Humanyms

Picture that

Reaching for chocolate but,

Oh No! Foil again!

(But don’t you fret for me. I have backups.)

Over at Pesbo, talking about line breaks and prose versus poetry

Quote: “When a person acts without knowledge of what he thinks, feels, needs or wants, he does not yet have the option of choosing to act differently.” – Clark Moustakas

Horseplay

[via Cute Overload]

I didn’t know horses played like that. I’ve seen playful racing with other horses or running alone for sheer joy but this toy idea is new to me.

It’s already weekend and am I done what I want to be? Nooo.

Book Link: The Anthologist by Nicholson Baker is a novel of a man writing an introduction to his anthology of rhyme, or rather avoiding writing it. From p. 21, looking at the poem in The New Yorker,

Let’s have a look at this poem. Here it is, going down. You can tell it is a poem because it is swimming in a little gel pack of white space. That shows it is a poem. All the typography on all sides has drawn back. The words are making room, they’re saying, Rumble, rumble, stand back now this is going to be good.

Exact strike on my funny bone. (How did Deb know this book would appeal to me so well?) From p. 55-57,

Rhyming is the avoidance of mental pain by addicting yourself to what will happen next. It’s like chain-smoking — you light one line with the glowing embers of the last. You set up a call and you wants a response. You posit a pling and yu want a fring. You propose a plong, and you want a frong. You’re in suspense.

[...] Alcohol, coffee, rhyme, murder mysteries, gambling, Project Runway, anything with suspense. Sending out letters. Poets who have reached a certain point of depression are great letter writers, because they write a letter, and they send it out, and until they get a response they are in suspense about what the response will be [...]I never never answer letters, so I keep my correspondents in a state of permanent suspense.

He is unabashedly silly by runs, yet it’s a vehicle for his subject. His intercut leaps are quirky, which I haven’t sampled there. The effect works by the long run and sudden turn that loops back pages. It’s the shifts of energy and what all. I’m not sure. But if I laugh-squeak could split atoms, we’d have a new reactor here.

Quote: “Poets are our designated grievers, and if they weren’t allowed to be sad, we’d have none of the great moments of Auden.” ~ Nicholson Baker, p. 57 of above

Food Bloggers

Last night we went to a food blogger event sponsored by the Chicken Farmers of Canada was at The Urban Element, “a culinary event studio” on Parkdale in the old Fire Hall.

Yes, Chicken Farmers. Huh. And a cooking demo promised.

I must say I had instant vision of flurry of feathers and squawks. And after a pause, I emailed back to say, um, I’m a vegetarian food blogger… but Ryan assured that there would be vegetarian fare as well.

About 40 people came. Interesting to think of a constellation of people who independantly pull out their cameras at restaurants like I do. Who knew there were that many food bloggers?

Well, Don Chow at Foodie Prints might have. He follows over 50 locally. He introduced Jenn as “the better half of my blog”. (Is that not a cute phrase! She, btw, is pictured in foreground left up there.) In the meet and greet, a few of these people were meeting live for the first time. Interesting to meet people behind these things and compare restaurant notes and like-minded. Apparently such meetups are more common — i.e. they happen — in Toronto.

Ron Eade was the guest speaker. Delightful man, if you didn’t already know that.

(And I’m not just saying that because he said my food blog had a beautiful template and salivating food porn. But that helps. )

He talked about homemade food, and sodium, behind the scenes with celebrity chefs, constraints and good practice in blogging and food blogging.

And he spoke of respect for the animal that committed its life for a meal and the new movement of nose to tail eating. Why not the whole animal. No waste. Fewer animals. Interesting. A lot to mull but not today.

Here are the kitchen staff working on more rounds of food.

Resident Chef, Candice Butler gave a food demo.

There’s more at EatenUp.

Quote: “Well thanks to God, I soon learned to be just as happy when folks said ‘Isn’t she funny’ as if they had ah-ed and oh-ed and exclaimed ‘Isn’t she beautiful.’” ~ Marie Dressler (1868-1934) Academy award winning comic actress in My Own Story

Glad Presiding: ditch and other things

Rather cool in poetry news….I’m in ditch, anthology 2 (canadian women) (innovative poets) which was launched today. People in the anthology: Marine Gadd, Nathalie Simpson, Erín Moure, Chris Turnbull, a. rawlings, Nathalie Stephens, Margaret Christakos, Amy Dennis, J. Mae Barizo, Elizabeth Bachinsky, Christine McNair, Lynn Crosbie, Liz Worth, Alice Burdick, M. Jay Smith, Louise Ball, Ingrid Ruthig, Frances Kruk, Judith Copithorne, MAC Farrnat, Nathalie Zina Wlaschots, Meredith Quartermain, Susie DeCoste, Camille Martin, Pearl Pirie, patti sinclair and Sandra Huber.

Have you seen these seasonal mushrooms? Pink Oyster. Apparently they last about 12 hours so I had to make quick work of them. They have a rich scent. Probably informed part of my dream situated in a mushroom farm.

I know people tend to follow this blog or the other but Eaten Up is still updating daily. Related to there, I’ve decided to accept an invitation to an Ottawa Food blogger meetup. What could I lose? Probably nothing. I’ll probably tell you after tomorrow.

Glad Game: Apart from the above, this sense of ampleness of life has been most persistent today. I haven’t felt harried and hurried as I have been from time immoral (from time immortal, time a morel? Skunk it. You know what I mean.)

I feel grateful in life to have been gifted by healers and sharers and those who witness what I say and do and don’t judge or begrudge, or go into a flapping tailspin, just nod and we all keep going in loose or tight formation.

I am glad to know that a few people I’m fond of are making time for reconnection and regrouping and decompressing.

Glad to get out for a walk and re-remember that sense of hot burn when really cold skin starts to warm up again. (Glad also for every heating vent en route.)

Glad to actually arrive early at the dentist. I surprised the front desk, that’s for sure. On time, I have managed. Late? Oh my, yes. Early might be a first. Plus, I managed to trip over a rather prominent chair and sprawl diagonally, causing her to laugh. She apologized, and then started again. It’s ok, I said, slapstick is my sideline.

Quote: “He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away.” ~ Raymond Hull

Winter Scenes

The canal entrance is a kiss and two hugs away?

Plenty seem to have found it.

The brown bread bakery (that’s the name, right? Bank and Somerset?) had these cute cheesecakes to get themselves ready for Feb 14th, or skating. Either, or.

A technical aside…sorry I’ve added a captcha. I’ve got 4 spam blockers and still have to manually weed. It’s either that or remove the field for websites.

So far as the reading Thursday, wow, long time ago already. I didn’t take photos to speak of. I’d guess somewhere around 60 came to the reading. It all seemed to go tickety-boo. The crowd seemed happy. The curator and artist we did the ekphrastic from seemed pleased. John ended up sending a poem which Carmel read. Each performance was distinct in style and content.

I was wiped for a couple days. Saturday was a haiku meeting so that was uplifting of energies. Today wasn’t as productive as I’d hoped but oh well. Tomorrow is a new day.

TVO’s Big Ideas has Leonard Mlodinow, (of The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives which I’ve mentioned here a couple times). Lovely overview of how the brain tricks itself with pattern expectations.

Quote: “Every time I think that I’m getting old, and gradually going to the
grave, something else happens.” – Lillian Carter