Categories
inspiration poetry

Magnet Poetry

I’ve had these magnetic sets of words for probably over ten years now–only in the past year did I decide to finally break them out and use them on my refrigerator. I stuck some words together last year, thinking they sounded clever, and didn’t think much of them until last night, when a friend was reading over the “poems” and said, “Wow, how thought-provoking!”

The poem she was referring to:

Could Virtue Cry
Other Sublime Sight
Guarantee Moon Until Twilight
Whether Death Together

Another poem I read out loud and never realized it rhymed until last night:

Timbuktu Never Uptight
When Above Kalamazoo
Sing The Fight

And not to leave out anything from the picture above, the last poem featured in the bottom part of the picture:

Oh Bad Afternoon
Try By Desire
Art Kissed Time
Too Blue Smile

I’m sure there have been some pretty good poems constructed out of those magnetic sets; I just threw together some words that sounded okay together, not really thinking about any of it. Then again, I suppose that’s the best way to get inspired: just let the unconscious (subconscious?) open mind take over.

Categories
Busride Observations My San Francisco Chronicles reflection

Ray of hope on the morning commute–

7:13am, October 13, 2009.

The first big rain of the season; I stepped onto the 5-Fulton bus for my usual commute and felt like I had just battled a true typhoon. I went to my favorite seat immediately and settled down.

There were a couple of men talking about San Francisco; they were both recent transplants to the city, so they were making comparisons of their previous locations to The City. I felt like it was just a simple exchange of a few words, so I drifted off into my own thoughts, and onto a warm slumber during the 40-minute commute.

Rain poured outside while our bus driver perilously navigated the slick streets; meanwhile the two men continued to talk across the aisle with each other, until one, who introduced himself as “James”, decided he would just sit beside his new companion, who said his name was “Jack”.

As the bus continued on towards downtown, more passengers boarded with gloomy expressions over the unexpected rain. However, through the gray faces, Jack and James seemed to melt into their own world, sharing their life stories with one another.

Somehow, that small scene from this morning has stuck with me all day–that, amidst all the recent negative Muni coverage, there are still small beams of hope shining through all the mess.

Categories
NaNoWriMo

Countdown to NaNoWriMo 2009

This year has to be the first time I’ve felt so excited for NaNoWriMo so “early”. I’ve gone ahead and bought some merchandise, donated a small bit to the OLL, etc. The one thing I haven’t done, though (and it seems like most of my NaNo comrades started all these preparations long ago) is actually figure out what I’m going to write for the whole month of November.

This will be my fifth novel since I’d started up a couple of non-NaNo novels this year and last year; for all the novels I have written these past two years, I have noticed that I write my best (maybe worst?) when I just don’t have a plan for what the story will be like. I’d have an inkling of what I wanted to write, but I wouldn’t map out the whole plot, the characters, etc. For me, I feel like if I did this, I would be boxing in my imagination and end up having a major Writer’s Block early on in the month.

That’s why, for this third NaNoWriMo, I’m going to continue with this method of mine and see where it takes me. Who knows, I may write in a genre that I had claimed to be averse to in the past. My imagination needs to run wild first before I think to tame it after all.

So, do you have a plan for NaNoWriMo yet? If so, what’s it going to be?

P.S., feel free to find me on the NaNoWriMo website–my username is “heriko”.

Categories
#amwriting dir en grey list motivation music

Equation: Music + Writing = Focus

Since I have been working on essays lately (for graduate school applications), I have found myself only able to focus when I listen to certain albums on my iTunes. In general, these albums are all-around good for writing of any sort (my novels, short stories, and essays):

1) Dir en grey – Withering to death.
2) Dir en grey – UROBOROS
3) Dir en grey – VULGAR
4) Lady GaGa – The Fame
5) Drip – Identity Theft
6) La Roux – La Roux

I’m most able to concentrate and get my work done with Dir en grey albums, though. I can’t quite explain it, but I’m under the impression that there’s some sort of algorithm that they use in their album track lists to make people zone in (or zone out). I’ve found that the three albums listed above have served best in my writing endeavors, though.

For the longest time, I thought I could only focus on writing/doing work with classical music on. Guess I was wrong!

Categories
#amreading

Books From My Childhood

The other day, I suddenly had a thought about some books from my childhood. I remember when I was younger, I was touched by the powerful messages that some books conveyed. The two books that I can remember to this day are Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree and Robert N. Munsch’s Love You Forever.

I really liked these two books for the deeper meaning that they had. They both had the storyline of loving others unconditionally, no matter what they do or do not do for you in return. I remember I might have let a few tears shed when I read these books; they were simple yet complex in their own nature.

I don’t keep up with children’s books these days, but I feel like these two books in particular should always be timeless and part of any child’s bookshelf, no matter what generation they are in.