It's interesting how blogging offers us a clear delineation of when and what we've been writing. Blogs are chronological and time-stamped. We can access analytics, which quantify and track the writer/reader relationship. When I log in to create a post, I can instantly see how many posts I've made.
My blog has been helpful to me in that it is a recording device. I can look back through the last 700 posts (yesterday was officially my 700th!), and see when I was writing, and what my obsessions were at that time. It has helped me gain some distance from my work--I do see quite a difference between my earlier poems and more recent ones.
For Multimedia Friday, I thought I'd revisit a poem from last April (obsessions of April 2010: the concept of rooms/houses, endings/beginnings, the way experience and time overlaps). I chose "How to Classify an Experience as Holy," a poem I had forgotten about a little (I just love that artwork, WHEW!). I wanted to experiment with reading a list poem (it's actually tricky, poets---how do you handle intonation when reading these types of poems?).
Have a listen here. I wonder about your own experiences with tracking your writing over the years--do you ever feel detached from certain writing? Do you use your blog (or the blogs of others) as a historical document? As always, I welcome all your comments and questions--though I don't comment back here, I read all of the comments, and appreciate them so much. Thank you for visiting and listening today.
Actually I purge a lot of posts. About one a year I ramble around deleting things that seem trivial or out of date.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on 700!
Shall go have (and enjoy, no doubt!) a listen.
Glad I clicked over to see the art inspiration.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the milestone.
Congratulations on 700 posts Hannah!
ReplyDeleteI love that artwork.
Your poem, beautifully read, reminded me of the experience of death, at least as I imagine it. Dreamlike.
I must have missed this one the first time around, because I am sure I would have remembered it. As far as the evolution of one's writing, my only contributions have been my columns at my work newsletter. I have made a conscious effort to contract my thoughts. What I think happens, if you are really engaged in the process, is you try to say more with less, as you get more experience. Great songwriters try to do this--Dylan, Springsteen and Paul Simon come to mind. If people keep following you, and they don't see as many words, they'll still know what you mean.
ReplyDelete"Bliss whistling through the heart." YES. LOVE THIS POEM. And in your voice!! I definitely use my blog as a virtual scrapbook. And I also feel detached from my "old" writing. When I go back to something, it's like revisiting an old friend, someone I used to know and maybe had some experiences with, but it's all sort of fuzzy. Distance is good, I think. It's how we grow.
ReplyDeleteI get all my news from your blog (ok and a few others). For history I go to my own.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on 700 - a majick number with two eyes. Your discipline is inspiring.
Oh my goodness!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS on your 700th post! What an achievement. So many beautiful lines in the universe and you responsible for them.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for Hannahs.
thea.
xx
yay, Hannah! Loved the reading!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the 700th!
ReplyDeleteVery enlightening and beneficial to someone whose been out of the circuit for a long time.
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