With so many heads turned upward to the southeast in early evening, to see earth’s close encounter with Mars, it’s worthwhile to take a look straight ahead at your screen as well. You can find some of the most spectacular images and in-depth information on what we know now about the Red Planet at these sites:Space.comNASA – Mars According to all the planetarium web sites I checked, Mars viewing will be spectacular in late October…
I’m reliving anxious days when I had to stand up and read my book review or short story for class. Only this time, I have to choose poetry for upcoming readings. I’m feeling a lot of the same things: the urge to stick with safe stuff, to try to make them laugh rather than put the serious stuff out there, and above all an obsession with what to wear. As if I ever noticed how…
I’m happy to have had two poems from my Alzheimer’s series accepted for an anthology on this theme, to be edited by Holly Hughes. Some people report being rendered speechless by having a relative diagnosed. For some reason, it’s had the opposite effect on me to watch my father progress through this disease. He loses functionality in bits and pieces, like the items he misplaces right under his nose, then after a frantic search looks…
I’m lined up for several readings, both poetry and prose. If you’re in the San Francisco area and feel like dropping by, here’s the calendar:Saturday, October 22 – 7 pmThe Pedestal Magazine Reading Event Valencia Street Books 569 Valencia Street (between 16th & 17th), San Francisco, CA Readers: Editor John Amen, Ruth Daigon, David Alpaugh, Daniel Y. Harris, Ilya Kaminsky and Rachel Dacus. Sunday, October 23 – 2 pmFellowship Hall, 10 Irwin Way, OrindaIna Coolbrith…
There are days I feel techsavvy and days I feel like Homer Simpson. Guess which one this is. I just bought a new Blackberry 7100 phone on Saturday. Yes, I can make calls on it — even receive calls and pick up my voicemail. I even composed a poem on the Notepad. A short poem — all those button pushes or weird guesses from the software, with no backspace button that doesn’t delete. But can…
On a slow night, googling terms that bring together the several concepts of this blog brought me to a wonderful poem on Gumball: Superman. Now that’s what I call combining poetry and rockets. In case you haven’t discovered it, Gumball has one of the more creative ways of delivering poetry to the masses: poetry gumball machines. Poems on little slips of paper inside plastic capsules — a very rockety concept. I have three of my…
Just in case you’re glued to CNN, as I’ve been, and suffering from Hurricane report overload/meltdown, read this account of large numbers of people getting real help. Yes, it’s the Red Cross, our oldest relief organization. At the bottom of the first link is a link for online donations, if you want to do something quick to make a big difference. Isn’t it good to know some things aren’t broken and don’t have to be…
I lost a friend to lung cancer a couple weeks ago. She was a friend I “walk-talked” with on a weekly basis, an irrepressibly charming travel agent who was an avid reader as well as raconteur. Can you imagine a more entertaining walking companion? She lived with the diagnosis for six years, participating in support groups to help others adjust to their diagnoses. Her endurance surely set some kind of record, but I think her…
If anyone is seeking to get in touch with poets in the hurricane area, there’s a blog site keeping track of inquiries and responses. I just saw several names of people I know on the list. This is a wonderful service right now, helping to connect people who have lost touch. One million displaced people was a number I heard on the news recently. It just boggles the mind. Here’s another useful blog related to…
I’m starting to feel a turn in the air. Visit https://racheldacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.