Friday, September 28, 2012

FROST PARK: SANRIO ZOMBIE HUNTERS


Frost Park Chalk Off 5:26 was "zombie hunter" themed.  So what should inspire TWT but a few characters from the Sanrio collection.  Zombie hunter Badzt Maru (with flamethrower), Zombie Hello Kitty, and zombie hunter Tuxedo Sam (with machete) made a nice "birthday present" for The Niece.  She wasn't too thrilled with it, by the way, and "refused to accept" her gift.  Oh well.  Perhaps next year.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

FROST PARK: DEATH METAL

The theme for yesterday's Frost Park Chalk Off (season 5, episode 25) was "zombies."  TWT decided to draw a zombie Moby Dick, erupting from an American flag peppered with the "death metal" of harpoons. 


"Death Metal" by Troy's Work Table.


Detail of "Death Metal" by Troy's Work Table.  The stars of the flag's blue field were a last minute addition, but they felt right.  They helped bring some of the flag back to the sea of blue, with the small white figures representing the men of the Pequod flung into the ocean when Moby (Zombie) Dick attacks.

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This piece won Frost Park Chalk Off 5:25.  TWT and The Child will be attending The 2012 Tacoma Zombpocalypse due to the tickets he won as his prize!

Thursday, September 20, 2012

POET LAUREATE


Washington State Poet Laureate Kathleen Flenniken read at the Gig Harbor Library this evening.  It was a refreshing reading due to the fact that not only did she read from her own work, but she likewise highlighted a few of her current favorite Washington poets by reading a poem from each of them—"A Moment in My Rented Room" by Koon Woon (Seattle); "Crimson Hat" by Jean Musser (Tacoma); "Needle" by Joseph Green (Longview); and "Bonaparte Gulls" by Dorothy Trogdan (Orcas Island).

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Her own work was divided into three distinct "sets" of material—
(1) new music-themed poems that she is working into a collection
-"The Recital"
-"En modo di (In the manner of)"
-"Let Me Sleep Twenty More Minuets" (pun intended)

(2) poems from her first book Famous
-"The League of Minor Characters"
-"Lost Coat, Please Call"
-"Life and Art"
-"The Minor Celebrities")

and
(3) poems from her most recent book Plume
-"Mosquito Truck"
-"Whole Body Counter, Marcus Whitman Elementary"
-"Coyote"

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Flenniken's reading was perfect.  Her voice was soothing and inviting.  She provided enough background on each poem without drowning it in such.  She was a commanding presence with a large and welcoming personality in evidence.  I could have sat and listened to her voice for a couple more hours.  I think she could make anyone's poems come to life in her own reading of them.

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I also liked her two goals for her stint as Washington State Poet Laureate.  The first is to hold readings in each of Washington's thirty-nine counties, especially since she herself felt cheated growing up in Richland and saw Eastern Washington often passed over for literary events, with even Spokane usually losing out to Seattle and/or Tacoma.  The second is to focus poetry workshops on third, fourth, and fifth graders—a group that is just learning how to really utilize metaphors, without all the encumbrances of adolescence and adulthood.

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I highly recommend the poetry of Kathleen Flenniken to you, especially as I've read Plume many times over, discovering new passages that sing to me on each reading, and, now, having heard her voice illuminate her poems (and those of other poets) in ways that make them sing even bolder.

(If you live in Washington state, then keep your eyes open for a reading near you! )

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Kathleen Flenniken's blog.

The Far Field, focusing on Washington poets.

Washington State Poet Laureate at Humanities Washington.


Friday, September 14, 2012

FROST PARK: AMERICAPUS

Frost Park Chalk Off 5:24 was another chalk event without theme.  Therefore, it felt right to default to the traditional cephalopods.  With the upcoming election being bandied about everywhere, it felt right to remind people to remember to vote.  Hopefully, the inundation of the inane political chatter doesn't turn people off so that they forget to exercise their right to help determine the direction of our nation.


"Americapus" by Troy's Work Table.


Detail of Americapus herself.


Detail of the mini-octopuses.


Americapus and her patriotic cohorts were chalked on a wall behind a concrete planter filled with red, white, and blue flowers.

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Remember to vote on Tuesday 06 November 2012!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

WILD RUMORS OF REALITY

"They looked at the two sets of text in front of them.  Slue's copy suddenly appeared to be very plain, short, and uninteresting when compared to the image floating in front of Hieronymous, where the sentences described things they did not fully understand, and passages appeared to be written for the beauty of themselves, and the images they provoked, and the sounds they made as the words were echoed in the reader's mind." 
—page 59, One Hundred Percent Lunar Boy by Stephen Tunney.

Sunday, September 09, 2012

SUSSEX SPECKLED


Sussex speckled hen.  Chicken barn at the Puyallup Fair.  Puyallup, Washington.  Friday 07 September 2012.

(I spent a lot of time in the chicken barn.)

Saturday, September 08, 2012

RHODE ISLAND RED


Rhode Island Red rooster.  Chicken barn at the Puyallup Fair.  Puyallup, Washington.  Friday 07 September 2012.

Friday, September 07, 2012

CATTLE RUN


The annual cattle run that begins the Puyallup Fair.  Meridian Avenue, Puyallup, Washington.

Saturday, September 01, 2012