Dark Night Poetry

Tonight is DARK! A theatrical tradition of not rehearsing the night before a show opens. I have always believed that a Dark Night is necessary to the well being of the cast. After rehearsing all during Tech Week, it's a good idea to rest up and focus on the performance to come.

The only problem is that after seven days of rehearsals, so of which were 4+ hours in length, you get used to being around your cast mates. You start feeling lonely and you miss everyone all the time. Like how I feel right now. I wanted dance with my fellow secretaries and motorwise guys. The songs are constantly running through my head. And I am pretty sure that I am dreaming about moving the set around.

Today's poems are a mix bag a little poem about Jonny and Toffee, the leads in Zombie Prom and then a poem about the feelings that come with show time. I found a two new forms on shadowpoetry.com, a Nonet and a Triquain: A nonet has nine lines. The first line has nine syllables, the second line eight syllables, the third line seven syllables, etc... until line nine finishes with one syllable. It can be on any subject and rhyming is optional. 

Somewhere

Somewhere there is a forbidden love
that waits for us at our lockers
gifting to us the treasured
few items that make us
loved by someone else.
And we can hear
their songs, voices
on the
waves.

Then there the Triquain, created by Shelley A. Cephas, is a poem with several creative variences and can be a rhyming or non-rhyming verse. The simpliest form is a poem made up of 7 lines with 3, 6, 9, 12, 9, 6, and 3 syllables in this order. 

The Time Has Come

It is time--

opening night of the 

time we have spent together, singing 

and dancing to our Beat, the one we have pulsing

underneath our skin to the rhythm--

born in our blood and we

are onstage.

If you are in the area, you should come and see Zombie Prom. It's a fun and musical show, with a bit of a moral at the end. Not so much nagging moral, but a life lesson, moral type. Also, the cast is bloody brilliant!! Ginger and Josh want you to come to the Prom!!

A Little More Done...

Shameless Plug

If you are in the area, you should come and see the show!

Yesterday's poems I dedicate to Ramona and Peaches.

The Sedoka is an unrhymed poem made up of two three-line katauta with the following syllable counts: 5/7/7, 5/7/7. A Sedoka, pair of katauta as a single poem, may address the same subject from differing perspectives. A katauta is an unrhymed three-line poem the following syllable counts: 5/7/7.

For Him Alone

When she sings her song
it's for him alone, the heart
aches without knowing quite why.

Determined to beat
the one other soul who quests
for Jonny's own desire.

The Mini Me

When told of the plan

to study and lengthen minds

she finds a solid purpose.

As an underling

she sees much more of the school

making way to the future.

And then for today I wrote poems for some of the fellow students of Enrico Fermi High, Hunny, Cookie, and Jamie. A Tanka is a classic form of Japanese poetry related to the haiku with five unrhymed lines of five, seven, five, seven, and seven syllables (5, 7, 5, 7, 7).

Not Just Scenery

we two, rule the school
though in the back most often
together we are
foundations of Enrico Fermi
pushing along the wheeled walls.

Not Just a Nerd

A student am I

with bowties so cool to wear

please don't tell that it's

a clip on, or busted by the

one Strictly fair principal.

Quick update. Zombie Prom starts Friday and I am tired, sore, and filled with joy. So, what I have is hard earned during tech week rehearsals. Definitely more intense tech week than I have ever had. Had rehearsals everyday since last Thursday. Yeah, lots of rehearsing and shows Friday and Saturday. This is my Wednesday check-in....

This Week:

     *Reading: almost finished with Meet the Austins (Madeleine L'Engle).

     *Social Media: visited 4 blogs today and 4 for Tuesday. That's really it.

     *Writing: wrote daily poems for Zombie Prom characters. Not posting everyday, but at least writing daily, or every other day. Good promotion for the show and practice writing: Cinquains, Quinzaine, Sedokas, and what not.

     *Theatre Stuffs: ZOMBIE PROM!

     *Housework Stuffs: Laundry!

Next Week (upcoming):

     *Reading: Crispin (Avi).

     *Writing: MOAR poetry, blog posts, and flash fiction.

     *Housework: dishes and vacuuming. Maybe stem cleaning the carpets. Maybe.

     *Editing: Maybe. More later.

     *Submissions: Maybe. More later.

     *Social Media: keep it up, 4 blogs daily. 

A Round of Words in 80 Days is a blog challenge that knows you have a life. It is also a Blog Hop. Come in and set a spell!

CInquians, a Quizaine, and Pantoums (oh my)!

A few days behind on my Zombie Prom inspired poems, but the rehearsals have made the days full and long. Mind you, this has been some of the best days of the month, but I have come home after 6.5 and 4.5 hour rehearsals to have only enough energy to eat and shower before passing out. I am not complaining. Spending time with one of my other families is just as important, even when the 6.5 hour rehearsal ends and then some of us go and spend 3 hours at a BK talking, eating, and forming the family tree that connects all the characters in the show. Good times!

What are you doing this fine month of May, Dear Readers? I am doing a show called Zombie Prom and if you are in the area of Bath, NY come and check us out (see the sexy poster created by Anna-Beth Wheaton).

But, I did promise that I would writes some poems for this show. Zombie Prom is a really good show. We have an amazing cast. Oh, and a fellow theatre friend got the chance to perform this show in NYC for Samuel French  a couple of years ago (I think that's right. Manley, if you read this, please correct me if I am wrong. BTW, Manley a pretty talented and awesome kid performing in a junior players production of RENT. Check out Dream Barn Productions for more information.)

Today's fare is for Saturday, Sunday, and good ol' Memorial Day. Without spoilers I present six cinquains for the teenagers: Ginger, Coco, Candy, Joey, Jake, and Josh. Cinquains, for those of you who don't know, are five lines poems that do not rhyme, but have a syllabic meter of  2-4-6-8-2. Shadow Poetry is a great poet's resource.

Leader
most dramatic
as wholly serious
yet she has a sweet side deep down,
Ginger

Baton

it's a Big Deal

and it's what she spends time

it's her thing that makes her special,

Coco

Nervous
she talks about
biting her nails to stubs
prom is always on her radar,
Candy

Excited

one thing is on

his mind, the joys of large

fruit, it's a teenager thing,

Joey

Loyal
willing to stand
to defend his friendship
he who idolizes Jonny,
Jake-y

Big Break

has a nose for

the news, daily beat, time

to break open the big story,

Josh-y

Sunday's poem is for Sheila. she gets a Quinzaine, a three line poem made up of 15 syllable with the syllabic meter of 7-5-3, that asks question of the original statement.

For Sheila... (Math Nerds)

Math nerds can be journalists--

A nerdy writer?

Can I be?

And for today, I wrote a pantoum. Yeah, Dear Readers, if you didn't already know I LOVE pantoums. My favourite of the poetic forms for it's repetition of lines and song-like quality to the lines. While not an easy form to write as to have to remember that the end of the poem, the last stanza uses the third and first lines of the first stanza to complete the poem's picture. Today, I salute my fellow chorus members.

Sing Chorus, Sing

We of the chorus--

singing out loud and proud

across the stage we dance

in grapevines and twirls.

Singing out loud and proud

it's what we do

in grapevines and twirls

to complete the tableau.

It's what we do

memorize whole songs

to complete the tableau

in the story upon the stage.

Memorize whole songs

that we only sing for a minute

in the story upon the stage

otherwise we are moving the scenery.

That we only sing for a minute

doesn't bother us at all

Otherwise we are moving the scenery

building stronger muscles all the while.

Doesn't bother us at all

because it's what we love

building stronger muscles all the while

and being a part of something greater.

Because it's what we love

singing out loud and proud

and being a part of something greater

--we are the chorus.

Also, Dear Readers, my ROW80 check-in from Sunday. A Round of Words in 80 Days is a blog challenge that knows you have a life. It's a Blog Hop. So, come on over and visit for a spell!

This Week (this past):

     *Reading: I finished The Trailmen of Xunar-Kun: Book 2 in the Tellings of Xunar-Kun (Tina Field Howe). The books ended on a higher note, maybe a little slow to start, with more exposition-y stuff to start off with. But, it more than made up for it with characters and decent plot for the second half of the book.

     *Theatre Stuff: rehearsals for Zombie Prom. That is really all this weekend has been, but it's been some very good. The technical stuff: lights, scene changes and songs are really coming along. I personally feel very strong about many of my scenes. There is one scene that I need to bash out my choreography out. It will get there though. Show is Friday and Saturday.

     *Writing: I wasn't very determined the last two days, but even then I was making progress. See, before Saturday I was writing a poem a day since Wednesday. I still have written, it was just over the last three days of write actually happened today. I also tried really hard to write real poems, not just writing a poem in two minutes. I took thought and time Dear Readers, especially with the cinquains of the teenagers. Goal still set at writing daily (when possible).

     *Social Media: I managed to visit fellow bloggers during the week except Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Still keeping the goal at 4 blogs daily.

This week (upcoming and going keep it simple for Tech Week):

      *Reading: start Meet the Austins (Madeleine L'Engle) and Crispin (Avi). Time for some lighter reading.

      *Writing: Write a poem a day for Zombie Poem, also see above.

      *Editing/Submissions: this week will be a test to see if I can get to this goals finally.

      *Social Media: 4 blogs daily everyday.

      *Blogging: Plan to start "Road Trip A through Z".

Zombie Haiku

Tonight's poetic fare is some haiku about the Core 4 of Zombie Prom. Haiku are short three line poems using the 5-7-5 syllable meter to tell a story within that small bit. It's a form that I really like and it is not always easy to keep the thoughts concise enough for 5-7-5. But somewhere in the middle of crazy lengthy epic poems, it is nice to have a simple thought or concept tell a whole story. I took the 4 main characters and wrote haiku for each of them: Toffee, Miss Strict, Jonny, Eddie.

If you know that show, care to wager on who is represented in what haiku?

If not, are you curious for more?

Tomorrow (Saturday the 6 main teenagers will get cinquains written for them. Come back and see Ginger, Coco, Candy, Josh, Joey, Jake get their own poems. 

Enjoy tonight poems, Dear Readers! And come to the show May 29th and 30th. :-)

Getting the story

Telling the "truth" to the world

It's the beat I seek.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Making the rules count
Running school like a machine--
harder to the core.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Having all the love

Is worth more than the leather.

Will prove he is true.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The luckiest girl
And is the saddest one too.
For her choice to make.

Zombie Poetry: Rules, Regulations, and Poetry?

A little Zombie Prom poetry to inspire as we prepare for the next week and a half of rehearsals and a show next Friday and Saturday.

This is an Oddquain, the name is as odd as any I have come across. An oddquain is a 5 line poem, unrhyming lines, but with a meter of 1-3-5-7-1. There are several style of oddquains that use additional lines and or different patterns. Below is what is called a Butterfly Oddquain that uses the meter pattern of 1-3-5-7-1-7-5-3-1, it is also called a Mirrored Oddquain. Something about rules and respect that sometimes people forget (and no spoilers).

To Follow the Rules

Rules--

you play by

the regulations

situated by Strict law.

Respect,

something asked for, not always

repaid in kind though

sometimes is

--Jonny.

Zombie Poetry and Finding Rhythm...

What a Story

This is one tale

of a girl and a boy--

when under desk they’ll

meet, and smiles are their joy.

Of a girl and a boy,

set in high school days,

under someone’s Strict ploy

they find are the prey.

When under desk they’ll

be the point of focus

of a war, full-scale,

made into a fracas.

Meet, and smiles are their joy,

when it is all about

prom and a single boy,

also morals to tout?

The last day before the final week plus of Zombie Prom rehearsals. I thought that I hadn't really written poetry about the play, rehearsals, and all the other stuff that comes with Zombie Prom. They are plenty of times I talked about The Mousetrap or 24 Hour Theatre, even Aesop's Foibles. Zombie Prom is no different, yet it is ALL ABOUT TEH DIFFERENT. It's a musical! It's comedy!! It's social commentary?!?!?

One thing I am good at, that I am sure, of is poetry. I can write it and sometimes it is even good. today's venture is a Quadrilew and one I discovered during NaPoWriMo. A poem of 4 stanzas, rhyme scheme of abab, and each stanza uses a line from the first stanza. Without giving anything away, I present a Quadrilew about Zombie Prom.

Used rhymer.com, thesaurus.com, shadowpoetry.com to write this one when I needed a bit of help. 

A ROW80 update~

This Week (I did better):

    *Reading: The Trailmen of Xunar-Kun: Book 2 in the Tellings of Xunar-Kun (Tina Field Howe), not Alysa of the Fields. It's more like a slow romp through exposition. Finally am getting to the interesting bits. It  has fallen into the second novel slump. There characters are all interesting, but it could move quicker. I shouldn't be in a rush as the third book doesn't exist yet, but it going well. About halfway through.

going lie, I am quite absorbed. It's not the faster pace story of the

    *Writing: Wrote a poem today. w00t! First poem since NaPoWriMo. Also, I wrote poetry to my friend through gmail chat this afternoon, some haiku and a  little parody piece.

    *Social media: I visited Kait Nolan's blog today, that is one. Will try to get to at least 3 more blogs. Getting better and returning to my normal pattern of internet stuff.

    *Theatre Stuff: rehearsal with the Secretaries and the Motorwise Guys. Full rehearsals begin tomorrow (Thrusday). The show goes up May 29th in Bath, NY at Haverling High School's auditorium.

 This Week (when not at rehearsal):

      *Reading: finish The Trailmen... Start meet the Austins (Madeleine L'Engle).

      *Editing: edit my submission for #writestuff's monthly challenge.

      *Writing: write something daily, or as often as possible.

      *Submissions: 1 new submission this week! (after #writestuff challenge).

A Round of Words in 80 Days is a blog challenge that knows you get busy. It knows you have a life. The Blog Hop is a portal to other realm of writing, blogging, and guidance. Come on it!

Finding my way, again!

It is that time again...I am a day late, but after a week and weekend filled with Chitlins (Kids). They did really well and I am proud of them, but Saturday was a LOOOOOOONG day. Two show in one day!! Aesop's Foibles is put to bed. And I needed a day to re-coup from all that. so, Sunday was my day of rest. I re-discovered the fine art of colouring in colouring books. I finally finished the unicorn colouring book I have  had for 5+ plus years. My primary medium  is coloured pencils, but I will use anything to make pretty pictures.

It is a Dover colouring book, one that not only has pictures, but a historical look at the subject matter. In this case, unicorns.

 Yeah, I had fun with the colours! :-)

Now that I am down to 1 show, I feel I have some wiggle room.Time to get stuff done even! Tonight is a night off from Zombie Prom, so I am really utilizing the time.  I finally sat down and forced myself to write something. It definitely needs to be edited, but I now have something I can work on for the writing group #writestuff monthly writing challenge. check it out here! Lead by the amazing and stalwart PenPadPaper (Tamara Woods). I was introduced to her monthly challenges. I give me something to shoot for and I can practice my flash fiction writing too! Tamara also runs a weekly TweetChat for #WriteStuff on Tuesday nights at 9 pm (EST).

Okay, enough rambling. I am feeling like my new character Alan Gretz, who gets all rubber mouthed at all the wrong times.

~ROW80 check-in~

This Week:
    *Reading: Finished Alysa of the Fields (Tina Field Howe) and started The Trailmen of Xunar-Kun: Book 2 in the Tellings of Xunar-Kun. I love this series, written by a friend and local author. The only downside is book 3 is not done (not sure when it is going to be done). I  may need to bug Tina to work on it. I am through about a third of The Trailmen... Still plan to start Meet the Austin (Madeleine L'Engle) this week.
     *Writing: wrote 1885 words today. See above for details if you missed it the first time reading, or skipped to the check in.
     *Social Media: have at least visited 4 blog today. Will plan to visit 4 blog tomorrow. This is a return to form. Visiting 4 blogs daily, those I normally visit and at least one new blog, when I can.
     *Housework: dishes are done. Laundry is done. Garbage done and picked up this mornin. Lawn is mowed.So, house is returning to normal also.

To Week (upcoming):
     *Reading: continuing to read The Trailmen... and start Meet the Austins (finally).
     *Writing: write something anything. I think a review of Alysa of the Fields would be a good idea.
     *Social Media: 4 blogs to visit. Check in on Twitter.
     *Submissions: 1 submission by Wednesday.

Zombie Prom is gearing up. We have two weeks left of rehearsals after Thursday, I will have seven days of rehearsals. Sound intense. It is! Not what I am fully used to, but this is a different show and there are a lot of little part that go into the big parts, so the rehearsals are necessary. It's a good show and really fun. See?

Another shameless plug!

If you are in the vicinity of Bath, NY on or around May 29th and 30th you should come out to see it!

Done with shameless plug!

Anyway, what have you, Dear Reader been up to this May? Enjoying the spring weather. Is it warm in your area? Cold? How are those writing, editing, reading, crocheting goals coming?

A Round of Words in 80 Days is a blog challenge that knows you have a life. It is a Blog Hop! Come on in and visit. Set a spell. Have a cold glass of lemonade and a cookie or too!

Tech Week: Aesop's Foibles

A short update and a haiku.

When time is quite full--

And  between the songs and cues

You still get it right.

This Week:
      *Reading: about halfway through Alysa of the Fields (Tina Field Howe). Having become  absorbed into this story, I have not started Meet the Austins (Madeleine L'Engle). This is my second read and getting a good parallel past historical events such as when Spanish, French, and English came to America and viewed the Native Peoples. Or even now when we interact with people from the Middle East, or those who are Muslim. It a way a good lesson to remember that people are people. Sometimes we just need to be open minded and listen.
       *Social Media: I did get to visit 4 blogs on Sunday, which was the only day that I had time. It happens.
       *Theatre Stuffs: Aesop's Foibles goes up Friday. It's been a long week, but the kids have buckled down and we have a show. If you on around you should come and see the show. Some of these kids are new to theatre, others have done a few shows already, but they all have fun, cute little parts.

It's been a quiet week, Dear Readers. The overly hot days have been replaced with a blast of crisp chill. If the weather gods are fair the will return the weather to the 70's for the rest of the week, as promised. I have Zombie Prom rehearsal tonight, meaning I get to rest from Aesop. It's not really a rest when you think about it.

Somewhere I will have some more time, Dear Readers to get to my To Do List. Right now I am having my morning coffee and reading (and writing this post). After such a whirlwind month in April, May is feeling quiet (well, not counting the theatre stuff happening). I wonder if it will ever end. I doubt it, I love being busy. Yet, I am looking forward to the time of June through August, when I do not have commitments and more time to write without passing out (like I did last night).

I am not trying to justify anything. I know what I choose to do and not do, but as my Dear Readers, and my peers with ROW80, NaPoWriMo, #WriteStuff, The Musketeers, etc. I want Alls Y'all to know that I am committed to writing. Growing older does mean growing wiser. And becoming wiser means that you have to take a look and see how you can actually make your goals that you set. Also, it is one day at a time.

That is enough ranting, Dear Readers. I have the M'Rauda Threat in Alysa, work to accomplish, Zombie Prom songs to finish learning, and too much other stuff. Also, I would rather not worry if possible.

And, here's an image for you, I sing Zombie Prom songs in my car driving to and from rehearsals in Odessa, and to and from Watkins, Corning, and Horseheads. Imagine me singing That's the Beat for Me or Enrico Fermi High, or Come and Join Us, driving down the highway? Pretty funny, right?

Remember, A Round of Words in 80 Days is a challenge that knows you have a life. Here is the Blog Hop, stop on in and see what we are all up to. We'd love to see you!

Warm and Wistful Sunday

Today is a good day to be lazy!

For being in the upper eighties the last couple of day I did get quite a bit done around the house and enjoyed
the hard theatrical work of some friends and associates (which in this case are the same thing. Now it is 4 in the afternoon and the laundry is done, 95% of the dishes, and the trash is taken out.

Planted some flowers for David's and my mum, passed away April 2009 and October 2008, receptively. Not a day passes that I don't think about the things that my mum has missed, but I am sure as shit she would be proud of me. So, I planted a little memory garden in the flowers boxes attached to the mail box.









Memory Garden Mail Box




This Week:
     *Reading: started reading Alysa of the Fields (Tina Field Howe)
     *Theatre Stuffs: rehearsed Friday night for Zombie Prom. I have the 2 big numbers that I am in memorized. Have gotten the opening song now memorized (except when I move set pieces), but need to work on making it seamless when I sing it. There are at least 5 more songs that I need to completely learn (I seem to have chunks of these songs memorized, just not the whole song yet. Also, there's the choreography to learn. This week is Aesop's Foibles tech week/show weekend. Oh, and I forgot I saw Dream Barn's production of Little Mermaid Junior and March Hare Production's inaugural production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). Very much a theatre weekend.
     *Housework: See above which included getting the flowers planted and finished the said 5% of the dishes still to be washed.

This Week: (I am going to be focusing most of my energies on Aesop, but more of ROW80 goals will be tackled as well. I'm still in small goals month.)
      *Reading: Make progress on Alysa of the Fields and start Meet the Austins (Madeleine L'Engle)
      *Writing: write something. Maybe in a bit I will write something.
      *Social Media: visit 4 blog daily this week.
      *Submissions: submit to at least two this week.

Been listening to a bunch of new music that I have recently discovered: Richard Shindell and The Kennedys. Enjoying walking on my mowed lawn in bare feet, birdsong and breezes, and somewhere in between skirts feeling good to wear. Hope you are having a wonder May 10th (or whatever day you read this), Dear Readers.

A Round of Words in 80 Days is a blog challenge that knows you have a life. It is Blog Hop, so come a visit with a few or all of us. We are a patient lot! :-) Happy Sunday, Folks!!

Look an UPDATE!

So, I really need to get back into the swing of ROW80, as Round 2 is NOT writing itself, is it? A day behind again, not surprised. But I do have something to report. See, between the 2 theatrical shows I am working on, the Evil Day Job, and my various writing, reading, or general housekeeping projects I am flooded with stuff and things. Even though I am rather busy most days, I am still finding a little time for me. See, when I don't give me just a little me time, I think I get just a little cranky.

Me time is the time that I can solely focus on me. For instance, this week I have managed to sneak in about an hour of reading each morning. A cup of coffee and one of any three books that I am reading or contemplating reading either in my study in my reading corner with the window open or, now that the weather is warming up, on the porch. And the week before I am sure I had a least two days where I got to read, maybe three (cannot rightly remember at the moment). There is nothing more peaceful than reading a book in the early hours of the morning. When the birds have just start singing and the world is still half asleep. Not only do I get more books read, but I think it helps me to center when I read in the morning. It is almost like a form of meditation.

Anywhooo...

ROW80 check-in time, it's still a little on the light side, but am feeling the productivity levels beginning to go up.

This Week:
          *Reading: finished Murder in the Mews (Agatha Christie) and  Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir (Jenny Lawson). Lawson is a fun writer and the book was an engaging read. I didn't know what to expect at first, but I found myself sympathizing with her on several levels and know others who have had to deal with some struggles similar to her. Also known as The Bloggess, Jenny blogs about a wide and eclectic things and you should totally check her site out. It's good karma, Bitches!! :-)
     *Submissions: 1 submission to a local poetry contest called "Poetry Posts", a program to select local poets and display their work around local parks and one cemetery in Elmira (and other surrounding areas?) during the spring and summer. Made in part by grants through the Arts Council of the Southern Finger Lakes. Here's hoping!! Also, I have at least two (no, three) more contests/journals I am planning on submitting something to by June. More to come.

     *Theatre Stuffs: Aesop's Foibles is coming along, props are gotten, costumes almost done, working the scenes that still need work (that was tonight). Tech week begins Monday. sjow is May 15th and 16th. Hang onto your hats, Folks! Also, Zombie Prom is coming along wonderfully. I have my two big numbers memorized, just need to work on them at home to perfect the choreography and work on memorizing the choral numbers (with choreography). So yeah...lots of stuff coming up.
     *Writing: wrote one new poem that I submitted to the contest above.
     *Housework: let's say that the house does NOT look like that much of a disaster area, much!
 
This Coming Week:
    *Reading: Start reading Meet the Austins (Madeleine L'Engle) and Alysa of the Fields (Tina Field Howe).
    *Writing: work on spending some time writing daily or at least more regularly sitting down to write.
    *Submissions: see above.
    *Theatre Stuff: Tech Week!! Just survive it. :-) And I am only stage managing this one (Aesop's Foibles). If you are local, you should come to Odessa-Montour's Fetter-Brown auditorium and see The Lake Country Players Junior Players production of  Aesop's Foibles, directed by my friend Holly.

A Round of Words in 80 Day, the blog challenge that knows you have a life. Come and visit the Blog Hop and see what us writer type are up to.

How are your goals coming, Dear Readers? What is upcoming nfor the month of May in your corners of the world and internet?

Reflections

What a month!

I mean, seriously, what a month!

I had a full list of topic to blog about and all set to get ahead. In fact I had two challenges to work on, A to Z and NaPoWriMo. I was excited about the possibilities. Oh, course those and the theatrical productions that I am currently involved in, and a increasingly busy work load at the Evil Day Job soon made the month of April a challenge.

At first it was a random assortment of topics, but then I thought about writing and authors and books.But there were a few letters that I got hung up on, like Q and K and X. Like in improv, when you play 60 second alphabet you usually use X is for Xylophone, Z for Zoinks, and K for Karl. The A to Z challenege was no different coming up with topics for the difficult letters. But I had something special for this past month. What I had was a fantastic support system that lend a hand to helping gather ideas. Q is for Quietly, N is for Neil Gaiman, Z is for Zombie Prom, but X is always something like Xanadu, which only a few seem to know was mentioned in a poem once and a REALLY cheesy roller disco musical with Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly.

Anyway....

So I wrote about books, authors, music, poetry, and I wrote poems. Sometimes I used the daily letter to lead me to a topic that I would use for the daily NaPoWriMo poem. My friend, Jesi was doing the same things, although she started out writing combining the two challenges. It was the best idea and I will most likely do the same thing next year (for the WHOLE month). Streamlining blog posts is definitely a  good thing, especially if you are going to have a busy month, also, pre-planning of list of topics couldn't hurt. I may have not used everything on my original list, but it was nice to have a list to work off of.

But there was something else, something magical that happened during A to Z and NaPoWriMo as well. In the middle of writing and tweeting with my fellow writing and poets, I found a trio of amazing people. These three, what I have dubbed the Poets Three (or the Four Musketeers as Jesi calls us), became my closest poetic confidants and patient audience. Sometimes I doubted myself and Jesi would say something sweet or talk about something that we both remember fondly from our youth, or Rod and Lizzi would burst into random silliness and then I was laughing. They would rally around me offering support; and I would rally around any of them about their poetry or anything that was on their minds.

See, I met Jesi and Rod during OctPoWriMo last year and Lizzi during this year's NaPoWriMo. They are my friends and to quote Gonzo the Great, they are "There's not a word yet for old friends who just met." From Texas to Canada to England to New York, thanks for find each other Aramis, Athos, D'Artagnen, from Porthos. And I hope we always stay ALL FOR ONE!! Okay, let's break out the tissues now!! :-)

A to Z Challenge taught me that within the vast world out there, filled with everything from Apricots to Zebras and that amazing and zany things can happen out there. I love you guys and thank you!!

Here come OcPoWriMo...and Dear Readers, I will see you on the other side!

May Goals

Missed Wednesday's check-in. Drat! It's been a busy few weeks and going to get worst  as the month progresses. Not surprising. On the plus side I completed NaPoWriMo and Blogging A to Z.  w00t! I didn't flinch or waver as much as I thought, but then again I have a great support system with Jesi, Rod, and Lizzi. They wouldn't let me fall and kept me going, usually with their awesome twitter banter and words of encouragement.

Not going to mince words, I knew this past month was going to be tight. May is also looking packed, but I still know what I want to get out of this month. With the April challenges done, I can focus on some of my other goals. Going to outline the goals for May, and even make the weekly check-ins this time.

May is bringing warmer weather and the Lake Country Players (LCP)'s junior players production of Aesop's Foibles (May 15th 16th), which I am stage managing. That goes up in 2 weeks. Keuka Lake Players (KLP) is putting on Zombie Prom (if your curious as to what it is about, the link is to the Facebook page, with pictures and whatnot) at the end of May (May 29th and 30th), I am in the chorus, with 4 different characters. And, yes I know what you are thinking, Dear Readers. I am crazy! This I know and I welcome it. It id kinda what theatre folk do. The good side to this is that June 1 begins a 3 month hiatus from theatre to re-group and rejuvenate mind and body. Well, that and write, edit, and write some more.

Goals for May:
   *Reading: complete 4 books. I only finished 2 in April. Currently reading Murder in the Mews (Agatha Christie) and Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) (Jenny Lawson - The Bloggess).
   *Submissions: I want to submit 1 new submission per week. I have two/three submissions that are due in June. I was doing really well on this in 2014, back backslid when I got to the holidays. Jumping back on this wagon.
   *Writing: write daily (or when possible) at least 200 words.
   *Theatre Stuffs: Aesop's Foibles and Zombie Prom regular update with ROW80 check-ins (see also Blogging)
   *Blogging: 1 new post (non-ROW80).
   *Social Media/Visiting: visit 3 - 4 blog daily.

Still keeping it simple, but I have some other goals that if these are met I will work on. Today was a grand day with the sunshine and temperatures in the 70/80s. This needs to be a regular thing now. I get a lot more accomplished when its warmer and can be outside. The house is too stale. Need to open up the house more and air everything out, spring cleaning, planting, etc.

What have you all been up to, Dear Readers? What is your favourite part of spring and the return of the warmer weather?

A Round of Words in 80 Days is a challenge that knows you have a life. It is a Blog Hop. Come over and visit, leave a comment, and meet some new friends and colleagues.