I was stunned to see the date of my last post. Since November 22, I've graded more than 90 critical papers, and I must say many of them were quite brilliant. Satisfying to read and think about, and know that they care about the topic as much as I do. That in itself is a real gift. The last week of semester was this week. I'm going to miss my classes. This week is marathon grading! Then God Rest our Weary Souls~ always love that feeling of exhaustion but my heart is glad.
On Thursday 12/10, I received a lovely letter from Fourth Genre, regarding an essay I sent them in August. They want me to consider doing a rewrite and resubmitting it. Hopefully, I'll be able to accomplish the revision over the holidays. This was a wonderful surprise because I immediately thought: Oh, too bad, form rejection. But it wasn't that at all. It was very specific in its directions/suggestions. So this is another gift, getting feedback from an editor.
I have some ideas floating in my head, but haven't had time to write lately. Soon. the writing time is coming, soon.
Mary Biddinger posted a challenge of 3 poems by the end of the year. Oh, I hope I can do it. Whenever we have those write a poem-every-day-of-the-month challenges, I always come up a bit short. Still, new poems are new poems are new poems.
There's a new bar on St Paul Street called Scotland Yards, just around the corner from the Water Street Music Hall. Has great food (sandwiches, oven pizzas, burgers, salads) and drink, and a cozy atmosphere. It could be the next Cheers. So if you're looking for a place where you can talk and eat and enjoy the people you're out with-- this is the spot. We've been there twice. First time with all of my oldest and dearest friends-- so much fun, and Peter and I returned on a Thursday night after class. That was perfect too. So, if you're near Rochester, think about this place, especially if you go to a concert at Water Street.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Welcome to the Neighborhood Opens Tonight!
Please spread the word that Welcome to the Neighborhood by Hank Kimmel will be running during the holiday season. It's a premiere comedy and my daughter Meghan Rose Tonery plays several roles. This is Meghan's second run on the JCC stage.Last year at this time, she played Corie in Barefoot in the Park. Brian Coughlin directs this play, and the rest of the artist company: Jeff Lurie, Gina Menz-Kunz, Philip Ortolani, and S. Michael Smith also play multiple characters; Jeff Siuda plays Andrew Hill. The JCC stage is a very comfortable venue-- not a bad seat in the house!
Welcome to the Neighborhood Opens Tonight!!
Celebrate the JOYS and "OYS" of modern life.
When a downsized copy editor decides to follow his dream of becoming a writer, he doesn't have to look far for inspiration. Daily commutes ...office politics...holiday crowds...modern dating...airport security...maniacal soccer moms...and the neighborhood pharmacy are all ripe for picking on.
Grab your neighbors, co-workers, family and friends and have fun at the ultimate Neighborhood Watch!
A World Premiere!
Performance Schedule:
Welcome to the Neighborhood
Saturday, December 12 at 8 PM
Thursday, December 17 at 8 PM
Saturday, December 19 at 8 PM
Sunday, December 20 at 2 PM
Saturday, December 26 at 8 PM
Sunday, December 27 at 2 PM
New Years Eve: Thursday, December 31 at 6 PM and 9 PM
Saturday, January 2 at 8 PM
For tickets and information visit…
Reserved Seating Tickets are $24. $22 for JCC members and $16 for full time students.
(585) 461-2000 ext 235
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Joke of the Day
A Little girl received a bottle of perfume and a beautiful new watch for the holidays.
She was thrilled with these gifts and wanted to tell everyone. Her mother warned her:
"Do not boast about your gifts. Some children didn't receive gifts as nice as these,
and you don't want to hurt their feelings."
The little girl nodded her head, and went off to school.
When she arrived at school, everyone was buzzing about their gifts. The little girl wanted to share her good news too, but remembered what her mother had told her.
So, thinking twice, she told her friends:
"If you smell something or hear something, it's probably me."
She was thrilled with these gifts and wanted to tell everyone. Her mother warned her:
"Do not boast about your gifts. Some children didn't receive gifts as nice as these,
and you don't want to hurt their feelings."
The little girl nodded her head, and went off to school.
When she arrived at school, everyone was buzzing about their gifts. The little girl wanted to share her good news too, but remembered what her mother had told her.
So, thinking twice, she told her friends:
"If you smell something or hear something, it's probably me."
Friday, November 27, 2009
Leftovers . . .
Greetings Thanksgiving Survivors! Is the big meal fog lifting yet? We actually had one of the best thanksgivings to date. Small crowd this year, 10 people , family and friends-- two were from other countries (Great Britain and Germany) who have never experienced an American Thanksgiving!
The prep work was quite gentle, because we started a day earlier than usual, and I'm sure having outsider company kept us in good spirits. Although, I did think there was a conspiracy around the jello mold, which I made to honor my mother. I accused Peter of getting rid of my Tupperware mold, which he has attempted to do, several times, and I have found it in a "to go" box and secretly fished it out.
Okay, so I'm up at predawn, getting my pies made before tackling the rest of the meal, which is a lot of peeling, slicing, dicing, twirling-- all the while listening to Adult Alternative music. Spent over 25 minutes trying to find the Jello mold. No where. So using my lost memory strategy, I thought I would carry on and while doing something else it will turn up-- just like my a ha! now I remember, it was tra-la-la. So in the not hunting, I let it leak in my nicest voice that I was suspicious about the Jello mold's whereabouts. Peter found the Jello mold after an hour of searching hi and low . . .This discovery, mind you, comes after I put in it my mom's tin mold which is really hard to unmold . . . So everything is going well. We're actually remembering everything that needs to be set on the serving table. And, then come the the task of releasing the Jello. I stopped up the sink with hot water, and Peter comes by and releases the water, while I'm getting the mold out of the fridge. Mold in hand, I go over to the sink and see that the sink is
reassembled with its rack and stuff-- no longer full of hot water, just 30 seconds earlier. We're fast around here-- all those early years of working in Food-- I'm sure it's a valuable skill set, but I digress. I literally popped my eyes out of my head, and spoke in my gruff sailor's voice, Where's my hot water!!!! In his efficiency, he did something to the stopper and I couldn't get it to work properly-- I was fit to be tied. This wasn't suppose to happen like this. Needless to say, he did it, but left it in the hot bath for a full minute and it melted to soup stage. He said, what do you think, should I flip it onto the plate, and I said, No, put it back in the fridge. It needs to reset.
We didn't have the Jello, which was okay. And Peter moaned, You can't hold this against me for a whole year, and I promised I wouldn't. The rest of dinner was one of our best ever. Oh yea, and Sarah, friend from England, kept saying, Should I be hearing this? in her lovely British accent. And I said, Well you've been here for more than three days, so "you're company" has worn off. Next time, she said, I'll make sure to come in at the last minute and just have the delicious dinner. Too funny. But there is a lesson here, and it's about spite.
If the Jello saga wasn't enough, there yet another behind the scenes story.
I like to work to music, Peter switched the station to the Blues because The Alternative Rock was starting to get to him. Unfortunately, after a half hour, listening to the Blues does me in. So I said, Can we change this to something else? I'm getting uptight. He agreed and we decided on Soundscape, which was playing this eerie flute music,which sounded like a Bad Lands track. While listening, I said this sounds like Native American Revenge Music. It sounded like a curse on Thanksgiving, and doesn't Peter cut his finger while prepping the veggie tray and didn't I break a shaker of salt. Quick, change the station-- straight to Classical. Things settled down after that. It was very weird.
Then company came and we were ready. Ready as we'll ever be.
******
Today, I'm planning on doing some work. I literally have a bag full of student papers. The end of the semester always moves like a train with a full head of steam-- unforgiving. So my plan is to chip away at this for the next three days. Viola! work done.
The prep work was quite gentle, because we started a day earlier than usual, and I'm sure having outsider company kept us in good spirits. Although, I did think there was a conspiracy around the jello mold, which I made to honor my mother. I accused Peter of getting rid of my Tupperware mold, which he has attempted to do, several times, and I have found it in a "to go" box and secretly fished it out.
Okay, so I'm up at predawn, getting my pies made before tackling the rest of the meal, which is a lot of peeling, slicing, dicing, twirling-- all the while listening to Adult Alternative music. Spent over 25 minutes trying to find the Jello mold. No where. So using my lost memory strategy, I thought I would carry on and while doing something else it will turn up-- just like my a ha! now I remember, it was tra-la-la. So in the not hunting, I let it leak in my nicest voice that I was suspicious about the Jello mold's whereabouts. Peter found the Jello mold after an hour of searching hi and low . . .This discovery, mind you, comes after I put in it my mom's tin mold which is really hard to unmold . . . So everything is going well. We're actually remembering everything that needs to be set on the serving table. And, then come the the task of releasing the Jello. I stopped up the sink with hot water, and Peter comes by and releases the water, while I'm getting the mold out of the fridge. Mold in hand, I go over to the sink and see that the sink is
reassembled with its rack and stuff-- no longer full of hot water, just 30 seconds earlier. We're fast around here-- all those early years of working in Food-- I'm sure it's a valuable skill set, but I digress. I literally popped my eyes out of my head, and spoke in my gruff sailor's voice, Where's my hot water!!!! In his efficiency, he did something to the stopper and I couldn't get it to work properly-- I was fit to be tied. This wasn't suppose to happen like this. Needless to say, he did it, but left it in the hot bath for a full minute and it melted to soup stage. He said, what do you think, should I flip it onto the plate, and I said, No, put it back in the fridge. It needs to reset.
We didn't have the Jello, which was okay. And Peter moaned, You can't hold this against me for a whole year, and I promised I wouldn't. The rest of dinner was one of our best ever. Oh yea, and Sarah, friend from England, kept saying, Should I be hearing this? in her lovely British accent. And I said, Well you've been here for more than three days, so "you're company" has worn off. Next time, she said, I'll make sure to come in at the last minute and just have the delicious dinner. Too funny. But there is a lesson here, and it's about spite.
If the Jello saga wasn't enough, there yet another behind the scenes story.
I like to work to music, Peter switched the station to the Blues because The Alternative Rock was starting to get to him. Unfortunately, after a half hour, listening to the Blues does me in. So I said, Can we change this to something else? I'm getting uptight. He agreed and we decided on Soundscape, which was playing this eerie flute music,which sounded like a Bad Lands track. While listening, I said this sounds like Native American Revenge Music. It sounded like a curse on Thanksgiving, and doesn't Peter cut his finger while prepping the veggie tray and didn't I break a shaker of salt. Quick, change the station-- straight to Classical. Things settled down after that. It was very weird.
Then company came and we were ready. Ready as we'll ever be.
******
Today, I'm planning on doing some work. I literally have a bag full of student papers. The end of the semester always moves like a train with a full head of steam-- unforgiving. So my plan is to chip away at this for the next three days. Viola! work done.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Rewinding the whirlwind
I need to catch up here, so this will be a snippet post, a bit here and a bit there . . .
Winter Wheat
Perfect driving weather. Enjoyed the sessions I attended very much. In particular, The Curious Poem, Writing from the Wunderkammer led by Kathryn Neumberger.
I enjoyed her presentation-- rich in triggering many responses by witnessing her collectibles. She offered us poems by Moore(Lyric) and Carson (Lyric-Narrative). Would have enjoyed hearing some of her work too.
Exploding a Kernel led by Brad Felver. OMG! WTF! What Will Happen Next? Creating Tension
in Short Fiction led by David McClure. Both of these generated new flash fictions.
Came home with several new poems and flash fictions. Peter too. He wrote some wonderful
fictions. So it was a terrific getaway and as Winter Wheat promises-- a field sown with enough starts to keep us writing through the long winter. Looking forward to spending more time on
the writing prompts.
***
My knee hurts. I don't know what I did to it. It feels like a "trick" knee. I had a "trick" thumb a couple of years ago and cured it during my marathon knitting sessions.
I keep stretching it out and that seems to work for a bit. But it feels very funky.
This past week I put miles on my new Keds. I had a Wednesday of Forgetfulness. Had the long list of things to do in my brain, and I kept forgetting to take it ALL with me. So I march back and forth on campus on Wednesday, from building to building to building. Going back to the office (twice) to pick up paperwork I left behind. It was definitely squirrel activity. I wonder if I hurt my knee in all this marching around?
Today, another busy day. I will be back soon.
Winter Wheat
Perfect driving weather. Enjoyed the sessions I attended very much. In particular, The Curious Poem, Writing from the Wunderkammer led by Kathryn Neumberger.
I enjoyed her presentation-- rich in triggering many responses by witnessing her collectibles. She offered us poems by Moore(Lyric) and Carson (Lyric-Narrative). Would have enjoyed hearing some of her work too.
Exploding a Kernel led by Brad Felver. OMG! WTF! What Will Happen Next? Creating Tension
in Short Fiction led by David McClure. Both of these generated new flash fictions.
Came home with several new poems and flash fictions. Peter too. He wrote some wonderful
fictions. So it was a terrific getaway and as Winter Wheat promises-- a field sown with enough starts to keep us writing through the long winter. Looking forward to spending more time on
the writing prompts.
***
My knee hurts. I don't know what I did to it. It feels like a "trick" knee. I had a "trick" thumb a couple of years ago and cured it during my marathon knitting sessions.
I keep stretching it out and that seems to work for a bit. But it feels very funky.
This past week I put miles on my new Keds. I had a Wednesday of Forgetfulness. Had the long list of things to do in my brain, and I kept forgetting to take it ALL with me. So I march back and forth on campus on Wednesday, from building to building to building. Going back to the office (twice) to pick up paperwork I left behind. It was definitely squirrel activity. I wonder if I hurt my knee in all this marching around?
Today, another busy day. I will be back soon.
Reading: Sunday November 22, 2009 at 12:30 p.m. at Lift Bridge Books
If you're in my area . . .
On Sunday, November 22, 2009 beginning at 12:30 p.m. at Lift Bridge Books in Brockport NY
I will be reading with Karla Linn Merrifield to celebrate her newest chapbook from Foothills Publishing: Etowah River Psalms
Karla’s poetry has appeared publications such as CALYX, Earth’s Daughters, Off the Coast, Negative Capability, Paper Street and Blueline; on line in The Centrifugal Eye and Elegant Thorn Review, and in several anthologies. She edited THE DIRE ELEGIES: 59 Poets on Endangered Species of North America, from FootHills Publishing; followed by her own collection, Godwit: Poems of Canada, which was recently chosen for the
University of Rochester's Andrew Eiseman Writers Award.
She is the author of the chapbook Dawn of Migration and Other Audubon Dreams from RochesterInk Publications and is poetry editor of Sea Stories (www.seastories.org), the literary-artistic journal of he Blue Ocean Institute.
Hope to see you there.
On Sunday, November 22, 2009 beginning at 12:30 p.m. at Lift Bridge Books in Brockport NY
I will be reading with Karla Linn Merrifield to celebrate her newest chapbook from Foothills Publishing: Etowah River Psalms
Karla’s poetry has appeared publications such as CALYX, Earth’s Daughters, Off the Coast, Negative Capability, Paper Street and Blueline; on line in The Centrifugal Eye and Elegant Thorn Review, and in several anthologies. She edited THE DIRE ELEGIES: 59 Poets on Endangered Species of North America, from FootHills Publishing; followed by her own collection, Godwit: Poems of Canada, which was recently chosen for the
University of Rochester's Andrew Eiseman Writers Award.
She is the author of the chapbook Dawn of Migration and Other Audubon Dreams from RochesterInk Publications and is poetry editor of Sea Stories (www.seastories.org), the literary-artistic journal of he Blue Ocean Institute.
Hope to see you there.
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