tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36909705930309517132024-03-14T13:21:31.059-05:00kate's journalSometimes I think things are said best in incomplete sentences. Sometimes.kate alexishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14534486080924996040noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690970593030951713.post-34573120195770383912009-05-10T15:02:00.003-05:002009-10-13T21:42:25.904-05:00Brand Spaking New.<a title="" class="no-title" href="http://www.weebly.com/weebly/main.php#" onclick="goNewBlogPost(); return done();" style="border-bottom: medium none; text-decoration: none;">I</a> have a website: <a href="http://www.kalexislong.com/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">kalexislong.com</span></a><br /><br />I'm kind of excited about it. You should check it out.<br /><br />It has a poem a week page - so you'll be able to see things I've been working on. Also, it will be the new home of my blog. So, really, check it out.<br /><br />Love, love, love,<br />Katekate alexishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14534486080924996040noreply@blogger.com226tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690970593030951713.post-13193461495876882762009-05-07T14:07:00.007-05:002009-05-07T15:10:41.681-05:00Just a MomentKayla, my friend and neighbor, knocked on the door sometime around ten. I had just rolled out of bed after being up late on the phone. I was certain maintenance was standing on my porch yielding chemicals, ready to spray for routine pest control.<br /><br />"Just a moment." I shuffled into a pair of pajama pants and opened the door. Relieved to find Kayla on the other side, I invited her in for coffee and toast. She laughed at me for using old woman words and my morning voice.<br /><br />Kayla brought me a newspaper article - copied double-sided onto printer paper.<br /><br />"It's about music and it's interesting. I think you might like it." I'm reminded that sometime last month she left a torn out magazine ad under my windshield wiper that read: "music is whatever you make it." In black ink, a note was scribbled on the back.<br /><br />This morning, she gave me an article. A beautiful, sad piece of journalism from the May 4, 2007 issue of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Washington Post</span><span style="font-style: italic;">. </span>I encourage you to read it: <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html">Pearls Before Breakfast</a>. Maybe it will make you wonder what beauty you allow yourself to miss.<br /><br />(The online article is the full-length version of the piece I read this morning - a little longer, but just as good.)kate alexishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14534486080924996040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690970593030951713.post-49327200804397501622009-05-06T23:13:00.005-05:002009-05-07T00:00:42.899-05:00porch-sitting on 23rd streetwe can smell the alcohol<br />over the musty air<br />right through the humidity<br />and suddenly<br />we emerge from conversation<br />to remember the time.<br /><br />you found the four poorest<br />kids in oklahoma<br />porch-sitting long after<br />establishments closed<br />and our coffee cups ran dry –<br />we manage three dollars<br />toward your train fare<br />or more likely<br />another flaskful<br />of that perfume.<br />we being to gather our things.<br /><br />in gratitude<br />you perform magic tricks –<br />succeeding only<br />in making a box of cigarettes<br />disappear.<br />look how late it is . . .kate alexishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14534486080924996040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690970593030951713.post-70577921074596326902009-05-05T18:15:00.002-05:002009-05-06T23:18:34.401-05:00Slow<div class="snap_preview"><p>It’s been raining a lot lately. Oklahoma seems so sleepy – so much less like a desert. So much less like a place I don’t belong. People move slower, sleepwalkers creeping through their days and driving like beginners. It feels like growing up – nothing moves as fast as you want it to. Only as fast as it will; as fast as it should. And it comforts me.</p> <p>Pandora is keeping me company while I work on projects and prepare submissions.</p><p><br /></p> <p>Things you should check out:</p> <p><a href="http://www.ou.edu/worldlit" target="_blank">World Literature Today</a> - The May issue is on shelves. Find it, buy it, read it. Then subscribe.<br /><a href="http://www.belleinheels.com/" target="_blank">Belle in Heels</a> - My beautifully articulate cousin recently joined the blogging world.<br /><a href="http://www.alarmpress.com/" target="_blank">ALARM</a> - If I move to Chicago, I’m going to meet these people.</p> </div>kate alexishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14534486080924996040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690970593030951713.post-18538251716897644662009-05-04T12:03:00.001-05:002009-05-04T12:09:24.364-05:00An ExplanationI’ve been distant lately because it feels appropriate. I do this when I’m reevaluating. I arrange things, move them, erase them. Compartmentalize, organize, redecorate. Try not to place too much emphasis on things that are gone; be excited about things that will happen. I shift. I try to acknowledge everything and then forget most of it.<br /><br />My conclusion: change.<br /><br />For starters, I’m changing blogs – I will post the link to my new one when I have it up and running. This journal has treated me well, but it’s time. It’s times for a lot of thing. I’m also working on a website per the advice of some professionals in the publishing world. And finally, this summer I am moving – as soon as July. I haven’t decided if I am going to Portland or Chicago. I lean toward one for a while, then the other. Unless a huge, completely unforeseen opportunity presents itself, it is time for me to leave. I’m nervous and excited about this. I feel strongly that it is the right decision. Oklahoma has been good to me and I want to leave before I’m bitter. I want to look back fondly on this part of my life.<br /><br />It is important to know when to leave. It is also important to know when to stay. I’m actively practicing that first part; I’m working on understanding the second.<br /><br />To forward motion,<br />Katekate alexishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14534486080924996040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690970593030951713.post-7931314921384464772009-04-19T18:50:00.004-05:002009-04-19T18:55:47.580-05:00for nowi've taken to paper again.kate alexishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14534486080924996040noreply@blogger.com1