Category Archives: Uncategorized

Why Haikus Make Me Smile

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I miss your eyes—and
waking up to see them there
looking back at me
–Sofia

There is something beautiful in the way Haikus work.  I’ve written poems, flash fiction, short stories, and novels.  But now, thanks to a lovely lady in my life, I am finding the beauty in Haikus.     They capture the same thing I hope to capture in all my writing–the emotion of the moment.  With a Haiku, however, we are limited to 17 syllables (5,7,5).  It is the perfect tool to force a writer to be concise.  I think it will be a great tool for me.  I have become much more precise in my writing over the past three years.  This will force it even further.

Today, after a shortened day of work, I am getting back to work.  I was able to write almost 1,300 words today.  I need to break the 1,00 mark today.  Unfortunately, as I develop this story, i know full well that I will not be able to share much or any of what I am writing for years to come.  That is okay.  I will continue to update my old poems and writing in the weeks to come.  It’ll be enough to hold you over until the writing blog also becomes a travel blog.  Here is today’s poem:

The Sight of You

Don’t Fret. Just Write.

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I spent a good deal of time last night wondering how I was going to write my current story.  I worried that I didn’t know how to do it right.  I worried about the order the story should go in.  I worried about this and that.  In the end, I pretty much gave up on figuring it out.  Instead, I just wrote.  It may not have come out perfectly, but it came out.  I got 500 words on paper last night.  So far this morning, I’ve already put another 500 words down.  The story is starting to come together.

Today’s poem is a special one for me.  I wrote it second semester of my 8th grade year.  I had a huge crush on a girl in my class.  I had no idea how to tell her.  Instead of gathering up the courage to talk to her, I gathered up the courage to give her a poem.  I printed it off and slipped it in her locker during the last week of classes.  She never made any mention of the poem.  But, after that, I had a small amount of courage that made it easier to talk with girls I like.  This poem is my introduction to romantic life in High School.

Speak of a Sin

 

Time for Family

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I spent four hours with my family today.  My cousin’s little girl just turned one year–and we all gathered in Denver.  It’s nice when this time of year rolls around.  I get to see my family so often.  Thanksgiving.  Birthdays.  Christmas.  New Years.  It’s great.  It’s exhausting  but it’s nice to keep up with everybody.  There are suddenly so many young children in my family.  I can’t help but wonder when I will have the young child at the party.

This evening needs to be spent on two things.  I need to write my 1,000 words.  I also want to start reading “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy.  So, before I go, I am going to leave you with one of the better poems from my early teenage years.

Those Beautiful Eyes

 

Force Yourself to Write–Every Day

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After the long work week, I am caught up on sleep.  I spent last night caught up in a fascinating (and disturbing  conversation with one of my closest friends.  We spent more than an hour talking about what we would do if we were eccentric billionaires.  Are basic conclusion would be that neither of us should ever come into money because we would use it to create strange social experiments.

I failed to write–yet again–last night.  I need to start forcing myself.  With only 44 days until I leave for the Peace Corps, my time is short.  I want to finish the rough draft of what I am working on before I leave.  That means a 1,000 word daily minimum is necessary.  I will start this evening.  I get back from Denver in the afternoon and have plenty of free time after that.  I need to force myself to make this happen.  Here is another poem from my 14-year old self:

The One Thing the World Needs

 

More Work to Come

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I am exhausted.  I’m starting to reconstruct this website the way it should have been all along.  It’s starting to look much better.  I can’t wait until I start getting certain parts done to show off to all my followers.  By the way, we just hit 90 WordPress followers today!

I am going to go have fun for a few hours.  As a result, I will do all my writing and reading tonight.  I am going to re-implement the 1,000 word minimum to my daily schedule.  I will do that tonight.  Somehow my mind develops better prose when it is dead tired.  [As long as I am not to tired to write at all.]  I am also going to start working on a new book.  This one is one I have tried to read many times, but failed due to a busy schedule.  Homepully that is not the case this time.

Enjoy another poem:

All That Matters

End of the Work Week

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I spent the last four days in a Elementary School Severe Special Education classroom here in Greeley, Colorado.  It was exhausting  but amazing.  It looks like I’ll be holding onto the same assignment for at least part of next week.  For now, however, the work wee is officially over.  It’s long overdue.  I am sore and quite tired.  I will sleep well tonight.  But, before then, I have some writing to do–and a fun weekend planned.

I am going to work on the remodel a little bit then write for a little bit.  As promised, I am going to continue providing you with poems from my teenage year.  This one is from the end of 2003.  Most of my angsty poems will be from 2004.  Most of them are rather simple, but they are still enjoyable.  Here you go:

A Life Without Love

 

Complete Remodel

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This always happens.  Every time I think of something cool that could spice up my blog, I end up biting off far more than I can chew.  It doesn’t matter.  It will be well worth the effort.  I am redoing the site by time rather than by type of writing.  It seems to be a better way to present myself and my writing   This way, when you read poetry from my teenage years, you’ll better understand why it is angsty.  It’s also the best way i can think of that shows how my craft has improved over time.

If you are looking to read any of my work, I would recommend looking through blog updates for now.  The navigation bar is going to be pretty much useless until I finish my work–which will likely take at least a week.  As I prepare the new website, I will be updating once or twice a day with old poems and stories.  Here is one of the oldest poems I wrote.  I was 14 at the time–just finishing up my first semester as a freshmen in my small high school.

And Then

Back to Writing

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For the first time in quite awhile, I am writing again with a great level of consistency.  Along with this comes the concern of disclosing what I am writing.  It’s difficult to talk about what you are writing about without losing the excitement.  So, in the meantime, I think I am going to work on re-organizing the website so that it can include older works.

I started writing 9 years ago–at the age of 14.  It started with romantic poetry.  It developed into flash fiction.  That quickly turned into short stories.  By the time I was 20, I had written my first novel.  The thing is, I don’t have many of my older writings here.  They may not be as good, but I love the idea of presenting them as a way of seeing my progress.  I will likely start updating them this evening.

It will take awhile.  In the meantime, check out an old Sci-Fi Short story.  A recent discussion with a lovely girl reminded me of it.  I think you will love it.

The Prototype 

50 Days Out

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I got back from Washington about 14 hours before Thanksgiving Dinner.  Now, as the Holiday Weekend comes to a close, I find myself with a score of decisions and realizations.  With 50 days left before I am scheduled to leave for Morocco with the Peace Corps, there is plenty to figure out in a short amount of time.  For the first time in my life, I am coming to a crossroads where straight is no longer an option.  I must make a hard decision.

Although I do have more pressing matters to think and write about, the one I spent today on seemed appropriate.  I have been mulling over the idea of home for more than a month now.  I finally found the words to articulate the feeling that has been grown inside of me.  I hope you enjoy it.

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