that I received from Amy Nelson Mile.

( I decided it was “ate”)

The rules are as follows:• Each player creates a list of eight random personal facts/habits.
• At the end of your post, list eight people who you want to tag to also do this meme.
• People who are tagged will write their own list of eight personal facts/habits and, if they have a blog of their own, post these rules and their list.

8 RANDOM FACTS (A Short Poem by Tracy)

Insist that I prefer pop-tarts untoasted

drink Fresca

buy vast varieties of tea, but rarely drink it

waste time eating lime and chili peanuts
plant over 30 tomato plants every spring

preserve my own pickles and salsa

still love the feel of fresh earth between my fingers when planting seeds

while always forgeting to be thankful for everything I have.

8 people I tag:

Margaret Atwood

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Sinclair Trudeau Kemper

Don Delillo

David Foster Wallace

Jorie Graham

Helen Mirren

Amy Hempel

…I recently had to move my business from one location to another, I looked up barbering poems on the net. I found this poem. There doesn’t seem to be many poems about hairstyling out there (good ones anyway). Hmmm…

…over at Bookninja!

And indeed there will be time
For the yellow smoke that slides along the street,
Rubbing its back upon the window-panes;
There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder and create,
And time for all the works and days of hands
That lift and drop a question on your plate;
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea–T.S. Eliot

Time to head off to the nearest sanctuary and write, or time to head to the Sage Hill of Lumsden and if you’re in a time crunch here’s something new this year at St. Peter’s College:

NEW Summer Workshops

Study writing and photography in extraordinary ways.

This summer, St. Peter’s College welcomes the Poet Laureate of Halifax, Lorri Neilsen Glenn, as our Guest Author in Residence.

Lorri is the author and editor of nine books, including Combustion (Brick Books, 2007). She has taught writing workshops, courses, and retreats across Canada, in Australia and in Ireland. Her poetry, essays, and research have won several national and international awards. This spring, Lorri was nominated by her Faculty for the Mount Saint Vincent Innovative Teaching Award.

Join us this summer by attending our writing workshops with innovative instructors Lorri, Sheri Benning, Anne McDonald, and

Allan Neilsen.

Lorri Neilsen Glenn

SPC Guest Author in Residence

2007 Summer Workshops

Improv and Narrative (A. McDonald) July 20 & 21

Those who can, do: Writing for Teachers (L. Neilsen Glenn) July 22-27

Writing your Life (L. Neilsen Glenn) July 28-29

Wordfishing: Wading into Poetry (L. Neilsen Glenn) Aug. 7-10

Word & Eye: Contemplative Photography & Poetry

(L. Neilsen Glenn & Allan Neilsen) Aug. 10-12

Nature Writing & the Lyrical Essay (Sheri Benning) Aug. 13-16

Register Today

Earlybirds! Register by June 16 $125 to $195

Regular Tuition Register by July 13 $195 to $265

On-campus Accommodations & Meals* $30/night & $22/day*

BONUS! Workshops can be applied to the Writing Diploma.

For more information:

writinginpractice@stpeters.sk.ca

…I was lucky enough to attend the recording of Yann Martel’s The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios. The reading was performed by Skye Brandon. Although it was a small crowd gathered in Studio One with Kelley-Jo Burke (thanks again for letting us be a part of the audience), the reading was one of the best 60 minutes I’ve ever spent. I hadn’t read the stories before, but thoroughly enjoyed the performance. The recording airs in early December so set your calendars now. It’s worth listening to Brandon’s reading, Martel’s words, and Annette and I laughing, crying, and clapping.

…I’m still here. I’ve been reading lots of fiction lately, most notably The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel. Also re-read Elizabeth Bachinsky Home of Sudden Service.

—————————————-

Late breaking news (at least for my closet). The Winners in the mall one block from my house is closing. My wardrobe is in mourning (although this will probably mean great sales from now until then).

…something about me. It’s that time again. May has bounced from the bedsprings and into the fields–that means it’s time for the MayDay poetry project to roll with the punched out verse. Along with a new year and some new poets, there’s a cool new look to the blog, which looks wunderbar (my spell check doesn’t like this word wunderbar and suggests perhaps I might be writing blunderbuss or underbelly–which of course, would more than likely be the more apt words for the poems I plan to post on the MayDay blog) .

So synchronize your settings for the May-athon of poetry!!

…people turn and face the world, some face facts, others face food.

Brenda contemplating the dump(ling)s on a plate and who can resist a video blog of Brenda facing strudel.