Shel Graves' Sensorium

A writer's journal is not the same as a gratitude journal. What's stands out, is striking, begs to be remembered, catches one's fancy is often positive, but not always. Certainly, though, when I look back on the year and select the "best of" there's a tendency to pick the nicer moments, images, sounds and smells. So this year, I've decided to do a "worst of" post - maybe it will become a tradition. Coincidentally, it was a rather rough year so there were many standout "worst" moments to choose from. However, the "worst of" post is not inspired by hard times, rather by a really lovely poem. When I heard Molly Tenebaum read "Ode to the Ugly Colors," at the AWP Conference is Seattle, I noted how she made something wonderful out of keen observation of less appealing features (her entire collection The Cupboard Artist makes the every day delightful). At first, I thought of adding a "worst of" section to ...

With a few exceptions, last year's word of the year "Jubilation," was an abject failure. I knew it would be a stretch, not knowing what the year holds one cannot count on jubilation. I began with sun salutations, which seem to be a perfect bodily expression of the word. I did not manage to do them every day. But it was a good practice and a way to put a little jubilation into the most ordinary days. The few exceptions were a vacation with friends to Puerto Rico which was the essence of jubilation and numerous long walks taken with my husband which we used as a coping mechanism (very effectively - see gratitude of the year) to deal with a lot of this year's strife. There is a photo of me jumping in the air beside the ocean on my birthday, which I was celebrating by taking another of those long walks. Near the end of the walk a feeling of bliss came over me (nearly jubilation), but as I look at it now I see myself as a balloon about to be popped and dropped. Thr...

Taste: malai kofta, cinnamon rolls  Sight: sunrise, sunset Sound: "I feel alive! I feel great!" Touch: cramping feet and calves Smell: Cranberry home fragrance Extra: when the atheist repeatedly asks you to pray for him; ironic terror; a sense of foreboding; a world where the sun never sets; a world where the sun never rises Grateful for: nightmares one awakes from

Walking with Sam. Also a new tradition, perhaps begun, the  Thanksgiving gratitude poem . "Walking is an indicator species for various kinds of freedoms and pleasures: free time, free and alluring space, and unhindered bodies." — Rebecca Solnit,  Wanderlust: A History of Walking "Range after range of mountains Year after year after year I am still in love." — Gary Snyder  "Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around a lake.” — Wallace Stevens 

Being only my own personal favorite or notable, experiences or obsessions of this year.  2014 Events of the Year  The Association of Writers and Writing Professionals Conference in Seattle.  My review.  My second TEDxRainier conference.  My review .  2014 Author of the Year  Rebecca Solnit: This year I read The Faraway Nearby, Wanderlust: A History of Walking , Men Explain Things to Me , and A Field Guide to Getting Lost  and heard the author speak at Seattle Arts & Lectures. -  My review.  2014 Stories of the Year  "Lady Astronaut of Mars," by Mary Robinette Kowal -  My review . "Fox 8," by George Saunders -  My review . 2014 Poet of the Year Molly Tenenbaum,  The Cupboard Artist , "Ode to the Ugly Colors" - My review .

Being only my own personal favorite or notable experiences or obsessions of this year.  A barred owl seen on my birthday and Cementerio Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis in San Juan. 2014 Dream of the Year A rose-colored city at dusk, the ancient buildings, a feeling of history, a map that rotates: East, West, South, North, the city that appears to move but stays the same. 2014 Movie of the Year Only Lovers Left Alive  — which also had a fantastic soundtrack. "This self obsession, it's a waste of living. It could be spent on surviving things, appreciating nature, nurturing kindness and friendship. And dancing!" — Eve (Tilda Swinton) in  Only Lovers Left Alive   2014 Artist of the Year Catrin Welz-Stein ,  and "She and her Owl." 2014 Image of the Year "Atlantis" by Stephen Cooper,  plantman.org

Being only my own personal favorite or notable experiences or obsessions.  "You are the center of your universe, sound vibrating all around you...," - Karen Guzak , alchemy bowls sound healing, and poet Joan Naviyuk Kane reads from Hyperboreal in Inupiaq. Album of the Year Gary Numan, "Splinter" - concert at The Neptune, " I Am Dust ," directed by Chris Corner, IAMX Song of the Year "Aeroscope," Transnational , VNV Nation

Taste: coffee and hazelnut Sight: the crow tree, the Friday rainbow that ends at my house, the glowing pink sky; winter sunrise -a soft orange glow peers through dark clouds Sound: "And now he smiles and he cheers and he feels real happy; wants to dance the night away." — " Two Elixirs ," Nomad,  Abney Park "Fall on your knees, O hear the angels' voices," — "O Holy Night," Through Your Eyes on Christmas Eve, Abney Park Touch: morning air, night air Smell: Good Earth tea sweet, cinnamon; a night after fireworks - sulphur; burnt vermouth, Emmentaler cheese and garlic Extra: solstice Grateful for: work, asking, the courage to ask

Being only my own personal favorite or notable, experiences, fancies or obsessions of this year.  2014 Tastes of the Year  The opera espresso cupcake from Violet Sweet Shoppe  — and raspberries. Apple of the year: Granny Smith (last year's Taste was the Arkansas Black ) 2014 Touches of the Year Yoga in the park , dancing the fox trot, petals and being held. 2014 Smells of the Year  Cookie #5 Skydottir perfume — and peonies. 2014 Quote of the Year  "Everything beckons to us to perceive it, murmurs at every turn ‘Remember me!’ A day we passed, too busy to receive it, will yet unlock us all its treasury." — Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) 

Taste: holly berry red Sight: rose mountains; midnight sky; sparkling snow; a broken dog Sound: "good cancer"; "Thump!" Touch: lifting Storm Smell: lemongrass, spearmint, fennel Extra: “Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around a lake.” — Wallace Stevens  “And as for the rest, let life happen to you. Believe me: life is in the right, always.” ― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet Grateful for: friends