52 things in 52 weeks
first off, let me say... HAPPY NEW YEAR!

anyone who knows me, knows i am a lover of lists. i don't abide by them always but there's something comforting about lists of things to be accomplished and acquired... goals lists, grocery lists, task and to do lists (honey-do lists), wish lists, "40 by 40" lists, favorite moments lists, favorite songs lists, people i admire lists, favorite food lists, best books lists... even list poems. they are easy and they inspire me; they keep me moving onward and upward.

so, in the spirit of lists, i am writing my first blog of the year... you guessed it... as a list. not a list of resolutions. more like a list of 52 things i hope to do before year's end. things to help me break out of my daily routine and awaken the muse in me. in 2011, i don't feel like i had enough writerly moments. this list is meant to inspire the writer in me throughout 2012. i invite you, dear reader, to adapt it, or create your own, to see how much of it you accomplish by year's end.

(numbered, but in no particular order... here we go...)

1. write a list of 52 things I can accomplish this year (good start, right?)


2. read a blog (see, you can already cross one thing off of your list)


3. start/write a blog (it will get the juices flowing)


4. (PRIVATE)


5. read a screenplay/work in your favorite genre


6. finish writing a screenplay (ScriptFrenzy)


7. enter a writing contest


8. read a book of poems (suggestions?)


9. read the autobiography of an author or a memoir


10. see 12 movies (1/month)


11. mentor a young person


12. write a letter to 6 family members and mail them


13. write using a prompt (suggestions)


14. read the newspaper cover to cover


15. take a dance lesson


16. visit an art museum


17. go to a poetry reading (venue suggestions?)


18. read at a poetry reading/open mic


19. parle francais avec ma soeur


20. paint on canvas


21. write a short film


22. shoot a short film


23. get a massage


24. get a mani/pedi


25. eat sushi


26. eat tiramisu


27. swim in an ocean


28. walk barefoot


29. ride a bike


30. buy a cozy robe


31. attend a professional conference


32. apply for a fellowship


33. skip


34. sing


35. (PRIVATE)


36. make bookmarks


37. make a carrot cake from scratch


38. take a writing workshop


39. lead a writing workshop


40. make a tshirt


41. create/order business cards


42. buy some red toms


43. get a new journal that i LOVE


44. new collection of pens


45. acquire 12 classic movies


46. begin a collaborative project


47. pitch a project


48. volunteer for a day


49. work freelance (builds muscle)


50. write at least a poem/week during poetry month (APRIL, which is also ScriptFrenzy month so...


51. journal, journal, journal!


52. learn tai chi and incorporate it into my daily/weekly schedule

WHEW! that wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, though it was as, if not more, liberating! the tasks in bold type feel a bit more intimidating than the others for whatever reason, which means i'm likely to dive into those heart first. (my habit is to stare fear down and poke it's eyes out, no matter how much my knees knock, my stomach moans.)

so, this is it. if you write a list, i'd love to read it. not just so i can knock item #3 off of my list. i want to be inspired.

onward and upward, beautiful people...

what are you pretending not to know?
my real-life homage to Nikky Finney

NOTE: rarely will i write on the same topics for Torch posts (forthcoming) and my person blog (here) but there's neverenough praise for Nikky Finney... *sigh* ... this telling is more a personal account. besides, as you can see, i haven't written in this space in nearly two years, so, whatever gets it going again, right? anyway... here we go...

during my first year at Cave Canem, one of my most memorable moments of that unforgettable experience was the morning i sat with Nikky Finney in the main room on the campus of cranbrook in bloomfield hills, michigan. my life, on the whole, was secretly in turmoil. but, for Nikky's sagacious eye, the chaos was evident in everything my poems weren't saying. "what are you pretending not to know," she'd asked me in that way that requires you to pay attention... real attention. the abridged version: that moment was the beginning of the beginning for me. it was the first time in my life that i realized i wasn't fooling anyone, not even myself.

her walk with me that first year was so generous and care-full and loving and supportive and intentional... she is a REAL student's mentor, the every-person's poet AND a poet's poet. she is never simply art for art's sake; writing to hear her own voice. she is dedicated to the articulation of life itself through art, through a lens that is neither colored nor distorted by the truth; rather, enhanced by it.

Nikky Finney... I salute you. asking myself that question every now and again requires me to do the real work my life deserves when things aren't quite working out. and let it be said that if i could put my husband and our little prince in our car (with the assurance that it could actually make it outside of california), take the time off of work without pay, pick whatever flowers led us to you and lay them at your sandled-foot so that you'd know what gratitude looks like, i would. i walked for three summers under your tutelege, then with Rice and The World Is Round. From "The Errand Girl...", Head Off and Split has been the collection I've lauded from the moment the Books Inc., clerk handed me the receipt and i pulled away the front cover. you are what brilliance looks like. 2011 National Book Award... ahhhh... it's about damn time. (the world can no longer pretend not to know!)

OCCUPY EVERYWHERE! by divesting from "routine" and supporting indie book shops, businesses and local artists!

where i've been
wanna come?

It's been a while since I've posted here but that doesn't mean I haven't been writing. My journey toward 40 has officially begun. I've been chronicling my goings on in "Notes" on my Facebook page. I decided to write 40 blogs/notes. I've posted "40 things I want to do before I turn 40." I'm crafting my "40 ways to change my world" list. I am on item 30 of the "40 things I want for my birthday." I have become 40-obsessed. Consider this your invitation to become my FB friend and take a look.

Until then, onward and upward...
abrazos y besos,
shia

40 by 40 Kick off:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

so today is my 39th birthday and for the first time in my history of birthdays, i am feeling NO anxiety about it. i didn't NEED the hoopla and parades i'd required in previous years. no anxiety about turning a year older (cuz 39 is the new 29). but about feeling unrecognized, unloved and insignificant. mine is the third in a string of sibling birthdays (9/29, 9/30... 10/01). and not that anyone or anything intentionally made me feel that way. mostly i attribute it to birth order (middle child sh*t) and the reality that by the time my actual birthday came around, i had already shared a cake, gotten a gift or had a party on a day other than mine. all of that said, today, all of the scary energy around my birth/day has been squelched. Allahu Akbar!

ONWARD AND UPWARD...

recovering from a night of seafood and salsa lessons/dancing in DC (perfection!), today i woke up 39. my husband brought me my signature bowl of corn flakes, in bed, to tide me over until the eggs and grits brunch he worked up as i chomped down.

i have since tended to amir's needs (kisses, bathing, feeding, diaper changing), eaten brunch and a late afternoon homemade-chicken-salad-sandwich snack, showered, dressed and worked out a "culpa" issues in my latest screenplay. and i still feel wonderful... which in my mind means i am closer to MIND-body-SPIRIT fabulousness than i've ever been.

so... i have become obsessed with the number 40. i've also become obsessed with lists. since here begins the countdown to the big 4-0, and to increase the odds of fabulosity, i am crafting my list of 40 things i hope to achieve before i turn 40 ("40 by 40"). everything from getting fit by 40 to 40 ways to change the world. (anyone who's ever called my cell to leave a message knows i'm on a mission.)


some things on my list:
write 40 poems by 40 (poetry month will help but... well... you know how it is...)
lose 20 pounds in 40 weeks (yes, i still have 20 uninvited pounds)
write 40 "love" letters and mail them to 40 friends
give 40 pampering gestures to myself
doing 40 crunches a day (may not sound like much but by 10/01/10, it may help turn this 2 liter into a 6 pack)
fugure 40 ways to show gratitude to people I love
and much, much more...

wish me luck. offer me tips. please drop in for support. i'll need it.

abrazos y besos...
shia

i need a poetry prompt.  

anybody?  anybody?

okay, so it's the middle of National Poetry Month and (simultaneously) ScriptFrenzy month. and i've not written one single stanza or scene. but hopefully that'll change soon. this pregnancy has at the very least kept me inspired and creating.  let's see... i've painted... purchased fabric to make pillows (still pending)... i sing more in my private moments... conceived several short films and at least one concept for a tv series... been to tens of live music concerts (of course)... and hand-ribboned, glittered, and glued baby shower invitations. so my creative energies have been fueled, on fire in fact.  just... no writing.  i'm being merciful because, well, i am gestating.  and i guess that's excuse enough and creation enough for one human being, eh? but, if you, dear reader, have any suggestions for jump-starting my writing efforts, please... share!  i wanna get at least one poem out by month's end. prompts?  anybody?  anybody?

abrazos y besos...

shia