Blogging around

Today, I commented on Daniel's and Melonka's blogs. They both had a certain element in them that I really enjoyed reading about, in their own ways: responsibility. Daniel, in writing and accepting our faults for the sake of revision and a better outcome, and melonka, for daring to dream about her future and still accept at the same time that some hard roads would need to be taken without batting an eyelash.

In Daniel's, we see that he was bound by his own tireless work ethic to get the poem done right (and I can certainly admire that, given certain procrastinatory faults of mine), and the ability to see beyond his own feelings for his poem to see that revision didn't mean he was LOSING anything good, but gaining instead. Voici ce que je lui ai dit:
"Hey Daniel. Haya doin? I really appreciated your respect for the revision process; even as someone who never wants to deviate from their original spout of creativity, I find I always agree that revision is needed. It seems when people just say that their own creativity and thoughts are being taken away, they are not willing to improve anything. It seems to be laziness over anything else, an excuse not to see how they could make everyhting better, when the option of sitting by and thinking that they've delivered a relatively infallible piece is waiting to be taken. I know this is there because I've felt it, and it's a very common thought. But I've also gone back and opened my mind and realized what TRASH my initial works were, and that, yes, improving it would change some of the original words, but not the voice. The aim is always the same. But if we were to consider these imperfections to be part of my initial "voice", that voice would be crap. Pure and unadulterated. And, being someone who personally wants to put poetry or a number forms of art into their life in the future, I see that if I ever want this to be looked on in a positive light, it has to be improved, and I have to open my mind. It seems like you've reached that understanding that it's not ELIMINATING everyhting that makes the poem your voice, but rather, like a baseball team, cleaning up what impairs it, emphasizing what makes it great, and adding a few all-star players (new phrases, ideas) to the poem's roster. Keep it up, hope to read your poem at some point. :)"

With melonka's post, I enjoyed her hope. Most importantly, I enjoyed her hope in the face of difficult times to come as she tries to figure out how to achieve all the things she'd love to do in life. (We seem to be in the same boat.) She was not afraid to do things the hard way, and certainly gave the impression of someone with a goal and a serious desire to reach it, no matter the circumstances. Aqui es lo que la dijo:
"MELONKA! how YOU doin'?? Anyway, I really enjoyed your comment. Obviously, it seems, because I'm commenting. What I thought was quite interesting was that you showed that first, neurotic, reactionist, confused reaction to Zamora's assignments that is normally elicited by the majority of our class whenever something is announced, yet recovered. In a way that appeared to be quite responsible, too. You figured, "forget about the doubts other people might have about all this being possible, this is what I'd like to do, and that's that. And so what if it takes hard work; it's worth doing." That's one of the things I enjoyed most about it. You said you'd "learn Italian the hard way" and do all your motherly things and have kids yet "STILL have a job" (and quite alot, I might add.) I really admired that; you did;t try to escape the reality that these goals might be hard to achieve, or nigh-impossible. It looked as though you accepted their difficulty and were perfectly under control knowing that, being all "stoic" and whatnot. IN a time and place where many of us are afraid of problems and difficulty as though we deserve something better or easier, I really appreciated that you had the power to dream, no matter how daunting the tasks, and do it the hard way at the same time. Uber-kudos. See you Monday :)"

metacognition: ma poesie

In writing and rewriting poems, what I normally find myself fixing are things that sound...awkward.
In the throes of writing, in a flurry of enthusiastic thought, we writers often find ourselves feeling as though we have constructed the perfect composition. NOT SO. Although it may be well-crafted, although we thought our thought processes were absolutely immaculate while our fingers slapped the keys, the end result is normally far more flawed, obviously, than what we had predicted. This frequently occurs with me. I've learned something that may help those of you looking for a way to make your mistakes ever more apparent: Befriend your ex's (if you have one) best friend, "accidentally" mention your poem to them, and comply once they ask to read it. Believe me, once you've heard their responses, the faults will becoming ever more piercingly clear. And you will, you WILL correct them.
Otherwise, what I saw about my writing was that the general flow was good; I was surprised it wasn't overladen with words, much like my messages to certain ex's bff's. The vocabulary is rich at times, and in my head, it all fits quite well. But, when I go back and reread it, I find there are things missing. I feel that if no one were to decide to conduct a class on the poem and try to crawl inside my mind, the emphasis on love or what I was really trying to reach and appreciate would not be embedded deeply enough into their cerebellums. I needed more imagery; I needed more emphasis; I needed it too be quite apparent as to what I was being drawn affectionately towards (in the poem) and that that was what made the tea metaphor work, and significant. I learned that when writing and constructing a poem, ad thinking you are infallible, there are a need of steps you need too take to really make the work ideal:
Get someone of very important standing in yor life to read it.
Get of your high horse.
Stop being afraid of tarnishing your (im)perfection, and
Get writing.