Domestication

The theme this week has been centered on decorating my new apartment - realizing that having my furniture, wall art and "things" around me has made a big difference in feeling cozy at the new admittedly small and somewhat dark space. I made kitchen curtains over the weekend and this week I'm working on drapes for the livingroom/bedroom window. Grateful to have a friend to borrow a sewing machine from and bought a cheap iron from Walmart. I may even try my hand at quilting - I saw a navajo wall hanging pattern in the local quilt shop that really intriqued me.

I've noticed that my color choices are strikingly different than ones I've chosen before. Always a blue and white kitchen in New England - now it's orange and reds - most likely the Southwest influence - as many things are painted in vibrant colors here - to distinguish from the everpresent adobe and desert earth. Taos is famous for its turquoise painted window shutters and doors. Someday I'll have to take pics and share them.

This Friday Natalie Goldberg is doing a reading at SOMOS (Society of the Muse of the Southwest) - it will be fun to hear her read some of her work because in the memoir class she focused on other people's writing rather than her own.... and now back to my own writing....

Pen Envy

I don't know what Freud might have to say about this title but I must confess that I was suffering from it this weekend, sitting around listening to other writer's writing and to the instructor, Sean Murphy, who has published four books and is a professor at UNM, Taos. It was easy to convince myself that my writing is weak, awful, sucks, etc. when compared to others. The ego flares up again... and resulted in writer's block - how not if everytime I think about writing I compare myself to others. So to get myself out of this slump I figured I could at least write my blog - nothing that I'll ever read in class and therefore presumably immune to feelings of insecurity.

To top it off yesterday I visited a new friend in El Rito who is the Head of the English Dept at UNM, Taos, and frequently does public readings of her short stories. She's unpublished at the moment, but her work is in the hands of an agent in NYC and she's waiting to hear. But I remind myself - that's why I moved to Taos in the first place - because there are alot of writers and writing groups. Nothing like being a small fish in a big pond.

I'm even procrastinating by recently diving into an over 1,000 page book by Wally Lamb, "I Know This Much is True". Great way to beat myself over the head because I can't even seem to write a page. Even during the "free writes" during class, with prompts, I was having a hard time getting started. I've heard this happens. Except it hasn't happened to me yet. I'm hoping that if I just start writing it will be like getting jump started and the engine/battery will kick in and start working on it's own. I hope I don't need a new battery.

My apartment is almost complete with decoration and furniture - thanks to thrift stores in Taos. I'm really tickled about an end table I found that has four legs made from tree trunks. It looks funky and in Taos funky is in. I also now have the poster from the Taos summer writer's conference, framed, hanging over my reading chair. And that should inspire me. And tomorrow is writer's group in the morning so I have to get something done on paper or else why pay the price of admission. Maybe I will read this in class after all.

Writers

I've had the privilege to listen to three great writers over the past couple of days. Last Friday pm I was a volunteer at SOMOS (Society of the Muse of the Southwest)and there were two readings: Jason Yurcic and Robert Mirabel. Jason is a poet from Albuquerque and has 3 books of poems published. He writes, "pain-based poetry" drawn from his traumatic childhood and travels to work with abused children, incarcerated criminials and those who have been disenfranchised. He invited a local youth to join him and had him read as well. He mentors youth in alternative high schools across New Mexico. Jason's readings were raw, real and moving. His first one was titled "Broken Ornament" about how his father was murdered on Christmas Eve.

Robert Mirabel is a native American that lives on the pueblo and is well known in Taos. He is a musican, artist and writer - a true Renaissance man. He read from his recent novel, "Looking Through Photographs". It definitely was a performance piece as Robert intoned, chanted, drummed, sang and spoke the words from his novel.

Last evening I attended a reading by the keynote speaker for the Taos Writer's Conference this year: Wally Lamb - author of "She's Come Undone", "This Much is True", "The Hour I first Believed" and others. He read a personal authobiographical piece and several chapters from his newest book, still unpublished, "Wishing and Hoping - A Christmas Story". He was friendly, funny and comfortably down to earth. He lives in Eastern Connecticut; in fact his second book, "This Much I Know is True" is set in Groton, CT, and the main character's stepfather works at EB (Electric Boat) where two of my brothers once worked.... small world.

I'm looking forward to next weekend I'm attending a workshop with local author, Sean Murphy, on "Overcoming the Barriers to your Authentic Voice" - sounds like it could be good for life as well as writing.

Go West

Back home after three and 1/2 weeks. whew.... Of course too much traveling, renting cars, buses, food and people to see. But worth it - to reconnect with family and friends. I felt like the trip was reminiscent of the "Where's Waldo" puzzle of maps -first Long Island, NY then to Saratoga Springs, NY, bus to Boston, then to Cape Cod, on to NH, back to Cape Cod, back to NH, and then finally back to Logan for return trip. I don't want to count up the $$ spent on the trip - at least the first part for the writer's conference is tax deductible....

I wished for alot of rain during my visit East - and be careful what you ask for because it rained every day except for one! Then when I returned to Taos last week it was overcast for the first day but then it's been back to sunshine as usual.

Highlights of the trip was seeing people and yes I did get my feet in the ocean (except that's all - only one 2 hr afternoon at the beach), eat a lobster roll, fried clams and lots of homemade icecream. I have the extra pounds to prove it. For some reason New Mexico is not big on ice cream - only three choices in town - McDonalds(if you call that ice cream), Baskin-Robbins, and Taos Cow - which just doesn't measure up to the homemade creamy-ness of the cows on the East. Alas - at least not as much temptation.

Settling into the new apartment and getting used to a smaller space and less sunlight - the good news about that is that it doesn't get anywhere near as hot as the earthship did on really warm days.... there's always a flip side.