Mary Biddinger's Blog, page 32

August 16, 2010

Cruel Summer

You gave me some poems and now you're gone.

It sure doesn't feel like Fall on the outside.
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Published on August 16, 2010 07:58

August 9, 2010

Hidden metaphor du jour.

No, you tell me what it means.

I believe today (for the next few hours, at least) is day eleven of fifteen in the pocation.

I have written at least fifteen pages of poems this summer, and that's fine with me.

This summer isn't last summer, and vice versa.

I like some of the things I've written.

And that is all I can hope for, really.
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Published on August 09, 2010 19:09

July 28, 2010

Day three.

In case you wondered, I am not counting a day two.

It was a day wherein administration and other bothers managed to seep through my firmaments.

It was no pocation, that's for sure.

Today was better. If you've followed this blog for a while you know that my beloved cat Schubert passed away in April. I've been sad ever since, and I was very much unready for a new black kitty until now.

Yes, I do have a couple of other kitties. But if you know me you know that I need a black kitty in the house.

So we...
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Published on July 28, 2010 18:01

July 26, 2010

Day one.

Day one is not representative of the entire three-week pocation. I never want to think about percentages of time spent cleaning versus percentages of time spent reading and writing. The cleaning always wins, especially when the pocator can't get anything done in a messy house.

So I cleaned the shit out of this place today. And it feels pretty awesome. I am trying to eat mostly things that grow in the ground, and their near relatives, and serendipitously our neighbors gave us a lovely bag of ho...
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Published on July 26, 2010 17:50

July 21, 2010

Eras and their ends.

I'm moving out. We all are. So long, Bierce Library. The UA Press will now be moving to Quaker Square. I will have an office with a big, scary button on the wall. They tell me it is no longer functional, but maybe if I push it hard enough.

In light of my looming po-cation, today I had to clean out the Press office I inherited from Elton Glaser years ago. It was kind of sad. I was surprised at how quickly we stripped it down.

I left a matchbook in the desk drawer. Elton left it there, and it did...
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Published on July 21, 2010 10:23

July 14, 2010

On lockdown.

Just like snowflakes, no two summers are exactly the same.

For example, at this time last summer I had written over 40 pages of new poems. This year? 8 pages, and not all of them keepers.

But every summer is different, right? It's not like one snowflake lands on your arm, and another on your hand, and you're like this snowflake is an asshole and this one here is queen perfect.

This year I also decided to get all of my teaching and editorial work done first. Last year I was teaching at this time ...
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Published on July 14, 2010 06:58

July 9, 2010

Go.

Am I the only one out there who really likes trains?

I guess I didn't like them so much when one ran right behind my apartment building, but now I just have a pleasant freight line that runs a block away from home, and the above near-ish to my office.

When I moved to Akron I was struck by the lack of airplanes flying over. Thankfully we have plenty of trains.

I'd miss the background noise.

~*~

I find it a little creepy that I am excited for Fall right now.

I am getting things done. I had a to-do li...
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Published on July 09, 2010 06:49

July 1, 2010

Pre-kaboom.

Hello, July. You didn't exactly sneak up on anyone, did you? It felt like it was June for three months, at least. The hot. The hotter. The rainy mornings. The rainy afternoons. On and on.

I am happy that July is here. If my life were made into a cheesy cartoon starring a number of cute forest animals, this would be the point where we'd stumble upon a clearing, and see something good in the distance, like a lake or a city populated by similar cute forest animals.

Oh, this is not to imply that I ...
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Published on July 01, 2010 17:40

June 21, 2010

Onward + upward

Friday was the last day of my summer class. Now I'll just be grading for two days, and catching up on everything I couldn't catch up on before. Oh, and quite a bit of editorial work, too.

I've decided to start waking up at 6:00 instead of 5:30, now that I'm not teaching and my schedule is a little more flexible. That half hour makes quite a difference. I just hope I don't use it as an excuse not to go to bed on time.

We've added a couple of really amazing essays to the first volume of the Akron...
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Published on June 21, 2010 06:33