the_rck

I'm no longer trying to write notes on all of the books of poetry that I've read. I keep not recording any details and then having the books blur together so that I no longer remember which books were which. Even a few days after I finish a book of poetry, I likely won't remember much about it.

Some of the books below are things that need content warnings for people who might read them. Consider that a 'here be dragons' for the cut texts.

Acton, Harold. Aquarium - Project Gutenberg. DNF. I got about 20 pages in and found what I read tedious.

( Anthology of Magazine Verse for 1914 )

( Asghar, Fatimah. If They Come for Us )

( Bambrick, Taneum. Vantage )

( Beresford, C.E. de la Poer. A Happy New Year and Other Verses )

Biber, Rebecca G. Technical Solace - Library book.

Cather, Willa. April Twilights and Other Poems - Project Gutenberg.

( Cawein, Madison J. Accolon of Gaul with Other Poems )

( Child Maidelvold and Other Ballads )

( Euwer, Anthony. By Scarlet Torch and Blade )

Felix, Camonghne. Build Yourself a Boat - Library book.

( Fessenden, Thomas Green. Terrible Tractoration, and Other Poems )

( Fletcher, John Gould. Japanese Prints )

( Ford, Katie. Blood Lyrics )

( Gluck, Louise. Faithful and Virtuous Night )

( Green, Leah Naomi. The More Extravagant Feast )

( Grey, Kimberly. The Opposite of Light )

( Hours of Childhood, and Other Poems )

Howe, Marie. The Good Thief - Library book. DNF. I read about 9 pages out of 52 and simply didn't enjoy the poems.

( Juster, A.M. Wonder & Wrath )

Lampman, Archibald. Lyrics of Earth - Project Gutenberg. A seasonal cycle of poems. Not deep or striking but also not unpleasant. Readable and clear.

( Leigh, Larry. The True Grecian Bend )

( Lyra Celtica (Edited by E.A. Sharp and J. Matthay) )

( Martin, George. Marguerite; or, The Isle of Demons and Other Poems )

( McKay, Claude. Harlem Shadows )

( McKillen, Arch Alfred. The Death of the Scharnhorst )

( Murphy, Ethel Allen. The Angel of Thought, and Other Poems: Impressions from Old Masters )

( Owen, Wilfred. Poems )

Phillips, Xandria. Hull - Library book.

Rafferty, Charles. The Smoke of Horses - Library book. These were paragraphs more than poems while still using poetic idioms and rhythms.

( Rand, Theodore H. Song-Waves )

Robinson, Roger. A Portable Paradise - Library book. DNF. This is not a collection to read when already depressed.

Ryan, Kay. The Niagara River - Library book.

( Schmuhl, Elizabeth. Premonitions )

( Sealey, Nicole. Ordinary Beasts )

( Smith Carmen Gimenez. Be Recorder )

( Steele, Edward S. Armenia Immolata )

( Van Doren, Mark. Mortal Summer )

I have three exchange fics due by the end of the month and one due early in February. I'm a little concerned that I've over-committed, but they're all things I want to write. I've only started one of the stories. For the other three, I'm still dithering about which prompt I want to go with.

Because I'm trying to keep part of my brain busy while I consider story options (this is often a thing I need to push back and under for a while before I'm ready to write), I've been reading a lot of Project Gutenberg poetry and pulling out fragments for potential titles. There's a sweet spot in terms of what I can parse well enough to find phrases I like while still not being so caught up that I can't let the rest of my brain run. This is generally not actually good poetry; sometimes, it's actively bad poetry. There's just also a level of bad that I can't handle, and yesterday I bounced off of four different books in a row which is kind of discouraging.

Project Gutenberg books also have the problem that I can't easily tell how long a book is. I can compare the size of the files, but I don't have a good feel for what those numbers mean, especially when I can't tell if there are illustrations. I prefer shorter books because I end up feeling glutted if I read the same author for too long. I also really want to finish books once I start them because it's easy to lose track of where I was and of which ones I'm working on.

The difficulty is that, when I find an author I can read, I want to be sure I don't lose track of them but know I will.

Years ago, I used to play solitaire for the mental effect I'm getting from the PG poetry (when it works), but my hands aren't up to even computer solitaire now. I can still type; I just can't handle shuffling or clicking the trackpad (a mouse would be much worse).

I've been reading a lot of poetry on Project Gutenberg, and much of it comes to me without context regarding the author. I sometimes find myself wondering about their lives and the spinning stories from those wonderings. I've started looking at Wikipedia for some of the poets, but many of them don't have articles there or have articles that aren't very informative.

I sort of have a feeling that there's a mathematical formula for figuring out how likely a given 19th century or early 20th century poet is to have a detailed Wikipedia article. There's a plus for popularity and a plus for still being thought a good poet. There are modifiers for class and race and religion. Being some level of scandalous ups the probability, too.

I have confirmed, repeatedly, that I'm not able to force myself to read poems written in phonetic dialect or with more than a certain density of non-standard spelling (about one word a line for most things). I just read half of a book of English and Scottish ballads. That is, I went from beginning to end, but I skipped over certain ballads as too difficult and really not worth my effort.

I'm no longer trying to write notes on all of the books of poetry that I've read. I keep not recording any details and then having the books blur together so that I no longer remember which books were which. Even a few days after I finish a book of poetry, I likely won't remember much about it. I regret the loss of information because knowing what I liked or disliked and why helps me when I'm looking for more poetry. The library is apt to have multiple books by the same authors.

I've probably got notes on half of these titles.

I think I tagged all of the Project Gutenberg books as such, but I may have missed some. A few of these are from various university presses that made some books free online during April, May, and June of this year (I don't remember which ones, sadly).

( List with erratic comments )

After I got my hair cut yesterday, it was 4:30. I was by Kroger, so Cordelia asked me to get her a couple of things. By the time I was done in there, It was after 5:00, and it would have taken me at least 20 minutes to get home by bus (not including waiting for the bus). My hair was still very wet, so being out in the wind was miserable, and I thought that Scott would be on his way home soon.

He ended up stuck for an extra half an hour at work. I missed his email about it because I seldom check email on my cell phone. He couldn't text because he doesn't have cell signal in his office; he has to leave the building. I saw his email about 5 minutes before he called to say that he was in the car. He took half an hour to get there after that.

I sat at Espresso Royale the whole time. I had a cookie and a cold drink-- a ginger dragon (mix of lemon and ginger). The cookie was essential because I wanted to take some naproxen (I'm not sure it helped, but I was hurting). I hadn't meant to walk for two hours nor for half of that to be on trails rather than pavement.

Today, I overwalked again. It wouldn't have been too much if I hadn't overdone yesterday, but I really should have thought, before I set out, about the likelihood that yesterday would affect my stamina. My muscles didn't ache, so I just didn't think about my ankles and hips being less stable than they would usually be.

I submitted a few more potential portals for Ingress while I was walking toward downtown today, a little free library (those are about 50-50 on being accepted) and a couple of grave sites at a cemetery that was on my way. One of those graves was one I'd been looking for off and on for a few months, but it's a flat to the ground plaque, and I didn't get time there with no snow on the ground until today.

Robert Hayden was, effectively, a Poet Laureate. They just weren't calling the office that when he held the position in the 70s. He taught at the University of Michigan. I had wondered why the local library system had so many of his books in their Black Studies Poetry collection, and apparently it's the intersection of those two things. It's possible (probable?) that he's one of the big reasons they have that collection as a Thing to begin with.

At any rate, once I found out he was buried in that cemetery, I thought his grave should be an Ingress portal as a site of public note. Part of that is me looking for more potential portals within walking distance, but part of it is that the US hasn't had that many Poet Laureates.

( Carnival of the Animals )

( A Child's Book of Poems )

( The Circle of Thanks: Native American Poems and Songs of Thanksgiving )

( Clifton, Lucille. Voices )

( Daniel, Danielle. Once in a Blue Moon )

( Dare to Dream... Change the World )

( DiPucchio, Kelly. Sipping Spiders Through a Straw )

( Engle, Margarita. Bravo! )

( Farrar, Sid. The Year Comes Round: Haiku Through the Seasons )

( Fisher, Aileen. Do Rabbits Have Christmas? )

( Fletcher, Ralph. A Writing Kind of Day )

( Harley, Avis. The Monarch's Progress )

( Harrison, David L. Now You See Them, Now You Don't )

( Here's a Little Poem )

( Hines, Anna Grossnickle. Peaceful Pieces )

( Hudgins, Andrew. Ecstatic in the Poison )

( Katz, Bobbi. The Monsterologist: A Memoir in Rhyme )

( Komunyakaa, Yusef. Warhorses )

( Kooser, Ted. Delights & Shadows )

( Lewis, J. Patrick. A Burst of Firsts )

( Lewis, J. Patrick. The World's Greatest Poems )

( Millay, Edna St Vincent. A Few Figs from Thistles )

( Millay, Edna St Vincent. Second April )

( Molberg, Jenny. Marvels of the Invisible )

( Nadler, Daniel. Lacunae: 100 Imagined Ancient Love Poems )

( Niedecker, Lorine. The Granite Pail )

( One Last Word )

( Paley, Grace. Fidelity: Poems )

( Pinsky, Robert. Gulf Music )

( Prelutsky, Jack. Good Sports )

( Smith, Hope Anita. Mother Poems )

( Stone Bench in an Empty Park )

( Walker, Alice. Why War Is Never a Good Idea )

( Yolen, Jane. Bird Watch )

( Zimmer, Tracie Vaughn. Cousins of Clouds: Elephant Poems )

Started but not finished
( Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. The Poetical Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning v.1 )

( Cynewulf's Elene )

( Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee. Leaving Yuba City )

( Franco, Betsy. Messing Around on the Monkey Bars and Other School Poems for Two Voices )

( Poke in the I )

( Stone, Bianca. The Moebius Strip Club of Grief )

( Feld, Andrew. Citizen )

( Flynn, Nick. My Feelings )

( Fogliano, Julie. When Green Becomes Tomatoes )

( Forche, Carolyn. Blue Hour )

( Frost, Robert. In the Clearing )

( Katz, Susan. Looking for Jaguar and Other Rain Forest Poems )

( Madrid, Anthony. Try Never )

( Murray, Carol. Cricket in the Thicket )

( Nguyen, Hieu Minh. This Way to the Sugar )

( Niedecker, Lorine. Harpsichord & Salt Fish )

( Nye, Naomi Shihab. A Maze Me: Poems for Girls )

( Ryan, Kay. Erratic Facts )

( Sidman, Joyce. This Is Just to Say )

( Simic, Charles. Hotel Insomnia )

( Soto, Gary. Worlds Apart: Traveling with Fernie and Me )

( Updike, John. Americana and Other Poems )

( Updike, John. Endpoint and Other Poems )

( Yolen, Jane and Rebecca Kai Dotlich. Grumbles from the Forest )

( Zapruder, Matthew. The Pajamist )


Started but not finished:
( Schaub, Michelle. Fresh-Picked Poetry: A Day at the Farmer's Market )

( Voigt, Ellen Bryant. Kyrie )

( Allen, Sarah Addison. Garden Spells )

( Baldwin, James. Jimmy's Blues )

( Bridges, Elizabeth. Sonnets from Hafez & Other Verses )

( Castle in the Stars: The Space Race of 1869 )

( Clifton, Lucille. Next )

( Conkling, Hilda. Poems by a Little Girl )

( Evans, Mari. A Dark & Splendid Mass )

( Ibbotson, Eva. The Dragonfly Pool )

( The Law of Ueki 13-16 )

( Levine, Gail Carson. Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It )

( M.F.K. )

( Myers, Walter Dean. Here in Harlem )

( Nelson, Marilyn. how i discovered poetry )

( Sarton, May. Coming Into Eighty )

( Shaw, George Bernard. The Doctor's Dilemma )

( Shetterly, Margot Lee. Hidden Figures )

( Street Angel: Super Hero for a Day )

( The Tea Dragon Society )

( Thomas, Sherry. A Study in Scarlet Women )

( Turf Wars 1 )

( Wells, Martha. Artificial Condition )

( Yang, J.Y. The Black Tides of Heaven )


Started but not finished:
( Craig, Darrell Max. Mugai Ryu: The Classical Art of Drawing the Sword )

( Creeley, Robert. Echoes )

( The Dam Keeper )

( Dodge, Mary Mapes. Rhymes and Jingles )

( Johnson, Alissa. A Gift for Guile )

( Northrop, Michael. Tombquest 2: Amulet Keepers )

( Schumer, Amy. Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo )

( Shattered Warrior )

( Wilcox, Ella Wheeler. Poems of ???? )

I'm doing my book logging in several sections this time because there's more than usual due to me reading a lot of short poetry collections and listening to some audiobooks.


Started but not finished (all types of book adjacent things):

( Assassination Classroom 1 )

( Brand, Christianna. Nurse Matilda )

( Gloom Cookie )

( Hale, Shannon. Book of a Thousand Days )

( Konigsburg, E.L. The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place )

( Lackey, Mercedes. One Good Knight )

( Lehman, David. Valentine Place )

( Mitchell, David. The Bone Clocks )

( The Plain Janes )

( Primavera, Elise. Ms Rapscott's Home for Girls )

( Schwab, V.E. A Darker Shade of Magic )

( Shaw, George Bernard. The Devil's Disciple )

( Stiefvater, Maggie. The Raven Boys )

I took Ativan at 2:30 today. I wanted it earlier, but I also want it to last through as much of the concert as possible but still be out of my system in time for me to take Halcion at bedtime. When I'm dealing with appointments, the crucial time for having Ativan is either the night before or the 2-5 hours before I need to leave home. For something like a concert or a play, however, anything where I'm going to be physically trapped by the space as well as surrounded by other people, I really need Ativan right then. (Buses are okay as long as I know that it would be physically trivial to get off at the very next stop. I try to avoid them when they're standing room only.)

I was going to wrap some presents this morning, but I ended up trying a couple of variations on dates wrapped in turkey bacon. I did one large pan with a lot of butter added and one half filled small pan with sesame oil. The butter version was much better. I don't think they're quite as good as with real bacon because the butter doesn't carry any flavor from the turkey bacon into the dates. There's less salt and smoke flavor, and it's all much sweeter because of that which makes the richness more overwhelming.

The presents are still sitting on the table. They're all for Cordelia, so I can wrap them after the cleaning lady is done in there. Cordelia's not going to be home until after her concert. Scott's presents are still tucked away. Neither he nor I will be getting much this year because of the family budget crunch. Actually, Cordelia would be getting considerably less if I hadn't bought most of the things for her in September and October. That was before we knew we'd have to pay for her new (used) laptop and before my medical expenses last month and before a couple of other things.

I have started two new fics today. Goodness knows when I'll actually finish either of those or either of the other two that are nearly done. One of the latter two needs some sort of movement in order to end, and I don't know what it's going to be. Probably a character realization, but maybe not. The other needs someone who knows the canon, isn't squicked by the content, and isn't me. I have an email out to somebody who might be able to, but I'm not sure they'll be available until some time in January or even after.

I've named all five stories in the Sky High series with Elizabeth Barrett Browning poetry snippets and realized last night that none of the snippets I had saved fit the sixth story (which is the one above that doesn't have movement yet), so I cat waxed a bit by looking for her poetry online. The library only has one book, Sonnets from the Portuguese, and I've been through that from end to end. Interlibrary loan isn't currently an option and won't be for a couple of months yet (update to the library systems. Can't remember if it's hardware or software or both). I think I may have something that will work now, though, but I'm irritated by the site that I ended up using because there's an autoplay video of someone reading each poem as one opens the related page.