Chronicles of Mark

Blog: Change of Address

2007-02-24T15:51:00.000+01:00

Right, I can post to this blog using Flock, but that's not a good enough solution, so I'm migrating manually (very low tech), meaning that this blogspot address has to change. My new address will be:

http://chroniclesofmark.blogspot.com/

There's also an RSS feed (you'll have to update this yourself) and an email feed (email subscriptions should be updated automatically). All further updates will be at the new address, and I'm sorry for any inconvenience.

Blog: Blogger Blues

2007-02-24T14:25:00.000+01:00

"Woke up this morning..." with Blogger blues. I can't log in to Old Blogger, and I can't migrate this blog to New Blogger, so it's going to take a while to sort things out. I'll be back soon.

Senryu: Anticipation, Part 1

2007-01-31T17:25:00.000+01:00

I can't believe it:
I'm looking at your picture.
When will you arrive?

Senryu: Great Surprise!

2007-01-18T18:26:00.000+01:00

Great surprises run
right into your arms and knock
the wind out of you.

(For S, always)

Free Verse: Simplify

2007-01-11T12:17:00.000+01:00

Sometimes, you need to simplify
your life and its surroundings.
Dismiss debris, direct disorder,
eschew extraneous efforts.

Sometimes, you need to cancel a subscription,
remove a feed, give up an addiction.
Sometimes, you need to examine your choices,
and think about what's really important.

Sometimes, you need to say "no"
to your boss, to your friend, to your partner.
Sometimes, you need to take some time
purely for yourself.

Sometimes, you might feel drowned
under the weight of all those demands
you've placed upon yourself--
uncalled for.

Sometimes, you need to allow yourself
to be selfish--
to put yourself first for once--
your friends will understand that.

Sometimes, you need to simplify
your life and its surroundings.
Sometimes, you need to take some time
purely for yourself,
and think about what's really important.

Blog: New Year, 2007

2006-12-22T10:00:00.000+01:00

I've enjoyed writing haiku here. It got me out of a rut, where I wasn't writing anything because I never "finished" anything. I like the form of a haiku (and the other types of poetry that use the same form). Most of all, I like that it's short. It forces me to focus on the core message: what do I really want to say? Seventeen syllables does not accomodate much digression, I quickly learned, and it is so short, I could actually finish something.

I've actually enjoyed writing haiku so much, my new year's resolution is to write more poetry, and in different forms. I'd love to try my hand at a sonnet, for example.

Inspired by an interview with Stephen Fry about poetry, where he observes, amongst other things:

The interesting thing about poetry is that it is concrete. It is about the actual. People think of it as being ethereal. It's quite the reverse.

- which has been my experience. I never even wrote poetry before last month. My first ever poem was the haiku Wicked Winter Sun which, I think, captured a very specific moment in time when the winter started closing in here.

Another fascinating observation (earlier in the interview) about iambic pentameter:

And often you hear people speaking it in the street, or, I phoned somebody the other week and they said "I haven't time to take your call right now, so leave a message when you hear the tone." It's two lines, with perfect iambic pentameter. Exactly. It's the same form that Shakespeare used.

I never really thought about that before. The iambic rhythm is similar to the heart's rhythm. It's a very natural rhythm, I think.

So, that's what I've decided to do for 2007: write more poetry. I'll use Stephen Fry's book on that very subject, The Ode Less Travelled, for help, as inspiration, and as a suitable nag to actually write. I think it will be fun, and I hope you'll give me feedback and criticism (don't be shy; I can take it).

Haiku: Christmas Spirit

2006-12-22T09:58:00.000+01:00

Christmas spirit and
seasonal cheer infuses
my work-weary being

Warning: Santa Claus Redux

2006-12-20T09:33:00.000+01:00

Blog: Nick

2006-12-18T12:42:00.000+01:00

If you only read one short story this christmas... let it be Sarah Flanigan's Nick.

Haiku: Gravel

2006-12-15T09:53:00.000+01:00

The sound of gravel
crunching softly underfoot
reminds me of Dad.

Senryu: Meaning

2006-12-13T10:02:00.000+01:00

What does christmas mean
to homeless kids in Thailand
even when they're good?

Links:

Senryu: Santa Says

2006-12-12T22:15:00.000+01:00

Santa says: "Tough luck.
You live in an apartment
and have no chimney."

Haiku: Sleigh Ride

2006-12-12T21:13:00.000+01:00

Sleigh bells ring; we glide—
blankets 'cross our knees—through the
winter wonderland

Senryu: A Wii Elf

2006-12-12T20:58:00.000+01:00

I'm an elf, myself.
I make your toys. Be naughty
and I'll keep your Wii.

Senryu: Rudolph's Revenge

2006-12-12T20:36:00.000+01:00

Rudolph gets revenge
every foggy christmas eve.
They made fun of him.

Haiku: The Last Leaf Falls

2006-12-06T22:11:00.000+01:00

The last leaf falls. The
mighty trunk collects its strength
and waits—waits for spring.

Senryu: Feeling Green

2006-12-06T11:19:00.000+01:00

I smile. Inside, I
feel frustration. Make me mad!
I want to Hulk Out!

Haiku: Hail

2006-12-05T09:25:00.000+01:00

Tuesday morning: hail
stones bounce off my window sill,
keeping me awake.

Haiku: November Wind

2006-11-21T14:42:00.000+01:00

Sharp November wind
assaults. I innoculate
myself with coffee.

Haiku: Wicked Winter Sun

2006-11-20T18:23:00.000+01:00

Wicked winter sun
promised mellow warmth, but
yellow rays are cold.

Blog: Pure Fiction

2006-10-05T12:28:00.000+02:00

Since I don't seem to be getting anything written here, let me refer you to the excellent site Sarah Flanigan - Pure Fiction, a "story-telling corner".

Blog: Six-Word Stories

2006-10-04T07:18:00.000+02:00

(Via 37Signals) Caterina writes:

Ernest Hemingway was once prodded to compose a complete story in six words. His answer, personally felt to be his best prose ever, was "For sale: baby shoes, never used."

Deliciously bleak. Nikolaj, in a comment for that post, said:

Somehow sad ones seemed easier than happy ones

I have to agree with him. My entry, off the top of my head, is:

I wonder what this button does.

Update: Some more six-word stories at Wired.

Blog: What if...?

2006-08-21T11:00:00.000+02:00

From the ever-brilliant Savage Chickens.

What's in the Box?

2006-03-14T11:01:00.000+01:00

I had ordered it online, and waited ten to fourteen days. Finally, the slim brown cardboard box arrived, pushed carelessly through the mail slot to fall haphazardly onto the floor.

I inspected the package. There was a small puncture mark on the back, but it looked otherwise intact. I brought it into the kitchen, where the light is better, and placed it on the table. The box was nothing more than a pimped-up envelope, a single piece of cardboard folded and held together by a glued-down flap and a piece of tape at the back.

I took the paring knife from the knife block, but thought again, and swapped it for the fish knife; the flexible blade quickly sliced the tape and broke through the glue, and the cardboard opened out to an irregular cross shape. Lying on the center panel, all new and shiny, was my new blog.

I picked it up, taking it out of its protective plastic sleeve, and cherishing the feel of the cool smooth surface under my touch. I had to try it immediately.

This one, I thought, will be full of nonsense. A cynical voice at the back of my head countered, and how is that different?