a bit of this, a bit of that

Just a few random things to put out there before I leave work for the weekend.
While sitting on my partner-in-crime's stoop the other night, I saw two fireflies. They're such dreamy little things, on a humid summer night! I was thinking it'd be fun to get a firefly tattoo. But I'm not sure how I would pull that off, because up close they're not terribly attractive insects. How can they be so ugly but so pretty at the same time?
I've been slowly poking along on my novella, Emmelina and the Rat King. It's going pretty well; I'm loving working on something besides Nor. Soon enough, though, I'll be back to Nor for what will hopefully be my last edit on it before submitting. Crazy!
I found a white hair on my head the other day. It's not the first one. But it's the first one that's been right up front so it's easy to spot. You know what? I left it there. White hair happens. I kind of like it.
I went to the beach last weekend, and went in the water. More so than I intended! I got caught by a sneaker wave; it knocked me over, and down I went. Totally submerged. It was a lot of fun! Except the sunburn, but it's not bad. Not like last summer; that one was horrific. This one is just itchy because it's peeling like gangbusters! Ah well. At least it's going through the healing process quickly. And if I'm at the beach again anytime soon, I'll be under the umbrella the entire day.
A couple recent dreams. In one, I was hanging out with a good friend whose wedding I went to last fall. We weren't doing anything in particular, just hanging out. It was really nice. And then I woke up and was bummed that I can't actually hang out with him, as we're on opposite coasts. A different night, I dreamed that I found a little white kitten out on the street. I picked him up. I named him Mustard, I think. (I know, random! I think it's because there was this stray white cat I wanted to adopt several years ago, and the people who eventually did adopt him named him Mayonnaise.) I was having hard time hanging on to Mustard while I was going about my business, so I put him into a ziploc baggie. Don't worry, I didn't zip it all the way closed! But when I got to the class I was going to, and pulled the bag out to check on him, two things had happened. He'd died in the bag (poor little guy!) and somehow he shrank, as well. Again, I was bummed when I woke up. The third dream I vaguely remember, I was in a house with my mother and siblings, we were waiting for my dad to show up; he'd been gone a long time. (I'm talking months, not hours.) We finally found out that he'd died, and my mother was grieving, and so were us kids, and I asked her if I could keep these bookshelves of his we found in the garage that were Asian-influenced. We were going through boxed and crying over pictures and puzzling over things we'd never seen before, and I remember thinking "This is strange, he was kind of a jerk and didn't treat us very well and here we are, all seriously upset." (Don't worry, the dream family was not my real-life family!)
And on more thing. I learned two new words. First: Jackleg. It means 1 a: characterized by unscrupulousness, dishonesty, or lack of professional standards; b: lacking skill or training OR 2 : designed as a temporary expedient. Second: Bricolage. It means: construction (as of a sculpture or a structure of ideas) achieved by using whatever comes to hand; also: something constructed in this way.
Time to head home. Have a good weekend!

PS

Lots of strange dreams lately. Last night I was grocery shopping, and the cashier forgot to ring up the celery so I had to pay separately for that, and I got cranky at someone who was with me because they were working on the acknowledgments page for a book but had separated it from the rest of the manuscript. A couple nights ago I dreamed I was in this little house and either I was sick or other people were sick, so I was only allowed to be around certain people. But then I left the house and went to this bigger place where a lot of my friends were hanging out, and I tried to eat the cheese that was out on the buffet table with a lot of other food, but it had gone bad, so I was spitting it out and trying to get the awful taste out of my mouth when a good friend of mine from Seattle showed up. A night or two before that I was hanging out with a good friend of mine from Portland who got married last fall. And there was a recent one about seeing what-if boy, but I don't really remember anything about it.
It seems to me that most of my dreams recently have been about seeing someone, or about looking for someone/-thing. I wonder what my subconscious is trying to work through.
Okay, now REALLY off to work for me. Ta!

she waits for the dream to come

I'm sitting in my kitchen with a cup of tea and a new book to read. Oh, I love summer Fridays! This week was stressful; I feel like I've earned this bit of R&R today. Not that my whole weekend is going to be quiet. But this little moment in my kitchen, with the morning breeze floating through the window, is all mine to do with as I please. Which, in a few minutes, is going to be writing. But I've got three books to share that I've devoured in the last week, so I thought I'd stop by for a minute to ramble about them. (This makes my total 32 books for the year so far. Crazy!)
Wild Girls by Diana Souhami: This book is about a couple of expat American lesbians, Natalie Barney and Romaine Brooks, whose relationship spans over thirty years in Paris. I enjoyed reading this. I love how it incorporated small bits about other people, not just Natalie and Romaine and their various lovers. And the way their relationship worked was very interesting. But this isn't a keeper for me; I just don't see myself going back to it.
The Blonde by Duane Swierczynski. Reading this book is like watching an action flick. It's a lot of fun, very fast-paced, some very tense moments, some very funny moments. The plot is a little out there (nanobites in your bloodstream that will make your head explode if you don't have someone within ten feet of you at all times), but that's normal for action flicks. I know a lot of people who love this book, and I get it. But I felt like it was lacking in character development. I never really cared what happened to Jack, Kelly, or Kowalski, because I don't feel like I ever got to know them. So, fun, but not a keeper for me. However. If you're looking for a beach read, or a travel read, give this one a shot. It is quite fun!
Live Through This is a collection of essays by women (bigger names include Inga Muscio, bell hooks, and Patricia Smith) about their experiences with self-destruction: how it shaped/s their art, how they deal with it, whether or not they went down a truly self-destructive path or caught themselves at the beginning of it and diverted that energy into creation instead of destruction, etc. I picked this up because a friend of mine at the company I interned for was the editor. It's an uneven collection, as these types of books so often are, but some of the essays are extremely touching and really make you think about things. A lot of topics fall under the category of self-destruction, for the intents of this book: cutting, drug abuse, alcoholism, weight problems, cancer, depression, etc. etc. etc. The pieces that spoke to me the most were by Carol Queen, Patricia Smith, and Anonymous. I definitely recommend this for anyone who is interested in the female creative experience. Or just the female experience.
So, those are all for now. I've really read an interesting variety of books this year, haven't I?
Anyway. I should probably get moving. There's a lot I want to do today that doesn't involve being in front of the computer! Have a good weekend all, I'll catch you next week.

Chocolate

Hi all. I know most of us don't purchase that much chocolate on a regular basis. Nonetheless, I wanted to share what I just found online. This blurb is taken from Wikipedia, but I read about it on several different websites:

On July 25, 2005, Scharffen Berger announced that it was being bought by The Hershey Company[2] On 2005 August 15, Hershey announced the completion of the acquisition [3]. Hershey purchased Scharffen Berger for about twice the company's annual revenue, which was approximately $10 million a year at the time of the 2005 acquisition.[1] The same year Hershey's also bought another San Francisco company, Joseph Schmidt Confections, and combined the two smaller companies into a wholly owned subsidiary, Artisan Confections Company.[4] In 2006 Hershey's purchased Dagoba, an Ashland, Oregon-based manufacturer of organic chocolate. Hershey's subsequently began manufacturing its new artisan brands in a factory in Robinson, Illinois and in early 2009 announced plans to close both Bay Area factories, lay off approximately 150 local employees, and transfer remaining production to Illinois, effectively keeping the company alive in name only.[4]

I'm sure you all remember my stint working at the Scharffen Berger store on the Upper West Side. It's good chocolate. I had a good time there. And now, Hershey's has ruined another good little company.
Please, everyone, can we boycott Hershey's, including Scharffen Berger and Dagoba products?

Brilliant!

Check out this video, it's too funny:

Yikes

Well, I keep meaning to be better at this blogging thing and it just keeps not happening. Too much on my plate, I suppose, coupled with a terrible lack of Internet at home recently.
Today is one of those irrational days. You know what I'm talking about, ladies; we all have them. I am always amazed at how intense my rage is on days like today. And how short-lived it is, too. Like a firefly. On. Off. That quick.
The other night my partner-in-crime and I were hanging out on his stoop with a neighbor of his, who was tipsy, and she started performing her poetry for us. Some of her rhythms and her breakdowns really reminded me of my ex-girlfriend's work. Strange. I did one piece, at my partner-in-crime's insistence. It's been a long time since I was poetry-minded. Mostly because I've been so far into fiction writing these last few years. It was interesting to go back and read some of my work. I still think that some of it was pretty good. But a lot of it was junk. That's the way it is with any art though, right?
I've read a plethora of books since I last wrote about reading. Let's see . . .
A Nameless Witch, by A. Lee Martinez. This fantasy novel was quite entertaining. Witty, funny, and glib. I mean, how many books have you read involving slightly undead witches and their demon duck familiars? That's what I thought. This book made me giggle out loud a number of times, but it's not a keeper. Not for anything lacking, it's just not the type of book that I'll reread. Definitely recommended though.
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin. This is a perfect beach read, and that's exactly where I read a decent portion of it! I'm not generally a fan of chick lit, but this one is good. Balanced, easy-to-empathize-with characters. The plot is not totally unrealistic. I could see it happening. And I've met people similar to these characters. I like how shades-of-gray it presented things, because the world really isn't black or white at all. Even if you're not into chick lit, you should give this one a shot. And if you are into chick lit, why haven't you read it already?
One Train Later by Andy Summers. This is the memoir of the guitarist for The Police, and it's just lovely. Andy has a really great voice, and a good perspective. This memoir is a good mix of crazy party gigs with drugs and wild girls, and serious passages about Zen, about the music and his influences and style, about the music being more important than anything else. I really, really enjoyed this. And it made me seriously miss being in a rock band. For anybody who has even a remote interest in rock history, or for anybody who just wants to read what it's like to be in a superstar band, check this one out.
The Man Who Turned Into Himself by David Ambrose. This one was interesting. It's serious fiction based on the "many worlds" theory of quantum physics. I had a hard time ever really connecting with the main character, I think because he had a hard time connecting with himself. But it was really interesting to read about this character grappling with these extreme theories. This is not a keeper for me; I don't think I care to go down that particular rabbit hole again. But I'm glad I read it once, even though by the end I was a little exasperated with how far the premise was taken.
So I'm at 29 books so far for this year. Not bad. Maybe I really will get to 60, we'll see! I rejected several other books in the course of reading the ones I just discussed; I am getting more particular. Which is good, given how many books I've amassed!
That might be about all I've got for today. And I've got work to finish anyway. So, I'm off. I'll try to get back here soon.

fairy name

I don't usually do things like this, but I couldn't help it for this one. I have my own fairy name now! And I like it, even!

Your fairy is called Bramble Goblinfrost

She is a bringer of riches and wealth.

She lives in leafy dells and bluebell glades.

She is only seen during the first snow of winter.

She wears bluebell-blue dresses. She has gentle green wings like a butterfly.

Get your free fairy name here!