Carol's Blog

Write about Something That has Closed

August 15, 2009

I walked by this store today, The Original Ornament, and saw the sign. I thought of the many times over the last fifteen or so years I have stopped in for a tiny repair job–a new necklace clasp, a back for an earring, a new strand for beads. Most of what I bought cost about […]

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Perseverance: A List

August 14, 2009

1. The writer Alice Adams had a bad relationship with her mother, a failed writer. (The act of writing becomes fraught with family baggage.) 2. Alice decided that if she wrote maybe her mother would like her. (Risky idea. The mother would, more likely, be jealous.) 3. In college a creative writing teacher told her […]

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"Tall Woman"

August 7, 2009

My god daughter Olivia Qin Buffett adores this statue in the lobby of Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Michigan. Olivia, soon to be 21 months, stops to greet “tall woman,” as she calls her, on her way in and out to visit her mother, Baolian, who has been on hospital bed rest for some time–since her […]

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The Shadowy Self

August 6, 2009

Here’s a prose poem that I think makes a great prompt. Write about your vices. Fireflies And these are my vices:impatience, bad temper, wine,the more than occasional cigarette,an almost unquenchable thirst to be kissed,a hunger that isn’t hungerbut something like fear, a staunching of dreadand a taste for bitter gossipof those who’ve wronged me—for bitterness—and […]

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Veggies Galore

August 3, 2009

I just spent the weekend in East Lansing, Michigan. So many parks, everything green and lush. It is home to Michigan State University the first land grant university in the country. My friend Susie and I drove to down scenic country roads to pick up the organic veggies for our host family. We passed corn […]

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Writing Prompt, July 31: Shakespeare

July 31, 2009

Write about a Midsummer Night’s Dream. One of yours or Shakespeare’s.

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Writing Prompt, July 30: Sickness

July 30, 2009

I just talked to a friend today who stayed home from work because her daughter is sick–and home from day camp. They are on their way to the pediatrician. I remember getting a call when our daughter got sick at overnight camp. When we went to pick her up, not only did she have a […]

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Writing Prompt, July 28: Summer Storms

July 28, 2009

Write about summer storms. I couldn’t resist this poem, from today’s Writer’s Almanac. I love “by a string of buttered days,” “wallowed in this picnic sun,” a clump of daisies nodding by the road,” “the dog cowers,” the shutters banging out their warning,” etc. Counting Thunder For several weeks the weather has been mildAnd we […]

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Writing Prompt, July 27: Hats

July 27, 2009

I just read that Joseph Mitchell wore a fedora to work every day. My dad wore one too. In the summer Mitchell wore a straw fedora. Write about summer hats. Notes: I’m going to write about my dad and his hats and about how now at age 91 he still takes his hat off when […]

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