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Monday
November 23, 2009
10:06am EST

Content Rating Notice: Recommended for Readers 18 Years and Older Only

>> Book >> Biographical >> ID #1568554 | Show Details

Red Sky At Night For A Sedentary Empress

She writes in all kinds of weather.

Rated:
18+

by:

katwoman45

Avg Rating:

(8)

Red Sky At Night [#1568565]
A new journal header.

Like a red morn, that ever yet betoken'd Wreck to the seaman‥Sorrow to shepherds.
-Venus & Adonis, William Shakespeare

They say there's doom in the red skies of morning, that a sailor should beware and take heed of Mother Nature and her fickle finger. No good comes from a blood red sky when the cock crows, or so the legend goes. Me, I'm more of a night person, and I like the idea that I may expect delight when the dusk brings on a full-flowered nightfall. I will always find myself more interested in looking at the red sky of night, knowing that something good is meant to happen, preferring to look to the west, than see the trouble looming from the east. I hope that this journal will be in keeping with my good intentions, that there are more tales of ruby-hued nights then there are mornings. I can't make any promises, though. I don't control the weather.

This is the fifth journal. The first three have been lost forever, bobbing somewhere in the seas of cyberworld. The fourth can be viewed here: "The Five Strands of A Sedentary Empress"

My need to purge knows no bounds, but as it seems to be the only exercise I get, I must press on.

There are 115 visible Entries. Viewing page 1 of 5 with 25 per page.

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10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

53 Minutes 50 Seconds ago, in response to "holding some moments forever is the goal"

partyof5

said:

Yes! Hail to the Prudes!

I am the same way in the men's locker room. I just don't understand, but maybe I'm the problem...haha. The description of your predicament in the women's locker room was hilarious!

As for the rest....hold onto those precious moments. Every single one of them. I know you will, but I have to say it anyway. My kids are teens now, and there are joys to these years as well, but I really miss those younger days. It just went way too fast. But, I guess there are grandchildren to enjoy somewhere down the road. Hopefully far down the road....

Beautiful entry, as always.

7 Days 22 Hours ago, in response to "coccygeal"

katwoman45

said:

Thank you!

I actually do feel like we have too much stuff, to quote George Carlin. When I think about it, none of my happiest memories involve 'stuff' at all, but rather experiences, which I am trying to focus on during this period of 'have not'. I'm not original, though. I know that a lot of people out there are feeling the same as I am and I hope that we use it as not just a learning experience, but a catalyst toward a less materialist way of life. I really do think it would be more beneficial.

Maybe poverty does breed character? Lol.

That said, if I win the lottery, ever, I am soooo going to have a frivolous time of it.

I appreciate the lovely words.

8 Days 14 Hours ago, in response to "coccygeal"

partyof5

said:

You know, I'm lazy these days and don't always comment when I read (which is a really bad habit, I know), but I absolutely love your blog. You have such a refreshing way of sharing your day, your thoughts, with such sincerity and honesty. It's like being on the other end of a really good conversation.

And I know you already know this, but the simple things will always be the best things. I often wish I could afford more, and the freedom money seems to offer, but in those times when I can afford it, I always come willingly back to the simple things.

Merry Christmas.

51 Days 23 Hours ago, in response to "Sticky."

Satuawany

said:

I find it hard to read about people who are 'stuck' in a life that isn't working.
I know just what you mean, there. I also find it hard to hear people talk about how they're going to get out, when I know they aren't---along with people who give up when they actually did have a good thing and just weren't able to see it.

But then, I think, who am I to judge? Maybe it isn't as good as it looks, and maybe the effort I think is all they need is actually too much effort. I dunno. But I do ponder it quite a bit.

I also give twenties when I mean to give tens from time to time, except for this past month or so, when I've been giving, like, ones. Course, I didn't actually realize that until just now.

I love this entry. Part of me wishes it were a lead in FtL. The other part of me's glad it isn't.

56 Days 21 Hours ago, in response to "Rhetoric"

Satuawany

said:

Ah, see, now I count all that thinking and pondering and mentally reworking as "writing." Well, for the purposes of the question I asked, anyway.

And I will sit down, jot out a poem in five minutes that had no life before that, and call it "done." But I don't call it---I dunno---"quality." It's an exercise or just for fun or a prod at the creative or any number of other things. Like I said---it's not a thing I'd ever post.

I think I worded my original question badly, but I only realized that when you two answered the questions I meant to ask.

That's pretty awesome. And so is all the insight.

57 Days 23 Hours ago, in response to "Rhetoric"

highly evolved

said:

I almost never rework something that's already done. Not because I don't think it can be improved upon, but because I'd rather just learn from my mistakes and move forward to something new. That said, there are phrases and images that recur in my poetry partially, I suspect, because I found a new way to say them that I find to be superior to however I said those same things previously.

58 Days 41 Minutes ago, in response to "Rhetoric"

katwoman45

said:

I think that a poem can be written in five minutes, but speaking in terms of what I think is my better work? I definitely need more than that. Like Aaron said, a lot of times the words are in my head for days or weeks before I actually sit down and try to write them out, but for some reason, they very often look different on the page and then suddenly other images come up, other words.

If I'm honest, most of my earlier attempts at poetry were five-minute to fifteen minute attempts, but for me it was about laziness, as well as an audience who told me the work was good when they didn't actually know a thing about writing. I believed them, because I wanted to be thought of as good, and only recently it occurred to me that if I really want to do it right, I need to put more thought and effort into it. I think this is because I'm not one of those people who can plot genius in a few seconds. I seriously have to work at it.

All that aside, I have come to understand the importance of editing. I used to think I didn't have to do it if my spelling was on target, but then I started the practice of 'reworking' things and have found that I get a much better result. I have poems that are five years old that are desperately in need of reworking, because when I wrote them they seemed 'good enough'. Maybe that's why Ezra Pound worked on The Cantos for fifty years and still didn't finish them. Geniuses seldom think their work is 'good enough'.

58 Days 2 Hours ago, in response to "Rhetoric"

highly evolved

said:

I have done that, written a poem in five minutes and called it done. But that was the actual writing. The putting it on paper or typing it into a word processor. I usually think about the words that go into a thing for a long time before I ever actually write them down. Days, sometimes. So I don't know if what I do counts as what you are asking about.

I don't think being adverse to the idea of writing a poem quickly is a hang up. I have friends who are also very good poets who labor over poems and work on them for hours if not days, rewriting and revising, again, on the page, or in the word processor. These are just people I know.

To speak in terms of poets who were professionals, Ezra Pound worked on The Cantos for almost fifty years, and still didn't finish them. Granted, it was a long poem, divided into 120 cantos, hence the name, but still. That's a long time. And Ezra Pound, though his politics were sketchy, is largely regarded as a poetic genius.

So, while I don't subscribe to the idea that anything you can do quickly is probably not done well, I also don't think it's a "hang-up" to believe in spending time making sure that something is the best that you can make it. After all, considering how things can be improved is the foundation of all human development. To quote Daft Punk, "Work it, make it, do it, makes us harder, better, faster, stronger."

58 Days 7 Hours ago, in response to "Rhetoric"

Satuawany

said:

It's always good to blame it on the alter-egos. That's my philosophy, anyhow.

Can I ask you a question? Okay, that was dumb---I am going to ask it. Do you ever, seriously, sit down and write a poem in five minutes and call it "done"? I've seen so many say this, and I always avoid poems with those descriptions, only because I know that if I post a poem I wrote in five minutes, it's only because I've drunk too much to know better and tomorrow I'm going to go all red about the face and delete it immediately.

It's been perplexing me for a while, making me wonder if I have some sort of hang-up, in that it takes a lot of work and thought for me to produce a poem. (Mainly because I've seen a few of those with five-star average ratings and I can only hang my jaw.)

And I feel that all the work is how it "should" be (but maybe just for me and a few others?)---that even if it does come quickly, it should still be petted and looked at and rethought, because I always find a better way for this imagery or that turn of phrase or what-have-you. Or else I discover the whole thing completely fails to bring across the idea, so I start over.

I've been meaning to ask others who write poetry, but I keep not having the right kind of opportunity to do so, and this seemed like one.

58 Days 8 Hours ago, in response to "Bloody Hell"

Satuawany

said:

Aw, dude, my first ever trip to the womanly doctor just about did me in for future visits. It was the other way around---male doctor, female doctor, jr. But he had to explain everything to her, as he did it. And, like, point things out. As if stripping weren't a Test of Will by itself.

Much wishes for betterness soon and I'm mentally pinching your husband for being too much like mine at times like that.

#115. holding some moments forever is the goal
---->> ID #677230 entered on 11-22-09 @ 6:24 pm EST

#114. Dip
---->> ID #676833 entered on 11-19-09 @ 10:48 am EST

#113. around the corner...
---->> ID #676683 entered on 11-18-09 @ 10:36 am EST

#112. i vent
---->> ID #676436 entered on 11-17-09 @ 9:35 am EST

#111. don't bug me
---->> ID #676378 entered on 11-16-09 @ 9:59 am EST

#110. parade
---->> ID #676312 entered on 11-15-09 @ 7:08 pm EST

#109. cat's eye
---->> ID #676261 entered on 11-15-09 @ 11:26 am EST

#108. coccygeal
---->> ID #676176 entered on 11-14-09 @ 8:38 pm EST

#107. Blood Simple
---->> ID #675934 entered on 11-12-09 @ 10:33 pm EST

#106. at the good ol' hockey game
---->> ID #675412 entered on 11-09-09 @ 9:34 am EST

#105. Raking Leaves
---->> ID #675214 entered on 11-07-09 @ 5:40 pm EST

#104. always grateful for a survey
---->> ID #674638 entered on 11-03-09 @ 10:53 pm EST

#103. Growling Pumpkin
---->> ID #674354 entered on 11-02-09 @ 10:25 pm EST

#102. Fort Henry
---->> ID #673886 entered on 10-30-09 @ 10:36 am EDT

#101. i have them lining up, *snort*
---->> ID #673552 entered on 10-27-09 @ 9:45 pm EDT

#100. bloodlines
---->> ID #673421 entered on 10-26-09 @ 11:14 pm EDT

#99. cold-skinned ones
---->> ID #673211 entered on 10-25-09 @ 11:17 am EDT

#98. romance
---->> ID #673165 entered on 10-27-09 @ 10:25 pm EDT

#97. Five
---->> ID #673045 entered on 10-23-09 @ 10:11 pm EDT

#96. puff
---->> ID #672512 entered on 10-19-09 @ 10:43 pm EDT

#95. Parking lot
---->> ID #672387 entered on 10-19-09 @ 10:58 am EDT

#94. Aorta
---->> ID #671981 entered on 10-16-09 @ 10:52 am EDT

#93. i don't always like him, much
---->> ID #671704 entered on 10-14-09 @ 10:23 am EDT

#92. Stingers
---->> ID #671632 entered on 10-13-09 @ 8:48 pm EDT

#91. makes me feel like a madman on the run
---->> ID #670949 entered on 10-08-09 @ 3:12 pm EDT

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