March 30 Sunday Coffee Share

A Cup of Coffee and a Conversation

If we were having coffee I would tell you…today I am making split pea for Soup Sunday. This is a new soup for me to make and I have to admit, I have not eaten this soup often. It is a soup experiment today. Chris is making the bread today.

It was Breakfast Day!!! We went at the earlier time today and sat in our regular seat with our regular waitress. Her daughter was eating breakfast this morning with her son and our waitress’ grandson who we hear about a lot so that was fun to see them in person. They were in the restaurant because it is the waitress’ birthday!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you… my artist date this week was to the Art Institute of Chicago. I rode the train which is important for my Margot story. It was a mild day, a bit windy, but I am the type of person who would rather be slightly uncomfortable for ten minutes than carry a jacket. There was a line to get into the museum for the member hour but it goes quickly. They open the doors at exactly 10 a.m. I went back to Myth and Marble exhibit first and spent some time with those statues.

Writing CoLab sends a daily email called “100 Days of Creative Resistance” that I receive. Nicole Haroutunian’s email contained 18 questions you can ask yourself about an art piece in a museum or in your home. I used some of these questions to reflect on art this trip.

100 Days of Creative Resistance delivers a free email a day from January 20 to April 30th. To see previous posts, visit the archive. If you received this as a forward and would like to sign up, click here.

My main purpose was to attend the member preview for the Frida Kahlo’s Month in Paris: A Friendship with Mary Reynolds installation. SO. There were only a few pieces of Frida’s artwork in this exhibit which honestly was a surprise. I am signed up for the member lecture about it early next month so I am curious about the thought process behind it. Frida stayed with Mary Reynolds and it was a pivotal month for Frida’s work but I felt there was too much of Mary’s bookbinding work and her husband’s work.

There were a couple of Frida’s pieces I was drawn to, including a still life, which is rare to view. I also enjoyed her letters that were displayed.

I visited the member lounge and wrote and then went through the drawing installation. I took myself to the Dearborn restaurant for a late lunch/ early dinner which is a short walk from the museum. It was a creative bubble of a day.

I was able to get on the 3:40 train and head home. Even though it was a crowded train back (it was spring break for a lot of students) no one sat next to me so I wrote and read on the way home. It is a little over an hour each way, but a good time to reflect.

If we were having coffee I would tell you….a new 4-week session of the Trio begins May 25th! You can find the info here.

Here are some photos from this week:

If we were having coffee I would tell you…I attended the Shut Up and Write group yesterday. There was a mechanical issue so sadly there was no breakfast. They still opened up the shop for us though so that was accommodating.

I had a list of tasks I could potentially do which helps me stay focused for the 90 min writing time. I was able to type out the three drafts from my Fake AWP prompt session with 2 writers. I was able to submit one piece. I started another food essay for Substack. I had intended to begin an essay about the Art Institute

The people that attend this group are interesting and I am glad I found it. I am looking forward to next week. You never know what antics will ensue with this group of people!

I did my errands for the week after the meeting. Earlier in the week there was work being done in the neighborhood. I could have gotten the car out but it would have taken some maneuvering that I did not have the energy for. One day there was a huge hole dug behind the car because they are pulling new internet cable. Nothing was pressing and it could wait. I had runs to get in and reading and writing to do so it all worked out!

If we were having coffee I would tell you…the tiny writing experiments are coming April 1st! I will post them all month to celebrate National Poetry Month! The creativity exercises may or may not lead to a poem, but they will be fun!

If we were having coffee I would tell you…my revision group met this week. We also met for our own Fake AWP events: Prompts on Wednesday and individual revision on Friday. The prompt time worked extremely well. We all wrote some decent drafts that we liked and worked with later in the week.

Many other friends were at the actual AWP conference in LA and I got frequent updates, messages, and pictures. There were people I would have loved to spend quality time with but ultimately I am glad I made the decision to cancel the trip. There will be time to visit these friends at other times and places where we can devote attention to each other and not worry about other events!

I would also tell you I am teaching my Unpublished to Published course starting on April 20th and you are invited! You can find the information here.

I would love to hear from you in the comments even if it is just to say HI or to ask a question!

I wish you a Happy Sunday full of delights! What is something delightful you read this week?

A little more about me: Tammy L. Evans is a writer, teacher, and runner living in a tiny house on a peninsula with her husband and adventure cat. Her location device is her loud laugh. She is a reader for Reckon Review. She is the creator and host of the THE BRADBURY TRIO COURSE. Her poetry has been published in The Storyteller, FoxGlove Journal, Story Hall, Blue Insights, The Partnered Pen, and others. Her fiction has been published in Gone Lawn, South Florida Poetry Journal, Cabinets of Heed, Spelk, Five on the Fifth, Clover and White, Fiction Berlin Kitchen, and others.