April 9, 2021 at 3:12 pm (Artists and Writers, Flowers, Links, Surprises, Women Writers)
Tags: artists residency, COVID Reading, favorites, Fridays, Gardens, poetry, seasons, spring, transitions, Tyrone Guthrie Centre
Self likes to quote this poem every now and then. She used to think Almeder was Irish (because she first encountered this poem at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig), but she isn’t. She’s American.
MOCK ORANGE, An Excerpt
Everything on the tongue goes stunned bird.
Long past the hissy-fit thralls of April,
rashes of phlox, purple-thistle snowing a little.
And then, like too much love,
there was altogether too much gardenia
in the huddled yards. The heat in a flick of wind
picked itself up and dragged off,
old dog, into the damp cane fields, bee drone,
sighing, sighing of highway, hawks’ cries.
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March 17, 2021 at 10:29 pm (Artists and Writers, Books, destinations, Food and Drink, Links, Memoirs, Personal Bookshelf, Recommended, Women Writers)
Tags: Annaghmakerrig, artists residency, COVID Reading, Ireland, memories, Northern Ireland, poetry, Tyrone Guthrie Centre
Because it is Saint Patrick’s Day, the poet is from NI: Csilla Toldy came over from Hungary, when there was still a Wall. We met in 2014, at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig. The picture is of the lake.
Csilla was kind enough to allow me to post the whole poem. It’s from her collection Red Roots – Orange Sky (Belfast: Lapwing Publications, 2013)
Love in Paris
Arriving late at the wrong address
a stranger in the street,
Ali, offered her a bed. He lovingly
treated her wounded knee —
that she had fallen on
when searching the sky for the guiding star
at the green borders to Italy.
Her nerves frazzled
by the long march through the Alps
on pills of caffeine and amphetamine,
taken by the echoes of her throbbing heart
when face-searched
and feeling so lucky for not looking like any
one of the Red Brigade.
So grateful for a clean sheet
after a week in ditches with crows and crickets,
yet fearing horror dreams of her misconceptions
she fell into a black hole
to be woken up by sunlight
glinting on a tray of golden croissants
brought up by Ali.
Recently, Csilla has been focusing on films.
Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.
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March 16, 2021 at 6:52 pm (destinations, Links, Places, postaday, Recommended, Traveling, Weather)
Tags: Annaghmakerrig, England, Ireland, memories, San Francisco, Tyrone Guthrie Centre
Love discovering new photo challenges.
This one was particularly intriguing: the Sunday Stills Photography Challenge. Your Best Black-and-White Photos.
Self went searching through her archives and found a few that were not intentionally “black-and-white” but became so because of the shooting conditions — in most cases, gloomy weather.
Two of the pictures were taken on Caltrain headed north to San Francisco, one was taken on the train from London to Manchester, and the last picture was taken inside her cottage at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig, Ireland.
Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.
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October 18, 2020 at 6:47 am (Artists and Writers, Conversations, destinations, Explorers, Filipino Writers, Women Writers, Writing)
Tags: dystopia, fantasy, Saturday, short story, Tyrone Guthrie Centre
DOWN
We’re going to the sea. We’re going under.
When?
Today.
Just like that.
Yes.
We don’t have maps.
We don’t need maps. There’s only one way to go, and that’s down.
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October 9, 2020 at 9:34 pm (Artists and Writers, Filipino Writers, Women Writers, Writing)
Tags: Annaghmakerrig, artists residency, dystopia, Fridays, Ireland, short story, Tyrone Guthrie Centre
In P-1, the teachers tell, Heaven is up a winding stair. Hell is like falling off the Whitecliffs — down and down and down and down. Limbo is — somewhere between. Those lessons always give me the frights.
Self’s first Tyrone Guthrie Centre story. Written 2014, Annaghmakerrig and Dublin.
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October 9, 2020 at 9:27 pm (Artists and Writers, Filipino Writers, Links, Women Writers, Writing)
Tags: artists residency, decomP, dystopia, Fridays, Ireland, Literary Magazines, short story, Tyrone Guthrie Centre
Thank you, decomP! Self’s first Tyrone Guthrie story. All voice.
- Humans are a small and fragile species. But we have the distinction of breeding almost as quickly as microbes. Sex is soporific and palliative. No one would attach a pejorative such as “meaningless” to any form of sexual activity. We’re all encouraged to do it as much as possible, as late as possible. Grandmothers in their sixties do it, as well as children as young as eleven or twelve. It’s considered a patriotic activity.
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October 2, 2020 at 11:22 pm (destinations, Filipino Writers, Links, Places, Traveling, Weather, Women Writers, Writing)
Tags: Annaghmakerrig, artists residency, California, Cee Neuner, England, Fridays, Home, Ireland, memories, Oxford, Tyrone Guthrie Centre
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week: WINDOWS AND DOORS
Self-explanatory.
- The house in California. Oh, her garden is wild.
- Skylight, Oxford, UK: She wakes beneath this every morning that she is in Oxford. In November, the skies were astonishingly clear.
- Cottage # 1, Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig, Ireland: She does all her writing at this table.
Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.
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September 29, 2020 at 6:47 pm (Artists and Writers, destinations, fpj-photo-challenge, Links, Places, postaday, Surprises, Traveling, Women Writers)
Tags: Annaghmakerrig, art, London, politics, San Francisco, seasons, Tyrone Guthrie Centre
P. A. Moed explains the reasoning behind this week’s Challenge:
- Architects in ancient lands, like Greece, Rome, China, and Egypt, experimented with form and balance. They discovered that the human eye likes patterns and architectural features that are symmetrical. That’s why a row of pillars or arches is pleasing to the eye.
In January, self canvassed South San Francisco and Millbrae for Elizabeth Warren. This was the canvassers’ meeting place, in South San Francisco. She chose this picture because of the enthusiasm for Warren, and the two armchairs.
Stumbled on this sculpture on London’s Canary Wharf, last November. Very “Handmaid’s Tale”!!!
Finally, trees of the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig, Ireland. It was October.
Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.
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August 24, 2020 at 4:37 am (Artists and Writers, Filipino Writers, Links, Sundays, Women Writers, Writing)
Tags: Annaghmakerrig, artists residency, Dublin, dystopia, experimental, fantasy, inspiration, Ireland, Literary Magazines, short story, Tyrone Guthrie Centre, writing process
This story was published by decomP Magazine. Self began writing it during a residency at Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig. Weeks later, she found the ending in Dublin.
The boss was born Earthstar. He’d never look her way. His spores were meant to go else: to a Silverleaf. Or a Shag. Not K that smelled like wet rot. All scaly cap and throat gills. She belonged with other Common.
In this story of the future, there are Earthstars. Earthstars are permitted to mate with either Silverleafs or Shags. Any other pairing is out of the question.
K is a Common.
The inspiration for this story was a book about mushrooms. Morgan Cooke, who she met at TGC, made an audio recording. Must say, self got a big kick out of hearing her story read with an Irish accent. Many, many, many thanks to Morgan.
Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.
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July 2, 2020 at 9:28 pm (Artists and Writers, destinations, fpj-photo-challenge, Links, Places, postaday, Traveling)
Tags: Annaghmakerrig, art, artists residency, Dublin, happiness, Ireland, memories, museums, Tyrone Guthrie Centre
- All around the world people are noticing that their cities and towns are quieter during the pandemic. They say that they can hear the birds in the morning instead of traffic and are more aware of nature’s presence. In quiet moments during the day, I can hear neighbors chatting as they walk past. Children’s voices mingle with the sounds of water sprinklers. It feels like we stepped back to a less hectic time when people stayed at home more.
— A Quiet Moment, Lens-Artists Photo Challenge # 102, P. A. Moed
Last fall, self was in Ireland. What a different place the world was then!
During her visits to Ireland, she always finds calm and inspiration. These pictures reflect that mood.
from a cottage at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig, Ireland
Just Outside IMMA (Irish Museum of Modern Art), Dublin
This beautiful avenue leads from IMMA straight to . . . the Dublin Castle? It is a wonderful walk.
Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.
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