Tour de Cure

Once again, Mike and I are preparing to participate in the annual Tour de Cure, a bike ride to raise money for the American Diabetes Association. This year's ride, scheduled for June 1, is at beautiful Bone Lick State Park in Kentucky. Our goal is to ride 35 miles.

If you'd like to support me in the ride, please visit my personal fundraising web site here: http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC280218030?px=2781023&pg=personal&fr_id=5028&s_tafId=166116
(If you'd like to support, Mike, please let me know and I can hunt down his web address, as well!)

More information on the American Diabetes Association, its programs and diabetes in general can be found at the Association's Web site: www.diabetes.org. For more information on Tour de Cure, visit www.diabetes.org/tour.

Hope everyone is having a fantastic day!

A Quote

And I received this quote in an e-mail list serve this morning...

QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains. I would drink deeper; fish in the sky, whose bottom is pebbly with stars."

Henry David Thoreau

A Poem

I was thinking of the letter M last night and remembered a poem I wrote during my time living in Pennsylvania. At the time, I had established an alias for myself. The alias was not the motivation for the poem...the idea actually came from a children's poem that had been submitted to Highlights magazine. This poem was about how "mmm" was a thinking sound. It was a delightful poem (I had the chance to read so many delightful and meaningful poems written by children while I was working there) and got me thinking about "mmm". So here goes ...

The Letter “M” (aka Establishing My Alias)

By: ER(air)in BER(brrr)ger

So I’ll be Mercury Monday
and mmm like the sound
of happy mouth to happy
food mmm a real sound not
like “air” or “brrr” which are only parts
of sounds mmm a full cycle
a complete rotation of vibrating
lips together a guttural sound from
throat deeper from abdomen working
to air to ears
yours
as we lay in bed mmm touching
sound pleasure sound mmm more
mmm mmm mmm like lyrics
to a wordless song mmm a thinking
sound a surmising sound mmm (a-ha)
a sound of revelation or relaxation
as I sit beside my love mmm
intertwining fingers mmm
taking deep breaths

mmmmmm

It’s Been a While

After three months of graduate school, I feel as though I’m finally slipping into a routine with my work. (In a good way.) My semester is set up so that I submit 4 packets—one each month—to my faculty advisor. Each packet contains a reading list, critical work, and creative work.

Because of the way the scheduling worked, I had very little time—just over two weeks—to complete my first packet. I was focused and steady with my work, and I was pleased with what I produced.

As soon as I’d shipped off the first packet, it was time to concentrate on moving to a new house. There was much to do…from cleaning to painting to packing. By the time we were in, it was once again two weeks before deadline for my second grad school packet. And again, I was scrambling. Working mornings, evenings, weekends.

When it came around to the third packet, I thought, Wow, I have a whole month! I can take my time! And I did. Oh, I was still working, but I again backed myself against a wall of tight deadline for creative work. And it just so happened that this was the month when I decided the story I’d been writing might not be worth continuing. I read a lot and I was a bit of a grump. (Cheers to Mike, for helping me get out of my grumpy self.) Finally, I came around and finished the packet.

And then, for an entire weekend (last weekend), I breathed. I visited my parents. I stepped back. I did some wedding planning.

When I returned to my desk this Monday, I was ready to work. My story is still not where I want it to be, but I feel as though I’m heading somewhere with it, at least. And I’ve been reading fantastic children’s books that inform and inspire my work.

My last packet is due on May 1. May Day. Then my first semester of graduate school will be complete. And I’ll sigh the sigh of someone who is free (at least for a little while), and of someone who hopes to keep creating, even without a deadline.