So i’m on this contest kick lately.
I’ve never been one to enter contests– not really. I think i’ve bought lotto tickets three times in my entire life. I rarely buy raffle tickets unless it’s for a good cause. The last thing I won was a Chippendale’s Puzzle playing gay bingo in the East Village New [...]

Posted in Uncategorized, Vermont Studio Center, my writing, shopping 4 Comments »

We’re almost unpacked in our new house. We have pictures on a few of the walls and the boxes are down to the double digits (maybe even under 20?). Photos of the new place to come, I promise. I’m halfway through summer teaching and have gotten back into working on my book. I have a [...]

Posted in Uncategorized, books, my plants, nonfiction, poetry, writers No Comments »

According to The Writer’s Almanac (on NPR):

It was on this day (June 23) in 1868 that the typewriter was patented, by Christopher Sholes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1873, he sold the patent to the Remington Arms Co., a famous gun maker, for $12,000. There had been typewriters before, but they weren’t very practical — it [...]

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Dear Blog,
I’m so sorry for neglecting you, but, you see, we are moving (Ted and I) to a new home– a real house with a yard and a dishwasher and a garage! So I promise I’ll spend more time with you as soon as we get everything settled there (this weekend).
In the meantime, here’s a [...]

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John Cheever would have been 97 today. This year saw the publication of Cheever: A Life,  a comprehensive (and well reviewed) biography by Blake Bailey. It’s next on my list of books to read– I’ll start it this weekend while we’re in Cincinnati visiting Ted’s mom.
Cheever said, “A page of good prose remains invincible.”
Cheever once [...]

Posted in Uncategorized, books, fiction, writers 1 Comment »

School’s out for about three weeks (well, ok, I have to go back for one day to give a final exam), so i’m getting some sleep, seeing friends, making meals (just made this incredible curry pasta dish–thanks Felicia!), and trying to be crafty. Made these Thank You cards– some of which will be/are going out [...]

Posted in Uncategorized, collage, crafts 1 Comment »

Heading into day two of Tom Spanbauer’s Dangerous Writing Workshop.
Yesterday he asked us

“what makes dangerous

writing?”
Write about what scares you, what surprises you. Go someplace secret, full of pain, and you talk about it. It’s what makes us human.

To step up to the table with our

humanness–that’s Dangerous

Writing.

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It better, because I’m turning 40.

And to commemorate the day I made these postcards.

Posted in Uncategorized, postcards 2 Comments »

So, yes, I’m turning 40 in a week, but that doesn’t mean it’s time for the joke cards and gag gifts to start being delivered.
I mean, Just for Men? Gray hair? Seriously?

This was a joke, right? Right?
I’m already imagining the crafty things I can do to these two cards:
Guys: Gay hair’s not your style. Let [...]

Posted in Uncategorized, collage, crafts, postcards 2 Comments »

How is it that Billy Collins always knows just what to say to make me smile?
(from The Writer’s Almanac, April 17, 2009).

Field Guide by Billy Collins

No one I ask knows the name of the flower we pulled the car to the side of the road to pick and that I [...]

Posted in Uncategorized, my latest man-crush, poetry, writers No Comments »