Hi, Theresa.

inlägg gjort av JMatthews vid 6:46 pm (EST) Jun 10, 2008

Theresa, thank you for your kind note. I was really happy to find the group. I share your interest in art and mental illness as I have been a family therapist for over 25 years, and have used art often as a medium for certain clients, particularly children, but also adults, to express what does not come easily in words. So, along with books, we share quite a lot. I look forward to further contact when you return.

Ferris

inlägg gjort av hemlokgang vid 9:42 am (EST) May 28, 2008

If you missed the 4 hour PANGEA DAY event last Friday please catch the highlights at pangeaday.org ~~~~~I'm sure you will find it worthwhile! Esta

inlägg gjort av Esta1923 vid 12:12 pm (EST) May 14, 2008

Better late than never!

Sean

inlägg gjort av Sean_Nighbert vid 8:47 pm (EST) Apr 21, 2008

HI Theresa, yes that a picture of your truly on my profile

inlägg gjort av michaelbartley vid 10:48 am (EST) Feb 2, 2008

Theresa, I wanted to share with you a moment of great sucess with a 8th grade US history class I do volunteer work for. This class while it does have some bright students, wasn't engaging with the topic. Which is the U.S. constituton, they just didn't seem to at interested. This is my 3rd year voluntering with this teacher, and the other times the kids were very interested. I asked the teacher if I could talk about my experiences in Vietnam, I was a medic, to show how government decisions can have a huge impact on a person's life.
I told them about giving a bed bath to young man that had no arms or legs. I still see his face in my memory. The students were really focused on what I was saying. I really felt that I got through to them, at least for that one class. They started thinking how the outside world can have a very powerful impact on their lives.
Michael

inlägg gjort av michaelbartley vid 3:35 pm (EST) Feb 1, 2008

Thanks for your warm welcome to Art is Life. I look forward to some interesting discussion!

Terri

inlägg gjort av teelgee vid 12:39 pm (EST) Jan 27, 2008

Hi Theresa--

Glad you didn't mind being added to my interesting library list. Loved your comment that reading poetry puts you in the frame of mind for writing. Am always inspired and amazed by how poets can write so richly with just a few words.

Looking forward to reading a copy of your book!

inlägg gjort av fallaspen vid 12:38 pm (EST) Jan 24, 2008

Keep warm! Our power went out for three days several winters ago, and we heated the house from the fireplaces, so I know what you mean. It really made me understand why people in previous centuries built such small rooms in their houses.

inlägg gjort av margad vid 12:11 am (EST) Jan 22, 2008

Theresa, have you read Elizabeth Cook's Achilles? It's a deceptively slender book with a lot packed into it. I'm almost a third of the way through it, and I just had to recommend it to you. Vivid, lushly poetic prose full of sensual terror.

inlägg gjort av margad vid 3:05 pm (EST) Jan 21, 2008

I see you've added Tobacco Road recently. I am very interested in what you think of it. I've written a review here. Not my best, but I seem to have gotten more from this book than most who read it and I wonder if I'm on the right track.

inlägg gjort av geneg vid 1:45 pm (EST) Jan 16, 2008

Theresa,

Hope you don't mind that I added your library to my list.

Slainte!

Sean

inlägg gjort av SeanLong vid 8:13 am (EST) Jan 7, 2008

Hello Theresa, I haven't written or visited yourlibrary site for a while, but I wanted to take a minute to wish you and your family a Happy Holidays! I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas and great 2008. I am looking forward to having the next 4 days off, to attempt to get some serious reading done. It seems that the books I want to read grown faster then the books I've read. On Christmas I will be at Hopewell House, the hospice center I work at. I am looking forward to that experience.
Michael

inlägg gjort av michaelbartley vid 6:43 pm (EST) Dec 21, 2007

I love your blog/website, Theresa. It was so much fun browsing your books - I must read Arnold Wilson's Folktales of Iraq! I like the conciseness of your blog entries. They're nuggets of insightfulness that make me wonder about things. With so many blogs, I'll get interested in an entry, but then quit reading after a few sentences. It's just so hard reading quantities of text on a computer screen.

inlägg gjort av margad vid 8:04 pm (EST) Nov 17, 2007

Hello Theresa I hope you are well and enjoying life. Yesterday I got a lesson from an hospice patient about being in the now. We were talking about what she was discovering what's important and what use to be important is no longer important. She then looked at bug in the window and said that is what is important. I had this real sense of being in the now with her. Of sharing her sense of now of taking to moment to see the moment. The problem is as soon as try to explain or exam it that sense of now is lost.
Michael

inlägg gjort av michaelbartley vid 6:16 pm (EST) Nov 5, 2007

Glad I could be of help. I hope you're doing well. Cheers, Jim

inlägg gjort av JMatthews vid 11:20 pm (EST) Oct 28, 2007

Thanks for the invitation to join your art group, but I'm trying to keep my group involvement at a minimum at this time. I appreciate you thinking of me though.

Katherine

inlägg gjort av katylit vid 11:19 pm (EST) Oct 22, 2007

Yes Theresa, you are correct in assuming that I did not enjoy The Time Traveller's Wife. I thought it was vastly overrated - but I do not generally like best-sellers or main stream writers. I sometimes find it inexplicable why some novels 'make it'

I will order and read your book "The Secret of Hurricanes. After reading Margad's comments on Reading Compared, my interest is piqued. It might be a good sequel to 'The Theory of Clouds'!!

Nice to hear from you again.

Cheers, Karen

inlägg gjort av kiwidoc vid 10:33 pm (EST) Oct 22, 2007

I am well, thank you; reading my poetry at Cal State - Northridge this weekend. Hope you are also well. Jeffrey

inlägg gjort av southwestpoet vid 9:22 am (EST) Oct 22, 2007

Hi Theresa,

I hope it is OK to add you to my IL list - your reading lists are very inspiring. Also thanks for the enormous time you devote to your very successful group Art is Life, which I read daily with great enjoyment.

Cheers,

Karen

inlägg gjort av kiwidoc vid 11:13 pm (EST) Oct 19, 2007

Theresa,

I have to tell you that I spend the majority of the night reading Art is Life threads. Went to sleep at around 4:30 am and was back up at 9:00 - it was the first thing on my mind again (okay, second, coffee was first)...I'm overwhelmed by the experience and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Life is about connections - I think you've said this somewhere - and connecting meaningfully with others is not always easy for me. I truly feel that the ground has shifted and this could be the beginning of something tremendously good! What delightful people and now I am inspired to pull my poetry books out of their boxes !!

Here's to more discussion and creative insight!

Iris

inlägg gjort av villandry vid 2:54 pm (EST) Oct 19, 2007

Thanks for the invitation to your group on Art! The creative process is amazing and so very interesting I am looking forward to hearing (reading) what others have to say.

Iris (villandry)

inlägg gjort av villandry vid 7:08 pm (EST) Oct 18, 2007

RE: Thanks for stopping by Art is Life...
by TheresaWilliams|3:16 pm (EST)|Oct 15, 2007
I appreciate your warm welcome. I will make sure to visit whenever I'm logged on. Hello from Manila. :)

inlägg gjort av krvilla vid 9:02 pm (EST) Oct 15, 2007

Theresa - thanks for the welcome to your group. I am intrigued and impressed by the wonderful subjects and posts. It is a wonderful idea.

Cheers, KAren

inlägg gjort av kiwidoc vid 12:06 pm (EST) Oct 13, 2007

Theresa-

I typically just don't engage when those political diatribes burst out, but I couldn't resist just a little response. We definately need some more participants in our little Deep South book club -- I am usually discussing the book with myself! So don't hesitate to join in or invite some others. Jen

inlägg gjort av jhowell vid 3:20 pm (EST) Oct 2, 2007

It's nice to have you back from Big Sur and in the groups again. I hope all went well.

inlägg gjort av geneg vid 6:33 pm (EST) Sep 15, 2007

Thank you for your message. I will try to get your poetry book in Europe.

inlägg gjort av diwan vid 8:08 pm (EST) Sep 9, 2007

Hi Theresa, you seem to be very popular judging by the number of posting and I would add with good reason. I wanted to say hello and intridce myself. I noticed that one of the posting talked about the Denial of Death, I book that I read a number of years ago but I still remember. I work as a Hospice volunteer and I've worked for a number of years as nurses aide in nursing homes so I have seen death and dying a lot. Each time it is very powerful. As I get older it gets more powerful and the desire to seek what I really value becauses more powerful. I also work as volunteer in a local middle school and last year I started giving books to students that seemed to need encouragment or postive reward. I was supprised in a very nice way how much that pleased the students. By the way Moby Dick was a big success in the middle school group. Best wishes Michael

inlägg gjort av michaelbartley vid 12:21 am (EST) Sep 9, 2007

Thanks for the invite, Theresa. I've been traveling and have just now returned to LibraryThing to see what's up. Hope I can participate.

Will

inlägg gjort av wyaryan vid 8:33 pm (EST) Sep 7, 2007

I caught you last minute at class on Wednesday about adding me to the Modern Poetry group - sorry! I'd really like to check out everything this weekend and start getting caught up on on everything. You teased about it in class, and now my curiosity is all worked up :)

inlägg gjort av silver5856 vid 5:34 am (EST) Sep 7, 2007

Theresa, please add me to the modern poetry group. Sorry that I was slow in getting this accomplished. Thanks, Andrew Tannehill.

inlägg gjort av LightMyFire vid 2:10 pm (EST) Aug 27, 2007

Greg Williamson has a wonderful poem called something like "The Life and Times of Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius" in his book [Errors in the Script]. I think you'd like it.

inlägg gjort av JMatthews vid 1:35 am (EST) Aug 20, 2007

Fools are often my favorites too. I can't think of any character I've ever loved more than Falstaff. His brilliance is idiotic, his idiocy brilliant. I hope someday I'll think so highly of myself.
You're right about the careerist thing. I just hate myself when I start licking envelopes and organizing packets of poems and scrutinizing a particular journal to get a feel for whether or not they'll like my work. I feel like I'm a sort of spy, plotting the daredevil infiltration of some all-powerful king's hovel. I dream of planting my flag in a lean-to. But without dreams, what are we?

inlägg gjort av JMatthews vid 1:16 am (EST) Aug 20, 2007

I feel the same way about writing. Without my hope for my work, I think I would have given up a long time ago. I guess what bothers me is that, in order to believe my writing is more than self-indulgent and meaningless gibberish, I have to believe I'm writing for the ages, which, of course, is terribly presumptuous. But, if I'm writing for myself, I'm not really writing. And if I'm writing to sell books or to win prizes, I'm writing immorally because I'm treating writing as a means and not its own end. In either case, my every word would be a lie to myself. So, I have to tell myself I am or will write something not good but great. How foolish. But, it seems to me, one has to be a fool to go on.

inlägg gjort av JMatthews vid 12:48 am (EST) Aug 20, 2007

I just saw the earlier comments you'd left. Thank you so much for you kindness! I'm blushing. Anyway, I'm 24. And I'm still unsure about which way to go with the PhD; what's scary is my applications will be due in a few months! I know I should do some program, but I'm worried if I go one way I'll be boxed in and be forced to teach only one or the other: and I want to do both!

inlägg gjort av JMatthews vid 12:10 am (EST) Aug 20, 2007

I really enjoyed In Watermelon Sugar, A Confederate General at Big Sur, Trout Fishing in America, etc, but my appreciation has been strictly intuitive. I have no critical ability with which to approach his writing. I can understand his sort of satirical wholly beautiful not-world, and why it exists, but I'm befuddled as to how he created it, or how I can, with any sort of method, approach it with more substantial comments than "Awesome," which is pretty much the extent of my Brautigan criticism so far. The poems I can do a little more with, but their approach is still recalcitrant to my bumbling analytical tactics.

inlägg gjort av JMatthews vid 12:05 am (EST) Aug 20, 2007

I'm actually getting my second Master's degree in poetry...I just finished my MFA, but I couldn't decide if I should do a traditional literature or a creative writing doctorate. So, I decided to pick up an MA while I thought about it. Any advice?

inlägg gjort av JMatthews vid 11:03 pm (EST) Aug 19, 2007

Thank you for setting up a forum that's so much fun!

inlägg gjort av JMatthews vid 9:24 pm (EST) Aug 19, 2007

I stopped by your YourTube site. Loved the video. What CD did the Art Garfunkel tune come from?

inlägg gjort av rdixon98 vid 5:23 pm (EST) Aug 19, 2007

Hi Theresa,
I read in your biography that you're interested in the connection between art and mental illness. My blog is largely devoted to exploring poetry and manic depression. If you're interested, take a look at: http://unorthodoxorthodoxy.blogspot.com Best, Jim

inlägg gjort av JMatthews vid 11:08 pm (EST) Aug 17, 2007

Hi Theresa, thanks for your comment. I'll keep an eye on what the group is discussing. It looks as if we have some geography in common: I went to grad school in Columbus and got married there, even considered a job in residence life at BGSU, but chose NC State instead and have been in eastern and central NC since 1978.

inlägg gjort av Jim53 vid 1:17 pm (EST) Aug 17, 2007

I am about 3/4 of the way through The Secret of Hurricanes and reading it I feel just like I am back in Pamlico county. I hadn't thought about how the cockelburrs felt when I pulled them out of my socks after walking across a field. The football game against Swannsboro just brought back the fall Friday nights under the lights. I think we played Swannsboro. We played Beaufort and Morehead City and Jonesboro and at least one school in Onslow County but I couldn't tell you what it was. I can't believe the eastern North Carolina feel given by evoking a few real places. You mention Donna, she blew right over Oriental. We closed up the house, opened the windows on the lee side and went to town to ride it out. When the eye came over we rushed home, closed the leeward windows, opened the windward side windows, and rushed back to town. This prevented the pressure change from damaging the house without getting everything soaked.

Both my father and I spent time in the hospital at Camp Lejuene (or was it Camp Geiger?) anyway one of them. I remember as if it were yesterday driving down US 17 from New Bern to Jacksonville to visit my dad.

As much as I would like to have known Pearl when I was sixteen, I'm glad now that I didn't. I am amazed reading Pearl, until last year I used to take my son to school. I was amazed at how little these nubile young girls wear, and with push up bras and lots of cleavage how little they are aware of human sexuality. I often wondered what those girls were thinking. Reading Pearl, I still don't know, but I get a feeling that their sexuality is bursting forth into a darkness of which they are totally innocent. This is not good. With boys on fire and girls on fire sparks are bound to fly. One of the things about being a teenage boy in the sixties was that there were a lot of layers of clothes to get through, which gave the girls plenty of time to lay down the law. Now, they start off naked. Not much of a defense. Pearl's attitude is like the holy grail to a teenage boy, but I don't think Pearl is interested in teenage boys.

I am just completely blown away by the whole experience of reading this book. While I had to get used to your style, short sentences, judicious, but effective use of fragments it adds to the music of the simple language. I am very impressed. Thank you for being here and thank you for writing this book.

inlägg gjort av geneg vid 9:25 pm (EST) Aug 16, 2007

Hi
Livingston and MacAdam have some kind of relationship. I heard a rumor that at one point they were going to combine some activities, something like Livingston doing the paperback and MacAdam the hardback. Of course, MacAdam is much the finer press. What drew me to Livingston was the tag "offbeat literature." I thought, well, if I am literature at all that's my sub-genre.

inlägg gjort av coreymesler vid 7:59 am (EST) Aug 16, 2007

Hi Theresa--

I got my copy of The Secret of Hurricanes yesterday. What a handsome production. I am jealous. Macadam Cage is such a happening publisher. Anyway, I hope to read you soon.

Corey

inlägg gjort av coreymesler vid 8:05 am (EST) Aug 15, 2007

Theresa,

I just stumbled upon your group "Art is Life" and read its profile. The first word that comes to mind is, "Wow!" I truly admire your words and thoughts on art (as I do, too, feel the same way), personality, your profile, and your group. It's definitely life-affirming and, for the record, it's why we need more individuals like yourself!

inlägg gjort av seemingmeaning vid 4:50 pm (EST) Aug 14, 2007

Theresa, you're already listed as my friend, according to my page. Maybe it's automatically reciprocal? Thanks for being so welcoming to this newbie--and fellow writer (poet). The group looks great.

inlägg gjort av amyspade vid 1:40 pm (EST) Aug 14, 2007

Hi Theresa,
Thanks for inviting me to the group. So pleasing to read interesting, artful conversation.

inlägg gjort av scriveners_lot vid 10:27 am (EST) Aug 14, 2007

Oh you're right, we should have swapped. I sometimes have run up against authors who didn't like that idea, or didn't respond when I offered it. I think that's because they assumed, rightly, that I was trying to trade a turd for a twinkie. I'll get your book today and I'm looking forward to it.

inlägg gjort av coreymesler vid 7:27 am (EST) Aug 14, 2007

another chuckle that you've caught me, this time underrating Roethke.

i'm gonna have to give his collection another eye and see if i can get over an old college professor's over-influence . ..

indeed, he's written some beautiful poetry ...

inlägg gjort av Tim_Watkinson vid 2:57 am (EST) Aug 14, 2007

Hello, Theresa. Thank you for the invitation. It's lovely to be noticed. I can already tell that I am going to like Art Is Life quite a lot. I love that you come up with these thought-provoking questions that lead to so many different kinds of answers. I've been doing a lot of reading on Myers-Briggs typing; it's good to run into someone else who is conversant. How useful do you find it? Well, I hope this leads to many engaging and enlightening conversations....

inlägg gjort av citygirl vid 6:27 pm (EST) Aug 13, 2007

Hi, Theresa! Thanks so much for the invitation to Art Is Life -- it looks fascinating, and your introduction to it is simply lovely. I look forward to reading more, and to discovering more about your work as well. I've already begun getting all sorts of great book ideas from your library -- thanks for sharing it. As someone who strives to be a creative artist myself (when not overwhelmed with the duties of professoring), and as a fellow INFP, your catalog is of great interest to me -- the proverbial kid in a candy store, and I think Amazon may be getting a whole lot more of my money soon! :-)

inlägg gjort av pmowrey vid 3:50 pm (EST) Aug 13, 2007

thanks for stopping by my library. you have an interesting collection of books. i like to be touched deeply by what i read as well so feel free to stop by with recommendations anytime. happy reading!

inlägg gjort av amanaceerdh vid 9:40 am (EST) Aug 13, 2007

Thank you for stopping by. I look forward to having some time to meet everyone and find out what Art is Life is all about.

Lisa

inlägg gjort av anoisblue vid 11:20 am (EST) Aug 11, 2007

Thank you for your response to my whiny note. I don't want to be a high maintenance friend but as one of those misfits I do struggle with my insecurities. We'll get this letter thing in gear soon, one day this upcoming week. Anyway, thanks for being.

P.S. I'm going to look for a copy of The Secret Life of Hurricanes and let you know what I think.

inlägg gjort av geneg vid 10:25 am (EST) Aug 11, 2007

Theresa, thank you for the invitation to the Art is Life group. I know I will enjoy being part of it. While I don't know that I consider myself an artist, my adult daughter who lives with me definitely is. My attic is now an artist's workshop/hideway, etc.

And thank you for the invitation to be your friend. You would not have known this but The Sun is one of my most treasured publications. I have been reading it for many years. I encountered Pema Chodron there which has led me down a spiritual path I continue to explore.

I'm an ENTJ, although the T/F was a tossup. Don't know that I put much stock in this method of putting us in boxes. We did an exercise at a work retreat based on this with each of us ending up in a square based on our pattern which was quite enlightening actually.

inlägg gjort av PDE vid 1:21 am (EST) Aug 11, 2007

Theresa--

You are too kind. But, you know, spread the word. How come I can't find a publisher for my new novels?

And, by the way, I have ordered yours for myself. Macadam Cage is where it's at. They passed on my newest and I was, briefly, heartbroken.

Corey

inlägg gjort av coreymesler vid 8:26 am (EST) Aug 9, 2007

Oh, goody! I'm eager to see what you post for Books Compared.

I'm frequently grumpy. Just try to rise above it whenever I can. I have dial-up, too, which makes me very grumpy!

inlägg gjort av margad vid 9:29 pm (EST) Aug 8, 2007

Thank you for the invitation to Art is Life. It seems to be both a lovely and a lively virtual space ^_^

inlägg gjort av rarm vid 8:21 pm (EST) Aug 8, 2007

Thanks for introducing yourself. You've got great taste in poets. May I suggest Kevin Young? His latest, For the Confederate Dead, is amazing. Best, Kel Munger

inlägg gjort av KelMunger vid 4:54 pm (EST) Aug 8, 2007

You are very kind! Thanks for the compliment.

Peace and Laughter,

inlägg gjort av jugglingpaynes vid 3:08 pm (EST) Aug 8, 2007

No I haven't read it, but thanks for the heads up.

inlägg gjort av kperfetto vid 2:09 pm (EST) Aug 8, 2007

Hello!
Thank you for adding me to your friends. I love "meeting" new people. I also joined your group, thanks for the invite. I don't know how well I qualify as artist or writer. I have been creating comic strips and writing on my blog, but I haven't really tried to publish anything yet. My family keeps me busy to do any more than scratch that itch to create.

I loved reading what you wrote about yourself. I find my life an incredible adventure and I've found a lot of inspiration in books I've read recently, e.g. The Alchemist and The Wisdom of Heraclitus. I find them enlightening and entertaining.

Peace and Laughter,

inlägg gjort av jugglingpaynes vid 10:23 am (EST) Aug 8, 2007

Speaking of writing quickly (see below), I wish they had an edit feature in the profile comments section. I sounded grumpy about Caravaggio - he will turn up sooner or later, I'm sure.

inlägg gjort av margad vid 2:42 am (EST) Aug 8, 2007

I had my husband check the DVD rental places for the Schama series with the Caravaggio segment. Not there, or at the library either.

I've been wanting to congratulate you on the success of the Art is Life group. It's way up there on the "most active" list, for good reason. Always so much food for thought! Probably because you are so great at posing provocative questions. You have a deep and reflective spirit, which is why I coveted you for the Books Compared group. BC has been languishing, alas, since I spent 2 months in rural Texas and couldn't check in regularly. But it is starting to revive a bit. There are a few other people, too, who are contemplating posting comparisons which I expect to be interesting. Slow is often good, because it can be so much more thoughtful. I tend to write quickly, especially online, where I often have to modify positions I've impulsively taken.

inlägg gjort av margad vid 2:40 am (EST) Aug 8, 2007

Thanks Theresa!
Wishing it to grow in Beauty!

inlägg gjort av horlet vid 12:53 am (EST) Aug 8, 2007

Gregory Orr, Richard Brautigan and the the connections between mental illness and creativity. I am indeed, intrigued. I look forward to reading The Secret of Hurricanes. Are you familiar with Kay Redfield Jamison's books - The Unquiet Mind and Touched with Fire? She delves into the artist and their turbulent flows of creativity.

inlägg gjort av bleuroses vid 6:25 pm (EST) Aug 7, 2007

Thanks for checking out the references to Hugo in Wright's letters!

inlägg gjort av southwestpoet vid 5:12 pm (EST) Aug 7, 2007

too funny. remind me never to get into a typing contest with you.

inlägg gjort av Tim_Watkinson vid 2:31 pm (EST) Aug 7, 2007

Oh yes -- that P&W article first enlightened me about Franz Wright. I will certainly have to check James Wright's book of letters out at the U of Az library here in Tucson. I know he was a close friend of my favorite poet, Richard Hugo, and I collect as much as I can about his life (I even have a Word doc. bibliography of common and obscure sources on him). I recently scoured a bio of James Dickey for excerpts on Hugo. In any event, I will have to take a look at your You Tube videos of your classroom instructions; I've garnered a few such instructional media on creative processes, and I am always interested in methodology (e.g. I recently read Ted Kooser's book on poetry). One more thought on your McCarthy comments: 'Suttree' competes in my mind with 'Blood Meridian' as my favorite novel, divergent as they are.

inlägg gjort av southwestpoet vid 11:14 am (EST) Aug 7, 2007

Hi, Theresa. We like Germany very much. I am in Arizona until early September, and return there in September with my wife, who is a special education teacher for one of the DoD schools there.

As a poet, it's pastoral vistas have triggered much of my writing, including my poems set in America (I am primarily a Southwest regional poet). I love James Wright's poetry, as well as that of his son, Franz. Noting your comment about reading books about how authors create art, I recently bought biographies of Plath and Sexton; tragedy always draws me in to study it. By the way, your reactions to 'The Crossing' and 'The Road' were similar to mine: there is something intoxicating in McCarthy's language, and after reading the latter I went outside, looked at the sky, and literally shuddered over what a real possibility such a scenario it presented could be.

inlägg gjort av southwestpoet vid 10:34 am (EST) Aug 7, 2007

Hi Theresa! I've just been checking out your blog. Congrats on the upcoming story in The Sun. I used to have a subscription.

I don't know if you've read Robin Hemley's memoir Nola, but if not, I think it would be your cup of tea.

inlägg gjort av pagesturned vid 10:15 am (EST) Aug 7, 2007

I am thanking you muchly.

inlägg gjort av coreymesler vid 8:24 am (EST) Aug 7, 2007

I have not read many of the books people have discussed in the Books Compared group, either. We've attracted a group of Nabokov enthusiasts who inspired me to read my first Nabokov novel - not Lolita, which I have read so much about that I was afraid it might feel stale before I got started, but Pnin, which is a masterpiece of precise observation of character and nevertheless didn't get me particularly excited. I think I have relished the discussions about Nabokov's work much more than I have the work itself - but I was very glad to make his acquaintance.

inlägg gjort av margad vid 1:57 am (EST) Aug 7, 2007

Alas, no, I did not see the PBS Caravaggio piece. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it. I read a biography or biographical novel (I'm not sure which anymore) about Caravaggio some years ago, and his life seemed as dramatic as his paintings.

When I started Books Compared, I just randomly picked the two books I had read most recently to get the discussion started (March and Gilead). What an offbeat comparison, I thought, these books are nothing alike. I was stunned when I started playing around with the comparison, though. At heart, they turned out to be so very similar, it almost seemed some subconscious awareness had led me to them. Your posts on Life is Art and the Reader-Writers groups are so insightful and intriguing, I know you'll come up with something that will inspire us all!

inlägg gjort av margad vid 1:47 am (EST) Aug 7, 2007

I thought you would like the Frida Kahlo poem.
Miriam

inlägg gjort av almigwin vid 12:03 am (EST) Aug 7, 2007

You're very kind and welcoming. I'll post this over there but a 60s erotica story I wrote won 3rd place in an online contest and it can be found here:

http://www.desdmona.com/contestwinners.p...

It is a brief visit back to the folks in my novel We are Billion-Year-Old Carbon and Mr. Brautigan makes a brief appearance.

Corey

inlägg gjort av coreymesler vid 8:30 am (EST) Aug 6, 2007

Thanks for the invitation, Theresa. I'll try to contribute when I can. You seem to be carrying the group at the moment. It's as though you are teaching an online class and keeping up with the discussion postings. I ended up having to reduce the number of postings in my online classes because of the sheer volume of postings.

inlägg gjort av firstcitybook vid 1:30 am (EST) Aug 6, 2007

Thanks Theresa! E-mailing people when they join the group is a smart way to welcome them and help build community. I look forward to checking out the group as I become a more avid librarythinger. I found the site ages ago but am only just now beginning to use it. Seems like there's lots of exciting energy & passion focused around this site. Can't wait to join in with the discussions.

inlägg gjort av enderash vid 12:41 am (EST) Aug 6, 2007

Theresa,

Thanks for the invite. This is a great idea for a group--I'll contribute when I can.

ren

inlägg gjort av rennikka vid 6:50 pm (EST) Aug 5, 2007

Hi Theresa--

If you wanna start a Brautigan post that would be lovely. I have an aversion to this kind of online communication, in general, just because I have so little to say--about anything, really. But I will try to contribute if only grunts and clicks.

inlägg gjort av coreymesler vid 10:00 am (EST) Aug 5, 2007

Well, in my 60s novel, We are Billion-Year-Old Carbon, Mr. Brautigan is invoked in a couple poems, and appears as a character in a couple short stories. I took that concept one step further and wrote a whole damn novel where his ghost appears to a young poet, who is then taken on a cross-country trip following the ghost's whims. And who had better whims than Richard Brautigan?

inlägg gjort av coreymesler vid 9:30 am (EST) Aug 4, 2007

Thanks for the kind words about the poetry, Theresa. Glad you like it!

inlägg gjort av stevenschroeder vid 8:52 am (EST) Aug 4, 2007

What's the difference between "add" and "invite a" friend.

I don't get the difference at all,

E.M.

inlägg gjort av ellenandjim vid 9:01 pm (EST) Aug 3, 2007

Dear Theresa,

As with most things on LibraryThing I cannot figure out what this is about, but as I would like to be your acquaintance and maybe we could be friends, by all means add me.

If I knew how to add others, I might start. I like interesting libraries as an idea but have no idea how to do it. Nothing comes with an explanation so I'm usually at a loss.

Ellen

inlägg gjort av ellenandjim vid 1:45 pm (EST) Aug 3, 2007

I have a novel manuscript circulating now like a dying buzzard, destined to find no publisher sympathetic to its cockeyed nostalgia trip and its title is Following Richard Brautigan.

inlägg gjort av coreymesler vid 9:50 am (EST) Aug 3, 2007

Ha! yes, Brautigan! He's common ground enough.

inlägg gjort av coreymesler vid 9:22 am (EST) Aug 3, 2007

Hi Theresa--

I am a join-nothing kinda guy yet I've accepted your invitation. What does this mean? That I am softening in my middlescence? Probably. Anyway, now what do we do? And where's the finger food table?

Corey

inlägg gjort av coreymesler vid 7:41 am (EST) Aug 3, 2007

I attended East Carolina College for one year, 1963-1964 and flunked out. I was more into having unregulated, unadulterated fun than anything else.

I went to high school in Pamlico County, all four years. I lived in Oriental at that time, not far as the crow flies from Jacksonville, but quite a ways by car. Oriental is almost directly across the river from Cherry Point. This was 1959 - 1963. I'm several years older than you.

I got caught up in the beat-hippie culture of the mid to late sixties, and did a stint in Vietnam. I was the first kid in Pamlico County to own any Bob Dylan records. Needless to say I was looked on with some suspicion by most of the kids in the county.

Anyway, you ever go back to Eastern North Carolina?

inlägg gjort av geneg vid 6:13 pm (EST) Aug 2, 2007

Theresa:

Thanks for the note and forgive me if I occasionally drop the "h" in your name--one of my old pals is married to a woman named "Teresa" and I may fall in to bad habits...

I shall contribute to the group as often as I can--between my family, my writing and my blog, there ain't a whole lot of time left over. Still, I should think I have rather a lot to say about "Art and Life", about art BEING life, about how life without my art would be meaningless, horrific and (no doubt) very short in duration. The words I wrote on the "Writers-Readers" site about writing being about survival sounded melodramatic...but perhaps not to those who are obsessed with the printed word, creating new ideas, new stories, new types of narratives. I am DRIVEN to create every day--I have no choice. It's a compulsion and a calling, one that is not without its downsides. The physical act of writing is painful and debilitating, especially after twenty-five or thirty years pounding away at various types of keyboards and wearing out more pens than all the hacks on Grub Street.

My blog, of course, has more to say on this subject...it's the most honest view of the writing life I can offer. And not always pretty.

Thanks, again.

inlägg gjort av CliffBurns vid 11:03 am (EST) Aug 2, 2007

Thanks for the invitation, Theresa. I look forward to contact and to discussing what strikes our fancy, particularly poetry.

Murph (ThePerpetualOrgy)

inlägg gjort av ThePerpetualOrgy vid 10:48 pm (EST) Aug 1, 2007

Theresa:

Thanks for the invite and I'll pop in to "Art is Life" when I can...and when I have something worth saying. I think it's an excellent concept for a group. Best wishes to you--

Cliff

inlägg gjort av CliffBurns vid 7:31 pm (EST) Aug 1, 2007

Hi, thanks for the invitation. (INTP, here....)

- Bob

inlägg gjort av AsYouKnow_Bob vid 5:55 pm (EST) Aug 1, 2007

Hi there -- thanks for the invite. i hope the group takes off. i've found a key to these groups being successful is for somebody to introduce an intriguing new discussion topic every couple of days.

inlägg gjort av NativeRoses vid 5:05 pm (EST) Aug 1, 2007

Thank you for inviting me to be your friend, and for adding me to interesting libraries. I also love poetry very much as you probably have guessed. I just got the Liesl Mueller and liked it a lot. Miriam

inlägg gjort av almigwin vid 1:15 pm (EST) Aug 1, 2007

no I am not anywhere near done yet...it will take a long time.. xxoo

inlägg gjort av ckays1967 vid 3:48 pm (EST) May 31, 2007

_Above the River_ is a favorite. "Hook", "A Blessing", "St. Judas", "Poems to a Brown Cricket", "Trouble"... lots of top shelf poems in there. I'm going to be teaching it in my undergraduate class this fall.

I did thoroughly enjoy _The Road_, but maybe enjoy isn't really the right word. It's a short read but I probably took a week with it--I had to keep putting the thing down because it was so intensely upsetting/heart wrenching. I had a similar expirience with _The Crossing_ emotionally. _The Road_ is a lot more muscular than the early _Suttree_-era McCarthy (where my real allegiances lie) but it's still haunting in the way you expect his work to be. Much better than _No Country For Old Men_ which was kind of pulpy in my opinion.

If you've got any advice for teaching James Wright please feel free to pass it along. And let me know what you think about _The Road_ if you wind up reading it.

inlägg gjort av georgedavidclark vid 10:23 pm (EST) May 29, 2007

Thanks Theresa. Glaser was here last semester as our Rhea Visiting Writer, which translates as a reading, a craft talk, and some time alone with him for each of us to get a fresh critique of our work.

inlägg gjort av georgedavidclark vid 3:53 pm (EST) May 28, 2007