Old School is New School.

This is my current house phone.

In a time when most people are ditching their landline phones in favor of all cell service, I go to Target, see the crazy amount of money they are asking for cordless phone batteries ($14.99 PER HANDSET!) and instead spend $5.99 on this beauty. I am also currently scouring eBay for an old Desk phone (preferrably in black, blue or green).

In addition to this phone conundrum, I have to find a new cell phone plan before Halloween and it is proving expensive and difficult. I am not good with all of the "21st century" stuff.

July 24th, 2009.

Wake.

Cereal.

Coffee.

Bike to Whitworth Presbyterian.

Stop at library to return books.

Bike Home.

Check email.

Talk to boss on the phone..

Drive to work.

Work.

More Coffee.

Drive home.

Bike back to Whitworth Presbyterian.

Bike back home.

Mow Lawn.

Shower.

Dishes.

Start a load of laundry.

Make dinner.

Read Middlesex.

Watch "I Could Never Be Your Woman."

Change Laundry.

Read more Middlesex.

Sleep.

Poetry Trajectory

Unplugged

Passion

for passion.

Fire.

Eat fire.

The long lasting drops of agave

will sustain nothing without

a body.

A body full of

radiators

and HEPA filters

magic and dirt.

Empty cavern

tossed with

leaves of gray and green.

The old and new making

hunger.

The last time is

always the last time

until the next time

comes along.

J. McIntyre

Adventures in Painting Walls.

My husband has decided that we need to paint the living room. Mind you, I never said I wanted to paint the living room, but humored him and we picked out a color together at Lowe's. It was too light. It can barely be seen in the photos below.

A few weeks later, his mom is here and he picks out another color WITHOUT ME and buys ...albeit a smaller sample jar...it is a sample jar of misogyny, nonetheless.

My husband then waits a few days then decides to put his color on the walls. I come into look.

I look up at the wet and drying spots on my walls.

"You know what that looks like right?" I say.

He smirks likes he is afraid of what is coming.

"Mustard. Baby. DIAPER BUTT." I say.

"Uhh.." says my husband.

"Yeah it looks like someone took a fresh, well-fed babies' diaper and wiped it on my walls!"

Needless to say, the "I told you so" and a "That's what you get for not asking your WIFE" were thrown around along with some very sarcastic laughter on both our parts.

So now, this is the current state of my living room walls...

...Help me!

Words From Rabindranath Tagore.

"Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows.

Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service.

Give me the strength never to disown the poor or bend my knees before insolent might.

Give me the strength to raise my mind high above daily trifles.

And give me the strength to surrender my strength to thy will with love."

Rabindranath Tagore

Parenting in the Neighborhood

My Son Andrew (above) is eight. I could not ask for a better child.

"When we choose to be parents, we accept another human being as part of ourselves,and a large part of our emotional selves will stay with that person as long as we live. From that time on,there will be another person on this earth whose orbit around us will affect us as surely as the moon affects the tides,and affect us in some ways more deeply than anyone else can.Our children are extensions of ourselves"~ Mr.Rogers

John Hick, Help Me Now...

Alligator Watching

Time is

the weight

in our clothes.

Quentin heard it's clicks

in every simple motion

made

and had to run from

the watchshop.

One year

is too much

to bear

on the mind

so much can crumble

and fade.

One never wanted

to hit so hard

to bring pain

for once

upon

a smug

adult face.

To raise a toast

or a child

is a privilige

not a law.

Take one

Take two

take everyone

to the place Peter Pan

dreamed of.

Find that Neverland

sprinkle paprika

on their hands

and place them

just so

against sanded stone.

J. McIntyre

Best Spokane Local Music Venue in Trouble

(Photo from thebackkitchen.blogspot.com)

The Empyrean is a place I thought I would NEVER see in Spokane. I mean...EVER. I thought that places like this were only found in bigger, better and cooler cities like Seattle, Portland or Austin. But then I went to The Empyrean and was blown away.


They serve coffee and beer? Check.


They have a cool venue space? Check.


They have cool bands to fill said space. Check.


All ages shows? Check.


It is the place my little brother has for music and poetry that I never had at his young age of 17 and I want it to stay.



This wonderful Spokane gem is in danger of closing due to new Spokane regulations. They need a $20,000 sprinkler system installed. Whitworth alum Kyle Pflug has posted a great summary of info and details here. Please read and get involved if you can.


I know I have many uber cool peeps moving to town to join me at EWU to earn our MFA's in Creative Writing. This venue will be the place we will hold the readings for Writers in the Community, it is the home of the Spokane Poetry Slam and is the place we will want to get together to hang out, relax and write to our hearts content.


I am all in to help. Are you?

Jon Sands Awesomeness

This is Jon Sands.
He is awesome.

As is this pic of him with the characters from
Where the Wild Things Are.

.

(Photo by Jon Sands)

His poetry and videos of him performing his poetry can be found here, here and here.
Google him if you need more.
I know you will.

p.s. In other slightly related news, a Where the Wild Things Are movie is in the works with Dave Eggers and Spike Jones at the helm (if you haven't already heard) and the recently released movie Away We Go was written (in part) by Dave Eggers as well.

I don't know if being way into Eggers and what he and his fellow Hysterical Realists are about ruins my street cred or not, but then,
I don't think I had any to begin with.

A person likes what they like...
and if you don't like something...
then you don't.

The Long-Legged House

"We have lived by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. We have been wrong. We must change our lives, so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption that what is good for the world will be good for us. . .We must recover the sense of the majesty of the creation and the ability to be worshipful in its presence. For it is only on the condition of humility and reverence before the world that our species will be able to remain in it." --Wendell Berry, The Long-Legged House