Writing and Reading

I have to thank CJ Harley for a truly spirited idea in these Holidays. A letter to Santa. It seems to fit the Holiday season and is appropriate, given I’m not just a writer comprised of tons of words in my blog. I’m not only known for the blog posts about writing, publishing and all of that. I can be random sometimes. Although, Harley, I truly get you when it comes to a Wii and a digital camera (both items I would DEFINITELY not mind having around–I mean, seriously, Wii Bowling, how cool!), my letter to Santa is a little bit different. So here it goes….

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Dear Santa,

How’s it going, Big Red? I hope you’re getting your fill of cookies. I can only hope I’m on your “Nice List” rather than your “Naughty List”; I hope you understand my ‘hope’ in it, though. This past year has been…well…. You know, difficult. And when things get difficult, I can only hope I remain blameless this Holiday season. So, if it pleases you, this is my wish list for Christmas….

One: I want my family back. I want things the way they used to be. I don’t need the gift wrapped and with a bow, though. Just as they are. My family.

Two: To have one of the two agents call my cell phone and either “A” (depending on which agent calls) ask to represent me and my work or “B” ask for the rest of my manuscript because she loooooooooooves the story. You can even have one of your elves just make believe and call my cell phone, acting like one of the two agents. It would make me smile brighter than your North star.

Three: I want my son to have the best Christmas he could ever possibly imagine. I’m not talking about the biggest collection of Disney “Cars” cars you can think of here. I’m talking about the sheer knowledge that he will always be loved…no matter how unloving the world can be.

Four: I want the strength to know that I’ll never stop loving my wife. Even though she has stopped loving me. This one’s a big one for me, Santa–seriously–because I know that the day I stop loving my wife is the day I stop knowing what love is. And to me–that’s the same as not knowing who God is anymore. I don’t want to be in that place at all. Keep that door closed for me.

And last but not least, FIVE: I would like to be able to afford my own place with a spare bedroom for my son. So I can have him sleep over. So I can finally be a real dad to him (and not a glorified babysitter). So I can put him down for naps when he gets too tired. So I can put him to bed for the night, read him a story, kiss him on the forehead, watch him sleep.

Out of all these wishes, Santa…. If the others preceding this fifth wish are a little too pricey for you…. That’s okay. I’m pleading that you at least make my fifth wish a reality. Make my miracle come true. I don’t even expect these wishes to come true by Christmas Day. I’m not giving you a timeline at all, in fact. Consider this just an open-door request, I guess. If you have it in your spare time during the off-season…. I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks…. And Merry Christmas, Santa Claus….

Sincerely,

Pierre 

P.S.

Say ‘hi’ to the missus for me. I promise I’ll finish writing my latest novel for her to read.

Honestly, it’s a rush of emotion to even perform. What gets me, though, are those poets who have the ability to go off on total improv, shoot out their words like bullets out of a double-barrel shotgun, raining down their havoc in wildfire; and we get lost in the red hail blaze of their vernacular, loving every minute of it.

I’ve never tried doing that. I think if I did, I’d get out of hand. Question for you: what kind of process do you go through to perform without the paper? I’m not entirely sure I could memorize any poem I’ve written–I take that back, I can, probably. But as I’d perform it, I’d get concerned over authenticity–I wouldn’t be speaking enough from the heart and too much out of memory. So what kind of ideas do you poets out there have? Do you simply work off a basic structure then and then let it flow? Or do you just memorize and keep performing until the work comes naturally? Give me some ideas–I’m curious.

That being said, here’s another clip from the film “Slam”. Take it in, babies.

I pay homage to the notorious “Meijer Greeter” that has infested my blog with his funny words . God love you, man. This edition is for him. And all of you.

I, like him, enjoy those valiant speeches. I think it’s the man in me. It’s sort of a masculine thing. Whether it be war speeches, sports speeches–stuff like that–it’s all man stuff. So I’m featuring some powerful speeches, some that grab your guts. Others that make you want to cry–yes, indeed, men do cry. Just not about doggies (except for me, I’m kind of a dog lover–if I find a clip of one movie in particular that ALWAYS makes me cry, I’ll let you know).

Without further ado, here we go…. Feel the love, baby. The valiant love.

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“Braveheart”

“Gettysburg”

“Hoosiers”

“We Are Marshall”