O.M.G.....

...I want to go here!

If gas and/or flying was cheaper, I'd soooooo plan a trip for next month!!!

Recommended:

Recent blossombones contributor Judith Arcana has a new website, and it's just lovely!

I hope you'll visit her site...She's not only an amazing writer, but also a passionate advocate for women's rights.

It's pretty darn cool that we get a little mention on her tarot page, for having first published "In the Cards." It's a terrific piece, so do check it out either on her site or in our archives! I just love what she has to say about the tarot...She explains it so, so perfectly, when she says "the cards help us think."

I've been a reader for about ten years now, so this is a topic very close to my heart. I think the tarot is a terrific meditation tool.

Judith's latest book is called What if Your Mother, and it's one of my favorite books of poetry, ever. I hope you'll check it out!

Ms. Pacman...

My friend Jen sent me this awesome Youtube video about everyone's favorite female yellow pie chart-shaped video game heroine - classic!

Happy Monday all!

Check out a few new pieces...

And a couple of familiar ones, too...

I am a featured poet this month at The Guild of Outsider Writers, which is very cool!

Checking in...

I have to admit, Mercury in retrograde has me a little blue...I dislike the sense of stagnation that tends to accompany it...

Things should shape up by the end of the week, I figure. Next week for sure.

Plus! Submissions seem to be rolling in rather nicely...I can't wait to start reading (This may be my plan for the weekend). W00t!

I am also rather nerdily excited about this:



Oh yeah.

Things I'm loving right now!

Oooooooo, how I love a good day off of work. Nothing to do. Nothing I have to do. No real plans outside of remaining in pajamas. LOVE IT! I'm thinking that writing, or attempting to write is more like it, sounds like an excellent plan today.
Before I go into my latest list of things I love right now, I want to say how excited I am to look in my blossombones mailbox and already see a nice chunk of prose subs! You like me, you really like me! In all seriousness though, it rocks to see the new subs rolling in - I'm already excited to put together my section for the next issue! Woo hoo! To add to that, I want to challenge everyone out there in blossombonesland to send me some kickass personal essays. I rarely get any non-fiction subs, and sometimes pieces about real people - about you! - can be some of the best stuff!

1. To help you get started on your quest to fulfill my challenge, my first item on the list of things I'm totally digging right now is the new David Sedaris book! Now, I usually love all his stuff anyway, but I have been awaiting this new book since probably two days after this one came out (which, by the way, I own an autographed copy of, thanks to my sister!). I love Sedaris' work because, though it's side-splittingly, make-me-laugh-my-ass-off-on-the-train, make-me-laugh-so-hard-people-look-at-me-funny hilarious, Sedaris does an excellent job of bringing even the craziest of his essays full-circle. I can't think of an essay of his that I don't like, that doesn't resonate with me. I absolutely recommend his new work!

2. The first 7/8ths of the movie The Strangers - Okay, okay, so I'm a sucker for a good (and, admittedly, a bad) horror movie, and while this one isn't perfect (meaning the ending sucked rocks), I'm still willing to give The Strangers a "yay" rather than a "nay" for the way the film managed to psychologically torture me the majority of the time throughout and then succeeded in giving me nightmares. And who doesn't love a creepy mask or three? Do I love the wussiness of the film's lead female (played well by Liv Tyler)? Not particularly. Do I love the shitty, contrived ending? No way. But will I ever stay overnight in an unfamiliar, secluded place again? Nope. All in all, an excellent alternative to the Sex & the City movie, which I hope to never, ever see. Ever. Bring on the serial killers any day.

3. Being a little bit artsy-fartsy.... -



Can I draw? Not super well. Can I paint? Definitely not. But can I collage right along with the best of them? Maybe, just maybe. I've been working on a couple of fairytale-ish pieces that I'm pretty excited about! I've also put my new camera to good use. Mostly on photos of the new pooch, of course, but I'm also trying to put together a few cool shots for my mom since she's looking for new wall art but doesn't want to shell out the big bucks for new stuff when we might be able to fake it ourselves!

4. Cautiously planning (cheapish) summer excursions - Would I love to throw caution to the wind and gallivant all over Europe? You betcha. Am I some sort of oil and diamonds heiress? Hells no. And thus, I'm trying to maintain sanity by making sure I get out there and have some fun this summer - on a budget. A small budget. Trips to the Dunes to go swimming and chill on the beach, a trek to this potentially bitching drive-in movie theatre with friends, and even possibly a little mini-vacation to Cedar Point are in my near future. I've never been to Cedar Point, but any place that's dubbed "The rollercoaster capital of the world" deserves a check in the "awesome" column. I've also bought tickets to a few summer concerts with more ticket purchases to come. It may not be London or Prague, but the Midwest certainly has some things to offer in the way of fun. Even if gas prices are ridiculous....

5. And finally, I had to give a metaphorical giant standing ovation to Leigh Stein's How to Mend a Broken Heart with Vengeance, which I finished reading on the train home from work last night. I picked up a copy of this beautiful dgp chap at Printer's Row last weekend and I have to tell you I was BLOWN AWAY! The way Leigh plays with the idea of those "choose your own adventure" books and the way her work sparkles with humor and beauty and language....wow, it's just a knockout of a collection! Standouts for me were "Based on a Book of the Same Title", "Zelda", "Katherine Tillman vs. Lake Michigan", "Keeping the Minotaur at Bay", and definitely "How to Mend a Broken Heart with Vengeance".

New blossombones, new puppy, and how hypochondria may convince me that I have tomato salmonella...

Summer can be so pretty sometimes!

First off, let me say a big "WOO HOO!" to my homeslice, Susan, who did SUCH a kickass job putting our summer issue of blossombones together! She is a web-maven to the tenth power!!!! Beautiful job Susan!!!! And what an awesome lineup, too - great job to all of our amazing contributors!

I don't know if it's sleep deprivation, the abundance of health food I've been eating lately, or just my normal hypochondriac tendencies (and by normal, I mean normal for me), but my stomach has been KILLING me lately....I am starting to wonder what salmonella feels like....and if I've managed to avoid tomatoes since the start of this stupid tomato scare.....ick.

Anyway, back to cooler stuff.....like new puppies! I got one!



Her name is Lily! She likes Tupperware, nail files, Buffy, bugs, and cheese. I may be kind of a writer, but I can't make those things up. Lily is probably the cutest badass I know. I personally enjoy that her hair is naturally crimped :)

blossombones summer 2008

is now live!

Just a quick note: blossombones summer 08 should be live by Monday. Stay tuned!

***

Sorry it's so quiet on this blog lately! I've been blogging here, mostly...but I'd like to get back to posting a few book reviews, cool links & etc. on this blog very soon! Things have been hectic :)

***

Today is the big day! Z. will walk across the stage with his class tonight. I am hoping for decent weather...