Tag Archives: life

Quote For The Weekend (Seriously Late Edition w/Bunnies)

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. —Anne Frank We tend to rotate which charities we give to monthly. Save The Children often tops the list. Also the Mae Tao … Continue reading

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, dog, Fiction, fish, Parakeet, Pets, Poetry, Writer quotes, Writing, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Quote For The Weekend (Unchaste Edition)

True poets should be chaste, I know, but wherefore should their lines be so? —Catullus (Gaius Valerius, of course…) Of course he loved Lesbia! Sheesh. Get over it. Hopefully he ultimately got over it, IF he wasn’t 30 when he … Continue reading

Posted in Adult writing, Avoiding My Writing, Fiction, Poetry, poetry reading, Writer quotes, Writer's Angst, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Courage! (Neigh Edition)

I was late to retrieve the boy from school because I Face Sucked like a fiend AND watched the latest episode of “Once” on hulu AND in another open hulu tab caught up on the latest episode of “Revenge” WHILE checking … Continue reading

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To All Rejections

To all rejections: I am building a cathedral. I am building a cathedral. I am building a cathedral. I am building a cathedral. I am building a cathedral. I am building a cathedral. I am building a cathedral. I am … Continue reading

Posted in books, Children's Books, Fiction, middle grade, Poetry, Quotes, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, Writing Publications, Writing Tips, WTF, YA Novels | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Old Town Poetry

I invited a friend to a poetry reading. 6 years ago this would have been a normal request of any of my friends. But now I’m a mom. Now most of my friends are mothers and working mothers and mothers with working-OT-husbands–thus … Continue reading

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Beach Break

This was last weekend, all Winter beachness, crisp, clear light, air cold enough for us to wear sweaters we haven’t seen in over a year, sweaters with jeans and sweats and bare feet as we ran on glassy beach, Anacapa, … Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, Me and Us, Poetry, Santa Barbara, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The After 9/11/2001 Post

Last year I posted this piece on 9/11/11, the crux of which is: One morning, as my boss and I walked across campus after a 9/11 tribute during which she’d read a poem to hundreds gathered at the special ceremony, … Continue reading

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Snow White Revisted (Part II)

I drove up to Santa Barbara by myself, for a change. High school reunion—the first I’ve ever been to, but not the first my friends have been to and it’s only because of Tdoll and Ddazzle and our nearly life-long … Continue reading

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Faction, Fiction, Santa Barbara, Writing, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

All Heated Up (With Spiders)

We are experiencing triple digit weather. Triple digits means hatchings and unwelcome visitors indoors. Cloth-eating moths. Black widows. Giant waterbugs, which I call cockroaches, which my husband insists are waterbugs—regardless, they make the cats crazy in the middle of the night and startle … Continue reading

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Quote For The Weekend (Heatwave Edition)

Have we fallen into a mesmerized state that makes us accept as inevitable that which is inferior or detrimental, as though having lost the will or the vision to demand that which is good? Such thinking, in the words of … Continue reading

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Wrinkly Time, Melamine

I recently discovered that anything made of melamine, i.e., my preschooler’s plates and bowls, should not be tossed into the dishwasher. Ever. And if you make a knife cut in melamine? Chances are toxins will seep into your child’s food. … Continue reading

Posted in Adult writing, books, Children's Books, Fiction, Madonna, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Short Story Writing Drama

Because I’ve been a Glimmer Train Finalist several times and, once, long ago, when GT published poetry, a Top 25 Finalist, and because, of course, GT is one of the best fiction journals in the country, I subscribe and receive … Continue reading

Posted in Adult writing, books, Children's Books, Fiction, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Roar While You Can

I picked up the preschooler from his place of happy learning and song and drove him up the coast to a museum party celebrating a new installation of animatronic dinosaurs. My husband phoned as I stood in a vast, beamed hall … Continue reading

Posted in Me and Us, Santa Barbara, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Quote For The Weekend

Once the realization is accepted that, even between the closest human beings, infinite distances continue to exist, a wonderful living side by side can grow up, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for … Continue reading

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Book Bits (Courtesy of NPR)

You’ve probably already been here  as I’m never the earliest anywhere except the zoo, museums, playgrounds and places in which excessive queuing is involved. But here is an excerpt anyway and you can listen to the whole interview with Jonah Lehrer … Continue reading

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Quote For The Weekend (Tide Pool Edition)

“If a child is to keep his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.” —Rachel Carson … Continue reading

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Children's Books, fish, ocean related, Quotes, Santa Barbara, Writer quotes, Writing, Writing Tips | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Miss MOL Break

Sometimes I live vicariously through Miss MOL, an art curator by-the-sea. I love her recent sojourn. She hits all the cool places and makes me laugh. Check out her latest post on the Springs. THREE DAY TOUR.

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Quote For The Weekend (Exhausted Edition)

Never tire yourself more than necessary, even if you have to found a culture on the fatigue of your bones. —Antonin Artaud When I was in my early twenties, I kept a postcard with his image on it fastened to … Continue reading

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Notes From The Armchair

And how is it going, PB, in your newly rediscovered armchair? Are you working under favorable conditions? Or does the scent of cat pee distract you, just as you’ve made yourself comfortable, laptop on lap, glass of wine on the bookshelf next … Continue reading

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Fiction, Me and Us, Pets, Steps In Promotion, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Llama Laugh

His laugh: Vaguely hyena, part labrador-loose-in-the-surf, not mocking, but the tiniest bit cryptic, comically so. He made me want to write. Since it was too wonderfully cold for sitting outside by the fountain and attention-sucking candlelight, for two nights we kept company, this llama and … Continue reading

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Quote For The Weekend (Early Edition Due To Fleeing The Heat For Environs Non-Inclusive Of Internet But Very Beauty-And-Beach-Infused, Which Means Instant Writing Angst As I Am Distracted By Natural Wonders–Although I May Surprise Myself—er, Or Surprise My Muse By Taking Her Phonecall Before It Vanishes Into Late-Night Candles, Sweetly Bubbling Fountains And Stargazing…??? Oh. Yes. I Really Need To Get Away)

“Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on.” —John Steinbeck

Posted in Adult writing, Avoiding My Writing, Fiction, Santa Barbara, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Quote For The Weekend (early edition due to MWO beginning Friday a.m.–yee haha–er, sorry)

In honor of this writer’s upcoming MWO (Mama’s Weekend Out) at a spa in a tiny dry patch of non-descript California where she will experience mud, warm, constant bubbles and pools filled with bodies floating privately on provided rafts (the kind … Continue reading

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Fiction, Quotes, To Explain, Truman Capote, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Gypsy Sunset

Now that summer preschool camp has come to an end, life is extremely busy as I organize excursions that will benefit the small mind and help it to expand in positive, utterly enriching ways (I’m talking about the enrichment that … Continue reading

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Faction, Fiction, Me and Us, To Explain, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reveries

I’ve been seeing so many people from my past lately—I mean the past past, hazy-rocketing back to elementary school and working up from there—and it’s affected my dreaming. I have hosted reunions in my dream homes, welcoming total strangers to parties … Continue reading

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Rocking Muses

YA Muses are having another contest/giveaway and all week have reposted tons of valuable writing advice. Their story is inspirational–seriously, check them out, especially today’s post. Really wish I was going to SCBWI-LA this year so I could meet them … Continue reading

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