me.  When I receive your poem, I will offer ideas for revision, any edits (grammatical or otherwise), and other comments.



On January 3rd, we will do this again, and again on January 4th and continue to do this until Friday when you will have spent the first week of 2012 beginning new poems.



WHEN:

Monday, January 2nd - Friday January 7th, 2012



WHO:

The first 5 poets who sign up.  I would love offer this to everyone, but I want to make sure I have enough time to respond thoughtfully to each of you.



COST:  

Sliding Scale Fee:  $85 - $125 for the week

(you decide what price feels right to your situation)



Note: if you pay by check, you can send any amount between $85-$125 that you feel comfortable with.  If you pay by PayPal, the price is in $5 increments beginning at $85







WHAT does this include:


5 exercises sent to your email inbox from me
A personal response with edits, suggestions, ideas, and my thoughts on each poem you write during the week.
And a postcard valentine in February mailed to your home from me (just because I think it's fun to send and receive real mail)



How do I sign up?



AND we are FULL!  Thanks!







Again, this will be offered at first come, first serve.  When the class is full, I'll update (or delete) this post.



If you have any questions, drop me an email  kelli (a) agodon.com or leave me it in the comments section of this post.



I plan on writing a poem a day as well.  A great way to begin 2012!
Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Thought for the Day

[image error] Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Poets on the Coast: A Writing Retreat for Women Gift Certificates for the Holidays...

I seem to be the Events for Poets blog these last two days, but here's one more idea for the Woman Poet in your life to nurture that creative side of herself...













Poets on the Coast: A Writing Retreat for Women



Here's a personal, creative, and seaside gift idea! 





We are offering a special pre-registration Poets on the Coast gift certificate for the first time this year. If you sign up your loved one (or yourself!) for a holiday registration for Poets on the Coast (September 7-9 2012) you will receive a gift certificate entitling the gift recipient to a full registration including a one on one session with a workshop leader, writing workshops, yoga, and more. Only $273 for a three day event!



Last year's weekend was so amazing that we're doing it again this year.



You can sign up for Poets on the Coast here and find out more information.



Hope to see you there.



Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Happy Christmas: The Iraq War is Officially Over.

The Iraq War has officially ended.



[image error]





Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com