Volume IIII, Issue 3
January 19, 2015
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Dear ,
To quote Mark Twain, “I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” Bear with me here! I just got out of the car a little bit ago from a trip to Clearwater, Florida, with my husband, and I'm a bit, but I really want to get a zine out to you while it's still Monday, even if you're not reading this until
Tuesday.
I also have an invitation for you to sing (or just listen) along with me if you live in the Charlotte area, and are free this Friday evening, and like music and song.
And of course there's a
prompt for you below, after a piece of writing called "By a Song" that I think you will just love. So hang on, and I will get to the Jolley Trolley above and what it has to do with this week's word, song, as quickly as I can. (And if you just want to find out about the Friday song invitation, click here now.)
So, the Jolley Trolley of Clearwater.... well, my husband is a board member and past president of an organization called ACUP. (Yes, people
make jokes about this acronym a LOT. It stands for the Association of College and University Printers, and it has a number of loyal, longtime members, including my husband. And a lot of loyal spouses who have enjoyed quite nice times at annual conferences across the country over the years as the printers shared and learned and networked.) ACUP's board decided to hold a strategic planning meeting in Clearwater this January. This is a board that really cares about its
organization's future.
Man, these guys (and gals) worked hard! The seven of them sat in a room from 8 to 5 for two straight days to hammer out a 5-year plan, missing out on the Florida sunshine. I went along for the ride, as did the spouses of most of the board members who attended. (I
was up to my eyeballs in editing jobs, so I missed out on some Florida sunshine, too, but I sure had a great view while I worked, and at least got to take a few walk-by-the-Gulf-of-Mexico breaks, even if I didn't join my fellow spouses-along-for-the-ride for fun field trips.)
After that
second long day, with 16 hours of work sorted, numbered and narrowed down to fit an 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper, all thirteen of us rode the Jolley Trolley to a restaurant to celebrate this great feat.
I admit, we all had one drink with our meal. A few people had two. But that didn't explain why, on the way
back to the hotel, all thirteen of us ended up singing Motown hits at the top of our lungs, complete with ridiculously large hand motions. I don't know what does explain it, except that we all like and respect each other, and we were glad to be together, and the board was very glad they got what they came to do done, and done well.
My husband, bless him, started it all off when "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" came on. He always did love that song. And then Richard T. chimed in, then John W., then me, then Steve D's wife Pam.... We fell like (Derek and the) Dominos into this Temptations hit my then-boyfriend, now-husband sang to woo me back in 1982 and the driver kept the Motown coming, and by the time we hit "Stop in the Name of Love" we weren't too proud to be making total fools of
ourselves, to the delight of the couple behind us in the trolley, who sang along until their stop and high-fived us all on their way down the aisle to get off.
It's a night none of us will ever forget, I reckon -- singing songs from former days with gusto and abandon, even when we didn't know all the
words, grinning and giggling at our own giddiness. Have you ever noticed that the louder you sing, the better you feel? Even if it's in the shower, with only a bar of soap for an audience -- or a microphone :).
You may not know this about me, but I have loved to sing -- and to listen to music -- for as long as I can
remember. (In fact, when I worked at Bob's Big Boy restaurant back in high school, I was dubbed the singing waitress. And I have the annoying habit of humming without realizing I am, which my son inherited, much to his chagrin.) My tastes run the gamut, from jigs to jazz, tuba to piccolo, show tunes to Motown, folk to classical to minstrel.
So I was delighted to be asked to narrate (and read a bit of poetry) for the Carolina Catholic Chorale’s presentation of "Winter Songs and Spring Trifles" this Friday evening, January 23rd at 7 p.m., featuring music & verse from the Middle Ages to today with CPCC's Early Music Consort, playing on period instruments from the Renaissance. We are even going to wassail! (I admit that I have never wassailed before, but the
director has promised to teach us all.)
And there's going to be a celebration with food and drink afterward where you can mingle with the musicians (and me), of course. All for $12, with discounts for families and students. Want to come? Please do! Details here. And if you want to and can't come, I am very sorry! Here's a wassail tune so you don't miss all the fun... And if you're more in the mood for Motown, "Stop in the Name of Love" here....
Don't forget to read on for a fantastic essay about another kind of music altogether, and a prompt, too....
Sing your own special song,
Maureen Upcoming WordPlay
COASTAL WRITING RETREAT Connect with Your Creativity at the Sunset Inn (Writing—and
more—as Renewal and Inspiration) Renew yourself and reconnect with your own creativity, whether you are a practicing writer, closet writer, or as-yet-to-pick-up-the-pen
writer! The techniques and prompts we’ll use will spur your imagination, and can be used to create nonfiction, fiction, and/or poetry—the choice is yours. $378 for the weekend beginning Friday February 20 through Sunday February 22. The Coastal Writing Retreat includes writing sessions, two nights’ lodging, two breakfasts and Saturday lunch (hotel tax and Saturday dinner at a local restaurant not included). Additionally, for those who might like to stay another day to work on their writing, or
to just enjoy the beach, the Inn is offering to Coastal Writing Retreat participants only, the opportunity to stay Sunday night, February 22, at half price. WHERE: The Sunset Inn, 9 North Shore Dr., Sunset Beach, NC 28468
WHEN: Friday, February 20 – Sunday, February 22, 2015 TO REGISTER: Contact the Sunset Inn at 888.575.1001 or 910.575.1000 (if you would like to handpick your room, view your choices here first, then call). Because the Inn is holding rooms for you, our participants,
they are blocked off as unavailable online. Register soon by phone – this is a popular event and there are only 8 spaces available. -----------------------------------------------------------------
THE HEALING POWER OF WORDS
(Writing As a Healing Process) What benefits can writing provide –physically, mentally, spiritually? Are some ways of writing more healing than others? And can we create quality literary work as we heal? In this retreat that incorporates recent discoveries in the field of mind-body-spirit connection and Dr. James Pennebaker’s ground-breaking ideas on writing as a way to move through loss
and grief, you’ll learn methods of writing that help navigate loss and grief on your life path of growth and wholeness. You will choose your ideal balance between community time and solitude as you use writing as a transformational tool in any way that best serves you. And, if you’re looking, you’ll find the genesis of new poetry, creative non-fiction, and/or fiction. Note: Tears honored. Laughter likely. Inspiration guaranteed. WHERE: The Sunset Inn, 9 North Shore Dr., Sunset Beach, NC 28468
WHEN: Friday, February 27 – Sunday, March 1, 2015 TO REGISTER: Contact the Sunset Inn at 888-575-1001 (if you would like to handpick your room, view your choices here first, then call). Because the Inn is holding rooms for you, our participants, they are blocked off as unavailable online. Register soon by phone — this is a popular event and there are only 8 spaces available. More WordPlay opportunities here.
Featured Writing
By a Song
by Bob Cowser,
Jr. Memory, like the organ, is an instrument capable of
infusing the most secular music with spiritual sounds.
~ James McConkey
When I was in the first grade, my favorite song was John Denver’s "Rocky Mountain High." I was a little confused when I heard it --
figurative language still eluded me. How could a boy be born in his twenty-seventh year? How could he be hanging by a song? But I didn’t like the song any less for not knowing. I scratched the LP playing that same cut over and over. I tried to memorize the words and at bedtime I sang into my pillow as much as I could remember. (Read the rest of Cowser's moving essay here.)
You can learn about Bob Cowser, Jr. and his writing here.
This essay is from Brevity magazine, a great source of creative nonfiction.
WordPlay Now! Writing Prompt This is WordPlay -- so why not revel in the power and potential of one good word after another? This week, it's "song." PROMPT:
Doesn't everyone have at least one song he or she would sing along to if it came on the radio? Or got played at a concert? Or over a loudspeaker in a Jolley Trolley in a Florida city far from home?
What is that song for you? Or for one of your characters? (If you don't know, you can always make it up!)
Write a scene, essay, poem, or story about someone singing along to a song. Include details about the current setting and the setting in which the song was first heard, as Bob Cowser, Jr. does in "By a Song."
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MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide to the Craft of Writing, a grief workbook entitled I Will Never Forget You, and two collections of poetry, This Scatter of Blossoms and When the Leaves Are in the Water. She believes, as author Julia Cameron says, "We are meant to midwife dreams for one another."
Maureen also believes that serious "word
work" requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best learn -- and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to yours!
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