In April, I participated in two writing challenges—the Blogging from A to Z Challenge and the Pulitzer Remix. For the A to Z Challenge, I had to write twenty-six alphabet-themed blog posts, and for the Pulitzer Remix, I was required to write one found poem per day from John Updike's Rabbit is Rich.
Although I'm now exhausted, I had a wonderful time with both challenges! This was my second year participating in the A to Z, which is a great way to meet and interact with other bloggers. The Pulitzer Remix was a new project and a lot of fun, and I feel honored to be among the eighty-five poets asked to participate.
This weekend, though, I think I need a little rest. I pulled more than a few all-nighters last month, so I'm looking forward to relaxing and enjoying this gorgeous sunny weekend with my family.
How about you? What are your plans for the weekend?
Well, here we are at the final letter. It's funny how a month can seem to pass so quickly and so slowly at the same time. ☺
Today's video inspiration comes from an artist who's relatively new to me: self-taught Russian artist Lora Zombie. Zombie creates what she calls "grunge art," something that I think is better experienced than explained. The video I'm posting today shows Zombie at work on one of her pieces—a fascinating process. You can see more of Zombie's work at her Web site, found here. Enjoy!
Today also marks the end of National Poetry Month and the Pulitzer Remix, a wonderful project I'm honored to have participated in this month. I've had a great time, and I'm sad to see the project end.
You can find my final haiku here. I am truly grateful for those of you who have supported me by reading and commenting on my work. Poetry is my passion, and your comments have meant so much. Thank you.
Wishing you all a wonderful and relaxing Tuesday. ☺
Throughout this challenge, I've been posting about the many things that inspire me. I'm excited to reach the letter Y because the word I've chosen for today, yawp, holds a very special meaning.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that this post—with a few changes—is the same one I used for Y during last year's Blogging from A to Z Challenge. I did write a new Y post to use this year, but I wasn't very happy with it. Since my A to Z theme is inspiration, I decided to go with the post that inspired me most. ☺
A yawp is a raucous noise, a yell. Children are, of course, masters of the yawp. Like all kids, mine love to be loud and boisterous and often exercise this love from the moment they wake up until the moment they lay their heads down at night. Yawp can also be used in reference to clamoring and complaining, which I'm sure describes us all from time to time. I heard the word used in this sense more than once when I was growing up: "Dana, quit your yawping and clean up your room." (I never thought I'd one day be saying the same thing to my own kids!)
However, the yawp I want to write about today is a different kind of yawp—it's the barbaric yawp that American poet Walt Whitman described in his "Song of Myself":
I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable,
I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.
Who can forget that wonderful scene in Dead Poet's Society where English professor John Keating (played by Robin Williams) encourages his timid student (Todd Anderson, played by Ethan Hawke) to find his yawp--that indefinable something that lives inside each of us, waiting to be given its voice. In this clip, Todd hasn't been able to complete his assignment, which was to write a poem, and Mr. Keating uses Whitman's idea of the barbaric yawp to help Todd express himself through poetry in a way Todd had never thought possible:
I cry nearly every time I watch this scene. I used to teach college English, and I hope that I was able to inspire at least one student the way that Mr. Keating inspired Todd, showing him that not only does he have a barbaric yawp but he can express it--and needs to express it. We all do.
I, too, sound my barbaric yawp. I sound it each time I write a poem, and I sound it here. This blog is my barbaric yawp, my conduit for expressing myself. It's where I give voice to that something deep inside me that aches to be heard. Every time I post, I sound my barbaric yawp across the blogosphere.
We all do.
And I think Mr. Keating—and Mr. Whitman—would be proud.
What's your barbaric yawp? What have you chosen to give voice to today?
**My daily haiku is up at the Pulitzer Remix site. You can find it here. Thanks again to all of you who have been reading and commenting. I'm honored to be participating in the Remix, and your support means so much.
Happy Sunday! I can hardly believe that those of us participating in the challenge have only two letters to go before it's all over for another year. In many ways, this month has passed quickly, but I'll admit that some days (and some letters), made the month feel like it was dragging along. How has the challenge been for you? Am I the only one who feels like taking a nap?
For those of you who are interested in checking it out, my daily haiku is up at the Pulitzer Remix site. You can find it here. I've been having such a great time with the Remix; I'll be sad when it's over at the end of the month. Thank you again to everyone who has been reading and commenting. I'm grateful for your support.
Today's inspiration comes from a type of art that I learned of only recently but find completely fascinating and inspiring: X-ray art. Nick Veasey, a British photographer, works with images created from X-ray imaging, some of which he then manipulates with Photoshop to create some absolutely remarkable results. This video showcases some of his work. Enjoy!
My daily haiku is now up at the Pulitzer Remix site. You can find it here. National Poetry Month is nearly over, and I've been having such a great time participating in this project. Thank you to all of you who have been reading and commenting. Your support means so much.
Today's inspiration is all about words. I love words. I always have. When I was in elementary school, my favorite word was identification. I remember spelling it out loud over and over again, no doubt driving everyone around me crazy. I just liked the way it sounded: id-en-ti-fi-ca-ti-on. I admired its beauty and rhythm, even if I couldn't express those feelings at such a young age.
Now, at a significantly older age, I can appreciate the sound and beauty of words, how they hit the ear and feel on the tongue, and as a writer, I'm inspired by the way they can be crafted and turned into something quite beautiful. I think that's the main reason I enjoy writing poetry so much, particularly haiku. I love the pictures I can paint with the right choice of words.
In addition to being beautiful, though, words are also powerful, as you'll see in today's video inspiration. I hope you enjoy it.
My daily haiku is now up at the Pulitzer Remix site. You can find it here. To those of you who have been reading and commenting: Thank you. Your support means so much!
My inspiration today comes from the interesting and innovative videos I find on YouTube. I'd like to feature two of my favorites today. I've posted both of them in the past year or so, but I think they're exceptional and definitely worth posting again! I hope you enjoy them.
The first video comes from UK-based filmmakers Luke White and Remi Weekes. Known as Tell No One, the duo posts videos of their experiments with in-motion sculpture and other video techniques. You can see more examples of their work at their Web site, found here.
I'm absolutely in love with this second video, which was filmed for A Fine Frenzy's "Sleepwalking." It's done using stop-motion techniques, and I think it's creative and magical and beautifully done. ☺
My daily haiku is now up at the Pulitzer Remix site. You can find it here. A big thanks to those of you who are reading and commenting. I appreciate your support!
Today's inspiration comes from the unique art of multimedia artist Phil Hansen, whose work as been featured on the Discovery Channel, Dr. Phil, Good Morning America, CNN, and many other media venues. He is a master at creating art from such nontraditional objects as burger grease, worms, and tricycle wheel imprints. In this video, he shows how he uses a pushpin to tattoo a banana—pretty creative!
If you'd like to learn more about Phil, be sure to check out his sites: At Phil in the Whaaat? you can see more of Phil's nontraditional art. To check out his more traditional work, go to Phil in the Circle.
My daily haiku is now up at the Pulitzer Remix site. You can find it here. Many thanks once again to all of you who have been taking the time to read and comment. It really means a lot!
I love reality TV—good reality TV. I'm talking about the kinds of shows that feature people who are working toward obtaining a serious goal, something they've dreamed about doing for most (if not all) of their lives. Some of my favorites are Top Chef, Project Runway, the now-canceled Work of Art: The Next Great Artist,The Voice, and American Idol. The men and women participating in these shows have dreams—to be a great chef or fashion designer, to become the next big thing in the art world, to rise to the top of the music charts—and I admire their determination to go through whatever obstacles they must go through to make those dreams come true.
(Now if only they made a reality show about writers working toward book contracts. I would definitely tune in to that!)
How about you? Do you watch any reality shows? What do you like (or dislike) about them?
The following video clip is from The Voice. It features Judith Hill, just one of the singers hoping to make her dream come true.
My daily haiku is up at the Pulitzer Remix site. You can find it here. Many thanks to those of you who have been taking the time to read and comment. I'm very grateful for your support!
Today's inspiration comes from my fascination with stop-motion video, which Wikipedia defines as "an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence."
I admire and respect everyone who works with this technique, but my absolute favorite stop-motion video features singer Oren Lavie's "Her Morning Elegance." It's a beautiful video comprised of an amazing 2,096 still frames. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
My daily haiku is up at the Pulitzer Remix site. You can find it here. Thanks again (and again!) to all of you who have been reading and commenting. Your support means so much!
I hope those of you participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge are resting up for the final leg. I know I am. I can't believe we're almost at the end of the month (and the alphabet)! It's been quite the journey: tiring but also a lot of fun.
For those of you who are interested in checking it out, my daily haiku is now up at the Pulitzer Remix site. You can find it here. Many thanks to those of you have been reading and commenting. I'm having so much fun with the project, and I really appreciate all your support!
Today's inspiration comes from Reba McEntire. As a rule, I'm not a huge fan of country music. I love Johnny Cash and enjoy a few contemporary country artists, but I usually prefer listening to other types of music. However, the video I've chosen for today—"Because of You," a duet by Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson—is one I can watch again and again. It's a beautiful song and a wonderfully done video, and I find it inspirational simply because I enjoy it so much.
How about you? Do you find any music videos inspirational? Are there any collaborations that you just love?
My daily haiku is up at the Pulitzer Remix site. You can find it here. Thanks again to everyone who has been reading and commenting. I'm grateful for your support!
Today we've arrived at what I think is one of the hardest letters, Q. Last year, when my topic was My Favorite Things, I wrote about quiet and how much I enjoy—and need—quiet time to myself. As I searched for a Q-word to go with this year's theme, Things That Inspire Me, I realized that "quiet" fits once again.
Quiet inspires me. I like to write when I'm alone, when no one is around me, somewhere there's no background noise to interfere with my thoughts. Oh, occasionally I'll jot down a note or two—a line of poetry, perhaps—when I'm out with others, but otherwise, quiet is a key component of my writing life. It inspires me to write.
Today's video inspiration isn't about being quiet as much as it's about being alone. I posted it once before—almost exactly a year ago—and because I love it so much, I've been waiting for the opportunity to post it again. It's a poem called "How To Be Alone," written and performed by poet/singer/songwriter Tanya Davis and directed and animated by filmmaker Andrea Dorfman. It's an inspiring piece that shows why being alone—even in public—is a great thing. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
My daily haiku is now up at the Pulitzer Remix site. You can find it here. I'm grateful for those of you who have been reading and commenting on my work this month. Thank you for your support!
Wishing you all a wonderful and relaxing Friday. ☺
Today's inspiration comes from Pilobolus, an amazing Connecticut-based dance company.
Like all of the people I've featured this month, the members of Pilobolus have a dream and work hard for it. Seeing that kind of dedication to a goal drives me all the more to work toward my own goals. If these talented men and women can reach their goals, so can I. ☺
I'm including two clips here because I just couldn't choose a favorite. Enjoy!
My daily haiku is now up at the Pulitzer Remix site. You can find it here. Thanks to all of you who read and comment on my poems each day. Your support means so much!
I don't know how I could write a list of things that inspire me without including "Over the Rainbow," that classic song about dreams coming true. So many people have recorded versions of this tune—Eva Cassidy, Frank Sinatra, and Eric Clapton among them—but to me the Rainbow will always belong to Judy Garland and her beautiful voice.
How about you? Are there any songs that inspire you to follow your dreams?
My haiku for today is up at the Pulitzer Remix site. You can find it here. Thanks to everyone who has been supporting me by reading and commenting. I truly appreciate it!
Nowadays, chocolate is something I need, and not in powder form. Oh, no. I want the hard stuff: the Cadbury and the Hershey's and the Lindt. My waistline begs for mercy, and still I crave milk chocolate and dark chocolate. I'll even eat unsweetened baking chocolate. (It's actually quite good!) The only chocolate I don't care for is white chocolate, which technically isn't even chocolate at all and shouldn't be sullying chocolate's good name—but I digress.
My daily haiku is up at the Pulitzer Remix site. You can find it here. Thanks again to everyone who has been reading and commenting. I love writing haiku, and I'm having a great time with the project. Your support means so much!
Today's inspiration comes from mural art—specifically the work of mural artist Jamie Kerr. I'm not an artist by any means, but I still admire people like Kerr who do have that talent and pursue it. It took Kerr six days to paint the mural in the video below, and I think the result is completely fantastic. Be sure to check out how realistic the people in the finished mural look. They're pretty amazing!
My haiku for today is now up at the Pulitzer Remix site. You can find it here. Many thanks to all of you who have been reading and commenting. I appreciate your support!
Tomorrow marks the halfway point for those of us participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Congratulations to everyone who has made it this far, and good luck with the rest of your posts!
Tomorrow also marks the halfway point in another challenge I'm participating in—the Pulitzer Remix. For those who haven't heard of the project, here's a brief explanation of what it's all about, taken from the Pulitzer Remix site:
"Eighty-five poets are creating found poetry from the 85 Pulitzer Prize-winning works of fiction as part of Pulitzer Remix, a 2013 National Poetry Month initiative. Each poet will post one poem per day on this website during the month of April, resulting in the creation of more than 2,500 poems by the project’s conclusion."
It's really a fascinating project, and I'm thrilled that I was one of the poets chosen to participate! I'm writing daily haiku taken from words I've found and remixed in John Updike's Rabbit is Rich.
On to my request: If you have a moment, please go to the Remix site and take a look at my haiku for today. You can find it here. Now, I've said this before and I'll continue to say it: Thank you so much to those of you who have been reading and commenting on my poems. I know April is a busy month for a lot of us, and I appreciate your support more than you know!
Wishing you all a beautiful and relaxing Sunday. ☺
Today's inspiration comes from a man who's simply fantastic at what he does: LEGO Artist Nathan Sawaya. (You can find his Web site here.) Sawaya, a former New York City attorney, builds custom three-dimensional LEGO sculptures that are commissioned by people and galleries all over the world. Most of his pieces sell for $10,000 to $20,000, and one of his large pieces sold for six figures. Amazing!
I admire Sawaya not only for his remarkable talent but because he wasn't afraid to go after what he knew would make him happy in life. He left his job as a corporate attorney in 2004 to focus on becoming a full-time artist. That took determination, and I admire that.
I decided to post two short videos about Sawaya and his art. In the first, he talks a little about his process, and in the second, he tells how he got started as a LEGO artist. In both, you'll see wonderful examples of his work. I hope you enjoy them!
Also, my daily haiku for the Pulitzer Remix project is now up. You can find it here. Thanks again to those of you who have been reading and commenting on my poems. I'm so grateful for your support!
Today's inspiration comes from Kelly Clarkson and her 2004 hit song, "Breakaway." I don't know much about Clarkson's recent work, but I've always felt inspired by this song about growing up, moving on, and having the courage to follow dreams. Although Clarkson didn't write the song, she has said that she can relate to its story and as a child always felt that there was something else out there for her. In the video—as in real life—we see Clarkson, the first winner of American Idol, following her dream, and I think that's very inspiring. ☺
Also, just a reminder that my daily haiku is up at the Pulitzer Remix site. You can find it here. Many thanks to everyone reading and commenting. Your support means so much!
