Oulipost Exit Interview, nearly one month late

Oulipost Exit Interview: Oulipost Ends Where the Work Begins


Question 1: What happened during Oulipost that you didn't expect? What are the best (or worst) moments for you?

I bought printed newspapers.  I enjoyed reading through them.  That surprised me. 

There were a lot of tired moments.  The only times I really didn't like the project was when I allowed a build up of two or three and had to do multiple poems in a day.  That was much less enjoyable then finding myself engrossed in the news of one day.

Question 3: What does your street look like?

My home street is changing.  Our neighbor has just built a new garage.  They don't have any grass.  There is enough grass on my lawn for them.  If I lease it out, do you think they'll mow part of my lawn for me?

Question 4: Who is your spirit Oulipostian?

um... I honestly haven't read very many of the poems by other oulioposters... I suppose I read more of Nicole's poems than anyone else.  And she is a wonderful human, so I chose her. ^_^

Question 5: What are the top three poems you wrote during this project?

Here you go:  http://somethingkaty.blogspot.com/2014/04/oulipost-round-up.html

Question 2: What questions do you have for your teaspoons? What questions do your teaspoons have for you?

If I could ask them, I suppose I would ask them if they like honey.  Do they like the way it feels?  They never seem to want to let it go.

My teaspoons would probably not ask, so much as demand not to be used to scoop out wet cat food.  Maybe they would ask "Why can't the forks do it?"

Question 6: What will you do next?

 I have been failing to write a drabble every day in may. 

Oulipost Round-Up

April is over.  Get ready for lots of drabbles!  (Nicole provided word prompts this year, so there may be fewer cat poems than the last two or thee drabble months.)

but before i let April go... someone on facebook had a splendid idea that i chose three of the ouliposts that i like the best for myself.

here they are...

There are the Memories: Oulipost #21

There are the Cranberries: Oulipost #14

There are the Definitions: Oulipost #3


and to wrap it all up officially...

a sleeping cat...

on a pile of newspapers...

Oulipost #30: Patchwork Quilt

Prompt: Conclude the project by writing a poem that incorporates words and lines from all of your past 29 poems.

source: http://somethingkaty.blogspot.com/search/label/oulipost

a mansion is frozen in lime juice
on the beach, in the deep water,

especially on the coastline
where, the next day (despite emotional drama),

herring urged the hobo to drive the ocean,
damn the heroin, and school the whale

like a car (they go by) to join with similar fruit.
real pie.  Punch the injury of the funded hard whale

the two men who could fit between these
caught the duet and released it

to a tragedy of scallops, lobster and oysters
employed by organisms for specified

front of faces at fenway park
where any several soft-rayed food fishes

in front of the famous family of fishermen
from all kingdoms of life can be found and remain.

Oulipost #29: Canada Dry

Prompt: The name of this procedure is taken from the soft drink marketed as “the champagne of ginger ales.” The drink may have bubbles, but it isn’t champagne. In the words of Paul Fournel, who coined the term, a Canada Dry text “has the taste and color of a restriction but does not follow a restriction.” (A musical example is Andrew Bird’s “Fake Palindromes.”)  Be creative, and write a poem sourced from your newspaper that sounds like it’s been Oulipo-ed, but hasn’t.

Source: Cape Cod Times, Wednesday, April 30, 2014

family rapidly of rising than
 prices dozen are cod putting will
no squeeze branches of limes
on a Tuesday.

when animal league boston
Mexican truck low-cost
and surgeries who aren't
the lime juice spike
and shore dog inching towards
a cat who came home
procedures, told local clinics.

visit the combination waggin'
Tuesday has taken big parked
in the tire lot no restaurants
unplanned margarita
which be average burden
owners animal league say.

Oulipost #28: Melting Snowball

Prompt: A text in which each word has one letter less than the preceding one, and the last word only one letter. From your newspaper, select a starting word, and then continue adding words of decreasing length from the same source article or passage. Challenge yourself further by only using words in order as you encounter them in the text.

Source: http://www.capecodtoday.com/article/2014/04/28/25154-searching-autumns-forever-home-spring

 

I would like to dedicate this poem to Autumn, the pretty kitty pictured above.  I hope she finds a forever-home soon!




For Autumn

characteristic tortoiseshell
(appointments) contentedly expressive
attention (previous equally loving years)

 more fur do a.

Oulipost #27: Irrational Sonnet

Prompt:  Create a 14-line sonnet sourced from lines from your newspaper that is divided according to the first five digits of the irrational number pi – that is, into stanzas of 3, 1, 4, 1 and 5 lines. As with the preceding sonnet assignment (see April 14) you may interpret “sonnet” as formally or as loosely as you wish.

Source: Cape Cod Times, Saturday, April 26th, 2014, the Real Estate Section

set nicely on the edge
and just walk through
some of the best...

peace and tranquility.

(gain) access to the
knowledge of the
keepsake of the canal
over two weekends.

 - it's time.

we're with you
every step of the way;
on the beach,
in the city,
deep water boating.

Oulipost Interlude

Jack is helping me catch up on my Oulipost poetry. 

Oulipost #25: Larding (line stretching)

Prompt: Aka “line stretching.” From your newspaper text, pick two sentences. Add a new sentence between the first two; then two sentences in the new intervals that have become available; and continue to add sentences until the passage has attained the length desired. The supplementary sentences must either enrich the existing narrative or create a new narrative continuity.

Source: Cape Cod Times, Saturday, April 26th, 2014

Days after finishing
the Boston Marathon
in her mother's memory,
an Osterville woman
discovered that she was not
the only one who crossed
the finish line wearing
her bib number. 

Males of most species of birds migrate north earlier than females.

The nonprofit group
started renovations
at its Dennis farm
this week
and hopes to open
a new retail store
there late this summer.

Police are investigating
after a 40-year-old woman
was found dead
in a homeless camp
on Yarmouth Road
on Friday night.

Birds are on the move everywhere this season.

A group of local
anti-casino advocates
is backing Boston
Mayor Martin J Walsh
as he calls into question
the state's process
for licensing a casino
in its eastern region.
 
Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-1 on Friday night.

The farm stand
in Dennis
sells herbs
and produce grown
at the Dennis
and Marstons Mills farms.

The big bad Bruins have made lots of goalies feel sick this year.

Half of all jobs
 in science,
technology,
engineering
and math require
some form of computing
expertise,
according to US
Bureau of Labor
statistics from 2010.

The situation is becoming untenable, Scudder said.

Manning says
she was unsure how
her bib number
was stolen, but
she did say that
she posted a picture
of it on facebook
on the Saturday
before the race.

Chance favors the informed observer, especially along the coastline.

Oulipost #24: Homosyntaxism

Prompt: Homosyntaxism is a method of translation that preserves only the syntactic order of the original words. To give a rudimentary example, if N=noun, V=verb and A=adjective, the outline NVA could yield solutions such as “The day turned cold,” “Violets are blue,” “An Oulipian! Be wary!”)

Option 1: Choose a sentence from your newspaper source text and write as many homosyntaxisms as possible based on that same variation.

Option 2: Complete a homosyntaxism of an entire paragraph or article found in your text.


Source: tonight, i decided to take my news from the past.  from one hundred years in the past, in fact.  the picture was printed in late April of 1914 about the Cape Cod Canal. 

the image comes from capecodtoday.com. 

the sentence i think i'll play with tonight is... "This does not mean that the canal is open for shipping."  And i'll be using option 1.

i don't usually divulge much of the processes, but i find it really fascinating (enough to point out) how drastically different the vernacular and syntax of journalism between then and now.  one hundred years is a mighty long time. 


This does not mean that the canal is open for shipping.
Pronoun / negative auxiliary verb phrase / verb / conjunction / article / noun / auxiliary verb / verb / preposition / verb.

He shouldn't leave but a man does want to love.
She couldn't love fore the days would hurt.
They don't live because a wound needs to heal.




 

Oulipost #23: Inventory (with Shakespeare, yo)

Prompt: Inventory is a method of analysis and classification that consists of isolating and listing the vocabulary of a pre-existing work according to parts of speech. Choose a newspaper article or passage from a newspaper article and “inventory” the nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, articles, etc. Bonus points for creative presentation of your final lists.

Mr David Tennant as Hammy.  Stolen from NewScientist,com

Sources: http://www.newscientist.com/special/Shakespeare  (more specifically: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22229654.800-shakespeare-did-radical-astronomy-inspire-hamlet.html?full=true&print=true  and i only used the first few paragraphs until i got enough to play with...)


Bernardo - Guards

middle night ghost king
it one they all

castle guards prince friend
is comes tells

arrival light heavens output
bright full astronomical medieval new

allusions narrative devices
traditionally heavenly often

bodies musings turn
of when of to as by

the Bernardo, the Guards

Oulipost #22: ANTONYMY

Prompt: In Oulipian usage, antonymy means the replacement of a designated element by its opposite. Each word is replaced by its opposite, when one exists (black/white) or by an alternative suggesting antonymy (a/the, and/or, glass/wood).

Original: To be or not to be, that is the question.
Antonymy: To not be and to be: this was an answer.

Select a passage from your newspaper source text to complete this exercise.

Source: http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140421/NEWS/140429961&cid=mostclicked

The garage was fully engulfed
in flames within five minutes
of the first loud bangs
The garage was burned
to the ground leaving only
a few charred beams still
standing


BIG FREEZE

a mansion is minimally dug out
out of water

without a thousand years
of a last silent slow motion

a mansion is frozen
to a sky coming together

the lot extinguished frowns
agitated and lying down.

Oulipost #21: Confabulation

Prompt: Craft a conversation poem using “he said/she said” quotes that you find in newspaper articles.

sources: http://www.capecodtoday.com/event/24674-life-after-stroke-latest-treatments-and-technologies
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140421/NEWS11/140429989


"there are," she said "the memories".
"we're on the second floor," he said.

"these treatment options," she said
"the next day, that night, i was ready to go again."

he replied, "yes, despite the emotional drama."
and she, "because of my experience."

Oulipost #20: Lescurean Permutation [plain]

Prompt: Select a newspaper article or passage from a newspaper article as your source text. Switch the first noun with the second noun, the third noun with the fourth noun, and so on until you’ve reached the end of your text.

Source: http://www.capecodtoday.com/article/2014/04/20/25029-let-go-your-legos-yarmouth-public-libraries


the public clubs
are looking to launch libraries

this collection (to get their summer started,
they are asking for your unwanted and unused month)

through the remainder of April
and during the library of May

the children's room will be
available in the donation bin

Oulipost # 19: SESTINA

Prompt: This will be one of your most challenging Oulipost prompts! A sestina is a poetic form of six six-line stanzas. The end-words of the lines of each stanza repeat those of the first, but in a differing order that in each successive stanza follows the permutation: 615243. The entire sequence of end words is thus: 123456; 615243; 364125; 532614; 451362; 246531. All words and phrases must be sourced from your newspaper text.



Source: http://boston.cbslocal.com/2014/04/19/rare-bowhead-whale-sighting-reported-in-cape-cod-bay/
http://www.capecodtoday.com/article/2014/04/19/25026-crosswalk-violation-leads-three-heroin-arrests-Falmouth
http://www.capecodtoday.com/article/2014/04/19/25024-whats-happening-state-government
http://www.capecodtoday.com/article/2014/04/19/25023-dull-week-beacon-hill


Massachusetts is the keynote whale
for annual budget debate set to charges
representatives will spend time next to an officer
the second time in route
the center said the whale is like bombers
which is the next stop for heroin

researchers have identified heroin
charged with possession of a whale
past and present top federal bombers
confident about pulling off charges
1,000 miles outside of its normal route
to separate themselves from their officer

police did not elaborate on the officer
and being present where heroin is heroin
three were transported along a route
the driver of a car was a whale
The center said the animal was not on charges
to police release bombers

chief justice of the high bombers
was killed a year ago by the suspected officer
even sightings in the colder waters off charges
discovered the 21-year-old heroin
and urged cooperation from the whale
speculation about making another route

bowheads typically inhabit the route
identified during an aerial survey of bombers
first responders killed in the whale
as it fed alongside officer
they discovered heroin and arrested the heroin
all eyes are on the charges

some of the developing charges
over for a crosswalk route
ramps down activity for heroin
according to bombers
the animal has been seen by an officer
now three Falmouth people face the whale

Oulipost #18: HOMOCONSONANTISM

Prompt: Choose a sentence or short passage from your newspaper to complete a homoconsonantism. In this form, the sequence of consonants in a source text is kept, while all its vowels are replaced. For example:
ORIGINAL: To be or not to be: that is the question.
CONSONANTS ONLY: T b r n t t b t t s t h q s t n
FINAL PRODUCT: As burnt tibia: it heats the aqueous tone.

Source: http://www.capecodtoday.com/article/2014/04/18/25007-bowhead-whale-spotted-cape-cod-bay

Original Sentence: "A relative of the right whale, bowheads have thicker blubber best suited for the arctic waters they typically inhabit."

Consonants only: r l t v f t h r g h t w h l b w h d s h v t h c k r b l b b r b s t s t d f r t h r c t c w t r s t h t p c l l n h b t.

Final product:


real tv fat
hear go hit,

while be we hide
- shove to huck -
re-blob by re-blast.

stay defer,
their cat caw trust.

he top call
no hobo too.

Oulipost #17: HAIKUISATION

prompt: The haiku is a Japanese poetic form whose most obvious feature is the division of its 17 syllables into lines of 5, 7 and 5 syllables. Haikuisation has sometimes been used by Oulipians to indicate the reduction of verses of normal length to lines of haiku-like brevity. Select three sentences from a single newspaper article and “haiku” them.

source: http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140417/SPORTS/404170321


herring. they go by.
jumping, pooling, and schooling.
damming of rivers,

by many names, but
habitat degradation,
anadromous fish.

And what eats herring?

Everything reported,

fighting hopeless odds.

 

Oulipost #16: CHIMERA

prompt: The chimera of Homeric legend – lion’s head, goat’s body, treacherous serpent’s tail – has a less forbidding Oulipian counterpart. It is engendered as follows. Having chosen a newspaper article or other text for treatment, remove its nouns, verbs and adjectives. Replace the nouns with those taken in order from a different work, the verbs with those from a second work, the adjectives with those from a third.

sources:
foundational: http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140416/NEWS11/140419786
nouns: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25418-t-rex-didnt-need-proper-arms-thanks-to-its-neck.html#.U06EnMJOWM8
verbs: http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140416/NEWS11/140419787
adjectives: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25418-t-rex-didnt-need-proper-arms-thanks-to-its-neck.html

)silly spacetime banned by worried kang(

 

kang byung-kyu (a terrifying light) said two

of the ripples  have become silly spacetime 

(and a giant discovery) he took a third star

banned (also tended to be that of a possibility)

researchers wear a fourth (evidence) but cover

no powerful waves about it (kang worries)

164 things were shamed of whom 55 were

embarrassed (20 per cent) (said 292) dics were

posted.

 

Oulipost #15: Prisoner's Constraint

Prompt: Imagine a prisoner whose supply of paper is restricted. To put it to fullest use, he will maximize his space by avoiding any letter extending above or below the line (b, d,f,g,h,j,k,l,p,q,t and y) and use only a,c,e,m,n,o,r,s,u,v,w,x and z. Compose a poem using only words that can be made from these letters AND which you source from your newspaper text.

sources: http://www.capecodtoday.com/event/24879-thoreau-beach-walk
http://www.capecodtoday.com/article/2014/04/15/24695-over-decades-cape-cod-real-estate-closings-have-become-much-more-complex



some one sure,
mean sure,
now some as near one
as ocean as can move
more over common,
over sure.

Oulipost #14: COLUMN INCHES

prompt: Refer to the advertising section or the classifieds in your source newspaper. Create a poem by replacing all of the nouns in your chosen ad segment or classified listing with nouns from one article in the same newspaper. You may use multiple ads/classifieds, presented in the order of your choosing.

Source: The Cape Cod Times, Sunday edition (because I didn't buy a paper today, oh no!), April 13th 2014 Section E

The Cranberries

SALES MOONSHINE
Looking for a full time, year
round  sales distillery (super market).
Must be self motivated, fruit
service oriented, and have a strong
moonshine in summer sales.  If you
possess these cranberries and want to
join a rum with similar fruit please
forward your deal to set up a
business.

Oulipost #13: EPITHALAMIUM

Prompt: An Oulipian epithalamium, or marriage song, is one composed exclusively with the letters of the names of bride and groom (bride and bride, groom and groom, etc). Visit the engagement or wedding announcements section of your newspaper and select a couple. Write a poem using only words that can be made with the letters in their name. You may choose to use first names only if you prefer anonymity or full names if you’re desperate for more letters.

source: names are Victoria Whipple & Andrei Ciobanu from Cape Cod Times Online/Legacy




an auto victory road car lead the race
ended period career - he had to win with white led title

union won without center capped
title three tied enter earned care

nine winner other where without
point at center race car