craigslist ¶ Lytspeed Communications

Good day, everyone. I hope 2009 is treating you well so far. I have two announcements for today.

Announcement #1:

I have joined an elite group of bloggers on the www.100wordsaday.com website. The premise behind this site is that eight writers explore daily life in posts of exactly 100 words. Writers don’t have to post every day, but between the eight writers there should be at least one post of 100 words every day. All posts are non-fiction, but creativity is encouraged.

I saw the notice about the open blogger slot on Craigslist; I have no idea how many people sent samples to the site, but of all the submitters, I was chosen. I guess the site owner liked my samples.

I look at this as a great writing exercise. I’ve played with the 100 words concept before, but that was fiction-based. I’m looking forward to creating occasional 100 word posts that are not cryptic, but still tell a story or express an opinion by themselves.

Announcement #2:

Today, my stepson (Logan) will be competing in the Colorado Virtual Academy (COVA) spelling bee in Castle Rock at 2:00 PM MST. COVA is a publicly funded home-schooling organization that uses the K12.com curriculum, and since its students are home schooled, they are scattered throughout Colorado. Logan already competed in and won his regional COVA spelling bee last month, and today’s bee will bring all the regional winners from around Colorado to determine who will represent COVA in the Colorado State Scripps-Howard spelling bee in March. (In that sense, it’s like a district spelling bee in a traditional school setup.)

Last year, when Logan was going to the Pinnacle Charter School, he won that spelling bee and qualified to attend the Scripps-Howard bee. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it past the written round at state, and this is the last year he will be eligible to compete, so we’re hoping he will do well at the COVA-wide bee today.

I will be attempting to live blog Logan’s progress via my phone on my Facebook wall, if anyone is interested in following along. (Feel free to add me as a friend if you have a Facebook account. The same goes for Twitter.)

Last year, while surfing Craigslist for writing opportunities, I saw an entry for a haiku contest. The idea was to write and submit “Hipster Haiku,” which would then be compiled into a book. Eventually, I did get a note back that my haiku was not chosen, but that I was a “runner-up.” That’s about what I figured would happen, and I chalked it up to a poetry.com-style scam. At least I got a few new haiku out of it, right?

My judgment may have been a little rash, though. Prompted by another writer friend, Chuck Anderson, I performed a Google vanity search. Most of the entries on the first pages actually did have something to do with me, with the exception of the private investigator in Broomfield, Colorado (ironic; that’s just down the road) and the persistent prison inmate in Minnesota who is seeking pen pals.

What caught my eye, though, was an entry a couple of pages in about haiku. That took me to this page, which lists 200 Honorable Mentions for the Hipster Haiku contest in alphabetical order. Sure enough, my name was 84th on the list, and I am evidently the only Colorado Honorable Mention. That’s more than I thought I would get for that contest.

Anyway, the fact that my poems weren’t chosen frees them up for publication on my website, so I’ll post them here before adding them to the poetry category. Enjoy. Quality feedback is welcome.

SWM
Tall, fit, curls, soul patch, Vespa
You … me … my scooter

SWF
5’6″, blonde, blue
Seeking … anyone

Razr phone, iPod,
MySpace, Converse tennis shoes.
Why’s she still lonely?