Kelli Russell Agodon's Blog, page 79

Katherine Heigl's New Short Hairstyle-- (photo)

Platinum blond and new short haircut!    Here's Katherine Heigl (formerly Grey's Anatomy, but also The Knockout & etc.)





I like it.  Some have commented it ages her, but I like it.  More photos at Skinny vs. Curvy here.Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Thankful Thursday - David Kirby

I think David Kirby is a fantastic poet.



I chose him for this week's Thankful Thursday after reading this article about him in the New York Times traveling as a poet.  



Two favorite lines from the article:  Who says the arts don't pay?  

And

Other times, I'll say there are all kinds of wealth, and while everybody needs to make a living, it's really poetry that makes me a rich man.





~

Other things:





This is my favorite book by him (see below), but he also just edited Seriously Funny: Poems about Love, Death, Religion, Art, Politics, Sex, and Everything Else with his wife Barbara Hamby that includes poems by Martha Silano & Nin Andrews.





The House on Boulevard St.: New and Selected Poems (Southern Messenger Poets)











Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Great Article about Facebook for Writers & Review of Linda Pastan

[image error]



Midge Raymond (author of Forgetting English and Co-Founder of Ashland Creek Press) wrote one of the best articles I've read on using Facebook well as a writer.



It's called Book Promo 101: Facebook for Writers and it's in the Seattle PI.  Great info on using it to help promote your book, but also security things too, such as your privacy.



Midge and I do Facebook Fridays, which means we avoid (mostly!) Facebook, except on Fridays. I know I go through times when I am on it more -- as for Mother's day and after big news events.  Also, I'll go on during the week to highlight something (such as this article or my review on the Rumpus- coming up below), but I try to stay off it.



Anyway, I was impressed with how well Midge thought about the best use of Facebook for writers and her advice.  Check it out if you get a chance, especially if you're a writer using Facebook to promote your work.



~



And second, I reviewed Linda Pastan's new book, Traveling Light: Poems on the Rumpus.



You can read the full review here.Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Five Things I Wish I Had Known When I Published My First Book by Tayari Jones

This is a great article.  I think Eduardo posted it as well.  But if you haven't seen it, here it is...



Every new book, every new launch has its own personality, its own blessing and challenges.  To start off this new column—which I am filing under "new blessing"—I am going to list five things I know now that I wish I had known when I launched my first book.











Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Confession Tuesday -

Dear Reader,



It's been a long week of house issues that I will not bore you with (I've been boring all my in-life friends with those monotonous details, such a clever conversationalist I am), but it's life in an old house. (My house was built in 1931, then added onto twice.  It's very funky with no perfect lines - like myself.)



Sometimes I talk about life A.H. - After house.  In this A.H. world, I'm a renter or living in an Airstream trailer (by choice, mind you).  There is no hedge to cut, to blackberry bushes trying to take over the world.



I love my house and I think it's wonderful we are working to own this house, but I don't romanticize home ownership as I once did as young women in belief of "the plan" - you know, get a good job, get married, buy a house, have a family, and so on.



Honestly, I confess I've been hooked on this simple living thing lately and maybe I need a few house issues to help me sort out where I'm going. Or maybe I need a yard of concrete.  But that's another post and I'm starting to confess already, but what have I been up to besides losing my mind over a clogged sink?



To the confessional--





I confess I had to laugh that I made a point of saying I wouldn't be around as much then had the weather change back to the cold wet endless winter we've been having, so yes, here I am still in the house while the ick weather is doing it thing without my consent.



Still blogging.  So hi.  Here I am.  My name is Kelli, I'm optimistic, but I live in a place of random weather that doesn't carry my optimism.



~



I confess I fell asleep watching Andy Goldsworthy's Rivers and Tides documentary on making art out of natural items.  I think it was the sound of the river that did me in.  I slept from 7:30 pm until 6:30 am.  Who does this?



On a positive note, this year I've been getting more sleep and didn't get sick this whole winter flu season.  I think this is the first time that's happened in a while.



~



I confess I don't understand clothing makers who put itchy, scratchy tags in their shirts. I rip them out and have done so without care causing a hole where the tag was.  I prefer holes to tags any day though.



~



I confess I visited my 99 year old Nana for Mother's Day and she still remembers who I am (it's been questionable the last couple times I visited.)



There was another woman who was anxiously waiting for her son to come and get her.  Time ticking on and he didn't arrive.  We were there 45 minutes and he still hadn't arrived.   She said he was late.



I wondered in my mind if her son really said he was coming. I even wondered if she had a son.  She waited.  We visited with my nana and I watched the woman look out the window.  No son.  She moved closer to the door.  My son will be here soon, she kept saying.



I was ready to find her family contact info and call the son myself.  *My* stomach was getting into knots waiting for him.  Where was this guy?!



Finally, over an hour late, he arrived.



He didn't even come in.  She went outside to meet him.





Sometimes it makes me really sad thinking about lives and being too busy for what really matters.  I tried to tell myself that maybe the son was stuck in traffic or she had the time wrong or there was a good reason he was over an hour late to pick up his mom.



Honestly, I wanted to tell him off.  But he showed up.  I wondered if he had any idea how much that meant to his mother.  I hope he did.



~



I confess I am working on trying to make sure the people who are important to me, know they are important.



On my residency, I even drew a circle inside a circle inside a circle with the names of my most important relationships, friends and family.  It reminded me of Robert De Niro's Meet the Parents "circle of trust"  -- Did I not clearly explain the circle of trust to you, Greg?



This is the time residencies allow you, one can draw circles, write names of favorite people.



But it's easy to be overwhelmed in life and forget the things that make a difference vs. the things that do not.  On my week away, I really tried to sort out my main priorities/goals vs. the minutiae that I waste my time on.



This might show I think too much, but maybe it's where I am right now.



But where I really am right now, is feeling hungry, so I confess, I think this is where I'll end.



Wishing you goals, dreams, and visions over the minutiae.  And wishing you shirts without tags.



Amen.Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Blog Request: How Do you Get So Much Done

So the full question was --



You are doing a lot of projects--editing Crab Creek Review, writing 3rd manuscript, finishing up editing an eBook anthology, writing new poems, working on a longer nonfiction work and you have a family, etc.-- how do you manage your time?  What do you suggest for others who don't have enough time to write?



~



I'll answer your last question first then work my way to your first question.





RE:  What do you suggest for others who don't have enough time to write?



ANSWER:



Well, the tough love answer is - You have enough time to write, you have just made other choices on how to spend your time.



* I hope that isn't a too big of an ouch, but I really believe it.



We are each given 24 hours in a day, 168 hours in a week (check out this book for specific time ideas-- 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think), what you do with these hours is *your* choice.



I think Bart's answer above is one of the #1 reasons writers don't write.  My #2 guess would be television, Netflix, email, playing with iPhones, playing games, etc.  #3 is they are burnt out from their "real" jobs.



We each get X minutes of freetime and we each chose how we spend those minutes.



Question 2: How do you manage your time?



I am overly aware of how I spend my time.



Even as I type this, I am aware I am making a choice to write this instead of work on a poem or finish up another project.



When I am on Facebook, I am aware I am wasting minutes of my day and try my very best to limit my time there (this is why I do Facebook fridays).  Though my best time on Facebook is when I'm not on it.  Really, it's a huge timesuck.



And I guess I'm aware of the timesucks I create or find.  When I find myself in a timesuck, I purposely remove myself from it and refocus in a more productive way.



If I want some down time or a timesuck, that's another thing.  Like - I'm going to give myself 30 minutes to connect with friends on Facebook and see what they are up to.  Or deciding-- I want to play a few games of electronic Boggle.



It's being mindful of my use of time that helps me most.



As for the list of projects, it seems impressive all listed out like that, but I have a couple thoughts about those--



1)  I don't work on everything at once.



Right now, we're finishing up Crab Creek Review, so that's my focus.  In the next few weeks, it's the anthology.  2 weeks ago, I was working on my manuscript.



I choose my top priority and focus on that until it's done.



2)  I don't count these things as successes until they are done.



It's not impressive at all to me for someone to *seem* busy.  The fact that there's a list of all the things I'm doing doesn't impress me until they are complete.  I just currently have a lot of projects--and to be honest, this is *more* than usual--but do not be impressed with me or them until they are complete.



I have said many times, "Jack of all trades, master of none."  I think it's a lot of people's downfall.  They take on too much and never finish anything.



For me, finishing something is the goal, not *being busy.*



Honestly, I really hate being busy or seeming busy.  This year, I've found myself busier than normal, and it's not my style.  When I find myself too busy, I begin to make choices of how I want to spend my time and what projects I want to take on.



3)  And when I find myself not writing, I write.



I change what I'm doing to something better.  Writing.  It's *always* better than reading the Huffpost or watching that 80's video on YouTube. (Maybe that should be t-shirt.)



But yes, I start writing when I realize I'm not.





4)  I make 3-4 weekly goals I will achieve.



These are not huge goals, but-- do 2 submissions, finish Editors' Note for Crab Creek Review, revise 1-2 poems.



I'm easy on myself, but I'm consistent.  I only make goals I know (and promise) I'll achieve.  I email them to 2 friends every weekend and check in on how I did.  We've been doing this since September and for me, that extra accountability is helpful.



~



But I guess the short answer to how do I manage my time is-- mindfully.



I'm not always perfect at it and sometimes (like last Monday!) have issues getting going and procrastinating.  But I constantly try to do better.  I fail.  I fail and then I try to be better.



We aren't perfect and sometimes our imperfections are some of the best things about us, but just be aware what your timesucks are and avoid them.



And when I find myself not writing, I write.Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!

Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Simple Living - Could you give up Facebook?

I am truly impressed with this blogger who is working to take back his time from all the timesucks and have a Simple. Organized. Life.



He took a sabbatical from Facebook, then realized, he kept checking and checking again each day wasting precious minutes of his life with people's "I had spaghetti for dinner!" statuses.



So he canceled his account and now lives a Facebook-free life. (I've linked the full blog post here.)



I completely admire this.  And in my "best life," I do not have a Facebook account.  But in this life, I do and I'm not sure I'd want to delete it fully as I like being able to connect with people quickly (instead of digging through my email addresses), and I like seeing what's going on in their lives sometimes (not all the time, hence my "Facebook Fridays," which seems to have morphed into Facebook Thursday and Fridays, a bad habit on my part.)



But there are things I do like about Facebook.



There are definitely things I don't like--



1)  The crazies.  This can be defined in so many ways.  It can be a real life friend who has a Jekyl/Hyde personality online, the bigots, or friending someone to only discover you've friended a writer-version of satan.  It happens.



2)  The peacocking.  This is my husband making love to me.  These are my clean kids.  This is my new designer kitchen.  This is my new arse after a good workout.  It's the people who post not to share, but to show how spectacular their lives are.



(Note: What's interesting about peacocking is that I actually like seeing kid photos and remodeled kitchens on my friends' statuses, however, there's always one or two friends on my low-tolerance level who come off as peacocking and not just sharing.  I'm not sure how they've crossed the line from one to another, but they have.  I can't exactly say how, but I know it when I see it.  And it never seems to be my poetfriends who do this, btw.)



3) Just the Garbage -- Friends defriending friends.  Constant status updates.  Revealing bikini photos as profile pics. It's the welcome to your life in high school again.  It's probably the reason many people never get a Facebook account, they just do not want to deal with garbage and the not-so-good-side-of-our-humaness again.  And honestly, I don't blame them.



But I think when I keep my limits on Facebook and use it for good, it's worth it for me to keep an account.  For me, someone who does *not* remember names especially if we've only corresponded by email, Facebook allows me to put an image with who you are.  Yes,  this I can remember (um, mostly).



And I like to see what writing news and successes people have had to share in the celebration.



I think for me, as long as I keep Facebook as the nice the photo album I only take out once a week or less, it's worth it for me to deal with all the nuttiness.  Though when I'm away from it (like on my writing residency), I do not miss it in the least.



It can be a bad habit, but I kind of like a few bad habits.  So, for now, as much as I look at this guy with is non-Facebook life and think, "Now that's how to do it!" - I don't think I will.



Happy Facebook Friday, Friends...Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Thankful Thursday

3 things I'm thankful for--



1) Organizations like this Operation Kid Equip, a 501 nonprofit organization is looking for books to donate to low-income & at-risk kids in the Detroit Metro area.  If you have 10 or more books you can donate in one of these age groups:  baby-3, ages 4-8, or ages 9-12 

go here for more info & free postage.





Also, if you're in Michigan, you can drop off books in Troy (one of two places in Michigan I have visited, btw), 







To donate locally, drop books off atOKE Teachers' Annex & Operations Center
1830 Stephenson Highway, Suite B
Troy, Michigan  48083 Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 2:30p.m. – 6:30p.m.Saturday from 10:00a.m. – 2:00p.m. 





~





2)   Elizabeth Austen's new poetry book, Every Dress a Decision was just released!  She'll be reading at Open Books in Seattle (a couple blocks from singer Dave Matthews house, fyi) on Friday at 7:30 p.m.









~

3)   Wendy Call' s new nonfiction book, 

No Word for Welcome: The Mexican Village Faces the Global Economy was also just released.  







~





All these writers and organizations that do good work in the community. 











Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com

Summer, it turns me uʍop ǝpısdn...

It's May 4 and we've finally had some sun in our neighborhood.



What I realize is when the sky turns blue, I vanish from the online world.  As I type this, I can feel myself doing it.  I've already made a date to go mountain biking later today and am beginning to resent email.



So what does this mean for Book of Kells...



Well, it means, I won't be as active here (though it's not as if you need anymore posts from me, I'm quite chatty as it is), but if the weather stays nice, there will probably be less.



I plan on checking in for most Confession Tuesdays though I know there will be some where I'll be camping and away from the internet or maybe asleep in a hammock.  But I do want to stay in touch and I do still have some Blog Request blogs that will be appearing over the next few months.



I think I feel the need for outdoor time because it feels as if I live indoors for about 8-9 months out of the year due to rain and icky, cold weather.  This year was terrible.  I only went mountain biking once, which means the weather was rotten.  (By the way, the rumor that it rains a lot in Seattle, well, it didn't just get made up to keep people from moving here...).



Now, with a glimmer of sun, I find myself wanting to escape to the beach, the garden, the trails (hiking & biking) and some kayaking too.  (We just got a new rental place here that rents longboards-- basically stand up surfboards with paddles, which I plan to try this summer).



I realize this May 4th post might be a little over-anxious summer hours post, but I'm hopeful.



And I do find myself being pulled more and more outdoors, which is a good thing for this poet.  So if you notice I'm not here as much, this is why, know the weather must be good and I'm out having fun.  I might send a few virtual postcards to my blog over summer as well.



Can you tell I'm aching for a little sunshine?  A little outdoors?  I am.



Of course, autumn always brings me back...inspired.Kelli Russell Agodon
www.agodon.com