The exercise:
Schott’s Miscellany continues to be a source of inspiration - I suspect this trend will continue.
Anyway, today’s page features a poem titled On Men & Shoes, so today’s starter is simply: shoes. Write about your own, your partner’s or a friend’s. One pair or a collection, the shoe closet is the limit!
Mine:
I’m not a particularly fashion conscious man (just ask my poor girlfriend) but I think I have more than my fair share of shoes. I try to have a set for most occasions but lately I’ve only been wearing one pair.
I bought them just over a year ago and they are truly an all in one wonder. They’re comfortable, so I can wear them for long periods of time or for hikes or what have you. They’re plain black so I can get away with wearing them with fancier clothes. And, most importantly for Vancouver, they’re waterproof.
I wasn’t sure about them when I first saw them in the store because they are slip-ons and I’ve always worn lace-ups. But man, do they ever fir like a glove. For my feet. I think I shall call them Glovefeet.
Tuesday January 6th, 2009
The exercise:
Have fun with homonyms.
I got totally carried away with mine, feel free to be more reasonable like my previous attempts were.
Mine:
Did you say this dish is awful?
I say that’s a load of offal!
I’m here to give this food its due,
And tell you what you need to do
To make it so your kid won’t bawl,
Or curl into a little ball.
Use veggies from your garden here,
No more bland store bought crap, you hear?
Not so many tomatoes, dear;
You’re making it look like raw deer.
That is far too much garlic too;
Lets drop it down to one or two.
If each ingredient you weigh
And cook it in its proper way,
Then your child’s woeful, weepy pleas
Will turn into, “I’ll have more please!”
No longer hidden in a cache -
In fact he just might pay you cash!
Have fun with homonyms.
I got totally carried away with mine, feel free to be more reasonable like my previous attempts were.
Mine:
Did you say this dish is awful?
I say that’s a load of offal!
I’m here to give this food its due,
And tell you what you need to do
To make it so your kid won’t bawl,
Or curl into a little ball.
Use veggies from your garden here,
No more bland store bought crap, you hear?
Not so many tomatoes, dear;
You’re making it look like raw deer.
That is far too much garlic too;
Lets drop it down to one or two.
If each ingredient you weigh
And cook it in its proper way,
Then your child’s woeful, weepy pleas
Will turn into, “I’ll have more please!”
No longer hidden in a cache -
In fact he just might pay you cash!
Monday January 5th, 2009
The exercise:
For Christmas my sister Nicky got me a Schott’s Miscellany 2009 page a day calendar and I’m already loving it just 5 days into the year.
Today it mentions an online survey conducted to determine the most unpleasant sound… ever. Number one was vomiting, microphone feedback took second place and wailing babies finished third. While I’m intrigued by the tenth place finish of ‘a Tasmanian devil’s scream’, I think I shall resist the temptation to hear it for myself.
So the writing prompt for today is: what do you consider to be the most unpleasant sound?
Mine:
Perhaps it wasn’t among the options to vote on, but I don’t know how the sound of nails on a chalkboard didn’t make the top ten. Honestly though, even if it wasn’t on the list there should have been enough write in ballots for it to screech into the top five.
I suspect a conspiracy.
A close second for me would be the sound of ice being scraped off a car windshield. But only when someone else is doing it - I’m totally not bothered when I do it myself. Don’t ask - I don’t understand it either.
For Christmas my sister Nicky got me a Schott’s Miscellany 2009 page a day calendar and I’m already loving it just 5 days into the year.
Today it mentions an online survey conducted to determine the most unpleasant sound… ever. Number one was vomiting, microphone feedback took second place and wailing babies finished third. While I’m intrigued by the tenth place finish of ‘a Tasmanian devil’s scream’, I think I shall resist the temptation to hear it for myself.
So the writing prompt for today is: what do you consider to be the most unpleasant sound?
Mine:
Perhaps it wasn’t among the options to vote on, but I don’t know how the sound of nails on a chalkboard didn’t make the top ten. Honestly though, even if it wasn’t on the list there should have been enough write in ballots for it to screech into the top five.
I suspect a conspiracy.
A close second for me would be the sound of ice being scraped off a car windshield. But only when someone else is doing it - I’m totally not bothered when I do it myself. Don’t ask - I don’t understand it either.
Sunday January 4th, 2009
The exercise:
It's been too long since I've done my favorite writing exercise so I'm bringing it back today.
So: scroll through your iPod, or grab a CD and pick a random track, and use the very first line of the song as the first line of your writing. It can be a poem or short story or whatever you want.
Mine:
Jack Johnson - Fall Line
By the way, you know
That hope will make you strange,
Wherever you go,
Because we’re scared of change.
We like things the same
As they have always been;
When you know the game,
You bend the rules to win.
But do not falter,
Carry on and be strong;
This course you’ll alter,
These methods you’ll prove wrong.
Though you stand alone,
Know that your brash bravery
Will be widely known
And live on in history.
It's been too long since I've done my favorite writing exercise so I'm bringing it back today.
So: scroll through your iPod, or grab a CD and pick a random track, and use the very first line of the song as the first line of your writing. It can be a poem or short story or whatever you want.
Mine:
Jack Johnson - Fall Line
By the way, you know
That hope will make you strange,
Wherever you go,
Because we’re scared of change.
We like things the same
As they have always been;
When you know the game,
You bend the rules to win.
But do not falter,
Carry on and be strong;
This course you’ll alter,
These methods you’ll prove wrong.
Though you stand alone,
Know that your brash bravery
Will be widely known
And live on in history.
Saturday January 3rd, 2009
The exercise:
The starter for this Saturday's four line poem is: walking in a winter wonderland.
... yes, it's still snowing like Vancouver was uprooted and tossed into the Himalayas.
Mine:
I crunch my way through the snow,
More flutters down as I go,
To fill the footprints I laid,
As though they were never made.
The starter for this Saturday's four line poem is: walking in a winter wonderland.
... yes, it's still snowing like Vancouver was uprooted and tossed into the Himalayas.
Mine:
I crunch my way through the snow,
More flutters down as I go,
To fill the footprints I laid,
As though they were never made.
Friday January 2nd, 2009
The exercise:
Alrighty, the first chapter of the novel is online. Please do check it out and let me know what you think - all feedback is appreciated and will be kept in mind when I get to the rewrite stage. Yes, when - not if.
For those of you who might be new around these parts, on Friday I like to post a Def Poetry Jam performance to discuss. It’s a pseudo-day off for me.
So this week, after a two week break, Def Poetry Jam Friday returns to present Al B. Back’s Super Negro.
Mine:
This is simply a brilliantly pieced together performance - the misdirection, the pauses, the facial expressions, everything.
That it is all used to address the ever so touchy subject of racism just makes it all the better.
It’s tough for me to isolate just one line, but I’ll go with this one as my favorite: “All minds and all eyes and all hope is on me in a room where a wallet is stolen.”
Have a good weekend.
Alrighty, the first chapter of the novel is online. Please do check it out and let me know what you think - all feedback is appreciated and will be kept in mind when I get to the rewrite stage. Yes, when - not if.
For those of you who might be new around these parts, on Friday I like to post a Def Poetry Jam performance to discuss. It’s a pseudo-day off for me.
So this week, after a two week break, Def Poetry Jam Friday returns to present Al B. Back’s Super Negro.
Mine:
This is simply a brilliantly pieced together performance - the misdirection, the pauses, the facial expressions, everything.
That it is all used to address the ever so touchy subject of racism just makes it all the better.
It’s tough for me to isolate just one line, but I’ll go with this one as my favorite: “All minds and all eyes and all hope is on me in a room where a wallet is stolen.”
Have a good weekend.
Thursday January 1st, 2009
The exercise:
2009? Seriously? Yeesh.
Anyway - the year is off to a fine start: at the request of a relatively new Protagonizer, I've added the Following Gadget over on the right. So if you've got a Blogspot account and you're interested, you can join Alya and Follow this blog. You'll get a notice on your Blogger Dashboard every time I make a new post - so every day. But seeing as I update at pretty much a different time every day, some people might find it useful.
To mark the occasion, the starter for today is: following. Mine went places I had no intention of going to, but hey, that's the way it goes... most times.
Mine:
I feel no eyes on my back,
I hear no feet in my tracks,
I see no men in alleys,
I taste no dark finale…
But I know I’m not alone.
I know this deep in my bones.
My skin has been followed here,
My throat burns with swallowed fear,
My eyes are failing me now,
My ears cannot hear a sound…
But my thoughts have company.
It’s a certain guarantee.
My feet cannot go faster,
My eyes have a new master,
My voice has become a mime,
My heart’s beating out of time…
For I know my end is near.
No; for now my end is here.
2009? Seriously? Yeesh.
Anyway - the year is off to a fine start: at the request of a relatively new Protagonizer, I've added the Following Gadget over on the right. So if you've got a Blogspot account and you're interested, you can join Alya and Follow this blog. You'll get a notice on your Blogger Dashboard every time I make a new post - so every day. But seeing as I update at pretty much a different time every day, some people might find it useful.
To mark the occasion, the starter for today is: following. Mine went places I had no intention of going to, but hey, that's the way it goes... most times.
Mine:
I feel no eyes on my back,
I hear no feet in my tracks,
I see no men in alleys,
I taste no dark finale…
But I know I’m not alone.
I know this deep in my bones.
My skin has been followed here,
My throat burns with swallowed fear,
My eyes are failing me now,
My ears cannot hear a sound…
But my thoughts have company.
It’s a certain guarantee.
My feet cannot go faster,
My eyes have a new master,
My voice has become a mime,
My heart’s beating out of time…
For I know my end is near.
No; for now my end is here.
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