Trust Me, I Love the Doctor

Writerly Friends, we often chat about the books that influenced our writing, and how much we love the authors who wrote them.

But we don't often talk about the things that nurtured our imaginations. What made you -- young, not-yet writerly you -- long to spend hours inventing people and worlds only you could see? What made you want to share those people and worlds, realistic or not, with others?

It may have been a book:

But it may just as well have been something else.

Meet my something else:

Tom Baker played Doctor Who from 1974 to 1981 --
from the time I was five, until I was twelve.

I met the Doctor on my own childhood travels to visit my English grandparents. They lived in the Old Rectory, a big old Tudor house in a small Nottingham village. It was another world from the suburbs of Manhattan, where I was growing up.

I loved watching the children's programming on British TV. So different from Sesame Street and Electric Company. And what a treat it was when Doctor Who came on!

Usually, our visits to England lasted a few weeks. Because the original episodes were shown in installments, I almost never got to see a full story arc. I was always entering in the middle of a time-traveling adventure, and rarely saw how the Doctor saved the day.

The Doctor and Romana are in trouble again.

Back at home, my father was a huge Star Trek buff. And there was Star Wars, of course, which we went to see one Mother's Day without Mom (who was treated to a kid-free afternoon). But I always wondered about the Doctor.

Doctor Who's monsters scared me out of my wits, but it was a delicious kind of scary. To travel anywhere and any time--isn't that what authors get to do? (Find a full list of Who monsters here.)

Then, when I was in my late teens, PBS began showing Doctor Who late on weekend nights.

There was an off-season trip to the beach with my neighborhood friend, Liz. Fittingly, dishy Fifth Doctor Peter Davison was battling seaweedy monsters, the Silurians and the Sea Devils, on TV. We were alone at Liz's beach condo and the slithery aliens made the howling storm outside extra spooky.

http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Sea_Devil

By the time I went to college, I knew I wanted to be a writer. And at NYU's Dramatic Writing Program, I found my first fellow Whovians.

It became a ritual. Roommate date night was Friday, 11 PM, just me, Jenna, Pam and the Doctor. Sometimes my friend Diana joined us. PBS took us through the end of Tom Baker's reign, all the Peter Davison episodes, skipped right over Colin Baker (I know, right?), and ended with Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy.

After Sylvester McCoy's era, Doctor Who
was cancelled for several years.

There's a lot of Who to love, but one of my all-time favorite episodes is "Enlightenment," featuring my favorite Doctor, Peter Davison. 

You may recognize Peter Davison,
who also played Tristan inAll Creatures Great and Small.

The TARDIS (Doctor Who's time traveling machine), has landed on an 18th century sailing ship, or so it seems. The ship turns out to be on a race through space, captained by immortal beings.

What attracted me to Doctor Who, and still does -- even when the cheesy monsters make me scream at the telly -- is its inventiveness.

Racnoss, more silly than scary.

The basic story is bare bones (despite modern Who's attempts to give the character more back story and complicated emotions):

a brilliant time traveler takes his ship through history and the universe in search of adventure. His unflinching morals make him dangerous to humans, and to aliens, who oppress others.

Add monsters, add explosions, add the occasional Queen Elizabeth sighting, and you have a platform for endless imagination.

This Saturday was Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary. My 13-year-old daughter has fallen in love with the modern iteration of Doctor Who. Matt Smith is her man...

because bow ties are cool...

but the girl appreciates a good classic episode, especially if it features companion Sarah Jane.

(Some of my favorite modern Who episodes are "Blink" -- weeping angels are truly horrifying--, "The Impossible Astronaut," and "The Girl in the Fireplace.")

So, there were we on Monday night, sitting in the local movie theater, watching the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special on the jumbo screen. The audience was packed with fez-wearing, long-scarf-wrapped fans and their sonic screwdrivers.

We had a blast. 

Writerly Friends, the human imagination is a beautiful thing. It has created fifty years worth of monsters, adventures, and stories -- and that's just one television show.

Our boundless imagination is what keeps the good Doctor coming back to our backward planet.

But it's also what keeps me, and probably you too, plugging away at our stories. Doctor Who reminds me that the well of the imagination is deep. And for that, I am truly thankful.

http://www.sfx.co.uk/2013/03/07/official-bbc-three-day-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-event-for-november/

More Poetry Pockets

My third graders at Norwood Elementary had a great time creating their poetry pockets yesterday and today.

Our model poem is "Eliza's Jacket" by Calef Brown. We borrow the first two lines of Brown's poem, then let our imaginations take flight.

Cherie Lurz's morning class came up with this group poem:

I have a jacket,

a jacket made of pockets.

In pocket #29, I have snowy days.

I take one out

when I'm getting hot,

so I can get cold

and play in the snow.

I take one out

whenever I'm bored,

so I can have a snowball fight

or make a snowman,

or sled down a hill.

I take one out

whenever I want a day off

from school,

to curl up by the fire

with hot cocoa

and read a book.

(The last stanza suggested by an under-the-weather Ms. Lurz!)

Julia Kerner's class has had dinosaurs on the brain since I gave them a dino "Grow-Creature" to be their poetry mascot. (It is pink. Its name is Waffles the Dinosaur.)

Here is their group effort:

I have a jacket,

a jacket made of pockets.

In pocket 26 I have a dinosaur egg.

It cracks open

and a triceratops comes out.

I collect fruit for it to eat,

so when it grows it can give me

rides around town.

The neighbors would pass out!

Miss Flanigan's class was hungry:

In pocket 32,

I have my own McDonald's.

I'd get chocolate milk shakes

and salty fries and a Big Mac

whenever I wanted.

I would smell delicious.

And a handful of Ms. Lurz's students sat down with me today to compose this wildly imaginative poem:

I have a jacket,

a jacket made of pockets.

In pocket 5,000,003

I have an elephant,

so I can take showers

instead of baths.

In pocket 100,

I have a monster

with a green face,

purple hair and black teeth,

and a furry body,

to help me

scare away bullies.

The monster and the elephant fight

because the elephant tries

to spray the monster's teeth

to clean them,

so in pocket #506

I have a brick wall

to separate them all.

I love how this last poem begins to veer into narrative.

Hope your students had fun with their pocket poems, too. Again, if you'd like full instructions on the lesson and craft, visit http://www.mrspoems.com/.

Tomorrow, I'll be in a celebratory mood -- working on Odes with students at Ellicott City, MD's Bonnie Branch Middle.

It's Poetry Pocket Friday

Monday and Tuesday are my last workshops at Norwood Elementary School in Dundalk.

It’s been a great residency. Because it’s my second year at the school, the teachers and I are comfortable working together. I walked in to the school earlier this month with a good sense of what to expect from the students.

Lately, I’ve been saving a fun lesson for the last day of elementary school residencies. The focus of this session is writing with imagination. The model poem is “Eliza’s Jacket,” by Calef Brown. It’s from one of the Shovan family’s favorite books, “Polka Bats and Octopus Slacks.” (Listen to an amazing review of this book by Daniel Pinkwater on NPR.)

Eliza’s Jacket Eliza has a jacket, a jacket made of pockets. The pockets all have numbers, numbers on the jacket pockets. Pocket three has bees inside, sixteen contains their honey. Number eight has cracker crumbs and wads of Turkish money. Twenty-three is filled with gum (all unchewed I hope), while right next door in twenty-four is kept a one-inch piece of rope. Thirteen is packed with useless facts, and four has melted snow. What’s in the rest you’ll have to guess. It’s not for us to know. By Calef Brown Used with the author’s permission.

After reading the poem, we talk about all the cool lines.

Some kids like the idea of having bees in one pocket and honey in another. We talk about the melted snow (why doesn't he just say "water"?) The line "all unchewed, I hope" plants the yucky image of chewed up gum in our minds, even if that's not what Eliza has in her pocket.

Our writing exercise is to guess what's in Eliza's other pockets -- or what would be in them if the jacket belonged to us. The prompt: If you could have anything in your pocket, what would it be?

Kids come up with amazing ideas for these poems. Super powers, magical maps, a favorite teacher who will spend the summer with you – going to movies, reading together and hanging out.

If you’re interested in doing the poetry pocket craft pictured here, please visit my poetry website for kids. You’ll find detailed instructions and a sample response poem from a third grader at Northfield Elementary in Ellicott City, MD.

My kids love Brown’s wacky humor (which also shows in his artwork) and his off-beat rhymes.

The 8-year-old has several of Brown’s poems by heart, like “Olf” the terrible pirate. Olf isn’t awe-striking terrible, more like really pathetic terrible. He has a carrot instead of a parrot – you get the idea.

My favorite Brown poem is “Kansas City Octopus.” Who can resist a disco-loving octopus in tight, red bell-bottoms? Not me.

Brown has a new blog intended for children. Check it out at http://polkabats.blogspot.com/

Enjoy some poetry with your Thanksgiving leftovers. Poetry Friday is brought to you by Under the Covers this week.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend. I’ll be spending it with family and friends…at a wrestling tournament.