Luke

Bobby told me to put a snake in teacher’s drawer. So I did. You should have seen it. Teacher jumped about three feet in the air and let out a skelloch to wake the dead. School is right next to the cemetery, I wouldn’t have been surprised if old Widow Parsons came bursting in to see what happened. Bobby and me were laughin' so hard, we almost pissed our drawers. It was just a little garden snake. Pa said I shouldn’t be so mean to teacher, and whupped me for it. I had to tell teacher I was sorry. I guess I was sorry, but it really wasn’t my idea. Bobby was the one who come up with it. Ma said that it right don’t matter whose idea it were. That if Bobby axed me to jump of the bridge, would I? I said sure, the water is real nice off the bridge, good for swimming. Ma cuffed me and said I was fresh and that I knew what she meant. She told me not to listen to Bobby no more. Course, we are best buddies. We went fishing after school today. Didn’t catch much, exceptin’ trouble, Pa wanted me home after school to bring in some wood. He told Ma he wanted to take me out of school, that he needed help, but Ma said she wanted her boy to amount to somethin’ so I was still going to school. Pa’s face got real red, and he stormed off to the barn. Ma said to me that ifin’ I do real good at school I can work with her Daddy at the bank. I said I wanted to work with Pa, so I went out to help him. Bobby don’t have no chores on account that his daddy is rich. That’s okay, Bobby is good people.

Lanna Lee Maheux
July 28, 2006

Homework for Tomorrow

The Task: Write a dramatic monolouge using this picture:



to be continued...

Exercise

The task: Take an abstract concept and use concrete images to describe it.

The Poem:

Ideas

My first memory is of a huge hole, dug for a septic tank.

I learned you shouldn’t scream as loud as you can, it scares children.

My junior high guidance counselor advised me that I should not go to college.

I slept on the day bed in the living room when I visited Gramp and Grammy Nettie. Grammy Nettie and I sat at the kitchen table, shooting the breeze. She slathered butter onto saltine crackers and popped them into her gummy mouth. Sometimes she spread ketchup instead. We doodled roses and daisies on scrap paper. I played with the salt and pepper shakers like they were soldiers. I tore paper into tiny pieces. Grammy Nettie slapped my hand when I reached for the tea bags. There were quotes on the tags.

I want my friends to meet my dad. He’s very silly.

I don’t really remember where I was when the Space Shuttle Columbia crashed. I guess I was at school.

For a time I was known by some as Flanna Flea Flayheux.

I once wrote a play about Swaziland. It had cannibals in it.

Friday and Saturday

Only three days left! Tomorrow afternoon we will be reading some of our poetry - fun!

On Saturday, two of my pieces will be performed as part of the reader's theatre.

Good times good times.

You know what, I have some homework to do. So I am going to work on that and go to bed!

The Dance

So, we had a dance Tuesday night. Fun. Here are some, and I mean some pix:


Ryan Rocking out!


Ryan and Becky


Me and Ryan

Good thing Ryan is so photogenic!

Excurged: Some Pictures

So I forgot to get out my camera yesterday on the island, but I shot a couple of pix while waiting for our shuttle bus:


Estha is nice people


Waiting for George


Discussion on Craft


Our oldest student!

Excurged

We took an Excursion to House Island today. Had Lobster. Took a boat ride there and back. Was fun.

But the thing is, I am pretty tired now!

My mom told me I needed to do some posting. Hopefully I will do better tomorrow.

Recap

• 4 days of conference done.
• Excursion finished

We have 4 more workshops starting tomorrow. Fun!

Excercise:

Task: Write a 4-line poem using 4 rhyming words given to you. (Each line ends with the given words)

The Words, given to me by John:

• craze
• muscular
• malaize
• corpuscular

The Poem:

What I say

What I say, pray tell, is a bit strange, but don’t think me a craze.
The flower in my hair is but a ruse, I search for something muscular.
You know my life is full, you see me laughing; laughter hides my malaise –
My body yearns for more, my being throbs and begs, from the whole to the corpuscular

Wal-Mart

Went to Wal-Mart with Becky tonight. We picked up more coffee, beverages and a styrofoam cooler. Becky got herself a new pillow. Apparently she didn't like the plastic pillow we were provided with very much! (I brought my own pillow, so I totally understand.)

The Dangers of Napping

I took a nap tonight and I am still awake.

Whoops.

Sleepy Girl

This is what I want you to think I look like late at night:



Or maybe this:



Unfortunately this is more of the reality:

Still Awake

Okay. I went to bed the first time at around 10:30 pm. Pretty reasonable, huh? Read a few chapters of a book. Listened to some They Might Be Giants and Saul Williams. Laid in bed with my mind racing. Got up, rewrote poem I was obsessing about. Now it is after midnight (and a new day) I should go to sleep.

I wanted to wake up at 6 am tomorrow and do my walk. I have not walked since last Thursday, and I miss it. But I might need more than 5 hours and 45 minutes sleep. (I have a meeting with one of our instructors tomorrow.*)

*Am I freaking out? Is that why I am not getting to sleep? I thought I was fine with the meeting, chill even.

Back to bed I go...

First In-Class exercise

The task: Leader chooses 5 words and a sentence from a publication. The sentence is the first line of the poem. The rest of the poem must include all 5 words.

The Words:

1. Apocolypse
2. Dumbo
3. Collegues
4. Minister
5. Straight-legged

The Sentence:

They didn't know long they were going to stay there

My Poem:

They didn't know long they were going to stay there
They didn't know what they were going to do
They didn't know anything, really
Apocolypse seekers all
they gathered together in church-like places
acting like Dumbo
No, not flying with huge flappy ears
but they acted like they were in a circus
straight-legged pants were common
some of them dressed like clowns
collegues of some sort
who really didn't know
what was going on
Somone decided to be a minister.
he grabbed a likely pulpit and said
Hey, let's order a pizza
with pepperoni
so they did.

Roomies

I am so glad I decided to stay over at Bowdoin College during the conference. Not only am I only 15 minutes from the Stone House (where the workshops are during the day) but I feel immersed into writerdom.

One of the best things about it is that I have two roommates! And fortunately, I got lucky, I wouldn't have wanted to share space with anyone else. Yes, I have a single room, but it is part of a suite with 4 private rooms and a men's and women's bath. (There are only women on our floor, so I am using the men's room.)

Becky was the first person I met, she and I moved in at the same time. I only had one person helping me move in (Edmund) - she had a whole posse! Which is fitting, because she is from Texas!(Becky and her family, 18 total people, were vacationing in Maine before the conference. I am told that is just a portion of her family.) Becky is also in the Poetry Workshop, and I love her insight. She is also very brave - if she doesn't "get it," she'll tell you! Just imagine some southern charm with just the right amount of sass.

Kate and I quickly bonded over finding internet access! Of course, that was mainly so she could keep up with her online RPG (role-playing games) - I just wanted to check my email now and again. It is nice to share a room with another technophile. I have a 30-gig Ipod, Kate has a 30-gig Ipod. I have an alarm clock to plug my Ipod into, Kate has an alarm clock to plug her Ipod into. I have my laptop, Kate has her laptop. I have my car, Kat has her car. We are almost twins, except Kate is a bit more well-read and is almost 20 years younger than me. Kate is in the Developing Fiction Workshop, and is writing a fun story about a guy who kills someone because of sunscreen.

Pictures

Here are some Pictures I have took yesterday and today. Enjoy!

(yes I am going to bed now. seriously! for cereal!)

My Conference Digs

Here are some pictures of my dorm room from last night:





Pretty sweet, huh?

First Full Day

So, as I said in the last post, I am here! I had my first full day today, workshop and panel discussion along with a poetry reading and a reception. Got back to my room at 10:30 pm!

My feelings right now: tired, glad, inspired and ready for tomorrow to start!

One of my poems was critiqued today, and there were a few really great suggestions for my poem. There were also a couple of edits suggested that gave me pause. They tell me my poem would be stronger without a couple of the lines. What I wonder is, am I being hesitant to make the edits for the right reasons?

Did my homework tonight, and it was hard! Need to go over it again, but I think it's okay. We will see!

I am Here!

Well, where is here? you might ask

And I would answer, the Stonecoast Writer's Conference! (Um, follow the link to the left, it should clear things up for you.) I get to write poetry all week.



How did I get here? you might ask

I will save that answer for tomorrow. Right now, I have to go to bed! Nighty nite!