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 |   Enga mellom fjella: where from across the meadow, poems sing from mountains and molehills. |
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Enga mellom Fjella  Sentinel Marked as if you own me I bow before the Bitterroots and just like you my rocky soil, my withered grass lays prey to the empty sky. © Kåre Enga 2007 "Sentinel"   Reader's Choice of Poems: "Zmitri" "Glice" "Tales told over scones and hot tea" "Boise City" "Mauve Mavis" Reader's Choice of blog entries from my old blog "L'aura del Campo" :"Death of Jeannie New Moon" "Winter: 18 Mas'il (December 29)" "In a garden of roses, baby" "Holy day. Autumn in November. A mole." "ENFP, what are you?" FACES     PLACES            Kåre  Enga~ until everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow! And I let the fish go. ~ Elizabeth Bishop The Fish |
| Me: The filmfest is over. Since I no longer have that distraction... 1.) I'm limiting myself to purchasing one suit a day. An Italian all-wool suit for $10 is far too tempting. Got one for my friend Nick. It's long in the seam and in the cuffs (too long for me, right for him?). It'll need to be adjusted. However... it'll still be Italian! I spoke to Nick over the weekend and he'll need a good suit for Law School. 2.) Nick and I will need to talk more about him taking over my place for awhile so I can travel. It's only two rooms but includes everything in the rent. Ideal for a student. Which leaves me wondering what I'll do... trip around the world? ...use Costa Rica as a base? ...visit friends? 3.) Tickets... still cannot make up my mind. Must make it up soon. If I snooze I lose. Kalin highly recommended Western Ireland and Cork. I may only have time for Cork. 4.) I have bank issues, postal box issues, issues... I a.v.o.i.d. Therefore, at times my life gets out-of-sync. Time to make checklists... again... 5.) Checklists for trip. Yeah, that too. Checklist to call/keep-in-touch with friends? So many lists. I wanted to send some of my chapbooks off to friends. Having gifts to send was one reason I made them. 6.) Nope. No #6. That would be breaking Scarlett's Law of 5. I hope to be able to report progress on the above this week. The weather has been white, windy, cold and glorious. It may warm up a bit in a couple days. Easier to get around on foot when it's above freezing. May you-all enjoy the last gasps of winter. |
| me: It's snowing. Nice blanket of fresh white. Hides the ice... May snow until Monday or Tuesday. A big storm by Western Montana standards if it adds up to over a foot. We were at 130% snowpack in the mountains earlier this week. This bodes well for water through summer. Last year was extremely dry... about 70% of normal precipitation. All deviance from normal upsets people, it seems. We plan our lives based on "normal", on tomorrow being the same as yesterday. It isn't, of course. Those of us who had to be flexible while we were younger approach change with less alarm than others. And things change. Conservatives and traditionalists around the world face an uncertain future with fear. The oppressed face it with hope... in spite of apparent setbacks. They've been there before. In our personal lives, flexibility and openness is the key. It isn't always easy. I'll try to remember this in the coming year. My ability to remain/become open and flexible will most assuredly be challenged. Pray I'm up to the challenge as the snow piles up and again when it melts. |
| Eu, eu ,eu... Não quero viajar. Eu vou a Portugal em março? Traveling is a gift. It puts many things in perspective: health, wealth, cultural blind-spots. I'm coping with the notion that I'm just too tired. But, if I don't... So then I think: Can I afford this? So trip may be rethought. Portugal, Northern Spain?, flight to Poland then Norway or Ireland then England then Norway? I dunno. But... two threads remain constant: 1.) Portugal. Not too expensive. Gives me chance to to reacquaint myself with Portuguese. I can take notes for new vampire stories.  2.) Norway. Expensive = 50 ways to cook with fishcakes. One month in residence to practice language and culture. I need to know whether Norway is in my future as a place to live or study. It's an ab-fab place to visit. In the meantime I need to find where I put my poetry books. I need to resurrect my vampire stories and character interviews. MY vamps need to be alive! Oh, the joy of being me! Today and yesterday, I went to the Big Sky Film Festival. Four sessions. I just can't take more. I'm not used to sitting and watching anything. I don't turn on my TV often to watch VHS tapes. I have no "real" TV. I saw a film taking place in Brisbane, Australia, one about the horses of Iceland, a few filmed here in Montana and specifically here in Missoula, teenagers filming in 36 hours in Suquamish Nation, etc... about 20 short films in all. |
| Me, me, me! Echoing my "Speak soft my name" poem... It went well. Over thirty came. Kathy Kopp read first (in spite of having pneumonia). I started from the back with "I, Katrina" in a loud-like-a-hurricane voice, crown and scepter... I got their attention! Then Parris (long bearded and quirky; he had introduced Kathy as well and actually did the illustrations in her book) introduced me. I continued (without scepter and crown, dressed in basic black shoes, pants, shirt and coat with a red scarf) with "bargain basement bin" (think Tulsa and humorous-serious), "Speak soft my name" (soft, crescendo, sultry, surprising), "Once in Iceland" (straight forward imagery) for my friend Kate and the very soft and hopeful "In the midst of silence" I wrote for Shaziane Codrington. Shannon, dressed in her 80's outfit complete with purple-auburn hair, introduced my chapbook. (She and Parris were two of the four who chose the poems). I read in order: "Walk among these hills", "Crossing Quicksand" (Wilton and his girlfriend Erika in the audience), "In flight", "Yaktracks", "Frames" (Lorin's brother Marshall was there), "Questions" (Kathy was right in front... perfect as poem is whiny...). I ended with "Bridge players" which I should re-title "King of hearts". I did well. How do I know? When Nancy, who is allergic to poetry, radiates and says she loved it...  .Also, I didn't bore folks. It's good that Kathy and I presented together. A smaller crowd would've been disappointing. We got different ages and backgrounds and pulled from a larger pool of readers. This is always good. Anyhoo... no idea when/where I next present but I feel confident I could do it again... if I had the right audience! Someday... England.  48.446 |
I guess they read what I printed out on red paper and put on their tables yesterday. And today? They haven't lynched me yet.  Me: I'm on my second or third cup of coffee. Tomorrow I'll need to drink one in the morning and cut myself off. Can't afford any jitters before I present. I have large print copies of poems ready to read from. I'm hoping to find a victim to read them to today... Joyce comes to mind... It's sunny at the moment. Snow this morning. The temps are moderating. Beautiful day. I'll eat my turkey sandwich and mashed potatoes, sit with friends, chill. Go over my presentation as I still have time to tweak it and do anything I've somehow missed. Ah... the life of an artist. (I wasn't nearly this disciplined working in an office for years.) In other snews... hope this blog gets to 50,000 views by Mid-Spring. Maybe I should write better blogs? |
| ME: Sold one book... unexpected. Read my "Bridge players" poem and someone wanted to spend $10 on a book! I'm surviving on coffee and chocolate (and salmon and...). I'll need to limit myself to one cup Wednesday morning. Last of invites out. Just need to focus on presentation. I'll be fine.  In two more days it'll be time to strut. In three it'll be o.v.e.r. 48.351 |
| Yo! I washed clothes. I visited with people, always remembering to mention my reading. I made copies of three poems to put up in my building, place on tables at Bernice's and show the bridge players at the Senior Center. I made large-print copies so I can read better. I've planned my presentation and worked on it. I posted "In flight" my poem for Pepper. Tomorrow I'll post "Bridge players". I'm working it. If I were a pole dancer I'd be famous by now! The most important part of the day was calling Kathy Kopp who will present with me. She starts; I follow. There was some concern about her health but that seems to be resolved. Between her friends and my friends we are hoping for a full house. It's possible. Not that big a place really... over 20 will be fine. 40 will be a bit much, but we'll manage! Someone asked if I were getting excited. Frankly, I can't afford to get that hyped up. I need to do my work, be prepared and feel confident. I can get excited after the reading! So, think kind thoughts my way Wednesday evening. |
| Me: I must maintain focus. My reading is Wednesday at 7 at our local Shakespeare & Co. From my rooms that's 42 steps down and take a right. It's in the same building. So far the forecast is cloudy and above freezing. A real break. My goal is to get a minimum of twenty of my friends to attend. That means inviting 100. I'm inviting everyone I see! Although I've told friends before, this last minute work is essential. People forget or get side-tracked. I must stay focused. Plan A and B: Kathy will present before me... or not. I have to be ready for both scenarios. I intend to start with some well-known performance poems that I feel comfortable with. 1. Start from the back with "I Katrina". Shannon can get me a crown and a scepter ...I only need a red cape!. 2. Parris introduces me. 3. I continue with three of four poems, including "Speak soft my name" and "bargain basement bin". 4. Shannon introduces "This and every November". 5. I read: "Walk among these hills" (joy, awe; ask people to imagine themselves walking the hills north of town in winter), "Crossing quicksand" (a serious voice; chess, law, Bernice's Bakery), "In flight" (surprise voice; the annual September fashion show in Hip Strip in front of where I read), "Yaktrax" (pensive, motherly; Pattee Creek Canyon), "Frames" (imagine yourself a student, ill, spaced-out? Bernice's Bakery), 'Questions" (whiny, desperate voice re mental health), "Bridge players" (resigned, love lost; Senior Center). So many groups and individuals to reach out to. The 7 Missoula poems are for people the audience will know. Hopefully Pepper, Wilton (so far yes), Kathy, some of the bridge players and Marshall (Lorin's brother) can attend. Lavinia already has an obligation; however, friends will be there. I can only hope that those who've said yes weren't just being polite. So... if I seem less communicative it may be that I'm just trying to stay focused. |
 me Which side do you choose? In the political bruhaha in Costa Rica I didn't have to choose sides. It wasn't my election; it's not my lindo país.  Basically I'm a social-libertarian with blue collar roots that go back to Sweden. But... I don't have to choose... so I don't. Some things in life though demand a choice. Socks or no socks for example. On a snowy cold morning like today the choice is easy to make. This morning the breeze was out of the east. This meant I walked down the alley on the west side of buildings. Yesterday I walked on the east side to bask in the weak rays of the sun. In summer I walk in shade. In Costa Rica I walk on the north side of buildings in January, the south side in June to avoid the sun. So many choices. Most aren't critical. But some... like what we believe... do make a difference. I may choose to have a small party at my place for a Bahá'í holiday or festival this year. The New Year (171 B.E.) came to mind but I may be in Portugal. Perhaps 'Ayyam-i-Ha at the end of February (it's a gift giving time... and I have chapbooks up the wazoo). Still, belief is a choice. Then there is how we behave. Certainly by choice most of the time but habits are ruts that are hard to get out of. The way we are brought up may make change difficult. Traumas are tricky at best and can be sub-conscious. But who-we-are... as in... I AM WHO I AM... may not be a choice. Did I choose to be the #1 child? Did I choose to have poor eyesight as a child? Did I choose to be me or am I just ME? I guess I'm tired of considering who-I-am to be a choice. Time to just shrug my shoulders and accept this. Time to understand that my right shoulder is going nowhere without my left. |
| ME! I arrived to cold weather 2ºF. This morning it was -22ºF. It could be worse. Atlanta was rainy; Minneapolis was cold; Missoula was frigid. Late and couldn't get a ride = taxi for $17. Ouch. Lost my keys sometime after Atlanta. Need to call Delta. Woke up a neighbor who has my spare key. No big deal. Geraniums were blooming nicely and since I was bone-tired but not sleepy I started to unpack. The chores of coming back... I've eaten a couple of $3 lunches but must soon get to an ATM machine, and the grocery store... With the cold, wish me luck. |
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