"...something Shakespearey..."

This, which I learned about indirectly through a link on Dappled Things, makes my Creative-Writing-Degree holding, English nerd heart go pitter-pat...

The stated rules include:

1. Each participant may submit up to three (3) sonnets each.
2. Each submission must be a Shakespearean sonnet (Shakespearean in form and in style: archaic Elizabethan language and all (see Gaynor example above)—the more clever the better chance the submission has of winning).
3. Each submission must retain the title and composer of the original pop song (again, see above).
4. Each submission must be a reworking of a recognizable pop love song (not something your sister’s best friend wrote and composed on a kazoo)—with a theme of either love desired (e.g. “I Want Your Sex”), love gained (e.g. “You Light Up My Life”), or, like Ms. Gaynor’s immortal work, love lost.
5. All poems must appear in the comment box for this post for consideration.
6. Winners will be notified in advance of the official announcement here at the Korrektiv.
7. And, yes, the contest is decidedly open to all members of the Korrektiv Kollektiv.
8. DEADLINE: April 1, 2017

It would be a fun exercise, and a neat challenge. I mean, it's been a long time since I wrote anything in Iambic Pentameter, but honestly, who wouldn't want to win a nebulous prize that's "something Shakespearey, I suppose"? It's just a matter of finding the perfect song. And there are so. many. options.

Lent

Blessed Lent!

I'm so behind with blogging. I have several posts floating around in my head (ahem, China), and Lent should help with that, as I've decided -- instead of giving something up -- to do something instead: I'm going to write every day.

It may not be the most penetitent of choices, and some might see it as downright frivolous, or self-serving, but it's something that hasn't happened for a while, despite my thinking that when I switched positions at the paper (nearly nine months ago already!) that I'd write creatively more often. I'm not using my God-given talent ("We offer you our failures, we offer you attempts, the gifts not fully given, the dreams not fully dreamt...") as I should, and making it my Lenten discipline will ensure I actually follow through. To move beyond distractions. To persevere, even if what comes out is pure dreck, or even if it's only responding to a letter. To push myself to not give up on a project simply because I'm stuck. Stuck, be it in a fictional corner...or the rut I seem to be sticking in, creatively, professionally...

Anyway, the blog can only benefit from some of that.

Plus, I'm also finally going to use the desk in my front room for its intended purpose, rather than just stacking random things on top of it. 😊

And in a hopefully-the-third-time-will-prove-the-charm scenario, I'm choosing to tackle, again, The Discernment of Spirits.

I tried a little bit of the Ignatian spiritual exercises back in 2008 during a silent women's retreat led by the Sisters of Life and, having enjoyed it-- although that isn't the best word: Appreciated the depth of thought and focus of seeing myself in one of the gospel events is more appropriate -- bought the book following that weekend. Apparently I didn't get very far that time, nor in 2011, when I tried again, according to a note I wrote in the book.

But if I was having a hard time deciding for certain that it should be my book for Lent, the face that it went missing for several days convinced me. Now that I tracked it down again, and have documented the coming read, it's time to make a start.

Writing will stem from this, too. It may all prove to be nothing more than dust, but aren't we all?