this is a thing: typewriter poems

This weekend was the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets Spring Conference. This year it took place in Milwaukee. Our organizer Ed Werstein did an excellent job of introducing the group to the Milwaukee poetry scene, which is exciting and diverse and vibrant.

During Friday evening's reception and Saturday's activities Subtle Forces duo Anja Notanja and Freesia McKee wrote custom poems on old-fashioned typewriters.

Typewriter poems are a thing. The duo and their typewriters have typed for frillions of real customers from the streets of Milwaukee to New Orleans.

Here are two examples:

I requested this poem for my husband Doug who celebrated his birthday this week. The poets have a "form" you complete that asks for your general info in addition to who you want to send the poem to. What kind of poem you'd like. (The choices are Love Letter, Poem, Insult Letter, Letter of Recommendation, Short Story, Letter from a Pet or Other.) You can add other info as desired, including the price you'd like to pay. You can even add a doodle for an extra charge.

La Prosette | Interpreted by Freesia McKee | Milwaukee, 2017

Here's another example from my table-mate at the conference.He asked for a "100 Days" poem.

La Prosette | Interpreted by Anja Notanja Sieger | Milwaukee, 2017

A fun experience. Freesia and Anja clacked away, infecting the conference with creativity! Later they both gave inspired readings as well!

reading sexing the cherry

A book of high imagination and multiple storylines: mother, son, explorer, advocate, murderer. A book of philosophy, humanizing, questions. An expanded allegory maintained with touchstone images. A mother yearning for her son. Her son escaping to the high seas. Not escaping exactly. Called. What he discovers about himself, the world. The brutal mother, oversized, raising her dogs. rescuing the downtrodden. Language like a daydream. "Sexing the cherry" refers to the grafting of plants, combining separate plant parts to create a new, stronger speciman

ARTiculate: passages

The Bay View Arts Guild recently hosted an invitational art + words exhibit at Gallerie M in the Intercontinental on Kilbourne in Milwaukee. I was lucky enough to get in with a collaborative piece Candere. It was a wonderful experience. The organizer Anita Burgermeister talented and organized and inclusive. The opening night was classy and well-attended with time for poets to read. All capped off with a lovely artist and poet brunch at Kil@wat.

al fresco, green bay

We live in Green Bay, a city known far and wide as the "Frozen Tundra." Which means summer is a precious period of time that might start in April or June, depending. Which also means we can be somewhat manic for sunshine, not wanting to go indoors. Ever. We play outdoors. We sleep outdoors. And we especially like to eat outdoors. 

Yet it never fails that when a group of us are looking for a patio or deck to kick back and enjoy the beautiful weather (and maybe an adult beverage or two), we can never think of a place to go. My also-interested co-workers and I decided to fix that, compiling all the restaurants we could think of that offered outdoor seating.

Below, fellow hibernators, is a list of restaurants in the Green Bay area where you can enjoy an appetizer, meal, drink or dessert under the sun or a table umbrella.

Al Fresco, Green Bay!

If anybody knows of others, please provide as a comment, and I'll add to the list. Enjoy!

good TV

I have been involved in media sales for over 20 years. Most of my career was spent in the regimented world of broadcast TV at local affiliate network stations -- NBC, CBS & FOX. The last two years in cable TV. The thing I especially like about cable TV is there is literally a network or program for every audience segment no matter how small, how niche, how odd. Plus, since Netflix changed the game with the production of original programming, more and more networks are following in their footsteps. I get a great kick out of scanning the weekly "Programming Highlights" to learn about new shows and read the synopses.

Which is how I came to discover The Story of God with Morgan Freeman. I have watched three episodes so far On Demand. Each week is focused on a question, and the show is very careful to consider perspective from all the major religions. Around-the-world experts have also been very balanced male and female. The production quality is stellar, and Morgan does an exemplary job of being the "seeker" in us all. He's not only interested and curious but also open and humble.

The Story of God with Morgan Freeman is "good TV." A good use of the medium. A good use of celebrity. Every week I feel more informed, more enriched and more humanitarian. And, if I'm honest, a little more in agape love with Morgan Freeman.

Link to trailer.

“The story of God is one of the greatest mysteries and most important ideas in the world,” said Freeman. “For me, this is a personal and enduring quest to understand the divine, and I am humbled by the opportunity to take viewers along on this incredible journey.”
— Morgan Freeman, VARIETY

ramble replenish revel - madison

I was in Madison last Friday for a poetry event. Since I was there, and the morning dawned bright and brisk, I thought I would get out and enjoy nature, taking my walk to a new locale. Once I walked I got hungry. While eating I discovered in my email inbox a poet I wanted to spend more time with. These three things combined in my mind as the perfect way to experience a city.

ramble. replenish. revel.

ramble.
My ramble took me to UW-Madison's Arboretum, a diverse eco-system, lush with spring. An hour passed easily as I hiked through forest and wetlands and prairie lands. Birds chirped. Trees creaked. And I was able to learn a little more about the space with descriptive signposts. Armed with a map from the Visitor Center I only got a little lost and was able to orient myself with numbered markers, eventually winding my way back to the car.

“The Arboretum is a unique piece of public land. It is not a park, and it is much more than a traditional arboretum with labeled trees and shrubs. Twelve hundred acres of the Arboretum — containing restored and remnant prairies, savannas, wetlands and woods — are what truly set it apart. These ecological communities are works in progress, representing years of intensive research, thoughtful land management strategies and untold hours of labor by Arboretum staff and volunteers.”
— ABORETUM, Spring 2016 Newsletter

replenish.
Afterwards, since I'm a coffee person, I searched for a coffee shop that served fresh and local food. I found a great one with lots of personality at the Chocolaterian Cafe. I heartily agree with their tagline: Everyday. Chocolate. In fact they were featuring a chocolate bar that paired two of my favorite ingredients -- dark chocolate and figs. Even before I ordered I snagged the last one.

The food was hearty and full of flavor. I enjoyed a cup of their featured soup African Peanut and Curried Chicken Salad. I lingered over a cup of cafe au lait, parsing out to myself one section of chocolate bar. Around me other patrons read in cozy chairs or tapped on laptops or visited with each other. Art was displayed on the long wall that connected the front and back of the restaurant. Truly a pleasure to the senses!

revel.
I had heard of H.D. or Hilda Doolittle before, but on this morning of mornings her poem from Sea Grass struck just the right tone, so I downloaded the whole collection and perused it with my cafe au lait. It's in the public domain so free on Kindle. She was a contemporary of Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams and a leader in the Imagist Movement.

“Clarity of expression through the use of precise visual images.”
— Imagism

Mid-Day
The light beats upon me.
I am startled—
a split leaf crackles on the paved floor—
I am anguished—defeated.

A slight wind shakes the seed-pods—
my thoughts are spent
as the black seeds.
My thoughts tear me,
I dread their fever.
I am scattered in its whirl.
I am scattered like
the hot shrivelled seeds.

The shrivelled seeds
are spilt on the path—
the grass bends with dust,
the grape slips
under its crackled leaf:
yet far beyond the spent seed-pods,
and the blackened stalks of mint,
the poplar is bright on the hill,
the poplar spreads out,
deep-rooted among trees.

O poplar, you are great
among the hill-stones,
while I perish on the path
among the crevices of the rocks.

-- H.D. 
from Sea Grass

rocket baby bakery

I am very partial to coffee shops. The earthy, peaty smell. The bustle. The unlikely cook stepping out from the kitchen to encourage you to try something new and unpredictable. Just the early morning promise of it all. 

There is a great one around the corner from my son's place in Wauwatosa. Rocket Baby Bakery. (It's a great name, too.)

It's a short walk through an Old World neighborhood in Milwaukee. The people who work there are friendly and quick, with genuine smiles that actually light up their eyes. It's a happy, welcoming place.

I love sitting at one of their cute tables, overlooking the street scene, cupping my mug of hot, steaming coffee, swirling with cream. It's the best way to start the day. And if I'm really feeling indulgent I'll have one of their savory scones. Perfectly crunchy on the outside, soft and melt-in-your-mouth goodness on the inside, rich with goat cheese, walnuts and scallions. Surprisingly sweet. Yum.

 Rocket Baby Bakery
6822 West North Avenue, Wauwatosa, WI 53213