52

Today, my birthday started the day off with French toast made for me by J and sitting down to write some poems to catch up on NaPoWriMo hi-jinks I have fallen behind on.  We don't really have plans for the day since J has three gigs today stretching from early afternoon til 2 or 3 am. So I am on my own, and will probably work on editing things, tidy up the bedroom, and watch something trashy later. We've been doing our celebrating other nights this week with downtown musicals and plentiful diner outings. Last night, we saw a couple of good movies, Mother Mary and Over My Dead Body, both of which were great in their own ways. We had dinner at the bowling alley/arcade downstairs, which always reminds me of Chuck E. Cheeses, even though we never get a chance to play (usually we are just grabbing a quick bite between movies.) It's been a lively week and we are still planning for J to make me dinner and procure birthday cake (though more likely it will be pie--specifically lemon supreme) tomorrow.

I also spent some time earlier with the text script of 12 ophelias that arrived yesterday, the play we saw a couple weeks back that re-imagines and interprets Ophelia's story post-death.  It's style was something I am aiming for with the Macbeth witches project I've been plotting to work on in May. My other inspiration is the script for the drowning girls. In the past, I've written a few choral, multi-voiced poems, so this project is working in that vein as a stage production. It will probably be pretty different from the other drama things I've been working on since the end of last year. 

In the end 51 was a wild year. Depressing on a global scene, and dysfunctional even on a level that my previous half-century had not seen. Yet, on a personal level, things feel good, though ever precarious financially (but then again, while things are more expensive, I have never quite been flush there even when they were cheaper.)  I probably wrote over a hundred poems, edited dozens of chapbooks, made many collages and cover designs. I published three physical books (one a regular full-length collection, one a text/visual hybrid, and another special-edition hardcover w/ fauxtographs for Patreon. ) There were also a handful of e-zine editions. A smattering of video poems. The three short plays and the better part of a prose-ish thing that is THE BONE PALACE. Meanwhile, outside of creative work,  there have been countless movies, many plays and musicals, occasional weekends away, and of course, the wedding last summer, which was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. 

Here's to 52 being more of the same in all the good things and a lessening of the bad things.  As someone who is not religious, I've been contemplating the nature of evil more than ever these days. Not in a spiritual sense, but in a practical sense. What I used to look at as human frailty and self-interest, now has me questioning if it goes far beyond that. If the past year has taught us anything its that there is a difference between being selfish and being harmful just to cause harm. You would think that in five long decades on this planet, I would have thought about this before, but there were many less examples. Or at least lesser numbers of those perpetrating it.   

As for plans, I will be starting work on the Macbeth play project, as well as the next Greek-inspired book project I'll be working on over the summer. I also have some Patreon-specific treats like a print version of THE MIDNIGHT GARDEN in the fall. There are also some fun shop offerings coming in the next couple months..journals and tote bags, oh, my... 

 

 

 

 

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