Road Trip #9

Well, Everyone and Anyone. . . I have decided to ask of you some suggestions. Tomorrow I fly to Michigan. After I visit MI I will be road trippin it back on down to Fla. Any place you think I should stop?

I will have four days from now to map out my trip from MI. I plan to take mostly back roads in the hope of finding some black-water, off-the-beaten-path type of places. I have discovered some interesting options: a deserted limestone pyramid from the 50’s, (1950’s that is) an enormously scary statue (statue is an understatement) of a Jesus Christ in one town and a Mother Mary in another town. If that’s not enough. . . I could visit : Santa Claus or even better: Utopia!

There has to be something more interesting than this! Is this really America?

0 – COMMENTS . . . How this haunts writers and bloggers.

I am very new to the whole “blogging world.” I basically started blogging to help with my incentive to write. So far it has been . . . well, . . . fun. I am writing a bit more, verses not at all. Besides writing, one of the draws of blogging for me (as an aspiring writer) is feedback.

Criticism! Ah! Criticism!

Now, one thing I have realized is: I must invariably visit other sites and comment on other blogs, in order to receive traffic on my blog. That is all well and good with me, I believe in the concept. But, one thing gets to me a bit. I go to so many blogs and see at the end of a post : 0 comments. How depressing (!)

I try my (darndest) best to comment on everything I read. With this particular blog I use, I can track my “stats” and see how many people have actually stopped by and (maybe) read my posts. These numbers do not usually coincide with the amount of comments I receive. What this means I can only guess. Perhaps the people don’t like what I have to say. Perhaps they love it. But, GOD DAMN IT, cut out the suspense and reveal!

The only point really is this: People tend to spend a lot of time and effort on their Blogs. The least we can do is say: “Hey! I read it and I. . .blah blah blah.” Now, do keep in mind most individuals like positive feedback. So, if you can, give some positive reinforcement. I don’t see a ton of negative feedback . . . which is awesome! We bloggers for the most part are polite! But, after all, this is a writer’s blog, and I want some CRITICISM . . . good or bad.

Come on, my skin is not that thin!

Poetry is Dea…….well, almost dead.

A few days ago I was out with a few friends having lunch. Somehow poetry came up and my boyfriend offered up my (perhaps rather sombre) opinion that poetry is dying as an art form. One of my more gregarious friends ironically posed the question: what book did you read that in?

Sorry, I did not read it in any book and I have no hard proof to back up my opinion. After all, new books of poetry come out every year. Someone must be reading them, right?

I don’t know. . . I look at my bookshelves and it depresses me. I have loads of poetry books and even I rarely take one off the shelf to read. Well, today I did. It happened to be Marianne Moore. You know. . .the woman that was madly in love with Thomas Stearns Eliot. Here is a little gem from her:

POETRY

I, too, dislike it.

Reading it, however, with a perfect contempt for it, one dis-

covers in

it, after all, a place for the genuine.

-M.M.

Well, I’d love to know what all you think out there about the state of poetry. In reality I’m more optimistic than I let on. . .something cheesy even, like: I know poetry is alive, it is in each and every one of us. Anyway. . . pass the word . . .respond with a poem. . .any poem.