the times they are a-changin'

In the collection of prose poems Backscatter: New and Selected Poems, John Olson transcribes his words in a style similar to that of a person having a conversation, a conversation rich in vocabulary and vivid language. Olson writes with enthusiasm and delight, about subjects few individuals would suppose to touch on like Mercury and My Favorite Gland where he writes, “It tastes like sunlight.” His technique does remind me a little of the great pop culturist Andy Warhol and is reminiscent of the writer Kenny Goldsmith. Backscatter is an odd assemblage of poetry, or rather eclectic collection; John Olson is a talented poet who, with great ease and creativity, transforms everyday life into works of art, and here is my attempt at shadowing him:

Color Wheel: After John Olson
Unlocking doors with a wand is freedom as brilliant hues fly through your hands bursting silhouettes as passages welcome you to heaven shy but a bit curious. Is releasing passion nervous and inexperienced away from scrutiny and criticism is retouching delicate outlines on your loves body songs brushing her to sway her head arms and legs her eyes blue and dreamy as you layer more color in, deep rich shades of paint. Is laughter brushing you to dance blended on carpet and rugs brushing the mood to blend through your body stirring with songs and harmony. Your breath stained in the air.

Evaporation: After John Olson
Drip like a faucet; plop, wash, sing, swim. An aimless rhythm or a concert from my sink? Raindrops, flips, pitter-pattering against rooftops; a pulsing dance conducted by Mother Nature. Dripping wet with sweat. Salty skin, saltine crackers soaking into my chicken noodle soup. Seeping, weeping blood flowing down my finger as Sleeping Beauty flashes in my brain. Cold water dripping from my hair or warm droplets running down my cheeks. Trickles of hot candle wax making a gummy puddle, red, like the color of fire, like the heat of my soul. Blistering saturation of oil splattering on my skin, popping off like evil in my head – angry, burning thoughts of him. A little time is all it takes. Drip, drip, drip and he’s gone.

video game*

oh my gosh...getting this video to upload was SO complicated. i'm exasperated...right there, yes, there, that is my face*

follow this link por favor: http://nicole8236.neptune.com?selectedalbum=nicole8236384108

baby sounds*

kids are cute. babies are even cuter. all the gurgly sounds, the coos and squeals...i can't help but try and get them to make noise because frankly, it's funny. i wondered what i should do for the audio prompt, and then realized that recording 30 seconds of sounds the baby i watch makes would be perfect. it wasn't as easy as i thought it would be, mainly because every time i pressed record, he was quiet, then when the recording was off, he would start the baby-talk; it was bad timing, we just weren't on the same page! frustrating, yes, but i knew if i kept at it, i was bound to catch something on my recorder. finally i got it, a little clip of him playing his xylophone...a classic toy eliciting classic sounds. i should have video taped him, it was pretty cute to watch. he hits that thing so dang hard, it's like he can hardly contain the excitement of holding a little wooden wand and slamming it down on the pretty and colorful keys. sometimes, when he's really excited, he shakes. silly baby :)
here is the link to my audio clip:
http://www.supload.com/sound_confirm.php?get=91761043.wav

just three days after i took this sound clip, my girlfriend sent me a sound clip of her daughter laughing, which is probably the cutest thing i've ever heard: kai is cracking up over the grinch's butt and big belly...she's watching the jim carey version, which is pretty funny if you haven't seen it. enjoy*
http://www.supload.com/sound_confirm.php?get=94047906.wav

Sugar and Spice

…And everything nice, that’s what little girls are made of. On November 7, 2008, the gender of my baby was revealed and yes, it’s a girl! My boyfriend and I are so happy. I have to say that I was a bit shocked because I was absolutely certain that I was carrying a little boy. It was just this feeling, something I couldn’t really put my finger on, but whatever, I was wrong. Maybe others influenced my opinion; roughly 48 out of 50 people were convinced I was having a boy. I guess I was "carrying low" and since my morning sickness (which should really be called all-day sickness) was extremely mild, supposedly that also meant I was incubating a boy.

When I first found out I was pregnant at 7 ½ weeks, I was considerably stunned, but didn’t feel "pregnant." A week later, things were noticeably different. Nausea, among an assortment of other pregnancy symptoms, settled in. I started eating crackers to curb the nausea and it worked like a charm. Then another thing happened: I began to crave fruit. I hate to use the word crave, but I just desperately, and rather urgently, wanted fruit. Watermelon, nectarines, peaches, plums, and grapes, that was it. It varied day-to-day, and once, I made a trip to the grocery store around 11pm because I downright HAD to have a nectarine. The very next night, I was back at the grocery store and required the ingestion of red grapes. I walked past the nectarines, stopped for one moment to observe them, and shuddered; they looked positively disgusting to me. Blah. The thought of a nectarine was sickening, but it was only the night before that I absolutely, positively had to have one. What the hell?! It was during these two weeks of seeking out fruit that I thought I might be carrying a girl; apparently, girls stimulate fruit cravings, whereas boys induce strong meat and/or protein desires.

My 20-week ultrasound clearly reveals that I’m having a baby girl. Well, it was clear to the ultrasound technician, not to me. My boyfriend Greg is over the moon; he got his little girl. I know it is going to be exhausting and require endless days and sleepless nights of patience, dedication, and hard work. Although I have no idea what it’s like to bear and raise a child, I have worked as a nanny for 12 years and believe I have a very good indication of the commitment and energy it takes to nurture one. The work will be worth the outcome. This baby girl will be loved and loved and loved for all her life.

I cannot wait to meet her.

Impossible Project

Go outside on a clear winter night and look up at the sky. Find a star, a bright one, and make a wish. Don't tell anyone what you wish for.

Wait until your wishing star falls from the sky. Catch it and hold it close. Then take it and put it in your pocket. Keep it safe.

The following winter, pass your star on to a loved one.
Forget about what you wished for.

Fundamentals of Sheet Music

Music plays a great role in my life and to be able to create some of that music is a sensation I cannot wholly explain. Playing the piano is soothing, peaceful, satisfying, and so many other things. It is beautiful to listen to and even better to compose. I have been blessed with the skill to play and will carry that with me for all my life. Below I’ve compiled some fun and easy directions that might help equip a piano novice to read sheet music. For starters, the standard piano is made up of 88 black and white keys and the first thing to teach someone is where middle C is located on the piano. Your piano should have a row of white piano keys interrupted by alternate sets of three and two black keys. The white key to the left of the first black two-set is known as C. On the standard piano, count the C keys from left to right. The fourth C to the right is Middle C. The next important thing to learn is knowing the names of the notes and where they are located on the piano. You cannot read sheet music without knowing the names of the keys. On the white set of keys the names are A,B,C,D,E,F, and G. After learning where those keys are, you need to be able to know the names of the black keys and where they are located. The black keys are are either going to be read as a flat key or a sharp key. The sharps are C#, D#, F#, G#, A#, and the flats are D-flat, E-flat, G-flat, A-flat, and B-flat. After learning the names of the notes and where they are located you will have to identify where they are loacted on a staff. A staff is bascically the bar which one reads when learning a piece of music. It lets you know if the piece is going to have any sharps or flats. And of course it has all the notes themselves listed. Next is learning rhythms. You need to count how many beats you hold down a key. A whole note is 4 beats, a dotted half note is 3 beats, a half note is 2 beats, and a quarter note is 1 beat. A beat can also be known as a count. Another thing to learn is the fact that on a piano you use both hands. This means you need to know the notes on the treble clef and the notes on the bass clef. The treble clef is attached to the right hand and the bass clef is designated for the use of your left hand. There is a little trick to remembering which note is what on the staff. For the treble clef, any notes that fall on the lines of the staff remember the phrase "Every Good Boy Does Fine." The first letter of every word is the name of the note. For the notes that fall in the spaces, you spell the word F.A.C.E. For the bass clef you can say "Great Big Dogs Fight Animals" for the lines and "All Cows Eat Grass" for the open spaces. In general, once you get all the notes down, it’s all about practice. You need to train your mind and your fingers to be able to work at the same time. That involves reading the music and memorizing where your fingers go on the piano in unison. Practice is an extremely crucial element to feeling comfortable enough to have your fingers dance freely along the keys. Once you get that down, it should be easy as 1-2-3. You’ll be a pro before you know it!