screen capture my face
how pretty how sad how true
this lighting is harsh
skull skin eyes teeth hair hair hair
don’t filter refine post it
Written in Tanka form. What do you think? Leave a comment.
Author: Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet
Alina Happy Hansen is a writer, poet, and blogger based in San Francisco. Besides writing nearly 24/7 and reading stacks of books, Alina enjoys watching classic horror films and listening to Stoner Metal. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in English with a Minor in Writing and Rhetoric Studies from The University of Utah.
Pad of Butter On (Tanka)
pad of butter on
toasted bread cup of green tea
thoughts twist and turn in
dawn light a sip a bite of
memories waking screaming
Written in Tanka form. What do you think? Leave a comment.
In San Francisco (Tanka)
in San Francisco
the rain pours wind rips clouds sail
it’s March I drink tea
in early mornings at home
seagulls cry cable car dings
Written in Tanka form, I’m dabbling a bit here. What do you think? Leave a comment.
February in San Francisco: Books, Poems and Creations
The rain continued through February, but today there is a bright blue sky, and the Chinese New Year parade will crawl through downtown.
I’ve been missing, busy working on The Happy Poet Studio releasing creepy crawly inspired products.
Reading here and there, I’ve already finished five books this year. Do What They Say or Else was an intriguing stream of consciousness of a young woman. Indelicacy pulled me into a poor fabulous world of obsession and evolving relationships. Poor Things took me for a ride I wasn’t expecting with the last chapter a full 180 degree turn.
Listening to music as usual, I’m trying to expand my tastes and try something new, but the Spotify algorthims are keeping me in place.
Writing? Well, a poem here and there, and daily writing exercises when I can. I’m scribbling a few hundred words at the end of the day, but now mostly completing my writing on the weekends. I’m looking for journals to submit a few mismatched lonesome poems – recommendations welcome.
What are you reading/writing/listening to? I want to know.
Wishing for sunny days, this is The Happy Poet signing off.
–Alina
January 2024 in San Francisco: Art, Movies and Rain
Hello there,
The weather has been wet and stormy in San Francisco and this week there was a downpour on the 3rd that I got stuck in.
I’ve been away for a while, but I wanted to touchbase and see how you’re all doing. What have I been up to?
The Happy Poet Studio
Since November, I’ve been working on my Etsy shop, which features some of my original art and creative Canva designs.
I desire to design hoodies, t-shirts, notebooks, and bags. These are the things I use the most in the my daily life, and these are things that bring me joy.
For the past few weeks, when I’m not drawing I’m creating pins for my Pinterest or buying a bag of donuts.
Watching Movies
About once a week, I’ve been going to a movie. I have an AMC pass so I like to take advantage of my 3-movies-a-week membership.
My Top 3 Fav Movies I’ve seen recently are:
–Poor Things
5/5 My Kinda Humor, My Kinda Story
–The Boy and the Heron
5/5 Stars, Amazing
–The Iron Claw
4/5 Stars, Good but depressing
iPad Air (5th Gen) and Adobe Fresco
In December, I decided to push my boundaries and I got and iPad Air. I have a cozy apartment so there is limited space for art supplies and I’ve been getting the itch lately to create so this was the perfect fit.
I’m spending about 30 minutes to an hour every day drawing and painting in Adobe Fresco on the iPad Air and it’s a load of fun.
The textures look real, the water colors are amazing, and the charcoals are fabulous. Below is a painting I did inspired by Bob Ross’s “Winter Russet.” I worked alongside the YouTube video of the episode which helped a ton.
What am I reading?
Axe Handles by Gary Snyder. This collection of poems is crisp. Snyder is one of my top favorite poets and whenever I come across poems of his I haven’t read, I need to immediately chew and consume them.
Music?
My December Spotify playlist is meager (understatement) and I’m working on my January 2024 list already. My goal is to hit around 25 songs and see if there’s an underlying theme/mood to it.
I try to build my playlists to reflect my mood during that month and I have over 3 years of playlists now, so it’s nice to have an soundtrack journal of the past.
What’s Next?
I’m writing a lot still and aiming for about 30,000 words a month. I’ve got poetry on my mind and a few short stories I’m playing with and of course there’s my half-finished novel and then that finished novel I still need to edit to completion (for the 10th time, I swear).
There isn’t enough time to do all the things I wanna do, but I’m gonna try.
Signing off,
Alina
The Happy Poet