Buggin' you - where buggin' is lovin'

I trecked to the nearest LL Bean store in West Lebanon, New Hampshire today. It was a beautiful sunny day - perfect for a Sunday drive. I scored a bunch of winter clothes loot, and then ordered some more online when I got home, since I then had a better idea of my sizes and there was a better selection on the internets. I got boots! a big down coat! gloves! warm socks! flannel-lined jeans! long underwear! a fleece jacket! Never fear - the warm Juan is here!

On my way back I stopped briefly in Brattleboro, Vermont to check out a bookstore there and grab some dinner. Most of the stores were closed up though and it was getting dark, so I need to go back sometime soon. (I had some decent enough Thai food there, but I miss Pen Thai in Bothell and Typhoon!) Brattleboro is only about a half hour away. The little states out here are so cute. I was in 3 states today!

Posted by Juana at 9:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Greetings! Here's an update on Massachusetts life.

The Juniper Initiative Internship -- I have the scoop now on my internship. I'm going to be helping to implement a UMASS summer creative writing pilot program for high school students, along the lines of what the adult program does. I'll be doing a bunch of legwork to make it happen. Should be fun! It will be held in June sometime, and I'll get a total of 6 credits for it. Also, I'll be pulling together information on UMASS MFA alumni to be put up on the MFA web site. This will help me get in tune with all of the presses and literary journals that grads have been published in.

Thank you Thunderchowderians for the care package, especially Jenny and Richie! I've already been sucked into the People magazine, and scarfed a bunch of cookies. I have proof that the kitty trick or treat bag has already been well loved, but I need to figure out how to get pictures from my new camera onto this blog before I can show it to you. :-)

I went to a Halloween party last night, and decided to reprise my "bunch of grapes" costume by pinning purple balloons to me. It was a crowded party though, so I didn't pin as many balloons on as before, and some people were confused as to what I really was... Oh well. I had my fermented grape juice, so it was fun, and I got to hang out with my fellow MFA and English grad students.

Posted by Juana at 9:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I have found the zoom lever! And, because it was delivered late, I got a $30 credit at staples, so that's rather nice.

Richie says I have to finish reading my 718 page book though before I can go out and play. I'm on page 417- needs to be done by 3 p.m. tomorrow. What are the chances?

Weather update -- The Connecticut River by Montague is just slightly over flood stage here, but that's downstream a little bit, and the street here is dry. No snow yet, but it is a wee bit chilly. I'm thinking I might make my first trek north, and go to the nearest LLBean store in New Hampshire, and go crazy getting outfitted for winter, with a stop in Brattleboro, VT along the way because it's supposed to be festive, and I suspect they have a good bookstore there (danger!).

Online status givers now say our leaf peeping days are over now, since the big rain and wind storm hit yesterday (they call em Nor'easters round these parts.) I'm still enjoying the color that remains though... lots more yellow than red, but yellow's nice too. When I see bunches of ya'll in December, I'll have to read to you my poem on leef peepin. :-)

Posted by Juana at 5:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Ok, round two of today's activities -- going to the Belly Bowl to eat and listen to poetry started well (turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy- super yummy!!!), but ended .... well, it ended with me chugging a 1 pint, 6 oz Berkshire Brewing Company Steel Rail Ale, before the second half of the poetry reading started (can't waste good beer!), so that I wouldn't have to listen to it. I won't name names, and I don't want to dampen ANYONE's enthusiasm for writing or reading poetry.. but if you're going to read your poetry publically, take Tree Swenson's advice, and READ and STUDY poetry in addition to writing it. Poetry must pass the "so what?" test more often than not. I'm not saying it's easy or that I succeed (certainly not after so much beer!), but hey, it's a good goal.

Posted by Juana at 8:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I walked to the library for their book sale and got there by 12:20 -- which is pretty good for me! I got a moose bag ($12), and grabbed a bunch of books. Some are more random than others, but hey, it was a good deal. If I hadn't got the moose bag I would have got 12 books for only $2! So what loot, you ask?

--2 Irving Stone biographical novels. I haven't read any Irving Stone since I read his biographical novel on Michelangelo in high school. But I loved it then, so what the heck? I have his novels on Charles Darwin and Sigmund Freud now.
--The Oxford Book of Light Verse, published in 1938. It's poetry, it's old, who can resist?
--The 1898 publication of The Complete Poetical Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson. I don't even know if I like good old Tenny, but 1898!?! Phrases like "Whilome though camest with the morning mist,/ And with the evening could,/ Showering thy gleened wealth into my open breast;/..." Heck, that's just crazy fun!
--The Story and Its Writer, an anthology of short stories, and some critical essays on short stories. To get my MFA degree I have to take one writing workshop in a genre other than my main focus... which means I have to write fiction. Eek! This book might help. Who can say?
--Black Like Me, by John Howard Griffin, 1960 -- A white man goes to the South as a black man, and publishes his journal...
--A Dick Francis mystery, Break In, I've probably already read it, but I don't remember, which means that I won't remember who done it either. :-)
--Bunnicula -- A Rabit Tale of Mystery, 1979. Should be fun. Becky, have you read it?
--A Book of New England, 1947-- here I am getting all historical again, but with chapters like "Maple Sugar", "Taverns", "Puritan Children", "Heretics and Witches", and my favorite "Peddlers and Artists" -- what's not to like?
--John Cheever's the Wapshot Scandal, 1959, although, now I'm realizing there's a novel before it which I should probably read first... The Wapshot Chronicle, but oh well.
--Anne Lommot's Blue Shoe, novel.
--Marge Piercy's novel, The Longings of Women -- It's a hokey title, but who knows? She's an acclaimed poet/novelist person.

oh, and how am I doing on my 700 pager that's due on Thursday? ... I'm on p. 109. Must focus. FOCUS.

I missed the Monster tag sale because I didn't realize it ended at 2 p.m. Oops. I'll get a monster another day.

Posted by Juana at 1:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Montague Reporter weekly newspaper didn't include the weekly police log this week, but there's still a bunch going on in the villages!

--There is a book sale at the Turners Falls Carnegie Library on Saturday, that I plan to go to, if I can manage to get up in time. It is from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. If you buy the "Friends of the Library Moose Bag" for $12, you can fill it with books from the sale room for free!
--There is also a MONSTER tag sale at the Montague town center on Saturday. I'm going to try to get one that will fit under my bed.
--The musical The Sound of Music is playing this weekend at the Shea Theater a block away, and for some reason I'm tempted to go. It must be the poetry in me.
--Saturday at the Belly Bowl Cafe just down the street, there's a poetry performance & more. I don't know what to expect at all, especialy "& more", so I gotta go!
--Next Wednesday the Montague Historial Society Annual Meeting will be held at the Book Mill, and there will be a guest lecture on "Montague Plain, Environment, Ecological and Oral History." My inner historian geek will attend, unless I'm behind on my lit homework (over 700 pages to read in Allan Gurganus' Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All by next Thursday!) I gotta get to know my new hood!
--There's a newly remodeled small grocery store in Gill, just up the road which I must check out, because the last time the Montague Reporter gave a tip on a grocery store, I found some yummy home made italian sausages at Carroll's Market in Millers Falls.
--I missed the Great Falls Discovery Center talk on Black Bears returning to Massachusetts this evening because I thought I'd stop by The Lady Killigrew instead. The sandwich I had there was supper yummy , so I'll learn about black bears in Massachusetts another time.

Posted by Juana at 12:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Well, some have asked that very question. James already knows.

Posted by Juana at 12:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It hasn't stopped raining for the last 24 hours. I heard the gutters talk in my sleep, and my dreams got weird enough at the end that I had to make sure water wasn't lapping into my apartment. So, I got up to check at 1 p.m. :-) Nope, the street I live on is still fine. But a quick check of NOAA shows some rivers close to me (but not too close) might be getting wills of their own -- Millers River, Ware River. It's about soggy freedom!

Highlights from the Montague police log, brought to you by The Montague Reporter:

"10/7 6:31 a.m. Caller reports large moose at the Thomas Memorial Golf Course. The moose left on its own."

The rest of the police log can be summarized with -- lots of people drive that shouldn't.

Posted by Juana at 1:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

A brief update ... this graph from NOAA shows that the Connecticut River at the point closest to me that is measured, does not appear to be projected to go above flood stage, unlike last weekend.

Lucy says hello! Tio Poopy keeps beating her up, poor girl.

This evening I will be going to Live Lit, at Amherst Books, to see my poetry compadres read their wares. According to the MFA programming page, "Since 1985, students have sponsored Live Lit, a reading series in which poets and fiction writers in the program have an opportunity to hear each other's work. Housed at Amherst Books in downtown Amherst, Live Lit offers camaraderie, literature, and beers for a buck."

There appears to be great emphasis in all of the announcements on the beers for a buck idea. Hmmm, wonder why... Hopefully, Jenny and Richie are ok with the pricing.

Posted by Juana at 2:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Howdy! I don't know what kind of headlines the rains in the East are getting in the West media, but, lest you be concerned, current status where I am, is there is a flood watch, but it is not flooding here as of yet (in the graphic, Greenfield is the closest town to me.) That means we all have to keep our eyes peeled for too much water, and then watch it. There have been occasional moments of rain, but the rain has not been as steady as it was last Saturday, when about 9 inches came down in 24 hours. If weather drama happens, I'll be sure to post it! I get my digital camera tomorrow. Wee!

On the school front, I gave my presentation today on Li-Young Lee's poetry book Rose, and led class discussion, and it went pretty well, so no signs of flunking out yet. :-P

And here's your leaf update.

Posted by Juana at 1:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Everybody wants to know! So, here's the scoop:

780/2-Imaginative Writing: Poetry Dara Wier
We will discuss the various considerations a poet imagines while composing or revising a poem, the role reading plays in these activities and the various ways people incorporate poetry in their lives. Our main events will be your work-in-progress. We'll occasionally read and talk about essays and poems from supplementary texts TBA available from Wootton's Books. Enrollment limited to 10. Permission of instructor required of anyone not enrolled through MFA Program in English.

Dara Wier's books include Our Master Plan (Carnegie-Mellon), Blue for the Plough (Carnegie-Mellon), The Book of Knowledge (Carnegie-Mellon), All You Have in Common (Carnegie-Mellon), The 8-Step Grapevine (Carnegie-Mellon), Blood, Hook & Eye (University of Texas). She was the 1993 Richard Hugo Memorial Chairholder at the University of Montana. Before coming to Amherst she's taught at University of Texas, University of Utah, University of Alabama and Hollins College. Her work has been awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation.

ENGL 891JJ History and Memory in Contemporary American Fiction, Joseph Skerrett

In the face of the uncertainties and mendacities of post-modern life, the struggle for integrity often draws writers to cultural traditions that can be constructed or reconstructed on human rather than institutional terms. In the resulting works of art, mergers of identity and history are often achieved through the use of myth, storytelling rituals, and varieties of memory (personal, mythic, cultural, "racial") that refute, resist or complement the official or institutional "master narratives." After considering some ideas about memory, we will examine works that reflect itls use in literature, from Proustian subjective memory to collective memory and cultural politics. Reading: Carolyn Forche, The Angel of History (poems) Ernest Gaines, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Alan Gurganus, Oldest Confederate Widow Tells All, Joy Kogawa, Obasan, Li-Young Lee, Rose (poems) and The Winged Seed: A Remembrance, Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon, Lee Smith, Oral History, Edmund White, Nocturnes for the King of Naples, Cynthia Ozick, The Shawl, James Welch, Fools Crow, Tina de Rosa, Paper Fish, SinghSkerrett & Hogan, eds., Memory and Cultural Politics, essays and exceprts from other critical writings.

And the verdict? I'm having a great time in both of the classes, writing poems every week, and reading and discussing some very good books. I have to give a presentation on Thursday on Li-Young Lee's Rose, so I better hop to!

Next week: I'll learn more about a potential internship with the Juniper Initiative.

Posted by Juana at 11:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Here's the best entry as reported in the 10/6 edition of the The Montague Reporter.

"Wednesday 10/5
9:48 a.m. Several calls reporting a large moose on Montague Street near Sheffield and Hillcrest Schools. The moose entered the woods by Sunset Drive."

Note: the town of Montague, MA consists of several small villages, among them Turners Falls, Montague Center, Montague City, Millers Falls, and Lake Pleasant. I am a villager!

Posted by Juana at 7:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

These pictures are pretty close to where I live now (within 5 miles or so). I need to get busy and order a digital camera so I can show ya'll the leaves and the flooding round here. I saw something that looked like a refridgerator sized ivory soap fall down Turners Falls, and then break up into little bits. The power canal as of 4 p.m. looked like 2 more feet and she'd be overflowing. Some folks were evacuated in Greenfield, as a precaution, and I'm wondering if my normal commute to school will be washed out -- Rts. 47/63/116.

Oh, and leaf status: --Brought to you by, the stinky candle people!

Posted by Juana at 8:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)