Tuesday, February 23, 2010

she's so unusual

Position: 8th House - Mystery
Ace of Wands

You have access to all kinds of mysterious and powerful inner energies, but lack any real direction. Getting unusually close to others can provide you with the right clues.


I agree, I am feeling immensely directionless. In 2010 so far I've written ten poems and they each feel like WTF. None of them are right. They're clunky and plain and missing something. I'm inhabiting a creative space of inklings unable to go any further. I'm trying to be patient. I'm trying to be quiet. I'm trying to listen. I am quite resistant to the idea of "getting unusually close to others" -- no offense, but there's nobody I want to be "unusually close" with.

What the hell does that mean anyway?

Sharing toothbrushes and underpants?


Position: 5th House - Creative Identity
The Fool

The Fool upside down shows that you may be momentarily naive and foolish and probably don't want to admit the extent to which your judgment is currently clouded. Try to be objective and understand that this confusion is typical when new ideas emerge from your deeper self. Dreams can inspire you to unique insights.



I was a little bit bummed out this afternoon. No Tell Books held two book giveaways at Goodreads for both Karl's and my books. People who win the giveaways are encouraged to review the books on the site. The first review came in today. Two stars (out of five) with the comment: "This is a book that has appeal for a specialized group of readers. Lovers of good poetry and readers of fantasy may or may not find the combination of the two something you will enjoy."

Well, that's what I get for trying to broaden my audience.

Readers may or may not enjoy God Damsel.

You heard it here first.

I appreciate that someone took the time to read and consider my book. I can't fault him for not liking it. It certainly is a strange collection. I have to learn to be cool with these kinds of responses.

I have to figure out what it means to "practice unattachment."

I already googled it.

Google asked: "Did you mean: practice non attachment?"

I don't know.

Is that what I meant?


Position: 1st House - Personality
Four of Swords

This card upright shows awareness of allowing chaotic situations to govern you and the right counsel of taking time off to detach and meditate in a solitary situation.



Gideon was with me when I first read the review. He told me not to think about it. He told me to never read it again.

He suggested that maybe the reviewer was mad because I was supposed to buy his book, but didn't.

Gideon already understands community!

My little genius.

You should hear him talk about his book. It's called The Snowman and it's about a guy who shovels a lot of snow. He's created an entire reality where Collin Kelley contacted him by phone and offered to publish the book. Gideon was so excited when he received that imaginary phone call we went out and celebrated over dinner.

You should totally buy it.

I'm grooming him to become my assistant because I'm not messing with anymore interns.

He's five now. That's qualified enough.


Position: 11th House - Future Potential
The Hierophant

The High Priest leaning to the left shows a strong desire to be seen and heard and an attachment to other peoples opinions that makes things difficult. You may feel that others treat you like an object, but this can be a reflection of how you see yourself. It is important to trust your own sense of balance and what is right.



I am not an object, I am not an object, I am not an object.


Position: 12th House - Sacrifice
The Hermit

The Hermit leaning to the right shows that although you must honor your relationships, now is the time to spend time alone to regain perspective. Although in a relationship, you are actually isolated from others.


Probably because everyone expects me to become unusually close with them.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Friday, February 19, 2010

Dzanc Creative Writing Day: DC




Barrelhouse is organizing the Washington, DC Edition of Dzanc Books' National Creative Writing Workshop Day on March 20, 2010. Workshops will be held across the country (40 states!), with all the proceeds going to support Dzanc's teaching and writers in residence programs. The DC workshop will be held from 1 til 5:00 at the Wonderland Ballroom (upstairs), at 1101 Kenyon Street, Washington, DC. It'll run you $50.

Seating is limited. Seriously. Sign up today.

Our workshop will be a small, hands-on kind of thing, with craft lectures, writing exercises, and discussion. Focusing on elements of poetry, prose, and the new forms emerging from their overlap, this event will give hands-on feedback and insightful instruction to established and aspiring writers, all with Barrelhouse's patented pop culture sensibility and sense of humor. Participants include Barrelhouse editors Dan Brady, Dave Housley, and Mike Ingram, as well as writer Laura Ellen Scott and poet and publisher Reb Livingston.

Oh yeah, we're doing the workshop in the upstairs of a bar. And a damn good one at that. Probably there will be happy hour afterwards. Something to consider, we suppose.

Each participant will receive a free copy of Barrelhouse, as well as ninja style writing skills, and a damn good time.

Sign up today!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

my precious

Ha, I just spent the last hour writing a long, winding blog entry on how I am now better directing my energy and focus.

Halfway through, I deleted it because I decided that I didn't want to direct anymore of my precious energy into writing about my precious energy.

Basically it comes down to despite saying no to most people, I realize that I still managed to overextend myself through August.

There goes 2010.

What I mean to say, there goes my desire for a tranquil 2010.

Tomorrow I'm buying a bunch of plane tickets to places.

I'm excited about the places, but not the flying.

I'm not afraid to fly, I just loathe airlines.

I wish Amtrak ran trains to Europe.

It's not official yet, but it's looking like Gideon will be embarking on his second international trip this summer.

I promised him that this time I won't try to force him to eat a chocolate croissant.

Sometimes you have to let your children experience life on their own terms.

Even if their terms are totally stupid.

Monday, February 15, 2010

When I come across a Twitter or FB status updates by people exclaiming how much work they're getting done being trapped at home due to snow, there's one thing I'm able to deduce about those people: they have no children. Or at least no children living with them.

I got almost nothing accomplished these last two weeks.

Gideon hasn't been in school since February 4th. Most of his activities were cancelled too. He has absolutely no self-awareness of how stir crazy he's become. He's bitching at Chris and me constantly about the most ridiculous (even for a little kid) things. Well, Chris mostly, I don't much tolerate sass and nip that shit in the bud. This morning I found a bunch of wet wash clothes in the linen closet. I asked Gideon why. He doesn't know why. Just like he doesn't know how or why there's glue all over my office chair or why he's used my stamps like they were stickers . . . he doesn't even want to go back to school anymore. He's grown accustomed to staying at home, busting shit and yelling at us.

I woke up Sunday morning and thought, we got through it, he'll go back to school on Monday as a make-up and everything will go back to normal. Then Sunday afternoon Fairfax County announced school was cancelled on Monday and a two hour delay on Tuesday. Some roads still have not been plowed (I found some of those roads last night driving to my reading in Arlington). Many of the school's sidewalks and nearby walking paths had not been shoveled yet, they were asking volunteers to come help.

So he'll go to school late tomorrow. Finally. It'll be his 5th birthday. Today we made cupcakes for his class. Saturday we're having a party at a pottery studio.

We ordered a robot-shaped cake.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

spend your valentine's day with me

I'll read love poems, just for you.

Sunday, February 14, 2010; 8:15pm; Articles Press Hour, Iota Club & Cafe, Arlington, VA
Readers: Mel Nichols, Stewart Lupton, Reb Livingston

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

the beginning of the igloo

dream tags

Below are the tags (subjects) I dreamed so far in 2010:

14, 425, 49, 60, 6000, 7 (2), 8, alcohol, animal, AOL (3), art, Asian (3), aunt (3), baby (2), babysitter, bag, basement (2), beach (2), beads, bed, bedroom, bicycle, bird, birth, black, blankets, blog, blue (2), boat (3), books (5), bottle, boys, bra, bread, breath, bubbles, bug spray, bus (2), Bush, button, cafeteria, cage, calendar, Canada, candle, car (4), car accident, cat, center (3), cell phones, chair, cheese, child (5), champagne, children of poets (2), Christmas, christmas tree, Christianity, clam/oyster/shells, class (2), clay, circle, cleaning, clothing (2), clouds, college, coins, cookies (2), company, cosmetics (2), costume, cousin (3), crackers, credit card (2), crying, DC, death, dentist, destruction, dinner, directions (2), divorce, doctor (2), dogs, gods, dreams in dreams, dress, driving (9), drink (2), drugs, drunk, ducks, elevators, elk, email, explosion, eye, Facebook (4), father (2), fish (2), flying, food (3), galleys, game (2), garbage (2), gay, gender, gifts (2), gods, Google, great mother (2), green, gun, hair, handicapped, hospital, hotel (2), house, Inanna, inner authority (2), jail cell (2), jewelry (3), Jewish, joke, junk, kissing (3), kitchen, knife, knitting, lake, lesbian, library, love (3), lunch, map, medicine, mechanic, message (4), Middle East (2), milk, mother, mom (4), morning, museum, music, music video, nails, names (4), necklace, Neptune, New Year, No Tell (3), nude (2), nurse, NYC, office, ornaments, painting, pajamas, paper, Paris, parking garage, party (2), pawn, pearl, penis, photograph, pink, Pittsburgh, pizza, plant, poems (4), poets (21), poetry reading (3), poison, pools, photograph, pretzel, prisoner, putrification, queen, question, rabbit, recycle (2), red, restaurant (2), rejection, ring (2), robot, roommate, running, sales, school (3), science, security, sewing, sex (3), shirt, shoes, show, shower, sign (2), silver, singing (3), sleeping, slide, snake/serpent, snow (2), soda, song (2), speech, speeding, St. Agnes (3), steak, stick, store (2), string/yarn, student, table (2), taco, tall, teacher, telephone, teleportation, tent, test, theft, therapy, ticket/pass (2), time (2), toaster, toll, towel, toys, train, turquoise, underwear, uncle, undressing, vanilla, video game, violet, virgin, Virginia, vitamin, walking, water (2), weather, wedding (2), West Virginia, white, wheelchair (2), workshop, writing (2), yoga (3), zip code



Poets are well in the lead, trouncing driving!

snowf*ckyourself

Enjoying the pictures? Well good, cause we're supposed to be getting an additional 10-20" starting tomorrow afternoon.

Mind you, I live in Virginia, south of the Mason Dixon line.

Below are Chris' and Gideon's plans for tomorrow:


The Igloo from Aaron on Vimeo.




THAT ought to keep them out of my hair for a while.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Gideon wants it all.

He wants school tomorrow and he wants Snowmageddon. (December's storm was named Snowpocalypse) He's not getting his wish. Fairfax County just announced that schools are closed tomorrow. The latest prediction is that we'll get 16"-26" of snow. That's more than the December storm and this is supposed to be a "wet" snow, meaning heavy, meaning trees will come crashing down.

I decided to adjust my attitude towards the storm. I am now looking forward to it. I am looking forward to watching it from inside my home. I have embraced Gideon & Chris' excitement. Tonight I will wear my pajamas inside out and flush ice cubes down the toilet. (They taught Gideon that at school, for real)

I am choosing happiness.

Last night we went to the grocery store, which was packed, of course. I made what I thought was a joke about how I was going to run down the aisles screaming "oh my god!"

But Gideon said that's what I always do.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

They're predicting another thousand feet of snow this weekend. This is one of those boys vs. girls issues in the Livingston-Morrow abode. The boys love the snow, the girls (me and Darla, the cat) do not. I ventured into the snow on December 5 and the following day I broke my ass. I'm still emotionally scarred. If we do get a lot of snow, I'm staying indoors. I'm not getting back on that front stoop. I will live my life as the hobbit recluse I have become and I'll like it.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Upcoming Readings

Sunday, February 14, 2010; 8:15pm; Articles Press Hour, Iota Club & Cafe, Arlington, VA
Readers: Mel Nichols, Stewart Lupton, Reb Livingston

Friday, March 12, 2010; Bard Roving Reading Series, Hudson River Valley, NY
Readers: Reb Livingston and Celia Bland

Thursday, April 1, 2010; What's New in Poetry Reading Series, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Readers: Abe Smith, Matt Hart, Reb Livingston

Friday, April 9, 2010; 7-9pm; Meadowlark Bar, Denver, CO (AWP Conference offsite event)
Readers: Rachel Loden, Kate Greenstreet, Amy King, Aaron Belz, Arielle Greenberg, Daniel Borzutsky, Amy Guth, Ana Bozicevic, Susan Schultz, Peter Davis, Chad Parmenter, Katie Degentesh, Geoffrey Gatza, Janet Holmes, Tony Trigilio, Julie Dill, Tony Robinson, Reb Livingston, Ben and Sandra Doller, Steven Schroeder, Aaron Kunin, Kathy Ossip, Charles Alexander, Luc Simonic, Chris Davidson.

Friday, July 2, 2010; 8pm; Poetry Lab, The Soundry, Vienna, VA
Reader: Reb Livingston

Monday, February 1, 2010

Gideon's Homework





Love, exciting and new
Come aboard, we're expecting you
Love, life's sweetest reward
Let it flow, it floats back to you

Love Boat soon will be making another run
The Love Boat promises something for everyone
Set a course for adventure
Your mind on a new romance

And love won't hurt anymore
It's an open smile on a friendly shore
It's love
Welcome aboard
It's love!