Again, I’ve been remiss.
But I haven’t been unoccupied.
Beyond getting back on the caffeine habit, knitting a citrusy bright baby blanket, and attending Charlie’s band’s show, I’ve been quite busy. If you know me, you know this is not new.
Impending summer and having succeeded in dialing back my slam involvement and social presence at… everything… has helped me to feel less overwhelmed and at odds with the world, more like being involved in everything. Or maybe just reasonable amounts of the things that I want to be involved with. A few well-defined writing projects that I’m working on and excited about.
I’m working on poems for Cheap Theatre’s “With and Without” show, each of which is about being without something- and uses none of the letter of the alphabet that I most associate with that missing thing. It’s been challenging enough for me to completely ignore the “who’s my audience” question, and the pieces that have come out of it are really nice. It’s interesting to try to write poems about being “without” and give them different tones- not variations around the theme of emptiness or need or want.
I’m also helping MN0 kids work on a project that has a handful of fictional characters worked into it. Group projects are exciting and frustrating, equal parts. I keep coming up with interesting storylines and then having to amend or discard them… I should keep track of them for future use.
I also took some time to work with Heather AKA Heather, on writing some new and really gutsy poems. I occasionally feel like I have some insight in what has become rote, and how it can be turned fresh and clever- I’m hoping that aiming Heather’s talents at something she doesn’t usually do will both extend her range and change the status quo. If she doesn’t come through, I’m going to have to try to learn from her strengths and try to do it myself.
I got a helmet this weekend, after taking a pretty great flight over my handlebars and directly into Loring Park- between that and knowing that being cavalier about biking when I have a coworker who was disabled in a biking accident, it seemed just sort of inappropriate to keep going bareheaded. We’ll see if it drives me crazy or is okay- I got a cute green one that is more of a skater style.
Tomorrow I’m going to Connecticut for work… I’ve never been there before and have no idea what it’s like.
Laters!
Cole
