Indulge my Girl-Crush
Enchanting, no? I want to make videos like this out of poems.
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February 25, 2007
Enchanting, no? I want to make videos like this out of poems.
February 24, 2007
Because I'm a sucker for art films & clever lyrics...
...which I'd pair with this:
February 23, 2007
In the Mail Today...
The Literary Review wants to publish my poem "Dud Helix."
And goodies from No Tell Books.
February 22, 2007
Check Out "Fidelity"
February 19, 2007
(Un)Reality Check
I checked my voicemail this morning, and the message from __________ is still there. The more I think about/research this offer, the better it gets. The middle school my daughter would attend runs grades 6-8, and pulls from several elementary schools, which means she wouldn't be the lone new kid. Her classmates would be in a new school, making new friends as well. She might even have classmates who live in the same graduate family housing complex as ourselves. The school day runs from about 9:00am to 3:30pm, so while I'd still need some afterschool care to cover the late afternoon workshops and seminars, she wouldn't have to be there more than a few hours each week. And get this: the school district has a FREE afterschool program for kids her age. (I'm paying $200/month for the same here in NH.)
At this point, I can't see any drawbacks to my daughter living on an Ivy League campus and having mom around most of the time as she approaches her teenage years. Nor can I see any drawbacks to writing my first book and still being able to put food on the table. I talked with her this morning, and my girl likes this option too.
What's more, I just received an email from the graduate coordinator offering to arrange a visit. They'll reimburse a good chunk of my travel expenses, put me up free of charge with a current grad student, and schedule all the faculty appointments and workshop visits on my behalf!
Exciting as this all is, it's somewhat bewildering and bittersweet too. Soon I'll be moving away from a place I've called home for the past three years--and I don't know if I'll ever come back. I'm not a recent grad with a parental home base, but a woman whose whole life travels with her. There's a finality to the way this chapter closes and the next one begins that's rare in any one life. Everything is about to change--is changing--and the space between is dizzying.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
On a lighter note, you can rest assured that the forces of the universe are doing their best to keep my ego well in check. On Saturday night I heard a sound like a squeaky shopping cart wheel coming from the kitchen. When I headed over to investigate, I saw something flying through the pass-through between the dining room and kitchen. For a split-second I thought it was a bird, but when it made a u-turn and started back in my direction, I realized it was BAT! And not a baby bat, but a full-grown, flying mammal with leathery wings. I bolted for the bedroom, slammed the door behind me, and shoved a towel under the door. Of course, there's no phone in the bedroom, so after a few deep breaths I realized I'd have to go back out. Fortunately, I'd left the mop in the master bathroom, so I grabbed it, put a plastic laundry basket over my head, and made a mad dash for the cordless. Because I'm cool like that. The security guards on duty were two guys in their twenties, and they seemed happy enough to play Wild Adventure in my apartment while I waited in the hall. Then again, my answering the door wearing the laundry basket helmet probably had something to do with their good cheer. Turns out the living room windows were open just enough at the top for a bat, attracted by the warm air streaming out, to squeeze through. Because they're super tall mill building windows, and the blinds obscure the view, I hadn't even realized they were open.
But the calamity doesn't end there. Last night, I had drive down to the half-way point in CT where my ex-husband and I meet so that our daughter can spend time with him. Just after I picked her up and got back on the highway, the rear, driver's side tire blew out. It felt like something dropped out of the bottom of the car and was dragging along the ground. It was so unsettling that by the time I pulled into the shoulder and saw it was only a flat, I was actually relieved. Because it's possible to have good and bad luck simultaneously, I was able to get my ex on the phone while he was still only a few miles away. Problem solved, right? Not when one's fortunes are as frequently Griswoldian as my own! I didn't have a lugwrench in my trunk, the one he had didn't fit my tire's lugs, and the local highway robbers wanted $50 cash to do the job. Did I mention it was like 3 degrees last night? Being the good people that they are, though, my ex and his wife drove us all to Walmart, where we Holy Shitted over a machete on sale for $6.98 and bought the wrench we needed. The whole episode extended the five hour round-trip by two and a half hours, but we made it home safe, and that really is what matters most.
February 17, 2007
Exhale
I'm in! That is, I received an offer of admission to an incredible MFA program this morning by phone. Admission + a full ride for two years. I don't want to say more than that before I hear from the remaining schools and decide (or have decided for me) where I'm going to go. Suffice it to say I feel as though I'm living someone else's life today.
Postcards Cinema
February 15, 2007
NewBorn
This makes me want to learn Flash. [That is, until I saw how much the software costs. Holy @#%&!!! $700 to Flash my poems? Where the hell is a poet supposed to get money like that? Looks like I'll have to start selling my panties to perverts on eBay if I want to explore mixed media projects.]
Now With Previews
Found this via Kevin. Mouse over any of the links on this page, including the blogroll, for a preview of the linked site. If this is causes anyone problems, let me know.
For Valentine's Day, a boy in my daughter's class gave her two yellow roses and a teddy bear. We are not old enough for this! Not. Old. Enough.
In other news, I passed the French proficiency test I took about a month ago. No French summer school! Yay!
February 11, 2007
By the way...
The web space offer I made is good for other projects as well: author pages, event listings, whatever you think you can create/maintain. To the best of my knowledge, I can set up users with individual FTP logins for uploading and managing files. No one's taken me up on the offer yet, so there are still plenty of subdomains and megabytes to go around.
I Want This Book
On the other hand, this is available FREE, and has been knocking my socks off.
As in--
Sure the sludge this time of year is golden.
It is a swamp of ancient leaves, logs from ancient trees.
It is a few calendars until a seam of coal.
from "Orienteering in the Land of the New Pirates"
As in--
And the guy starts to parse it out--
wait, I"m not smart, but if emotion's a material substance
then when a leaf falls in my lap and I hold it
like an about-to-be-abandoned baby, I'm touching "aflutter" in 3-D?
As in--
where we planted peanut shells, we got shaky, palsied trees,
where we planted nickel cokes, we got nicked cans
where we planted baseballs, we grew large, sad eyeballs
as we watched for something to grow...
from "Sentimental Atom Smasher"
February 10, 2007
Stayed home with the little one today, who was very ill. Apparently we're in the midst of a norovirus outbreak--that nasty stomach bug known for ruining people's cruise ship vacations. Last week they cancelled a play because so many kids were absent. But yesterday they forged ahead with their 100th Day of School party, which involved finger foods and highly contagious ten year-olds. By 3am, my own ten year-old was paying the price.
Where germs are concerned, I'm hardly the Felix Unger type. I mean, what mother hasn't picked the cat hair off her child's teething biscut and popped it back into her mouth? The number of germs that will make a child sick is relatively small as compared to those that strengthen her immune system.** But even I draw the line somewhere. When half the school's on their knees in front of the porcelain goddess, shouldn't some effort be made to halt the spread of disease? Couldn't they at least have a chat with the kids about hand washing? Postpone the communal dessert troughs?
To her credit, Jacinda's been handling her illness surprisingly well. She can go off into the stratosphere if asked to accomodate the presence of legumes of her dinner plate, but where being sick is concerned, she's remarkably matter-of-fact. I'm impressed.
UPDATE: She woke up sunshine this morning--a little tired, but otherwise well!
February 08, 2007
"Regardez-moi. Je suis le plus beau de quartier..."
Emily Dickinson, W.H. Auden, W.B. Yeats, Christine Rossetti, and other legends of poetry set to music by Carla Bruni. I can't wait to check this out:
The Supermodel School of Poetry - February 2, 2007 - The New York Sun
February 07, 2007
Got myself booked up for another Featured Reader gig. I enjoyed the last one so much, I jumped at the chance to do it again. This one's closer to home. Much closer. Down the street, in fact.
Poets' Corner Reading Series
Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashua
Friday, April 13th at 8pm
My daughter was born on Friday the 13th, so I take this as a good omen.
February 06, 2007
Blogger Got You Down?
I've seen quite a few poets complaining about the new blogger, and since I have some extra server space, I'd like to put it to good use. I've reserved the domain name poetryweb.org, and I'd happy to set you up with a FREE MovableType poetry blog on my server. Your blog would be hosted at pickyourname.poetryweb.org. If you'd like an additional email address, I can give you pickyourname@poetryweb.org.
To see an example in action, go to: http://postcards.poetryweb.org
I can set up the subdomain, blog, and help you import your entries. After that, it's all you. I can't teach anyone how to use MT, or help edit templates, etc. (Time permitting, I may be able to answer a question or two, but you'd have to be willing to take I've never come across that before for an answer.) I also can't--due to technical limitations--grant you exclusive access to the folders in which your blog resides. You'll have to trust me not to mess around with your files on the back end.
Finally, I'd ask that you use a third-party server (e.g. Flicker, Photobucket, YouTube) to host pictures, videos, and other large files--unless you want to pay for extra disk space, in which case you can do whatever you please.
I can probably host 50+ blogs at this domain. If I'm feeling really ambitious, perhaps I'll create a directory and other fun stuff on the front page. To sign up, just send me an email at vmheatter[@]gmail.com.
Off Again
Those of you who read this space often enough know what I'm talking about. And with less than two weeks remaining before the MFA decisions start coming in. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Thanks to the flashing, neon moral of it, I'm holding up much better this time.
February 04, 2007
Yes, Reader. There is a Virginia.
Still breathing. Just not blogging. Work has been a major drain on my time and energy. I leave the house at 7:30am and don't get home until 5:30. By the time I finish making and eating dinner, there are only a few hours left until bedtime. Except Wednesday nights. On Wednesday nights I have a class from 7:00 to 10:00.
Surfing the web from work is out of the question, because there's simply no down time. I'd tell you what it is I'm so busy with all day, but it's not exactly clear, even to me. The woman whose maternity leave I'm covering is a Project Support Specialist, which says everything and nothing all at once.
This is who I work for. More specifically, these folks. Fortunately, most of my co-workers are pretty nice, and being on the run staves off boredom. Nonetheless, I'm grateful it's only temporary.
Weekends I spend recuperating and trying to clear outstanding projects off my plate. Speaking of which, I must get back to those.
Ginger Heatter
Projects
Cornell University / MFA
Epoch / print literary magazine (Associate Editor)
The New Hampshire Review / online poetry magazine - temporary hiatus (Editor)
Self Republication / via YouTube
See Here, Can You Spare a Moment? / reading highlights Updated: 12/20/07
Epoch / print literary magazine (Associate Editor)
The New Hampshire Review / online poetry magazine - temporary hiatus (Editor)
Self Republication / via YouTube
See Here, Can You Spare a Moment? / reading highlights Updated: 12/20/07