Another rainy day in Noo Yawk Sitty and I am trying to pry my eyes open. I am drinking coffee this morning…things must be dire if I’ve chosen coffee over tea. I’m hoping the caffeine will kick in at any moment. I can’t believe I’ve been in the office for almost two hours. What have I done exactly? I sincerely think I’ve been sleeping with my eyes open (slightly).
Moving on, yesterday I spent the better part of the day writing. I came up with two poems and one blog entry. Five hours, two poems…yes that’s how long those two pieces took me. I’m hoping that I didn’t overwork them. I’ll find out tonight when I present them to my writing group for feedback. Argh, I always get a bit nervous bringing in new work. I know they will be respectful and encouraging…but like most writers I sometimes think my peers will take one read and look at me with disgust and say something like, “what the hell did you just write?” I know that is as far from reality but there is a small part of me that can’t help feel insecure about new work. But I AM excited at what I’m about to present tonight. It feels new and fresh to me and I want to include it in this application packet. We shall see.
Peace,
L~
All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2011 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Let it Pour!!
It’s a dark overcast Thursday morning. It’s supposed to rain all day today. uhm, yea.
Yesterday was a bit of a wash for me. I couldn’t motivate myself to do more than make myself tea. I did manage to go to dinner with a friend which helped turn my mood around quite a bit. Yay for that and thank goodness.
But work was work and I didn’t have enough to do, which meant that I had an open day to write. But words wouldn’t formulate, at least not in a creative sort of way. Instead I wrote a 2,000 word journal entry to work through a myriad of emotional crap that’s been coming up for me. I just wrote in 500-word increments in between my manager asking me to do a little task here and a little task there. The tasks would take me 10-15 minutes to do. The writing would take a good 30 minutes. It is what it is. I’m not complaining….much.
When I get stuck creatively, I can usually get started on a piece by using a really good line from someone else’s work and just riff and play off of it. Then just delete that first line and revise the piece accordingly. That didn’t quite work yesterday because I was too angry. Anger can blind me and stop me in my tracks. I’m sure there are much better writers out there who use the anger to write but I can’t quite make that shift. In fact, the anger engulfed me and kept me in a strangle hold for most of the day. I reached out to my sister, just to vocalize that emotion. “I was so angry I could taste my liver in my mouth.” Ick but true.
My vexation sat down in the middle of the day and refused to move. Arms folded, legs criss-crossed refusing to budge. I have remnants of it left today but last night’s talk loosened it up. Enough to appreciate the warm wind on my way to work. My goal today is to write 4 more poems for tomorrow’s writing group. I plan on finishing up my artist statement today. Organize my receipts for my accountant. And finish reading Ann Lamott’s book Bird by Bird. Those are my priorities. Let’s see how it goes today.
Peace~
Lily
All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2011 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.
Yesterday was a bit of a wash for me. I couldn’t motivate myself to do more than make myself tea. I did manage to go to dinner with a friend which helped turn my mood around quite a bit. Yay for that and thank goodness.
But work was work and I didn’t have enough to do, which meant that I had an open day to write. But words wouldn’t formulate, at least not in a creative sort of way. Instead I wrote a 2,000 word journal entry to work through a myriad of emotional crap that’s been coming up for me. I just wrote in 500-word increments in between my manager asking me to do a little task here and a little task there. The tasks would take me 10-15 minutes to do. The writing would take a good 30 minutes. It is what it is. I’m not complaining….much.
When I get stuck creatively, I can usually get started on a piece by using a really good line from someone else’s work and just riff and play off of it. Then just delete that first line and revise the piece accordingly. That didn’t quite work yesterday because I was too angry. Anger can blind me and stop me in my tracks. I’m sure there are much better writers out there who use the anger to write but I can’t quite make that shift. In fact, the anger engulfed me and kept me in a strangle hold for most of the day. I reached out to my sister, just to vocalize that emotion. “I was so angry I could taste my liver in my mouth.” Ick but true.
My vexation sat down in the middle of the day and refused to move. Arms folded, legs criss-crossed refusing to budge. I have remnants of it left today but last night’s talk loosened it up. Enough to appreciate the warm wind on my way to work. My goal today is to write 4 more poems for tomorrow’s writing group. I plan on finishing up my artist statement today. Organize my receipts for my accountant. And finish reading Ann Lamott’s book Bird by Bird. Those are my priorities. Let’s see how it goes today.
Peace~
Lily
All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2011 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Clearing the cobwebs
Yesterday, I managed to write a rough draft of my artist statement, hitting all the main points the grant is asking for. So it’s in bullet point form at the moment. I will work on smoothing out the edges in the coming days. I also revised five poems that I plan on sending. Five down, ten more to go. I worked solidly for two and a half hours last night once I got home from work. By 9 pm I was done for the night and I curled up to watch a cute French movie with Audrey Tautou called Priceless. The movie made me giggle and it was a nice treat after a long day.
Unfortunately, despite the work, I was restless and I tossed and turned for a good long while. After being so depleted energy-wise the past month (being sick with a chest cold), my energy is starting to rise again and I know I need to do a little more exercise. I spend 8.5 hours a day sitting behind a desk and then I go home and sit and work for another 2.5 hours writing…yes, I think my body is definitely telling me I need to go stretch and work out. Hmmm…how am I going to fit that in? I can barely get up in the morning as it is. Last night I was up until 1 am and up by 6:30. (5.5 hours of sleep). No wonder I feel not quite here today.
I am currently sipping a crappy cup of tea. No flavor, no body…just a watery thin version of what I like to drink. Hmmm. I should really get up and fix myself another cup…or at the very least stop drinking this one.
So tonight I’ll step off a couple of stops before my actual train stop and walk home. A 20-minute uphill walk may help clear the cobwebs and perhaps a bit of stretching when I get home. That will at least help get me started, yes? Then continue with revising some more material for my application and revise my statement. Plus writing group is on Friday so I can use feedback on new material, so there is that to write. Back to work.
Peace~
All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2011 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.
Unfortunately, despite the work, I was restless and I tossed and turned for a good long while. After being so depleted energy-wise the past month (being sick with a chest cold), my energy is starting to rise again and I know I need to do a little more exercise. I spend 8.5 hours a day sitting behind a desk and then I go home and sit and work for another 2.5 hours writing…yes, I think my body is definitely telling me I need to go stretch and work out. Hmmm…how am I going to fit that in? I can barely get up in the morning as it is. Last night I was up until 1 am and up by 6:30. (5.5 hours of sleep). No wonder I feel not quite here today.
I am currently sipping a crappy cup of tea. No flavor, no body…just a watery thin version of what I like to drink. Hmmm. I should really get up and fix myself another cup…or at the very least stop drinking this one.
So tonight I’ll step off a couple of stops before my actual train stop and walk home. A 20-minute uphill walk may help clear the cobwebs and perhaps a bit of stretching when I get home. That will at least help get me started, yes? Then continue with revising some more material for my application and revise my statement. Plus writing group is on Friday so I can use feedback on new material, so there is that to write. Back to work.
Peace~
All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2011 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.
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