A few weeks ago I got a chance to interview Jesse Meudt. Jesse is the groundskeeper here at Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts. He also co-owns a small screen-printing business called Olly Olly Oxen T's. And has a band. And little Meudts (Meudt is pronounced might, or moit.).

Listen to the interview here: Jesse Meudt.

Second Week-ish

Activity this week (we skip around in time, here):

            I met with Heather Murn at the Grey Dog Deli here in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. (The Badger Veggie is amazing.) We’re both excited about this year’s Winter Writers Series. I told her to give me lots of work to do, and that I’d let her know if it was too much.

            While thinking about publications to write for, I sent an e-mail to Mitch Folcik, assistant editor for the UW Platteville Exponent, asking what the procedure is for submitting an article for publication. I have a goal of writing and submitting said article by November 2^nd (didn't meet that goal- moving on).

            Found two great on-line literary magazines:

32poems.com and

LaPetiteZine.org

            On Friday I interviewed Jesse Meudt (pronounced Might, or Moit) using the computer above the café and a free audio program called Audacity.

            I also had the privilege of interviewing Pamela Callahan and her friend and assistant for the weekend, Paul Ryan (the poet, not the Vice Presidential candidate). I’m working on transcribing both interviews this week.

            I skipped coming in on Wednesday so I could take photographs of the classes happening on Saturday. The Fall Art Tour was in full regalia, and several people stopped by Pam’s art show and the various classes (bent willow chairs and beginning knife forging). I brought my children and they had a great time holding Pamela’s crow templates up to her paintings to see if they could identify the shapes. I bought a small original with a crow hand-drawn and words from one of Paul’s poems in the background. Looking forward to completing the writer’s database this week.  

Some photos in and around campus:
I've started a Flickr set for the photography I've been doing around town. Check it out and pass it around. I require very little recognition. All photos are licensed under the attribution creative commons license so feel free to share.

First Day -ish

It’s week one and I’m increasingly excited to be here! My first impressions of Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts, and Mineral Point in general, are ones of awe. The natural, tree-filled setting combined with the integrated hand craftsmanship and unique personalities make this a Welcome Home kind of place.

I’ve been writing down goals and impressions, along with pertinent information in a small notebook in the effort to stay focused and on task. I’ve also created a folder on the upstairs Mac.

On Wednesday, I met with Don Hay and Courtney  Henson (I met Carla Lind earlier) to go over the internship contract and discuss my duties. Don and Courtney recommended that I set some goals along with dates to accomplish those goals.

I’ve set a date of November 19 (Monday) to have the database of regional freelance writers completed. Of course, this can always be added to, but I thought 30 writers, their specialties and contact info was a good number. I’ve got 10 so far.

I’ve found some good sources for freelance writers/writing:

FreelanceWriting.com and Chicago Women in Publishing, or cwip.org

 I’ve contacted (or rather, she contacted me) Heather Murn and we are going to discuss the Winter Writers Series and Residencies this Saturday.

I’ve looked over two press releases for last year’s Winter Writers Series and started a draft for this years press release, contingent on its approval by Heather, Courtney, Don and others.

Some of my time has been spent looking at the Shake Rag Alley website and noting information that I couldn’t find, or could be updated. And, of course, some of my time was spent drafting this progress report!

Any and all feedback is welcome. So many things will be firsts for me and if I don’t get it here, I’m not sure where I will be exposed to it. This is a great place to be and I’m happy to be here. Sincerely, Phoebe Baker