Allyson Whipple

Category: challenges

  • Picture Perfect Challenge: Writing

     

    View all the excellent photos from this challenge here.

     

  • October Unprocessed: Week 1

    I’m doing October Unprocessed again this year. Since I know what to expect, this year will be more about sharing what, exactly I ate, rather than recording my experiences and impressions.

    I used The New Moosewood Cookbook a lot this week, as most of the things in it either are or can be modified to be unprocessed, and because the recipes tend to make large portions. Leftovers are key when you’re eating almost entirely at home.

    Most common ingredients in week 1: avocados (no difference from daily life), garlic (we went through an entire bulb in one week), peppers (bell and jalapeno), onions, beans, olives, and Greek yogurt. This year, I’m interested in seeing the consistent ingredients week-to-week.

    Jon’s amazing homemade breakfast tacos.
    Arabian Squash Casserole from The New Moosewood Cookbook.
    Avocado toast on homemade bread
    Multi-bean salad. Adaptation from The New Moosewood Cookbook, based on ingredients I had on-hand.
    Rice noodle and fried tofu salad (my own recipe).
    Gypsy Soup (The New Moosewood Cookbook)
    Avocado pudding made with Greek yogurt and agave nectar, topped with flax.
    Couscous with olives, capers, and feta (my friend Jerry’s recipe).
    Chickpea-yogurt dip, an experiment in an attempt to use up leftovers. Unfortunately, the results were mediocre.
    Stuffed tomatoes and cilantro rice. Another experiment in using leftovers, this time with fantastic results.
    Jon’s amazing guacamole.

     

    There was also a delicious pesto-artichoke-olive pizza that I made for dinner on Sunday night. Unfortunately, I was so excited to eat it that I forgot to take a picture.

    Stay tuned for more unprocessed photographic deliciousness next week!

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • The Artist’s Way: Week 2

    I finished week two of The Artist’s Way on Saturday, amidst the fun of the Georgetown Poetry Festival. The whole week was busy, between general life, working on the poetry festival, and an emergency root canal (one of the teeth damaged in my car accident a few years ago decided to start dying). I ended the week feeling like I hadn’t accomplished much, because it was a struggle to fit the exercises in with everything else. But I did work every day.

    I’m really enjoying doing the morning pages, even though it requires getting up even earlier. My head feels clearer throughout the day when I do a big brain dump first thing in the morning. They’re definitely paying off. I also feel like certain projects I’m bandying around are coming together, especially my next poetry book. I have a title and a basic structure for the next collection, and it feels as though I’ll actually meet my goal of a rough manuscript draft by the end of the year.

    This week’s progress was small, but no less incremental. I look forward to seeing what week three will bring.

     

  • The Artist’s Way: Week One

     

    I’ve been hearing about The Artist’s Way ever since I moved to Austin, and saw it on the shelves on a regular basis when I worked at BookWoman. I have to admit, for the past four years, I thought it looked incredibly hokey. I knew lots of people who had done it, but I couldn’t get past the apparent cheesiness. But then, this summer, a poet I admire mentioned she would be doing The Artist’s Way again, and it wouldn’t be her first time. So I finally decided to give it a shot, no matter how cheesy.

    So far, I have to say that the book has surprised me. In the first week, I have already been challenged, already made to think. Writing morning pages has allowed me to resuscitate a journal writing practice that has been stagnant for several years. Writing out daily affirmations doesn’t actually feel all that hokey. In fact, it’s refreshing. I’m also surprised, as I’m working on my affirmations, all the inner resistances and criticisms I have toward realizing the full potential of my creativity. It’s been worthwhile just to realize all the little ways my inner critic comes out.

    I’ve also realized, while working through these exercises, that I have far more people in my life who support my work than I have people who create negative energy. I am very lucky to have so many wonderful friends, teachers, and supporters in my life.

    The artist date is also a lot of fun. For this exercise, you go and do something fun all by yourself for a few hours. This week, I went out to Mount Bonnell and took a bunch of photographs. I hadn’t been out there in over two years, and had a great time wandering. The image at the top of this post is from some graffiti I found there; I found it particularly apt.

    Speaking of photography, one of the exercises this week made me realize that I want to be more serious about my photo practice. So I’ve looked into workshops and joined some Meetup groups. I’m excited to see where this particular creative journey goes.

    The one thing I have done differently is a slight tweak in terminology. Cameron uses the term “The Creator” in affirmations and in essays. When writing out my affirmations, I use “the world” instead. As an agnostic, I don’t feel comfortable writing out affirmations that invoke something resembling a deity. But “the world” is something that is larger than myself, and is something my skeptical mind accepts as real.

    I did the reading for Week Two this morning, and I’m already looking forward to doing the exercises, going on my artist date (possibly the Elizabeth Ney museum, but I’m still deciding), and seeing where the week takes me.

  • May Accomplishments

    Here’s what I did in May:

    • Wrote 32 poems
    • Submitted 24 poems
    • Submitted my manuscript
    • Finished and submitted three fiction pieces, one of which was accepted and published
    • Researched my NaNoWriMo 2012 project
    • Figured out the focus for my poetry collection

    I did not:

    • Finish my poetry table (still)
    • Work on my epic poem

    I’m noticing how fluid my goals are, not just over the course of the year, but over the course of the month. I intended to not work on fiction in May and instead focus on my epic poem, and yet in my free moments, my list of fiction-in-progress called to me.

    I’m noticing a trend here. Poetry is a habit that I can commit to, but it’s hard to tell at the beginning of the month which prose projects or long poetry projects I’ll want to work on as the month progresses. There are so many factors that influence my desire to work on prose/long pieces: work, energy, business on weekends, etc.

    It almost feels as though I don’t have to set poetry goals right now. The year isn’t quite halfway over yet, but I don’t even have to think about what I’m doing with poetry and having to check myself. I don’t have to stay on task with it. Writing, revision, and submission are like eating or sleeping — they’re what I do.

    Meanwhile, fiction isn’t a habit per se. I’m good at working on something, but what my brain thinks I should work on and what my heart wants to work on are two entirely different things.

    These accomplishment posts are starting to feel derivative to write, as well. I wrote  a lot of poems! I submitted a lot of poems! I did some stuff with prose, but not other stuff! Woo! Still, I enjoy having some way to track my progress on this blog. So I think I’m going to avoid setting the same old goals for June. I’m going to see where the month takes me, and decide how I want to summarize it on the 30th. We’ll see what happens.

  • RIP IndieInk

    After six years, IndieInk has decided to cease operations. I regret that I didn’t find out about the awesome site and community until near the end, but when I was participating, I got some really challenging prompts and met some really fun writers. So while I only had a short run there, I’m glad I got to have one at all.

    The one thing that does bother me is that the website has been taken down. I understand the editor’s not wanting to pay for hosting when they’re no longer running the site. However, it would have been nice to go leave a goodbye message on the message boards, or make sure I had up-to-date contact info for the friends I made on the site. The editor’s email went out yesterday morning, and ten minutes later, when I went to the forum, the site was already completely gone. I was bummed that I couldn’t say farewell. But that’s the way it goes sometimes.

    Thanks, IndieInk, for helping me get some writing done, and for helping me meet some cool new writers. I wish we could have known each other longer.

     

  • First Blood [IndieInk Challenge]

    For the IndieInk Writing Challenge this week, Sir challenged me with “‘When does the fun start?’, he asked, blood dripping slowly from the knife in his right hand.” and I challenged Cedar with “Write a narrative constructed out of a series of haiku.”

    Note: You might have guessed from the prompt, but this post is going to have a bit of gore to it.

    Nicholas tried to take a deep, calming breath, but choked on the stench of blood. It’s not that he was unfamiliar with the scent – it was his job to endure a whole host of unpleasant smells. But it was different this time. This was unlike any job he’d ever had to complete before.

    “You – you said this was going to be fun,” Nicholas managed to choke out. Blood dripped from the knife he held in his right hand, forming a puddle on the top of his shoe.

    Augustine shook his head. “Soon, my boy, you’ll learn to love the art of the kill. Don’t be discouraged by how much of a struggle this job was. I’m very proud of your first attempt.”

    Nicholas swallowed against the convulsions of his stomach, grateful for once that he hadn’t been able to afford food that day.

    “After your apprenticeship,” Augustine continued, “you won’t just be the best tanner in the country. You’ll be a superior slaughterer, too.”

    “Just one question, Master. Cow and sheep hides are already a viable source for leather. What is the point in taking human skins?”

    This time, it was Augustine’s laugh that made Nicholas’s stomach cramp.

    “All in good time, my boy. There is still so much for you to learn.”

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    To read more about the piece, click below the fold.

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  • Caught Between Sea and Shore [IndieInk Challenge]

    For the IndieInk Writing Challenge this week, SAM challenged me with “Use this image for inspiration: http://www.josephinewall.co.uk/discovery.html (Josephine Wall “The Discovery”)” and I challenged Carrie with “Write a haibun (http://raysweb.net/haiku/pages/haibun-definition.html) about summer camp. ”

    The image in question

    I’ve been rowing all night, watching the pearled moon move across the water, enjoying the way the stars traverse their velvet canvas. It’s not until dawn begins to form that I consider heading back home. As the waves go gold with first light, I come upon the cove. There are infinite new days waiting for me, each one brighter and greener than the last. Each one is temping, but the darkness at my back is still illuminating. Different futures dance for me, but soon my present will shine. How can I possibly choose? For even the present has promise.

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    For more about the piece, click below the fold.

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  • Haiku of Leaves [IndieInk Challenge]

    For the IndieInk Writing Challenge this week, SAM challenged me with “Rewrite your favorite story.” and I challenged Kirsten Doyle with “Take the opening line from the book you’re reading. Use that somewhere in the middle of your piece.”

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    The house is hungry.
    Johnny has gone exploring.
    The minotaur waits.

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    For more info on the piece, click below the fold.

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  • There Are Monkeys Everywhere [IndieInk Writing Challenge]

    For the IndieInk Writing Challenge this week, Sherree challenged me with “There were monkeys everywhere, and that wasn’t a good thing.” and I challenged SAM with “Write a piece in which a can of soda is of significant importance.”

    There Are Monkeys Everywhere

    The monkeys still jump on the bed,
    and the sight fills me with dread.
    When a monkey bumps its head
    another comes to take its stead.

    They’ve been jumping years, it seems.
    This must be the stuff of dreams:
    The flying fur, the high-pitched screams.
    The bed is full; the mattress teems

    with tails, and teeth, and screeching sounds.
    A massive presence which confounds,
    for when a monkey hits the ground,
    there is one more to be found.

    I have tried to get them out.
    At first I’d raise my voice and shout.
    But it seems I have no clout;
    they’d ignore me, dance about.

    Then I tried to call the zoo.
    Surely they’d know what to do.
    But, alas, that was not true.
    The monkeys made fools of them, too.

    Now I stand and watch them dance,
    watch them turn, watch them prance.
    I try to oust with pleading glance,
    but I don’t seem to have a chance.

    Despite my tricks, they don’t disperse.
    The problem seems to just grow worse.
    I wonder where I got this curse
    which I now describe in verse.

    The monkeys still jump on the bed,
    and the sight fills me with dread.
    When a monkey bumps its head
    another comes to take its stead.

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    Interested in knowing more about the piece? Click below the jump.

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