tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68352308047800301342024-03-13T22:55:47.001-06:00The Angry GrammarianBrett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.comBlogger116125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-78857414593111926062017-08-02T10:09:00.004-06:002017-08-02T10:09:50.618-06:00Brett Elizabeth Dot ComThis blog has permanently moved to brettelizabeth.com<br /><br /><a href="https://brettelizabeth.com/">Find me there</a>!Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-22503424330563046742017-01-06T15:31:00.000-06:002017-01-06T15:32:05.497-06:00Day SixDay six. I have an index card tacked up above my desk that just says "show up for the words." So far, I have. In the past week, I've written over 3,000 non-poetry words. I've written four poems. Fifteen journal entries. Three blog posts.<br />
<br />
Maybe I'll blog more this year. Maybe I won't. Either way, it doesn't matter. We're all going to die. In the relative scheme of things, we're all going to die pretty soon.<br />
<br />
Last night I watched <i>Hard Candy</i>. A little Ellen Page kicking pedophile ass. It was a pretty good movie. I'm also finishing up my third book of the year. I have a pile of books next to my desk I'd like to get to. But the new semester starts on Tuesday. Soon after that, I begin working in the factory again. I always set high expectations for myself, and I rarely meet them.<br />
<br />
Maybe I ought to start putting things on my to-do list like "drink a beer" or "complain about my body."<br />
<br />
Tuesday after my first day of class, I'm leaving for Indiana to do a reading with my two favorite blonde poets. We're getting tattoos, and then we're going on a writing retreat. I have been looking forward to this for months. I'm almost sad to see it come and go.<br />
<br />
But today I will water the plants and make bread. I will make a packing list. I will clean my desk, do laundry, put away my clothes. I will wash my face, and walk outside. I will do small things well.Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-25320186176800053652017-01-04T13:32:00.001-06:002017-01-04T13:35:21.534-06:00All the GoodHere are some good things that happened last year (yes some good things happened last year):<br />
<br />
<b>I wrote 56 poems.</b> <br />
In a year where I spent over two months in the hospital, I count this as a win. This averages out to about one a week. Hopefully this year I write many more.<br />
<br />
<b>I read 48 books and 13 short stories. </b><br />
See previous post for details.<br />
<br />
<b>On top of all that reading, I did a lot more watching.</b> <br />
Which, for now, I'm going to be okay with. I watched about 90 movies. I watched 55 seasons of TV shows. This year, I'd like to flop the reading and watching. I'm aiming for 100 books. I don't have a goal for movies and TV.<br />
<br />
<b>I practiced yoga.</b><br />
Not a lot. But I did practice. I've been practicing yoga for over four years now. My goal for this year is to go 2-3 times per week. If I make it a habit again, the hope is that I'll want to go more.<br />
<br />
<b>I got rejected.</b><br />
Again, not a lot. I usually aim for 100 rejections in a calendar year. It means that I send out my work. I got 28 rejections in 2016.<br />
<br />
<b>I got a four acceptances.</b><br />
From THRUSH, Word Riot, Poetry City USA, and Vinyl.<br />
<br />
<b>My nieces were born.</b><br />
I now have two more nieces, who were both born in November of 2016! Audrey and Katie Beth.<br />
<br />
<b>I fell in the alleyway</b> <br />
while trying to go put my face into a gigantic cardboard cutout of a lobster.<br />
<br />
<b>I did eight poetry readings.</b><br />
Poets & Pints, Three Blonde Poets, Ali O'Reilly's book release party, The Red Stag Supper Club: New Shit Show (Twin Cities Lit Crawl), Altcomics, Poetry City USA @ Sisyphus Brewing, First Mondays @ Troubadour, The Christmas Spectacular)<br />
<br />
<b>I became a little obsessed with Patti Smith</b> <br />
after reading <i>Just Kids.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<b>I turned 30</b> <br />
and refuse to feel weird about it because I'm coming into myself and hey that's cool.<br />
<br />
<b>I walked.</b> <br />
A lot. Like, over 300 miles. It's what I spent most of my summer doing. I'd just leave the house with no direction and come back a couple of hours later. I found a lot of weird trails by the Mississippi. One time I helped a lady parallel park her car.<br />
<br />
<b>I took two aerial yoga classes.</b><br />
Taking an aerial yoga class was on the list I made of 40 things I want to do before I'm 40. I did this twice! It was fun and hard and I'll probably do it again. I also took a barre class, which kicked my butt.<br />
<br />
<b>I cooked a duck.</b><br />
And we ate the whole thing in one sitting.<br />
<br />
<b>A LOT of D&D got done</b>.<br />
Carlton Beerjug got into some serious shenanigans this year. He's a rogue elf, and he likes to steal.<br />
<br />
<b>My new chapbook came out!</b><br />
It's called OVER THE MOON and you can order it<a href="https://aaronmfking.com/pockets-press/"> online</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>I bought a lot of lipstick.</b> <br />
Like, a lot.<br />
<br />
<b>I spent a week on Mallard Island.</b><br />
With nine other women poets from Minnesota. It was one of the most magical weeks of my life. And I get to do it again next summer.<br />
<br />
<b>I won tickets to a Very Weird Concert.</b><br />
By randomly calling into The Current when I heard "be the tenth caller now! Here's Garbage while you dial." I won tickets to see The Starfolk and Ice Palace.<br />
<br />
<b>I ate, approximately, 358 avocados.</b><br />
This number was approximated using my memory and all of the pictures of avocados I posted to my Instagram account.<br />
<br />
<b>I spent five days camping and canoeing in the Boundary Waters.</b><br />
It was pretty intense. I had never been to the BW before. We had to carry all of our supplies, canoes, and tents/packs on our backs while portaging between lakes. But it was beautiful. I caught a walleye and a turtle stole it.<br />
<b><br />My husband and I celebrated our six-year wedding anniversary.</b><br />
We stayed in and made Indian food because it was like, -25 degrees outside.<br />
<br />
<b>I survived. </b><br />
And for many days of 2016, I didn't think I would.Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-88013862675501718112016-12-27T15:37:00.002-06:002016-12-27T15:54:39.819-06:00Some Things HappenedThis year, some things happened. I blogged about none of it. I spent a lot of this year in the hospital. I spent a lot of this year walking. I spent a lot of this year reading and watching TV and movies (mostly watching TV and movies). As with all other year-ends, I realized that I want to write more down. I've started doing that on paper, and in secret places online where I'm ferreting away ideas and fears and gibberish and stupid thoughts I need to get out. But maybe I'll start writing more here, too.<br />
<br />
This year, some things happened. Maybe now I will try to capture the good things.<br />
<br />
I read forty-eight books and thirteen short stories (my absolute favorites have been bolded):<br />
<br />
Books<br />
<br />
Flow - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi<br />
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - T.S. Eliot<br />
<b>My Feelings - Nick Flynn </b><br />
O Holy Insurgency - Mary Biddinger<br />
Blood Dazzler - Patricia Smith<br />
Things and Flesh - Linda Gregg<br />
Floating, Brilliant, Gone - Franny Choi<br />
Some Ether - Nick Flynn<br />
<b>The Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion </b><br />
Basil - Katharine Rauk (re-read)<br />
Slouching Towards Bethlehem - Joan Didion<br />
Tender Buttons - Gertrude Stein<br />
House of Light - Mary Oliver<br />
<b>Some Planet - Jamie Mortara </b><br />
A Wrinkle in Time - Madeline L'Engle (re-read)<br />
Transformations - Anne Sexton<br />
<b>Harriet the Spy - Louise Fitzhugh</b> (re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-read)<b><br />Just Kids - Patti Smith </b><br />
The Wind in the Willows - Keneth Graham<br />
Ronia, the Robber's Daughter - Astrid Lindgren<br />
Palliative for a Pretty - Matt Mauch<br />
War of the Foxes - Richard Siken<br />
<b>Step Aside, Pops! - Kate Beaton </b><br />
Song of Myself - Walt Whitman (re-read)<br />
Mathematics, a Beautiful Elsewhere - Jean-Pierre Bourguignon<br />
Dearest Creature - Amy Gerstler (re-read)<br />
Books & Islands in Ojibwe Country - Louise Erdrich<br />
Lucifer at the Starlite - Kim Addonizio (re-read)<br />
Happpy Apocalypse Day - Luke Pingel<br />
Chapel of Inadvertent Joy - Jeffrey McDaniel<br />
Prelude to Bruise - Saeed Jones<br />
Buried Choirs - Katharine Rauk<br />
<b>Night Sky With Exit Wounds - Ocean Vuong </b><br />
The Threatened Everything - Paula Cisewski<br />
The Opposite of Work - Hugh Behm-Steinberg<br />
<b>Seven Days Now - Erica Anderson-Senter </b><br />
Things That Are - Amy Leach (re-re-re-read)<br />
The Awakening - Kate Chopin (re-re-re-re-re-read)<br />
Staying Alive: Real Poems for Unreal Times - Ed. Neil Astley (re-read)<br />
Steal Like an Artist - Austin Kleon (re-read)<br />
The Princess and the Goblin - George MacDonald (re-read from long, long ago)<br />
Ultra Violet - Chris Monroe<br />
Miracle Mile - Ed Ochester (re-read)<br />
Horse, Flower, Bird - Kate Bernheimer<br />
Breath in Every Room - Tami Haaland<br />
Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott (re-read)<br />
What the Witch Left - Ruth Chew (re-read, again, from long, long ago)<br />
How a Mother Weaned Her Girl From Fairy Tales - Kate Bernheimer<br />
<br />
Short stories (all re-read)<br />
<br />
The Fat Man in History - Peter Carey<br />
The Canebreak - Mohammed Mrabet<br />
Ysrael - Junot Diaz<br />
The House Behind - Lydia Davis<br />
The Old Man Slave and the Mastiff - Patrick Chamoiseau<br />
Mark of Satan - Joyce Carol Oates<br />
The Girl Who Left Her Sock on the Floor - Deborah Eisenberg<br />
<b>Night Women - Edwidge Danticat </b><br />
In the Shadow of War - Ben Okri<br />
Midnight and I'm Not Famous Yet - Barry Hannah<br />
Helix - Banana Yoshimoto<br />
Reflections of Spring - Duong Thu Huong<br />
The Courtship of Mr Lyon - Angela Carter<br />
<br />
Many of these books and stories were ones I re-read, either because I was teaching them or I wanted to revisit them personally. Of the forty-eight books I read, thirty-four were new to me. Four were (are) manuscripts-in-the-making by my friends and Twin Cities Poet Peers. Twenty-seven were collections of poetry. Eight books were non-fiction. Six were young adult books. Two were comics.<br />
<br />
And shamefully, here is the list of what I watched this year, favorites bolded.<br />
<br />
Movies<br />
<br />
The Force Awakens<br />
Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban (re-watch)<br />
The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus<br />
Hot Fuzz (re-watch)<br />
We Need to Talk About Kevin<br />
The Giant Mechanical Man (re-watch)<br />
<b>The History Boys</b><br />
<b>Ballerina<br />Pulp Fiction</b> (re-watch)<br />
Jumanji (re-watch)<br />
<b>Silver Linings Playbook</b><br />
Sisters<br />
Drumline (re-watch)<br />
Bruce Almighty (re-watch)<br />
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest<br />
<b>Hail Caesar<br />Sunset Boulevard</b><br />
Breathless<br />
Gone Girl<br />
Hateful Eight<br />
Bring it On (re-watch)<br />
The Lion King (re-watch)<br />
Se7en (re-watch)<br />
Bridget Jones's Diary (re-watch)<br />
Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid<br />
Mary Poppins (re-watch)<br />
Hush<br />
Housebound<br />
My Girl (re-watch)<br />
Sixteen Candles (re-watch)<br />
The Land Before Time (re-watch)<br />
Clueless (re-watch)<br />
Grease (re-watch)<br />
Tell No One<br />
Final Destination<br />
Pretty in Pink<br />
Now and Then (re-watch)<br />
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (re-watch)<br />
Easy A (re-watch)<br />
The Legend of Hell House<br />
Pirates of the Caribbean: Black Pearl (re-watch)<br />
American Beauty (re-watch)<br />
The Ward<br />
Sister Act (re-watch)<br />
To Catch a Thief<br />
The Ring (re-watch)<br />
Legally Blonde (re-watch)<br />
Kristy<br />
Cape Fear<br />
The Davinci Code<br />
Empire Records<br />
Don't Say a Word (re-watch)<br />
Back to the Future (re-watch)<br />
We Are Still Here<br />
<b>Frances Ha</b> (re-watch)<br />
The Taking of Deborah Logan<br />
Creep<br />
Grey Gardens<br />
Say Anything (re-watch)<br />
Saw (re-watch)<br />
Back to the Future II (re-watch)<br />
A Ballerina's Tale<br />
Darling<br />
Jeepers Creepers (re-watch)<br />
Sleepy Hollow<br />
<b>Wetlands</b><br />
The Goonies (re-watch)<br />
500 Days of Summer (re-watch)<br />
Eulogy (re-watch)<br />
Blazing Saddles (re-watch)<br />
The Fellowship of the Ring (re-watch)<br />
The Inbetweeners 2<br />
<b>Hocus Pocus</b> (re-watch)<br />
Scream (re-watch)<br />
Scream 2 (re-watch)<br />
21<br />
Napoleon Dynamite (re-watch)<br />
O Brother, Where Art Thou (re-watch)<br />
The Others<br />
Burn After Reading (re-watch)<br />
National Lampoons Animal House (re-watch)<br />
<b>The Babadook</b><br />
10 Things I Hate About You (re-watch)<br />
White Girl<br />
A Christmas Story (re-watch)<br />
Home Alone (re-watch)<br />
Dazed & Confused (re-watch)<br />
The Uninvited<br />
Rogue One<br />
<br />
TV Shows<br />
<br />
New Girl (s1, s4, s5) (seasons one and two: re-watch)<br />
Dance Academy (s1, s2, s3) (twice) (re-watch)<br />
Arrested Development (s1, s2, s3) (twice) (re-watch)<br />
<b>Seinfeld</b> (s6, s7, s8, s9) (re-watch)<br />
30 Rock (s1, s2) (re-watch)<br />
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (s1, s2) (season one: re-watch)<br />
<b>Veronica Mars</b> (s1) (re-watch)<br />
The Lizzie Borden Chronicles (s1)<br />
The Killing (s1, s2, s3, s4) (seasons one through three: re-watch)<br />
Lady Dynamite (pilot only)<br />
Broadchurch (s1, s2)<br />
<b>The United States of Tara</b> (s1, s2, s3) (re-watch)<br />
<b>Stranger Things</b> (s1)<br />
American Horror Story (s1, s2, s5) (seasons one and two: re-watch)<br />
Black Books (s1, s2, s3) (re-watch)<br />
The Fall (s3)<br />
Poirot (s1)<br />
Wallander (s4)<br />
The IT Crowd (s5)<br />
Californication (s1, s2, s3) (re-watch)<br />
The Brak Show (s1, s2) (season one: re-watch)<br />
Gilmore Girls (s1) (re-watch)<br />
Firefly (s1) (re-watch)<br />
How I Met Your Mother (s1) (re-watch)<br />
<b>The OA</b> (s1)<br />
Shameless (s1)<br /><br />In total, I watched 89 movies (far more than last year), forty-eight of which were re-watches. Yowza. I watched 55 seasons of TV shows. This is my confession.<br />
<br />
Maybe next year will see me reading more books and watching less TV. Maybe not. Anyway, I'm going to keep writing it down.Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-4958261969499083472016-01-04T16:07:00.000-06:002016-01-04T16:14:04.824-06:00Get Out Of Here, 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHWpP2F3bBu63rFnFfu-GqmBvCcM48A6TMn2-pVDh_TKOuFzjLZCmVCJACKcmKzj_fcHTLglvPA4BIjdp4EZ_yejTokOlsW8d5sP7nfn4q_6Ks_LkzVPHgQpP16hgXJ5QrOxjJOHpzO_8Y/s1600/IMG_1121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHWpP2F3bBu63rFnFfu-GqmBvCcM48A6TMn2-pVDh_TKOuFzjLZCmVCJACKcmKzj_fcHTLglvPA4BIjdp4EZ_yejTokOlsW8d5sP7nfn4q_6Ks_LkzVPHgQpP16hgXJ5QrOxjJOHpzO_8Y/s320/IMG_1121.JPG" width="320" /></a>I'm only partly joking when I say that 2015 should get out of here. Obviously, first thing, I have no control over time, so I don't really have a choice in the matter. The Earth keeps spinning rapidly on its axis, and I eat breakfast and go shopping and the universe does not look out for me. Second thing is, disregarding some of my more prominent troubles (mostly medical), 2015 wasn't as bad as I maybe thought it was. I often get stuck on the bad things that happen and can only see those. (Take middle school, for instance.) But I made myself sit down and make a list of the things I accomplished in 2015, and I would like to put them here.<br />
<br />
<b>I met my nephew.</b><br />
<br />
My sister had a son, Rocco, in November of 2014. We were going to travel down to see him that Thanksgiving, but we got in a car accident just a few hours into Wisconsin, totaled our car, and had to come home. We were able to go down and spend a week with them over Easter, and it was amazing.<br />
<br />
<b>I completed my first Whole 30 Challenge.</b><br />
<br />
In February/March, I tried Whole 30 with a few friends, and remarkably I stuck with it. I cultivated some good eating and health habits that have stuck with me (somewhat...), and I felt really great, now that I think about it. I think I may do another Whole 30 this year, starting in February.<br />
<br />
<b>I taught my first J-term class.</b><br />
<br />
I pitched and taught a class on ghost stories in January at St. Thomas. There were only five students in the class, and it was one of the more fun courses I've taught to date. I'm also looking forward to this coming semester, when I will teach a class on poets under 30.<br />
<br />
<b>My chapbook, OH NO EVERYTHING, was released in March</b>.<br />
<br />
My buddy <a href="http://aaronmfking.com/pockets-press/">Aaron King</a> started a press expressly for the purpose of publishing my poems, for which I could not be more grateful. We had a big party on my birthday. I turned 29, and my book turned 1 day old. If you want to check it out but didn't get a print copy, you can <a href="https://gumroad.com/l/orPBI">get it online as an ebook</a> for a buck!<br />
<br />
<b>I took over the Maeve's Reading Series in NE Minneapolis.</b><br />
<br />
Previous curator and founder of the Maeve's Cafe Reading Series, Matt Mauch, handed over the reins to the poetry reading series at AWP, which was the first reading I helped with, and the last one Matt had a hand in. I hosted my pilot reading in June, and our next one will be next Saturday (an all-women lineup)! I can't wait.<br />
<br />
<b>I played the hell out of some Dungeons and Dragons.</b><br />
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx7tX7kh9QV2kWaZwerciZZNpgozWmiYHzGAjreAZk1W9Uof8rXgvG9YYE0Fb28-VFq3cB0NWBWppfS-AdNVcHIypGkNyxtVUCGIa_Ew9Ljjb7VGFltpwTqL_pEbEXGkligprC0lt9EzwN/s1600/SubstandardFullSizeRender+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx7tX7kh9QV2kWaZwerciZZNpgozWmiYHzGAjreAZk1W9Uof8rXgvG9YYE0Fb28-VFq3cB0NWBWppfS-AdNVcHIypGkNyxtVUCGIa_Ew9Ljjb7VGFltpwTqL_pEbEXGkligprC0lt9EzwN/s320/SubstandardFullSizeRender+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div>
<b><br /></b>
Having never played before, it was interesting to embark on this magical journey with a bunch of other people who had also never played before. Our intrepid Dungeon Master, Reinhardt, explained everything (many times over) as we pillaged and murdered, and eventually we got the hang of it. My character is an elf named Carlton Beerjug. I don't feel like I have to say much else.<br />
<br />
<b>I did a buttload of poetry readings.</b><br />
<br />
Among the highlights: The Soap Factory/Talking Image Connection, Poets & Pints @ Fair State Brewing Cooperative, The New Sh!t Show @ the Fox Egg Gallery, the Feminist Comedy Block Party @ Lowertown St Paul, The Great Twin Cities Poetry Read (where I won a drawing for real, actual money!), Independent Bookstore Day @ Boneshaker Books, Dead Media, Subterranean Reading with Steve Roggenbuck @ AWP, and the Trotter's Cafe New & Nearby Series.<br />
<br />
<b>Got experience working in a factory</b>.<br />
<br />
Over the summer I worked in an aluminum can making factory in downtown St. Paul. I'm hoping to go back next year. I did lots of random administrative things, organized weird rooms that hadn't been organized in years, inspected cans, and generally was a jack of all trades, which is my specialty.<br />
<br />
<b>Wrote over 200 poems.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I got a lot of writing done in the factory on my breaks and lunches. I wrote about 100 poems during the three months I was employed there. I didn't send very much out in 2015, but I'm planning on getting my butt into gear on that front in 2016.<br />
<br />
<b>I read 65 books.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi49gURidVTUVujvL2Y_lw3ApiREVLJ1yVOQM4hpNOuHynRREmQvj99daHvyVlBH4Yiqkn0gtB7TTMO1vvfcdwUvNi7SyDGKl_-TO06uiyhie0u8Iu33yk9vg9GBAe8WFGCY_D4R9YYTzLF/s1600/IMG_1229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi49gURidVTUVujvL2Y_lw3ApiREVLJ1yVOQM4hpNOuHynRREmQvj99daHvyVlBH4Yiqkn0gtB7TTMO1vvfcdwUvNi7SyDGKl_-TO06uiyhie0u8Iu33yk9vg9GBAe8WFGCY_D4R9YYTzLF/s320/IMG_1229.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
For details, see my previous post.<br />
<br />
<b>I got a few acceptance in the poetry world.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I was in one of the last issues of <a href="http://pankmagazine.com/issue/10-5-september-october-2015/">PANK</a> before they changed hands.<br />
I have two poems coming out in an issue of Gargoyle Magazine this month!<br />
Two poems were published in an issue of WomenArts Quarterly early this year.<br />
And I got an acceptance from <a href="http://www.boxcarpoetry.com/035/jenkins_brett_elizabeth_001.html">BOXCAR</a>; a poem for which I was nominated for a Pushcart Prize!<br />
<br />
<b>I also won a Best of the Net Award.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
My poem <a href="http://www.sundresspublications.com/bestof/jenkins.htm">"Eve"</a> was published originally in Sundog Lit and I got the news in February that it won Best of the Net for 2014. This news made me dance in the living room.<br />
<br />
- - -<br />
<br />
I also did a bunch of other exciting things: celebrated weddings, my own five-year wedding anniversary, and a trivia win at Galactic Pizza before my friend Kristin moved away. I filmed some episodes (with Kristin) of <a href="http://whatdidyoulookuponwikipedia.com/">What Did You Look Up On Wikipedia</a>, including one about yoga and farts (my favorite so far). I got a record player, played a LOT of board games, and did a lot of yoga (worked on handstand and floating, which are my two favorite things to do in yoga). I went blonde again, learned how to throw a football, went to a baseball game, and found competent medical care (FINALLY). I went on a few short vacations and one long one, to Florida. I published some amazing work with my partners Molly and Jenn in <a href="http://www.tinderboxpoetry.com/">Tinderbox Poetry Journal</a>. I got stung by a wasp, got an MRI, and laughed a lot, cried a lot, and spent time with people who matter. I think that counts as a year that's worth it.Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-26846390529727036182015-12-26T18:12:00.000-06:002015-12-27T12:56:29.849-06:00A Year of Consumption<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No, I don't mean I got TB this year, but if you could get TB from TV I definitely would have.<br /><br />As many of you probably know, I like to track everything I read and watch during the calendar year. That way, I can see what I spend most of my time consuming (as if I didn't already know). It's also interesting to see what I rewatch, what I reread, and how my reading and watching vary from year to year in terms of what kinds of things I'm into, or how much I read or watch. This year I'm thrilled that my reading list is a tad longer than last year's reading list, due mostly to the fact that over the summer I worked at an aluminum can making factory and took the bus to work. That's when I did most of my reading--I did about two hours of commuting per day.<br /><br />I ended up watching 30 movies, and (I can't believe I'm about to say this) 53 seasons of different TV shows. I also ended up watching some other odds & ends, like The Ultimate Guide to the Presidents, which is only 8 episodes, and which I didn't count as a season of a TV show. I spent a lot of my time staring at a screen this year.<br /><br />BUT, I also read 65 books, plus some other manuscripts I read for a class I took with Todd Boss at the Loft about ordering a book of poetry. I listed some of those manuscripts here, whose titles I remembered or had written down. In addition to those manuscripts, I read MOSTLY poetry, though some graphic novels (kind of a first for me!), fiction, and non-fiction were thrown in for good measure.<br /><br />So here's the list: everything I read and watched in 2015, though we have a few days left, and no doubt I'll be adding a movie or two to the list before the end of the year. There are also a few books near the end of my reading list that I am finishing up, and hopefully will close the book on (heh) before 2016. My most, most favorite new books I read this year are in bold, which means you should definitely read them, though one of them isn't published yet (!!!!)<br /><br />READING LIST<br /><br /><b>Black Aperture - Matt Rasmussen</b><br />The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson<br />Any Anxious Body - Chrissy Kolaya<br />The Dig - Lynn Emanuel<br />The Wild Iris - Louise Gluck (reread)<br />The Turn of the Screw - Henry James (reread)<br />The Tell-Tale Heart - EA Poe (reread)<br />The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irving (reread)<br />The Monkey's Paw - W.W. Jacobs (reread)<br />Self Portrait in a Convex Mirror - John Ashberry<br />1408 - Stephen King<br /><b>Citizen - Claudia Rankine</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Women Who Run With Holsteins - Jeanne Lutz<br />Poems - Lee Kisling<br />Sleeping With the Dictionary - Harryette Mullen<br />Things That Are - Amy Leach (reread)<br /><b>Don't Let Me Be Lonely - Claudia Rankine</b><br />Beautiful Pathology - Katharine Rauk<br />Pyramid of Lemons - Carolyn Williams-Noren<br />You Are Not Dead - Wendy Xu<br />The Turn of the Screw - Henry James (again, for a class) (re-reread)<br />The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera (reread)<br />Flow - Del Doughty (reread)<br />These Are the Gloria Stories - Kelin Loe<br />Land Sparing - Gabriella Klein<br />Blues for Jocasta - Timothy Otte<br />Zion - TJ Jarrett<br />Bad Feminist - Roxane Gay<br />Don't Let Me Be Lonely - Claudia Rankine (again, because why not) (reread)<br /><b>What the Living Do - Marie Howe</b><br />Still Another Day - Pablo Neruda, translated by William O'Daly<br />At the Drive-In Volcano - Aimee Nezhukumatathil<br />Haunts- Laura Cherry<br />[insert] boy - Danez Smith<br />Urban Tumbleweed - Harryette Mullen<br /><b>Memoir of the Hawk - James Tate</b><br />The Road - Cormac McCarthy (reread)<br />You Are a Little Bit Happier Than I Am - Tao Lin<br />What Do We Know - Mary Oliver<br />The Captain Asks for a Show of Hands - Nick Flynn<br />Staying Alive - ed. Neil Astley (poetry anthology)<br />Hum - Jamaal May<br />The Art of the Story - ed. Daniel Halpern (short story anthology)<br />Ariel - Sylvia Plath (reread)<br /><b>NOX - Anne Carson</b><br />Wind in a Box - Terrance Hayes<br /><b>Steal Like an Artist - Austin Kleon</b><br />The Awakening - Kate Chopin (reread)<br /><b>The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath</b><br />Debbie's Inferno - Anne Emond<br />Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson (listened to this on tape)<br />What It Is - Lynda Barry<br />Show Your Work! - Austin Kleon<br />Lewis Carroll in Wonderland: The Life & Times of Alice & Her Creator - Stephanie Lovett Stoffel<br />If the Tabloids Are True What Are You? - Matthea Harvey<br /><b>An Unquiet Mind - Kay Redfield Jamison</b><br />Life on Mars - Tracy K. Smith<br />The Empathy Exams - Leslie Jamison<br /><b>skin, sin, shine - Erica Anderson-Senter</b><br />Autobiography of Red - Anne Carson<br />American Barricade - Danniel Schoonebeek<br />Live My Lief - Steven Roggenbuck<br />Through No Fault of My Own - Coco Irvine<br />Some Planet - Jamie Mortara<br /><b>Native Guard - Natasha Trethewey</b><br /><br /><br /><br />WATCH LIST</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
Desolation of Smaug<br />Hauntings:
Is It Real? (watched twice, for a class)<br />Don't
Trust the B*** in Apt 23 (seasons 1 & 2)<br />Fear
& Loathing in Las Vegas (rewatch)<br />Friends
(season 1) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />A
Long Way Down<br />The
Haunting (watched twice, for a class)<br />Star
Trek TNG (season 1)<br />La
Vie de Boheme<br />The
West Wing (seasons 2 & 3) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Dirty
Pretty Things<br />1408
(for a class) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The
Fall (season 2)<br />It's
Such a Beautiful Day<br />House
(seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch, though it's been ages since I've seen House)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Parks
& Rec (two episodes only)<br />Californication
(seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Weeds
(seasons 1 & 2) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Unbreakable
Kimmy Schmidt (season 1)<br />Arrested
Development (seasons 1, 2, 3) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Mean
Girls </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Twin
Peaks (seasons 1 & 2) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Louie
(season 4)<br />Top
Gun </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Game
of Thrones (season 2)<br />Monty
Python & the Holy Grail </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Wet
Hot American Summer (season 1)<br />How
I Met Your Mother (seasons 1 & 2) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Veronica
Mars (seasons 1, 2, 3) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The
Rescuers<br />Dale
& Tucker Vs. Evil<br />Hocus
Pocus </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />New
Girl (seasons 1 & 2 [twice], season 3) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Moonrise
Kingdom </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Dance
Academy (season 3)<br />X-files
(season 2) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />American
Horror Story (season 4)<br />American
Psycho </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Zombeavers
(gave up on this one)<br />Orange
Is the New Black (season 3)<br />American
Psycho 2 (also gave up on this)<br />30
Rock (part of season 1) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Gilmore
Girls (season 1) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Seinfeld
(seasons 1, 2, 3, 4) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Darjeeling
Limited </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Hannibal
(season 2)<br />Girls
(season 1, partially)<br />Juno </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Gothika<br />The
Ultimate Guide to the Presidents (8 episodes)<br />Killer
Legends (this was truly terrible---I did other things while watching
it)<br />Stonehearst
Asylum<br />Planet
Earth (episodes 1 & 2) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The
Double<br />Psych
(just the pilot episode)<br />Anthony
Bourdain: Parts Unknown (in progress) <br />Mind of a
Chef (season 1)<br />Jackass 2 </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The Simpsons (4
episodes) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Burlesque<br />Pulp Fiction </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The Following (season
2)<br />Love Actually </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Home Alone </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.24px;">(rewatch)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />White Christmas</span></div>
Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-82551973534593331682015-12-01T13:16:00.002-06:002015-12-01T13:17:26.722-06:00Travels, La Croix, and a Pushcart<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiwMyCoewQDtaBwlLl1dUCJMp65bQGJbi1rr8yJ9AgbLlyG5mnBpArGLOWkZ9sDK7dewkJ_jU1hs1Fjg2HW4x-WpBaF6qFPJ9I8vz_IP-15gtR3dP7JMaptO7daYYNZj1coAFJMzbdVYDs/s1600/IMG_2806.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiwMyCoewQDtaBwlLl1dUCJMp65bQGJbi1rr8yJ9AgbLlyG5mnBpArGLOWkZ9sDK7dewkJ_jU1hs1Fjg2HW4x-WpBaF6qFPJ9I8vz_IP-15gtR3dP7JMaptO7daYYNZj1coAFJMzbdVYDs/s320/IMG_2806.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Things have been just crazy around here lately. Will and I went to Florida over Thanksgiving and it was glorious. We did a lot of sitting outside reading, sitting on the porch reading, and, well, lots of eating. I always eat seafood when I go on vacation because I so rarely eat it at home, and it's one of my favorite things to eat. We also got to hang out with my family, see a cannon get shot off, and tour the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine.<br />
<br />
Now we're home, and the end of the semester is in sight. We both have just two weeks left of teaching, and then about a metric buttload of papers to grade. My desk right now is atrocious. I sometimes use the coffee table as my desk if I'd rather be sitting on the couch while I work; this moment, it's littered with books, notebooks, and empty La Croix cans.<br />
<br />
Somehow, even through all the traveling and grading, I managed to write twenty poems and read nine books in November. I'm unsure if this recent burst of productivity and diligence is due to the fact that I'm turning 30 in a few months or what, but I guess I shouldn't be asking any questions. I'll just take hold of this bull by the horns and keep going.<br />
<br />
ALSO, I was literally writing this blog post when I got word that I have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Boxcar Poetry Review nominated my poem <a href="http://www.boxcarpoetry.com/035/jenkins_brett_elizabeth_001.html">"Genesis."</a> I have never been nominated for a Pushcart before, and I'm not ashamed to admit I cried a little when I got word. Now I must go and buy a bottle of champagne and pretend I'm not scared when I pop the cork.Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-27068059431103061612015-11-19T19:06:00.005-06:002015-11-19T19:07:39.358-06:00XTREME POETING<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiseQ4GzM0-WwrT2vmUeX34rCmz_GbIaVCAxeDugUgGaDX5_dZu7VzZ1kIAD8qtQmzIBiBBz2nVI5QbM0qoH5_kJUVUBw1J3yodfzg1qkxuNnisIjBDWmrVG4Ca8oeqPx0nBcnJGHwCCPz4/s1600/IMG_2574.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiseQ4GzM0-WwrT2vmUeX34rCmz_GbIaVCAxeDugUgGaDX5_dZu7VzZ1kIAD8qtQmzIBiBBz2nVI5QbM0qoH5_kJUVUBw1J3yodfzg1qkxuNnisIjBDWmrVG4Ca8oeqPx0nBcnJGHwCCPz4/s320/IMG_2574.JPG" width="320" /></a>I have been trying to write a little each day. It is working. I can feel myself coming back to myself. I work out what I think by writing it down. If I don't do that then yes, I am failing myself.<br />
<br />
Somebody today told me that I use a lot of "extreme" words. (The kinds of words that tip you off to the idea that a true or false question should be marked 'false.' - Always, never, etc.) I refrained from making a joke about XTREME POETING.<br />
<br />
I make an X in the calendar box when I write in my poem notebook. It has been a week. I have written for a week. The words are feeling more fluid when they come out. Not as it used to be, but I am in the process of recovering what has been lost. It is a long process.<br />
<br />
Right now I am reading <i>The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath</i>. That damn girl could write. And she did write. The journals are 624 pages not counting the notes and the index of the book. Two journals were even omitted--the two journals she kept nearest to the end of her life. One of them "went missing" and the other was destroyed by Ted Hughes, which is fascinating to me. Destroyed.<br />
<br />
I'm hoping to get more and more X's as the days go by. Write a poem. Feel more myself. Write a poem. Feel more myself. We're going to Florida next week, and I want to make sure I'm still writing, even when my schedule is not what it normally is. I'm looking forward to the beach and the warm weather. It snowed today. I thought I was ready for that, but I was not ready for that. I never am.Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-43787113116973654272015-11-17T18:41:00.003-06:002015-11-17T18:41:18.923-06:00YIKES: What I've Seen This YearLast year, I started writing down everything I read and watch. It's in a little notebook. I started at the front with the list of books I read and started at the back with the list of TV shows and movies I watched. I have a feeling if I keep doing this, the TV & movies portion of the book is going to eat outrageously through to the front of the notebook and take up most of the space. Right now I'm trying to read more, but it's funny to go through & look back at what I've watched. I even write down the failed movies--the ones I get twenty minutes into and say NOPE! Or the TV shows that don't pull me past the pilot episode.<br /><br />Here's what I've watched so far this year, with a little more than six weeks left until 2016. I'll be a little ashamed if this list grows too much longer before December 31st, but I do like the practice of simply having a list:<br /><br />The Desolation of Smaug<br />Hauntings: Is It Real? (watched twice, for a class)<br />Don't Trust the B*** in Apt 23 (seasons 1 & 2)<br />Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas<br />Friends (season 1)<br />A Long Way Down<br />The Haunting (watched twice, for a class)<br />Star Trek TNG (season 1)<br />La Vie de Boheme<br />The West Wing (seasons 2 & 3)<br />Dirty Pretty Things<br />1408 (for a class)<br />The Fall (season 2)<br />It's Such a Beautiful Day<br />House (seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)<br />Parks & Rec (two episodes only)<br />Californication (seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)<br />Weeds (seasons 1 & 2)<br />Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (season 1)<br />Arrested Development (seasons 1, 2, 3)<br />Mean Girls<br />Twin Peaks (seasons 1 & 2)<br />Louie (season 4)<br />Top Gun<br />Game of Thrones (season 2)<br />Monty Python & the Holy Grail<br />Wet Hot American Summer (season 1)<br />How I Met Your Mother (seasons 1 & 2)<br />Veronica Mars (seasons 1, 2, 3)<br />The Rescuers<br />Dale & Tucker Vs. Evil<br />Hocus Pocus<br />New Girl (seasons 1 & 2 [twice], season 3)<br />Moonrise Kingdom<br />Dance Academy (season 3)<br />X-files (season 2)<br />American Horror Story (season 4)<br />American Psycho<br />Zombeavers (gave up on this one)<br />Orange Is the New Black (season 3)<br />American Psycho 2 (also gave up on this)<br />30 Rock (part of season 1)<br />Gilmore Girls (season 1)<br />Seinfeld (seasons 1, 2, 3, 4)<br />Darjeeling Limited<br />Hannibal (season 2)<br />Girls (season 1, partially)<br />Juno<br />Gothika<br />The Ultimate Guide to the Presidents (8 episodes)<br />Killer Legends (this was truly terrible---I did other things while watching it)<br />Stonehearst Asylum<br />Planet Earth (episodes 1 & 2)<br />The Double<br />Psych (just the pilot episode)<br />Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (in progress)<br />Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-15800032655391094082015-11-16T13:51:00.002-06:002015-11-16T13:53:36.427-06:00Book Rec: Steal Like an Artist<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoT8dxdJh7dzmBiKz5FgY8roZbmF9UQeo0QJBDkIwHBpjC6LEj0MJrFAg6FjGzDHItsITSTk3ZjxYHoxoZQTy783am6jcegK_X40GwsWk-INNfoSZdsMyim4BlAtNeUQtmWlJidDeR310K/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoT8dxdJh7dzmBiKz5FgY8roZbmF9UQeo0QJBDkIwHBpjC6LEj0MJrFAg6FjGzDHItsITSTk3ZjxYHoxoZQTy783am6jcegK_X40GwsWk-INNfoSZdsMyim4BlAtNeUQtmWlJidDeR310K/s320/FullSizeRender.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
After reading my post a few days ago in which I was bemoaning not writing anything down lately, my friend <a href="http://www.timothyotte.com/">Timothy Otte</a> recommended a book to me: <i>Steal Like an Artist</i> by Austin Kleon. I requested it from the library that day, picked it up this morning and just finished reading it. I took a ridiculous amount of notes while reading: lists of other books to read, movies to check out, and things I want to incorporate into my own daily writing practice. I told another friend, this book got me fired up about reading and writing. And living.<br />
<br />
<i>Steal Like an Artist</i> incorporates so many things I love. First of all, it's a list. The whole book is a list! And GOOD LORD do I love lists. I make a list every morning of all the things I want to get done each day. This is like a to-do list for the artist. But it's general and specific at the same time, so that no matter your discipline, you can adapt these practices to fit what you need.<br />
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I think that the idea that resonates the most with me here, as I've been saying for the past few days is: show up and do the work. Kleon writes, "Do the work every day, no matter what." But there's also a place for restrictions. If I only have fifteen minutes, I'll do the work in fifteen minutes. It becomes manageable. (Let's be real. I only really EVER spend fifteen minutes writing a poem. I have a very short attention span.)<br />
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If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend checking it out. It combines craft and inspiration in a really unique way. And there are so many charming doodles. I'm not a doodler, but maybe my heart is one. I loved these little doods.<br />
<br />
This is a book that I plan on buying so I can keep it on my desk. I'm also planning to check out some more books like this one, if you have any good recommendations. I was just recommended <i>Syllabus</i> by Lynda Barry, which I've already requested from the library. I want to cash in on this inspiration and drive I've got going so that when it gets dull again, when the work gets hard, I know that it's possible: fifteen minutes a day, at least. I can show up and do that.Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-11390381275101499442015-11-15T15:19:00.002-06:002015-11-15T15:19:52.167-06:00One Small Task at a TimeThe past two or three days, I have been feeling a little more myself. A little happier. A little more normal, if that's ever a thing that a living person can feel. On account of what, I can't really say. But I have been writing more down, which is making me feel lighter. I have been accomplishing small tasks each day. Clean out purse. Take out the recycling. Spend an hour grading papers. Water the plants. These are the things you can do.<br /><br />I even wrote a poem yesterday. I also watched approximately one metric buttload of Netflix. I watched a few episodes of New Girl, even though I've seen all three seasons on Netflix already. I've probably watched it through three times, at least. It calms me down to spend time with characters. (I am an avid re-watcher: Buffy, X-Files, West Wing, Californication, 30 Rock, Weeds, etc. etc. etc.)<br /><br />Will and I are also making our way through Seinfeld. It's funny how many of these episodes I remember vividly, having not seen it since it was on TV when I was a kid. These characters stick with you. I have a feeling it would be difficult to write a show like Seinfeld today. So much of the humor is based in society being analog. It makes me nostalgic.<br /><br />Last night I also watched "The Double," with Jesse Eisenberg. It's based on a Dostoyevsky novella. It was pretty good--I gave it three stars on Netflix (I'm stingy with my Netflix stars). Jesse Eisenberg is compelling. The two characters he plays are so opposite, both convincing. His voice at times reminds me so much of Michael Cera it's outrageous. The whole tenor of the movie was dark, though sometimes funny, a dystopian kind of feel. I haven't read the novella, but it makes me want to. Reminds me somewhat of what little Kafka I have read. The only other Dostoyevsky books I've read are <i>Notes From Underground</i> (in college) and <i>Crime and Punishment</i> (in high school). Yes, I'm ridiculously under-read.<br /><br />I'm going to try to write another poem today, and maybe make muffins. Go to yoga. I feel like I'm taking my life back, somewhat. One small task at a time.Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-27822158032942404562015-11-14T13:23:00.000-06:002015-11-14T13:23:21.863-06:00Logbook: The First Three Days<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-uStWci_IQfuJGHwNvshfCKKqEwnxY3C4rHjfJtb7m8s5v9XjjLKj4hAG5MLoY5aeDDkX-dMHmP3fEEsLM5gMc2HNoBN6Jvg7UyBJxLWL_U7aidSJfTHbRchosyO2TVoK6lcAH1ddk1Rg/s1600/log.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-uStWci_IQfuJGHwNvshfCKKqEwnxY3C4rHjfJtb7m8s5v9XjjLKj4hAG5MLoY5aeDDkX-dMHmP3fEEsLM5gMc2HNoBN6Jvg7UyBJxLWL_U7aidSJfTHbRchosyO2TVoK6lcAH1ddk1Rg/s320/log.jpg" width="240" /></a>As I was complaining the other day about not writing enough down, not cataloging my life, a friend recommended a technique that Austin Kleon talks about <a href="http://austinkleon.com/2010/01/31/logbook/">here</a>. Keeping a calendar of past events. Or, keeping a logbook.<br /><br />I pulled out an old notebook that had failed food diary entries in it from earlier in 2015 and started writing down the cold hard facts. What did I do today? What did I eat? Who did I see? Today's my third day, and while I don't feel an enormous change in how I'm feeling re: not writing recently, it is kinda nice to just sit for five minutes and have something easy to put down on paper.<br /><br />My entries are not as beautiful as Kleon's, whose little doodles are charming as hell (pictured right).<br /><br />Today I'm going to try to write a poem, and I'm not going to beat myself up if it doesn't go well. Maybe I'll just write for fifteen minutes and see what I can crank out. Pretty low stakes.<br /><br />Today is also my three-year yogaversary, so I'm thinking of practicing today, even though I already took a shower. A very good Rockin' Shower, with many over-the-top dances to Ace of Base and Men Without Hats. Of course, I will have to jot down my shower dances in my captain's log.Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-90117704373506060422015-11-12T14:00:00.003-06:002015-11-12T14:01:38.109-06:00THIS Is What I Spend My Time Doing?Okay, here I am, ten months later.<br />
<br />
I would like to make a conscious effort to be writing more down. Even if I just write one thing down every day. Maybe not even here, necessarily, just someplace. On a scrap of paper. The only things I've been writing down lately are grocery lists and reminders on my hand re: school, grading, and sending announcements to my classes. Oh, and I've been writing announcements. And comments on essays. These things should count, but they don't.<br />
<br />
I feel like I'm failing. And in a way, I am. I say I'm a writer but I'm failing to document even the smallest parts of my life. I don't journal anymore, and I don't blog. I tweet and I write updates on Facebook and I post my little pithy pictures to Instagram, but that's not a substitute for thinking. I feel like I figure out what I think by writing it down, and so in that way I'm failing myself.<br />
<br />
These things came to me because I keep a log of everything I read and watch during the year, and I thought to myself, THIS is what I spend my time doing? I watch so much more than I read, and I write even less. Even if I wrote down a paragraph about each thing I read or watched, I think I would double my word count for the year, which is sad.<br />
<br />
Anyway, this is me complaining. And writing something down. I hope it's a start.<br />
<br />
I'm watching a documentary on Netflix right now about killers and urban legends, called "Killer Legends." It's bound to be terrible, but my brain needs a break. And my body needs popcorn.Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-91339737350177785882015-01-18T16:08:00.002-06:002015-01-18T16:08:49.611-06:00Update: 101/1001I took another look today at the list I made back in June (I wish were June right now) of the 101 things I wanted to complete in the next 1001 days. I have just 773 days left to complete everything on this list. Let's see what's up.<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<strike>1. Finish list of 101 things</strike>
(Completed 6/4/14)<br />
<br />
TOGETHER<br />
<strike>2. Read a book
together </strike>(Things That Are – Amy Leach) This one is a bit of a cheat, because we both taught the book for our Fall 2014 classes, but I'm counting it anyway. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
3.
Spend nothing for two weeks</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
4. Create list of life goals<br />
5. Go
canoeing</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
6. Go to a scotch tasting<br />
7. See the
orchestra<br />
<strike>8. Bike ride & picnic</strike>
(Completed 6/29/14)
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<strike> 9. See a live sporting event </strike>
(Twins game! Completed 9/13/2014) <br />
10. Go to 4 live concerts per
year (Completed for 2014)</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
(2014: 4/4) (Zombie Pit Orchestra, Old
Crow Medicine Show, Dred I Dredd, Jenny Lewis, Wilkinson James) <br />
11.
Go camping<br />
12. Go sailing<br />
<strike>13. Visit a museum</strike>
(Shipwreck museum, Duluth MN)<br />
14. Get a pet<br />
15. See a
meteor shower<br />
16. Ride a tandem bicycle<br />
<br />
HEALTH<br />
17 Do
yoga at least 12 times per month (6/33) (I slacked a few months near the end of 2014)</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
18 Take 30 yoga classes in 30 days
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<strike>19 Hold crow pose for at least
5 breaths</strike> (Completed
6/10/14)<br />
<strike>20 Teach yoga</strike>
(Completed 6/5/14)<br />
21 Participate in a race of some kind (do eating-based races count?)<br />
22
Bike or walk to work when possible instead of driving<br />
23 Work
toward full splits on both sides<br />
24 Try a new kind of exercise or
class<br />
<br />
TRAVEL & ADVENTURE<br />
25 Go to my 10 year high
school reunion (missed it)</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
26 Get a passport<br />
27 Go to France<br />
28
Visit 3 new states (Maine, <b><strike>Alaska</strike>,</b> TBD)<br />
29 Go
backpacking<br />
<strike>30 Take a cross-country road trip </strike>(Completed
7/1/2014: Minnesota to Vermont and back)
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
31 Visit a famous landmark I've never
been to<br />
32 See something that claims it's the “world's largest”
of whatever that thing is<br />
<strike>33 Do something that scares me
(participated in Write Fight on TV!)</strike>
(Completed 6/6/14)<br />
34 Go snow shoeing <br />
35 Go
skydiving<br />
36 Visit the Boundary Waters<br />
37 Go to the zoo<br />
38
Meet somebody famous<br />
39 Ride in a hot air balloon<br />
40 Go to an
amusement park<br />
41 Visit the Mall of America<br />
42 Swim with a
dolphin<br />
43 Visit a national park I've never been to<br />
44 Go
somewhere haunted<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
WRITING & LITERATURE</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
45 Participate in at least 4 poetry
reading events per year (<strike>2014</strike>, 2015, 2016)<br />
(Compteted for 2014:
Wunderkammer, The Soap Factory, Midstream, Write Fight, SHORE,
Bennington Reunion reading, Rosalux Gallery, Maeve's, Magers &
Quinn 20<sup>th</sup> Anniversary party, Harriet Brewing, Sisyphus
Brewing)</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
46 Read at least 4 books per month
(3/33) (I've been a HUGE slacker in this arena)<br />
47 Write down all books read & movies watched for the
duration (8/33)<br />
48 Get into at least 1 top-tier journal (0/1)<br />
49
Write at least 15 poems per month (1/33)<br />
50 Put together a solid
full-length manuscript (working on this NOW!)<br />
51 Get 100 rejections per calendar year
(magazines, contests, etc.) (2014, 2015, 2016) (got 78 for 2014)<br />
52 Get head shots
taken by a real person instead of my iPhone<br />
53 Go on a writing
retreat<br />
<strike>54 Enter & win a writing contest</strike>
(Revolver's Write Fight II – 6/14) <br />
<strike>55 Take a
class at the Loft </strike>(Todd Boss manuscript class)
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<strike>56 Publish another chapbook</strike>
(OH NO EVERYTHING, coming out March 2015!)<br />
57 Apply for a PhD program in
creative writing<br />
58 Write a short story<br />
59 Attend at least 50
readings (9/50) (Write Fight II, SHORE, Bennington, Rosalux, Maeve's,
Trotter's, Amy Leach, Harriet Brewing, Sisyphus Brewing)<br />
<br />
ETC.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
60 Try to buy mainly used clothing (Haven't bought anything new in ages!)</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
61 Try 10 new board games (5/10 : Lost
Cities; Zombicide; Undermine; Lords of Waterdeep, The Resistance: Avalon)<br />
<strike>62 Do a
new thing every day for 1 month </strike>
(Completed 6/22)<br />
<strike>63 Go through my clothes &
donate what I don't wear</strike>
(Completed 6/6/14) (I'm going to have to do this one again)<br />
64 Host a dinner party<br />
<strike>65
Take a photo every day for a month</strike> (Completed July 1
2014)<br />
<strike>66 Get my weird tattoo covered up</strike><br />
67 See
the Northern Lights<br />
68 Go back to vegetarianism <br />
<strike>69 Sing Men In
Black at karaoke </strike>(proudly done, but not well)<br />
70 Throw something into a wood chipper<br />
71 Milk
a cow<br />
72 Say yes more<br />
<br />
MEDIA<br />
73 Give up all social media
for 1 week <br />
74 Keep blog updated: at least 4 posts per month
(1/33) (hahaha)<br />
75 See all movies on AFI top 100 (28/100)<br />
76 Go to the
drive-in<br />
77 Watch all the movies we own that I haven't seen<br />
78
Give up internet games for a year (this is the year!)<br />
<br />
KITCHEN<br />
79 Cook 20 new
recipes (4/20)</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
(roasted summer vegetable pasta,
portobello mushroom burgers, potato skins, rosemary chicken)<br />
80 Try being vegan for
1 month<br />
81 Try 5 new foods (2/5: fish tacos, dates)<br />
<strike>82 Eat
something I grew myself </strike>(Basil) <br />
83 Be diligent about
composting and recycling (I've been pretty good about this so far!)<br />
84 Cook all my own meals for a month (no
dining out)<br />
<br />
HOME<br />
85 Tackle the books<br />
86 Organize the
kitchen<br />
<strike>87 Plant something (basil, jade, dill)</strike><br />
88
Get a huge bookshelf<br />
89 Wall art (we're on our way here, too)<br />
<strike>90 Get a new
computer</strike><br />
91 Get real bedroom furniture (dressers)<br />
92
Decorate the bedroom so it doesn't look like a prison cell<br />
<br />
LOCAL<br />
93
Try 10 new restaurants (6/10)<br />
(Cosi, Sea Salt, Twisted Fork,
Leaning Tower of Pizza, Flashbacks, Salut Bar Americain)<br />
<strike>94 Go on a brewery
tour</strike> (Alaskan brewery, Fitger's)
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
95 Go to the Minnesota State Fair<br />
96
Attend Minneapolis movies in the park or music in the park<br />
97
Rocky Horror Picture Show midnight showing<br />
98 Go to the farmer's
market<br />
99 Go to 4 summer festivals every summer <br />
(Completed for 2014): (4/4)
(Grand Old Day, Northern Spark, St. Cloud Art Crawl, Highland
Fest)<br />
100 Explore Minneapolis & St. Paul on my bike<br />
101
Have dinner on a rooftop patio</div>
Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-67604602439049023722015-01-02T14:42:00.002-06:002015-01-02T14:54:52.125-06:00Consumption: Not Just a Way to Die on the Oregon TrailAs part of my plan to use my time more wisely, I decided at the beginning of 2014 to write down all of the books and movies and TV shows (etc. etc.) that I consumed during the year. It's a good way to look back at my time, face myself in the mirror, and say aloud, <i>Yes, I spent fourteen hours in the past two days watching Supernatural.</i><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I lived up to the goal of writing all that down, but the list of books I read was curiously small. I started 2014 off pretty strong, having read more than ten books in January. Then things got weird. But I'm presenting to you the lists of things I consumed in 2014, mostly without comment.<br />
<br />
In total, I read about 38 books. I watched approximately 67 movies (some of them twice) and about 50 seasons of different TV shows. It almost hurts to say that aloud.<br />
<br />
BOOKS<br />
<br />
Jack Gilbert - <i>Collected Poems</i> (This book contains each of his five books and his uncollected poems)<br />
Carrie Lorig - <i>Nods</i></div>
<div>
Carrie Lorig and Sara Woods - <i>Root Poems</i><br />
Jason Shinder - <i>Among Women</i><br />
Bradford Tice - <i>Rare Earth</i><br />
Gregory Sherl - <i>Last Night Was Worth Talking About</i><br />
Harryette Mullen - <i>Sleeping With the Dictionary</i><br />
Paula Cisewski - <i>Ghost Fargo</i><br />
Matthew Zapruder - <i>The Pajamaist</i><br />
Zack Haber - <i>Chapbook</i><br />
Michael Earl Craig - <i>Thin Kimono</i><br />
Kristen Naca - <i>Bird Eating Bird</i><br />
C.M. Burroughs - <i>The Vital System</i><br />
Aimee Nezhukumatathil - <i>Lucky Fish</i><br />
Charles Simic - <i>Hotel Insomnia</i><br />
Rachel Richardson - <i>Copperhead</i><br />
Jenny Boully - <i>of the mismatched teacups, of the single-serving spoon</i><br />
Opal C. McCarthy - <i>SURGE: An Oral Poetics</i><br />
Sarah Vap - <i>end of the sentimental journey</i><br />
Lois Lowry - <i>The Giver</i><br />
Lucille Clifton - <i>Next</i><br />
J. Michael Gonzalez - <i>Heredities</i><br />
Jeffrey McDaniel - <i>Forgiveness Parade</i><br />
Kate Greenstreet - <i>Case Sensitive</i><br />
Sarah Vap -<i> Acro Iris</i><br />
Lily Ladewig - <i>The Silhouettes</i><br />
Amy Leach - <i>Things That Are</i><br />
Neil Astley (ed.) - <i>Staying Alive: Real Poems for Unreal Times</i><br />
Kate Chopin - <i>The Awakening</i><br />
TJ Jarrett - Zion<br />
Daniel Halpern (ed.) - <i>The Art of the Story: an International Anthology of Contemporary Short Stories</i><br />
Chris Abani - <i>Song for Night </i>(haven't finished this yet)<br />
Chrissy Kolaya - <i>Any Anxious Body </i>(haven't finished yet)<br />
<br />
<br />
TV/MOVIES<br />
<br />
Inside Llewyn Davis<br />
Fargo (rewatch)<br />
The Story of Film: An Odyssey (fifteen episodes)<br />
Veronica Mars (Seasons 1, 2, and 3)<br />
Return of the Jedi<br />
X-Files (Season 1) (rewatch)<br />
But I'm a Cheerleader<br />
The Graduate<br />
Supernatural (Seaon 1, episodes 20 & 21, Seasons 2 & 3)<br />
Kissing Jessica Stein<br />
Pickpocket<br />
High Fidelity (rewatch)<br />
Harold & Maude<br />
Practical Magic<br />
Phantom Menace<br />
Gossip Girl (Seasons 1 & 2)<br />
American Psycho<br />
Hannibal (Season 1)<br />
Bling Ring<br />
The United States of Leland<br />
A Young Doctor's Notebook (1 series)<br />
Boyhood<br />
30 Rock (Seasons 1 & 2 <i>twice</i>) (Season 3) (rewatch)<br />
Happy (<i>twice</i>)<br />
New Girl (Seasons 1, 2, & 3) (rewatch)<br />
Flashdance<br />
Cry-Baby<br />
The Virgin Suicides (rewatch)<br />
Following<br />
The Grand Budapest Hotel<br />
Ghost Hunters (one episode)<br />
Paranormal Entity<br />
Girls Just Want to Have Fun<br />
The Inbetweeners (Season 3)<br />
Spiral (Seasons 1 & 2)<br />
Mean Girls (rewatch)</div>
<div>
The Royal Tennenbaums (rewatch)<br />
The Room (rewatch)<br />
Sherlock (Season 3)<br />
Orange is the New Black (Season 2)<br />
Louie (Seasons 1, 2 & 3)<br />
Party Monster<br />
Shoot the Piano Player<br />
Luther (Seasons 1, 2, & 3)<br />
Louis C.K. Hilarious<br />
The Ninth Gate<br />
Taxi Driver<br />
Scoop<br />
In the House<br />
Tin Man (Seasons 1 & 2)<br />
The Punk Singer<br />
Friday Night Lights (Seasons 1 & 2)<br />
The West Wing (Seasons 1 & 2) (rewatch)<br />
Wayne's World (rewatch)<br />
The IT Crowd (Seasons 1, 2, 3 & 4)<br />
Californication (Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7) (rewatch of first six seasons)<br />
Teenage<br />
Gilmore Girls (Seasons 1 & 2) (rewatch)<br />
Bad Grandpa<br />
Electrik Children</div>
<div>
The Lego Movie<br />
Peep Show (pilot episode only)<br />
Salem (pilot episode only)<br />
The Bletchley Circle (Season 2)<br />
The Office (U.S.) (Season 1, episodes 5 & 6)<br />
The Office (U.K.) (pilot episode only)<br />
Shadows & Fog<br />
The Initiation<br />
Dead Poets Society (rewatched twice)<br />
The Brak Show (season 1) (rewatch)<br />
Emporte-Moi<br />
Unzipped<br />
Game of Thrones (Seasons 1 & 2)<br />
Jurassic Park (rewatch)<br />
September<br />
We Are The Best<br />
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (rewatch)<br />
Cropsey<br />
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex<br />
Stand By Me (rewatch)<br />
Rachel Getting Married<br />
Amelie (rewatch)<br />
Turbo<br />
Californication (pilot episode rewatch)<br />
Beauty & the Beast (rewatch)<br />
American Horror Story (season 3)<br />
Advanced Style<br />
Donald Glover: Weirdo<br />
Aladdin (rewatch)<br />
Home Alone (rewatch)<br />
The Wolf of Wall Street<br />
Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets (rewatch)<br />
Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom<br />
Labyrinth (rewatch)<br />
Don't Trust the B**** in Apartment 23<br />
Love Actually<br />
<br />
<br />
And that's it. I'm planning on writing down everything I read and watch in 2015; hopefully the book list will be a little longer. I'm not sure I can do anything about the TV/Movies list. I'd like to say it's going to be shorter, but let's be real.</div>
Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-81820390942087774922014-12-26T18:28:00.002-06:002014-12-26T18:29:42.498-06:00Year End Post: Vol. 1So, five months is a long time to go between blogs, but it's been a crazy five months. This semester kind of kicked my butt, and not in the good way. Like, when you're at the gym and the perky blonde lady isn't sweating at all and she's got a perfect pony tail and her eye makeup is still pristine and she's like "this teacher kicks my butt!" I'm the one in the corner, red-faced, grunting and farting and trying not to vomit. This year was difficult.<br />
<br />
But that's not to say that this year was without merit. I did a lot this year, and I thought I'd do a year-end wrap up post to say that yes, some good things did happen this year, and I need to be thankful for those things instead of dwelling on everything that went awry.<br />
<br />
1. I got 75 rejections.<br />
<br />
I have a goal of getting 100 rejections each year, because if I'm getting 100 rejections, it means I'm sending out work. Lots of work. I didn't reach that goal. I didn't reach that goal partly because things got a little hectic here at the end of the year. But I'd also like to think I didn't reach it due partly to:<br />
<br />
2. I got 21 acceptances.<br />
<br />
Twenty-one journals said yes to me! I might do a whole post on the whole process of acceptances & rejections & sending work out, because it's a weird process. It's like playing the lottery, and it's very tedious to send your work out, and I have to make it a game in as many ways as possible (the 100 rejections thing is one of those ways), but putting the work in is totally worth it. I got into a couple of my favorite magazines this year and I need to think about that on the bad days.<br />
<br />
3. I completed yoga teacher training.<br />
<br />
I am now a certified yoga teacher. I've only taught one class, but I've been thinking about trying to teach more. I really love teaching (both English and yoga), and there is something really nice about teaching a yoga class as opposed to an English class: mostly everyone who shows up to a yoga class is there by choice. I don't have to teach to the back-row sitters who are just snapchatting their buddies. Though, I guess, you'd be surprised about how many people I see texting in yoga.<br />
<br />
4. On that note, I practiced yoga 160 times.<br />
<br />
Hopefully a handful more by the end of the year. This is short of my goal for the year by 40 practices, but I celebrated my two-year yogaversary in November and I can't believe it. This is the longest I've ever stuck with any physical practice. I've started and quit so many sports in my life: volleyball, track, basketball, soccer, softball, cheerleading, running. I guess I was in cheerleading for three years, which is a little embarrassing to admit. Anyway, all this to say that I think I'll be happy about the number 160 instead of sad about the 40 I didn't do.<br />
<br />
5. I did a buttaload of poetry readings.<br />
<br />
I had a goal for this year in terms of poetry readings. That number was four, and I did way more than that. At least double. I love doing poetry readings more than I love doing just about any other thing, so this is definitely a goal I'm going to keep going into the new year.<br />
<br />
6. I wrote approximately 110 poems.<br />
<br />
Some of the poems I wrote and gave away to people at the Magers & Quinn 20th anniversary party, and some of the poems I wrote for Revolver's Write Fight, but I have most of the poems sitting on my desktop. I wanted to write 200 poems this year and I didn't do that, but I did write more than half that. And that's nothing to sneeze at.<br />
<br />
7. I traveled. A lot.<br />
<br />
I started the year in Ohio/Indiana for a little expedition related to a project I'm working on. I went on a writing retreat on the way back home in Wisconsin, where I almost got stuck because the weather on the day I left was about -30 degrees. IT WAS INSANE. But obviously I made it home.<br />
<br />
I went to Alaska! This has been on my list of "yeah right" things I've wanted to do for such a long time, and for my husband's graduation present, his parents got us tickets to go to Juneau to visit his brother and their little family. It was such a blast.<br />
<br />
I went to Vermont for the Bennington Writing Seminars anniversary thing, which was basically just a mini reunion for my grad school class, which was amazing.<br />
<br />
I flew to Ohio right before fall semester started so I could go to my sister's baby shower, which was such a crazy time. I may never get to see her pregnant again, so there's no way in hell I was going to miss that one. It's so insane that humans can grow other humans inside of them.<br />
<br />
I also got to go to Florida in May, where I got a ridiculous sunburn. I mean, a sunburn so bad I couldn't sleep on my back for a week. But I also got to see my mom and hang out with my family for a week, so no complaints.<br />
<br />
8. I became an aunt.<br />
<br />
Will's brother and his wife had a baby girl in May, and MY sister had a baby boy in November! I have never been much of a baby person, but it's totally different when it's a baby in your family. These kids are going to be so spoiled. I love it.<br />
<br />
There are so many other things I did this year, too, and I may post about some more specific events in the coming days before the new year, but writing out these things I have to be thankful for was something I've been meaning to do for a long time. It's so easy to get caught up in the little stuff and forget the good things.<br />
<br />
I hope you all had a fantastic year. Go and be good to each other.Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-83440079684747121902014-07-24T17:28:00.000-06:002014-07-24T20:46:49.679-06:00Update: 101 in 1001, Part 1Hey guys. I know I only first posted about my 101/1001 challenge about a month and a half ago, but I thought it could be fun to update a little bit about it already. Thinking about things I'd like to do over the course of the next couple of years definitely has me actively seeking opportunities to try new things and take necessary steps in accomplishing my goals.<br />
<br />
I'm not going to share <a href="http://brettejenkins.blogspot.com/2014/06/101-in-1001.html">the whole list</a> again, but I'll just comment on some of the things I've been up to in the last month or two!<br />
<br />
The first and most important thing I crossed off my list was "Finish list of 101 things," which I completed on June 4th. I think it's fun to put things on lists that I know I'm going to do, like putting "eat lunch" on my daily to-do list. It was also nice to be able to cross out a thing right away. I did think for a few days about what I ultimately wanted on this list, but I like to dive into things head-first and knew that if I waited much longer, I probably wouldn't get around to finishing the list.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAODKKhmWJ3UVgN5L4c1x8XTnbE95zP7ZwHabG1ITlG94JjNju3t0eBoT0gHm1fx5Bh53YwRWDs6q3C6lK4bZ9HKRFesWT9tKPWyvIw6PzD6KV2rMKpx2dDf5593qX4_z82y1GQ63Csue/s1600/photo+(6).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAODKKhmWJ3UVgN5L4c1x8XTnbE95zP7ZwHabG1ITlG94JjNju3t0eBoT0gHm1fx5Bh53YwRWDs6q3C6lK4bZ9HKRFesWT9tKPWyvIw6PzD6KV2rMKpx2dDf5593qX4_z82y1GQ63Csue/s1600/photo+(6).JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a>One of my other crossed-off goals was to do a bike ride/picnic with Will. I'm happy to say we've done this a couple of times this summer, but at the tail end of June, we biked with a couple of Subway sandwiches (all the veggies!!) down to Minnehaha Falls and ate them while people watching and listening to the almost-overflowing river rage on.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqeyG2Xxvsym0QfWxs8huJRvIBwohL8XrWWf9SXyjNsN_ByF7qn6aRGqOp4yZwIYhj6sidHGDVdwtnh370yrs0GZTo5LYY974Ga8wcjdz0mdmmC9tC_HvkdOASUKuo6d-ypyjOTQVXXOiM/s1600/photo+(7).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqeyG2Xxvsym0QfWxs8huJRvIBwohL8XrWWf9SXyjNsN_ByF7qn6aRGqOp4yZwIYhj6sidHGDVdwtnh370yrs0GZTo5LYY974Ga8wcjdz0mdmmC9tC_HvkdOASUKuo6d-ypyjOTQVXXOiM/s1600/photo+(7).JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a>Another one I'm really excited about is the goal of going to at least four live concerts per year. Since making this list, we've gone to three live concerts, and have plans to see Jenny Lewis in August. I almost pee my pants every time I think about that. Jenny Lewis has been one of my favorite singers since my early college days, both as the frontwoman for the band Rilo Kiley and as a solo artist. I can't wait. The other three concerts we were able to see were the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ZombiePitStringBand">Zombie Pit String Band</a>, my brother-in-law's awesome bluegrass band, Old Crow Medicine Show, which we were able to see for free at the 40th anniversary party for A Prairie Home Companion, and lastly, a local Reggae band called <a href="http://www.dredidread.com/">Dred I Dread</a>. I had never seen a Reggae concert before, and I was not disappointed. It was actually really great.<br />
<br />
A few yoga-related goals I was able to cross off in the first week of this list were to hold crow pose for five breaths--I held it for six and only fell out because I started laughing--and to teach a yoga class, which was terrifying and amazing.<br />
<br />
Under the category of "Travel & Adventure," I got to cross off "Take a cross-country road trip." In June, I drove from Minnesota to Vermont and back to attend the 20th anniversary of the Bennington Writing Seminars, where I graduated with my MFA in 2010. I love road trips. I think traveling in general can teach us a lot about who we are, especially when taking long trips. This trip in particular was a difficult one for a couple of reasons, but I made it there and back without speeding tickets, and I only cried in one Burger King parking lot.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMBzXeXjoeHDdg55-D4ndq1DPcLTcYzx7qV0eDDknUBc0I96lGX0Ti8Vm9Qj3J4nMZHMouFHEhyphenhyphen7NaY1dWOYvpqweMG826NEutk0UsZsPbHXBqmqPfkrKAJ2qKxrpqvlTQsT6nBXbFcCeW/s1600/photo+(8).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMBzXeXjoeHDdg55-D4ndq1DPcLTcYzx7qV0eDDknUBc0I96lGX0Ti8Vm9Qj3J4nMZHMouFHEhyphenhyphen7NaY1dWOYvpqweMG826NEutk0UsZsPbHXBqmqPfkrKAJ2qKxrpqvlTQsT6nBXbFcCeW/s1600/photo+(8).JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a><br />
The other item under "Travel & Adventure" I completed was "Do something that scares me," which is a pretty general task. However, I've done a number of things that scared me over the past few weeks: I participated in (and won!) a live writing competition--Write Fight--that was hosted by <a href="http://www.around-around.com/">Revolver</a>. Teaching the yoga class was also a rush for me, and just the other day I stepped very close the the ledge of a two-story high balcony.<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This post has become unwieldy! And I'm only halfway through my list, so I'll continue this sucker later like an episode of a bad TV sitcom.<br />
<br />
To be continued...</div>
Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-10728827310953418952014-06-19T12:59:00.002-06:002014-06-19T13:04:56.880-06:00Crying in Public: It's Really, Really CoolOn Tuesday of this week, I was given the opportunity to participate in just one part of SHORE, Emily Johnson's multi-day performance. The part of SHORE I got to take part in was a curated reading. I gave a short reading along with seven other talented writers at the Loft in Minneapolis. A new and exciting thing for me! The rest of SHORE features volunteerism, dance, and feasting (probably my favorite of all four things). I saw the call for submissions on the Loft website. Emily curated this reading and asked that we send in pieces that were strongly tied to the idea of home, place, and land.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTg6ORVEliQM_qiQge8HgMK_IpYKvkwUht7KkR-yoIyt3-d4zP-UgZ-RneKGM8rSsd-ZMepRG9OLeHHCvtaXvMrik_cSdIesq2vTjGyAN-iDUeaZEQC82863_kEbPU0azupAKozmah4nms/s1600/loft.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTg6ORVEliQM_qiQge8HgMK_IpYKvkwUht7KkR-yoIyt3-d4zP-UgZ-RneKGM8rSsd-ZMepRG9OLeHHCvtaXvMrik_cSdIesq2vTjGyAN-iDUeaZEQC82863_kEbPU0azupAKozmah4nms/s1600/loft.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a><br />
The town where I grew up is called Oak Harbor, and it's very small. When I say very small, I mean very small. The 2010 census clocked in around 2,500 people. I have friends who went to high schools bigger than that. I thought I really hated growing up in such a small town where everybody knew everybody's business, but then a few years ago, I pretty much barfed and all these poems about Oak Harbor just started coming out of me. I read four of them at the reading<br />
<br />
The last poem I read was called "The House Does Not Look Burnt." It was published in an earlier version in <a href="http://www.neonmagazine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/neon27.pdf">Issue 27</a> of Neon Magazine in 2011. Three stanzas from the end of the poem, I just burst into tears. I made it to the end but kept apologizing and, thank God, there's even a video of this.<br />
<br />
I was so embarrassed. I had never read the poem aloud at a reading before and had no idea that was going to happen. But after the reading, a lot of people came up to me and said "Hey, that's happened to me. Don't worry about it."<br />
<br />
I'm not really sure what to do with this information. I did watch the video, like a scary movie: with a see-through scarf in front of my face, as if it would shield me from the embarrassment I felt. But it wasn't as bad as I remembered. I didn't have red snotty cry face, like I do when I cry at home. I just figure, when else am I going to get the chance to cry in front of a big group of strangers? So I'm posting the video here, because this is the true meaning of yolo.<br />
<br />
If you want to see me read all the poems, I'm near the end of the reading. I get introduced around 1:03:48. If you have time, you should watch the whole thing--especially because at one point, Paula Cisewski reads three dazzling poems. If you just want to see the public crying, skip to 1:08:14. Also, if you've cried in public you now owe me a story.Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-16713834578407307742014-06-09T17:32:00.002-06:002014-06-09T17:32:51.007-06:00Writing About Writing: Everyone's Favorite Least Favorite Thing<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">First
of all, thanks to <a href="http://kathleenkirkpoetry.blogspot.com/">Kathleen
Kirk</a> for tagging me in this blog tour thing, and an apology
to <a href="http://mollysuttonkiefer.com/">Molly Sutton Kiefer</a>,
who asked me to do this several months ago and I said I would and
then didn't. Oops! I'm not a bad person, I just get distracted by TV
shows. The two writers I'm tagging to do posts about this next
are <a href="http://www.joestracci.net/">Joe Stracci</a> and <a href="http://allcolorsalldirections.blogspot.com/">Erica
Anderson-Senter</a>, two fantastic writers and fantastic friends. Joe
recently published a novel, Whitney, which you should definitely
check out. At his book launch, I fell over a table and got a massive
bruise which I nicknamed "Shame Bruise." It was there for
many weeks as a reminder of how dumb I am. Erica is going into her
second term in Bennington's MFA program (!!) and her poems drink
diesel and scratch wherever the</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">y
want, even if they're in public.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgapPVEoUVCseqQyJUT3PMCAzpe14zhnm8aM93VXN03mVNaQlMMkwNTYGndEeEzkUDkP07wiXdFTsk3JqV_namLT0jDp4Q-Fjkr9vQPS3lG0bb7olQbvQBEmYPXRf9b9A9IOiyqjIOz516I/s1600/photo+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgapPVEoUVCseqQyJUT3PMCAzpe14zhnm8aM93VXN03mVNaQlMMkwNTYGndEeEzkUDkP07wiXdFTsk3JqV_namLT0jDp4Q-Fjkr9vQPS3lG0bb7olQbvQBEmYPXRf9b9A9IOiyqjIOz516I/s1600/photo+%25284%2529.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />Erica
hasn't actually agreed to do this yet, but you should check out her
blog either way. I know if I waited for her permission I would get
distracted by TV again and this post wouldn't transpire for another 3
months, my eyes glazed over with 3 seasons of Luther and a front to
back rewatch of The West Wing.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />Anyway,
there are four questions here that I'm going to answer, and which
Kathleen also answered, and which in theory, Joe and Erica will
answer as well. Let's get to it then?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b>What
are you working on?</b><br /><br />That's always an interesting question
for me, because I feel that the answer could likely be "nothing."
I'm not really a planner when it comes to my writing. I do try to sit
down and write at least a few times a week, but I don't have plans to
finish anything in particular. I have a list of projects I flit
between and work on whenever I feel called to. I'm trying to write
poems named after each episode of The X-Files (I'm about halfway
through season 1, writing-wise). I'm also writing a batch of poems
based loosely on French New Wave films. The other thing I'm working
on is a series of poems about the weird little town where I grew up.
I assume it will be many years before any of these projects comes to
a close.<br /><br /><b>How does your work differ from other writers in
your genre?</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">It's
hard to say. When I write poems I'm often inspired by other poets and
the work of my friends and the members of my writing group, so I
think that my poems are essentially tied to the work of many other
writers. But then, I'm super weird (just check out the <a href="http://brettejenkins.blogspot.com/2014/06/doing-new-things.html">list
of new things</a> I did every day for five months in high school
if you don't believe me), and so I think that on a fundamental level
my poems are going to reflect my personality: weird. I like to try
wacky stuff and write poems about the things that I find myself
obsessing over, like stigmata and ghosts. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b>Why
do you write?</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">I've
always been a writer. In second grade I wrote a poem called "FAT
TURKY" [sic] in which I plot and execute a Thanksgiving murder
(it was a turky, obviously), then eat the victim. In the end of the
poem I get sad about having killed it but realize the turky is still
alive in my "stumack" and we cut it out with a butcher
knife. The details are murky but I don't hold grudges and now I like
most birds. Anyway, I'm still writing.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b>What
is your writing process?</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">My
process isn't fancy. I just sit down and write. I pretty much only
write poetry. I spend a lot of time thinking about poems and I have a
lot of books full of ideas and words that I like. When I have thought
about an idea for long enough, I sit down to write a poem about
whatever that thing is. Sometimes I spend a long time
procrastinating, and sometimes I give up right away. When I don't
give up right away, I write a poem. It's either good or terrible. I
hardly ever revise poems, because I'd rather just write a whole new
poem than spend time making bad poems okay. That's probably the
reason I've written about 700 poems since 2007. Because most of them
are total crap.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-45693779422461477662014-06-05T11:39:00.001-06:002014-06-05T19:22:49.527-06:00101 in 1001<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj963pSt66I4M_xEpuiKDDjAZX6BRfa_E_NdSNAPAR6TnIWbDe-dBx0XNGG3PRJKNwW2WZ_xI46iPYdjRRR5xT5gANqC1ckaRyn6BxETJy_NZnqlPSiVFg1jnu2M5aU2ughMi5InbHi6vGn/s1600/photo+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj963pSt66I4M_xEpuiKDDjAZX6BRfa_E_NdSNAPAR6TnIWbDe-dBx0XNGG3PRJKNwW2WZ_xI46iPYdjRRR5xT5gANqC1ckaRyn6BxETJy_NZnqlPSiVFg1jnu2M5aU2ughMi5InbHi6vGn/s1600/photo+(3).JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
I realize this is going to be my second list post in two days, but I was inspired yesterday by my friend <a href="http://blosserbyrdsnest.weebly.com/">Jaime</a>'s post about her progress on something called "101 in 1001." I was intrigued and looked into it a little more. The idea is simple: make a list of 101 things to accomplish in 1001 days. If there's anything I love, it's making a good list, and the mother of all lists is obviously the to-do list. What I liked about this project is that it gives you a time limit for the accomplishments, and it's also a great way to aggregate long- and short-term goals into one big list. So I made a list of my own. <br />
<br />
I just finished the first thing on the list, which was to finish the list. And scarily enough, I'll be completing a second task on the list tonight: teach yoga. I'm going to be teaching my first yoga class this evening at Ambiente Gallerie in northeast Minneapolis. I'm both nervous and excited. I'll definitely keep you posted on how it goes!<br />
<br />
Below is my list. What would be on yours?<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
101 in 1001: June 4, 2014 – March 1, 2017</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
<strike>1.
Finish list of 101 things</strike><br />
<br />
TOGETHER<br />
2. Read a book together</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
3. Spend nothing for two weeks</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
4. Create list of life goals<br />
5. Go
canoeing</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
6. Go to a scotch tasting<br />
7. See the
orchestra<br />
8. Bike ride & picnic<br />
9. See a live sporting
event<br />
10. Go to 4 concerts<br />
11. Go camping<br />
12. Go
sailing<br />
13. Visit a museum<br />
14. Get a pet<br />
15. See a meteor
shower<br />
16. Ride a tandem bicycle<br />
<br />
HEALTH<br />
17 Practice yoga at
least 12 times per month</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
18 Take 30 yoga classes in 30 days</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
19 Hold crow pose for at least 5
breaths<br />
20 Teach yoga<br />
21 Participate in a race of some kind<br />
22
Bike or walk to work when possible instead of driving<br />
23 Work
toward full splits on both sides<br />
24 Try a new kind of exercise or
class<br />
<br />
TRAVEL & ADVENTURE<br />
25 Go to my 10 year high
school reunion
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
26 Get a passport<br />
27 Go to France<br />
28
Visit 3 new states (Maine, Alaska, TBD)<br />
29 Go backpacking<br />
30
Take a cross-country road trip</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
31 Visit a famous landmark I've never
been to<br />
32 See something that claims it's the “world's largest”
of whatever that thing is<br />
33 Do something that scares me<br />
34 Go
snowshoeing <br />
35 Go skydiving<br />
36 Visit the Boundary Waters<br />
37
Go to the zoo<br />
38 Meet somebody famous<br />
39 Ride in a hot air
balloon<br />
40 Go to an amusement park<br />
41 Visit the Mall of
America<br />
42 Swim with a dolphin<br />
43 Visit a national park I've
never been to<br />
44 Go somewhere haunted<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
WRITING & LITERATURE</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
45 Participate in at least 4 poetry
readings per year</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
46 Read at least 4 books per month<br />
47
Write down all books read & movies watched for the duration<br />
48
Get into at least 1 top-tier journal<br />
49 Write at least 15 poems
per month<br />
50 Put together a solid full-length manuscript<br />
51 Get
100 rejections per year (magazines, contests, etc.)<br />
52 Get head
shots taken by a real person instead of selfie-ing<br />
53 Go on a
writing retreat<br />
54 Enter & win a writing contest<br />
55 Take a
class at the Loft<br />
56 Publish another chapbook<br />
57 Apply for a
PhD program in creative writing<br />
58 Write a short story<br />
59
Attend at least 30 readings<br />
<br />
ETC.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
60 Try to buy mainly used clothing</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
61 Try 10 new board games<br />
62 Do a new thing every day for 1 month<br />
63 Go through my
clothes & donate what I don't wear<br />
64 Host a dinner party<br />
65
Take a photo every day for a month<br />
66 Get my weird tattoo covered
up<br />
67 See the Northern Lights<br />
68 Go back to vegetarianism for at least a month<br />
69
Sing Men In Black at karaoke<br />
70 Throw something into a wood
chipper<br />
71 Milk a cow<br />
72 Say yes more<br />
<br />
MEDIA<br />
73 Give
up all social media for a week <br />
74 Keep blog updated<br />
75 See all
movies on AFI top 100<br />
76 Go to the drive-in<br />
77 Watch all the
movies we own that I haven't seen<br />
78 Give up internet games for a
year<br />
<br />
KITCHEN<br />
79 Cook 20 new recipes<br />
80 Try being vegan
for 1 month<br />
81 Try 5 new foods<br />
82 Eat something I grew
myself<br />
83 Be diligent about composting and recycling<br />
84 Cook
all my own meals for a month (no dining out)<br />
<br />
HOME<br />
85 Tackle
the books<br />
86 Organize the kitchen<br />
87 Plant something<br />
88 Get
a huge bookshelf<br />
89 Wall art<br />
90 Get a new computer<br />
91 Get
real bedroom furniture (dressers)<br />
92 Decorate the bedroom so it
doesn't look like a prison cell<br />
<br />
LOCAL<br />
93 Try 10 new
restaurants<br />
94 Go on a brewery tour<br />
95 Go to the Minnesota
State Fair<br />
96 Minneapolis movies in the park or music in the
park<br />
97 Rocky Horror Picture Show midnight showing<br />
98 Go to the
farmer's market<br />
99 Go to 4 different summer festivals<br />
100 Explore
Minneapolis & St. Paul on my bike<br />
101 Have dinner on a rooftop
patio</div>
Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-12640096458681720672014-06-04T12:46:00.002-06:002014-06-04T12:51:34.976-06:00Doing New ThingsI recently made a pact with a friend to try and do a new thing every day and see how long I could run with it. The conversation came up while we were at Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge in Minneapolis, because we ordered a huge drink that was on fire; something I'd never done before. I remembered having done a similar challenge when I was in high school as a new year's resolution and I've been thinking about that list ever since. Today, I found it, and I'm typing it up: all the weird stuff I did in 2004. I only made it to May, and the list is incomplete. Many days are missing, but this is truly too weird not to put up on the internet.<br />
<br />
I'm not changing the way that I wrote anything down because it's just living proof I've always been super weird. Also, a lot of these things seem pretty unsafe, or they are just gross. Some of them I have no idea what they mean.<br />
<br />
JANUARY<br />
1. Ate paste<br />
2. Gauged ears<br />
3. Drank Dr. Pepper Red Fusion<br />
4. Called the last person listed in the phonebook & told him he won six dollars<br />
5. Made a collage<br />
6. Walked on tables during College Composition class<br />
7. Gave a dog a barnacle<br />
8. Threw a full pop at the side of a moving train<br />
9. Bought CD of a band I've never heard of<br />
10. Drove home from work with my knees<br />
11. Smashed an egg in my fist<br />
12. Cut my eyelashes<br />
13. Screamed "FOOD FIGHT!" in the cafeteria<br />
14. Wore 21 shirts at the same time<br />
15. Danced in the street<br />
16. Ate a post-it note<br />
17. Rode in the trunk of a car<br />
18. Tipped Denny's waitress $50<br />
19. Wrote all over my body with Sharpies<br />
20. Punched somebody<br />
21. Got a professional massage<br />
22. Ate a spoonful of cocoa powder<br />
23. Did our own Mystery Science Theater 3k @ Brad's house<br />
24. Sat in cemetery @ night & watched stars<br />
25. Busted a gallon of milk<br />
26. Wrote my name in blood<br />
27. Wrote a threatening message on the mirror<br />
28. Danced about my my unda-wears<br />
29. Wore a lampshade on my head<br />
30. Naked snow angel<br />
31. Went poo in a bag<br />
<br />
FEBRUARY<br />
1. Yelled YAHOO! real loud in a New York Walmart, danced with parking cone on my head<br />
2. Snowboarded<br />
3. Farted in a jar<br />
4. Wiped dry-erase board clean with face<br />
5. Got a swirlie<br />
6. Took No-Doz<br />
7. Won a cake, smashed Sam's face in cake<br />
8. Pierced fingernail<br />
9. Shoved a friend into a door<br />
10. Read book backwards<br />
11. Asked strangers for food<br />
12. Played flute in hotel lobby<br />
13. Went inside a Krispy Kreme truck<br />
14. Dyed hair black/brown<br />
15. Serenaded Melissa at her window at night<br />
16. Drank toilet water<br />
17. Won a pageant for Miss East Oak Harbor. I hate you Laura.<br />
18. Took a sleeping pill<br />
19. Received anonymous gift<br />
20. Two hour Mad Libs<br />
21. Lied & got away with it<br />
22. Watched Aqua Teen Hunger Force<br />
23. Wrote on Grant's forehead with marker<br />
24. Told customer to have a bad day<br />
25.<br />
26. Depansted Alana<br />
27. Took part in a successful surprise party<br />
28. Witnessed a man leg waxing<br />
29. Broke into abandoned insane asylum<br />
<br />
MARCH<br />
1. Stood under a helicopter as it took off<br />
2. Sang Josh Groban song @ lunch while standing on chair<br />
3. Wore nametag at work that said "Funk Master B"<br />
4. Hardcore papercut<br />
5. Saw MeWithoutYou, signed up for PETA<br />
6. Scootered all over town<br />
7. Knocked over toothpick container @ Denny's<br />
8.<br />
9. Dressed up like a secret agent<br />
10.<br />
11.<br />
12. Sent mass amounts of letters<br />
13.<br />
14.<br />
15.<br />
16.<br />
17. Box fort<br />
18.<br />
19.<br />
20.<br />
21. Freezer crisis<br />
22. Got trophy<br />
23.<br />
24. Handcuffed to somebody while driving<br />
25. Wore makeup that made it look like I was beat up<br />
26. Acted in a play<br />
27. Went to a bar<br />
28. Told somebody exactly what I thought of them<br />
29. Started a fight with a kid I didn't know<br />
30. Got a tattoo<br />
31. Read a comic book<br />
<br />
APRIL<br />
1. Ran down the street in the rain screaming<br />
2. 50-person game of Mad Libs<br />
3. Drove through gigantic puddle<br />
4. House sat<br />
5. Threw up orange soda<br />
6. Made soup for a sick friend<br />
7. Chased somebody like a zombie<br />
8. Recorded a song I helped write<br />
9. Shot a music video<br />
10. Sat on the roof<br />
11. Put candle out with fingers<br />
12. Got accused of breaking into the high school (I did)<br />
13. Took all the labels off a friend's canned food and taped them to the wall<br />
14. Made 20-foot chain out of coat hangers<br />
15. Interviewed kindergarteners, ate part of a crayon<br />
16. Shook hands with John for five minutes<br />
17. Pillow fight with myself<br />
18.<br />
19.<br />
20. Franklin Park boobs<br />
21.<br />
22. Brushed teeth w/ grape soda<br />
23.<br />
24.<br />
25.<br />
26. Yelled at boss<br />
27. Witnessed an explosion, filed police report<br />
28. Changed pants in car<br />
29. Showered with clothes on<br />
30.<br />
<br />
MAY<br />
1. Played hide & seek in cars<br />
2. Dance Dance Revolution<br />
3.<br />
4.<br />
5.<br />
6. Went to Chicago<br />
7. Saw Blue Man Group<br />
8. Ate at Medieval Times<br />
9.<br />
10.<br />
11. Bandage arms!!!<br />
12. Walked around with zipper down on purpose<br />
<br />
<br />
That's where it ends. The new things I'm trying this year, ten years later, are a little less weird. Maybe.Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-33114961770451838282014-05-22T14:51:00.002-06:002014-05-22T14:51:16.135-06:00The Month With All the Stuff In ItI feel like I'm always telling somebody that I'm about to become "less busy," but then it never happens. I just stay busy. I only finished grading all the essays from my spring semester kids a little over a week ago, and Tuesday I began teaching my summer term course. Honestly, it's just as well that I have a little structure to my summer. I go absolutely bananas without a normal routine. There's crying and lots of eating involved, and a good measure of comatose staring-off-into-the-distance, all of this paired with ceaseless streaming of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJxusSdps9_3wOJh3uJlDMgOuexDz-29qmZ3tIbZRSwSdlQLExtRcmXhSXA6-xDfV269Vlai4lWOvGnVywiH2zTf-TeX7V773Y4BHlpc1tX-pBkOwcTT9wEw_IYyDuvpROh9eqGWWWqMTq/s1600/sbsp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJxusSdps9_3wOJh3uJlDMgOuexDz-29qmZ3tIbZRSwSdlQLExtRcmXhSXA6-xDfV269Vlai4lWOvGnVywiH2zTf-TeX7V773Y4BHlpc1tX-pBkOwcTT9wEw_IYyDuvpROh9eqGWWWqMTq/s1600/sbsp.jpg" height="320" width="298" /></a></div>
This summer I'll be teaching just one Tuesday/Thursday morning course with only ten students in it--just enough to offer me some semblance of routine. I also plan to stay as busy as possible throughout the summer, and if this week is any indication of how that's going to pan out, I figure I won't have any problem at all.<br /><br />Monday I had a meeting at St. Thomas for an exciting new class I get to teach there next semester. To clarify: the course isn't new to St. Thomas, just new to me. I get to teach the book <a href="http://milkweed.org/shop/product/285/">Things That Are</a> by Amy Leach, which is a beautiful and wonderfully neologistic lyric essay put out by Milkweed Editions. If you can get your hands on a copy, I highly recommend it.<br /><br />Tuesday I taught the first class of summer semester and forgot everyone's name as soon as they all left. Then I had lunch in Minneapolis with some people from the Loft and Daniel Jones, the "Modern Love" columnist for the New York Times. How surreal, considering I basically only got to do this because I won a raffle.<br />
<br />
Yesterday evening I went to the Master's Essay Presentation event at St. Thomas with my husband, who will be graduating on Saturday with a Master's in English. Somebody referred to him as "the man, the myth, the legend" so I'm wondering if he has special abilities I don't know about aside from being ridiculously brilliant. We went out for a celebratory drink and had to rush home by 9 so that I could participate in Write Fight--an online writing competition hosted by Revolver. My poem is up all day and is facing off against Meghan Pipe's piece, so if you have a few minutes before 9:00 PM (CST), <a href="http://www.around-around.com/write-fight-ii-bout-2/">go here</a> and read and vote for your favorite one!<br /><br />I just got home from guest-hosting a Spongebob-themed episode of <a href="http://whatdidyoulookuponwikipedia.com/">What Did You Look Up On Wikipedia</a>, which will probably be available for public consumption in the coming weeks. Spoiler alert: I dress up like Patrick and we drink Pina Coladas. We talk a lot about the implausibility and esoteric nature of the Spongebob Universe, and ask some really probing questions. I'll let you know when you can watch it!<br /><br />For now I have to go and eat something that's not a french fry. (I love you, french fries. I hope you don't read this blog. If so, I'm not serious.)Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-48643418529341522002014-05-07T10:42:00.000-06:002014-05-07T11:02:30.025-06:00Update: I'm Not DeadAnother semester is coming to a close, and I'm putting off the last of my grading by writing a blog post, listening to hip hop, and drinking the hell out of some coffee. The only good thing about grading as one of the biggest proportions of my job is that much of my job, in turn, can be performed in my pajamas.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxGmdkOHY0xXYmnOM8DDTqS82J91fS32miOw53pss-CRPatzTY_ES1UHYL_6hIWi_aZa8Tzt4-NwtohsHw_ORH_5OrHJ9eKyPl4luh5xC1KfIWnTBl3gfV2PgxU-R71JPSatnMbghJ_Xmb/s1600/photo+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxGmdkOHY0xXYmnOM8DDTqS82J91fS32miOw53pss-CRPatzTY_ES1UHYL_6hIWi_aZa8Tzt4-NwtohsHw_ORH_5OrHJ9eKyPl4luh5xC1KfIWnTBl3gfV2PgxU-R71JPSatnMbghJ_Xmb/s1600/photo+(2).JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a>I thought I'd give an update on my new year's resolutions, seeing as it's about a third of the way into the year already (oh crap oh crap oh crap). It's so funny how one of the longest, hardest winters of my life also seemed to fly by the quickest. From mid-February to mid-April, I was chest-deep in yoga teacher training, which is probably one of the crazier things I've ever done. Teaching two writing intensive courses and taking an eight week, 200-hour certification class? And teaching a class at the Loft? And meeting a five-day-a-week yoga practice requirement? And meeting deadlines for some serious grant proposals? And keeping my cool/not flipping my lid? That's definitely something I didn't live up to. My lid was constantly on the verge of being flipped or in total up-in-the-air MEGA FLIP mode. And my planner looked like a novel-in-progress.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But now I feel my life quietly coming back to me. Eight weeks of total chaos abruptly ended, and I'm no longer in yoga seminar ten hours a week. Then I met Garrison Keillor and he read my poem (I plan to make a real post about this later). Then the semester ended, and all I have left is to face some serious freshman paper grading. If I could beat the winter, I can definitely beat some freshman research essays. Though this semester I had the sense to put the kibosh on essays about legalizing marijuana or changing the legal drinking age to 18. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Anyway, back to the resolutions, one of which was to complete a yoga teacher training program and become a certified yoga teacher. Checkmark! Done. My other goals are ongoing, and mostly writing related:<br />
<br />
* Do four poetry readings (I've done three this year, actually!) <br />
* Read at least 52 books (I'm standing at 27, though they're mostly poetry books, admittedly, and I read the majority of them during January) <br />
* Write 200 poems (I've written 60)</div>
<div>
* Work on a manuscript (I haven't done this at all--thanks for such an ambiguous goal with no tangible steps to tackle it)</div>
<div>
* Get 100 rejections (33 so far--right on target!)</div>
<div>
* Practice yoga 200 times (I have a sticker chart for this, and it is as motivational to me now as it was in 2nd grade. I've tracked 78 since January 1st)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Those are my big goals and I feel good about sticking to them. In addition to the 33 poetry rejections, I've gotten ten acceptances, too, including one from the Potomac Review this morning! I am definitely digging this acceptance-to-rejection ratio, but honestly it's really mostly luck, I feel like. If I've learned anything from being a poetry editor, it really depends on my mood when I'm reading through submissions. But here's to another eight-ish months of writing and reading and doing more things I really love. Life is pretty cool sometimes. Like, being alive is nice.</div>
Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-72296726208461744312014-02-12T13:45:00.002-06:002014-02-12T13:46:45.852-06:00Lit Readings and CandyI feel like I have so much news to report!! As the first order of business, I have definitely used up my quota of exclamation points for the year, and it's only February. That means it's gonna be a good year.<br />
<br />
Aside from the fact that I just scarfed down four "fun sized" candy bars (they are so scarfable), I have been a busy little beaver (are there busy big beavers?). It seems that the more I read and write, the more interested I am in participating in the wider community of literature. One of my goals at the current moment is to continue to actively use my planner, which is great, because I enjoy writing things down (and crossing things off!), and because I'm less likely to forget about appointments or events I'd like to attend if I have written them down. While I sometimes use the calendar feature on my phone, I prefer writing my life down. It feels more satisfying to me that way. All this to say, I checked back on the past few weeks of my life and saw that I attended three poetry readings.<br />
<br />
Will and I went to a reading at the Triple Rock Social Club called Irregular Readings, and got to see <a href="http://johnjodzio.net/">John Jodzio</a> and <a href="http://mattrasmussen.net/">Matt Rasmussen</a> read. It was a relatively small gathering. John read a hilarious story about a kid with a job at a drug testing facility (there were lots of stories and poems about drugs).<br />
<br />
I just ate three more candy bars.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKP5dvwgVPPxz47gj82t8sEL7s92tGMq-ND_CKSjwxYnFfMy66B1caoEwlOS5LHKdp7qvp3BM4i8uim1sktj3aJiWXFZGRlMzdu7WFkIWvYYuNwvWBkJXbqdKW0u1DYgGbKLhKwucttGUp/s1600/019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKP5dvwgVPPxz47gj82t8sEL7s92tGMq-ND_CKSjwxYnFfMy66B1caoEwlOS5LHKdp7qvp3BM4i8uim1sktj3aJiWXFZGRlMzdu7WFkIWvYYuNwvWBkJXbqdKW0u1DYgGbKLhKwucttGUp/s1600/019.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is Mark being a badass poet guy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The second reading was Mark Wunderlich's book launch at <a href="https://www.loft.org/">The Loft</a> with <a href="https://www.graywolfpress.org/">Graywolf Press</a>. His new book, The Earth Avails, is gorgeous and haunting. My favorite poem he read was a long, dreamy elegy for a home that no longer exists, and which is aptly titled "Driftless Elegy." I had Mark sign a copy of the book, and the rumors are true: his penmanship is almost literally to die for.<br />
<br />
The last reading I went to was at a little place called Maeve's Cafe. I guess there are readings there every other month or so. From what I can gather, they seem to showcase a wide variety of local talents. It was so wonderful to see <a href="http://kristin-fitzsimmons.tumblr.com/">Kristin Fitzsimmons</a> of <a href="http://ourflowishard.tumblr.com/">Our Flow Is Hard</a> read her poems.<br />
<br />
Oops I just spent 45 minutes watching videos on <a href="http://whatdidyoulookuponwikipedia.com/">What Did You Look Up On Wikipedia?</a>, the website that Kristin co-owns with somebody else named Sally.<br />
<br />
I have other things to report, but I will save said other things for another time. Right now I have some more candy/videos to attend to. And I should probably do some actual work, too, but we'll see how much of this candy work I get accomplished first.Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6835230804780030134.post-18282588755491047972014-02-02T11:49:00.004-06:002014-02-02T11:59:09.222-06:00January Wrap-UpJanuary's gone, so I thought I might do a January wrap-up post where I talk about some of the books/movies I've consumed this month. I read 18 books:<br />
<br />
Jack Gilbert Collected (technically one book, technically six books)<br />
- Views of Jeopardy<br />
- Monolithos<br />
- The Great Fires<br />
- Refusing Heaven<br />
- The Dance Most of All<br />
- Uncollected<br />
<br />
If you haven't read Jack Gilbert, you're seriously missing out. There's this way he has, of making small observations about humans, and making them really count. Or he will paint a small scene and put you in it. He can write a poem about cooking fish with lemons and it's perfect. It also makes me want to eat fish with lemons.<br />
<br />
I traveled throughout the first week or so of January, and I got to see <a href="http://moonbears.biz/">Russ Woods</a> and Jeannette Gomes. We played a lot of Mad Libs and drank a lot of tea, and Russ gave me a few books to read:<br />
<br />
NODS - Carrie Lorig<br />
Root Poems - Carrie Lorig & Russ Woods<br />
<br />
These are worth reading. In Russ's words, he said, "I feel like we're almost daring editors to like us."<br />
<br />
You can probably tell that I read a lot of poetry.<br />
<br />
More Books I Read in January<br />
<br />
Among Women - Jason Shinder<br />
Rare Earth - Bradford Tice<br />
Sleeping With the Dictionary - Harryette Mullen<br />
Ghost Fargo - Paula Cisewski<br />
The Pajamaist - Matthew Zapruder<br />
Last Night Was Worth Talking About - Gregory Sherl<br />
Chapbook - Zach Haber<br />
Thin Kimono - Michael Earl Craig<br />
Bird Eating Bird - Kristen Naca<br />
The Vital System - CM Burroughs<br />
<br />
Of these books, the ones I loved most intensely were Among Women, Sleeping With the Dictionary, Ghost Fargo, and The Vital System. I wrote a <a href="http://brettejenkins.blogspot.com/2014/01/read-things-or-listen-to-me-go-on-and.html">whole post</a> about Sleeping With the Dictionary a week or two ago, so I won't say any more about that aside from READ IT. I will say about the Shinder book that it broke my heart, and I just finished The Vital System a few days ago and I'm still thinking about it. Ghost Fargo is exactly the kind of book I needed to read this month--it's about love and loss of a physical place as home, as a place for memories. It made me so sad, wistful, made me ache for the place where I grew up, which is great because I'm trying to write about that now anyway.<br />
<br />
I saw Bradford Tice read from his book in November at the New Rivers Press event where my friend <a href="http://www.joestracci.net/">Joe Stracci</a>'s book, Whitney, was also released, and I had to buy Rare Earth. He uses such a rich vocabulary, which can sometimes be distracting for me in poetry, especially if I don't know what certain words mean (I have to look up a lot of things all the time), but the richness of Tice's vocabulary isn't at all distracting. It beefs up the flavor of the poems, to use a phrase I hate ("beef up").<br />
<br />
In addition to noting the books I read this month, I also wrote down all the ways I wasted my time watching a screen. Here are the movies/TV shows I watched in January:<br />
<br />
Inside Llewyn Davis<br />
Fargo (rewatch)<br />
The Story of Film (we're ten episodes in, five to go)<br />
Veronica Mars (Season 1)<br />
Return of the Jedi<br />
But I'm a Cheerleader<br />
The Graduate<br />
Kissing Jessica Stein<br />
Pickpocket<br />
High Fidelity (rewatch)<br />
I also watched a few stray episodes of X-files, Supernatural, and Undeclared.<br />
<br />
I could rewatch High Fidelity a million times. It's definitely on my top five desert island list of movies. Fargo is pretty good, too, but not on my top five. Maybe top twenty.<br />
<br />
Watching The Story of Film is very interesting. At first, we turned it off because the narrator's voice is so grating. Everything he says sounds like a question, and sometimes he'll go into bouts of metaphor spewing (he really likes calling Hollywood a "bauble") that are somewhat obnoxious. But his critique of films is spot on, and he knows his stuff. I've put a number of movies on my list to watch based on his analysis of the films and why they're important. This is a big reason we watched Pickpocket, which Will described as a cross between <i>The Stranger</i> and <i>Crime and Punishment</i>. Very good.Brett Elizabeth Jenkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17957183480649039537noreply@blogger.com0