Newspaper Blackout

An Austin Kleon blog was forwarded to me and it fueled me with inspiration. It's titled: How to Steal like an Artist. I mentioned in my previous blogpost his log book idea I started doing. But after meandering around his site I found another fun thing to try.

Newspaper blackout poetry.

It's become a fun stress releasing hobby. It's easy. "Grab a marker and a newspaper and blackout the words you don't need." At first I was worried that it wouldn't be "right." (Yes let's go back to that fun chestnut of a creativity blocker.) Then I let that go and just went for it. I do it to find out what it's going to tell me and there is a great satisfaction you get when the poem emerges.

Here's a few that I came up with:

Feel free to share some of yours with me!

The Mid 2011 Check In

I'm going to stray from my usual story telling format and do a little mid year review. This is as much for me as it is for you. If I write this down I must follow through. I feel like I need to sort out my brain a bit. Seeing what's going on written down seems to make all the files in my head collate. (Collating is one of my favorite things by the way. I can collate anything and feel loads better.)


Writing
I'm in rewriting mode for my sci fi/dystopian young adult novel. I'm dilgently going chapter by chapter forcing myself not to rush, to take my time and look at every freakin sentence. I finally realized how after a couple pages I start to skim. It's slow going, but getting good stuff done.

Also, my newest picture book, Grambo, will soon be available on Be There Bedtime Stories! The illustrations by the fabulous, Betsy Hamilton are beyond incredible. I cannot wait for the world to see!

What I'm Reading
I'm almost done with The Magicians by Lev Grossman. An amazing read! I was told "if you liked Harry Potter you should read this." I was obsessed with Harry Potter and this is Harry Potter with drugs and sex thrown in. Next on my list are: The Pillars of the Earth and Game of Thrones.

New endeavors!
I've decided to start a log book, an idea stolen from the poet, Austin Kleon. I've also decided to start doing morning pages again. (Writing fifteen minutes every morning stream of conciousness right when you wake up.
I started to make book boxes for my kids and godson. I will collect books for them and on their 13th birthday I will give them their book box. A start to their library and I'll put them in a really cool box too. Hopefully this will turn out awesome not really lame and they will look at me "like great a whole crap load of books, thanks mom/godmother." Hopefully they will love books like I do and be super stoked.

A lot of change in my life is coming. So I'm trying to embrace it all. Focus on making a happy home, keeping at the work I love and keep open to all the possibilities.
So that's about it. Feel free to please comment about what you are up to. I'd love to hear!