tiny hand, holding mortal frame to eternal spirit, or something

what i wore:  uniqlo house dress, h&m lace up HIGH boots, bicycle chain necklace, earrings from harmony, vintage cameo ring from antoinette's. mac russian red lipstick.  ralph lauren men's cologne.  don't know what it's called.

i wore clothes and shoes and jewelry today.  and lipstick.  AND SHOES.  that i wore to the mailbox.

i ate my current daily lunch--open face cheese sandwich in broiler (so it gets those beautiful brown bubbles in the cheese) with sliced tomatoes, mayonnaise, kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, a diet coke & pecan sandies with dark chocolate chips.  sometimes i eat the same thing for lunch every day for months.  and then i hate it and never eat it again.

i read:

**nathaniel hawthorne's "the birthmark" which is as awesome a story as you might ever read.

**zadie smith's essay "some notes on attunement," which also kind of blew me away, especially the section on abraham and isaac.

**marcia aldrich's essay "the art of being born," enjoyable, and sad.  where was her doula?  where was my doula, way back when?

**chapter 33 "the specksynder" and chapter 34 "the cabin-table" from moby dick.

i wrote:

** the poem "poor & butterless," and the poem "remove your shoes"

i submitted:

**three poems to a journal who encouraged me to resubmit once, but has nonetheless rejected my work seven times now.

i would write so much better in this kimono & peach mules.

i thought about proposing a performance art project wherein i enact a year of proustian living. the first item in my budget would be this emerald kimono, followed by these kitten slides, which i would only wear to the kitchen to get beverages & snacks.  

long work day, quick blog post

so rad.  literally.

my report for friday 29 august 2014:

reading:

• finished part 2 of charles olson's call me ishmael
• read "resisting amnesia: history and personal life," adrienne rich's 1983 speech at scripps college collected in blood, bones, and poetry
• read audre lorde's poem "afterimages"
• read sandra tsing loh's essay "the bitch is back" from the best american essays 2012, ed. david brooks
• read chapter 83, "jonah historically regarded," and "the doubloon" from moby dick

writing:

• wrote the poem "from the sun. . . " 
• wrote the poem "god's world is nothing. . . "
• FINISHED revising the lapidary's nosegay, and i must never touch it again until it is in press

business:

• submitted the lapidary's nosegay for publication with two days to spare before deadline passes

accountable to cyberplace

i wore my favorite betsey johnson nightgown for reading time, and my favorite target merona black dress for writing time.  i think a peignor set would be more inspiring, though.  like proust, i work best in bed.  i'm not going to be ashamed of that no more.  no more.

in an effort to be true to my new schedule of uber-productivity, here's today's report.  on wednesday 27 august 2014 i:

• wrote the poem "oh sweet friends. . . "
• wrote the poem "she was a thing of trophies. . . "
• wrote the poem "this world pays dividends. . . ."
• read part one of charles olson's call me ishmael
• read chapter 15, "chowder" from moby dick
• read chapter 16, "the ship" from moby dick
• read "unconscious came a beauty," "catbird in a redbud," and "gometrid" from may swenson's iconographs
• wrote this blog post

unfinished on today's list (i still might get there)

• re-submit to (great!) journal who rejected me last week but said to send them something else
• spend 45 minutes finalizing edits on lapidary's nosegay

back to school

from <the god fugitive: a moby dick puppet opera>

it feels soooo good.

i love the fresh start of (anticipating) september with all its possibilities, and my perennial optimism that THIS will be the year i become the person i really am.  (as in : : : the girl who gets good grades and exercises and is on time and finishes projects and stops watching so many shows on netflix. . . and finishes her moby dick puppet opera and finds a great job. . .  .)

it's much better than new year's because you're all tanned and rested and excited for regularity and schedules and the sublime mundane.

so, fresh start. or as my kids call it, "my new leafishly way." (they have weird made-up grammar and syntax and words.)

here's a long list of things i'd like to do in my writing and creative life.  it surely won't all get done this fall, or maybe ever, but i feel pretty sure that some of it will come to completion by 2015.

1)  finish book edits on poetry collection, <the lapidary's nosegay>.

2) submit <tln> for publication.

3) write monthly installments of moby dick puppet opera.

4) work on moby poems daily.

5) finish screenplay (not gonna talk about this.  no jinxy.)

6) finish poem for a wonderful publication that asked me to write for them a long time ago but i couldn't get it together until now.

7) finish lyrical essay for another wonderful publication that i've never written for before.

8) apply for writer's residency/retreat.

9) start research on t.v. series.

10) practice voice and violin daily.

tomorrow i'll post my short list--what i'd like to do tomorrow, by the end of the week and by the end of the month.

p.s. here's installment one of the god fugitive.