Writing for 2009

I have set an ambitious goal of writing ten short stories for 2009. I will be trying my hand with mystery and horror for the first time. At times, I do enjoy reading books that are on the dark side. I'm a big fan of Edgar Allan Poe. Some of his stories are creative and allegorical in their content. I'm not married to any one particular genre but I like to test it and see where it takes me.

WORDS OF WISDOM

To have great poets, there must be great audiences.

~Walt Whitman, American Poet (1819-1892)

Christmas Wish

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!




GENEVIEVE

TODAY'S WORD

IMBROGLIO

1. a confused state of affairs.

2. a confused heap or tangle.

TODAY'S WORD

QUADROON n

1. a person of one quarter black ancestry.

WORDS OF WISDOM

Excess generally causes reaction, and produces a change in the opposite direction, whether it be in the seasons, or in individuals, or in governments.


~Plato, Greek Philosopher (427 bc-347bc)

UPCOMING EVENTS

THURSDAY! JANUARY 1, 2009!

THE 35TH ANNUAL NEW YEAR'S DAY MARATHON READING

2PM@ POETRY PROJECT

ST. MARK'S CHURCH

131 EAST 10TH STREET @ 2ND AVENUE


MORE INFO TO FOLLOW

TODAY'S WORD

GIBBET

1. A structure from which the bodies of executed criminals were hung for public display.

2. a gallows-v.t.

3. to hang on a gibbet.

4. to hold up to public scorn.

New Words

I have the habit of writing down words that I don't know. I enjoy playing on words to add to my stories and articles that I write. I'll spend time culling through the dictionary and thesaurus to find out their meanings.

One of my little peeves about writing is redundancy. I find it boring and may reflect a weak vocabulary. For example, 'gibbet' is another word for 'gallows'. 'Current has several meanings; it's which meaning you need to use. The dictionary and thesaurus is a writer's best friend.When I understand and study the new words they become a part of my vocabulary. It's fun, challenging, and opens up new literacy possibilities.

Never minimize the words you discover. On many occasions I have had to refer back to them from time to time. It's amazing how one word can alter the meaning of what we want to say.

INSPIRATION

I found these words on a friend's forum. It is quite inspirational and thought I'd share it.



Words of True Inspiration December 17, 2008

It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Theodore Roosevelt"Citizenship in a Republic,"Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

UPCOMING EVENTS

Wednesday, December 17 2008 8:00pm

Midwinter Day: A 30th Anniversary Reading

An event to celebrate the 30th anniversary of "Midwinter Day", by Bernadette Mayer - please join her and special guests as they read selections from this epic 1978 work - Readers include Philip Good, Marie Warsh, Lewis Warsh, Barbara Epler, Jamey Jones, Peggy DeCoursey, Lee Ann Brown and Brenda Coultas

St. Mark's Church

131 East 10th Street @ Second Avenue

$8; $7 students & seniors;
$5 members http://www.poetryproject.com/ cf@poetryproject.com

212.674.0910

Subways: N/Q/R/W/4/5/6 to 14th St – Union Square, or L to 1st or 3rd Ave.



Friday, December 19 2008 9:30pm

Cafe Iimani Slam

$50 prize to slam winners

Hosted by Keith Boogie

Cafe Iimani

148 Stuyvesant Avenue, Brooklyn

$10 http://www.nypoets.com/ keithb@nypoets.com



Tuesday, December 23 2008 7:00pm

Urbana Slam

Opens, Features, Slams!

Hosted by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz, Taylor Mali & Shappy

The Bowery Poetry Club

308 Bowery @ Bleecker

$6 http://www.bowerypoetry.com/ 212-614-0505

Subway: F to Second Avenue, 6 to Bleecker

Even though this quirky and eccentric slam series has featured some of the biggest names in poetry it remains a warm and welcoming venue for all kinds of poetic voices: political, confessional, musical, and spiritual. The series has won the national poetry slam championship a record THREE TIMES. On a typical night, poets sign up for the open event (mic or slam, depending on schedule) before 7pm and slots are filled randomly by computer. Signing up doesn't guarantee reading. The open starts shortly after seven, then the feature goes on. ALL Urbana features are well-known out-of-towners. Slam begins after the break & choosing of judges. It's competitive, but supportive & inclusive. All kinds of poetry are welcome & memorization is not required.

To join Urbana's weekly mailing list, write to NYC_Urbana-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

TODAY'S WORD

BE- prefix forms words meanings

1. Around; throughout: bespatter

2. Completely; thoroughly: bedrench

3. Off; away: behead

WORDS OF WISDOM

There is some reason, obviously, that you are drawn to your material,
but the way in which you explore it might come to be quite different from what you expect.


~Anne Beattie, American Writer (b.1947)

WORDS AND THE WORD

Wednesday, December 10 2008 8:00pm

The Poetry Project

Bobby Byrd & Lee Merrill Byrd

St. Mark's Church
131 East 10th Street @ Second Avenue

$8; $7 students & seniors; $5 members

www.poetryproject.com

cf@poetryproject.com

212.674.0910

Subways: N/Q/R/W/4/5/6 to 14th St – Union Square,

or L to 1st or 3rd Ave.



TODAY'S WORD

JE-JUNE
1. Lacking interest or significance; insipid.
2. Lacking maturity; childish.

WORDS OF WISDOM

I am still against any kind of censorship. It's a subject in my life that has been very important.


~Bernardo Bertolucci, Italian Writer (b.1940)

Commentary

There's a saying that no matter how far we travel during our lives, nobody ever strays away from their roots. These roots can be from our upbringing, from places we've been, people we have met and befriended, or being a witness to life changing events.

I have been visiting old Catholic churches in recent months. I was brought up in the Catholic faith, but Iam now a Christian. It taken me back to my childhood when I went to Mass every Sunday. These visitations take me to the time as a young Christian, I would sit in a empty chapel to pray or rest. I peruse the East Village, an avant-garde neighborhood slowly being gentrified. In the sixties, East Village was a hot bed of rock and roll concerts, folk singing and poetry reading. There was much radical political activity,also.

I have wondered why I am being pulled here. Somehow in my being, there is a story that needs to be told. What it is I am not certain at this point. I have been gathering some ideas and gleaning any bit of morsel I can find. Us writers are always looking for some tidbit that will enhance the story we wish to tell.

I remember during the summer I sat down on a bench facing St. Mark's Church, a stone structure dating back to the seventeeth century. The feeling of returning home filled my heart. I never hung out here much as a young adult but I felt like one of the denziens of decades past. Stories can come from some unusual places. It's like mining for gold nuggets; you keep at it until you find that precious stone.

What I'm saying here is that our past can be the place to shape a story from. I find myself mining my mental recesses trying to reconnect with an important chapter of my life. Perhaps, the chapter needs to be edited or new editions added. Anyway, just be mining until you find those gold nuggets.

TODAY'S WORD

DE- prefix

1. Away; off deflect; decapitate

2. down: decline

3. completely; utterly: denude

4. The undoing, reversing, or ridding of (the action, condition, or substance
expressed by the main element: decode; decentralization.