Tag Archives: Stories for All Seasons

Blogs, Bryant and Bands

By lytspeed Posted in Music, Writing Leave a reply

I’ve been reading bluejack’s blog daily since I first heard about it. The more I read it, the more impressed I am by his page design. I’m considering altering this journal to a format more like his, with one daily entry per page and a link to recent entries. I’ll contact him today to see if he is okay with that. I’ll probably make some changes anyway, so if you see any links that aren’t working, please consider them to be works in progress.

Today is the Stories for All Seasons celebration of Ed Bryant’s 50-mumbleth birthday. Keith and I will be going there tonight to listen to him read stories from his (still) forthcoming collection, Flirting With Death, and he’s hinted in his Mathom newsletter that he will read a new science fiction story. That’s a treat, because he has been writing primarily horror for quite some time now.

I also heard from Brad the Drummer today that Dante Spumante may have gotten a Friday gig at Cricket on the Hill based on their (our?) performance on the 13th. I hope they call me to fill in again; I enjoyed playing that gig very much. I don’t know if this will be an original set or a cover set, but I’m hoping for an original set or a mix. That will increase my chances of getting a phone call from John.

John and Theresa from Dante Spumante will be playing at the Singer/Songwriter showcase at this year’s Taste of Colorado, on Sunday, September 1 at 2:00 PM. Go see them if you get the chance.

I also found out that Willy Porter, one of the most talented singer/songwriter/guitarists I’ve ever seen, will be playing in Ft. Collins and Denver on September 20th and 21st. Check his website for details. The Denver show will be at the Soiled Dove, downtown, which should be a great intimate venue for his music. I’m there. I hope I get to meet him.

This morning, I actually got up and exercised, then did some work on the computer for a little while. I’m trying to get into the routine that I told myself I would get into when I got the office set up. With my son starting school again next week, I have even more incentive, because we have to arrange our showering schedules. (That’s probably more information than any of you wanted to know!) The point is, I’m getting closer to writing in the mornings, like I wanted to do. I may make these entries part of that morning ritual, too.

At lunch today, I read some more of Sophie’s World, and passed a critical juncture in the story. The plot has thickened, as the saying goes. It’s pretty cool when I can say anything about plot in a novel that’s primarily a survey course in philosophy.

Tem Group

By lytspeed Posted in Writing Leave a reply

The Tem writing group meets tonight. For the second meeting in a row, I won’t have my homework done. My excuse is that this week has been very busy; I have something going every day this week, both at lunch and in the evening, so I haven’t had time to do the assignment. That’s what I get for waiting until the last moment, rather than completing the assignment last week, when I had time.

I will be receiving some critiques on my short story “The Saint and the Cynic” tonight, and I’m looking forward to that. I got a surprise critique on it last night from one of the people at Stories for All Seasons, and she had some valid points and a couple of good ideas about different directions I could take the story. (I owe her a critique, too. I had forgotten about that until she mentioned mine, and I kind of feel like a heel about that.)

An Opportunity

By lytspeed Posted in Writing Leave a reply

I will be having lunch my friend Michael today, on his gracious invitation. We will be discussing writing in general and whatever else comes up. Tonight, I will be attending Stories for All Seasons. Earlier today, I updated the Stories for All Seasons web page with upcoming appearances. It looks like they are fairly booked through February 2003, with some very big names appearing. That’s great to see.

(Later that day)

Lunch with Michael was good, and we had some Real discussion about artistic inspiration and responsibility. We also briefly discussed recurring themes in our work, which gave me a lot to chew on.

Late in the day, I got an e-mail from John, the bassist for Flat Rabbit. Evidently his other band is in need of a guitarist, and I’m going to try out for the spot. If I do manage to land the spot, it will mean looking closely at my available time and deciding which creative activities I want to pursue most.

Busy Day

By lytspeed Posted in Poetry, Writing Leave a reply

Brainstormed online with friends Mary and Michael about Michael’s story, worked more on the revision of “Saint and Cynic.” Did homework for tomorrow night’s Tem workshop, which resulted in a new poem called “The Words Not Spoken,” an experiment based mainly on Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” I borrowed the form from this poem, and the title was inspired by “The Road Not Taken” by the same poet. It was a fun experiment; I haven’t written a good poem for a while. (Some would say I’ve never written a good poem!) I also attended Stories for All Seasons. Busy day for creativity.

First Post

By lytspeed Posted in General Leave a reply

(Note: Links in older posts on this blog may no longer be valid, and may be removed. I have retained the information for historical purposes. — SJ)

Added Musical Notes page, new Stories for All Seasons link, and this Creativity Journal page to website.  Also added new graphics for all menu links and updated main entry page.  Refreshed myself on Joseph Campbell’s chart of The Hero’s Journey for Tem class homework assignment.  Practiced electric guitar for two and a half hours.