tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59030141953597756302024-03-19T05:30:30.962-07:00What?poetry, etc.Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-31309883630915181512015-02-08T20:43:00.001-08:002015-02-08T20:44:26.034-08:00Follow me Elsewhere:For the time being, I've pulled up my blog posts and moved to <a href="http://sallyashton.com/">A Muse Bouche</a>. I can't remember why I thought a new blog would be an improvement, so now I have blog feet in both worlds. The new one uses my sallyashton(dot)com domain. That must be why I thought it would be good to move.<br />
<br />
However, I seem to want to use the new blog more as a website than a blab-fest. I've only posted once in the year since I began it.<br />
<br />
In any case, if you followed me here 4 years ago, you might want to dial in to the new blog for now. If you're so inclined. Thanks for your precious time and kind attention.<br />
<br />
-sallySally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-61490253321892102462011-11-24T08:56:00.003-08:002012-03-23T22:42:31.496-07:00Disquiet in Lisbon: July 2012While I won't be teaching in Lisbon this summer in the <a href="http://disquietinternational.org/program.html">Disquiet International Literary Program</a>, I hope to return in that capacity in Summer 2013. I highly recommend the program to any writer, but will let my former students, the director, below, and the website fill in the details for you. Don't miss the opportunity. In the meantime, follow my antics at www.poetlaureateblog.org where I wear a funny hat until April, 2013, at which time I return to poetry on a stick.<br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> <o:pixelsperinch>72</o:PixelsPerInch> <o:targetscreensize>1024x768</o:TargetScreenSize> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:donotoptimizeforbrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial;font-family:";color:black;" lang="UZ-CYR">I highly recommend Sally Ashton's workshop experience. Ashton goes beyond providing a constructive and supportive critique environment by also sharing literary themes and supporting text that I found to be thought provoking and inspirational to my writing. <span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Lara Gularte (Disquiet 2011)</span></strong></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><strong></strong></p><p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:UZ-CYRfont-family:";color:black;" lang="UZ-CYR"></span></strong><span style="mso-fareast-Times New Roman"font-family:";" lang="UZ-CYR"> </span><span style="mso-fareast-Times New Roman"font-family:";" ></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-Times New Roman"font-family:";" ></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";" >In the Lisbon workshop with Sally Ashton, I received thoughtful and relevant critique on my poems. I appreciated Sally's sensibilities as a facilitator and close reader, as well as her impressive knowledge of craft and current trends in literature. The optional short reading and writing assignments she prepared for us tapped into the expanse of emotions we were experiencing as travelers out of our comfort zones and provided focal points for the phenomenal history and culture we found surrounding us.</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";" ><br />-Marjorie Manwaring (Disquiet Program 2011)</span></b><br /></p><br />And now, a word from the director:<br /><br /><p style="margin-top: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;color:black;" >The second annual DISQUIET: Dzanc Books International Literary Program in Lisbon, Portugal is now accepting applications and the contest and scholarship competitions are open!</span></b></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.1pt;"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;color:black;" >2012 guest writers and faculty include: <b style="">Junot Diaz, Denise Duhamel, John Frey, Robert Olmstead, Anthony De Sa, George Saunders, Richard Zenith, Kim Addonizio, Sally Ashton, Dan Bern, Deanne Fitzmaurice, Frank X. Gaspar, Philip Graham, Christine Hume, Joshua Knelman, Horacio Castellanos Moya, Josip Novakovich, Deb Olin Unferth, Terri Witek, </b></span><b style=""><span style="font-family:Arial;">Luísa Costa Gomes, valter hugo mãe, José Luís Peixoto, Jacinto Lucas Pires, Patrícia Reis, <em><span style=" font-style: normal;font-family:Arial;" >Gonçalo M</span></em><span class="st"><i style="">. </i></span><em><span style=" font-style: normal;font-family:Arial;" >Tavares,</span></em><em><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></em>Rui Zink</span></b><span style="font-family:Arial;">, editors from <b style=""><span style="color:black;">Dzanc Books, <i style="">Guernica</i></span></b><i style=""><span style="color:black;">, </span></i><span style="color:black;">and <b style="">Open Letter</b>,</span> and many others.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.1pt;"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;color:black;" >This year, in addition, to workshops in <b style="">Fiction, Nonfiction,</b> and <b style="">Poetry</b>, we’re offering workshops in <b style="">Songwriting</b> with <b style="">Dan Bern</b>; <b style="">Photo-Documentary Storytelling</b> with <b style="">Pulitzer-Prize winning Photojournalist Deanne Fitzmaurice</b>; and <b style="">Book Arts</b> with Portland’s <b style="">Independent Publishing Resource Center</b>.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.1pt;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Last year's inaugural program was a resounding success, with more than fifty North American writers gathering in Lisbon for workshops, seminars, talks, and frivolity with contemporary Portuguese writers and artists.</span><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;color:black;" > </span> </p><p style="margin-top: 0.1pt;"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;color:black;" >This year's program will take place from <b style="">July 1 – July 13, 2012 </b>and will include workshops in poetry, fiction, nonfiction and translation, literary walks and other excursions, craft talks and readings from North American and Portuguese writers.</span><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;color:black;" > </span> </p><p style="margin-top: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;color:black;" >The International Literature Award</span></b><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;color:black;" >: A full scholarship (airfare, tuition and lodging) is available for the winner of the <b style="">Dzanc Books / <i style="">Guernica </i>International Literature Award</b>, judged this year by <b style="">Colson Whitehead</b>. This multi-genre contest seeks poetry, fiction, or non-fiction that broadens the landscape of North American literature beyond the boundaries of North America. The winning work will also be published in <b style=""><i style="">Guernica</i></b>, one of the best literary and cultural magazines on the web.</span><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.1pt;"><b style=""><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;color:black;" >Full and partial scholarships are also available through a partnership with the Luso-American Development Foundation for North American writers of Portuguese or Luso descent.</span></b><b style=""><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></b><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;color:black;" > </span> </p><p style="margin-top: 0.1pt;"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;color:black;" >The deadline for contest and scholarships is <b style="">January 31, 2012</b>. </span></p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;color:black;" > </span> <span style=" ;font-family:Arial;color:black;" >Further details available at our website, </span><span style="font-family:Arial;"><a target="_blank" href="http://disquietinternational.org/"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 204);">http://disquietinternational.org</span></a><span style="color:black;">.</span></span>Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-39772793568178950742011-09-19T13:44:00.000-07:002011-09-19T14:18:24.244-07:00Follow me. . .. . .for the foreseeable future at <a href="http://poetlaureateblog.org/">www.poetlaureateblog.org</a>, where I am in the midst of posting the favorite poems of residents of Silicon Valley where, until April 1, 2013, I am the current Santa Clara County Poet Laureate.<br /><br />I'm posting all my events on the "Laureate Schedule" page in the header, any comments from time to time can be searched in the Archives under the "Laureate's News" category, and you can definitely find my posts for Best American Poetry made from my time in Portugal in this manner should your interest have been hanging for the past months.<br /><br />Sorry to have left the 3 of you hanging. (hi Susannah!)<br /><br />Pass it on.Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-23890340770007016852010-11-19T13:08:00.000-08:002011-03-15T12:44:28.825-07:00Work with me in Portugal!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGw2nyYX42oVJaYTunOeddR1-yPAjviA5Qy_xrBwzLpTCXq-JQaxQnLscfsqB1T1_1VamizMXLP0h5F3azgwzE67acHdmX7aNqPO_B-Dlbi6Nar_Lf7HWxYI9oXePrF-5qjJrQSYvD_lo/s1600/header1.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 48px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGw2nyYX42oVJaYTunOeddR1-yPAjviA5Qy_xrBwzLpTCXq-JQaxQnLscfsqB1T1_1VamizMXLP0h5F3azgwzE67acHdmX7aNqPO_B-Dlbi6Nar_Lf7HWxYI9oXePrF-5qjJrQSYvD_lo/s400/header1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541371644367215602" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Georgia;color:black;" >Work with me in Portugal next summer in <a href="http://www.dzancbooks.org/storage/ilp/index.html">Dzanc Book’s new international<span style=""> </span>literary program</a>. I’ll be leading a poetry workshop. Check out the website and contact me for registration details. It’s a terrific program and opportunity.</span></p> <a href="http://www.dzancbooks.org/storage/ilp/index.html"><br /></a>Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-71336041632411795482010-11-06T23:24:00.000-07:002010-11-06T23:28:38.271-07:00those and thisA wonderful <a href="http://rattle.com/blog/2010/10/some-odd-afternoon-by-sally-ashton/">review </a>of <span style="font-style: italic;">Some Odd Afternoon </span>posted at Rattle online.Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-58464837701790102792010-09-26T14:31:00.000-07:002011-03-12T13:36:36.028-08:00The Black Telephone Rings...<a href="http://poetrychaingang.blogspot.com/2010/09/poetry-chain-gang-volume-2-sally-ashton.html">Five Fast Questions</a>Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-17089134723363949322010-07-26T13:25:00.000-07:002010-07-26T14:05:32.268-07:00Bullwinkle is a....Sorry! Wrong cartoon.<br /><br /><a href="http://bayareapoetsreview.com/recent_reviews">"Sally Ashton is a hoot</a>." That's the best 4 letter word I've ever been called! Check out the Bay Area Poets Seasonal Review online review of my latest book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Some Odd Afternoon, </span>for the rest of the story.<br /><br />If you're a subscriber to the print version, the full text of the interview also appears in the Spring/Summer 2010 issue.Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-60238512737900490932010-07-05T13:11:00.000-07:002010-07-05T13:21:20.098-07:00Fourth of Juanita<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5COWNER%7E1.SAL%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} h1 {mso-style-link:"Heading 1 Char"; mso-style-next:Normal; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; page-break-after:avoid; mso-outline-level:1; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning:0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight:normal; font-style:italic; mso-bidi-font-style:normal;} span.Heading1Char {mso-style-name:"Heading 1 Char"; mso-style-locked:yes; mso-style-link:"Heading 1"; mso-ansi-font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA; font-weight:bold; mso-bidi-font-weight:normal; font-style:italic; mso-bidi-font-style:normal;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--><b><i><o:p></o:p></i></b> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;">Juanita is July. Of course she is. Heat and unrideable breeze. The burn begins when you swing your legs out of bed, walk barefoot across wooden floor to the open window. A smell of fresh tar and creosote. Flags fail to flap. She is a memory to fondle, a token in my pocket, a ring on a chain around my neck. Or did I only imagine? Do I? Apt. Each firework always bigger than the last, louder, choreographed to music and passion’s swell. Incendiary spray of purple, green, the surprise of golden meteors pause, drop like molten wax, cool to cinder you flick from<span style=""> </span>your arm. You wait for the next explosion. The mind’s eye widens in recollection: a night to remember, one like no other. Such spectacles can’t be trusted. However they are all I have. Like a donkey I follow in the tracks worn before me. What has been traveled, what will be traveled again and again. July the exception. Fireflies, firework grand finale, every constellation undiminished wavers some promise overhead.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia;">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">from </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >Her Name Is Juanita</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">, <a href="http://korepress.org/">Kore Press</a>, 2009</span>
<br /></p> Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-18388757886558646012010-04-27T22:53:00.000-07:002010-04-27T23:00:39.398-07:00DMQ Review Spring Release!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX2jqGqk4vDIN1o8yZHYBTtiIV10omOM4B2ebmsEhOXoaQBHLQ6vKov5Gi17miFmkRhxsIQ_Xho_rsuXNgZznfYQPz3mPTWw3EPXfWAIgDW-AdNb2lBLNggjaGN3HwhyqwTNpXCT0GUNk/s1600/cover2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 316px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX2jqGqk4vDIN1o8yZHYBTtiIV10omOM4B2ebmsEhOXoaQBHLQ6vKov5Gi17miFmkRhxsIQ_Xho_rsuXNgZznfYQPz3mPTWw3EPXfWAIgDW-AdNb2lBLNggjaGN3HwhyqwTNpXCT0GUNk/s400/cover2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465063548913810594" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.dmqreview.com/Spring10/index2.html"><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></a><a href="http://www.dmqreview.com/Spring10/index2.html"><span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span></a><a href="http://www.dmqreview.com/Spring10/">Check it out!</a><br />Cover art by <a href="http://www.charlesfarrellart.com/">Charles Farrell</a>.Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-10196163200121580612010-04-15T19:37:00.000-07:002010-04-15T19:45:07.428-07:00Post at Best American Poetry: AWP rehash<a href="http://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2010/04/post-awp-impressions-by-sally-ashton.html">I went to the animal fair-</a>Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-21778200445101070032010-02-04T12:42:00.000-08:002010-02-04T12:53:20.086-08:00All About BooksFast and furious. And fabulous! Getting 2 books into production and between covers in the past 6 months has been a remarkable experience. Not exactly the ride I expected, but a real shot of the business side of writing. It's a bit like taking on a home remodeling project. At a certain point you just want someone else to decide which kinds of light fixtures to use. At other times you could weep over misaligned door trim. But now what I want to say is, I'm simply amazed.<br /><br />If you're looking to catch me reading from them in the near future, readings are listed over there in the side bar. Yeah, over <span style="font-style: italic;">there.</span>Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-53541276531646377712010-01-12T21:45:00.000-08:002010-01-12T22:07:44.951-08:00Thoughts so far.I went away to write and think and "catch up." I thought I would be writing here, on my blog. I thought I would get back to the Vespa serial, which I would like very much to do. I thought I'd figure out my next "project." I thought I would stay until Thursday. I thought I would get lonely.<br /><br />None of these things happened. Okay, I thought a LOT and I did get somewhat "catched up." I have my syllabub about 99% done. Instead of writing here, however, I read other people's blogs and whacky facebook entries. I did read the Vespa serial front to back and then put it in a stack on the table and spilled red wine all over it when I found a fly in my glass, I mean, it was apparently in my glass but I found it on my tongue and then I spilled the wine everywhere including on the Vespa serial print-out. It wasn't a sign, but I never did get back to it. It has dried nicely, crinkly and rather wine-cellar scented. Maybe that's a sign.<br /><br />I did have a good time though. I did write. It felt somewhat like a logjam breaking up or maybe the way it feels when it finally rains. Or maybe the way the stink bugs felt when I released them back to the wild. I had many encounters with the insect world, especially if spiders are included in that world. Chief among insects was the stink bug. ew. Also featured: a drowsy wasp and the floating fly. But now the rain begins again. The weather report says it 100% will until about 2am when I plan to be asleep and not notice the lessening. I'll wake up, pack the car and return home. I imagine I'll be driving in the rain. I'll be listening to Harry Potter on CD and I will be home unbelievably fast doing so. Can't wait. And at last I blogged.Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-21413610688345733962009-12-31T13:35:00.000-08:002009-12-31T14:43:00.474-08:00FuelHere at the last of 2009, I've been hoping to work through some of my reading backlog and this morning hunkered down with the newest-that-I've-received issue of Poets &Writers, Nov/Dec. I had apparently picked it up a few weeks back but soon found where I'd left off, "Beyond Intention," an excerpt from Dean Young's forthcoming and compellingly titled book of essays, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Art of Recklessness.</span> I can't commend the book to you since I've only read this smallish excerpt, but I shall recommend this line taken from the excerpt of said book:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">To cultivate fire is to perpetually gather fuel, sometimes to reconceive what </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">is </span><span style="font-style: italic;">fuel.</span><br /><br />The context for Young's comment is the case he is building for embracing a creative recklessness, specifically in writing poetry, as opposed to remaining within our tried and perhaps tired methods of writing whether they entail our intentions, expectations, assumptions or aesthetic notions. In this instance a poem is the fire . . . not a thing, Young suggests, but "a conversion."<br /><br />That's an exciting comparison, one that resonates with some of my own thinking about fuel, about what "makes the engine go," as poet Stanley Kunitz put it. Making the engine go is what life consists in, whether it's writing a poem, novel, song or doing whatever it is that makes a person unique, whole, alive. I think of fuel not only as feeding a creative act, but as energizing resistance to life's decline. Part of resistance, I'm sure, is the ability "to reconceive what fuel is," to look beyond one's usual sources. It's a liberating idea for creative expression and for continuing to renew the lives we lead.<br /><br />And so I wish you fuel for the coming year in its unseen joys and challenges, fuel for the fire that is you, fuel for your work and loves, fuel from unexpected places. Adieu, 2009. Happy New Year, All.Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-83701509783378743152009-12-17T17:18:00.001-08:002009-12-17T17:18:52.764-08:00Juanita News!<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Kore Press <a shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102867004303&s=926&e=001k9fSfTJ0FnsiKkgqS02uyLZZhdwcvlOAzMTF0lYUPhfwY3ZotJ19MuwPeKWA37kUxcp3M0PxjnL_h1f2MAT9pQNexMpcYnkIG_oNYC5c7lgqZz3t1DXabg==">Pushcart Prize</a> nominations</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> are</span> in. </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This year at Kore</span><a style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102867004303&s=926&e=001k9fSfTJ0FnvzzLMIKaAbjoN7SLDV2YYw_X-0zITmfsED-SMJhxTcEQ8yu0LDtBlOBfLgctN0aukBS2AjVxb5wNsvipxLinffvpnH-v8A9QnX3pyQpNj1DmpFB1uegQXc6Sr3z-F8Qq1stDGyhHgkyg=="><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><img name="ACCOUNT.IMAGE.322" alt="Pushcart Prize" src="http://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs017/1101432839556/img/322.gif?a=1102867004303" width="135" align="left" border="0" height="173" /></span></span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> we've nominated <a shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102867004303&s=926&e=001k9fSfTJ0FnvxYiQHAj5U0_AN0cCtIHTIHvY8nFpwgmQ7Uq8uh0rgcGrbqbTBqHsmlK0eF4LTrV0ECrX5gXnYnW9ZuYQH-Sd4zn3QIic0q9nzvgiCgOFL4mgkrlOH1dAn-CJu58-l9g2JAhrjN0rUPg==">Sally Ashton</a>, <a shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102867004303&s=926&e=001k9fSfTJ0FntRCKKpQS6KzhLZK9y6uj4p9pZ_BfJhLLmQ7j8OY_Fuo00Z3btJmE4FltAmuJdrKDWPNTbVSmOzqWOsKhlmoghJE15FqetEDPmV3Auk-mnzSGpfJpTZEmSzuwa77Yg2sf05EAWZv7_oHw==">Teresa Stores</a>, <a shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102867004303&s=926&e=001k9fSfTJ0FnvzzLMIKaAbjoN7SLDV2YYw_X-0zITmfsED-SMJhxTcEQ8yu0LDtBlOBfLgctN0aukBS2AjVxb5wNsvipxLinffvpnH-v8A9QnX3pyQpNj1DmpFB1uegQXc6Sr3z-F8Qq1stDGyhHgkyg==">Ste</a><a shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102867004303&s=926&e=001k9fSfTJ0FnvzzLMIKaAbjoN7SLDV2YYw_X-0zITmfsED-SMJhxTcEQ8yu0LDtBlOBfLgctN0aukBS2AjVxb5wNsvipxLinffvpnH-v8A9QnX3pyQpNj1DmpFB1uegQXc6Sr3z-F8Qq1stDGyhHgkyg==">phanie Balzer</a>, and <a shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102867004303&s=926&e=001k9fSfTJ0Fnt9E9ljnGEs76ef-0rfgrJ3h_D4mco9JOA2N_RfhqSrUfZq8KEhtZYeAjmoi2HM-n4KQYaywR0r2PrefFpDp0M5VT1TRS3eO7--IUj_kNTZk4bfA80wsgmP35vSSgTRdDBov7cULFz2nw==">Heather Cousins</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">. The Pushcart Prize is a highly anticipated anthology published annually by Pushcart Press. The collection of essays, short stories, poems and memoirs is chosen from hundreds of small magazines and presses across the world. Keep your eyes peeled this year for appearances by our Kore authors. <span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 204); font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Congratulations and good luck ladies!</span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-4804783530316323922009-12-05T21:05:00.000-08:002009-12-05T21:07:59.746-08:00Blogging this week...at <a href="http://thebestamericanpoetry.typepad.com/the_best_american_poetry/2009/12/sally-ashton-guest-blogger-december-612.html">Best American Poetry Blog</a>, Sunday December 6 -December 12th. See you there!Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-90198814705060024922009-11-10T10:58:00.000-08:002009-11-12T21:23:18.289-08:00Some Odd AfternoonDoesn't every day feel like some odd afternoon? This is the title of my book forthcoming from BlazeVOX press. I took the name from a line in an Emily Dickinson poem, #80, which I first used as the title of a poem. "Some Odd Afternoon" will appear in the winter issue of <a href="http://www.longwood.edu/dospassosreview/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Dos Passos Review</span></a>. I discovered Dickinson's poem after reading somewhere how she was taken with armchair voyages and by the idea of Italy as an imaginative place--So am I! Many of her poems reflect these voyages, but I will copy her #80 here.<br /><br />Our lives are Swiss--<br />So still--so Cool<br />Till some odd afternoon<br />The Alps neglect their Curtains<br />And we look farther on!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Italy </span>stands the other side!<br />While like a guard between--<br />The solemn Alps--<br />The siren Alps<br />Forever intervene!<br /><br />Armchair travel is the ability to look farther on beyond the curtains of an ordinary day, or over an entire mountain range that stands between here and desire. Poetry provides just such a journey for the lucky traveler, a door to another world.Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-45011653236891454682009-11-09T17:08:00.000-08:002009-11-12T21:25:10.819-08:00Just BackI just got back from reading at the <a href="http://www.languageofthesoul.org/slo_poetry/index.html">San Luis Obispo Poetry Festival</a> last night. What a treat. First California reading for Juanita-as-a-book, and cool to be back in the town where I first attended college as a bright-eyed 17 yr old. Yes, crop science was my major and I was going to get back to the land and set my soul free. Somehow. Too bad I wasn't interested in science. But I took beekeeping, soil science, and row crops, learned some interesting vocabulary including apical meristem and friable. I learned when to shoot the nitrogen and the various cultivation shoes used for planting and weeding. Beta vulgaris is the latin name for sugar beet. In the 70's they had no use for organics.<br /><br />So I earned C's, got A's in Spanish and Music Theory and Harmony and Life Drawing. Duh. I think I did okay in beekeeping.<br /><br />The drive down 101 was amazing. If you have the chance to take it this week, do. The landscape is an unfolding miracle, ablaze with the vineyards turning colors now that the grapes are in.<br /><br />It was such a pleasure to be included in the festival. Many thanks to Kevin Patrick Sullivan, most excellent and animated poetry series host. I was impressed by the SLO poetry community, its audience and its readers. Good times. Also thanks to George and Alyn Burns whose gracious hospitality and friendship made the trip.<br /><br />It's about 5:30pm now, the sky already dark, fall winding down.Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-42596735454319386882009-10-06T09:36:00.001-07:002009-10-06T09:47:30.137-07:00Out of the Box-Seattle!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbbJ8yZLS96Al2yPA1wZbYmTDhcUNt2TrUOIas0az6p5FHOQnX3g80EuoNQxw2KwSLu6t19t16LALFF8pT5mQXThYPCqmsj_yKuIYw174EUxKBgrkFgMLI2NOD0zhmookFwC_54xth7Pw/s1600-h/P1010009-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbbJ8yZLS96Al2yPA1wZbYmTDhcUNt2TrUOIas0az6p5FHOQnX3g80EuoNQxw2KwSLu6t19t16LALFF8pT5mQXThYPCqmsj_yKuIYw174EUxKBgrkFgMLI2NOD0zhmookFwC_54xth7Pw/s320/P1010009-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389528237869053026" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />On October 1, I joined fellow Bennington grad poets Marjorie Manwaring and Nicole Hardy in a reading at Hugo House entitled, "So a Magician, a Blonde, and a Donkey Walk Into a Bar..." We rocked the house, it was the first time to read Juanita from actual covers, and a good time was had by all.Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-34550564496987996872009-09-02T19:52:00.000-07:002009-09-02T19:55:44.088-07:00#Two-woooot! Juanita!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-Z_FVG9qH3X1eAU5WznqL1b0hXocJo66WELu3JRElpBvY8OBcUJm5nbA0P0BsKrXcCYSTT5lNVODw0GxtkZnyGo51cSE1QcTAwNhw86ZUHdF066MP0_Q8XQMtwsqr8MXYIFD4qTRMYs/s1600-h/Juanita_000.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 133px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-Z_FVG9qH3X1eAU5WznqL1b0hXocJo66WELu3JRElpBvY8OBcUJm5nbA0P0BsKrXcCYSTT5lNVODw0GxtkZnyGo51cSE1QcTAwNhw86ZUHdF066MP0_Q8XQMtwsqr8MXYIFD4qTRMYs/s200/Juanita_000.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377069218457414162" border="0" /></a><br />At last. <a href="http://korepress.org/catalog.htm">Kore Press.</a>Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-55632237729400357612009-08-28T12:52:00.000-07:002009-08-28T16:17:55.849-07:00Wooooot!<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CSally%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceName"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman \(serif\)"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-alt:"Times New Roman"; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:auto; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} p.poemtitle, li.poemtitle, div.poemtitle {mso-style-name:poemtitle; mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://dmqreview.com/"><i style="">DMQ Review</i> Summer 2009 Release</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://dmqreview.com/"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The <i style="">DMQ Review</i> is pleased to announce the release of the Summer 2009 issue featuring the poetry of <span style=""> </span>Nin Andrews, Albert Baker, Greg Billingham, Michelle Bonczek, Andrea England, Betsy Johnson-Miller, Meghan L. Martin, Kate McCann, Connie Post, <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Michael</st1:placename> <st1:placename st="on">Spring</st1:placename></st1:place>, and Samn Stockwell with artwork by <b style="">Susannah Habecker.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In collaboration with Peter Davis, editor of <i style="">Poet’s Bookshelf: Contemporary Poets On Books That Shaped Their Art, Volumes I & II</i>, the <i style="">DMQ Review</i> is also pleased to feature the essay and new work of <b style="">Sandra M. Gilbert</b>, our Summer 2009 Featured Poet. </p> <p class="poemtitle"><b style="">John Amen’s</b> poem, “<span style=";font-family:";" >I Am Not Ready to Nail This Door Shut</span>,” first appeared in the <i style="">DMQ Review’s </i>August 2001 issue and comprises our “From the Archives” feature. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Check it out, <a href="http://www.dmqreview.com/">www.dmqreview.com</a></p> Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-84614990339695769342009-08-22T16:56:00.001-07:002009-08-22T16:57:03.442-07:00Where's Juanita?!?<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SbWWNrbEano&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SbWWNrbEano&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-17535807157808196782009-07-06T20:22:00.000-07:002009-07-06T20:53:20.819-07:00The Art of This and ThatHere's the dilemma. July is the month I set aside for creative work. I know, I'm supposed to be writing every day, and I do, but it's not always so creative. But July, mid-summer, poised between the end of the school year and the beginning of the next, laden with only one holiday that has no family expectations associated with it, most of the weddings and graduations over, friends in general are planning and executing vacations--July should be a great chunk of potentially focused time.<br /><br />Should be. Invariably however I have a little side list going comprised of related projects--submissions, workshop proposals, unanswered emails, cleaning up the office--that I feel I must get through first. "I'll do this first and get it out of the way," is my rationale, "and then I'll be able to focus on that." I'll knock out a few hovering responsibilities, "this and this," always so pressing, and clear the way for unencumbered creative floooooow, the that.<br /><br />What I've discovered is the only things that get done are the "thises." This is what's at hand. That is forever at a distance. I will always check off this item and this item from my list; as long as something remains <span style="font-style: italic;">that</span>, it never gains the imperative required to become this thing I am doing. It remains that thing which I want to do after I get done with <span style="font-style: italic;">this</span>.<br /><br />This is not hyperbolic high-jinks. This is all there is. This is all I have. I will never have that. So the trick is, the dilemma, the necessity is I must do this now, this writing, this thinking, this composing. Then I'll get to that other stuff.Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-42737801451267162252009-07-04T10:25:00.000-07:002009-07-04T10:29:36.474-07:00The 4th of July...O, America. Of thee I sing, sigh, and hope.<br /><br />Remember?<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jsEMR75Bae0&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jsEMR75Bae0&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Freedom is never free. Let's keep at it.<br /><br />ps. Juanita cometh...Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-85281900585139093932009-07-03T08:00:00.000-07:002009-07-03T08:36:27.886-07:00Travel GuidesRight after we'd bought tickets for Italy earlier this year, a well-traveled friend dropped off her favorite travel guide to Italy. Its dog-eared pages and a couple of remaining post-it tags proved it had been well-used. Since I wanted to have one I could use equally well and take with us on the trip, I soon bought one (so hard to choose just one!), a different one of course so we'd have a variety of perspectives. Before long Frank brought home a stack from the library and I put the whole assortment on the dining room table, a good, undisturbed place to spread out and really get to know a country.<br /><br />By the time the trip was only a couple of weeks away, I hadn't done more than riffle pages and read captions under the glossy photos. No worries! We had a 10+ hour flight ahead of us. Plenty of opportunity, really an enforced stillness put to good use, to read the book cover to cover if I wanted.<br /><br />The book never made it out of my carry-on. First I wanted light reading, then they put out the lights trying to get us west-coasters to believe that it was truly the night we were flying into...and out of! And then, we'd arrived and the journey was in full-swing. For this particular trip, the need to figure out what we'd do was less urgent; we were in the hands of our son for the most part and following a pretty full itinerary of people and places that we simply must meet and see before our all-too-short 2 weeks was gone--and then it was. We were back on the plane and I didn't pretend to read but wanted instead to watch every dvd in British Airways' library, which I did between intermittent attempts at sleep.<br /><br />Now that I'm home, I love the travel guide, the one we brought with us (and that saved us when we were in the cinque terra without hotel reservations) as well as the couple I'd picked up along the way. The transformation actually began our last night in Italy, in the small family-run albergo in Genova we'd discovered by guide book, waiting up with the only English language literature in the lobby for Frank to return from a midnight city search for overnight parking. It was a Berlitz travel guide I believe and included a concise history of Italy...<br /><br />What I found then and since I've been home is that now that I've been to Italy, I have context for the travel guides. I recognize places I've been- a town, a chapel, a region- and now I want to know more about it. I'm reading, I'm checking for more info on the internet, I'm jotting down notes from the travel guide in my journal. NEXT time I'm for sure spending more time in this city, will look out for that museum, will detour into that town. I will see the amphitheater's rose-colored walls. I will not miss Poet's Bay where Shelley drowned. Next time, maybe I'll be better guided.Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5903014195359775630.post-86576856202960457302009-06-21T11:55:00.001-07:002009-06-28T20:49:09.235-07:00Blogging this week......Find me at the <a href="http://thebestamericanpoetry.typepad.com/the_best_american_poetry/2009/06/sally-ashton-guest-blogger-june-2127.html">Best American Poetry</a> blog where I'm guest blogger through June 28th.Sally Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17367724242673368567noreply@blogger.com0