Amanda Laughtland 
Mandy is a poet who lives in Washington state and teaches English at Edmonds Community College. She first came into The La-La Theory's life by sharing the delightful zines she publishes under the imprint Teeny Tiny. She has published a chapbook called I Meant to Say (Overhere Press), and her first full-length book of poems, Postcards to Box 464, is forthcoming from Bootstrap Productions. The 50 poems in Postcards are all inspired by the postcards that were sent to friends of her family over the course of 50 years. Excellent! You can visit Mandy online at www.teenytiny.org and you should because she's a beautiful human being. "Tree Falling in the Woods" is one of my favorite poems of hers.
1. Does the part of the world where you live directly inspire any of your writing? Yes, I've always written about everyday experiences, and when I bought my grandparents' house in 2005, I wrote a series of poems about moving into the house with my partner and settling into the neighborhood. Also, I've written about the Puget Sound and local parks, stuff like that. When we go on road trips, I jot down reflections in a spiral notebook in the motel at night, and the poems usually come along weeks later; my partner has relatives in Eastern Washington and Northern Oregon, so I have poems that track some of what I've noticed on our drives to visit her family. 2. What do you do when you're heartbroken, or just disgusted or really sad? I try just to let myself rest. I do something soothing, like watching a favorite movie or baking cookies. I'd say I pretty much coped with high school by coming home and watching old movies. I used to review the TV schedule at the beginning of the week and then set the VCR to record old movies that were on late at night. 3. Who was the first band or musician who was really important to you? (No shame!) The first band would have to be The Bangles. Oh, I loved The Bangles. In retrospect, I know I had a crush on the bass player, Michael Steel, but at the time, I just thought she was really cool. 4. Please pick one article of clothing from your wardrobe and tell us about it. I found the best pair of Converse on sale a few years ago at Fred Meyer: they're black with red flames on them. I receive more compliments on these shoes than probably anything else in my wardrobe. 5. Is there anything that you find fascinating that most other people either don't notice or don't care about? Yes, I bet there are lots of things like this! In my poetry, I work deliberately with things that are often overlooked or forgotten: texts of old postcards, articles in old magazines, entries in a household diary... So many times, we quickly digest words and experiences, and I think that poetry grants us pockets of time and space in which to revisit and recover some of the bits and pieces of our lives which would otherwise be lost in the blur of activity. Tree Falling in the Woods Half-price drafts and a plate of nachos, tomato-red chips loud as though dyed for a holiday, but every day has happy hour--foam laces the sides of pint glasses whether you and I are there to empty them or not. back to the distro |