Resolution #25: Write More Humor

My husband, Wes Browning, is a master at making points lightly. I am not.

After 12 years of hanging out together (ten of those officially) Wes has conditioned me to at least make my points more concisely. I had developed, over the years, the habit of 1) make the point; 2) give an example of how it applies; 3) rephrase it; 4) give another couple of examples of how it applies; 5) rephrase it again; 6) pause for questions. Wes taught me to respect my listeners more; make the point briefly, and only elaborate IF somebody asks questions! (Or responds in a way that indicates she thought I said Wednesday when I actually said peanut butter.) He did this by saying, "Got it, move on," usually after about ten words. :D

I still get a lot more verbose in the written word, when I cannot see a reader's eyes and spot when they've "got it" and it's time to move on.

And I learned all by myself that every single time somebody came back to tell me that I had really, really helped them, I had been feeling "light" at the time; and every time that I was trying very intensely to do something very very IMPORTANT it more often resulted in a noxious mess.

I do write very informally sometimes. I do use humor. Still, when Wes and I introduce ourselves at social occasions, people tend to grip my hand and say in a low and earnest voice, "I am so moved by your writing"; and then he says his name and people tend to get a big daffy grin and hop up and down squealing, "You're Wes Browning! You make me laugh so much!"

It's not that I'm jealous. I like moving people. I want to move people. It's just that I'd like to make them laugh occasionally, too. Not that I'm jealous. They don't have to squeal.

Well, the capper was, Wes read my list of two dozen New Year Resolutions and he complained, "There's not even one funny one!" I can't even think of a funny New Year Resolution! So I thought of making Resolution #25 "Lighten the fuck up." But that sounds way too close to what my sister might say to me right now, or what I might say to my sister right now, anyway, I don't want to go there right now. So I'm making Resolution #25 just, "Write more humor." Not even pointed humor, topical humor, or subversive humor. Something that is funny just to be fun.

I'm even going to add #26: "Do at least one thing each day that is totally, purposelessly, just for fun."

A Hitch in Resolution #14

New Year Resolution #14 was to call or write to each of my family members at least once a week. I talked to my sister on the 1st, and one of my brothers on both the 1st and 2nd. The phone number that my Dad sent me didn't connect.

Tonight my sister began to rant at me because I expressed doubt that crackers who swamped a friend's chat-room were deliberately imitating her by repeatedly using OMG and WTF. Many times I have just let her rant; tonight I told her "Call me back later," and hung up. She did call me back when she had calmed down -- to tell me that she isn't speaking to me again. And I found out last night that I can't call her cell phone; like Dad's, I can't connect.

Actually, I can still write to both Dad and Sis, postal mail. They are moving around, but Dad told me that letters would be forwarded. Even if the letters never get delivered -- I can still write to them.

2 January 2008: Poetry of the day

Once again, I kept Resolution #20, "Write at least one poem a day," after going to bed. Last night's effort was more personal than the found poem from Burpee's catalog:

tilth

the world at eight was built on threads of dream
the world of eighteen on wires of anxiety
28, laid on planks of order and responsibility
38, on girders that explored into infinity
48 was built on hard cold dirt

at 58 my world is built on bones of pain
pain undergirds all laughter, love and pleasure
throbs behind all music, song and dance
tinges every taste
it's just there
it's just there
it's always there

and so is laughter
love and pleasure
music, song and dance
chocolate and winter greens
dreams and anxiety
order and responsibility
explorations into infinity
and the hard cold dirt

everything is always happening at the same time

live

1 January 2007: poetry of the day

I was on my way to bed "last night" (3 AM this morning) when I reminded myself that I had not yet written a poem, as per New Year Resolution #somethingorother [edit: it's #20]. Having approximately three neurons left standing, I wanted to do it as simply as possible, so I decided to make it a "found poem" built from the 2008 Burpee Catalog. I have a new appreciation of how sexy the Burpee catalog is.

Sexy Seeds

HoneyBunch, Fireball,
Tangerine Mama -
velvety chocolate sweetness doesn't fade.
Hot Tomato, Zowie!
Statuesque beauty with a Peppermint Twist.
Burpee is sexy!
Balboa is Blue.
White Wedding at 21.

Googling Myself

According to recent news, this is not a rare activity. The latest news&blogs quoting or referring to me (since the roundup I posted on MySpace in July 2006) are:

• December of last year (2006), KOMO news reported on one of our Women in Black vigils for homeless people who have died outside or by violence in King County. They included two quotes from me: "There are no throwaway people... everyone deserves to be remembered, honored, to have their life remembered when they die." and "With all of the deaths in the community, if I had to bear this alone, I'd go back into depression and be homeless again." (video included)
  
  
• Several videos of me by Wes, this year:
  • A Video Valentine from Wes (his first experiment in iMovie, be kind).
    
  • Two videos of me at the Union Hotel Valentines Day Dance Party: video one; video two. (None of Wes; no fair!)
    
  • A performance of my poem "Mother Escapes" at a "DESC Talent Show" in February. The sound quality is not good, so I've posted this with the words in the StreetWrites blog.
    
  • The end of May was Memorial Day weekend -- Folklife Festival! I performed with the Seattle Raging Grannies, and Wes got it on video.
  • In July, Wes and I went with several other people from Real Change to the 2007 conference of NASNA (North American Street Newspaper Association), held this year in Portland, Oregon. Wes also took the time to blog about it. Video included.


• In March, Wes reported on a community meeting about the Homeless Place of Remembrance project, something very dear to my heart. You can believe just about everything he says about it (and about me). Just don't believe him when he says he'll confess to the 20th Century.
  
  
• In May, "Jewel Two Snaps" quoted from my essay on "Why Write?" and had fun with some of my writing exercises, including the challenge to "simplify!"
  
  Try KISSing these phrases yourself:
  • amelioration of affectional starvation
  • languor lures linguistic lapses
  • transcendental fervor
  • cantatas of calumny
  • cantabile concatenations of cant
    
    
• In June, the Seattle P-I quoted me in their report on a Women in Black vigil for Isaac Palmer, a homeless man killed by a brush-clearing tractor.
  
  
• Back to Wes, who in June (2006) used our adventures with a broken refrigerator and building management to illustrate fractals.
  
  
• Back to poetry: WHEEL (homeless women's organizing group) has a REAL poetry book out, and Tim Harris reviewed it for Real Change -- starting the blog entry with a vivid description of me editing previous WHEEL chapbooks.
  
  
• In other good news about homelessness -- on December 10, 2007, Seattle amended the city's malicious harassment ordinance (that defines harm or threat of harm to any person or their property on the basis of their membership in a group as a specific crime as "malicious harassment") to include homeless people as a protected class. The P-I article covering a previous committee hearing on the amendment includes this:

  "When you're homeless, especially women, you're afraid all the time. You're afraid when you sleep -- even if you're in a shelter," said Anitra Freeman, who has been homeless. "We have to send a different message to our children, to everyone out there."

• And back to poetry (again): My most popular poem, by the number of sites quoting it, seems to be "What is Family?"
  • It is posted on the opening page of the Kelley Family Album;
    
  • Somebody who goes by "!O+O!" posted it as part of the theme for Family Day: June 27, 2007;
    
  • The Fowler family used it on their Reunion announcement;
    
  • And "P B & J" posted it, with pictures, in early-morning musings about family and other human connections during the Christmas season. (picture from P B & J)

What Is Family?

Family are the shouts in the dark that keep you awake
trying to be invisible under your blankets.
Family is the warm heart you run to
when everyone else at the rink skates too fast
and you've cut your knees on the ice.
Family are given to you at birth
with your eyes and lips and nose.
They will stick to you wherever you go
and shape how you see
and what you say
and how you are seen
forever.
Family are found new each day
wherever you put your heart last.
Family are the people you share bread with,
and whoever you share the lack of bread with.
Sometimes your family aren't people.
Family is whoever lives under the tent of your soul.
Your family can be as big as you are,
and from birth to death, your real, real family
are the ones who make you grow bigger.

poem by Anitra L. Freeman

As I say at my own website, if I post something on the internet, you may use it freely, as long as you

• Attribute it to me, Anitra L. Freeman.
• Don't alter it (change the wording). (You may use small sections out of a whole, as long as the context is clear.)
• Make nonprofit use of it. If you are going to make money, I want money!
• If you want to make me extra happy, include a link to my website so that readers can find more: http://anitra.net/writing/

These days, Creative Commons has made such licensing even easier.

This work by Anitra L. Freeman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.