Confession Thursday??

10 pm at VooDoo Donuts...

Dear Reader,

I am late late late on confessing this week. I was traveling all day Tuesday with Susan Rich to Portlandia for a workshop and reading, then didn't return to yesterday afternoon.  Just catching up on email was a task.

But I'm back and I have a few thoughts on things, so let's get to the confessional--

I confess since coming back home, the one thought I've had in my head is "garbage in, garbage out."

I realize that when I am out traveling, I am reading less of the garbage on the internet and instead of living through my head, I live through my body and senses.

I confess one bad habit I have is reading MSN and the Huffington Post in the morning.

MSN & HuffPost are two places that highlight garbage news stories that I click to read.  Today the Huffington Post had a "story" (and I use that word loosely here) about Jennifer Love Hewitt without makeup.  She tweeted a photo of herself and it was in the top 5 most popular stories.

MSN had something about the what's the poorest county in each state, big cats look in mirror and get scared, men catch 20 foot shark, and a study that soccer is like sex.

I read this:  Garbage in.
I go to write or talk to someone: Garbage out.

I'm not helping the situation.

I had given up these two websites then returned to them as if their stories would offer me interesting, inspiration, intellect.  But sadly, I feel as if I'm just sucking myself into trash compactor when I read what's in front of me.

So I'm cutting them out of my life again.  And CNN.  And local news.

NPR does a good job of keeping me informed. I do not need to read all the crud the news media calls news to get higher ratings. I do not need to see another celebrity with or without makeup, pregnant or not pregnant, nor do I need to read the freakshow stuff I've been seeing lately that just makes me sad.

If I could change one thing in America, it would be that news shows would not get ratings like regular tv shows.  I think we'd all live better lives just by that one change.

~

I confess in Portland, it was hard to tell the homeless people from the hipster-dufuses.  Everyone looks the same.

~

I confess that last comment is not a slam against Portland, I love it there, every Portlandia aspect of it.  If I was going to slam Portland it would be for the number of bridges I was lost on.  Of course, Seattle has its own set of traffic/road issues, so we're not any better example of how to do roads right.

~

I confess I went to VooDoo Donuts because it's been the most talked about place by my friends who went to Oregon.  I did visit quickly and left with a dozen donuts.  The maplebar faces with a creme filling were my favorite.  My husband liked Maple Bar with Bacon.  My daughter-- the voodoo doll and Captain Crunch.

Most of all I loved the pink box.  It made me happy.

~

I confess cake boxes make me happy.  Very happy.  Especially pink cake boxes.

~

I confess we read at In Other Words, which is the feminist bookstore (Women & Women First) featured on the show "Portlandia."  Everyone was wonderful and as I taught the poetry workshop with Susan, I pretended I was on my own personal episode.

Sometimes being a poet feels as if you're in your own comedy.

That's okay.

~

The dream of the 90's is alive in Portland...

Amen.

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