April 16, 2008

Dear Reader,

Well, my mood has been much better today than it was when I made my last entry. I'm really looking forward to Sunday. I'm probably going to participate in The Poetry Bomb, which is something that my pal, Esteban Colon, has organized. Basically, at 3:30 PM in the afternoon, poets all over Chicago are going to recite poetry in a public place---any public place. Apparently, Esteban has grown tired of poets writing and reading only for other poets; he's intent on bring poetry to the masses. Thus, The Poetry Bomb. And later on Sunday evening, I'm off to Loyola University, where the WLUW studio is located. I'm going to be on the radio! If you're interested in listening, you can go to my "goings on" page for details.

I'm also really looking forward to the May/June issue of HereThere. We have received so many great articles from contributors this issue.

I'm getting a lot from acting as Editor-in-Chief of HereThere. Some of the good things I've gotten out of it have had to do with people I've had a chance to connect with as a result of seeking out quality writers and artists. How cool is it that Anais Mitchell, who just happens to be on Ani Difranco's label, Righteous Babe Records, is contributing to the HereThere's music section? On the other hand, some of the bad things I've gotten out of it have had to with the contributor/editor relationship. I've gotten a couple of very strange reactions from a couple of contributing writers. For intance, one writer, who is already contributing to an upcoming issue, sent a second, unsolicted article for consideration, and then, three weeks later, sent a nasty email requesting that the article be removed from consideration since I obviously hadn't appreciated his efforts. I'd promptly responded to his email containing the second article, intimating that I would keep the article on file, as he'd suggested I do, and had left it at that. Never did I expect that three weeks later, I'd be on his bad list. The funny thing is that I can almost understand his lashing out; after all, I've waited for months for editors to respond to a submission, and know what it's like to have to wait and wait for an envelope or an email. But that's the thing! I've waited for months. Three weeks is nothing! And this particular writer is very experienced. An experienced writer should know better than to lash out because they didn't receive the response they wanted at the time they wanted it. I expect editors to be professional, but I'm not at all surprised when they do not behave professionally. I had behaved professionally and appropriately in this instance. I didn't deserve a nasty email.

The great thing about the whole nasty email experience is that because I knew I hadn't been in the wrong, I could honestly chalk the whole thing up to "That's the way it goes." I didn't get flustered and send an equally nasty reply. I sent a calm, even-handed reply in which I actually apologized for any misunderstanding, clarified my position, and then confirmed that the article would be removed from consideration.

What more could I have done?

Bronmin
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April 11, 2008

Dear Reader,

I did a great deal of reading for pleasure yesterday, which is something that I haven't been able to do much of since launching HereThere and Poet's Kitchen. I read a chapter or so of an Anne Sexton biography, then excerpts from a collection of prose by Robert Lowell. I enjoyed the quiet time, and comparing my own views about poetry with Sexton's and Lowell's.

I enjoyed the quiet time, but must also confess that by the time I put the Lowell book down, I felt...heavy. I realized that despite all that I am doing right now, I am not doing enough. I squander my talents, my mind. I don't study enough. Maybe I don't know how to be a writer and be happy. It's easier to distract myself with editing the work of others, or by getting involved in writing-related projects that take me away from my own work, than to try and learn how to write and remain composed and even-minded when it comes to the rest of my life. Would I rather be happier and write less, or be less happy and write more? Why is it that I feel that these are my only choices?

The problem is that if I choose to be happier and write less, all I am doing is making a choice, and making a choice isn't the same thing as finding a solution.

Bronmin
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March 1, 2008

Dear Reader,

If the last couple of months have been a whirlwind, the next couple of months should be a downright hurricane.

I feel so incredibly grateful for the support I've gotten in regards to my new arts e-zine, HereThere. I've been particularly impressed by the support I've gotten from the poetry community here in Chicago. There are some incredibly gifted and community-minded writers and performers living in this city of mine. Charlie Newman agreed to help host the open mic round robin at the HereThere Launch Party. C.J. Laity, author of Disco Hypnotic and founder of www.chicagopoetry.com, posted the announcement for the HereThere Launch Party on his website. A couple of friends and kindred spirits came to my reading at Jaks Tap on the 18th of February, despite the terrible cold, just to lend their support. And Michael C. Watson, who was also at the Jaks Tap reading, offered to have me contribute to his radio show, Wordslingers, at some point in the future. It's all so wonderful!

I don't mean to drop names---unless, that is, doing so means that you'll be inspired to seek out some of these fine people. I'm just so thrilled---even warmed (which is saying something in the midst of a still very icy Chicago winter), by this new influx of support.

I'm not saying that my life is running smoothly, or that every day is a bucket of dandelions. When I say that it's all so wonderful, I mean that I wonder at just how full my life and days are becoming.

You might remember, if you follow my sort of blog, or even just my newsletters, about how I was once moved by a show on PBS that featured a woman who, after a painful divorce, had traveled around the world in an effort to reclaim herself, even though not all of her friends and family had thought it was a good idea for her to do so at the time. I'd caught only the end of the program, but what I'd seen had been enough to inspire me. I was struck by the woman when she said something like, 'It's an incredible thing when your life matches you, and you match your life.'

Not long after seeing that PBS program, I decided to leave my corporate position. I decided to freelance, and to work on more projects that were in alignment with my spirit. I was ready to hear the music of my life played loudly, and often.

Today, I am working, working like a bird building its nest, to make my life match who it is I am. If things go even remotely the way that I hope that they will, there will be, at the very least, more dancing, more lunches with a good friends, more doing in the spirit of things, and less dealing with the wrong sort of hullabaloo. An abundance of cheese plates, flower pots, paintings, and children, wouldn't hurt, either. A little rock-n-roll wouldn't hurt, either.

W.S. Merwin once wrote the now famous lines, "Today belongs to few and tomorrow to no one." I should have those words tattooed on my chest. I should have, as you should have, a reason, or two, or a thousand, to celebrate.

Ah, wouldn't it be wonderful? Shouldn't it all, in one way or another, be wonderful?

Bronmin
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February 5, 2008

Dear Reader,

Guess who got an acceptance letter from After Hours today? It looks as though my poem, "A Poet Rides Out," is going to be appearing in their next issue. I feel like a real Chicagoan!

I also want to mention that I had my Jaks Tap reading date wrong. I'm going to be featured on February 18th. I'd love to see you there!

Bronmin