Addendum to My Previous Posting

I forgot to mention in my previous posting that I discovered both Ginseng Cola and Vojo Energy mints (with the ingredient guarana) during the summer when I was trying to get through my grading. Both stimulants gave me what I needed to read through my essays, many of which are incredibly boring because of the mistakes that appear frequently in student writing, and to type up my grading comments. Cups of black tea (with milk and sugar) and a daily B-150 vitamin (in addition to vitamin C, ginseng, bee pollen, lecithin and cranberry, saw palmetto, and lycophene) no longer provide enough of my energy needs. I admit that lycophene, saw palmetto, and cranberry have nothing to do with energy. I’m not trying to deceive anyone. Those three things are necessary for my prostate to function properly and make up my daily vitamin and herb regimen. Probably if I slept more, I wouldn’t need as many stimulates in my daily life.



This posting marks my 100th one. I would have reached this milestone earlier if I hadn’t deleted about five of my previous postings. I wasn’t happy with the postings for any number of reasons. The best of my previous postings remain for those of you who feel the need to go exploring.

I recently submitted my book of poems to another press. I also have been feeling the desire to start writing poems again. It has occurred to me that it would be possible to leave a poem open in Microsoft Word on my computer so that I can return to it whenever I have a few minutes to devote to it.

The composing process cannot occur in that short a period of time because I usually need at least an hour, but usually two hours or more, once I start the writing before I can get a somewhat decent draft. The more conscious I am of the poem during the composing process, the less time it takes for me to revise the poem afterwards. If I’m distracted or interrupted, revising the poem afterwards takes much more time. Sometimes I compose in pencil when I’m away from the computer. My favorite way is to type uninterruptedly on the computer, writing as fast as I can and not making any corrections. Instead of hitting the delete button, I copy and paste the lines that I like further down on the page and start from there, continuing the process until I am happy with what I have.

If I keep a file open and have something visible to work with, I won’t be as tempted to surf the Internet when I’m bored or when I'm trying to postpone the stack of grading on my desk.

The pictures of hay, incidentally, represent completion and preparation for a time in the future. Think of them as a poem.