Update: November 2007
The glowing bliss of a new relationship has taught me why some of our most famous writers have such tragic stories...It’s hard to write happy. One time I was sitting with a group of poetry writers and I asked if any of them “wrote happy.” Every single one sort of sheepishly shook their head. It seems those of us who pretend to be writers like to wallow and churn in our misery. When we are happy, we are too busy enjoying it to write. So I’ve spent part of this year’s hiatus learning to write happy.
In any case, here’s what’s new. There’s a new poem in the poetry section called Delusion. This was inspired by many of the events that have happened over the last year. Some have been tragic reminders of how we must appreciate the present. I also have two new projects. One is a new blog based on my renewed Zen practice. You can find one of the more recent posts in the essay section of this site, entitled Who Am I? or you can visit Zen Student Reflections. The other project was inspired by a file folder with hundreds of jokes and funny items my friends have emailed me over the years. There is no writing whatsoever of mine...just a collection of some hilarious stuff, this site is called Inbox Jokes. As always, I’d love to hear your feedback. Enjoy!
Update: April 2006
Well, April is winding down. Wasn’t New Years just a couple of weeks ago? Well, it’s crunch time at my day job. As some of you know I work at a school that’s been open for three years, and this June we will have our first graduating class. So we’re very excited and at the same time stressed out. I thought it was the students that were supposed to be stressed out? In any case, work keeps attempting to take up more and more time, but through it all I’ve managed to make progress on some of my resolutions for the year.
My first goal was to publish my book on personal finance for teens. While the publishing part is probably still a way out, I have managed to finish the manuscript. It’s done! Not only is it finished but a couple of weeks ago I sent it to a literary agent that has seen it before and asked to resend it once I finished and implemented some changes she proposed, so, I’ll keep you updated on that front.
My second resolution was to keep up this website. Although I haven’t written as much as I’d like, I’ve at least been consistent with an essay and a couple of poems each month. Now that Three Bucket Money Management is done, (that’s the working title of the manuscript I finished), I’m ready to work more at fiction, so look forward to some new short stories and I can get back to the novel I started a few months ago.
So what’s new in April? A couple of new poems: Starry Night. This poem came to me while driving at night a few weeks ago. after playing with it a bit I finally got it to where I was comfortable sharing it. This one comes with a parental advisory sticker for strong language. The second poem is called The Canvas: I love impressionist paintings where the technique is to show the “impression” of the subject and not necessarily a realistic rendition of it. In any case, I think this piece is one of my most optimistic pieces. And finally a new personal essay titled Love sucks…but what’s the alternative? That one speaks for itself
By the way, although I didn’t do a Literary Website entry this month, I wanted to remind you that, in the US, April is National Poetry month. The Academy of American Poets has a great website to celebrate this and you can even sign up to get a poem-a-day in your mailbox. Check it out.
Thanks again for taking the time to visit and read my stuff. I am forever grateful.
Roberto
Technorati Tags: essay, life, poetry, publishing, writing
Update: March 2006
Hi Everybody:
Well, March is coming to an end and Spring is here. Pretty soon we'll be changing our clocks again and losing that hour we got back in October. With Spring comes a sense of renewal for some, the sense that life is all around us. And for those of us in the education field...Spring Break. All I can say is...not a moment too soon.
So what's new this month? First up we have a couple of new poems. They are about drastically different subjects although they do have a common denominator. One poem is called My grandmother’s hands. During my childhood, my grandparents were a huge part of my life and they made a huge impact on me, yet it is only today that I realize how strong the impact was. The other poem is called Today. This one came to me all at once. I think the editing was limited to some minor things, that's pretty rare for me.
The essay this month departs from my usual topics and I delve into my grad student days. The essay is titled National Security? It was prompted by the recent push by the Bush administration to put the best face possible on the situation in Iraq. As a teacher of American Government to high school students I tend to present both sides of an issue, my role there is to get my students to think for themselves not give them my thoughts. It was nice to leave those constraints and put down on "paper" my thoughts the current situation. Expect more political essays in the future
The Literary Website focuses on one of my favorite American authors: John Steinbeck, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature for 1962. For this one all you have to do is scroll down a bit. I hope you enjoy it. Finally, you'll notice on the sidebar a section called "Blogroll." Here I've put links to some of my favorite blogs. I've started with a very cool blog by a young woman that works extensively with marine life, especially Orcas. Check her blog out.
Enjoy,
Roberto
Technorati Tags: essay, poetry, writing
Literary Website: John Steinbeck
Literary Website: John Steinbeck
Last month I highlighted one of my favorite Latin American poets, Pablo Neruda. This month I decided to focus on another Nobel Laureate, one of my favorite American authors, John Steinbeck. What got me back to Steinbeck the last few weeks is that I’ve been reading quite a bit on issues of globalization and the plight of workers. This reading, coupled with my fascination of the human dynamics in all types of relationship, led me to pick up The Grapes of Wrath. By the time I was done with the first chapter I remembered why I liked Steinbeck so much. Aside from the social message of his novels, few writers have the ability to put you as a reader in the setting where the action takes place. By the end of the first chapter you feel like coughing from all the dust.
It’s been years since I read Of Mice and Men and even longer since I read Tortilla Flat; both of which I plan to revisit soon. Meanwhile, if you want either a refresher on Steinbeck, or to familiarize yourself with him, here are a few websites that might help:
The National Steinbeck Center
A brief biography of Steinbeck written around the time he received his Nobel Prize for literature.
For a more extensive biography and review of his works try this entry in Wikipedia.
A rundown of characters and summary of plots of some of his major novels
Technorati Tags: literature, author, Steinbeck, writing
Update: February 2006
Hello friends,
Here we are, another month speeding by. Can you believe March is already here? Unfortunately my day job has been keeping me pretty busy. As many of you know I teach a couple of AP courses and we are getting down to crunch time. So for the last few weeks writing as a whole has not been a priority. I do have a couple of new items though.
This month I remembered to do a Literary website piece. This time I’ve highlighted one of my favorite poets, Pablo Neruda. I would be a complete idiot if I didn’t thank the man that introduced me to Neruda back in college, Dr. Marambio, of the University of San Diego. I took a few courses from him and learned a great deal of Latin American Literature. (He might disagree about the learning part.) In that piece you’ll find links to Neruda’s poetry both in the original Spanish and translations into English. I hope you take the time to take a look at it.
I’ve always said that when inspiration strikes, I never know where it’s coming from or where its going to lead me. For me, most of the time the muse comes and it speaks to me in English. This month was a bit different, maybe it was all that Neruda I was looking at, but the new poem this month is called Recuerdos, and it is one of my very few Spanish pieces. Since most of you who are victims of my monthly updates aren’t Spanish speakers, I’ve included an English translation. But I have to tell you, the Spanish sounds better to my ear.
A third item this month is an essay titled The Power of Belief. It’s been a couple of months since I wrote one. Actually, this one has been brewing in my head since January, but I finally got it finished. It deals with beliefs and how our beliefs influence our lives most of the time without us even knowing. I would really enjoy any feedback you might have on this piece. I tried to keep it to a manageable size, but I could have written much more. Perhaps I’ll revisit the topic in the future.
Just in terms of an update, Three Bucket Money Management is moving along. I just got the edits for Chapter 7 from my friend and trusted reader/editor and overall encourager, Jaime Jeffries. Chapter 8 is about half written. The whole thing was supposed to be done by the end of this month, I’m now a couple of weeks off, but it’s not too bad. I look forward to sharing some excerpts with you once I know if this is going to be published in the traditional way or if it will end up being a self-published book.
Finally, I’m happy to announce that I have found a permanent home for my blog. The new address is very simple http://roberto-rodriguez.com. I know, its a bit egocentric but what the heck. Blogger.com is a great free service and I would highly recommend it to anybody that wants to keep a blog. Yet, having my own domain gives me the freedom to post what I want….Nah…it’s all about the ego and the cool factor. For now though, some of the links are still pointing to the blogger website, which is still up, at least until I can get all the links to work properly.
Enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think.
Roberto
Technorati Tags: essay, life, poem, poetry, writing
Update: January 2006
Hello again and Happy New Year!
Well, here we are, one month into the new year. According to most polls, this is about the time that most people abandon their New Year’s resolutions. My goals for this year are simple yet challenging and I’m determined to make them a reality. The first is to finally publish my book on personal finance Three Bucket Money Management. As a matter of fact, the weeks since the last update have been all about finishing up this manuscript. It’s been very productive as far as that goes. I’m hoping to be completely done with the manuscript, including re-writes and edits by the end of February. Then it’s a matter of finding an agent interested in representing the book and selling it to publishers. Wish me luck.
The second writing goal is to finish my first novel. To be honest it has taken a backseat to Three Bucket Money Management these last few weeks. But as soon as the manuscript is done, the novel moves into first place on my list. Along with this goal comes improving my writing. So I have a few writing classes coming up.
Unfortunately, all this work on the manuscript means that there aren’t very many new items on my blog. So what’s new this month? There are three poems that have been up since the last update. Cry for joy, a piece inspired on a trip I took to Santa Barbara right before Christmas. I came upon some street musicians and a little boy dancing his heart out. It made me think of how complicated life gets as we grow older. The two newest poems are The Fortress and The Final Words. I hope you enjoy them.
By the way, don’t be shy, if you visit the blog, click on comments and leave your thoughts.
I deeply appreciate your support,
Technorati Tags: poem, writing
Update: December 2005
Hello friends,
It’s been scarcely three weeks since I sent you an update, but with the holidays nipping at our ankles like a rabid Chihuahua, I thought I would send it a bit early this month. I really haven’t added that much since last month, I’ve spent a lot of the last few weeks grading papers and trying to finish up the semester for my students. Yet, I did manage to add a couple of items.
There is only one new poem this month, Pain Affirming Life. It’s a short poem that came about around the time of my birthday. With that fateful day being in December I sort of get ambushed by the trio of the impending end of the calendar year, the end of a semester at work, and the end of another year of life. Endings usually make me reflect, needless to say, I was in a reflective mood a couple of weeks ago when the muse struck.
A new addition to the Writing Life blog is a short story page. Between grading essays on the US involvement on World War I and preparing final exams, I found time and inspiration to write Hello won’t kill you. It’s my first attempt at short fiction. Please read it and let me know what you think.
I was pretty excited about writing the short story, and was even more pumped when I found a new friend on the internet. We met while admiring each other’s poetry on Myspace.com. Jaime Jeffries is an outstanding poet and writer. I urge you to take a look at Jaime's blog, she writes with a depth of emotion and honesty that I admire. She’s never met me, yet she took the time to act as editor and help me put the story in readable form. I told her that so long as she’s willing, she’s my official editor. Her help was invaluable and any shortcomings that remain are all mine.
Remember, I always appreciate comments, so don’t hesitate to tell me what you like or what you don’t like. Just click on “comments” at the bottom of every item on the blog. I've added a few of the comments I've received at The Poets Workshop, perhaps you might be inspired to leave a few comments yourselves. So, take a break from holiday shopping and bring a cup of coffee and read a bit.
Enjoy the holidays...stay sane.
Technorati Tags: age, friendship, love, poem, writing
Update: November 2005
Hello everybody,
As I mentioned last time I’m shooting for a monthly update and here it is. The holidays are upon and I know everybody’s busy. So I’ll hit the highlights. As many of you know last month I sort of widened the “audience” if you will. Even some of my closest friends had no clue that I was writing something other than a money management book or high school lesson plans. The response has been very encouraging from many of you and I truly appreciate that. I did have to field my share of emails from friends asking if I was all right. I guess some of the poetry was a little “heavy” on the sad and melancholy. All I can say to that is, when that’s what the muse gives you…you just have to go with it.
So, in order to show that I do have a fun side, I wrote a little ode to my Morning Cup of Joe. I played with it a bit and although most of my poetry doesn’t rhyme much, this one is my own little ode to Dr. Seuss. Believe me, I fall way short of the good Doctor, but if you put your tongue firmly in cheek, I think you’ll find it funny. The other two new poems, go back to my usual M.O. One poem, The lonely girl was inspired by this student I happen to see almost every day that I walk to my classroom. The other is called Walk Away. I’ll let that one speak for itself. The only curious thing about this one is that it sat in the depths of my laptop for 6 months under a different title. When I rediscovered it, it took 10 minutes to rework and finish it. The muse spoke loudly.
The essay this month, In this season of happiness and joy, is all about happiness…well, not really…more the lack of it and our constant search for it. But I think in it’s own way it’s an affirmation of the human condition. Either that or it’s just me venting on the downside from caffeine high.
One last thing, if you want to expose your kids to poetry, why not make it fun. Check out my Literary website of the month on the main page of the blog. Just scroll down a bit. Or just point your browser to Giggle Poetry. Oh, and if you don’t have kids, check it out anyway; you’ll be smiling in no time.
See? I’m not a downer. I just write that way. ☺
Technorati Tags: determination, friendship, love, poetry, writing
Recent Posts...
Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog. Up to now I've been "updating" in a very uneven way. This is the first of what I hope to be at least a monthly update on my writing. October turned out to be one of those months; a lot of emotional stuff has come up for me which has prompted quite a bit of writing. This month I have a couple of new poems and two new essays. Also I'm updating a newly created weight loss journal. I've been trying to become more disciplined about writing and am hoping to publish more regularly here.
Most of the time when I write poetry it comes from my own experience, my own reaction to whatever is happening in my life. Yet last month for the first time I wrote some poems based mostly on the experience of others: Emptiness is all that's left and Anxiety. This month's new poems are Loneliness and The Whole of Me.
I mentioned my weight loss journal earlier and if you read the personal essay Introspection, you'll see why losing weight has become so important to me. The newest essay, A busted window, was inspired by someone breaking into my car. Believe me, when I was writing, I was surprised by what came out. By and large personal essays are difficult for me to write and share but it's been interesting writing both of these. The outcome was much different from what I planned when I started.
The novel is coming along but it will be a long process. The first draft has been all about just laying out the story and the characters...subsequent drafts is where the real creativity happens. At least that's what I'm hoping.
Three Bucket Money Management is the long standing project that I've been working on. I've been stuck trying to make some changes that were suggested to me by a potential agent. I think I've been working on this for so long that I'm beginning to hate it. I was warned that this might happen. I guess I have to work through it. But a good friend made some suggestions that might get me unstuck and give the agent at least some of what she wants to see. I'm hoping to be done with that manuscript by year's end.
Drop me a note, leave a comment. Tell me what you think.
Roberto
The Poet Laureate
The main reason I started this blog was to share my writing. And part of my writing is my reading and authors that inspire me or that I aspire to. So, I've decided to share a bit here. I had never heard of Ted Kooser before. But as I was driving home from work on Friday I heard an interview with him on NPR's All Things Considered. Who is Ted Kooser you might ask? Well, he's the current Poet Laureate of the United States.
The Poet Laureate is appointed by the United States Library of Congress. I found information on the position on Wikipedia. The library of Congress has a fantastic website highlighting poetry in general and Kooser in particular. You can access this information on The Library of Congress Poetry Home page.
Take a listen to theKooser interview and read a few of his poems. There are links to more information on him there. I like him because his poetry is simple, direct yet heartfelt and sometimes funny. Check it out.
Technorati Tags: poem, poetry, Poet Laureate, writing
