New Testament by Jericho Brown

I have decided to try and put more diverse works into my reading endeavors this year.

I wanted to get out of my own head, and into a richer experience.

This post at the Millions inspired me to inter library loan a couple of poetry books, "Hustle" and "New Testament."

I have to say that my subsequent examination of New Testament blew my mind.

I loved it. I can't say enough about it. I recommend it to every poet I meet.

Brown's use of language was rich and dynamic, and I was able to feel movement, emotionally and physically. The work transported me.

I loved how he left the work open enough that I could relate - and fit (my white female self) into the work.

An example of one of the works is listed on this blog .

The work mentioned (Heart Condition by Jericho Brown) ends this way:

"My name is Slow And Stumbling. I come from planet
Trouble. I am here to love you uncomfortable."

The lyric sound of the lines is wonderful. The meaning, moreso.

I was transported out of my life, and beneath the skin of another's experience.

This is a work I will re-read many times, and I can't wait to get a copy of his earlier work, Please.

Bravo, Jericho.

And Please - write on!

Update to my pubs.

May 25, 2014. Acceptance. Forthcoming May 29 in Melancholy Hyperbole . "Getting Religion at the A&W" and "Love is."

June 12, 2014. Acceptance. Red Fez . Modified version of "Vegetable Dreams"

September, 2014. Publication - (listed above): Skin Hunger, Invite me In and After the Tornado. http://neo.edu/Academics/CommunicationFineArts/English/Portmanteau

September 7 2014, Acceptance & Publication of Washed: in Intima .

October 19, 2014, 10th place, (1 of 10 poems submitted): In which I Crash the Graduate Student Poetry Reading (content warning - 18+ for language) "In Which I Crash the Graduate Student Poetry Reading" Winners announcement on blogtalk radio.

Juicing and Poetry

Recently, my sister and her sweetie, Merle Stiner, started "juicing" and posting pictures of their healthy breakfast options to their personal pages on facebook.

The pre-juice pictures looked delicious, and I was inspired to try my own variations.

I did a little research, and finally started with a modified version of the Dr. Oz drink and started drinking it every day as breakfast.

I leave mine thick like a shake, and add different items every day to keep up the diversity.

One of the things that amazed me about this was not the drink itself, but how much I loved the process.

There was something about the deliberateness of washing fresh vegetables and fruits, then cutting them up and putting them in the blender. I enjoyed the rhythm, and the simpleness. I liked how the different things combined into one taste, and yet still retained their individual flavors.

And I liked how preparing it took a while. It deliberately slowed things down in the morning. It gave me time to think.

I'm a rush rush in the morning person, and this changed everything for me. I long for more deliberateness in my life. More time, more simplicity.

Later, this was directly related to the satisfaction I felt when I was drinking the veggie smoothie.

It was kind of like drinking poetry.

Here are two new poems up at Melancholy Hyperbole. They specialize in publishing poetry about longing. If you enjoy them, please comment on Melancholoy's website. And if you are poet - please submit here! They are great to work with.


Getting Religion at A&W

Love Is

Here's to a little deliberateness in your day.

Best wishes,

C

Update to my Publications

I spent most of the day reading a back issue of Rattle and chasing down more of what I liked online.

Then I re-read some of my stuff and wanted to cry. There are days I really hope nobody read my work. This is one of them.

Sometimes I go back and look at old work and go - EGADS.

But - then I read something I wrote and see that it's the beginning of something. I believe that someday, my writing will mature.

In the mean time, here's a list of people who like my growing pains:

October 15th - "Reclaimed: Original" Reclaimed (3rd place Journey Through The Genres Contest 2011) won the Ocean Magazine Fall 2013 Contest.

October 2013 - Tied for 7th place in the Poetry Superhighway Washed (one of 12 poems I submitted, so I had 11 losers there too hehe).

December 2013 - Acceptance - Strong Verse. Navigating the Hasty Waters & She Said.

February 6, 2014 - Acceptance. Skin Hunger "Skin Hunger" and Invite me In, A poem in Three parts "Poems In Progress" ((ask me for the pass code) Neo's Portmanteau (Upcoming Issue).

Keep writing!

Best,

C

Two new works up at Muddy River Poetry: http://www.muddyriverpoetryreview.com/Fall%202013/Christine%20Nichols.pdf
To submit here, visit: Muddy River Poetry Review

One Book One Community

The Stillwater Public Library and OSU Library have teamed up to offer a program called "One Book One Community."

The idea is the entire town reads the same book and meets for discussion sessions and they hold various events (song writing class, movies). It's a very neat idea, and this year I am participating. The book is Bound for Glory by Woody Guthrie.

I never would have read this book without the program.

It's a little hard to get into because of the spelling and the feel of the thick local dialect. It kind of reminds me of how I first felt about Shakespeare, a little lost until I picked up on the rhythm and got a real sense of the language.

Also - the first chapter is not the best one of the book. I am afraid a lot of people will give up. I pushed on through.

I'm starting to enjoy the book, and appreciate the humor and the home spun feel of the book. I feel like I'm getting a real sense of the time Woody lived in. It kind of reminds me of the Shepard of the Hills book I read when we went to Missouri.

There are some lines in Guthrie's book just make me die laughing. Here is one:

"Leonard! You Dead?" Grandma said to him. (page 65 - Bound for Glory by Woody Guthrie).

The dialogue, while it can be a bit distracting due to spelling, is often very humorous, and part of the charm. Give it a chance.

Does your Library have a one book one community program?

If not - you should get one started!

I'm enjoying this one.

Best,

Christine

Bah humbug.

I am never going on a cruise.

I decided that after battling an inner ear issue for the last few days.  I am not constantly dizzy but often enough that I can't drive or go to work.  The worst are the spells that hit when I am just laying down.

My eyes go crazy too.

Hope this passes soon.

Hard to write much like this!

Best,

Chris