Joint Show Coming Soon...

Alicia and I have been talking for some time now about doing a joint project-- poetry and photography--and now we're just waiting for the details to fall together. Namely, we're waiting for my chapbook to arrive from the publisher and her to finish shooting and framing. (The publisher says the printer is running two weeks behind, so that means they should ship at the end of next week!)

Alicia is the photographer who took my portrait for the book cover. I got to know her and her work when we had offices beside each other at the Heritage Center. Her photographs struck me because of how she captured the everyday beauty of people and landscapes. She honors the past of these mountains with the technology of the present and with an eye of someone truly paying attention. (I think there are a lot of similarities between poets and photographers -- images, story, framing, cropping.) I knew I wanted her to "make my picture" for the book. Additionally, she is pure Yancey County: a love for her art, horses, family, outdoors and the mountains.

So I issued her a cautious challenge... would she want to try to photograph what images came to her after reading through my collection of poems, since my poems are about moving to the mountains? She agreed.

Here are a few sneak peeks she shared with me:

Check out more of her work at aliciajophoto.com

And stay tuned for when our joint show will be! I'm excited.

Ironies

The cat eats the dog food.

The dog eats the cat food.

The chickens will not walk on snow, but will stand outside in sleet.

The school's automated system calls us when we have a full day of school.

Excuses and Resolutions (old and new)

Perhaps it was the seven snow days, one "vacation" and a 3 hour delay in January that has kept me from posting in this new year. (And before that is was the almost-dislocated shoulder and general holiday business & lethargy...) Though I suspect it was the feeling that I should evaluate the year 2010 in regards to the goals I set for myself.

Frankly, I did not do so great.

I did watch less "live" TV... but got addicted to Netflix instant downloads of TV shows I'd missed the first go-round: Farscape, True Blood, and my most recent favorite Firefly. I think it has one of the best TV marriages I've seen in a long time. (See pic to the left... great cast featuring stars from Alias, Chuck, V, Buffy, Castle, The Cape...) Anyway...

My goal of reading 40 books fell somewhat short at 36. Which is still 3 a month. And I'll renew that goal for 2011, having already read Girl Meets God and Tinkerers this January.

My goal of running in two 5Ks also didn't happen. I ran one in the spring, but I never did run one in the fall. In my defense, I was not just sitting on my butt. I still ran and could have run a 5K -- I was back up to that distance... I just didn't work out to enter and run a road-race.

2010 was big in other ways that promise to make 2011 quite the year. My chapbook of poetry was accepted for publication (and should be arriving in the mail any day now!). And my play An Uncivil Union: The Battle of Burnsville was put on the schedule for the Parkway Playhouse's summer run. (June 3 - 11) So, 2011 is going to be a new kind of challenge for me... Instead of stewing about getting my work out there, I will need to figure out how to deal with the opinions of others about my work.

My goals are to approach 2011 with a sense of humility. To remember the challenges and doubt of 2010, and thus approach what comes next with gratitude.

Yes, I want to try to read 40 books again, continue to publish (or at least continue putting my work out there) and maybe instead of running two 5Ks, work on rehabbing my body: weak shoulder, knees (patella femoral pain) and heel (plantar fasciitis). (oooh - how cool is that? a word with a double I... The only other one I knew was "skiing.")

May 2011 be a year of not falling apart and putting myself back together, stronger than before.