A New Journal

A new chapter, really,
an analog upgrade
with 240 pages of hope and potential.
As my hand remembers the
feeling of composing words
with ink and metal and paper
rather than keystrokes and lights,
I wonder if we haven't lost this feeling
in other ways;
has email desensitized us to
emotions escritos?
Has this new instantly-global medium
erased
the distances between us
or the us between distances?
the people in the room.
the people outside our door.
Does presence have meaning
when anything that needs to be said
can be said from a thousand miles away?
As I blissfully recall the ease
with which words are strung together by ink and paper
I wonder if friendships, too,
are better strung together by more analog means.

Desesperado

The following is a song called "Desesperado" by Danilo Montero, a famous spanish-language worship leader. I like his music and I wanted to translate this song that has been speaking to me lately. The words aren't especially deep, but for some reason they strike me in a new way as I hear them in Spanish. I tried to keep the rhythm and some of the rhyme, so it should be singable to the origional tune.



I am hopeless and I'm looking for your love
I need you more and more
I want to say to you how much I love you Lord
I love you more and more

And I will walk in your truth,
and I'll run to your arms

Beneath your wings is where I'll be
and I will take your hand

I'll keep myself close to you
With no worries about what might happen

-So that's the song. Below is a youtube video with the song if you want to hear it. It's pretty good.

At the Bus Stop

I think it probably started with the sandals.
An urban expression of a longing
for summer.
An act of anti-autumnal subversion.
But then I think he realized that it was in fact
October
and that, on a clear day, we could in fact see
almost to Canada
and that wool socks would be needed
if sandals were to be worn.
But then again, wool socks do give the impression of
wintertime
and so to balance the outfit
and because he never quite liked the way his
khakis hit his ankles just above the velcro strap
of his sandals
he decided that shorts also would be
a good choice today.

A Saturday Swim

I dive
from my second story apartment
into what appears to be a stream
swollen by Saturday.
People buying orange bags of candy and
light weight coats.
Swimming upstream, I enter through
a long row of bright red mechanical doors
who courteously open for me as I approach
I pause to thank them, then pause again
as I'm not sure about the morays
pertaining to manners toward
electronics.

A job as something other than a writer...

Over the past few years I've become more and more convinced that I want to pursue writing as a career. I've learned a lot about doing that, and most evidence seems to point to this fact: If I'm going to be a writer, I'm going to need to have a real job too.

And now I do.

I started last week as a bi-lingual para-educator in a public elementary school, working with children of immigrant families in Pasco, WA. It's been a good job, but of course a new challenge to my writing that I didn't have before: I can't sit around the library and day dream all day anymore.

I still have a good chunk of afternoons though, and of course Saturdays, so that's what I get to do today. I checked out a fabulous little book called "Valentines" by former US poet laureate Ted Kooser. If you ever find your self with an hour to kill in a public library, I highly suggest it, they are short, very sweet little poems that Kooser wrote for his lady-friends over the years.

He also has a book about being a poet, which I also checked out and will be reading today in between cleaning the kitched, listening to NPR and watching college football...

peace.
Ted

Stories and a Song

I'm almost employed again, but not quite yet, which means I still have had a lot of time to write and work on new project ideas...

I think the best idea I've been working on lately is a set of sci-fi-ish short stories. I say sci-fi-ish because they are mostly set in future or alternate times, but not typical sci-fi. A traditional sci-fi story, in my understanding, takes a basic premise, real or fictional, and shows the way things would be different. What if aliens landed on earth, for example, or what if cars could fly, or what if we colonized mars. The stories I'm working on are similar, but revolving around a premise that is more theological in nature than scientific. The stories themselves would feel a lot like sci-fi, but have theological implications. For example, I'm working on a story about a boy who lives in massive city that is built over the ruins of a 21st century village, and as he is exploring (with his antique GPS) he discovers an ancient book. It then goes on to examine the way a society in the future might view religion.

So, I don't know who all reads this blog, but if you know someone who might be interested in publishing said short story collection, send them my way!

Meanwhile, I've got a few new poems coming out here and there, my book is still selling (to my surprise) and I finished this song for my church. Thoughts?

Our Stories
Written for the Aldersgate Community of Richland Church of the Nazarene

Chorus
These are our stories
stories of sinners and lost sheep
we're broken and hurting
and you , you brought us back
with our friends and our families
to a gym in the desert
You did your work in us
You, You brought us home


Verse 1
Back before we knew You
we might have lived
but not like this
and you started to speak
like a foghorn in the darkness
through Your word and creation
You called us out to You

Verse 2
When we thought we knew You
we were alive
but not for You
and then you started to speak
like a bell in the distance
through the stops on the journey
You brought us back to you


Verse 3
Now we know You love us
You died for us
we live for You
and we will start to speak
like a story being read
to our friends and our family
You send us out for You

Generate

Just wanted to put a quick post up to say that I've been working on a few things and I should have some new things to post soon. I've been trying to work on projects that will have a larger readership than this blog, which means, of course, less time writing on this blog.

For now, I just have this: A poem I wrote for Generate Magazine will be in their first issue, which comes out October First. You can subscribe here. I'm excited to get it, it should be a great magazine.

updates and links

Summer camp has been consuming most of my creative powers lately, so I've had to make do with things I've already written... it's been good though, I've gone though some old note books, typed up some stuff, and worked on submitting some things, which I will post about here as soon as I find out if they're accepted. For now, I wanted to post a link to my book, now on sale by amazon , and it's currently listed as "out of stock" which is odd, and also potentially a good sign? Who knows. I do know I'm in the top 1.2 million in sales, so that's an accomplishment, right?

Also, I wanted to link to this web site, my dad told me about it the other day and I finally got to do some reading today and I really like it. It brings the level of honest thought to religion that I've come to enjoy from emergent-type christian blogs, but without the judgmental arrogance that is sometimes found in those circles. So enjoy.

I've got some pork ribs braising in the oven and I'm watching USA vs Canada in what appears to be professional rugby. good times.

peace

The Key-Chain

It's a grey Saturday morning
a key ring full of
responsibilities sits
in entropy
on my kitchen table
work keys
car keys
house keys
the key to the PO box
where all my bills are sent
this ring is heavier than I like
"DO NOT EXCEED OVER 100 LBS."
reads a cobalt carabiner
which is now straining to hold
the combined weight of my
adult life.

New Poem x 2 + Amazon

My friend Paul has posted a new poem I wrote on his blog, I suggest you check it out here.

Also, I've been working on a card for some friends of mine who are getting married this afternoon. This is the second time I've written someone a poem in their card, and I'm beginning to like it. This one came out well, I think.

You Do.
It's your day! Remember it well!
You'll need it to tell to your kids
or your self, on days that aren't sunny
when there isn't the money or your
honey is busy with work
It will work! You know that right now
or else how would all of these
now-gathered friends and family have come
to this place to say "YES! They do!
And they will! It's true!" What you've promised
and who you have promised to be to each other
not like sister or brother but one,
There's no other way for you two
on this day when "you do"
we were watching.
And we believe you.

Lastly, I believe my book is now available on amazon, so if you really want to buy it right now, you can get it here. Although I have to say, I do expect a more substantial listing from the publisher, maybe in a few more weeks. I'd wait, especially since the current "seller" (not the publisher, as far as I can tell) is charging a lot of shipping.

Pages Called Holy...

... has arrived! My first officially published collection of poems, pictured here, is now a real pile of actual paper pages! The publisher, Wipf and Stock, tells me that it should be available on their website in 2 weeks and on amazon in 6-8 weeks, although it has been my experience that they do things a lot faster than they estimate, so maybe sooner. I'll let you know. In the mean time, I would like to say thanks to Mark VanSteenwyk from Jesus Manifesto, a blogger friend Kathy Escobar, and my friend Ben Lee, all of whom wrote AMAZING endorsements which appear on the back cover. Along with my wife, Sarah, you all have encouraged me so much, and I can't say how much I apprecaite it!

Guest Blogged

A Friend of mine asked me to write about worship for his blog, and here is the first of several posts to that end. I should say, I really like the way this one came out. Enjoy!

Coming Soon...

It's official, I saw it on the web. Here. On the right, toward the bottom, under "Forthcoming."

That's right! Pages Called Holy is the title of my forthcoming collection of Poems. The publishers said I should receive my author's copy in a few weeks!

I'll let you know how it looks!

Revamp

I've been blogging since about 7th grade, which, considering I turn 26 today is really saying something. My first website was a geocities page that I edited on a free version of FrontPage with absolutely no HTML knowledge whatsoever. I mostly used it to post goofy pictures of myself to the web, but I also had a page for poems I'd written, which I kept up throughout high school.

This, then, is my 14th year of blogging, and I'm starting it off with a site redesign, even going so far as to slightly alter the code of a basic google blog template. (ooOOoo!) However, from now on I will do all my blogging here, and post all of my family and life updates here. SO, I humbly thank you for following and reading, and I hope you enjoy the next 14 years of bloging...

PEACE
Ted

Poetweets

A quick google search proves I did not, in fact, invent this, but I do plan to do it. At the top of the page you will see a feed from my twitter micro-blog. Twitter, if you don't know, is a social-networking web application that works a little bit like face book, except with out the face book page. Just the status. With a 140 character limit. So, I thought to myself, a perfect new online form of poetry. You can follow me, if you're on twitter, by clicking here, or you can just check this page more often.