Chicago Printers Ball 2009 Wrap-up

Finally getting out news about the 2009 Printers Ball in Chicago a week late, but wanted to include a fun photograph of Audrey Niffenegger, author of "The Time Traveler's Wife." She appears in resplendent red hat, next to yours truly. In addition to being a bestselling author with a feature film based on her book, she is also a professor in the Interdisciplinary Book Arts MFA Program at the Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts, where the Printers Ball was held this year.

The Printers Ball is an annual event sponsored by the Poetry Foundation and Poetry Magazine. Poetry readings on two floors, ubiquitous small press periodical giveaways, free food and drinks, interviews, performances, and general literary mayhem takes place midsummer in Chicago. You don't need to get dressed up to attend, but its fun when you do. I wore a tiered chiffon periwinkle tank top and eggplant linen full-length skirt above bronze metallic gladiator sandals. Beaded earrings in multi shades of purple and lilac accessorized the outfit. I didn't bring an evening bag. Like Niffenegger, I toted my trusty workhorse shoulder bag which I stuffed with temporary tatoos, buttons with sayings and other silly stuff from the fair.

Many will remember the 2007 Printers Ball held at a vast venue on 35th Street. It was busted just before midnight for entertainment license issues. Did dozens of police officers with their arms crossed need to show up to usher out a bunch of poets weighted down, with neither drugs nor firearms, but stacks of poetry books? At first the Poetry Foundation didn't want to talk about it, but now even the president of the foundation brings it up at conferences such as the AWP as the org's right of passage into Chi-town street smarts.

Anyway, I read two poems at the chicagopoetry.com feature event at the beginning of the evening on the 8th floor. One was an "uncensored" poem on avocados. Now how wild could that be. And another about the upcoming 25th wedding anniversary of the hubbie and me entitled "$1,000 Wedding, Dress Included." You know they say the marriages that last the longest often have the cheapest weddings. I'm as surprised as anyone.

A big find on the giveaway tables, among other wondrous items, was an issue of "Alimentum" magazine, which is a literary magazine devoted to the topic of food. Fun, witty, hip pieces within. And appetizing at the same time.

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Chicago Printers Ball 2009 Wrap-up

Breathing ocean air at Galos Salt Caves - Chicago

What pleased me most about visiting the Galos Salt Caves spa and health experience on Chicago's northwest side was its cleanliness. Tons of rock salt from the Russian Black Sea were shipped stateside to create this faux salt cave at 6501 W. Irving Park Road, which is an unusual offshoot of the adjacent, Polish-owned Jolly Inn restaurant and banquet hall.

I was ushered into the cave with three of my friends by a helpful and lovely young lady. Our group and two other participants spent the first 10 minutes or so of the 45-minute session walking around in clean socks to get a recommended foot massage from the salty surroundings. The salt bricks inset with Himalayan salt lights, decorative pillars graced with salty seahorses, and faux sparkly stalactites all added up to what could pass as the coolest basement rec room anyone could have created. It is, however, on the ground floor, but once inside, who knows? You feel fathoms from the surface of the earth.

My lungs opened up as soon as I breathed in the seemingly odorless salty air. Temperature is held at a comfortable 70-something degrees. We all slung back in white, zero-gravity lounge chairs and listened to gentle spa music highlighted with enchanting water sounds -- waves, waterfalls, fountains, streams. One friend, who travels around the world, said, "You made a good pick with this one."

The owners of the cave believe that a 45-minute session spent relaxing in this environment is equal to three days at an ocean beach. They claim the cave air has an anti-inflammatory effect and stimulates the immune system. It is particularly known for helping people with respiratory aliments.

I have to say that my sinuses opened up, I could breathe deeply and fully, and felt totally relaxed and refreshed by the experience. I will surely return and recommend this very affordable spa experience to my friends and family. ◦

Breathing ocean air at Galos Salt Caves - Chicago

Planning a Staycation This Year?

Look it up now in the 2009 update ofMerriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, Eleventh Edition. Hardworking word-lovers everywhere can now learn the meaning of the word staycation ("a vacation spent at home or nearby") along with nearly 100 other new words and senses added to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition.

Many of the new words address: concerns about the environment (carbon footprint, green collar), government activities (earmark, waterboarding), health and medicine (cardioprotective, locavore, naproxen, neuroprotective), pop culture (docusoap, fan fiction, flash mob, reggaeton), online activities (sock puppet, vlog, webisode), as well as several miscellaneous terms such as haram, memory foam, missalette, and zip line.

Check out just a few of the new words and their definitions by clicking below:
acai
carbon footprint
cardioprotective
earmark
fan fiction
flash mob
frenemy
goji
green-collar
haram
locavore
memory foam
missalette
naproxen
neuroprotective
pharmacogenetics
physiatry
reggaeton
shawarma
sock puppet
staycation
vlog
waterboarding
webisode
zip line

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Planning a Staycation This Year?

Allen Ginsberg Memorial on July 3, 2009

My husband Carlos and I were fortunate enough to attend Naropa University's ceremony honoring Allen Ginsberg, poet, activist and co-founder of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. The memorial took place on July 3 in Boulder, Colorado, in front of the Allen Ginsberg Library.

The occasion, MCed by Reed Bye, also marked the interment of some of Ginsberg's ashes at the Shambhala Meditation Center this summer, and the launch of the Allen Ginsberg Scholarship Fund.

Jim Cohn, curator of the virtual Museum of Contemporary Poetry read one of Ginberg's favored poems by Pablo Neruda, called "Let the Railsplitter Awake!"

The poem, about Abraham Lincoln, also harkens to Barack Obama's rise to presidency.

Musical numbers abounded, including singalongs of Ginsberg melodies and lyrics. In this photo, poet and Kerouac School co-founder Anne Waldman joins guitarist Tyler Burba. ◦

Allen Ginsberg Memorial on July 3, 2009

Meet and Greet Poets at Naropa

I suppose this post is more about photos than text. And more about lasting poets than passing fancies. During the third week of Naropa University's Summer Writing Program/Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, my husband Carlos and I had a whooping wild time attending workshops, lectures, panels and readings with some of the finest poets across the states.

We had fun hanging out with Truong Tran, a San Francisco poet and artist of Vietnamese descent who teaches poetry at San Francisco State University and Mills College. Found out he actually lives in Haight/Ashbury. His latest book is entitled "Four Letter Words."

Clayton Eshleman, professor emeritus of Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and his wife Caryl were a joy. Eshleman is the highly regarded translator of Cesar Vallejo and Rimbaud. Carlos was part of Clayton's workshop on Rhizomic Poetics all week.

Poet Anselm Hollo, originally from Finland, is now a full-time professor at Naropa University. His wife Jane, a Mississippi native, is pictured with him.
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Meet and Greet Poets at Naropa

Naropa Summer Writing Program in Boulder

Back home in Chicago after spending a jam-packed week with my husband Carlos at the Naropa University Summer Writing Program/Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics in Boulder, Colorado, where they even compost their dryer lint! I studied daily under San Francisco poet Gloria Frym and Carlos participated in Clayton Eshleman's group. Each of us arrived home with a small portfolio of newly written pieces; the experience helped us both break out of our usual writing patterns in a big way. Between morning through night workshops, panels, lectures & readings, we were still able to enjoy some of Boulder's culture outside of the Naropa campus. Here, Carlos joins fellow students at the Tibet Kitchen patio, where they ironed out some poetry issues!

Recommendations. We made most meals in our tiny kitchenette apartment, yet also enjoyed some of the area's food and/or drink at Tibet Kitchen, Sunflower Organic Dining, Berry Best Smoothies, and the Laughing Goat Coffee House. Also tasted some kicker wild boar at Zolo's.

David Segal of Berry Best Smoothie Co. has been in the business for 16 years and uses only fresh fruit and juices in his smoothies. Also serves excellent freshly made veggie juices and out-of-this-world tamales which are also available at the Boulder Farmer's Market. Laughing Goat offers up food and beer in addition to coffee, and hosts poetry readings for Naropa University visiting poets on Monday nights.

One Wednesday afternoon, we hit paydirt all within a two-or-three block area. After receiving exceptional massages from therapist Jeremy Kotenberg, CMT at Massage Specialists on Broadway, we waltzed over to the Boulder Farmer's Market in Central Park, which teems with healthy people and gigantic kale leaves, stuck our heads into the otherworldly Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse, and spent a wondrous hour at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art reveling in its human, uplifting and accessible exhibits (versus the sometimes painfully abstract and nihilistic themes favored at other contemporary art museums, shall I say, closer to home).

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Naropa Summer Writing Program in Boulder

Dialogue with Creative Work

I have a day job, but I don't necessarily want to dialogue with it. I may argue with it a good portion of the eight hours I punch in, but I have other avocations that make more appealing partners. One is musical theater writing. I've worked on a children's musical and besides dialoging with my actual composer/collaborator, which is the most satisfying, my journal serves as an ideal stage to work out the answers to what drives the piece in the first place.

Some of the questions I pose consist of "What does the main character want?" and "What is the musical about?" When I ask what it's about, I don't mean the plot. The plot is what happens, scene by scene. Instead, I mean what deeper meaning is the piece trying to bring out? If it's about belonging, does the character discover that he or she can belong or that it may be impossible to really belong. If it's about connection, what might a character do to continually reinforce disconnection before finding a path to connecting with other people.

If working on a play or musical, you might have a journaled dialogue with your character asking directly what he or she wants, believes, avoids or regrets. You may not only find out your answer, but also find ways to smooth any bumpy parts of the script your characters trip on or redirect their steps when they wander away from where they and your piece are ultimately headed. [Intensive Journal Workshop][Ira Progoff] ◦

Dialogue with Creative Work

Best times to visit Michigan U-pick farms

During a recent visit to Michigan, which is known for its fruit orchards, I came across a short list of dates when various fruits are ripe for the picking. I have fond memories of picking blueberries with my son and husband at a U-pick blueberry grove near the Michigan sand dunes on a July weekend. One particular Michigan grove cited specific dates that mark the height of each fruit in that area.

Cherries -- July 4

Peaches - August 15

Pears - August 22

Plums - September 7

Apples - October 1

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Best times to visit Michigan U-pick farms

Writers Colony Recommendation!

I just heard that a writers' colony I've written about previously on this blog, The Writers Colony at Dairy Hollow in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, has several available weeks open for writers in the summer and fall of 2009.

Poets, fiction and nonfiction writers, food writers, I urge you to apply! The Writers Colony at Dairy Hollow, a writer's paradise, is one of my favorite places on earth. I was in residence for two-week stints in 2006 and 2008.

The colony itself is located in a wooded area of town close to a natural spring, but still close to civilization. Everything is within walking distance. The town of Eureka Springs, set in the Ozarks, is a friendly haven of curvy, charming byways lined with architecture circa 1880s. The per diem at the colony, if you are accepted, is as low as $45 a day, which includes your own studio with bath and all meals. Dinners are homecooked for you five nights a week. The whole staff is great.

The photos are from the colony's Culinary Suite, which includes a fully stocked kitchen. It is truly the most stunning of the studios, and you are lucky indeed if you can land here during your residency. Many cookbook authors and food writers have stayed here.

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Writers Colony Recommendation!

Saugatuck Michigan End of May

Visited somewhere this weekend I've never been before -- Saugatuck, Michigan. Joined friends Maura and Jim, and husband Carlos, to what we thought would be a summer-soaked climate by now. However, I found myself wearing the jeans and two long-sleeved shirts I brought along in the brisk air, leaving shorts and tank tops in the suitcase. But it worked out fine.

The weekend ended up a serendipitous split between new spiritual experiences and experiences of the fermented kind. On Saturday, we did the usual Butler Street promenade and tasted a few wines at the Fenn Valley Shop in town. Let's just say the the Pinot Noir looked a tad clear and the hue of a rose', with a back flavor of some sort of hard liquor. To put it in a mild fashion, Michigan wines are not my favorite.

On the other hand, the beers we sampled at the Saugatuck Brewing Company microbrewery in Douglas, Michigan, were a delightful surprise, particularly the Main Street Wheat, 5.5% alcohol content. Carlos preferred the Ramblin Amber, 4.7% alcohol content. Diehard beer lovers can actually brew their own 11-gallon batch of beer at the brewery, which takes a period of two weeks. Learned an interesting factoid from the bartender: Guiness Stout has fewer calories than Bud Light.

On Sunday, we visited a Seventh-Day Adventist enclave in Pullman, Michigan, which includes some communal housing, a church, a natural foods warehouse and retail store called Country Life Natural Foods. The helpful, knowlegeable, warm ladies who greeted us made it even more of a pleasure.

Afterward, we headed west to Ganges, Michigan, to take part in an interfaith community service at Mother's Trust. Strangely, I had had a dream about this church a few months ago, not knowing where it was located. As soon as I saw it, I recognized it, and when one of Jim's friends out-of-the-blue encouraged us to go and actually took us there, I suppose my dream came to fruition. A former nun gave an enlightening talk on St. John of the Cross, and another parishioner held a 40-minute service on how eight different religions view the concept of mysticism, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Native religions, in addition to Christianity, which included a reading of a poem by St. Teresa of Avila.

Before heading back to Chicago, we took a long walk with three dogs (see Carlos and Speedy) through the Fenn Valley Winery vineyards, close to where we were staying in Fennville. Glad to note that the numerous sun-filled rows of vines were at the same stage of development as the three little ones I'm trying to nurture in my backyard. Happy for the confirmation, since I hoped I was doing something right.

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Saugatuck Michigan End of May

Use Scent to Heighten Writing

The best writing employs the use of the five senses to explore metaphor, to show instead of just tell. In the book, "The How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci Workbook," the author Michael Gelb poses this self-assessment test to help you become more aware of your sense of smell:

-- I have a favorite scent. (What is it? Why do I like it? What does it remind me of?)
-- Smells affect my emotions strongly, for better or worse.
-- I can recognize friends by their scent.

-- I know how to use aromas to influence my mood.

-- I can reliably judge the quality of food or wine by its aroma.

-- When I see fresh flowers, I usually take a few moments to breathe in their aroma.

Gelb also suggests making "smells" a theme for a day. This could be a perfect journaling "date." Record what you smell and how it affects you through the course of a day. Spend a half hour at your favorite florist. Inhale the aroma of ten different perfumes or essential oils and describe your reactions. Others have suggested smelling a crayon, chalk, a rubber ball or other simple items from childhood.

How does smell affect your mood or memory? Write down your observations. What does each scent remind you of? Comparing sensory reactions to real life experiences or memories is the core of metaphor and image. You might want to even create a poem out of these images.

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Use Scent to Heighten Writing

Heirloom Tomatoes and Giant Peppers

It took a month and a half of weekends to clear our 25-foot Chicago which included hauling ten yard bags of leavings away. I found, as usual, that actually planting tomatoes and peppers to be the easiest part. I ordered heirloom tomato and giant pepper plants this year from Wisconsin, which conveniently arrived on my doorstep just before Memorial Day weekend.

I intensely pruned our three grape vines in late March. They are prolific nevertheless with tiny, baby grape clusters forming in green and blushed red. Fredonia, Swenson Red, Edelweiss! I reluctantly ripped off the blossoms the past two years. This season's vines are hearty enough to bear fruit. Each "grape" is the size of a bb-shot at this point. I recall my son's toes the size of petite peas, way back when. But these guys are growing before my eyes, instead of over the years.

Also strung up five strings on the neighbor's garage (oops, don't tell him) to serve as props for pole beans, which I've never grown before.

Note to self: Remember the order in which you planted from house to alley (blogs are handy archives)! Tomatoes: Big Beef, Amish Paste, Yellow Brandywine, Red Brandywine. Peppers: Super Heavy Weight, Giant Marconi, Fat 'n Sassy, Big Bertha. I always say I'll remember, but I never remember. Even if I tag plantings, rain washes the words away. Thanks, blog. ◦

Heirloom Tomatoes and Giant Peppers

Lit reading at Woman Made Gallery, May 17

I've been to a literary reading at Woman Made Gallery before, and it is more than a reading -- it's an experience. Not only can you enjoy a couple of hours of new poetry, fiction and nonfiction work read aloud by the authors, but also take in the clean, spacious gallery tastefully arranged with paintings, sculptures, crafts and jewelry made by women, mostly from the Chicago area.

On Sunday, May 17, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. come on down to Woman Made Gallery for a lit reading on the theme of "The Emotional Body." Woman Made Gallery is located at 685 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. For more info call 312-738-0400 or visit its poetry site.

"The Emotional Body:" Think of body as object or actor, in whole or in part, in function and malfunction, sickness and health, stark or embellished. Think active body, gendered body, consuming body, sexual, emotional, physical body...our most inescapable abode.

Join curator Nina Corwin and a body of fabulous writers:
● Allison Joseph, author of Wordly Pleasures
● S.L. Wisenberg, author of Cancer Bitch
● Nikki Patin
● Laura Dixon
● Sara Parrell
● Cynthia Gallaher, author of Swimmer’s Prayer and Earth Elegance (reading poems about medicinal herb and plant healing)
● Kristin LaTour
…and a special guest appearance by Marty McConnell, recently returned from NYC.

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Lit reading at Woman Made Gallery, May 17

Met Audrey Niffenegger Last Night

I met Audrey Niffenegger last night, author of "The Time Traveler's Wife." My husband Carlos and I attended a benefit for the Ragdale Foundation and book release party for Luis Alberto Urrea's "Into the Beautiful North" at Tumbao bar and restaurant on Armitage near Kedzie in Chicago.

Since Niffenegger is a Ragdale alum and her book was part of a special raffle going on that night, she was a definite invitee, who walked through the door with a striking presence. She is a beautiful brunehilde of a woman, with long red hair, in a hue that's unique but complementary to her features.

She is not only a writer, but an artist as well. Audrey Niffenegger's self portrait appears above. I approached her while she ordered a wine at the bar and complimented her on Time Traveler's Wife, which was a book selected by my family book club. I told her I liked her Chicago references, in particular of the Get Me High Lounge, which was a notorious Chicago poetry reading haunt back in the 80s. In that same scene, she described a bartender named Mia who had relatives in Glencoe. I told her my stepdaughter Mia also has relatives in Glencoe, but Niffenegger laughed, saying everything in the book is fictional. She's noted other such coincidences among her readers.

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Met Audrey Niffenegger Last Night

Wine and cheese tasting at Bin 36 -- Chicago

What better precedes a long evening of music with Leonard Cohen then a dining experience of short courses of cheese, hummus and soup at nearby Bin 36 at 339 North Dearborn in Chicago.

I took the 'el' downtown, walked north over the river, through the shadows of Marina City, and met my husband Carlos, awaiting me at Bin 36 with glass of Stella Artois in hand. Once seated at a relaxing booth, we had fun stretching our free time before the concert with little plates of pleasure.

Many patrons order flights of four red or white wines, which arrive in full-sized wine glasses, each filled with just a sampling of wine. Because I didn't want to get sleepy at the concert -- I heard Cohen keeps going until 11 p.m. -- I chose a tiny glass of 2007 Cabernet/Merlot/Malbec/Pinot Noir blendng called NQN, Picada 15 Tinto, Neuquen from Patagonia, Argentina. It was very good, fruity and dark.

Flights of cheese are also a specialty of the house, served with thin, crisp crostata bread. Since Carlos only likes goat cheese and I prefer cow milk cheese, we again didn't order a flight, but individual cheeses. Flights of sheep cheese are also available.

He loved the Cabra al Vino from Murcia, Spain, which is marinated in a local Jumilla wine. He said the cheese had "walls, floor and architecture. Very round and extremely satisfying." The Bridgewater cow milk cheese that I chose from Zingerman's Dairy in Ann Arbor, Mich., was creamy, mild, with a slight rind and spicy peppercorns throughout. Excellent! We also ordered a side of apricot/fig terrine and a small pot of honey to spread on bread along with the cheese, and it proved a bright, tasty addition.

The bowl of mushroom and walnut soup I ordered teetered between above average and just O.K. Would have preferred a salad. But the generous hummus plate accompanied by soft pita triangles was, according to Carlos "stunning, including the best oil, red onions and tomatoes." Our tab was just a little over $30. By midnight, when we turned in for the night, we still weren't hungry again. ◦

Wine and cheese tasting at Bin 36 -- Chicago

Leonard Cohen at the Chicago Theatre

It's been more than 15 years since Leonard Cohen played Chicago, and I was fortunate to grab two tickets only 1/3 back -- through a preview buy as a "fan." You know how it often can be to sit through live music that isn't quite up to par to a band's CDs? Quite the contrary with Leonard Cohen's show.

His musicians, singers, sound system, lighting and, of course, Leonard himself drove the entire occasion above and beyond the recorded disc -- a spectacular experience that pushes Cohen's legendary quality to the forefront, in a friendly way, and makes his 70-plus years just a side grin, which even he occasionally pokes fun at. But what other guy his age can get down on his knees over and over and rise without effort, sing for nearly three hours and dance off stage a couple of times between curtain calls?

Dressed in pork-pie hat, backed by six musicians (including Spanish guitarist Javier Mas) and three female back-up singers (one who is collaborator Sharon Robinson, as well as the two Webb sisters, who cartwheeled between numbers), Leonard Cohen brought forth beloved lyrics such as "dance me through the panic...dance me to the end of love;" "it was the shape of our love that twisted me;" "everybody knows the boat is leaking, everybody knows the captain lied;" "I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel;" "we are so lightly here, it isn't love that we are made, in love we disappear." ◦

Leonard Cohen at the Chicago Theatre

The Passing of Poet Deborah Digges

I was aware of the poet Deborah Digges as someone close to my own age who was beautiful, talented and a respected teacher at Amherst. You might say I was a little envious of her.

On April 10th of this year, she commited suicide. She had so much to live for, such a gift for poetry, even if everything else in her life might have fallen apart. I know she wrote a book about her struggles raising a teenage son, with both mother and son triumphing as a result of her efforts.

After so many hardships, to keep pressing on would make all the sense in the world. But which suicide in the recent or distant past makes sense?

The following is a gorgeous poem written by Deborah Digges that I found online. She makes mention of a stadium, death squads and an executioner. Strangely, she died in a stadium:

My Amaryllis

So this is the day the fat boy learns to take the jokes

by donning funny hats, my Amaryllis,

my buffoon of a flower,

your four white bullhorn blossoms like the sirens

in a stadium through which the dictator announces he's in love.

Then he sends out across the land a proclamation-there must be music,

there must be stays of execution

for the already dying.

That's how your pulpy sex undoes me and your seven

leaves, unsheathed. How you diminish

my winter windows, and beyond them, the Atlantic.

How you turn my greed ridiculous.

Now it's as if I could believe in having children after forty,

or, walking these icy streets, greet sullen strangers

like a host of former selves, so ask them in, of course,

and listen like one forgiven to their crimes.

Dance with us and all our secrets,

dance with us until our lies,

like death squads sent to an empty house, put down,

finally, their weapons, peruse the family

portraits, admire genuinely the bride.

Stay with me in this my exile

or my returning, as if to love the tyrant one more time.

O my lily, my executioner, a little stooped, here,

listing, you are the future bending

to kiss the present like a sleeping child.

(published in Ploughshares)

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The Passing of Poet Deborah Digges

More about "Neighborhoods: Poetry Writing Workshop" in Chicago on April 18

Chicago is a city of neighborhoods, each with a distinct feel, a unique style. Become the creative bard of your neighborhood. Set your imagination free, gear up your memory, and take part in a writing workshop for adults where you’ll create a story poem about your neighborhood, whether an urban or suburban one.

What is a story poem or prose poem? How does it differ from a standard poem or short story? What are the special sights, sounds and aromas of your neighborhood? Is there an unusual character who stands out in your neighborhood? What makes your neighborhood like none other?

Find out at Neighborhoods: A Poetry Writing Workshop led by poet Cynthia Gallaher on Sat. April 18 at 1:30 p.m at Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago. Explore prose poems by Rimbaud, Baudelaire, Italo Calvino, Carolyn Forche and Chicago’s Stuart Dybek. Get city-centric poetic inspiration from Polish poet Wislawa Symborska. You’ll then mix it up and try your hand at mapping out your own prose poem or two about that special place in Chicagoland – your own neighborhood.

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More about "Neighborhoods: Poetry Writing Workshop" in Chicago on April 18

Free poetry writing workshop on Sat. April 18 at the Harold Washington Library

Neighborhoods: Poetry Writing Workshop. Write a story poem about your neighborhood during a prose poem workshop led by Cynthia Gallaher on Saturday, April 18, 2009 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State Street, Chicago, Room 3N-5. For more information or to register, call 312-747-4400 or 312-747-4713. This event is part of the One Book, One Chicago celebration for "House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros. ◦

Free poetry writing workshop on Sat. April 18 at the Harold Washington Library

Personal dream image inventory for your journal

Let’s say you’ve been journaling your dreams for some time now. Your recall and vividness of dreams are becoming sharper and your dream entries contain more detail because you remember more of your dreams. You will reach a point when you’ll feel ready to begin re-reading your entries. Keep an eye out for recurring themes, images and symbols. Underline them in your entries.

Start a new journal entry and list these images. Such images can be characters, themes, objects, locations, situations or sounds. Try to remember the context in which these images appeared and the emotions that surrounded them. What do these images mean to you personally? Do they relate to anything going on in your waking life? What do you think some of your dreams are revealing about yourself?

Most sleep and dream experts discourage “dream interpretation” books or dictionaries, insisting dream images are all extremely personal and can only apply to the particular person dreaming them. If you go to the bookstore and look through various dream interpretation books, you might notice that these books will usually not agree on the meaning of any one image! Many of the dream symbol interpretations are based on older cultures in more closed societies in which everyone thought along the same lines. And every different culture had their own interpretations. In today's mixed societies of individuals, it's a much more personal story.

Robert Moss, author of the highly recommended The Three “Only” Things, said, “You don’t want anyone telling you what your dreams mean. Dreams bring many gifts of power and you don’t want to give that power away.” You are the best judge and interpreter of your own dreams.

Dreams are not prophecies, largely, but are instead a means of finding out more about how you really feel about aspects of your own life. And dream journaling is a way to record and reflect on these dream issues.

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Personal dream image inventory for your journal

Heighten Five Senses: Smell

The best writing employs the use of the five senses to explore metaphor, to show instead of just tell. In the book, "The How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci Workbook," the author Michael Gelb poses this self-assessment test to help you become more aware of your sense of smell:
-- I have a favorite scent. (What is it? Why do I like it? What does it remind me of?)
-- Smells affect my emotions strongly, for better or worse.
-- I can recognize friends by their scent.
-- I know how to use aromas to influence my mood.
-- I can reliably judge the quality of food or wine by its aroma.
-- When I see fresh flowers, I usually take a few moments to breathe in their aroma.

Gelb also suggests making "smells" a theme for a day. This could be a perfect journaling "date." Record what you smell and how it affects you through the course of a day. Spend a half hour at your favorite florist. Inhale the aroma of ten different perfumes or essential oils and describe your reactions. Others have suggested smelling a crayon, chalk, a rubber ball or other simple items from childhood. How does smell affect your mood or memory? Write down your observations. What does each scent remind you of? Comparing sensory reactions to real life experiences or memories is the core of metaphor and image. You might want to even create a poem out of these images.

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Heighten Five Senses: Smell

Practice Naikan When Journaling

Naikan (pronounced nye-kahn) is a Japanese practice that blends meditation and gratitude. The word means "inner observation," made up of nai (inner or inside) and kan (observation). Naikan creates awareness by helping you remember the significant people in your life.

In the book, "Wabi Sabi Simple," author Richard Powell suggests taking your journal to a quiet room and sitting comfortably with no distractions, preferably in a corner behind a screen. Write down the names of one to five people who mean a lot to you, whether relatives, friends, teachers or coworkers. Then ask yourself three questions concerning each person:
1. What have I received from _________?
2. What have I given this person?
3. What troubles, difficulties or worries have I caused this person?

Write down concrete examples, such as "My mother always made lunch for me for school and told me she loved me as I left the house in the morning." General statements such as "My mother was nice to me" doesn't work. Try to put yourself in the other person's shoes and try to feel what he or she has felt.

Through your meditations and writing, what you find important about your relationship to this person will become more clear. When the time is right, express to each person on your list your gratitude for the specific things that they have given you.[naikan][wabi-sabi]

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Practice Naikan When Journaling

Heighten Five Senses: Taste

A sense of taste, like any other sense, can be developed. According to "The How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci Workbook" by Michael Gelb, you can self-assess your sense of taste through the following statements:
-- I can taste the "freshness" of fresh food.
-- I enjoy many different types of cuisine.
-- I seek out unusual taste experiences.
-- I can discern the flavor contributions of different herbs and spices in a complex dish.
-- I am a good cook.
-- I appreciate the pairing of food and wine.
-- I eat consciously, aware of the taste of my food.
-- I avoid junk food.
-- I avoid eating on the run.
-- I enjoy participating in taste tests and wine tastings.

No one becomes a good cook or an afficiando of the world's great cuisines overnight. Like first poems, your first attempts on the stove-top might likely end up in the trash can. Mine did for many years -- in both cases. I believe two elements you need to develop a keen sense of taste is a spirit of adventure and a willingness to make mistakes.It's the same as approaching any other creative aspect of your life, be it writing, skiing, cooking or traveling. You'll never know what octopus tastes like until you try it, or how ginger might enhance an apple dessert until you make one yourself.

I'm not a good enough cook to create my own recipes from scratch or just "throw things together." Maybe I'll be able to someday. I have, however, enough "taste" experience to imagine what a dish will taste like just from reading the recipe. So recipes and cookbooks are my friends. I sometimes cross reference two or three recipes for the same dish and make a hybrid of it, or simply "tweak" a recipe, usually because I lack a certain ingredient or two and would rather substitute with something I have on hand. It does take a little kitchen experience to know which items can suffice as substitutes. But it all comes with time, as does a seasoned palate.

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Heighten Five Senses: Taste

New online journal writing course

Let the new year serve as a fresh start for your journal writing direction. I'm leading an online journal writing course this spring with the University of Illinois at Chicago Writers Series. It's called "Rescript Your Life: A Journal Writing Workshop." The great thing is you can be anywhere in the world to take this workshop because it's online. It gets underway on March 9, 2009. Juicy details follow:

Direct your plans, relationships and creativity toward a new, personal direction through journal writing. In this online workshop, you’ll find your journaling “personality” and apply a variety of eastern and western techniques to uncover and explore your burning issues. Also learn how to journal your dreams, travels and creative ideas and even start your own online journal blog. Journal Writing Online allows participants to better deal with past, present and future issues through the outlet of journal writing, particularly when applying field-tested techniques introduced in the course.

Participants will also be better equipped to use the journal as a creative conduit to evolve raw experience into written poems, stories, character studies and other creative pieces. During this time of economic downturn, journal writing offers people an inexpensive, yet passionate outlet. This era is an ideal time to turn to an introspective mode, evaluating the past and looking for new direction for the future. Journal writing can help people in any situation deal with our changing times.

Topics include history of journaling, journal styles, dialogues and their methods, techniques of journal writing and blogging.

At the completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Focus on the type of journal writing to fit his or her personality.
• Access their own list of numerous, personal journal writing topics and questions.
• Use the journaling method of dialogues to address personal and creative issues.
• Understand and use the Japanese method of haibun and naikan.
• Create a Leonardo da Vinci-style notebook.
• Create an active dream journal.
• Create an online journal blog.
• Develop a personal journaling vocabulary

COURSE TITLE:		Journal Writing Online
DATES:		March 9 - April 10, 2009
TIME:		Online
COST:		$325
INSTRUCTOR:		Cynthia Gallaher
LOCATION:		Online
COURSE NUMBER:		JW0309
REGISTRATION DEADLINE:		Friday, February 27, 2009

Register for Journal Writing ◦

New online journal writing course

Dialog with the Body

Your body's wisdom can speak to you through metaphor. Writing dialogues in your journal can help faciliate the life lessons your body may be trying to teach you. Dialogue with the body is one of the six main types of journaling dialogues described in Ira Progoff's seminal book on modern journal writing, "Intensive Journal Workshop," first published in 1966.

First, choose a dialogue partner, whether it be a body part or organ, illness, injury or surgery, allergy, your sexuality; a body subpersonality such as thin self, fat self, addiction or habit; foods or nutrition; or pain, which always seems to be an important messenger.

Dialogue in writing, back and forth, with your dialogue partner. You will be writing both roles, of course! Your dialogue can be in the form of a thoughtful and direct "letter" or "instant messaging" back-and-forth dialogue if you thrive on fast-paced banter. If you feel like you're making it up, you're right. You are making it up, but it is a part of you. Don't be afraid of the unexpected or ideas that seem to come out of nowhere.

Having a dialogue with the body can be a form of healing visualization. Whether your dialogue partner is anything from an allergy to dust, a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer or the ache of a twisted ankle to an addiction to chocolate, the fear of hair loss or compulsion to wear too much makeup, your two-way dialogues can help you sort out the real from the imagined, the old you from the newer you, and help you decide what can be changed and how to go about it, or what may be inevitable and how best to face it. [Intensive Journal Workshop][Ira Progoff]

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Dialog with the Body

Writing the Seen and the Unseen

Deena Metzger, in her book "Writing for Your Life: A Guide and Companion to the Inner World" suggested, "When you think you have nothing to say, when your life feels dull and tedious, try writing: Things I didn't see today." The things we can't see are often the most important. A Turkish poet who spent a number of years as a political prisoner, Nazim Hikmet, wrote a poem entitled "Things I Didn't Know I Loved," while looking out a Prague-to-Berlin train window.

...night is falling
I never knew I liked
night descending like a tired bird on a smoky wet plain...
I never knew I loved the sun
even when setting cherry-red as now
in Istanbul too it sometimes sets in postcard colors...
I didn't know I loved clouds
whether I'm under or up above them
whether they look like giants or shaggy white beasts...
I never knew I liked the night pitch-black
sparks fly from the engine
I didn't know I loved sparks...

As a journal writer, you don't need to write a poem, but simply write your own "things I didn't see today" or "Things I Didn't Know I Loved."

[Nazim Hikmet][Deena Metzger]

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Writing the Seen and the Unseen

Thanksgiving Weekend Journal

When we think of Thanksgivings of the past, our memories can often blur into visual "bytes" of rising before sun-up, basting turkeys, cooking down cranberries into a sauce, hanging harvest decorations, watching a wave of people rush into and then out of the house, washing and drying dishes in a bright, steamy kitchen, and laughing with others, like yourself, festively dressed in fashionable high heels, but also in slightly worn-torn aprons. But what does Thanksgiving really mean to those partaking in the meal with you?

There's a special window of time during Thanksgiving when you can find out. You know that time in between the Thanksgiving meal itself and dessert, when you need to digest the first part of your meal before you can even think about cutting into the pumpkin pie? Instead of rushing off to watch the football game or get a jump on loading the dishwasher, grab your journal and instruct everyone at the table to "set a spell" to talk about the things that they are most thankful for this year. Write them down in your journal.

Or, ask everyone if they can recall their most memorable Thanksgiving (outside of this year's!) and why. You may find out some interesting anecdotes about your relatives that can help you appreciate them even more. You might even hear stories from the old-timers about those who have passed on whom you may have never met. The practical joke Great-Uncle Joe pulled 50 years ago could sound remarkably like something you, your son or your niece might pull today. More than looks often run in the family.

Sometimes Thanksgiving is the only time the whole family really gets together, and it's a day that often goes by far too swiftly. If you record some of what people say and do during Thanksgiving, you can savor the day longer and your relationships more deeply.Forget videocams. They put people on the defensive and no one feels comfortable enough to say anything substantial in front of them. Plus, hardly anyone ever looks at them again once the camera is put away. On the other hand, people open up when you sit down at a relaxed table and chew the fat (and the Turkey bones), as you just happen to jot down a few notes in your journal all the while!

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Thanksgiving Weekend Journal

Why journal your dreams?

In the Robert Moss book, The Three 'Only' Things: Tapping the Powers of Dreams, Coincidence and Imagination, he cites "The Nine Powers of Dreaming:" 1. We solve problems in our dreams. 2. Dreams coach us for future challenges and opportunities. 3. Dreams hold up a magic mirror to our actions and behavior. 4. Dreams show us what we need to do to stay well. 5. Dreams are a secret laboratory. 6. Dreams are a creative studio. 7. Dreams help us mend our divided selves. 8. Dreaming is a key to better relationships. 9. Dreams recall us to our larger purpose.

And when we journal dreams on a consistent basis, perhaps for a two or three-week trial period, we may see a pattern develop that can help give us greater insight into that "other" side of ourselves.

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Why journal your dreams?

Writing the Seen and the Unseen

Deena Metzger, in her book "Writing for Your Life: A Guide and Companion to the Inner World" suggested, "When you think you have nothing to say, when your life feels dull and tedious, try writing: Things I didn't see today." The things we can't see are often the most important. A Turkish poet who spent a number of years as a political prisoner, Nazim Hikmet, wrote a poem entitled "Things I Didn't Know I Loved," while looking out a Prague-to-Berlin train window.

...night is falling
I never knew I liked
night descending like a tired bird on a smoky wet plain...
I never knew I loved the sun
even when setting cherry-red as now
in Istanbul too it sometimes sets in postcard colors...
I didn't know I loved clouds
whether I'm under or up above them
whether they look like giants or shaggy white beasts...
I never knew I liked the night pitch-black
sparks fly from the engine
I didn't know I loved sparks...

As a journal writer, you don't need to write a poem, but simply write your own "things I didn't see today" or "Things I Didn't Know I Loved." ◦

Writing the Seen and the Unseen

Rescript Your Life Journal Writing Workshop

Saying there is only one way write a journal is like saying there is only one kind of food to enjoy. Recharge, rescript and change the way you approach both personal issues and creative explorations through a variety of journaling techniques. Attend "Rescript Your Life," a one-day, hands-on journal writing workshop taking place on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2008 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the University of Illinois at Chicago Writers Series, 1333 S. Halsted Street in Chicago.

It will be led by yours truly. As you experience different methods one-by-one in this hands-on journal writing workshop, you'll pinpoint your burning issues and learn how journaling can help achieve your goals. Contact the series at 312-355-0423 for more info and fee.

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Rescript Your Life Journal Writing Workshop

True Person of No Rank & Journaling

Zen philosophy describes a "true person of no rank." I put my faith in Christianity, but I hold much admiration for Zen points of view of the world and of creativity. Deep inside each of us is a "true person of no rank," and we can approach our journal writing as such. Those of high rank and with many credentials need to remember that, as blessed as they are, they put on pants (or pantyhose) one leg at a time like the rest of us. Such a person is, deep down, a "true person of no rank." On the other hand, a person who has little schooling and a humble track record may feel unqualified to write anything worthwhile. But who isn't more qualified to expound on life than a "true person," and especially a "true person of no rank." By ignoring our rank or pecking order and focusing on our true personhood, we can look more closely at the world, pay attention to its beautiful detail and bring our observant meditations to life on our journal pages. ◦

True Person of No Rank & Journaling

Noshing around Montreal

My husband Carlos and I took a road trip through Vermont and Canada, making our own breakfasts of natural cereals, rice milk, plain yogurt and fruit from the convenience of a cooler and food bag full of non-perishables. Goji berries, cherry pie Larabars, low-sodium chips, and more fruit took the edge off hunger as the day wore on.

But sometimes, ya just gotta eat. We visited a few places in Montreal that might fly under the food critics radar, but offered us delicious, healthy and satisfying meals. At Jardin Nelson, an indoor/outdoor and inner courtyard charmer in Place Jacques-Cartier in Old Montreal, I started off with a midday glass of Prosecco, followed by a cup of really homemade chicken and vegetable soup, a creamy tomato bruchetta and a shrimp and avocado salad, all lightly and evenly seasoned and extremely well made. Carlos enjoyed salmon on a bed of angel hair noodles, with chives, and red and green pepper. The seating was picturesque, the breeze light, and the whole experience, so Vieux Montreal.

Downtown, turn to Le Commensal, a vegetarian buffet on the second floor of McGill and St. Catherine. It was warmly recommended to us by a former Montreal artist, Genevieve, whom we met during our visit to the Vermont Studio Center. A variety of tasty hot and cold vegetarian dishes and desserts are available by the pound. Fill up your plate and weigh-in at the cashier. Microbrews also available. Nice views fom the high perch and great food, especially for those like us, who long for hard-to-find vegetarian specialities when traveling. View a Commensal You Tube.

At the Novotel Montreal Aeroport, stop into Trio, an ultra chic minimal moderne place to relax to music piped in directly from France, and with a tray of luscious, nouvelle cuisine appetizers. I enjoyed brie with strawberries and mangoes, mushroom tarte, and escargot with tomato sauce on small toasts. Another night I had a trio of chicken skewers, along with small shrimp and scallops dishes. The soups are also fabulous. Carlos seemed to live on air at times, or at least arugula salads. The Novotel is a great hotel to stay, by the way.

For dessert, stop in again in Old Montreal and have one of its homemade sorbets at Les Glaceurs along the side street of Notre Dame Cathedral at rue 453 St. Sulpice. The pamplemousee, trichamp and framboise sorbets are all fresh fruit tasting, not too sweet and really delicious. Even my dessert-shunning husband couldn't resist.

Do you have a favorite Montreal dine-out place, and why is it so good? ◦

Noshing around Montreal

Microbrews from Vermont and New York State

My husband Carlos and I have a running beer tasting debate. When it comes to microbrew beer, he prefers the india pale ale and I prefer the hefeweizen wit or white Belgian style beer.

On a recent road trip through New York State and Vermont, we had the chance to sample several of the local microbrews along the way. The first wasn't the best -- Otter Creek Ale from Middlebury, Vermont, which was somewhat skunky, not extremely fresh and gaining a 6 on our 10-point scale. While visiting the New England Culinary Institute in Essex, Vermont, I ordered a fine hefeweizen beer on tap, Harpoon's UFO or Unfiltered Offering from the Harpoon Brewery, located in Windsor, Vermont. My server smiled approvingly when I ordered it, and it was a wonderful summery, smooth beer. It is best on tap, though after later trying it in the bottled version, found it was still good. Carlos gives it an 8, but I award it a 9. Though not a huge white beer fan, he preferred Wolaver's certified organic wit bier, also made by Otter Creek Brewing, which is far superior to its Otter Creek Ale. Do the microbrews get their water from Moss Glen Falls?

Southern Tier, an India Pale Ale brewed close to the southern New York State highway that bears the same name rated a 9 from Carlos. But I just plain turned up my nose at it after one bottle. He felt this ale was fresh and non-skunky unlike the Otter Creek.

One of the trip's disappointments was missing the tour of the Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, New York. We'd logged too many miles to drive back the next morning after breezing past it on Route 86. They make the Beligian style Witte beer, among others. We pulled into our hotel in Schoharie late that night and saw an inviting display in the lobby for Ommegang's fine line-up of beers. But they didn't sell it! It was only a 3D showcase for the brewery.

Along the way, Carlos tried Rock Art Ridge Runner wine ale from Vermont. We had seen lots of empties lying around after a late-night artists' campfire at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont. After sampling the sole bottle he bought, he gave an enthusiastic 10 to the brew.

There was one last, but not least, beer that we waited to open after our return home to Chicago. Circus Boy, The Hefeweizen! is brewed by the Magic Hat Brewing Company in South Burlington, Vermont. According to the label it is "unfiltered and unfettered" and according to Carlos and me, we finally found a beer we could completely agree upon. I loved the full-bodied, unfiltered taste, and he liked the slight bitter edge that the Harpoon's UFO did not have. We both give this one a 10. But then, the beer at trail's end is always a welcome comfort and marks a time of special celebration. Cheers!

P.S. Mickey Dolenz, the original Circus Boy, you'd been upstaged after all these decades. You were a hard act to follow, but you did one up yourself by becoming a Monkee.

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Microbrews from Vermont and New York State

Writers visit to the Vermont Studio Center

I had heard much about the Vermont Studio Center from fellow writers. When my husband and I were up in Burlington, Vermont, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit the small town of Johnson in the Green Mountains and see what the Vermont Studio Center was all about.

Weeks before, I contacted one of the administrators, Kate Westcott, to find out if we were welcome stop by and take a look around. She offered to give us a quicky visit, as July residents were leaving and August ones would be soon to arrive. But once we walked into the main office to meet her, she graciously gave us the grand tour of more than an hour of the lovely grounds and various buildings scattered around the local river and converted grain mill.

I had imagined that the colony was set out in the countryside, but The Vermont Studio Center is actually a series of existing buildings spread in close proximity throughout the town of Johnson that the organization bought up, restored or converted, and turned into artist and writer studios, sleeping quarters, dining areas and lounges. Its lecture hall was a building on the main street scheduled for teardown until the colony saved it.

The photo in the upper left-hand corner is of the Maverick Writing Studios, where resident writers spend their days writing in separate, private spaces. This building, in contrast to other vintage and restores structures was built from the ground up in recent years. Artists have long been part of the colony, but writers have only been accepted within the last decade or so.

The atmosphere at the place was also more social and close-knit than I had surmised. Most of the emphasis on the Vermont Studio Center is on younger visual artists, attracting residents from all over the world. It also seems to be a place where like-minded artistic guys and gals meet, fall in love and come back to marry on the grounds. Kate Westcott also serves as a licensed justice of the peace, and have wed many couples who were lovestruck there. While we were visiting, we noted a very attractive couple who had previously met at the studios getting ready for their wedding. Twenty and thirty-something visual artists, take note.

As for my husband and me, writers long married and yearning for the right environment to get our next books finished, I think we'd most likely prefer a quieter place where we might find more focus and fewer distractions. It is surely a wonderful place for visual artists to network, have a chance to exhibit their work during various onsite shows, and get valuable inspiration from one another. View a Vermont Studio Center You Tube. ◦

Writers visit to the Vermont Studio Center

Homemade Corn Tortillas at New England Culinary Institute

It's a dream come true. After so many years of marriage to a Mexican, I finally learned how to make corn tortillas from scratch. Not from my mother-in-law, but from the splendid guidance of the New England Culinary Institute while on vacation in Vermont. During this hands-on workshop, I joined four others to create two different summer salsas, tomato (red) and tomatillo (salsa verde) using vegetables we roasted in the broiler before whipping together in the food processor. One of the tricks was to roast the garlic cloves right in their skins and peel afterward, as well as keep the seeds in the jalapenos. (Note: I made the recipe a few days later with a girlfriend, and nearly seered our tongues on the mixture. Next time, I'll definitely omit the seeds).

An added suprise, and so far from my home in Chicago -- was to meet Chef Courtney Contos, who led the workshop and made it a memorable experience for all. She serves as the Director of Culinary Activities for people like me, who only take one or two classes at the institute. This Greek and Irish lass turns out to be part of a restauranteur family that goes way back in Chicago -- who ran the famous Chez Paul, as well as subsequent establishments by the names of the Flying Frenchman, Maison del Lago and the Royal George Theatre Cafe. Chef Courtney was balanced, knowledgable, friendly and helpful, letting us participants get our hands into everything and guiding us with the most proficient and deeply solid aire. You know she knows, but she let us find out for ourselves. What a gal!

What are corn tortillas? Nothing but corn masa, which is a ground corn flour and lime mixture, and water. The trick to making the perfect tortillas lies in just how much water, and of course, in the actual making. Golf ball size pieces of masa go into a cast iron tortillas press, but not before a ziplock baggie is cut on three sides to serve as a helpful sleeve to prevent sticking. What a revelation! Press the ball softly between the sleeve and the press, open, but don't flip, just turn the sleeve 45 degrees and repeat a couple of times. Peel off the raw tortilla carefully, and toss all at once into a heated cast iron pan. No oil necessary. Let bubble a little, check the corners, turn over and flatten with an egg spatula. No time at all on the other side, then slip into a folded towel to keep warm as your delicious stack rises. We ate every last one of them -- then and there! So good. And the salsas were to die for. I can't tell you the recipes. You have to go there and create them yourself. I highly recommend this workshop that takes place at the Inn at Essex in Essex Junction, Vermont, near Burlington. They also have week-long boot camps on various topics, such as natural foods. ◦

Homemade Corn Tortillas at New England Culinary Institute

100 Memories Travel Journal

Hilary Liftin from Los Angeles described an interesting travel journaling tradition between her and her husband in the April 2005 issue of Real Simple magazine in an article called "Write It Down -- It's not a list. It's a lifeline." Whenever jetting back from a vacation together, Lifton and her husband pass a paper back and forth between themselves to log 100 memories from the holiday they just experienced.

In order to complete their list before touchdown back home, they have to dig up some obscure images, such as Entry number 12 from a Mojave Desert escapade: "By the pool at 29 Palms Inn, Chris briefly looked like a skinny Elvis." or Entry number 48 from another vacation in Bar Harbor, Maine: "We flew a kite until it fell in the water and a wave snapped it in two."

Liftin finds that making these entries is "a way for us to preserve the random, funny, sweet little moments of our trips that would otherwise be forgotten."Newlywed Liftin also said, "We love the tradition of our memory lists so much that if and when we have kids, we'll undoubtedly force them to participate. I can hear it now, 'Aw, Mom! Do we have to do the memory list?'

In this age of digital cameras, it's nice to put more effort into remembering than the click of a button."Note from me: However, these snippet memories can make the perfect companions scribbled next to photographs from the trip when a scrapbook or photo album is later assembled.

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100 Memories Travel Journal

Journal writing experience at Carnegie Library

This past weekend, I drove out to DeKalb, Ill., corn country and visited a pristine little town cut right out of Americana called Sycamore. The 12,000-population town also serves as the county seat. In the town square on Main and State Streets lie the neoclassic DeKalb County courthouse, an imposing post office and one of the most beautiful libraries in which I've ever facilitated a writing workshop.

The Sycamore Public Library was one of the original Carnegie libraries built through funding by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. First built in 1905, the Sycamore Public Library received an extensive addition and renovation in 1997. The new section is fashioned with a hip, modern interior, yet the exterior has kept the integrity of the original design. It makes a stunning statement in architecture and color to any passerby. The library director also suggested I take a drive down Somonauk Street on my way out of town, which is lined with huge well-maintained Victorian mansions of every color and facade. Worth the visit!

I also had the pleasure of visiting another Carnegie Library in Eureka Springs, Ark., in the last couple of years, which I intend on returning to this fall. It is not as large by any means as Sycamore Library, but just as charming.

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Journal writing experience at Carnegie Library

Mushroom poem on food reporter blog

I had the good fortune to attend a panel and meet ABC7 Chicago food reporter Steve Dolinsky, the "Hungry Hound." I was able to share a few of my food poems with him and he posted the poem "Mushroom Has Landed" on his food blog.

The poem was first inspired by a lecture at the Chicago Green Fest and book "Mycelium Running" by Paul Stamets, the utter guru of the modern uses for mushrooms, including mushrooms' powers to eat up and eliminate toxic waste.

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Mushroom poem on food reporter blog

Let Wabi-Sabi Happen in Your Journal

Wabi-sabi, the quintessential Japanese aesthetic, can be applied to journaling and is, in fact, an integral part of true journaling, whether we realize it or not. Wabi-sabi is the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete. It is a beauty of things modest, humble and unconventional.

Published writing is usually rewritten, edited and polished writing, set in symmetrical fonts and printed in uniform order and quality. Journaling, most often, is composed of our raw thoughts or emotions, scribbled down in an unsteady hand on a commuter train or a dimly-lit kitchen. Perhaps the pages are occasionally smudged with ink or stained by drops of coffee. Entries may be heartfelt and passionate, but can simultaneously be random, incomplete, unconventional and bold, without need to please an audience.

In the long run, the journaling process may add up to a complete picture or an epiphany of revelation, but tracing any single journal's pages, one-by -one, can render a modest journey, the humbleness of following a foggy path with no promise of reaching a clearing.Most distilled, the Wabi-Sabi of journaling embraces a sense of faith -- in yourself, in life, and in the promise of a future.[wabi-sabi]

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Let Wabi-Sabi Happen in Your Journal