Still alive

27. September 2011 · 7 comments · Categories: Poetry · Tags: ,

This post is just to let you know that I’m still alive, that I haven’t gone anywhere, and that I’m still writing.

I’ve been a little disorganized recently, with job obligations (this is my last week), a TEFL course to finish, and other stuff…can’t quite remember what other stuff, but I’m sure there was something.

Anyhow.

Point is, things have been upside down recently, but I plan on posting more frequently once I fall back into a routine.  Here’s what I hope to blog about:

  • Blog awards: I recently got tagged by two of my blogging friends, so I’ll be passing those on.
  • My solo hike up Y Mountain last Saturday.  Expect to see this soon, with some pictures.
  • Thoughts on dreams and dream interpretation.  I had a really interesting experience with this recently.
  • Update on Star Wanderers; I hope to finish draft 2 in a couple days and send it out to alpha readers.
  • “Does it ever bother you to do bad things to your characters?” A question I got recently, which is a blog post just begging to be written.

Also, I’m putting together a blog tour right now for Bringing Stella Home and Sholpan, so if you’d like to have me on as a guest blogger, feel free to shoot me an email at joseph dot vasicek at gmail dot com.

In the meantime, this might interest you: I wrote a poem Sunday based on a first line I got from work.  My coworkers were talking about dating, saying how they were going through a drought, and I replied with “my life is a drought, and my soul is a desert.”  Great first line, huh? :) If you want to read the poem, you can find it on my deviant art page here.

Other than that, there’s not much else to say.  My daily routine is all shot to @#$! right now, but that’s what happens when you’re a freelancer; you’re productive for a while, until projects and schedules change, then you go through a period of chaos until you fall back into a productive routine.  All a part of the lifestyle.

And now, in order to promote a more healthy lifestyle, I’m going to go to bed.  G’night, interwebs.  Be good.

The Obligatory Valentine’s Day Post

14. February 2011 · 6 comments · Categories: Poetry · Tags: , , , , , ,

I was going to write a long post on why I hated Valentine’s Day, but then I realized it hasn’t been so bad.

Of course, that’s mostly because I’ve been in my apartment most of the day, writing.  I did go to Macey’s at one point, and was mildly annoyed by the crowd of people buying flowers at the front, but other than that, it’s been like any other day in February.

I’ve always been single on Valentine’s Day, and while I’ve never really resented that, I have resented the pressure in the LDS church to go on dates and find a wife.  But here in Utah Valley, that’s a constant year round, not just on Valentine’s Day.  And it’s pretty bad.  Listening to some church leaders speak,  you’d think that it’s a sin to be single–as if the free agency of others doesn’t even factor into the equation.  And worse, they always put the blame on the guys, never the girls, so the girls keep on acting immature which leads to all sorts of ridiculous problems.

A couple weeks ago during Stake Conference, I got in a pretty dark mood after one too many talks on the subject.  This poetry is what came out of it:

Find a wife,
Date a week;
Marry young–
A life so bleak.

Where singlehood is selfishness,
And loneliness is sinful, too,
Rejection is a kiss of death;
Unwantedness a fate too cruel.

That’s about as far as I got.  I wrote some other stuff, but I’m not about to share it.

Truth is, I’ve kind of given up on the dating scene here in Happy Valley.  The hordes of pretty yet immature twenty year olds just don’t interest me, and while I do have a few old friends in the area who I might look up, I don’t expect much to come of it.

Part of it is the fact that I’m twenty six, which in Happy Valley is the equivalent of thirty five or forty anywhere else. I’m just old.

Part of it is the steady accumulation of bad dating experiences over the course of the past five years, which has a lot to do with immaturity, both my own (which I hope has changed) and that of the general population of available females here in Utah.

Part of it has to do with the fact that just about every girl I’ve actively pursued ends up marrying someone else in less than a year.

But mostly, I think it has to do with the fact that I’m just not really interested in anybody.  And honestly, that’s kind of liberating.  It’s part of the reason why I decided to grow out my beard (pictures coming soon).  Most of the girls around here say they hate beards–but who cares?  Screw ‘em!

But yeah.  I’m sure I’m going to get a ton of concerned emails from my family after I post this, but at least I’m being honest.

And yes, I’m sure I’ll find someone someday (or, more likely, she’ll find me), and we’ll settle down to a life of passion and bliss and whatever, but that doesn’t have to be right now.

So happy Valentine’s Day.

(Images taken from postsecret and Kencraft Candy)

Some chiastic poetry

02. January 2011 · 1 comment · Categories: Poetry · Tags: , ,

Recently, I’ve taken to writing poetry in church–partially to keep me awake, but also to explore elements of worship, such as this one I wrote a few weeks ago:

Bread and water,
types of Christ,
bond us in the covenant
and make us His people;
bearing His name,
joined in discipleship,
remembering the Savior
by His flesh and blood.

My preferred form is the chiamus, a type of parallel structure that follows an inverted ABCCBA pattern.  For example, with the poem above:

> Bread and water,
>> types of Christ,
>>> bond us in the covenant
>>>> and make us His people;
>>>> bearing His name,
 >>> joined in discipleship,
>> remembering the Savior
> by His flesh and blood.

Perhaps not the best example, but yeah, that’s the basic idea.  The parallel elements don’t necessarily have to rhyme, but they do have to share a common theme or idea, and the idea in the center is supposed to be the most important.

The ancient Hebrews used chiasmus quite a lot, and you can find many examples of it in the Bible and the Book of Mormon.  According to Avraham Gileadi, the entire book of Isaiah follows a chaistic structure.  My favorite example is probably Alma 36, where the whole chapter is one enormous, beautifully complex chiasmus.

Anyhow, I wrote one today that I thought was pretty good.  It’s not particularly religious, but it does have a lot of personal significance.

Enjoy!

Friends

Few things last forever;
most friendships come and go.
Others last enough to share
a closeness that can grow.
Self to self,
unveil the masks,
reveal your heart, and when
our souls connect,
this close
and lasting
friendship
never ends.