I Love This

A good way to start a Sunday. I'd heard this song before, off of John Prine's duet album called In Spite of Ourselves, but it's so great to see it.

Here's John Prine and Iris Dement singing "In Spite of Ourselves":

All I Wanted...

This is a really well-written, poignant, bittersweet story published online today in the NY Times "Modern Love" column (will be in the Style section of the Sunday Times).

It's written by Holly Welker, a friend of a friend, who has recently completed a memoir about her experiences as a Mormon missionary.

Read it. It's not long and it goes by fast. And the last image is a killer.

If you love it, forward the link to friends and/or post it on your blog. Writers helping writers!

"All I Wanted Was a Hug" by Holly Welker, "Modern Love" section in the New York Times


[image above by Christopher Silas Neal]

Writing Contest for Great Literary Magazine

I was the assistant editor for the premiere issue of this magazine, Alligator Juniper, back in the late nineties, and my short story "New River" was published in it—my first national publication. The magazine has won all kinds of awards and grants. And even if you get rejected, you get a super thoughtful personal letter from an editorial staff member... Deadline is soon! Check it out!




Call for Submissions: Alligator Juniper seeks fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry for its annual contest. One week away from the deadline, and submissions are not as plentiful as in past years. Shewrites members, please send your best work!

Postmark deadline: Oct. 1st, 2009

Click here for guidelines.

Alligator Juniper has received the AWP Director's Prize for Undergraduate Literary Magazines, three times in its thirteen year history. The journal is a publication of Prescott College in Prescott Arizona.

Improv Everywhere: Mp3 Experiment

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

So I went on a vacation. A few of them actually: An actual vacation from work (like a paid one), a blog vacation, a vacation from staying on top of every single thing, a not-worrying-too-too-much-about-my-diet vacation, a vacation from the Berkshires so I could go on a vacation in the loveliness of Arizona (and oh how I miss it so).

What follows are pictures from my trip (which include 4 days in Prescott, AZ, and 3 in Phoenix at the beautiful Sanctuary resort/spa...so the really boring ones of random trees and different-colored walls were taken under the influence of relaxation and beauty...thank god for summer spa deals):

Arizona Trip (a.k.a. trip to heaven)

Cups and Ice #4: Five Ways to Eat a Corn Chip

Okay, so I'd just come home from boxing class (awesome), worn out, starving, and feeling a bit loopy from the exertion of the class. All of the above resulted in me sitting in my kitchen, eating corn chips, and messing around with my web cam. I've taken a few pictures with it but never recorded video. What better time? Nothing to do, nowhere to go-oh (yup, as in The Ramone's song)...

I did the following video in that spirit, just me screwing around in my kitchen, testing out the computer gear, intending to keep it solely private. But when I watched it, it made me laugh so hard that I dared myself to post it here--embarrassment isn't always a bad thing. I realize the following may permanently disqualify me from an honorable position in the cultural-discourse hall of fame. With that in mind, I present you with what was initially just a web-cam test (and you get to see some of what I tend to do to entertain myself when I'm completely alone):

Thirty Things I Love Tonight

I am copying my friend over at Beitel-Blog because I haven't felt like blogging at all and I read his post and I wanted to follow suit immediately.

So...30 things I heart on this night:

1. Lists like this one.
2. Days off—which I am about to have two of
3. Green & Black's 85% Dark Chocolate
4. TV
5. "I was married" by Tegan and Sara: "I was married in the sun (tell me where, tell me where) against the stone of buildings built before...."
6. Hilarious pictures of me and my sisters from our trip to Ithaca last month
7. My dad
8. Saying "labral tear" which is what my new physical therapist thinks might be what is ailing my hip...labral tear...labral tear...try it (saying it I mean)
9. Coconut Bliss!
10. That I signed up for a boxing class (Sunday, 10:00 am)
11. The sound of the man-made waterfall over by the paper mill
12. Being alone in my apartment!
13. Spreading myself throughout the place from bedroom (strewn shoes in the hallway) to living room (collage supplies and half-made postcard collage on the coffee table) to the kitchen to the laundry room (overflowing dirty laundry in a basket on the washer). ME everywhere!
14. "We Did Not Make Ourselves" by Michael Dickman: "I didn’t make my brain/but I’m helping to finish it//Carefully stacking up everything I made next to everything I ruined in broad/daylight in bright/brainlight"
15. My sisters
16. Striped socks (see above picture)
17. First issue of Wholphin, arrived today, 2.5 hours of short film extravaganza
18. Black pants, black scarf
19. Vito coconut water (with tangerine)
20. Green & Black's 85% dark chocolate (it's worth mentioning twice)
21. That people at work call me "LD," "LauraD," and variations thereof
22. My new green TheraBand that I will use, per my new physical therapist, to work the muscles of my right butt
23. Midnight
24. The dream world I am allowed into when I sleep
25. The hot air balloon in the collage I'm making, and the trio of working men standing on sand pointing up at it
26. A deep breath that's truly deep
27. "our deaths were mineral"
28. In the Eyes of Everyone: A Project for Everyday Visionaries
29. The number "29"
30. Closing my eyes.