Quite Busy

I haven't gotten a chance to check my DVR. I know I recorded this Sunday's BSG episode. I've just been very very busy these days.

***

The house has been a flurry of activity. As I mentioned in a previous post, the ugly root ball is gone, but now there are big muddy divots in our front lawn. I've got to re-seed some time, but the ground's a bit too cold. Also, the chimney guy came by and re-mortared our decaying chimney. Apparently mortar doesn't last forever. Anyway, the mortar's been the culprit behind our leaky roof. So he sealed it right up and he'll weather proof it later. We also bought new shower doors to replace our old ones which fall off track and are a hideous gold color. We also called a re-finisher to sand blast our current shower liner which is an awful taupe.

Homeownership sucks. I am poor.

***

I've got a bucket of Jelly Belly jelly beans on my desk. My current favorite: buttered popcorn.

Pen in hand

My copy-edited manuscript came in the mail today. Now I've got to go over the copy-edit marks. Wow. It's really happening. Just quickly scanning the thing, I'm seeing several "oh gosh, I did that?" errors. How embarassing.

***

My knee hurts, but I'm off the diet from hell and I can start taking my medicine again. I should be back to my "normal" self in no time. One of the first things I did to celebrate--I ate pizza and ice cream.

There are some noticeable changes to my physical being. I can't tolerate the cold, though before I'd overheat rather easily. I'm tired by 9PM, though I'm used to going to bed at midnight. I can't wake up as easily, though I'm used to getting up at around 6AM.

***

The root ball is gone! Neighbors rock. One of our neighbors knew a guy who had a big-ass excavator. They worked on the tree and the root ball when I was at work. Now it's nice and flat! Yay!

Kundiman Retreat 2007

***********************************************************

KUNDIMAN ASIAN AMERICAN POETRY RETREAT

The University of Virginia, Charlottesville
June 20 – 24, 2007


In order to help mentor the next generation of Asian-American poets, Kundiman is sponsoring an annual Poetry Retreat at The University of Virginia. During the Retreat, nationally renowned Asian American poets will conduct workshops and provide one-on-one mentorship sessions with participants. Readings and informal social gatherings will also be scheduled. Through this Retreat, Kundiman hopes to provide a safe and instructive environment that identifies and addresses the unique
challenges faced by emerging Asian American poets. This 5-day Retreat will take place from Wednesday to Sunday. Workshops will be conducted from Thursday to Saturday. Workshops will not exceed six students.

Faculty

Myung Mi Kim’s books of poems include Commons (University of California Press), DURA (Sun & Moon), The Bounty (Chax Press), and Under Flag, winner of the Multicultural Publisher’s Exchange Award (Kelsey St. Press). Anthology appearances in Asian-American Literature: An Anthology, Moving Borders: Three Decades of Innovative Writing by Women, Premonitions: The
Kaya Anthology of New Asian North American Poetry, Primary Trouble: An Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry and other collections. Honors include a residency at Djerassi Resident Artists Program and awards from The Fund for Poetry. She is Professor of English at SUNY-Buffalo.

Regie Cabico is a spoken word pioneer having won top prizes in the 1993, 1994 and 1997 National Poetry Slams. His work appears in over 30 anthologies including Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Café, Spoken Word Revolution and Slam. He has appeared on two seasons of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, PBS’ “In The Life” and MTV’s “Free Your Mind” Spoken Word Tour. Regie is the recipient of the 10th annual Writers for Writers Award sponsored by Poets & Writers and has received three New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships for Poetry and Multi-Disciplinary Performance.

Prageeta Sharma is the author of Bliss to Fill (subpress books, 2000) and The Opening Question (Fence Books, 2004). Her work has also appeared in Agni, Art Asia Pacific, Boston Review, Combo, Fence, Indiana Review, Women’s Review of Books and other periodicals. She received her MFA in poetry from Brown University and an MA in Media Studies from The New School.


Fees

To keep the cost of the retreat low for all participants, fees are not charged for workshops or programming. Thus, all accepted applicants are given an automatic tuition scholarship. Room and Board for the entire retreat is $300.


Application Process

Send five to seven (5-7) paginated, stapled pages of poetry, with your name included on each page. Include a cover letter with your name, address, phone number, e-mail address and a brief paragraph describing what you would like to accomplish at the Kundiman Asian American Poets’ Retreat. Include a SAS postcard if you want an application receipt. Manuscripts will not be returned. No electronic submissions, please.

Mail application to:

Kundiman
245 Eighth Avenue #151
New York, NY 10011

Submissions must be postmarked by March 1, 2007

More Poems of Mine Online

The Drunken Boat was kind enough to take a few poems of mine.

Check out how many Kundiman folks are there! Wowzers!

***

I've been drinking lots of water as the doctor ordered. Don't worry. I'll not do this.

***

I've been peering through Philip Dacy and David Jauss's Strong Measures: Contemporary American Poetry in Traditional Forms. It's a fabulous anthology. Unfortunately, I think it's out of print. Look at the price tag and the copyright.

20 Years to Life

I'll be quarantined this weekend. I'm not allowed to go anywhere, see anyone, touch anyone. I suppose it's a good excuse to play many hours of XBox, though I should be writing.

The geiger counters will click with each step I take.

***

Ronald Johnson's "ARK" just arrived today. I had to buy a used copy because the local distributors can't seem to locate it.

Can you imagine working on the same poem for twenty years? I don't know if I could do it. I'm pretty sure I'd go mad, though some say I already am.

Anyway, the charming thing about this copy is the notes someone had crafted in the margins. Here's a sample of some of the scrawlings:

Be O Make

Be=Eastern Religion
OM=chant that reflects the sound of creation
Be & Make, O connects the two

--what it means to see
--disorder, yet everything works

dicotemies (sp) of vowel & constant (sp)

--human body is also this
--sense and scale

Every kind
of making
is justified
b/k it's an
attempt to
build a "ladder"
to the divine

***

People have asked what I meant about Rube Goldberg poetics from my interview with Kate Greenstreet. A thing about Rube Goldberg poetics that I haven't gotten a chance to answer--the goal of the machine needs to be determined at the onset, but the steps towards that goal can vary. The narrative of the poem functions as the tracks of the machine. You can throw in a lead pipe. A parrot. A man yearning for a sandwich. A mustang. A song by Neil Diamond. They're all present along the track, but they must have a sufficient transition to them in order for them to have an effect on the momentum of the Rube Goldberg machine. If one of the elements fails (is not resolved within the machinery of the narrative), the poem fails. The pipe must wake the parrot. The parrot must tug at the cracker attached to the string. The string must lower the sandwich to the man's mouth. The motion from the hands holding the sandwich to the man's mouth must set the mustang running. The motion of the horse's trot must set the needle to the record. And ultimately, Neil Diamond must sing about "Coming to America." The machine is delightfully complicated for a seemingly mundane task. The process is, thus, the most interesting aspect of the journey in these poems.

***

I'm going to watch a few more BSG episodes tonight. A question for you fans . . . is the population count at the opening going down, up, or a combination of the two?

The Worst Diet Ever.

I am now on the Worst Diet Ever.

The good news is I've shed some pounds on this diet. The bad news is I'll probably be on the diet for a few more weeks.

No chocolate. No dairy. No baked goods. No seafood.

Just oatmeal oatmeal oatmeal and oatmeal.

***

I finished my WWU Magnum Opus: my semi-annual tenure review dossier. This go around felt very weighty. I filled a large 3-ring binder. When I taught at Utica College, I don't remember filling such a big binder.

***

Tree guys came by to give an estimate on the damage. It's not looking good for our checkbooks. I may just have to clean up the mess myself.

***

I haven't been writing much poetry these days, which is okay. I've been thinking a lot about form. Seems my students are enjoying the challenge. We'll see how long THAT lasts . . . MUWAHAHA!

More poems of mine online

Nick Carbo guest edited this issue of mipoesias.com.

Lots of cool folks listed, so check it out!

***

On a side note, I need to do a better job of logging my poems.

***

Marathon day of watching Battlestar Galactica, Season 1 while doing laundry and waiting for the "tree guy" to report. So far the "tree guy" hasn't come, even though he was supposed to check in this morning.

Meanwhile, I'm getting sucked deeper and deeper into BSG. I've fallen in a hole and can't get out.

First day of the quarter

. . . was yesterday. I "quizzed" my students on their scansion abilities. They were pretty sharp (many of 'em had me before, so they remembered their lessons).

One debate they had: How do you scan the word "Viennese"?

How do YOU scan "Viennese"?

***

Two classes this quarter, ENG 453, which is my advanced undergraduate poetry seminar, and ENG 504, which is my graduate level seminar.

For 453, we'll be writing entirely in forms, in the following order: Sonnet, Heroic Couplet, Ballad, Pantoum, Ghazal, Villanelle, and Sestina.

I'll be using "The Making of a Poem" by Strand and Boland as my text.

Why am I teaching an advanced workshop completely in forms? Because no one else is.

For my 504 class, we'll be trying to construct a manuscript of poetry, and I'll be giving them exercises for the realization of a book. I've got grad students who need to start thinking about a thesis, so this'll jump-start the process.

Books we'll look at: "Asylum," by Quan Berry, "Poeta en San Francisco," by Barbara Jane Reyes, "Descent of Alette," by Alice Notley, "Ark" by Ronald Johnson, and "Hoops" by Major Jackson. I want to teach more books, but we're on the quarter system and I don't want to bankrupt my poor students.

***

Other things . . . I'm on a low sodium diet and it sucks.

Another big tree fell. This one's our neighbor's, but it fell over the road between us, blocking our driveway.

I'm up for my 2-year tenure review, so I've got to cull together everything I've done in the past two years. I've done these before at Utica, so I know the drill.

I snowed and there are about eight inches on the ground.

Hungry Bird

Hungry Bird
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Still, we carry on. We'll get this whole mess cleaned up by the summer, and we'll have plenty of fire wood for the next winter. Meredith snapped this photo of a birdie grabbing a winter snack.

Big Downed Trees Near the House

Big Downed Trees Near the House
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

This is a better view of the three big trees that fell during the first wind storm. The rain eroded the base surrounding the root ball. Three trees had grown in a clump and when one got forced over, they all got forced over. The height of the root ball from ground to sky is about fifteen feet and there's a five-foot deep pit where the root hand once rested. The biggest of the three trees, a hemlock, is over three feet in diameter. the other two, a pine and a cedar, are only about a foot and a half in diameter each. Still, the trees were our shade in the summer and they were perches for Pileated Woodpeckers.

You can see how close the tree is to our house and we were fortunate that the winds were from the south instead of the north.

Downed Trees Blocking the Trail

Downed Trees Blocking the Trail
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

I'd been complaining about the fallen trees on our property. The sheer magnitude of the loss is hard to capture in a two-dimensional photograph. We had a logger come by to give us some idea of what it'd cost us to clean up the mess. We're talking about some valuable trees, both aesthetically and commerically.

Anyway, here are two downed cedars. I had to chop them up to free up the trail head. You can't see it, but to the right of these trees are two or three other fallen pines. This roughly a half-acre plot, so the loss of a few trees in an already thinning plot is quite noticeable.

Some Poems

Do I sound like that in real life?

Love to Fishouse once again.

***

How has your experience been with the new blogger? I'm thinking about making the shift when I visit the office to do some work. Good? Bad?

***

It's windy and rainy again, and I'm nervous about our pine trees. It's been raining a lot and lots of rain + poor drainage + wind = toppling trees.

***

Can you believe Boise St.'s win last night? Lovely article about it courtesy of Janet's link to Pat Forde's article

In 2007

I'd like to welcome in the New Year by wishing everyone a happy and prosperous 2007. Be safe and be well.

***

Should I make a New Years resolution? I'm not too great about keeping to them, though it's good to have goals. I suppose I should, eh?

Okay, I resolve to do the following things:

1. Eat healthier foods. I get the occasional snack attack, but I've been bad this holiday season. Atlanta had fried this and fried that. Needless to say, I gained a few holiday pounds (though it may because I'm off thyroid meds too).

2. Create a new exercise routine. I've sort of plateaued with my current routine and I should probably do more cardiovascular exercises.

3. Prepare for classes sooner. I'm not bad about this, I just would like to be prepared a week in advance as opposed to a day or two in advance.

4. Read more poetry. Nuff said.

5. Write morer poetry. See 4.

6. Make more friends.

***

Farewell 2006.

Tales of MLA

Oh, the stories to tell! For my writer friends out there attending the conference, I wish you good luck. Smile a lot.

***

MLA's a strange place. I've gone to every MLA from 1998 to 2004, and I've always thought that it's a time when many people in the humanities act inhumane.

For starters, it's held at a terrible time. The weather's bad, so there's the inevitable travel delay. People are getting over illnesses. People are pulled away from their families during the Holiday season. I totally understand how it can make people grumpy. And of course, there's the stress of the job search for both sides of the table. It's stressful for interviewers because they have to sit with some colleagues who they may not like but must sit with for the duration of the conference. There's the interviewees who've got the hopes of future employment. There's the crush of people everywhere you turn, making the whole process a lot more daunting.

I believe an MLA in Chicago had me in one of the slowest elevators ever. I only had one or two interviews, so I wasn't too pressed. There was a pregnant woman (she was clearly in her third trimester) in the elevator riding along with me, and she was towards the front of the elevator car while a fidgety middle-aged man with glasses from an Ivy League school groaned and griped. More people boarded the car, until it was quite full. Finally, our elevator car reached the floor the middle-aged man was trying to get to. He bullied his way to the front and said, "Get the f*%k out of my way, under his breath to those of us in the elevator car, but clearly to the pregnant woman.

***

I've also found it funny when scholars who study working class lit. show up in tailored Armani suits. You can tell pedigree by the cut of the cloth.

And there's always the ever-present "look at me, not my name tag. Look at me, not my name tag" thing, when we check each other out like new dogs at a kennel.

***

I've had bad interviews, too. I was ten minutes late for one because I kept missing the elevator up to their fifteenth floor hotel room. It wasn't that I made it to the hotel late. I had been there for 30 minutes. The interviewers generally ask that you call from the front 10 minutes in advance. Any earlier and I'd be rushing them. Meanwhile, the small elevator galley was filling up with people. There were six elevators in a cramped rotunda, and each one was taking a long time. I'd go to one, only to find it stuffed with people. Then I'd wait for the next one and see that it was way across the room. I'd park in front of one, and I'd see that all the elevators except the one I was waiting for had all touched down in the lobby.

Finally, I realized it wasn't going to happen. I had five minutes until my interview and I knew I was going to be made even later if I took the elevator. So I ran up fifteen flights of stairs to my interview.

The interviewers were good-natured about the event. I arrived at their doorstep, panting, perspiring, and full of jokes about the ordeal, which certainly helped me get my breath back.

***

Still, there are fun times that can be had after a days worth of interviews. I had a great time in San Diego. The MLA in New York was a blast, and I went to see a few plays. And of course, there's the close company of writers that can be found at the end of the day. Sure, you're all going after the same jobs, so there's a little tension, but in the end, commiserating about the interviews is a good way to ease the tension.

Pugalicious

Hoops Live

I'm heading into Atlanta to watch the Hawks play the Pacers. Not the best of games, but the seats are free. Really, though, I want to catch up with Adrian and Stacey.

As a child of Oregon, the Trailblazers used to be my team, but when Clyde "the Glide" Drexler left for Houston, I gave up on them. I couldn't stomach the players that came after those title runs in the late 80's, early 90's.

When I lived in LA, I watched the Lakers a few times, but I mostly watched the Clippers because they stunk, but mostly because there were lots of seats available, and you could get up close to the floor. Hell, I went to LMU not for the Jesuit education, but for gym seats to watch Hank Gathers play.

In Arizona, it was the Suns. Rich and I were both hoops junkies. We went to a bunch of the ASU games, and we went to the pro games to watch Jason Kidd play.

These days, I'm not as much of a hoops fan. I'll watch an occasional game, but I'm more inclined to park in front of the TV for pro football.

At any rate, the tickets to tonight's game are free, and it's an excuse to go see some good friends.

Colonies etc.

I'm reviewing all the stuff I need for colony applications. I wish I could attend during "off peak" times, but my calendar is not my friend.

Breadloaf would be fun, but I'm not sure I'm eligible, since Names Above Houses is past its four-year freshness date and Furious Lullaby won't be out until September, though I'll have galleys/proofs soon. And I can't afford to attend without any assistance at this time.

Cornshake's lovely MacDowell photos have me yearning for a studio space. Yaddo looks great too. Unfortunately, EVERYBODY'S applying for the summer. I suppose the one benefit of a quarter system is that classes don't begin until late September, so I can apply for a late August - September date.

***

I've actually been working quite a bit during this vacation. Part of it is that I'm going to have to go off my hormones, which'll have me fatigued in the next few weeks. I figure, I better get as much done as I can before the new quarter starts.

For those of you unaware, I had a thyroidectomy in October. The endocrinologist needs to zap any remaining thyroid tissue, so he's taken me off the hormone.

Should be fun. I'll be puffy, slow, tired, and constipated. Great Christmas, eh?

***

Finished reading Major Jackson's Hoops. I'm still thinking about it. It's one of the books I'll be teaching for my graduate course where I'll be talking about manuscript structure.

***

All the Holiday shopping's done. Huzzah.

TOC

I just received the timeline for the book. Looks like we're aiming for September 07. Here's the current Table of Contents:

ONE

Holiness
Hour of Dawn
Aubade with Scorpions and Monsoon
Constricting Aubade
Flutter
Aubade with Doves, a Television, and Fire
The Devil’s Book
Aubade with a Book and the Rattle from a String of Pearls
God Essay
The Devil’s Hour
Aubade with Constellations, Some Horses, and Snow
Penitence Essay
Aubade with Bread for Sparrows
My Dearest Apostasy
Hush

TWO

My Dearest Conflict
What the Devil Said
What the Eye Said
What the Scapula Said
On the Pores of the Flesh
On the Pulse Residing Behind the Lobe of the Ear
On the Fenestra Ovalis
Aporia
What the Ear Said
What the Dead Said
What the Devil Said
On the Epidermis
On the Motions of Death
Epitaph for the Musculature of the Neck
My Dearest Transgression

THREE

Fury
Aubade with Starlings and Kerosene Muted by Glass
Messengers
Mysteries Essay
My Dearest Recklessness
Aubade with Memory Crystallized into a Figure of a Dancer
Widening Aubade
Aubade with a Heel of Bread, a Heart, and the Devil
Prayer Essay
Aubade with the Moon, Some Bones, and a Word
My Dearest Regret
Aubade with a Thistle Bush Holding Six Songs
Lullaby

Possible cover?

By Joel Sheesley entitled
Interior with Crucifix and Nothing Special

The case for the image: I like the quiet of the image, the shadow of the bird house, how mundane everything is.
Does it say Furious Lullaby? I'm not sure.

**Note: Click on the second link on the left**

Currently

I'm in Douglasville, GA, at the home of my in-laws. We had a heck of a time getting here. Our flights were scheduled to fly out of SeaTac, which meant we needed to drive south to Seattle. What's more, our flights were at 9AM, so we'd have fought commuter traffic. We decided to stay overnight in Seattle, near the airport. But booking a hotel was a bit of a hassle. A lot of the hotels didn't have power when I initially called. It seems the windstorms from Thursday had wiped out power to much of International Blvd., so all the hotels on that grid were in the dark. Anyway, we managed to get in touch with an Econo Lodge at the 11th hour. The hotel sucked and we got little sleep, but at least we didn't have to drive the horrible I-5 traffic at 6AM.

Our flight connecting from Chicago to Atlanta was delayed for about an hour due to "mechanical problems." So that messed with our itinerary a bit. I'm really not fond of travelling these days.

Regardless, we got here safely, about two hours late.

***

I spent the morning drinking coffee and bird watching with my mother in-law while my wife slept.

***

No plans. I'll probably finish reading Major Jackson's Hoops. Quite interesting. He's using a ballad form for some of the early poems, which makes sense, since the poems speak of playground legends. More after I'm finished.

Also, going to re-read Mark Strand's The Making of a Poem for my advanced poetry class next quarter.

Finally, I'm going to work on a few new projects and my tenure review file. We've got lots of down time over here. Maybe we'll catch a movie or two.