Music Monday

So, I've mentioned before how sometimes I become obsessed with one particular song and will listen to it again and again and again for days or even weeks? Well, this is another such song. I just absolutely adore it. And of course , my imagination is in full force for this one. Except, instead of imaging a video for it, I imagine a bunch of people elaborately dancing to it in costumes that are meant to invoke bird imagery. Like there's a group of people as parrots, bluejays, hawks, etc. And they aren't actual costumes, just elaborate outfits and headgear meant to allude to birds. And we're at a huge ballroom as part of a several days long festival which includes not only dancing but also fights, fencing as well as hand-to-hand, and other feats of strength and athleticism. There's a great deal of intrigue as our particular subculture may be gearing up to become involved with warring factions in the outside world and we must navigate what our vows and beliefs mean and how those should factor into any decisions we might make moving forward. But for the time being, we dance, even with those among us we disagree with with, especially because refusing a dance is seen as a grave insult.

Post-Fear Project Kind of Life

   My participation in David Wellington's Fear Project has come to an end. Oh well. I can honestly say it really was just an honor to compete. I got my work read alongside some very, very talented writers and learned a lot about writing in general and horror specifically. It is helpful to have a tight deadline and be forced to be as concise as possible without letting quality falter. The prompts Mr. Wellington has been devising are exceedingly challenge which makes them extraordinarily good for developing writing in my opinion.
  Also, James Hatton was kind enough to do me the honor of using my name in his next story. I gotta say, I am excessively flattered and reading about myself getting killed off was so exciting and funny. The project has been amazing and the participants continue to deliver. Speaking of which, one is doing a series on an idea developed during the contest that can be read at: https://leeandrewforman.wordpress.com/silenceinthewillowfield/prologue/
 For now, I am focusing on poetry for the rest of April. Camp Nanowrimo is going well and I am in two poetry classes right now. One through Apiary that is based on generating ideas and forming poems from them and includes weekly feedback, and a free one sponsored by the Iowa's Writing Workshop through Canva. I haven't written poetry in a while and it is a fun and interesting experiment in being concise, focusing on imagery and action, and really looking at what is trying to be said or conveyed. Also, I am experimenting with new forms I haven't in the past including free verse and the triolet.
  Also, refocusing on a novel I've been working on for some time now, and hoping to have it query or publishing ready by July. Haven't decided on if I will query agents/publishers or publish it independently yet. But I will say it is a YA realistic book, and as of right now doesn't have a romance plot or sub-plot. I'm wondering if that might make it a hard sale if I try to go the traditional route.
  Hopefully the weather will let up and I will be able to skip over to Shakespeare in the Park. But Spring in Florida is gonna do what it wants to do. For now, back to making faint attempts at cleaning. Amazing how motivated I can be to update the blog when cleaning is the other option. Oh well, I like to make the most out of days I feel energetic, especially when housebound by the weather, as I can.

Changed: The Bait by John Donne

I credit this as the poem that started it all. And I mean really started it all. Few words have moved me as much as the opening ones of this one, and few poets have gotten me so enamored with them on the basis of one poem as John Donne. Reading this poem for the first time was like falling down the rabbit hole with no desire to stop the descent. Reading this poem made me decide that I wanted, with all my heart, to "do that."  http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173350

The Bait

BY JOHN DONNE

Come live with me, and be my love,

And we will some new pleasures prove

Of golden sands, and crystal brooks,

With silken lines, and silver hooks.

There will the river whispering run

Warm'd by thy eyes, more than the sun;

And there the 'enamour'd fish will stay,

Begging themselves they may betray.

When thou wilt swim in that live bath,

Each fish, which every channel hath,

Will amorously to thee swim,

Gladder to catch thee, than thou him.

If thou, to be so seen, be'st loth,

By sun or moon, thou dark'nest both,

And if myself have leave to see,

I need not their light having thee.

Let others freeze with angling reeds,

And cut their legs with shells and weeds,

Or treacherously poor fish beset,

With strangling snare, or windowy net.

Let coarse bold hands from slimy nest

The bedded fish in banks out-wrest;

Or curious traitors, sleeve-silk flies,

Bewitch poor fishes' wand'ring eyes.

For thee, thou need'st no such deceit,

For thou thyself art thine own bait:

That fish, that is not catch'd thereby,

Alas, is wiser far than I.

Musical Monday

Few movies move me like Whiplash does. An absolutely engrossing film with an amazing soundtrack.

Short film: Doll Face

One of my favorite shorts:

Musical Monday

I like to do unplanned things often, especially when timing and finances line up to make things just so. In this instance, I found out, through a local arts and entertainment magazine, about an outdoor concert being hosted by a cellist and composer.  I got a bit lost on the way. As I was wandering a dark street with no sidewalks and wondering if a particular abandoned building might be the space I was looking for, I almost considered not going. But as I walked closer to the creepily dark building I realized there was an open space behind it, and the music I could hear drifting from it was alluring enough to get me to follow through with attending the show. I was not disappointed to have gone and had a wonderful time (even more so once I moved from the grass to one of the benches). The musician in question was Takenobu and I enjoyed the variety of styles he offered during the performance. Have you ever discovered a new musician/performer/entertainer by chance or on a whim? How'd it go?

Yellow Fever - Short film

Slightly NSFW (brief shots of pubic hair/breast).

Yellow Fever

I especially love the way bodies are used to convey tension and panic, and how the video cuts from animation to physical representation and dancers.