Tag: books

Inspiration Interlude, Photography, Poetry, Women, Writers3 Comments

Inspiration Interlude: Diane Ackerman

Charlotte Hamrick

“The sensory misers will inherit the earth, but first they will make it not worth living on. When you consider something like death, after which we may well go out like a candle flame, then it probably won’t matter if we try too hard, are awkward sometimes, care for one another too deeply, are excessively curious about nature, are too open to experience, enjoy a nonstop expense of the senses in an effort to know life intimately and lovingly.” ― Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses Happy birthday, Diane. Continue reading Inspiration Interlude: Diane Ackerman

About Writing, Books, WIT Month4 Comments

#WITMonth : My Mother is a River

Charlotte Hamrick

“I’m not graceful, nor light-hearted. I’m tethered to the ground, teeth grinding on the links of my chain. My mother, that’s what I’ve labelled every limit. I have charged her with the imperfection of my flight. She’s been my excuse. She’s the cause, and the reason. My mother is a tree. In her shade I have absolved myself. It’s shrivelling, the shade too shrinks away. Soon I’ll be exposed.” My Mother is a River, by Italian writer Donatella Di Pietrantonio and translated by Franca Scurti Simpson, is the story of a mother and a daughter and the often rocky road of their relationship. But … Continue reading #WITMonth : My Mother is a River

Blogs, Books, Poetry, Women, Women in Translation Month, Writers7 Comments

My Book List for Women in Translation Month

Charlotte Hamrick

August is Women in Translation Month, a movement originated by book blogger Meytal Radzinski in 2014 which she details here. Basically, it’s an effort to encourage and spotlight translated books by women which are severely underpublished as compared to men. Meytal has posted supporting statistics for the past year on her blog here. 2015 was the first year I participated in WIT month. I chose and read three books and enjoyed them all. Honestly, what initially drew me to this effort is that I enjoy reading about other cultures and hadn’t read many books by non-American authors. I didn’t even … Continue reading My Book List for Women in Translation Month

Amalgamation, Books, Music, Poetry, Poets, Pop Culture, Women, Writers1 Comment

Amalgamation: TV,Music,Poetry,& Missing the Moon

Charlotte Hamrick

So we’re a few days past the summer solstice and I missed seeing the strawberry moon which won’t coincide with the solstice again until 2062. I’m bummed that I missed it. July is a few days away which means we’ll be entering the hottest months of the year here, July through September. On these hot summer days I like to get my house chores and errands done in the morning so I can cool it a couple of hours in the afternoon watching a movie or a series on my Fire TV. I recently discovered Acorn TV with its ‘all … Continue reading Amalgamation: TV,Music,Poetry,& Missing the Moon

Blogs, Flash Fiction, Food, Pets, Photography, Poetry, Pop Culture, Random, Writers10 Comments

Sunshine

Charlotte Hamrick

I was recently nominated for a Sunshine Blogger award by Nick at Fifty Words Daily. It’s been a long time since I’ve been nominated for a blogging award. I’m really quite tickled because, for me, getting one of these tells me that at least one person likes to visit here. I’ve been blogging since 2005 but I really haven’t gotten into the WordPress community like a lot of bloggers do. Honestly, I don’t blog for “hits” or to try to increase my readership. I rarely look at my stats. I blog because I like to take pictures and I like … Continue reading Sunshine

Inspiration Monday, New Orleans, Photography, Quotes, WritersLeave a comment

Inspiration Monday: Annie Dillard

Charlotte Hamrick

  “I am a frayed and nibbled survivor in a fallen world, and I am getting along. I am aging and eaten and have done my share of eating too. I am not washed and beautiful, in control of a shining world in which everything fits, but instead am wondering awed about on a splintered wreck I’ve come to care for, whose gnawed trees breathe a delicate air, whose bloodied and scarred creatures are my dearest companions, and whose beauty bats and shines not in its imperfections but overwhelmingly in spite of them…” ― Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Continue reading Inspiration Monday: Annie Dillard

About Writing, Blogs, Books, Essays, Flash Fiction, Food, Hot Reads, Music, Poetry, Poets, Pop Culture, WritersLeave a comment

Hot Reads, Etc.

Charlotte Hamrick

There’s so much good reading and listening on the Internet it’s overwhelming. How do you choose which piece to read,which podcast to listen to, which video to watch? And I’m always wondering if I’ve missed some really fantastic thing. In just the past few days I’ve read some really good stuff and, this morning, watched a very cool Periscope post by Indian chef Kalyan Karmakar. Do you watch Periscope? I downloaded the app a while ago but have only watched a couple of Lonely Planet posts. But when I logged on today there was a notification that this was streaming … Continue reading Hot Reads, Etc.

Books, Found Poetry, My Poetry, NaPoWriMo 2016, Photography, Poetry3 Comments

They Were All There, Gleaming

Charlotte Hamrick

Without him, a faint image became clearer. The curtain hanging before my eyes, flat and cold, removed. Over me, the jeweled colors appear brighter than they were. ***** So, I worked my own prompt today, my version of an erasure poem. Erasure poems, to me, are too messy – you know, all that black marker. So I just take a block of text and search for words and phrases  and either underline or write them down as I go. This poem was derived from the following paragraph in The Girl With the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier (Penguin Books, 1999) … Continue reading They Were All There, Gleaming

Books, My Poetry, NaPoWriMo 2016, PoetryLeave a comment

Of Little Hands and Feet

Charlotte Hamrick

What wasn’t: Deliverance Baptismal Secular Miracle A Happy Childhood A Drowning Scene What was: A Burning Resuscitation Conversion A Sanctuary The Other Side of Drowning ***** Prompt courtesy of Greg Santos on Found Poetry Review. Greg suggested several prompts and I settled on a Table of Contents poem which ended up a list poem. My source: The Chronology of Water, Yuknavich, Lidia, Hawthorne Books, 2011. Btw, this is an astounding book. I wrote about it here Continue reading Of Little Hands and Feet