Dan Haring's Blog

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What’s that you say? It’s Thursday? And I haven’t written in…a long time. Almost a year again. Crazy how time flies and how best intentions fall short. Must be something about inching toward Autumn that keeps bringing me back. We’ll see if it sticks this time.

A long time ago when I was young and constantly heartbroke, I wrote miles of poetry. Usually it took me a few months, but in one two-week stretch I filled up one of my 100 page notebooks. Prolific, yes. Good? I’ll let you decided. I grabbed a few from that notebook that still ring a bit true.

the same questions

these days going by

so strange to think

they’re almost done

bittersweet the only

word coming close

to describing this,

these feelings inside

leaving new friends

to go see old ones

does the world

make these things

happen on purpose?

does happiness ever come

without some

covered-up pain?

even as I ask,

I know the answer

looking back,

I’ve always known

enough to send shivers

sitting here in a broken

white lawnchair

looking out over

still-dead trees

the wind blows Spring

with just a touch of winter

tailing behind

warm enough

for shorts but cool enough

to send shivers

once in awhile

the snow is gone and the days

are still counting

isn’t this

what I always wanted?

isn’t this

what I looked forward to?

sometimes

sometimes I wonder

Years ago when I was writing poetry more often, I thought a good name for a collection would be Tree With a Heart. That name has sort of stuck with me even as my delusions of grandeur have passed. I don’t know if I ever wrote a poem with that title, but this morning the words to one just flowed. Also, I realize it’s been almost a year since I posted my last poem. I love October and Autumn and there must be something about this time of year that shakes the words a little looser than normal. I’m grateful for that. [image error]

Tree With a Heart

Tree with a heart
carved into it
the years ago
of you
and I
the days of
whispers
and kisses
and stolen
time
when clouds
were gray and
our
eyes bright
and leaves
of red
cascaded
down
and a pocket
knife
sealed our fate
our love
forever
at least
until
the ages
crumble
into a last
and lone
goodbye

I haven’t blogged in forever. Nor have I written a poem in forever. Life happens and sometimes – ok, a lot of times – I forget to slow down and think and write about it. Two days ago I had a feeling I couldn’t shake, a sort of nostalgia mixed with déjà vu. And as I slowed down and thought about how I was feeling and why, this poem came out.



Something about the oldness

 

Something about the oldness

of the days the feeling

of years of winters and

storms and lives lived

and the realness the

grit in the ground under

my fingernails cold breath

pulled away by the wind

down dark

alleyways away

from where I am now

thoughts of you and

yesterdays

the oldness

now creeping in my bones

the clouds

always closer

the gray in my hair

and feet that no longer

fly

fingers that

no longer stretch

for every unseen thing

wrapped instead

around seconds trying

to get away

like smoke

from the stacks of ancient

abandoned factories

and the mountains

my old friends

look down with kind

sad eyes and I know

they know

this feeling

Just doing a little collage exercise.

Back when both myself and this blog were much younger, I started doing Poetry Thursdays, where I’d post an old poem I’d written. For whatever reason I stopped doing it. But seeing as how I’ve been horrible at blogging lately, and seeing as how it’s a Thursday and I just wrote my first poem in a very long time, it seemed obvious to bring it back.

It was raining like crazy all day yesterday, and I took this picture through the window.

It gave me the first line to this poem, and the rest just kinda spilled out today. Hope you like it.

watercolor

the rain turned the world into a watercolor today

and I watched the rivers

flow

down

the window as I waited

to hear your voice

the chill of late April

the promise of flowers

but who knows

if

they’ll ever bloom

who knows

if you’ll ever

come back

or if the rain

will just wash

every

thing

away

What’s that you say? It’s been 2014 for over a month? Already? Whoops. Well, better late than never, I guess. The last month has been a super busy one. We’re down to the very last few shots on Rio 2, which comes out in April. It should be a good time, and if your kids liked the first one, they’ll love this one too!

I’ve also been doing crazy lots of freelance graphic design-type stuff, so I really haven’t had much time for writing. But I’m working on a MG graphic novel synopsis and am excited to get going on that. Hopefully the rest of 2014 will be as good as the first month has been. But for now, a few goals:

Read more, but don’t ignore the kids to do so.

Put the phone down. Look around more.

Draw and write.

Enjoy every day.

I think that’s about it. So far I’m doing all right. Hope you are too!

Superman celebrated his 75th anniversary this year. Although Batman is my favorite comic book character, I’ve always had a special place in my heart for Superman. It’s hard to describe, but there’s something about his character that has always resonated with me. I wanted to make a little comic to express some of how I felt about him and what he represents. Hope you like it!

It’s amazing how much technology we have at our fingertips these days. When I was little, there was no easy way for a kid to do animation. But now all you need is an ipod or smart phone and you can make your very own animations. That’s what we spent the last few days doing for a contest put on by The Animation Chefs. It was tons of fun and pretty simple. There’s a free app called Stop Motion Studio that we put on our ipods, we picked up an ipod tripod adapter, and we were good to go. The boys had an absolute blast making their own animations, and my wife and I gave it a try too. It’s so much fun, and a great way to spend time with your kids. You’ll be amazed at the stuff they come up with. Here are a few of ours.

London’s:





Asher’s:





My Wife’s:



Mine:

November is the month many exciting things happen. My wedding anniversary, birthdays for two of my kids, Thanksgiving, Movember, and more. But as a writer, one of the coolest things about November is NaNoWriMo, or for the acronym-averse among us, National Novel Writing Month. The idea is simple. Write 50,000 words during the month of November.

Notice I said the idea is simple.

The reality is much harder. Which is why of the three times I’ve attempted to “win” NaNoWriMo, I’ve never even gotten close. November is also, without fail, a month that piles up with busyness very easily. (Those things I listed above play a big part, except for Movember. That one pretty much takes care of itself.) So not only is it hard to find time to write with the normal full-time job and full-time family life, but all the extra stuff makes it near-impossible.

But still, each late October, in the midst of my Halloween happiness, I get the itch, the idea that THIS will be the year that I dominate NaNoWriMo. And that indomitable spirit usually carries me though a good week or two of November. And then I realize I’ve only written 2000 words total instead of the daily goal of ~1600. But it’s okay, I tell myself, I’ll just double up my word count for a few of the days and I’ll be right back on track!

And it’s usually just about this time that real life comes clomping over and reminds me of all the silly realities and details that I’m supposed to be dealing with, and inevitably my NaNo book falls by the wayside.

But in the end, I’m really okay with the way things work out, for several reasons.

One is that it’s a goal of mine, albeit one that I fail at all the time, to take advantage of the opportunities each day offers. Some days that means having a few uninterrupted hours to write at night. Other days it means that with time spent with kids and my wife, my writing time is minimal to nothing at all. But I’d rather my kids have memories of me spending time with them than of me hunched over the computer, grumbling to myself.

The other main reason is the goal of NaNoWriMo is to get you to write. Write a novel, sure, but write. That’s the key. Right now I’ve averaged just under 500 words per day for the month. I wish it were more. I wish I’d been able to get closer to my goal. But I’m okay with it because I’m a lot closer to finishing this book than if I hadn’t tried to do NaNo again.

And I think most people who tried and failed, like me, probably wrote way more than they would have without it. So wear your loser badge proudly. Because you’re not a loser in the traditional sense. You’re on your way to winning. you’re on your way to finishing that book, even if it takes a little longer than 30 days.

PS. Happy Thanksgiving!

I love Halloween. From the fall colors to Jack Skellington to trick or treating, pretty much everything about it is awesome. This year my agency had their illustrators do some illustrations that fit with the theme “Goodbye summer, hello fall”. Naturally, I was excited to do this. Here are mine. Hope you have a safe and happy Halloween!