Planning Ahead - Updated

This is the board for brainstorming and planning ahead our upcoming meetings.This is the tentative schedule. But of course we're all open to suggestions. The only thing to keep in mind is consistency and the purpose of our group.


Sept 29th - Indu's place from 10 am to noon

Oct 6th - Indu's place from 10 am to noon.
BTW, IPRC's Text Ball is at 7pm to 11pm. Sounds really fun but I unfortunately can't make it because work.

Oct 13th - Indu's place OR canceling the meeting for Wordstock. Wordstock is going on this weekend. I was wondering if you all are interested in going. We could cancel this meeting just for this week for wordstock.

Oct 20th - Indu won't be in town. I'll be at a work conference all day and can't skype. How about meeting at the bagel shop? (or alternative location) Use the comment section to discuss rather than a new thread.

Oct 27th - Indu's place. It's halloween so maybe a halloween theme. If we're having a special event such as a halloween creative event, may I suggest planning it ahead of time. 

Thinking Like a Kid

Indu and Chris: Let me know if  this is what you guys had in mind...and if it needs tweaking. :)

Thinking Like a Kid

by Kathryn Bennett*

Children are new to this world. Their voices are open, their bodies sprawl jointlessly, their brains are big and their bodies small. Their heads are disproportionately large. Perhaps that is why they dream a lot—they use their brains because their bodies have not caught up. Everything is new to them. Butterflies, air, sky, their own hand. It is all fascinating. Who knows what they will encounter next?

Children have more time on their hands than adults. They don’t have to go to work. Their work is to explore the universe. They are encouraged to play and write and dance. They come up with endless stories. I think adults lose this ability because we are eventually shut down by the world. We no longer get to wear hot pink culottes, polka dot bonnets, or sunglasses with Barbie dolls on them. It’s worse for boys, for even as children they are shut down when they want to dance ballet at open air music festivals or play with dolls.

We are all little kids at heart. But the world stops adoring us once we become adults. It is not enough that we just are. We are no longer cute and no one wants to hear us babble.   What has helped me to harness the lost skill of telling stories is having writing buddies. I love my writing group The Imago Inklings because we sit and write and share and talk. We encourage each other. I think it is important to write in community, to write for one another and not in isolation. I think it is important to find support for our playful side, to nurture the friends who are easy, and to try to be easier friends ourselves, to be less critical and more loving.  To say less and listen better. To create a safe place to create.

When our minds are off ourselves, we can most truly be ourselves.  Perhaps children, being so distracted by the newness of life, have their minds off themselves a little bit. Not that children aren’t selfish. They are. We are. But we can learn to be in awe again by participating in their awe of the world God created. It is, of course, fascinating and amazing. To meditate on creation, to take a walk in the sunshine, to notice how the autumn leaves cling to the trees or how the ordinary gravel crunches beneath our feet, is, perhaps, the first step back.

 *of the Imago Inklings Writing Group

 

Writing Prompts for September 8th, 2012

Writing Prompts for September 8th, 2012

Non-fiction Essay

Write a page from the book: Instructions For Overcoming A Tyrannical Government In The 21st Century.

OR you could write a page from the book: Instructions For Maintaining A Successful Dictatorship In The 21st Century.

[If you’re stuck writing a page, you could just make a list of potential chapter titles.]Fiction Essay

Write a newspaper article for a famous event in history.

. . .

The problem with being a time-traveling reporter is learning to control your impulse to change history.

Write a time-traveling reporter’s handbook for a newspaper of your choice.

Optional: Write a news article for a famous event in history or an interview with a famous person (in their time).

Fiction Story

Tell this story: One of the hardest parts about being a time-traveling history detective is finding somewhere to plug in your laptop, which meant they really didn’t have much time to finish recording their notes about what they had just witnessed.

Getting Ideas

Your story’s main antagonist has invited the hero and eir team to a coffee shop rendezvous. Describe the event. Describe the rendezvous (were it to hypothetically occur).

Breakfast @ 10 (Who's in the Kitchen?)

Since our group has seemingly taken on the tradition of preparing breakfast/potluck breakfast, I thought we might like to discuss possible ideas for a Potluck.

Potluck ideas:

-Traditional Greasy Spoon Breakfast

-Traditional Indian Breakfast

-Any other ideas?

Please list your ideas in the comments!

I'm up for cooking, if no one else feels inclined.

Meeting Place Ideas (for the fall of 2012)

Meeting Places:


Inklings, where do you want to meet?

Possible Locations:

--Indu's House: West Portland (Contact Indu for more details).

--Portland Farmer's Markets: http://www.portlandfarmersmarket.org/

1. Portland Farmers Market at Portland State University: http://www.portlandfarmersmarket.org/markets/psu/

   Dates

   Saturdays, March 17th through December 15th

   Times

   8:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. – March thru October
   9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. – November & December
   
   

   Location

   The Saturday Market is located at Portland State University in the South Park Blocks between SW Hall & SW Montgomery. A close street address to this market is 1717 SW Park Avenue.

   
   

2. Winter Market at Shemanski Park: http://www.portlandfarmersmarket.org/markets/winter-market-at-shemanski-park/

   Dates

   Saturdays, January 7th through February 25th
   
   

   Times

   10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

   Location

   The Winter Market is located in the South Park Blocks at Shemanski Park between SW Salmon & SW Main.  A close street address to this market is 1037 SW Broadway.

--The Saturday Market by the River: http://www.portlandsaturdaymarket.com/

--Somewhere else?

*New Location Ideas:

--A Park in Portland:

1. Washington Park: http://washingtonparkpdx.org/
1. The Japanese Garden at Washington Park: http://japanesegarden.com
2. International Rose Test Garden at Washington Park: http://www.rosegardenstore.org/irtg_gallery.cfm
3. Amphitheater at Washington Park: http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/finder/index.cfm?PropertyID=841&action=ViewPark
4. Hoyt Arboretum: http://www.hoytarboretum.org
2. Council Crest Park: https://www.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=Council+Crest+Park+Portland&oe=utf-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=WxFEUJLbAeqbiALWhoGwDg&biw=1366&bih=678&sei=ZRFEUNbTPOTdigL-oYDIDw & http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/finder/index.cfm?PropertyID=24&action=ViewPark
   
3. Pittock Mansion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittock_Mansion

--A Coffee Shop or Bookstore in Portland:

1. Reading Frenzy: http://www.readingfrenzy.com/
1. One of my friends is the proprietor, so I'm sure we could work something out. :) My most favorite coffee shop is right next door (the place is on Oak), and the West Side Sizzle Pie is next to that. Powell's is just around the corner.
2. Courier Coffee: http://www.couriercoffeeroasters.com/wordpress/
1. Review: https://plus.google.com/102696816544752626284/about?gl=us&hl=en
3.  Sizzle Pie (West Burnside): http://www.sizzlepie.com/
2. Powell's Bookstore (Main Branch):  http://www.powells.com/locations/powells-city-of-books/
3. Powell's Bookstore (Ceder Hills Crossing): http://www.powells.com/locations/powells-books-at-cedar-hills-crossing/
4. Stumptown, downtown: http://stumptowncoffee.com/location/stark/
   
5. Voodoo Doughnuts: http://voodoodoughnut.com/locations.php
   

Please list what ideas you might have for next week's meet up in the comments.