February 2012
17 posts
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Calling for submissions
Microlandia! A Journal of Microwriting is looking for original work for its premiere issue.
Looking for:
Micropoetry (e.g. haiku, tanka, gogyokha);
Microprose (fiction/nonfiction, 250 words max);
Micromemoir (see above guidelines); and
Writing prompts.
Deadline for submission is March 18, 2012. Payment is in copies, though that may change.
Submit your work here: aherreracg@gmail.com. Please...
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Sunday doldrums
Another Sunday is ebbing away. Warm, windy and overcast; another cold front is due for South Florida.
The past few days have been awful: depressed and hungry. At one point, I couldn’t even cry, just couldn’t find the tears. A scary sensation: the feeling, not of being in a black hole, but of being a black hole. Of being void, hollow—nothing.
And as for the hunger—this...
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Brief thought
So, Paget Brewster is leaving Criminal Minds at the end of this season.
I’m not altogether surprised. She’s wanted to tackle other projects, and it may be for the better in the long run—both for her and for the series. How the writers are going to frame her exit now, I don’t know. I doubt it will be with the biff-bang-POW! of last season’s arc with Ian Doyle. Oh,...
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Three cheers...
Books and Books now has a Tumblr! Hurray!
If you love books, and you love local, indie booksellers—please, do not hesitate in following them. They’ve always got something cool going on, every day.
I live to find out what Mitchell Kaplan and Company have in mind, to celebrate the store’s 30th anniversary.
Whatever it is—I’m certain it will be nothing short of...
Write one leaf about judgment day.
writeoneleaf:
| Write One Leaf + about + ask + random + facebook + twitter | sponsors + You Are a Dog [kindle]
I stand at the white throne—a luminous chamber, where the Trinity stand, books open, scenes from my life replayed on the walls.
“You fell in love with a girl at the age of 18.”
“Yes. That’s true.”
“You lay with a woman as with a man, while...
January 2012
38 posts
“You disturb my natural emotion
you make me feel I’m dirt
and I’m...”
– —from “Ever Fallen in Love With Someone?” The Buzzcocks. Music and lyrics, Pete Shelley.
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Before the poetry
I’m a mixed bag at the moment.
Yesterday was one of those days where I wanted to cry, laugh, and curl up into a ball. I’m still feeling the impact.
The Coral Gables Cultural Council held a meeting, so I went to see and hear. Strolled and window-shopped, came home, changed clothes, and went off to the library.
After I left, I went to Books and Books, where the Coral Gables Democratic...
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In other fascinations...
I make no secret of my fascination with slash; I have a serious jones for Hotch/Rossi slash, with Reid/Rossi not far behind.
And now, I’ve developed a thing for Shassie (Shawn Spencer/Carlton Lassiter) slash. That, after getting hooked on psych.
I honestly thought I’d gravitate more to Shawn/Gus—but there’s something about the love/hate relationship between these two, and...
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I'm smitten...
I finished reading Are You My Guru? How Medication, Meditation and Madonna Saved My Life, by Wendy Shanker.
She hooked me with The Fat Girl’s Guide to Life (I have to go by the Gables Trolley Garage, as I left it on a trolley and would like to finish reading it), and now I truly would like to kick myself for not hoofing it to Temple Israel to hear her speak.
That said, if she comes back...
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Picture yourself...
as the beautiful being you truly are.
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Twitter seems to be failwhaling today.
Oh well.
It’s a lovely evening (if overcast), and I see myself taking a walk in a bit.
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Is there anything on this earth better than The...
I think that De Profundis, “The Selfish Giant,” The Ballad of Reading Gaol, and Lady Windemere’s Fan—and before I forget, “The Happy Prince”—come pretty close. Then again, I am in awe of Wilde…
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“Me, I’m not young
me, I’m not old
the Revolution failed
or so...”
– —“King of Trash,” Gavin Friday (b.1959) and Maurice “The Man” Seezer. From the album, Adam ‘N Eve (Island Records, 1992).
One of the most underrated albums, I think, of the 90s—a lovely mashup of glam, disco, and cabaret stylings.
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Evening all!
Tonight is clear and cool—good weather for a walk, rounded out with churros and hot chocolate.
I don’t know how long the cool evenings will last, but I want to enjoy them as fully as I can do.
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Friday miscellanea
Friday afternoon at the Gables branch. Not much to say at the moment. Two high schoolers are sitting nearby, singing pop idol songs, talking about guys they want to marry, and why guys named Neil will never be their husbands.
To say this is banal is an understatement.
So I’ll move on.
I’m pleased with this last instructional poem, and I think I want to write a proper series,...
My Top Ten Favorite TV Bromances
onthesmallscreen:
In no particular order:
#2 Shawn and Gus
I’m really coming around to Psych. The bromance is very palpable; I wouldn’t be surprised if someone put together a Shawn/Gus slash site.
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How to see ghosts in a mirror.
Find a mirror. It doesn’t have to be any particular shape or size; a compact will do nicely.
Set aside time when you will not be disturbed, a time free from distractions and worry.
Gaze into the mirror. Don’t worry if you can’t see anything beyond your reflection. Simply breathe, deeply and slowly.
Close your eyes, and count backward—from 100, or 20, or whichever number...
Rick Perry drops out, endorses Newt Gingrich →
stfuconservatives:
truth-has-a-liberal-bias:
Texas Gov. Rick Perry says there is “no viable path forward” for his campaign and that Newt Gingrich has “the heart of a conservative reformer.”
FULL STORY
Final four face off in Charleston
“We’re all pretty much the same anyhow. Vote Aggressive Ignorance 2012!”
“Vote for the serial monogamist who asked Wife #2 to participate...
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Thank you one and all!
I’m gobsmacked. Well and truly! Thirty-seven notes? Deeply moved, deeply grateful, ever so.
And to all of you, a great big thanks:
theaquainkmods;
milktoof;
cassjoream;
chewbacca-mrsspencerreid-gubler;
my-life-as-molly;
xenophiliuswashere;
beauty—inallshe—is;
janegubler;
digbychickencaesar;
heres-a-riddle-for-you;
gogomodele;
bookwurm32191;
everyonelovesmuffins;
...
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Pondering...
This past Saturday night, at Books and Books, I caught the UM Faculty/VONA reading—very good, varied authors and poets. Before and after the main reading, audience members were encouraged to participate in an open mike reading.
Yes, I did read there. No question.
One of the other participants—a student, I think, in UM’s Creative Writing MFA program—read a poem inspired by...
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How to become Matthew Gray Gubler
Pick up cigarette butts in a frozen custard parking lot at age eight.
Develop high cheekbones; stain your eyes honey-hazel; grow your lips lush, pillowy, and rosy.
Mismatch your socks for luck.
Draw magical creatures and quirky strangers.
See ghosts wherever you go.
Grow tall, lean, and leggy—a designer’s wet dream, lusted after by women and men alike.
Blur the lines between...
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Vingt-huit, vingt-neuf, trente--un peu en...
I have been doing battle royale, these past few days, with depression. While this is not a new thing, it has been particularly sharp. Forgive, dear ones.
28. A place that you’d like to visit, or want to live.
I think I live in a pretty lovely place now. Coral Gables has its own charms: Mediterranean Revival architecture, lots of green space, a fair degree of safety on the streets, art,...
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Three times nine, or three cubed...
27. A quote you try to live by.
Two quotes I adore greatly, and which I try to keep at heart.
The first, from the play, Lady Windemere’s Fan, by Oscar Wilde: “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” I first heard this—paraphrased—in a Pretenders song, back in 1982. And I immediately fell in love with it: the desire to reach beyond misery,...
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Worry/likes/dislikes* (ou, dias 25 e 26)
25. Something you’re currently worrying about. (Short version, I promise.)
I’m not going to regale you with tales of all the beasties in my closet, under my bed, squeaking at 3 a.m. as the foundation of my studio settles, yet again!
Nor am I about to launch into the distresses of the upcoming election cycle, mercury poisoning from tuna, or whether I could get a nosebleed from trying...
“Hold me now
‘cos tonight
it’s driving me mad;
this dream
can...”
– “Driving Me Mad,” Neil Finn. From the album One Nil, and a brilliant song.
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Drei und zwanzig...vier und zwanzig...
23. Something you miss.
I miss many things: the days when MTV actually played music videos; snow cone stands in summer; riding down the street on my old SportStar banana-seat bike, to name a few.
I also miss many people: my Mom and Dad; my best friend from high school, Julio Delvalle; my grandmother and great-grandmother.
Pressed to stick with one thing I dearly miss, though…? I miss...
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Nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two...
Before I dig in on this round, I’d like to apologize for the absence.
I came down with a cold on Wednesday, and it’s still clinging to me, with sinus pressure, headaches, coughing, sneezing…the usual.
Bear with me, please, I ask. I’ve started this challenge, and I aim to see it through.
19. Five items you lust after
Here alone, I could break it down into categories:...
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“My love,
wherever you are,
whoever you are,
don’t lose faith:
I know...”
– —“I Know It’s Gonna Happen Someday,” lyrics by Morrissey; music by Alain Whyte. Off the brilliant, and sadly maligned release, Your Arsenal, produced by the late, great Mick Ronson, 1992.
I finally finished reading Saint Morrissey, and it has brought home to me this point:...