Well, I did it. Something kinda crazy. I'm even a little embarrassed to admit it, but 1) it's a little exciting and B) I don't have anything else to write about today, so what the hell.
I wrote a story.
And I sent it to a magazine for publication.
Squee!
Now, I'm no writer, I can't just sit down and make up a story. But I can describe stuff that I see pretty well, and I'm a good editor. So I got a flash of a scene, and I just started describing it, and darn if it didn't turn out okay! So I showed it to my sister and my husband, just to get a little feedback, and when they didn't think I was too off my rocker I decided to go out on a limb and submit it.
I'm really nervous, I have to admit, but I'm also proud of myself for having the nerve to do it. I'm trying not to get my hopes too far up, but keep your fingers crossed, too, okay?
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Sunday, May 22, 2005
More Poetry, We Put This in Our Wedding Program
XVII (I do not love you...)
Pablo Neruda
I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.
I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.
I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way
than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.
Translated by Stephen Tapscott
Thursday, May 19, 2005
If I Were...I Would Be...
If I were a dessert, I would be big enough to share.
If I were an alcoholic beverage, I would be champagne.
If I were a type of music, I would be Rasputina or Red Priest.
If I were a color, I would be orange-fuscia swirl.
If I were a fruit, I would be a ripe, juicy peach.
If I were an animal, I would be a Chihuahua.
If I were a story, I would be written by Angela Carter.
If I were a car, I would be a Karmann Ghia.
If I were a poem, I would be The Heavy Bear Who Goes With Me by Delmore Schwartz.
If I were a bird, I would be a Grackle.**
If I were a city, I would be Prague.
If I were an article of clothing, I would be flip flops.
If I were the weather, I would be a summer storm.
If I were a plant, I would be a passion flower.
If I were a planet, I would be Saturn.
If I were a tree, I would be a flowering cherry.
If I were a fabric, I would be cashmere.
If I were a work of art, I would be a Redon.
If I were a book, I would be Precious Bane by Mary Webb.
If I were an emotion, I would be worry.
If I were an insect, I would be the queen bee.
If I were a song, I would be Surrounded by Chantal Kreviazuk.
If I were a fictional character, I would be Prue Sarn.
If I were a season, I would be autumn.
If I were an instrument, I would be an accordion.
If I were lingerie, I would be cabaret stripe thigh high stockings, clinging to my garters.
If I were a movie, I would be Harold & Maude.
If I were a musical, I would be Gigi.
If I were a criminal act, I would be the long con.
**THE GRACKLE
Ogden Nash
p.1942
====================
The grackle's voice is less than mellow,
His heart is black, his eye is yellow,
He bullies more attractive birds
With hoodlum deeds and vulgar words,
And should a human interfere,
Attacks that human in the rear.
I cannot help but deem the grackle
An ornithological debacle. Sunday, May 15, 2005
My Heaven on Earth
I LOVE our garden.
It was actually one of the two reasons we bought our house, but if you could see what it looked like then, you'd be scratching you head. Scott and I just kept coming back to the horrible over-grown garden and the crazy tiki bar and saying, "Are we crazy? Do we like this? Is this nuts?? Who else would buy this place???" (Turns out, NO ONE. The house had been on the market for something like 450 days.)
BUT, it was in our price range, in a pocket-neighbourhood that honestly could trick you into believing you live in the country even though it's in the middle of a good sized city, and it's on a dead-end street. Even better, we were hard-pressed to find even one house in the entire neighbourhood that didn't have at least one dog. Definitely Heaven!
So we bought the place, white carpet, over-grown garden, outdated wiring, and all. Oh, if I could only explain all the crazy stuff that was in this house, you'd never stop laughing. (One example: the bizarre home made street light, converted from an old fire-hydrant. Scott not only threw his back out trying to shift the hydrant, he got electrocuted --- this is how we discovered where the line ran through the yard, ha ha.)
But slowly we started discovering the charms of this little brick box: There were hard wood floors under the carpeting! The back garden had a lot of charm once it was beaten back a little! There was a second pond under the corner bush! (We ended up taking that one out, but it was a nice surprise. Actually still had some fish in it, even; what they'd been living on, I have no idea.) The neighbours, while a little...intrusive...were actually very sweet, once we established our own territory. Scott spent a summer building the stone patio and got wonderfully brown and skinny.
All in all, it's worked out really well. I spent Friday afternoon hanging out under our cherry tree in the back garden, reading a magazine and watching the dogs goof around. This picture really doesn't do it justice; it was taken last month, and everything has grown so much since then. The hostas are already demanding to be divided, which might actually work in our favour, as the front garden is an absolute mess that a few hostas could certainly improve.
I realized that I spent our first two summers in this house focusing on all the work to be done, all the improvements yet to be made. This summer, because we'll be gone for a year, I find myself looking at the budding trees, the expanding hostas, our host of bumblebees, really noticing in a way that I haven't before. Familiarity breeds contempt, they say, and I can see now how true that is.
So this spring, and the summer to come, is bittersweet. I'm sad I won't be here next spring to take note of which tulips are emerging and which buds are flowering and if the bleeding heart made it through another winter. But I'm thankful it's made me pay attention today.
Posted by Hello
It was actually one of the two reasons we bought our house, but if you could see what it looked like then, you'd be scratching you head. Scott and I just kept coming back to the horrible over-grown garden and the crazy tiki bar and saying, "Are we crazy? Do we like this? Is this nuts?? Who else would buy this place???" (Turns out, NO ONE. The house had been on the market for something like 450 days.)
BUT, it was in our price range, in a pocket-neighbourhood that honestly could trick you into believing you live in the country even though it's in the middle of a good sized city, and it's on a dead-end street. Even better, we were hard-pressed to find even one house in the entire neighbourhood that didn't have at least one dog. Definitely Heaven!
So we bought the place, white carpet, over-grown garden, outdated wiring, and all. Oh, if I could only explain all the crazy stuff that was in this house, you'd never stop laughing. (One example: the bizarre home made street light, converted from an old fire-hydrant. Scott not only threw his back out trying to shift the hydrant, he got electrocuted --- this is how we discovered where the line ran through the yard, ha ha.)
But slowly we started discovering the charms of this little brick box: There were hard wood floors under the carpeting! The back garden had a lot of charm once it was beaten back a little! There was a second pond under the corner bush! (We ended up taking that one out, but it was a nice surprise. Actually still had some fish in it, even; what they'd been living on, I have no idea.) The neighbours, while a little...intrusive...were actually very sweet, once we established our own territory. Scott spent a summer building the stone patio and got wonderfully brown and skinny.
All in all, it's worked out really well. I spent Friday afternoon hanging out under our cherry tree in the back garden, reading a magazine and watching the dogs goof around. This picture really doesn't do it justice; it was taken last month, and everything has grown so much since then. The hostas are already demanding to be divided, which might actually work in our favour, as the front garden is an absolute mess that a few hostas could certainly improve.
I realized that I spent our first two summers in this house focusing on all the work to be done, all the improvements yet to be made. This summer, because we'll be gone for a year, I find myself looking at the budding trees, the expanding hostas, our host of bumblebees, really noticing in a way that I haven't before. Familiarity breeds contempt, they say, and I can see now how true that is.
So this spring, and the summer to come, is bittersweet. I'm sad I won't be here next spring to take note of which tulips are emerging and which buds are flowering and if the bleeding heart made it through another winter. But I'm thankful it's made me pay attention today.
Posted by Hello
Thursday, May 12, 2005
An Exciting Day for Che
Small Dog had a very exciting day yesterday, he fell into the fish pond.
One minute he's watching the fish eat, the next thing I know is I hear a big "KER-PLUNK" and he's splashing around for dear life. (Honestly, it was exactly the sound you hear when you drop a big rock into a lake. Everytime I think about it, I just have to chuckle.)
Anyway, this is why the dogs are never allowed in the back yard on their own; they are very small, and our pond is very deep. This could be serious trouble. Fortunately, I was there to pull his sorry, damp self out of the pond, good as new.
The fish, however, are COMPLETELY traumatized. You can imagine how THEY feel: one minute it's supper, the next minute there's a dog on their heads. It's no wonder they won't come out from the lily pads now. It's kind of a shame, though, I really love watching them all swimming and schooling. It's one of the highlights of my day.
Watching Che eat is a little less poetic, but I guess it will have to do. At least until the fish have recovered.
One minute he's watching the fish eat, the next thing I know is I hear a big "KER-PLUNK" and he's splashing around for dear life. (Honestly, it was exactly the sound you hear when you drop a big rock into a lake. Everytime I think about it, I just have to chuckle.)
Anyway, this is why the dogs are never allowed in the back yard on their own; they are very small, and our pond is very deep. This could be serious trouble. Fortunately, I was there to pull his sorry, damp self out of the pond, good as new.
The fish, however, are COMPLETELY traumatized. You can imagine how THEY feel: one minute it's supper, the next minute there's a dog on their heads. It's no wonder they won't come out from the lily pads now. It's kind of a shame, though, I really love watching them all swimming and schooling. It's one of the highlights of my day.
Watching Che eat is a little less poetic, but I guess it will have to do. At least until the fish have recovered.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
This Week's Dream
Posted by Hello
Scott and I stayed at the Pink Motel this weekend, as we passed through the Smokey Mountains on our way home from Georgia. This motel is so cute, absolutely everything is pink --- exterior, carpeting, bedspreads, bathroom tile. It was FABULOUS! Built in the '50's, it's owned by the daughter of the original owner. My dream this week is to buy the Pink Motel when the current owner decides to retire, then I would make it a haven of kitschy good times. I would live in the Pink Motel for the rest of my life! Hurrah! Anyway, while I'm dreaming you can start planning your vacation to Cherokee, NC. The Smokies are beautiful, there are wedding chapels galore (why, I'm not sure; this region is apparently the Vegas of the Southeast), and you can honeymoon in the Pink Motel!
Monday, May 02, 2005
Incredible, But True!
| You Are a Chihuahua Puppy |
 Small, high strung, and loyal. You do best in the city with a adults - young kids could crush you! |
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