May 2012
8 posts
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“Because when they’re not done, the songs, they’re like little...”
– Birth Of An Album: In The Studio With Neko Case : NPR
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“I think “mountains” or “homes” are specific to what you need at that time in...”
– The Lit Pub • Something About Being True to Yourself: An Interview with Chloe Caldwell
Been thinking so much lately about this tension (I hate the word compromise) that it hurts. This book is going on the wish list.
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Leon Gersing: Permission granted →
We are obsessed with our own histories. That is a waste of time. What good is planning how you want your story to be told if you’re not out living enough of a life to merit telling?
I needed this post today.
via @mattsonlyattack
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“It’s illogical that this century’s wealth creators are going to be...”
– PHILANTHROPY 2173: A hybrid foundation
When I came across this post over the weekend, I had a resounding “Yes!” reaction. This is a critical conversation for social change, not only because of changing philanthropist interests and a changing economy, but also because of the leadership...
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“Good stories are strange. What strong scientific theories, even those crafted in...”
– Can Science Explain Why We Tell Stories? : The New Yorker
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the importance of being shitty
I’ve recently shifted my focus on some commitments and freed up more energy for my own projects. Which essentially means I began staring down a lot of ideas with my best “Ok—let’s go!” attitude. And nothing happened. And I grew disappointed, because despite all my zen-like intentions, I am still wired for productivity at the end of the day. If I didn’t have a...
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dreaming: harper lee, truman capote, ernest...
Last night I had a dream that Harper Lee was in love with Ernest Hemingway, but he was not reciprocating. Harper Lee was losing it to Truman Capote over the situation… and Truman Capote appeared as a woman in the dream. Most odd was that he was fumbling with an armful of arrows. And I remember thinking how upset Ernest Hemingway was going to be when he discovered Truman Capote being so careless...
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poetry news and giveaway winners
Well, National Poetry Month rocked — I did a few readings, participated in the first Grand Rapids’ Poets Conference, met some new poets, and was invited to share some of my work on WYCE’s Electric Poetry (will post the link when it’s archived online). Big steps for a poet who spent the last six or seven years writing mostly in secret. And in all the hubbub, I forgot to...
April 2012
3 posts
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“The Vatican’s assessment, issued on Wednesday, said that members of the group,...”
– Vatican Reprimands U.S. Nuns Group - NYTimes.com
I am so angered by this story… I continue to be shocked at the Catholic Church’s view of women, but most especially the outrageous ways it tries to strip nuns of their voices and make them even less of an equal partner in faith. The idea...
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“If you’re a square peg in a round hole, get out of the damn hole. Go find a...”
– creative badass epic post: how to figure out your purpose/passion/just what the hell it is you want | Justine Musk
Love this post, especially the notion of a “soul home” (which the quote above refers to). It’s an idea I could wrap my arms around and hold onto for a long time. An...
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“I think what’s evolved is coming to see that drawing from my own experiences is...”
– Tara Sophia Mohr, in an interview on The Goddess Diaries
March 2012
7 posts
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poetry book giveaway (kicking off national poetry...
Tomorrow marks the start of National Poetry Month! One of the ways I’m taking action this year is through Kelli Russell Agodon’s Big Poetry Giveaway.
This is a great way to get to know poet-bloggers while circulating poetry books. Each blogger selects two books to give away. Visitors (like you) have the month of April to comment on the giveaway post (like this one) and enter. In...
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"If u don't feel it check out quantum physics"
I’ve been thinking about oneness even more than usual lately, so this sidewalk art was a happy surprise as I walked up to Martha’s Vineyard tonight. I especially love the encouragement to check out quantum physics acting like a qualifier: “Hey, this isn’t all warm fuzzies/group hug/sing around a campfire oneness — this stuff is for real!” (And that is totally...
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“I think it’s very healthy to spend time alone. You need to know how to be alone...”
– Oscar Wilde (via outcamethesun)
I love this thought, even though I’m still working on the “not be defined by another person” part (for me it would be better reworded as “not be approved of by another person”). It also reminds me that in a matter of months I’ll...
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the making of an ekphrastic poem
I’m excited to share that I’m one of 10 poets who will read as part of Poetry on Demand at the Grand Rapids Art Museum on April 6. I’m participating in part because I didn’t take enough time to talk myself out of it — I’ve wanted a challenge to put myself out there more with my poetry, and this opportunity fits in many ways.
The event itself is unique and...
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generational generalizing and other matters of...
I’m lucky to be part of a small group of brilliant women who found each other organically and now regularly theorize about the state of everything over email and sometimes sushi. Yesterday political and leadership mastermind Shannon, a GenXer, sent a link to the this article: 5 ways young professionals want to be led. She asked the millennials among us whether this is on point, and...
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“When I first started writing poems seriously, I remember longing for that kind...”
– Tracy K. Smith, on Getting to that Untamed, Untrained Place to Write.
There is so much I love about this essay and so much I needed in it.
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“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I...”
– Rumi (via heyamberrae)
February 2012
8 posts
5 tags
today i met quantum poetics
This post on the Poetry Foundation’s Harriet blog on quantum poetics has me all riled up (in the best way), and rattling off about it to Carl wasn’t enough, so here I am.
I’ve had a keen sense lately that the different “minds” — scientific, analytic, energetic, poetic, spiritual — are on paths toward each other. And not in the usual “holistic...
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vintage emily: fun with the wayback machine
Inspired by my friend Ashima’s recent finds on the Wayback Machine, I searched for one of the first websites I built. It was 1996 or 1997. I was 12 and obsessed with online zines and AOL message boards. I had created my own zine, which focused on advice for and by kids. It was called Problems & Solutions (so creative), and it was the very vanilla precursor to my edgier zine in high...
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Just backed > MATTER — Kickstarter →
I just backed this project on Kickstarter… love the new ideas/efforts popping up to address the need for more in-depth, critical thinking in online publishing. (Just hope the team behind Matter is more diverse than what the video suggests…)
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“Physicists are changing how we think of empty space, i.e. a vacuum, to explain...”
– How the Universe Came from Nothing | IdeaFeed | Big Think
Carl and I were just pondering this last night. I was trying to make sense of how there can be galaxies that give the appearance (to our human eyes) of being contained and having edges, yet that confinedness might also suggest that there is...
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confession tuesday: i know the secret to inbox...
I confess that I really do know the secret (for me). And it’s decidedly simple:
1. Sign up for the most well-designed to do list ever: Teux Deux. Get the iPhone app while you’re at it.
2. Marvel at the beauty of dragging and dropping your to do list items and prioritizing your life with a swipe of your precious little fingertip.
3. Discover that you keep most emails in your inbox...
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confession tuesday: travel and birthdays and...
Hello Tuesday. It’s been awhile since I’ve stopped by to confess all my deepest, darkest secrets. So let’s get to it —
On travel
Paris and Rome were something special. I saw a nun flash mob in front of Notre Dame. I’m still riding the happy wave from that. I confess that I have a deep admiration for nuns. There was a time I was discerning whether that was the path...
January 2012
10 posts
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WatchOur second day in Paris, and not likely to be topped. We were visiting Notre Dame, which had been converged upon by hundreds of nuns of all orders, backgrounds, and ages. It was a bubbly and happy crowd. I have a soft spot for nuns, so I was already in my people-watching glory being surrounded by them.
As we got closer to the entrance of the cathedral, music began playing… and it only took...
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away we go
We are a few hours into our journey to Paris and Rome, hanging out at the Minneapolis airport before our flight leaves. I have decided the Delta Sky Lounge is today’s closest equivalent to Ten Forward, with a bar and furniture that attempts to be hip-modern and everything, but unfortunately no Guinan. I wouldn’t mind hanging out with her all day. (Look it up, kids.)
So far my biggest...
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“Perhaps the ‘I don’t have time to read’ line is just a cover. A way...”
– In the Land of the Non-Reader « The Bygone Bureau
I’ve been reading much more lately and wondering about this excuse as well. Elsewhere in this post, the writer talks about reading in terms of empathy and new ideas. The irony for me has been that the more I read, the less alone I feel....
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“Just as companies create pop-up stores during the holidays or during certain...”
– Pop-Up Human Capital: A New Employment Model? | Endless Innovation | Big Think
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I confess that I wish every Tuesday could begin with breakfast with my best friends and end with a pedicure with my sister-in-law, with pizza and wine with the hubby as the epilogue. Tuesday is not typically so much fun (especially considering that I actually worked, too). And so rarely does it end with my toes sporting a happy pink-red shade, this one in particular called California Raspberry....
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this is how nerds say i love you
Seriously. I love this guy SO MUCH.
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so... i'm going to paris. and rome. in 15 days.
A few days into the year, I decided my mantra for 2012 would be: Honor what’s essential. Do what energizes.
It’s not a resolution. It’s an intention. And it’s already making this year feel like a time of magic. I’m not a huge fan of the word magic — it seems a little too sentimental even for me — but I feel like I discredit the energy that’s taking...
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“Any business that ignores these transformations does so at its own peril....”
– This Is Generation Flux: Meet The Pioneers Of The New (And Chaotic) Frontier Of Business | Fast Company
So many things I could quote from this article. A very good read. (Except for the introduction of yet another generational term… the whole “generation this” and...
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“Living Social is likely the fastest growing technology business in Washington,...”
– Information Diet | Why Hungry Academy Matters
This is brilliant. And another sign that higher education is not only overpriced, but increasingly out of touch. Rack up student loan debt for a degree that may not even teach you the real world of programming, or earn a living while learning from...
“I don’t like this expression ‘First World problems.’ It is false and it is...”
– Nigerian author and artist Teju Cole (via xkimberlyx)
BOOM
YOU JUST GOT KNOWLEDGE’D
(via noitemsfoxonlyfinaldestination)
December 2011
15 posts
wonderonawhim asked: I love you. The end. Lets write beautiful poetry together for the rest of our lives.
“A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a...”
– Dylan Thomas (via aquaticuss)
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convincing my mom to get a cell phone: the...
No better way to end the day than with a text fest with my mom. Always a good time. Tonight we made up Polish words (the trick is adding “iewski” or “wskievc” or other jumbles of consonants to words whenever possible). I recently had the opportunity to teach her what “wtf” means. And you can always be sure you’ll get at least three texts that include...
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confession tuesday: thoughts on christmas,...
I confess that I had written a different confession. But then I began to prepare it for this blog and realized it was too heavy and too squared at the edges. So I started over.
I confess that Christmas is a big deal in my family. Much of Stoddard family lore is rooted in Christmas traditions. For instance, ever since my grandparents were newlyweds, the family has gone to a tree farm and cut down...
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The Kernel →
Well this looks intriguing — The Kernel is an online mag recently launched with the angle of “new technology for enquiring minds.” I’m in. A couple posts of interest: We Don’t Need No Education and Wanderers in the Fog.
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“The bottom line is that aside from its obvious physical benefits, yoga is great...”
– Penetrating Postures, Part II: The Psychology of Yoga - Forbes
And this is why I am eagerly awaiting my 4 pm yoga class today, in the wake of a week that has felt like a runaway train.
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“In the midst of this frenzy for innovation, we may be ignoring a simple...”
– Jessica Stillman, Do You Secretly Fear Creativity? (via incmagazine)
This reminds me of many organizations I’ve seen that purposefully design their space in an open, organic fashion because they supposedly value collaboration and the energy of diverse ideas colliding… when in practice...
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dear tuesday
Today I confess that I think it is silly that this whole “be honest on Tuesday” thing is called “true confession Tuesday” when “Truthful Tuesday” is a much nicer alliteration.
I confess that I missed last week’s confession. I was busy with new and interesting things, like my new nephew and becoming an aunt and discovering what babies look like when they...
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“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it....”
– Howard Thurman | The values-driven startup (via courtenaybird)
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I am missing Carl to the point of distraction. All I’ve had to eat today is one piece of pizza, and I can’t imagine what might be worth eating for dinner. Apparently I’m like a dog who starves herself when she loses her mate. And in this case the loss is three days to San Francisco. Three stupid days. Love is ridiculous, people.
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Social or Cultural Entrepreneurship: An Argument... →
As social entrepreneurship has come of age as a field, it’s become more and more apparent to us that a new distinction must be made between innovations that focus on changing markets and systems and those that change hearts and minds.
I am digging this distinction — I’ve always struggled with the fact that social entrepreneurship *should* speak to and encompass the work we do at...