Archive for the ‘writing’ Category
Where I’m From (Inspired by George Ella Lyon)
Some of you may have seen George Ella Lyon’s gorgeous, moving poem Where I’m From. If you haven’t, go here but then please come back.
Now, after reading my thoughts below, do yourself, your well-being, and everyone around you a favor and use this form to guide you in writing something of your own.
And then please, please share it with us.
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Where I’m From
I am from coal, the black diamond, from the depths of the earth, from the veins of life mined by my ancestors so that I would never have to, those who toiled away sotto terra as their wives worked hard at home or in factories hoping to never hear the whistle call them to the breaker in the middle of a work day.
From Big Ben’s blue birch beer, a taste so unique and delicious, only a chosen few have ever had the pleasure.
I am from a quaint, white house with a brick-colored porch, off on its own on a block of row homes, rebuilt by my family after a fire destroyed it, smelling often of garlic and onions, but also of fresh-baked everything.
I am from the spider fern, launching its branches far and wide, hoping that someone, somewhere will take in a baby off-shoot, plant it and nurture it.
The lily, the gorgeous lily that was a fixture in the house at Easter time, sitting in front of the fireplace, dying with each passing day but bringing such joy to all who saw her.
I am from Christmas Eve at my grandmother’s house, squeezing into the kitchen, eating baked ham, potato salad, cheese, meats, and so many sweet pickles and black olives, I thought I might burst.
And different shades of dark hair from my mom and my dad and my brother.
I am from the daily dinner table shouting (not in a good way) and keeping feelings inside, quiet, and out of view (except for the shouting).
From the “no soda before noon” rule and stories of what is was like to grow up as an immigrant family in America in the 1930s and 40s.
I am from a strong base of Catholics, with a slight dose of agnostic, and have come to follow a similar path. I am from a study of many world religions and finding some of each that bring me at peace with the world, and yet complete failing to understand how so many religious people hate so much and so many in the name of one god or another.
I am from the desire to learn, to understand, to love, to be loved, and from the wish that we all, truly, can live in harmony.
I’m from a small town in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania, from Lithuanians, Italians, and Germans, from pierogies, gnocchi, and sauerkraut.
From the great-great-grandfather who was saved from a bull by his trusty black mutt, the aunt who constantly changed her first name because she didn’t like her given one, and the father who served in Vietnam.
I am from an accordion-file folder back in the States, a wall in my brother’s house, and a small black-and-white photo album here with me—a collection of family pictures, documents, stories, and history that are worth little monetarily, but that couldn’t possibly mean more to me.
A struggle of one family that has moved around the world, been laborers and professionals, helped build countries, fought wars, healed the sick, played professional sports, cooked for the masses, touched the hearts of many, seen the best and worst of people, experienced many successes as well as failures, but, most importantly, persevered as a unit, as a family.
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Reminder: check out Judith‘s Chicken Pot Pie for La Buona Cucina Americana!
Buon weekend!
Six-Word Memoirs
SMITH Magazine, self-described as “a home for storytelling,” challenged readers to write six-word memoirs inspired by Ernest Hemingway, who, when asked to write a six-word novel, came up with “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
Genius, right?
To get the words rolling, SMITH teased with six-word memoirs written by author of Eat, Pray, Love Elizabeth Gilbert (“Me see world! Me write stories!”) and Chef Mario Batali (“Brought it to a boil, often”).
Some of my favorites are:
Secret of life: Marry an Italian. (Nora Ephron)
Wasn’t born a redhead; fixed that. (Andie Grace)
Found true love, married someone else. (Bjorn Stromberg)
Must remember: people, gadgets. That order. (Brian Lam)
One tooth, one cavity, life’s cruel. (John Bettencourt)
You can read more in Not Quite What I was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure by Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser, but you know I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to write mine:
In search of heritage, found self.
Read more about six-word memoirs in the L.A. Times Op-Ed Short on words, deep in meaning and send yours in to SMITH Magazine here. But first, do share:
What is your six-word memoir?
Buon weekend!
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[tags] SMITH Magazine, six-word memoirs, books[/tags]
Love Thursday: Letting Sleeping Dogs Lie
I am *so* lucky to be able to work at home.
I especially appreciate it when the weather is nasty outside — cold, rainy, and windy — and I can sit at the kitchen table with my laptop, papers and files and notebooks spread all around me, the small space heater nearby, a fleece blankie over my legs, and Luna and Stella at my feet.
Well, nearer to the stufa than to my feet, but who’s measuring?
Happy Love Thursday!
(Yes, it’s officially back!)
i know all there is to know about the writing game
My dear blogging buddy Jen of A2eatwrite has organized an amazing project called “The Writing Game.” You may have noticed the button over there on my sidebar? Well here’s what it’s all about:
Each person who wants to play sends Jen story ideas, character descriptions, and a conflict. Jen then randomly swaps these lists among the participants so that each person has a blogging buddy and writes something based on his or her buddy’s ideas.
I was matched up with one of my favorite bloggers who I can’t wait to meet in person when she moves to Rome and who gave me a fantastic set-up, characters, and conflict. Grazie mille NYC/Caribbean Ragazza!
Below is just a taste of my story entitled For Love or Garlic.
Go here to read the rest of my story on The Writing Game blog and see NYC/Caribbean Ragazza’s original ideas. And don’t forget to let me know what you think either here or there (or everywhere)!
Also, while you’re over at The Writing Game, take a look at the rest of the stories (each with different plots, themes, ideas) from this edition of The Game, and start thinking about your ideas to join up next time!
For Love or Garlic
I can’t believe it’s 2 a.m. and we’re stuck within nose-shot of the garlic capital of the world, thought John as leaned back against the front bumper of his Mercedes. He zippered up his new lightweight jacket, one that was never meant to weather any actual weather, and crossed his arms in front of him.
“It’s not my fault, you know,” Melinda yelled through the passenger side’s open window. They had been together for 10 years and she knew what John was thinking by the way he sighed as he looked toward the sign pointing the way to
She pulled her head back inside the car and wrapped her scarf a little tighter.
The studio head didn’t agree, though, and John had to endure finding cloves of garlic on his desk for many months after he suggested the idea. Of course those silly pranks were better than his eventual reward of a brand new although garlic-free desk at a different studio with a boss 15 years his junior.
With the young buck to compare himself to, John increasingly felt as if his own 45 years were speeding toward the half-century mark like a getaway car.
Getting away from what was the question he struggled to answer.
The mere sight of the
Besides, there was definitely something pungent in the air.
* * * * *
Be sure to click through to read the rest of my story For Love or Garlic.
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[tags] the writing game, fiction writing, writing, gilroy, garlic[/tags]
NaBloPoMo & NaNoWriMo–ciaooooooo!
And now, the end is here. And so I face the final curtain. My friend, I’ll say it clear. I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain.
Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew [NaNo too?!]
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out [Take that Telecom!]
I faced it all and I stood tall and did it myyyyyyyy way!
Go ahead, give Old Blue Eyes a listen while you read the rest of this post.
So here we are at the end of a great, exciting month in the blogosphere. I survived NaBloPoMo, but came up a bit short on NaNoWriMo.
Thems the breaks.
The most important thing is that I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished, and I *really* am.
Thirty blog posts in thirty days is nothing to shake a stick at, as my grandmother would’ve said. And I’m proud of the content in each and every one of those posts to boot. I thank all of you for keeping up and commenting so fully and frequently; your continued support is appreciated more than you could ever know.
Now regarding NaNo, the novel that I’m working on requires a lot of research for one of the characters that I hadn’t done prior to November. Sure I could’ve cheated and continued working on a book that I already have nearly 50,000 words written for already (remember my manuscript counter in the sidebar?). But that wouldn’t have been very NaNo of me.
Instead, I wrote the half of the book that I was prepared to write going in, and I’m pretty happy with it. Indeed, I’m more inspired than ever to get into researching my other main character and get going on that part because I now see a wonderful novel coming out of these quickly thrown down words and ideas. There’s so much potential for growth there, and I wasn’t so sure of that before I began. So that’s been a nice surprise.
Even better? I’m also inspired to pick up that old manuscript and get working on it again. I may even join NaNoFiMo, National Novel Finishing Month to get working on those last 30,000 words or so on that book. Who knows? It’s all up to me, isn’t it?
But back to the blog. I do have some unfinished November business right now–my November Monthly Musing:
With each leaf that falls
We offer thanks for present,
past, and future life.
Today I’m thankful for:
Eden Marriott Kennedy, founder and organizer of NaBloPoMo. She started with a fabulous idea last year and has built an impressive community around it. I can’t even begin to imagine the amount of (mostly thankless) work that is involved in keeping up with all of this, but I would like to give this special woman and blogger extraordinaire a pat on the back from southern Italy for all those hours of keeping us in line.
You’re a true blog heroine, Eden! Thank yeeeeew!
I’d also like to give a special thanks to BoogieMum who came up with the idea for 30 days of thanks. It’s been an amazing exercise in stopping and appreciating what’s important every day, and I will continue to do so in my own private journal.
P.S. Don’t forget that the Dolce Italiano Contest is over at Jenn’s The Leftover Queen today, where she’s made a decadent Chocolate Salami.
Past posts include:
Mosaic Biscotti, Sara’s Ms Adventures in Italy
Chocolate Kisses, Ilva’s Lucullian Delights
Ricotta Pound Cake, Here!
Chestnut Brownies, Shelley’s At Home in Rome
Remember, all you need to do is comment on any and all of the Dolce Italiano recipe posts to be entered into the drawing to win a personalized, signed copy of Gina DePalma’s fabulous new cookbook full of Italian sweets and treats, Dolce Italiano.
And, finally, buon weekend!
Phew. Breath.
Michelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived.
Calabria Guidebook
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