Biking home in the rain...

There are times I just sit at school in my office alone. Maybe it is because the show is over and the students were so spectacular that it made me cry. Or maybe because the harpist played "Edelweiss" which was my dad's song and there was a hush over the students. Or maybe because you heard them read "O Captain, My Captain" and Sylvia Plath and Longfellow. Or maybe because their shirts were ironed and their dresses were new and you hardly recognized them at all. Or maybe because the thunder roared during the evening and the show went on. Or maybe it is because life is short, and poetry is how we must live our lives. So, I guess I'll shut off the lights and wipe down my bike and ride home in the misty darkness and let my tears mingle with the rain.

Do YOU have a poem in your pocket?

This month has been so exciting with Shakespeare's Sonnets on the Square, World Book Night, and reading poetry late at night at my own kitchen table.

Tomorrow evening, Thursday, April 21st my students at Trine University will be sharing poetry at the Cherry Blossom Poetry Festival. The event begins at 7:00 and is open to the community with no charge. 

I think what I love most about this evening is that most of my students are engineering students so the reading of poetry is a little out of their comfort zone. They have chosen their own poems from the classics. You will hear Dickinson, Burns, Thomas, Plath...well the list goes on.

Thursday is also national Poem in your Pocket day so what better way to celebrate? I know the students would love to have you in the audience, but you better get there early as Wells Theatre is quite small for such big poems.

Speaking of poetry, the reading of Shakespeare on the Square continues until the end of April. Every day at 4:00 we are reading sonnets and today we will reach sonnet #100. I have loved doing this every day, even when the wind doth blow as in "King Lear." 

I love that we can celebrate poetry and Shakespeare in such a tiny town...good for all of us!

See you on the square or in the theatre!

Lou Ann

Lovely, lovely cherry blossoms!

 

Do Not Write...

This poem is for all my friends who write. It was written

by one of my students and I am sharing it with permission!

Do Not Write, by Stevie Rosales

Doodle in your notes.

Paint a picture.

Build something from legos,

cardboard,

or paper.

Take a picture.

Play outside,

inside,

on the playground,

or in the woods.

Whatever you do,

do not write.

Find inspiration somewhere,

or create your own.

The writing will come.

But first,

something must inspire the writing.

Something must create a spark

before writing can commence.

So, do not write.

 

Just a day in my hometown...

Spring has finally come to northeast Indiana and with the coming of spring, everyone goes outside. It is as if we have to say...get on your mark, get set, go!! (Because winter will be back sooner than we want to believe!)

I headed home after school yesterday to pack my satchel and fill my bike basket with my sonnet book, ukulele and music, yoga mat...well, you get the idea. I left by 3:30 and arrived back at dark with my twinkly lights shining on my bike.

Yes, playing in Cahoots with one of my creative writing students!

So here are a few photos from the day...not complete by any means! Enjoy and come join me every day at 4:00 on the square. You, too, could become a reader of Shakespeare!

Professor Sarah Young was one of the guest readers yesterday!

Monument Pizza and Pub just opened yesterday. There will be music on the square
and they are serving local craft beers and wine from our own wineries.

I don't have any photos from Yoga class. I think that is frowned upon while we are meditating. If you haven't spent much time in my hometown, this might be a good spring to pay us a visit. You never know what you will find on the square!

Lou Ann

Why wait ’til 2017? We may be skating soon

Why wait ’til 2017? We may be skating soon: It seems as if all the news and meetings this week have focused on our health and well-being. I like that … really I do. I think it started when a group of us gathered in my living room after a spectacular performance of “Hamlet” by Tim Mooney. Over Domino’s pizza we began to share our own thoughts as to what the Trine announcement might be on Thursday. Because we were all English majors and performers, our thoughts ran wild as to our hopes and dreams. “Maybe Trine is going to become an arts university.”

 

This is my side yard this morning!

Tim Mooney reciting sonnets on the square.
 

Members of the English Department with Tim Mooney.

Here is the link to this week's column. Enjoy and thank you for reading. Just click on the above site!  Lou Ann

 

Humanities Symposia - "What Do Dragons, Witches and Church Members Have ...

Here is the symposia I missed last week while stranded in the Atlanta Airport.

It is marvelous and magical all at the same time. Please take the time to watch it, even though it is almost an hour in length. Just a word of warning...have a box of Kleenexes ready.

I am so proud of my students. Folks often ask me what I teach. I cannot say I teach creative writing. How can you teach that? I create a safe space and a vehicle for them to write.

Congratulations to nine of my favorite students!

Tim Mooney stars in Breakneck Hamlet!

We have been anticipating this event for several months and now here it is! Tonight Tim Mooney will present "Breakneck Hamlet" in the Fabiani Theater at 7:00. It is great for the whole family as it is the whole play in 59 minutes (or there about!)

Tim arrived yesterday afternoon so we had a lovely evening with a campfire and a few selections of Slings and Arrows, both of our personal favorites.

So, see you tonight at 7:00! For those of you not familiar with Angola, the theater is on the Trine campus.

Even the best of friends don’t need last names

Even the best of friends don’t need last names: It was the loud bang we heard as we headed down the runway, forcing our plane to stop. The pilot calmly announced that we were heading back to the gate. No one showed any remorse knowing something was amiss and how lucky it happened before we were in the air.

 

Saylor girls off to see the world!

 

 

Last weekend I traveled to West Palm Beach to visit my Mom and her husband, Dick. Jessie and I had the best time traveling together and visiting with everyone. We did, however, have a long trip home and here is the story.

 

Just click on the above link for the story. And, as always, thank you for reading!

 

See you on the square!

 

Lou Ann

 



For my students...

I didn't get to your symposia. I will tell you that I was heart broken to miss the event that we have been talking about all semester. As you know, I was stranded at the Atlanta Airport.

Since my return, notes have been sent on your behalf thanking me for your extraordinary work you did on Tuesday afternoon. (Notice I did not say "okay" work or "fine" work, the words were extraordinary.)

Perhaps we have found and cultivated this passion of writing within ourselves.

We looked at this poem last week, but for now it belongs to you, my extraordinary creative writing class.

(I know you will read this as you are required to read our blogs!)

See you on Tuesday.

PH

P.S. For those of you who do not know this poem, please listen to it. It makes me cry every time; perhaps it will for you.

It was good to drum in the equinox at Pokagon...

It was good to drum in the equinox at Pokagon: The clouds hung close to the horizon with the sun slanting its rays into the mountain gullies when she, the leader, asked us to join her on the top of the mountain. Because she asked, we went, all of us. Holding a bodhran in one hand, she kept the beat with the other as we followed her. First to join in the circle were her sisters in faith. We watched, and held our breath, as they circled up and danced to the drum beat. I was reluctant to leave; I thought the possibility existed that she would open the circle to the rest of the women, and I didn’t want to miss it.
 

 

 



To my friends near and far, here is this week's column on Drumming in the Sun on the Equinox. The day was clear and cool and full of laughter and friendship. I think we have started something big. A special thanks to Stephen Rowe who just knows how to make things happen. Enjoy, and thank you for reading. Just click on the above link!

 

As always,

Lou Ann

Shakespeare...coming soon to a town near you!

 

This April marks the 400th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare. Trine University and my town of Angola are going to make sure it is celebrated very well.

 

A few months ago my friend, Carolyn Powers, wrote a Facebook note about a woman in Atlanta who was reading all the sonnets of Shakespeare. Hmmm....why not Angola?

 

So, starting April 1st and running all the way through April 30th, I will be reading the sonnets of Shakespeare on the Square at 4:00 every afternoon. If I am on the road or working, I will have a friend read for me. This is open to anyone who would like to stop by and read a sonnet also. Just pop on by a few minutes before four, and I will hand one over to you! I will be located between City Hall and the Brokaw Theatre.

 

On April 4th, Tim Mooney, actor extraordinaire, will be performing "Breakneck Hamlet" in Fabiani Theatre. The event starts at 7:00. Tim is a fellow Fringe friend of mine and it will be a wonderful event.

 

So, don't let this anniversary pass you by!

 

Here is the first verse I will be reading:

 



Lou Ann is out and about with William Wordsworth...

My spring garden. Enjoy this lovely poem.

Blanche Jolliff Howard shares a story with Lou Ann Homan...

This is one of my favorite folks from Ocracoke Island. Enjoy!