Friday, March 31, 2006

My first PAYING reading gig

If you're in Las Cruces, stop by!


Branigan Library and Sin Fronteras/Writers Without Borders will host the last of this year’s First Sundays Reading Series on Sunday, April 2 at 3 p.m. in the Dresp Room of Branigan Library.

The session will feature writers Gwendolyn Joyce Mintz from Las Cruces and Leo Romero from Santa Fe reading from their original work.

The event is free and open to the public. A reception and book signing will follow the readings.

Writing quote for 3/31/06

The most original authors are not so because they advance what is new, but because they put what they have to say as if it had never been said before.

~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Quote for 3/31/06

If we did all the things we were capable of doing, We would literally astound ourselves.

~~Thomas Alva Edison

"You have too many plants"

That's what my son told me as I set about watering them all.

"Did I ask you?" I inquired.

"Why do you need so many plants?"

"'Cause I do."

"You have one, two three. . . " His eyes roamed the room, his finger pointing. "Thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty-four. . ." He stepped into the next room. Raising his voice, he continued, "Seventy-five, seventy-six, seventy-seven. . . "

Can I help it if I love house plants? And I don't have as many as I *really* want, but perhaps I've pushed the limit for the size of my house. I've done that before.

My friend Greg came over for the first time. Standing in the open doorway, he looked around.

"You know, Gwen, " he told me. "I know you originate from the jungles of Africa, but isn't this a bit much?"

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Should Barry make it, there should be NO celebration--

Cheaters don't deserve parties.

You watch American Idol?

Read this

Writing quote for 3/30/06

Writing can teach us the dignity of speaking the truth ...

~~ Natalie Goldberg

Quote for 3/30/06

You never know what events are going to transpire to get you home.

~~ Og Mandino

The road now chosen

Two stories out and to PRINT magazines. Love the immediacy of the internet but this is my lesson in patience.

I don't want her legs

--- just the confidence she's got to wear a skirt THAT short!

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Take it OFF!

I'm reading Sunday at the public library and I was working on something for my introduction/newspaper blurb. Wanted to give my future reading in Washington, D.C. a shout out so I went looking for some info on the Lolita & Gilda's Burlesque Poetry Hour and I found this

I was planning to take off earrings or something simple-- don't know if I'm as adventurous as some--ha!

Do a little dance, make a little love, get down tonight. . .

K.C. and the Sunshine Band playing. Oh, what memories those horns stir up.
Makes me want to get up and shake shake shake my booty!

Karma

I return everything I find.

The reason: my flash drive was returned to the lost & found at the computer lab. I asked about it and there it was this morning.

The phone will turn up or it won't. But I think it will.

If my head wasn't attached. . .

Yesterday I lost my primary cellphone.

Saturday I lost my flash drive. Yes, again and so soon after finding it.

Did not bother me.

In her book "The Energy of Money," Maria Nemeth writes that obstacles "surface as you take your goal from metaphysical to physical reality. . . . Obstacles are the sign that physical reality is pushing back against your efforts and adding form to the energy of your dream."

I'm trying to stay organized so I can get things done so I can have what I need to get the heck out of here. Realizing this intention is going to shake up my world. [I didn't lose things when I was living in some disorganization. I knew I had whatever-- I just didn't know where it was;-)]

Things sometimes fall apart so things can come together.

When I decided to become a writer, my car engine blew, (having already quit my full-time job )the part-time job I had lined up fell through and I was moving into a smaller house that my landlord at that time had, but the people didn't move out (she was going to have to take them to court but she'd already rented the house I was in!).

But a writer I knew had told me that I'd have to be committed. That meant NO MATTER WHAT, I had to keep on. So i did and
that's the principle guiding me now. Just keep my eye on the goal/intention.

The biggest thing is that I see losing these things as an inconvenience. That's the gift.

I grew up in a family that dramatized the most silliest of things and I had a tendency to "awfulize."

It's disappointing to lose things, but not devastating. I can see that I've changed. Cool! Buy me some pull-ups cause I'm a big girl now!

American Idol

I love that show. I stopped watching television altogether years ago, but an article about the first season in USA Today got me watching again.

I'm a fan of Taylor Hicks. I love his voice but mostly I love his resemblance to Michael McDonald.

Susan seems to think Elliot Yamin has a chance but she's wrong! (sorry Susan)

This is how I think it will play out:

Talent will do Bucky in this week. He's the weakest one still standing.

Then Ace Young who my daughters think is "hot" but he's not as vocally strong as the others.

Kelly Pickler or Lisa Tucker will exit next. Kelly's not in the same vocal range as the others and she's more in the country vein. There was a "country" winner last year, so no repeat.

Bye, bye Elliot here.

Paris Bennet and then Katharine McPhee. Or in reverse order.

Chris Daughtry, though the judges love him, will be in the final three but not the last two. The judges' unwavering accolades, I think, will backfire and he'll be booted out.

Mandisa and Taylor will be the last two standing. Anyone's call. Although I love Taylor's look, my kids say he looks too old. And Mandisa, well, she's black and there have already been two black American Idols and I think the "quota" thinking will nix her chance.

But I don't vote and I could be all wrong and I'm just mad that Sway is gone ;-)

An offer you can't refuse

One thing I will miss about living in New Mexico is the food, particulary the chile. I LOVE green chile and the best comes from just up the road in Hatch.

Most every morning, I get green chile stew (and a doughnut, if I have no willpower) from a canteen on the university campus.

Days ago, I ran into the supervisor of the canteen at the bus stop.

"Heading to the university?" he asked.

"Nah, I just got off work."

He asked where I worked.

I pulled my jacket aside so he could see the logo.

"How long have you been in food service?" he asked.

"Years," I replied.

"You should come work for me," he told me. "All the green chile stew and chocolate doughnuts (Krispy Kreme!!!!) you can eat."

I laughed and reluctantly told him no. It was an offer I didn't want to refuse, but my thighs and butt said I must!

Quote for 3/28/06

Love, like a river, will cut a new path whenever it meets an obstacle.

-~~ Crystal Middlemas

Writing quote for 3/28/06

Literature always anticipates life. It does not copy it, but moulds it to its purpose.

~~ Oscar Wilde

Monday, March 27, 2006

Writing quote for 3/27/06

The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought, this in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium.

~~Norbet Platt

Quote for 3/27/06

Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.

~~ T.S. Eliot

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Bye, bye Buck

Mr. Owens has died!

I used to love him and Roy Clark on "Hee Haw." Really. That was one of my tv fav's when I was young and I loved the recording work he did later with Dwight Yokam.

When I was going to San Francisco, there was a sign in Bakersfield mentioning him. It brought to mind fond memories. As does his death, though with a touch of sadness.

Toothy Tom

Gawd, I can't stand Mr. Cruise. BLAH! Does he HAVE to be on every newsite, a mention in most every publication I flip through while in the check-out line????????


I have never understood his appeal. Are his 15 minutes not UP??????????

Check the clock. Please.

Writing quote for 3/25/06

Being a real writer means being able to do the work on a bad day.

~~ Norman Mailer

Quote for 3/25/06

Understand that the right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it. Dwell in possibility.

~~ Oprah Winfrey

Friday, March 24, 2006

Look Closely

Friday, March 24, 2006

Look closely
+++++++++++++++++++

The more lovingly you look at life, the more value you will
find to live. The more fully you appreciate what is now, the
more positively you can influence what will be.

Look deeply enough, and you can find the goodness in any
situation. The perspective from which you view the world
determines what you will see.

With a positive, thankful, life-affirming perspective you'll
see opportunities for growth, achievement, fulfillment and
joy. With the best of expectations you'll enjoy the best of
all possible results.

On the surface, today may look just like all the days
before. Choose to look beneath the surface, though, and
you'll find countless possibilities in this moment.

Expect to find goodness, beauty, value and opportunity, and
you will. Look closely with a loving heart, and life's true
treasures will come clearly into focus.

The full richness of life is here in this moment. Look
closely and you will see.

Ralph Marston

Writing quote for 3/24/06

The best antidote to writer's block is--to write.

~~ Henriette Anne Klauser

Quote for 3/24/06

Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.

~~ Carl Jung

Sometimes my half-white children annoy me

They claim to be "blacker" than I am.

They are mistaken for (only) white, hispanic, puerto rican. When I point out that they're lighter than I, they say it's not about skin tone.

No, it's not.

Children, children:

One can think rap music is garbage and "be black."

One can speak grammatically correct English and "be black."

One can not say "nigger" and "be black."

One can know "nigga" is a linguistical trick, refuse to say it as well and still "be black."

One can wear one's jeans around one's waist, not off one's ass, and still "be black."

It's currently in vogue to "act black," though again the definition of 'black' is sooooooo limited.

And "being black" isn't the point. BEING who you are is the actual, only, and most authentic goal.

11 ft. ceilings, hardwood floors, 6 bathrooms(!!!!!) sitting on 12.5 acres with a greenhouse as well

Vermont dream house #2 and it's less than a mil $$$.

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Great beginnings

Great. Good. Whatever.

I'm liking it.

The beginnings of a story I'm currently working on:



Something Like Happiness



Better to kill him. If she killed herself, he wouldn’t care. Not that he cared that she was alive. And yet he wouldn’t let her leave.

“You don’t want me and you don’t want anyone else to have me,” she’d once shrieked during yet another quarrel.

He had laughed. “Don’t nobody else want you,” he’d assured her as he pulled on his jacket.

His words cut across her throat. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak; not that she’d had a response because that was her greatest fear: that she was fortunate to have him because there really was no one else, that there would never be anyone else.

Macy lay in the bed, their bed, flat on her back, the knife resting against her heart. She sighed. She was tired, and it was taking so much to stay awake.

She fought the urge to glance over at the clock on the nightstand. She had the feeling she’d be disappointed that time too had no regard. It would do as it pleased: move quickly or seemingly not at all—with no thought whatsoever of Macy Fielder.

In Vermont, Albertson's are Shaw's

Wanted to buy a gift card and "save" money on it so I can buy groceries when I get to Vermont. I did some searching and found that there are no Albertson's in Vermont, but there is a sister-company, Shaw's and a customer representative said I can buy an Albertson's gift card and exchange it for a Shaw's gift card once I get to Vermont.

cool. cool.

Back to Baltimore

I'm throwing my name in the pot to participate in a black writer's event at John Hopkins University. I would love to go to Baltimore again.

Still don't know about Chicago. Come on, come on. . .

And I got my pics from San Francisco-- now just to figure out the photo hosting stuff and I'll tell you about that trip. I'm so computer illiterate so still be interested when I finally tell you, okay?

Writing quote for 3/23/06

Nothing is allowed to die in a society of storytelling people.

~~ Harry Crews

Quote for 3/23/06

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.


~~ Anais Nin

Since I was 12

That's how long I've known Cecilia. Over 30 years! One of my dearest friends. She never let me get away with any bullshit-- she'd call me on it and at the same time, she was the one friend I felt safe enough to share my writing with and even then, when my weak ego wanted only praise, she cared enough to be honest.

I am very blessed to have her in my life.

An email this morning-- "write me."

I will! I will!

Nothing to do but read, write and make bears

I have time to read again. YAY! I haven't read a book in awhile. First up, getting back to "24/7" by my buddy Susan. Buy and read this book. It's funny, the characters are real and it's sexy hot!

Then, it's the latest by Kaye Gibbons and Jeffrey Lent's second book which I found in the bargain bin at Hastings which is no reflection on his writing. He is a master. Read his first book "In The Fall" and be blown away. He lives in Vermont too!

______________

I found my flash drive! Left it attached to a computer at the university so now it's back to work!And I've got a new story idea to boot!


_______________


I need to special order one thing to do the graduation bears and then the rest is up to me. The money to move rests with this project and I ain't even got to do a lot to profit. I just want to get cross-country.

Scared -- can and will I follow through?

Excited--- I can and will do this because it will change my life.


Jumping off a cliff, but damn it, I'm determined to fly!

I want to try #82 and #153 and #256, most definitely

Skimming through the "302 Advanced Techniques. . . " 'cause I'm trying to work out a story for an erotic anthology due in April and also, well, you know, BECAUSE ;-) and while I appreciate the idea of reverance for the sexual act that the book inspires, some of the language is well, dumb.

Lizard King, Jade stalk, eager rabbit, Love weapon??????

I have never heard a penis referred to as such. Made me laugh. (The references, not, uhm, penises).

[I've heard that every man has a (pet/special) name for his friend, but I'm sure no guy ever calls it "Li'l ____________ (anything)!"]

And you would think #69 would be like some WOW! technique but it's not!

Books and books and books part 2

Writer's Digest had sent me an offer to join their book club so I did. I used a credit card #, thinking I had time to get some available credit before my order was processed, but no, I got a letter from customer services that said once I had the funds, they'd send me my books.

But the books showed up on my doorstep yesterday.

"Story Structure Architect"

"Bibliophile's Dictionary"-- 'cause I love words. I was a goofy student--I used to hug my spelling books. When I was in the fourth grade, I won the class spelling bee.

"Novelist's Essential Guide to Crafting Scenes" /"Novelist's Essential Guide to Creating Plot" -- if I ever decide I want to try a novel again, but I'm thinking these books might collect a bit of dust

"Comedy Writing Success" -- I LOVE writing comedy. I used to be a comedienne; I've opened for Colin Quinn and Gabe Kaplan. Several years ago, I won a comedy contest sponsored by Comedy Lab and Pontiac. I have a trophy. When Comedy Central was added to the local cable line-up, the cable company paid me 80 bucks for 10 minutes. I almost got on "The Tonight Show" once but my proscrastinating tendencies did me in. Early 90's, I almost got to open at a mega-concert with Keith Sweat, Bell Biv Devoe. Al B. Sure, Johnny Gill and Bobby Brown, but I didn't have a phone and when I got the message -- WE WANT YOU-- it was too late:(


Surprised that the order was processed, but maybe somewhere, somebody knows I need some writing help;-)

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Another Daily OM worth considering

read

sing-a-long

My daughters love music, mostly rock.

The 13-year-old is crazy too about punk and the 15-year-old, country.

They watched the movie about the Temptations and now they've got an interest in the early Motown sound.

Marvelous. 'Cause now we're talking *real* music.

Writing quote for 3/21/06

One writes out of one thing only--one's own experience. Everything depends on how relentlessly one forces from the experience the last drop, sweet or bitter, it can possibly give.

~ ~James Baldwin

Quote for 3/21/06

Worry not that no one knows of you; seek to be worth knowing.

~~ Confucius

Monday, March 20, 2006

Performance anxiety

The freelance job I applied for previously is with a greeting card company. I got their writer/editor test in the mail this weekend.

High levels of anxiety 'cause I hate tests!

I'm sure I could do the job-- I once had two poetic pieces get through to the final considerations at Blue Mountain Arts --but I'm all stressing this meter/stanza thing.

Revise in contemporary language.

Brainstorm ideas for a verse intended for. . .

**********

I really want to do this
But I'm wondering if I can




uh

hmmmm


Maybe this isn't for me. . .

I can't even come up with four lines to describe my dilemma!

Going postal

I've got to get my applications to writing seminars in the mail this week. That's a MUST.

A flash to Mad hatters Review.

And two queries--can I just have my stories back?

A rule evidently unspoken

A contest entry of mine was disqualified because it was written in present tense!!!! Where is it written that you HAVE TO use past tense? Show me where it says that. I like the immediacy of present tense -- is that a voilation of some writing commandment?

33 other writers saw their hopes of winning nixed because of grammer, typograpical errors, etc.

It wasn't a huge contest and the entry fee was less than what I spend in a vending machine in a day, but come on . . .

I wanna go to Chi-Town

I dooooooooooooooo..

Fantasizing this weekend about it. The date is around the time I was going to head to Vermont with the truck, but I'm thinking if I get selected as a reader, I'll bump the moving van date back a couple of months and rent a car and drive to Chicago and beyond just because. . .

And I was having such a good weekend . . .

It appears though that I've lost the flash drive with all of my writing. Older stuff I have on CD, but I was working on 4 new stories. Before I left for San Frnacisco, I printed out hard copies of those 4, in case I decided to work on them while I was away, but I'd have to retype them. Ugh. One story was already over 6000 words.

I started packing some things this weekend and throwing some stuff away like a crazed woman-- will I be unpacking in Vermont and there it is(!)? Or will my work end up in a landfill (and rightfully so)?
I hate the idea of having to retype the most. Although part of me thinks maybe I'll get some fresh perspective on the 6000+ story.

In a way it's a good thing. No, really. Once I lost all of my disks and everything I didn't have a hard copy for was lost forever. Two stories were kickass and I'm afraid to even try to rewrite them for fear the same magic wouldn't exist in them. What's different this time is that I've not lost the work completely and I didn't take my loss like Life has it out for me.

Stuff happens. HIGHLY inconvenient and not-really-fun stuff, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

I have only my perspective -- how I CHOOSE to see this-- to carry me through.

And while it will be done with a degree of mumbling, I'll get my fingers clicking away again, if I have to.

But, really, I don't want to :(

Writing quote for 3/20/06

I put a piece of paper under my pillow, and when I could not sleep I wrote in the dark.


~~ Henry David Thoreau

Quote for 3/20/06

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

~~Ecclesiastes 3:1

Sunday, March 19, 2006

Following a trail . . .

hoping it ends with a reading in Chicago.

Writing quote for 3/19/06

I learned... that inspiration does not come like a bolt, nor is it kinetic, energetic striving, but it comes into us slowly and quietly and all the time, though we must regularly and every day give it a little chance to start flowing, prime it with a little solitude and idleness.

~~ Brenda Ueland

Quote for 3/19/06

Our lives teach us who we are.

~~ Salman Rushdie

Saturday, March 18, 2006

There's no place like. . .

My kids and I and my son's friend were in the family room, hanging out and watching movies. We were joking about something, but my son's friend started to cry.

"What's wrong?" my daughter asked.

As he rubbed his eyes, he shook his head.

I took a breath. I knew what was wrong.

"You want to go home," I said.

He nodded.

Later, after he had gotten his things and gone back to his father, my children expressed some confusion about his decision.

But no matter how fucked up, crazy, unhappy an original "home" is, it's also the only "home" ever known. Humans will seek that "sameness" unless and until they're willing to have something different.

I didn't try to explain it to my kids and even though I wanted to explain it to my son's friend, I'm sure all of the psycho stuff and the explanation about dynamics and having to rewire the whole circuit so that one gets the right messages wouldn't have made sense or mattered.

What mattered is that for a time, Life gave this child a chance to see family and home as something different than what he knew. ALthough my family isn't Ozzie and Harriet perfect, I hope we offered possibility.

He's gone now-- out-of-town with his homeless mother wherever she is.

I hope life treats him kindly; he is just a child, and I'm trusting.

I was saved because someone, several someones, took the time to show me other options and possiblities. Knowing there are other and better tools gives me the chance to build something more.

Quote for 3/18/06

What keeps you going isn't some fine destination but just the road you're on, and the fact that you know how to drive.


~~ Barbara Kingsolver

Writing quote for 3/18/06

The craft of questions, the craft of stories, the craft of the hands - all these are the making of something, and that something is soul. Anytime we feed soul, it guarantees increase.

~~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Very funny Carrie

A practical joke from the lovely Mrs. Kilgore.

Made me laugh.

This morning I needed that.

Friday, March 17, 2006

Stage fright

I ran into Mark in the grocery store parking lot. He was the director for the last play I was in. I asked him about this work he was trying to get to the stage, but, he said, not enough people auditioned.

"Fences" was put on for Black History Month in Feb. and I was going to be a part of that-August Wilson has a stipulation requiring black direction of his work--it would have been my directorial debut and I would have had the lead part but I didn't have the time to commit to it all.

A woman who saw me in "Vagina Monologues" a couple of years ago suggested I take part in it this year, but again no time.

I like acting, it brings out another side of me, but right now it's not something that I want to do because my focus is on moving.

Mark had wanted me to play the lead in his play. A comedy/ melodrama, and an interesting one at that.

But even if Mark thought I could do it, I just couldn't see myself as a leather corset-wearing, dildo-bearing villainess!






(well, perhaps not at least, on a *public* stage)

Rejection, of sorts

I got a response from the press where I sent my poetry chapbook and it was rejected, but not really, I think.

"The manuscript shows promise. With some reworking, it will be publishable. Please consider submitting again."

Now what does that mean?

What is "reworking?" Rearrange the order of the works? Edit the poems more?

And the part about submitting again-- the same manuscript, but reworked (whatever that means-ha!)? Or something different?

The manuscript is all of my early works,I haven't written a new poem in forever, and I just want it published so I can be done with that part of my early writing career.

What I've decided is to send the manuscript elsewhere, but definitely send the press another chapbook-- once I've reworked, I mean, have written some new poems--ha!

Show-n-tell

Today I pick up my pics and then my tale about my California weekend.

Writing quote

Even the best writer has to erase

~~ Spanish Proverb quotes

Quote for 3/17/06

Your friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you.


~~ Elbert Hubbard

"I'm gonna set you up with someone, okay?"

Missy wants me to meet her ex-brother-in-law.

Hmmmmm . . .

What I was supposed (or was going) to do

I didn't do, of course. The plan was to enter a contest on Wednesday-- out the window, but for good reason. A quick freelance sort of thing that took a 1/2 hour of reading, some thinking and then two hours at the computer and I got 50 bucks. So that's what I did 'cause 50 bucks is 50 bucks.

And I didn't pick up my San Francisco pics from Target that day either. I was going to do it yesterday, but I went to the restaurant to get my check and Elayna wanted to know if I could work for her and I said yes 'cause I'd get tip $$.

I need to have money coming in, simply because I'm looking to move out!

Thursday, March 16, 2006

The moon right now

is big and full and gorgeous.

Go look at it.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Amazon shorts

An e-mail that gives me the go-ahead to submit.

Ha!

If I only had a story ready.

Writing quote for 3/15/06

Writing is a dog's life, but the only life worth living.

~~ Gustave Flaubert

Quote for 3/15/06

The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right.


~~ William Safire

I'm back but today's the 15th of March

which means there is a contest that I was meaning to enter and so I must work on that today.


The trip to California was an adventure. The reading went well and the library had an exhibit on Jack, even displayed his 120-ft scroll on which he wrote "On the Road" !!!!!!

Details and pics of my trip soon (I didn't lose my camera this time-hopefully, they'll come out)

Did you miss me?

"Part-time Lover"

by Stevie Wonder playing right now. Flashback to last night's episode of "American Idol." Did you watch it? Kevin, Kevin, Kevin . . . Randy and Paula need to quit encouraging him. Stop. Stop. Stop.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

I got nuthin' to say. . .

just getting ready to get out of town.

I'll share when I get back. And perhaps they'll be pictures!

Writing quote for 3/9/06

Art is not an end in itself, but a means of addressing humanity.


~~ M.P. Moussorgdki

Quote for 3/9/06

Man does not simply exist, but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become in the next moment.

!! Viktor Frankl

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Working this morning

;-P

The $$$$$$, you know. I wanna have fun in Cali this weekend.

Aretha on the radio

(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman

they don't get much better than this. . . .

Quote for 3/7/06

I began revolution with 82 men. If I had to do it again, I do it with 10 or 15 and absolute faith. It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and plan of action.


~~ Fidel Castro

Writing quote for 3/7/06

I tell my students you have an absolute right to write about people you know and love. You do. But the kicker is you have a responsibility to make the characters large enough that you will not have sinned against them.


~~ Dorothy Allison

You know me

I'm sometimes a lazy butt, but I'm good at promotion so when I'm in San Francisco, I will find this woman and see if I can't get myself a little interview gig done.

PEN WOMEN PRESENTS: Creative People talking about Creativity!

Produced/Hosted by Eileen Malone, is a half-hour interview show with a variety of fascinating people who talk about various aspects of living the creative life.


and it's broadcast : Pen Women Presents airs on Access San Francisco Channel 29; Napa Valley Channel 28; on Berkeley Media Channels 29 and 33 and on Mid-Peninsula Community Center Channels 27 and 28


definitely an opportunity to pursue.

The awards program

Awards Event




Each year, on a Sunday afternoon in March, all prize winners and honorable mentionsfrom the previous year's contest
are invited to read from their works at the Koret Auditorium in the new San Francisco Main Library, Civic Center.

This year,the Soul-Making Literary Prize Awards Reading for winners of the 2005 contest will take place on Sunday afternoon
March 12, 2006.

Doors to the Koret Auditoriumopen at 12:30 and program begins promptly at 1:00 PM.
A reception follows the program in the Latino/Hispanic Room (across the hall)

Program will include art exhibit, dance and music performance and literary flyers, brochures
and other hand-outs relative to individual writers, as well as groups and organizations
that support them, will be available.

The event is free and open to the public and will be taped for future viewing as a two hour special on Access San Francisco Channel 29

Monday, March 06, 2006

"I was having a bad day,"

this guy told me during our conversation. "But your smile just turned it all around."

I lie

I said I only had two stories out, but I have three 'cause I got a contest entry in the mail on March 1 ;-)
This past weekend, I started getting some things together for my trip. I laughed to myself when I started packing my hair accessories, recalling the last two times I flew somewhere.

One time, when going through security, the guy looking at the contents of my bag did a double-take. The last time, the operator stared for a while before he called another guy over, pointed at the x-ray and said something they both found humorous.

I wear my hair completely braided, though I have bangs. Thick and coarse, my hair behaves under very high heat.

I knew what they were thinking. I wanted to say, "Yes, it's a big-a** one, but dude, it's a curling iron!"

Quote for 3/6/06

Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.

~~ James A. Baldwin

Writing quote for 3/6/06

For a creative writer possession of the 'truth'' is less important than emotional sincerity.

~~ George Orwell

Friday, March 03, 2006

Writing quote for 3/3/06

The writer, when he is also an artist, is someone who admits what others don't dare reveal.


~~ Elia Kazan

The circus is coming to town!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the circus. This is one with more human acts than those that feature animals.

I'm like a little kid--I so can't wait!

Today's TO DO list

Buy my bus ticket

Open a bank account to start saving for the truck to move (yes, these funds will be FROZEN and I will NOT get an ATM card. No access to this money 'til May!)

Finish a story and send it somewhere. (I only have two stories out. Usually, I would keep my submission level --at the very least-- at around 25 (simultaneous, reprints, etc). Slacker.

Quote for 3/3/06

So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.

~~ Christopher Reeve

Like a crazy mo-fo

I have been working and working this week and my feet are burning!

Two days I worked as a cook and I picked up an extra server shift 'cause I want extra $$$ when I go to San Francisco. In fact this time next week, I will be on the road.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!

And Barney Fife?

Loved Don Knotts in "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken." Was it shown on the "Wonderful World of Disney"? I can't quite remember, but I do remember that Mutual of Omaha's "Wild Kingdom" always came on first. I'm thinking the movie was shown on Disney as well as "The Shakiest Gun in the West"-- loved that too.

Wasn't too crazy about Mr. Knotts as Andy's sidekick (I actually enjoyed "Matlock" more than "The Andy Griffith Show"-- yes, yes, I'm digressing yet again)-- he bothered me less than Goober, though, more than Gomer.

Angelina's ex, Billy Bob, said of him: "Don Knotts gave us the best character, the most clearly drawn, most perfect American, most perfect human ever."

Hmmm. . .

Nonetheless, goodbye.