Here's something I did write for Joyce Shenk's class. Our homework was to create a brief list type history of ourselves and bring to class. I suspect Joyce will have us all read what we have written. This introduces us all to each other. Then she will talk about using this history list to prompt story ideas for personal essays. We'll see. I'll post what really happens when I return from class on Saturday, November 1, 2003.
Hank's History
10/26/2003
Born 1933 Morrisville, VT
(Mother still living, Father died 1987)
One natural brother 14 months younger
(died 1998)
One adopted sister 12 years younger
Graduated Orleans VT high school 1951
Started UNH 1951
U.S. Army 1953-1955
Married Patricia 1956
BA in Economics UNH 1957
Started Real Job 1957 Walpole NH
First Daughter 1958
Ended Real Job 1959
Comission Salesman 1959 Derry NH
Son, Philip 1961 Derry NH
Bought 1st business 1962
Second Daughter 1964
Started second business 1968
Moved to Alton, NH 1972
Sideline NH RE Broker
Patricia insulin dependent diabetic 1974
Started Winters in FL 1983
Bought an other business 1987
Philip and I partners
Liquidated one business
Expanded other 2000
Florida Resident 2002
Took Patricia to Elana's
for supper 10/25/2003.
Note. Patricia, Philip and I have
a 1960's Hippy type commune.
We hold in common, money, inventory
and real estate, to our mutual benefit.
Well this is classic Dowd commenting on the current scene, a type of reading I'd said I would stay away from. However, I'm using it for my writing class. Really. I'm underlining all the great phrases like, "Slipcovering grim reality with willful, idotic optimism." I should learn to write like that. Right?
Eyes Wide Shut
October is almost over and I've not posted. So here goes.......
Joyce Shenk is back in town and has restarted a five week writing class. The first one was last Saturday. There were 11 students. Joyce is an excellent teacher, and has years of practical experience writing for newspapers. I pay attention.
Having won a poetry contest I now set my sights on winning a chapbook contest. There are many, many such contests. I have created a draft and Carol Mahler is critiquing it now. While this is happening I've started an other chapbook.
Chapbooks are an old idea going back to early paper and printing. These were small books, of the cheapest materials, that could be easily purchased and passed around. The current idea of chapbooks is a small paper bound volumn of poems. One poem per page. Usually between 18 and 36 poems.
Today, October 1, 2003 is a day for change. I've come to know that I've been spending too much time peeling the onion of lies about the Iraq war. So I'll spend time on other things, like playing Tri Ominos with my deaf friend Janet Walker, and taking my wife, Pat, to quilt classes.
Having decided this earlier, I returned home late this afternoon to find by reading the October Newsletter for the Peace River Center for Writers that I won First Prize in the Brown Pelican Press Poetry contest. Big surprise that. I looked up the entry form. First Prize is $100 and 5 free copies of the Anthology. There's more.....
This afternoon Joyce gave me a just barely out of date Strawberry Cheese Cake as a free surprise. Delicious.
Insight, a online seller of computer material after several false starts actuall shipped my order for a Netgear 108 Mbps Wireless Firewall Router, WGT624, on Monday September 29 as the promised and I was delivered by Sally of FEDex at 5:02PM.
Our son Philip reported business success, which I will not detail here.
Why should I should I study the stinking lies when I've better things to do?
