Memoirous

Hi everyone! I’m back from my trip. 1,100 miles from John O’Groats to Land’s End in Cornwall. There is really no one word to describe my experience—though HARD comes first to mind. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Plus I had the pressure of trying to finish in less days than I originally planned because of a snafu at the beginning involving Air Canada. (Still trying to resolve getting reimbursed for my train tickets I had to re-purchase.) I plan to post my daily trip diary here starting next week and into the following weeks. BUT since today is Hot Flash Friday I wanted to pull something from my bike trip, something that reinforced this writerly journey I’m on. It has to do with William Wordsworth. While in the Lake District I stopped at Dove Cottage, Wordsworth’s residence for eight years, before marriage and then through 3 of his 5 children. He also seemed to have eternal houseguests, a sister and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Before moving to Dove Cottage...

No Baggage A Minimalist Tale of Love & Wandering Clara Benson 2016, Running Press So girl meets guy, guy meets girl and together they decide they are going to travel to 11 countries in 3 weeks WITH NO LUGGAGE. Of course this book is really all about the baggage they lug around, the stuff inside of them. Both have pasts that are not easily left behind. First off: who meets on OKCupid and stays together for 3 seconds let alone 3 weeks without a change of clothes????? I loved this story and Googled and found out there is a film project around it, so can’t wait for that. Clara meets Jeff, an professor of environmental science with a wild streak. Clara is a naïve but open-hearted young adult trying to navigate the world post bachelor’s degree. She loves poetry and soup. He experiments with alternate lifestyles, such as living in a Dumpster for a year. The idea that these two will embark on an overseas trip with nothing sounds crazy, exciting, and im...

The first week of this tour I played a game with myself. If I had a choice which would I exclude: high winds, rain, or punishing up hills. It was always about, what's worse. This week since there aren't as many bad up hills and the weather has been clear and the winds still, I'm dealing with getting hopelessly lost and round-abouts. I've managed to not get killed, but not confused. I swear today I wasted a total of an hour each trying to circumnavigate Preston, Wigan, and then Warrington. At one point I realized I'd taken the wrong turn at a round-about and had double-backed. I was also trying to book a warmshowers host on the go. This being Saturday, I wasn't lucky. Nevertheless, I rode past the Holly Bush Inn and as it was almost 7 pm and I have a cousin named Holly Bush I stopped and inquired. They had a cancellation, and one room left, a triple that they let me have at a single price. I haven't spent much $$ so far, so went ahead and splurged. Also had a...

from my trip diary originally posted at Crazy Guy on a Bike http://tinyurl.com/h6mf2fu Day 9, Lochgilphead to Ayr, via Arran, 67 miles Tuesday September 13, 2016, 67 miles (108 km) - Total so far: 440 miles (709 km) Woke early, still raining, but at least no wind. Left probably around 8 a.m. I haven't been following the cycle route completely because sometimes it turns into a slog, or logging track. So stayed on A83 before turning off to go down to the ferry, about 25 miles. By this time the weather was sunny. Lochranza was a blur as I really wanted to catch the 13:55 ferry, only giving me 1.5 hours to cover 15 miles, plus a big uphill. After descending and following the coast I met another cyclist named Murray, he paced me to the ferry. I got there just in time, the last person on. So far on this tour I haven't seen much wildlife. Also rarely do I meet cyclists going in my direction. There are quite a few passing me going the opposite direct...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/news/ct-pivot-arts-site-specific-memory-tour-20160816-story.html Not sure what this is, here’s the article: by Morgan Greene Chicago Tribune Pivot Arts will produce a site-specific interactive production titled "The Memory Tour," the North Side company announced Tuesday. Structured as a 90-minute indoor and outdoor walking tour through other people's memories in the Edgewater and Uptown neighborhoods, the event incorporates live performances with an interactive app and filmed interviews. Isaac Gomez, Brett Neveu and Tanya Palmer have contributed written works for the project. Directed by Julieanne Ehre and co-conceived by Palmer and Ehre, "The Memory Tour" will feature Ann James, Sharon Lanza, Ashlyn Lozano, Brandon Rivera, Kate Smith and Alejandro Tey. The production runs Sept. 10-Oct. 9, beginning at 5252 N. Broadway Ave. Sharon Lanza is a Memory Docent in Pivot Arts’ "T...

Just the Thing (review) Selected Letters of James Schuyler, 1951 – 1991 It’s hard to get into a book of letters. I started and then began to skip around—then it hit me: Oh, this is when Frank died, or Jimmy went on vacation with the Koch’s in August, or he just won a Pulitzer for Morning of the Poem, and then the letters began to take on some context. I began to use the dates and places and reference them to a New York School of Poets timeline—wish the editor had done a little of this for us. Nevertheless, it is rich, rich and brimming with names and nuances. You really begin to see the amount of collaboration that went on in this fairly broad group of friends. Imagine if you were able to approach your genre, let’s say poetry, through the eyes of a painter—or your sculptor friend gives you feedback. The cross-pollination between dance, fashion, music, writers of all genres is incredible and RICH. These people wrote together, slept together, drank, summered, and gossiped ...

Hi Folks! Right now I'm out and about on a bike ride. John O'Groats to Land's End, familiarly known as JOGLE. A 1,000 mile journey. I am going to try to post updates here and HERE . I'll be gone Sept. 1 through 26--send good vibes, prayers, thoughts my way! Hopefully you will join me as I cycle the length of the United Kingdom! North Yorkshire Dales - Steve Coldroy Photography Brunton Turret, Hadrian's Wall, Northumberland, England  

from an earlier post: http://memoirouswrite.blogspot.com/search?q=holiday+at+home Holiday at Home Parade Labor Day weekend. School was right around the corner. Which meant autumn was coming, falling leaves, and change. But things would never be different. Freshman year I was a nerd. As a sophomore I was a more experienced nerd. Junior year I entered school thinking halfway done, only 2 more years of being an ostracized nerd. Finally as a senior, I knew it was my last year. I'd never be popular but forever a nerd. But at least a nerd on her way out. The only good thing about Labor Day weekend was the Holiday at Home Parade. I looked forward to getting there early and finding a seat along the curb. Friends of my parents lived close to the parade route, so I rode up to their house and parked my bike in their garage. The Centerville Elks marching band and Coed Drill team would be in the parade along with both Fairmont high schools, East and West. Schools from ...

Labor Day by James Schuyler From Collected Poems, James Schuyler, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1993. Labor Day Not what I think or see (I can’t: sun in my eyes) or remember, or will be – what do I know of that? – or never knew or know for sure, just this day its clarity: bliss: an un- ending kiss: what a gyp, that there is unendingness but we, or I, only get to sense it. It’s not like that, this day.  A family of seven walk down our street, a tot on his father’s shoulders. Three policemen chat. The fancy grocer’s is open.  Liquor store shut: I foresaw that. Drums in my room: “We can make each other happy.” Radiant clarity, why, today, do I think of death?

Did your Mom ever order from the Avon catalog? Remember the Avon lady? She came around door-to-door with brochures and samples (usually a neighbor trying to earn extra bucks). I always loved the Hawaiian White Ginger. What is this fragrance? On-line it is described as containing notes of citruses, green grass, jasmine, rose and ginger. I’m not sure it’s something found naturally in nature or was spawned in a laboratory. It’s something only myself and a grandmotherly-type person would like. Thus this classic fragrance as well as the Avon lady have long been retired. Yet just the other day I was reminded of this when an odor wafted by me. That smell! And immediately the rhythms of onomatopoeia , the surfboard balance of the words: Hawaiian White Ginger came over me. I remembered exactly what it was like to wear it and how it felt. Comfortable, gracious, light and airy, like an exotic flower opening up on a dewy evening. All that in one whiff. Right now, using your se...