Poetry Friday - Langtree's Lament

It’s Friday! And you know what that means: Poetry! Want to know more about Poetry Friday? Click this link right here. And be sure to check out Leigh Anne's blog, A Journey Through the Pages, to see this week’s round up of wonderful poetry related posts, blogs and goodness. 

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Hello and Happy Friday! I hope that everyone has had a good week. It has been a whirlwind here after getting back from the writing conference (which was amazing) and trying to get back into the swing of things. 

We woke up to 30 degree weather this morning here in Southwestern Florida! I am a firm believer that if it is going to get this cold, it needs to snow. But, alas, no precipitation on the horizon. 

Recently, my family finished watching the mini series Over the Garden Wall. It is a dark fantasy adventure that follows two brothers on their journey to get back home. I love finding creepy stories that are appropriate for younger kids (my daughter is 7 year old). 

Each episode is only about 13 minutes long, so it was a great to watch bit by bit. Most of the episodes have a least one song, and I loved "Langtree's Lament". The entire song is a sort of riff off of an ABC poem. 

Langtree's Lament

A" is for the apple that he gave to me,

But I found a worm inside.

"B" is for beloved that I call to him before he left my side.

And “C”, see what he did, that’s “D”,

You can read all the lyrics here or listen to it below. It really is quite fun.

Reset Refresh Rebound

2 months without a post. What have I been up to, you may ask?

Read 5 books. All were good. Really enjoyed What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by  Randall Munroe. It is basically the book version of Randall’s blog and is hilariously informative. I also enjoyed reading with my daughter Yours Sincerely, Giraffe by Megumi Iwasa. I picked up Bird Box by Josh Malerman because I was nominated for a Bram Stoker award. It was entertaining and a bit creepy. I am actually excited that this one is being made into a movie because the book is very streamlined and adaptable, in my opinion.

I also went and saw Alien: Covenant. I know a lot of people are not happy with the direction that Ridley Scott has taken the prequels, but I am loving them. Watched Boss Baby with the family too. Enjoyable and funny.

Writing over the past few months has been hit or miss. I’ve submitted 4 pieces to various magazines over the past few weeks. And I have a writing conference coming up that I am excited about. I failed abysmally at my poem a day goal back in April and I don’t have any final book drafts completed. But at least I’ve been working.

Here are my June goals:

• Go to writing conference
• Get draft of picture book done before conference
• Have final draft done by end of month
• Write 3 poems for an instagram poetry competition
• Get caught up on my reading goal

Books, Movies, and Non-Newtonian Fluids

Two months into the year and I am already behind in my reading. February was an all around slow month. I felt like I was moving through a non-Newtonian fluid most of the time. But we all have rough patches, so hopefully I’ll perk up a bit and get some more writing and reading done.

Of all the books I read in February, I can definitely say that James Herriot’s All Things Bright and Beautiful was my favorite (it’s the only book I finished last month). I loved the 1st book in the series and the 2nd was just as good. When I was younger, I wanted to be a veterinarian. Not sure what changed, but reading Herriot’s books makes me slightly regret the shift.

 I love the outdoors and I love animals, so reading about the rolling hills and green grasses of Yorkshire kind of makes me pine after that lifestyle. John’s always talking about how he would love to move back to Europe. Maybe it’s not to late!

The Oscars have come and gone. We ended up making it through 5 of the 9 Best Picture nominees. My favorite of the 5 was Manchester by the Sea. Not a happy film by any stretch but it did feel real, grounded and satisfying.

I also got in a few episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Every time I put one on, it just makes me happy. Can’t go wrong with some Star Trek. And I finally watched an episode or two of Supernatural. I was actually surprised that it was kind of creepy and not really cheesy. I plan on slowly making my way through the series.

I wish there were more good sci-fi/fantasy programs that were 30 minutes long. It’s difficult for me to justify sitting down for an hour at a time when I could be writing or reading. Many of the shows that I enjoy, John doesn’t like, so I end up trying to watch an episode here or there during the day. Don’t get me wrong— I know John would sit down and watch something I exclusively like, but I much prefer to see something that we’re both interested in watching.

My goal this month is to read 5 books and see a few films in the theater. Check by the 1st week in April to see if I'm able to do it.

Oscars Asylum

Have you ever read a creepy book in the dark of night in order to stay awake to feed your 2-month-old? And then have your spouse let out a snore so loud you mistake it for the growl of a monster? So then you react by dropping your book onto your nursing child’s head, causing them to spit out your boob and begin to scream while milk sprays around the room like a fire hose? Uh…me either…

I enjoy reading creepy books, and most of the time they aren’t scary enough to give me the chills. Asylum by Madeleine Roux, however, definitely had the spooky factor. It was interesting because the book as a whole wasn’t my favorite—it could have used another editing pass to tighten some of the prose. There were times when some of the sentences felt clunky and would pull me out of the story. And the ending was a bit befuddled—it felt rushed and slightly unclear--but this will likely resolve a bit more with the subsequent books in the series.

With all that being said, the tension Roux builds while the protagonists are in an old wing of a closed-down asylum are chilling. I actually had to put the book down at 3AM while feeding my son because it got that creepy. For me, that made the book super fun and I was able to forgive the other shortcomings of the book. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a fun read. I will definitely be checking out the next book in the series, but I probably won’t be reading it while feeding my son at night.

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Every year, the husband and I sit down and try to watch all of best picture Oscar nominees. I’m hoping this year to make it through some of the documentaries too (thanks Ben for the idea). Thus far, we have watched 3 of the nine best picture films: Arrival, La La Land, and Hell or High Water. Overall, none of them knocked it out of the park, but right now, I am rooting for Arrival, just because I’d love to see a good sci-fi film win. I am excited to watch the other 6 films though. The Oscars happen on February 26th so once we’re through them all, I’ll post my predictions.