The month after I turned eight, my mom’s sister, Auntie Jo, invited me to her hip San Francisco apartment for Chinese food, the Nutcracker, and a sleepover. I red-lined the days on a calendar pinned to my wall, and after interminable, anguished waiting, finally crossed off the last numbered square. As I’d imagined for…Continue Reading
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PROMPTuesday #146: Books as Life
Today? This is your creative writing prompt mission: If you could live within any book for a week, which one would it be? Please post your submission in the comments OR post in your blog and leave a link to your blog in the comments. First time to PROMPTuesday? Read a bit…Continue Reading
Be You
Teaching a child confidence.
Eight Hundred
It’s IndieInk Writing Challenge day once more. It dawned bright this morning, and I suddenly remembered the challenge Michael at Innocents and Accidents, Hints and Allegations issued to me this week. It was, simply, “Eight hundred.” I pick up my glass. Again. For the eight hundredth time. I finish it quickly and re-fill. The…Continue Reading
Wyoming. Heartbreak. Part Two.
Part One is Here. We made arrangements. Big Jerk would fly to San Diego and meet me at my parent’s home. Meanwhile, his mom and aunt and grandma (oh my!) would drive from Los Angeles to reunite with the Jerk for a day before he left the state again. And BOY, did they show…Continue Reading
Houston, We Have a New Site
I have The site my friends and I put together? Might help you navigate the lay of the land that is SAN DIEGO, NOT Houston. Wait. That line is kind of growing on me. “San Diego. NOT Houston.” I bet Texans are gonna love us.
PROMPTuesday #145: Tried and True
Honestly? For the last few months or so, I’ve given much thought to retiring PROMPTuesday. There’s so many outstanding prompt websites out there, many which I visit regularly, that do it RIGHT. Stuff like full-on websites devoted to the prompting, Twitter parties, newsletters even. AND with all the prompt excellence, I don’t want to be…Continue Reading
Wyoming. A Heartbreak Story.
That’s my dad on the right. NOT the Big Jerk. This picture was taken about four years after the Big Jerk incident. There is no reason this photo is here. Other than the Big Jerk does not deserve to be pictorally represented. In the sultry late summer of 1993, I packed up my…Continue Reading
The Walking Dead
It’s IndieInk Writing Challenge day! This one comes from Miss Ash, who prompted a quote from the book Little Bee: “I could not stop talking because now I had started my story, it wanted to be finished. We cannot choose where to start and stop. Our stories are the tellers of us.” And so…Continue Reading
PROMPTuesday #144: Return to the Classics
Boy. First of all, I’m LATE. I know. It’s Wednesday. Secondly, I haven’t updated much lately. I’ve been other places, but still. I miss my space here. Thirdly, I am once again re-running a “Greatest Hits” prompt. This one originally came from May, 2009. But I love it, I really do, and I plan to…Continue Reading
Quick Like a Bunny
Today I have two things (posts? pieces? essays?) up (down? written? published?) at two of my favorite places on the Internet. The first is a searing (I’m just trying to sound important) look at free-floating anxiety (MINE, despite its title “Not Me”) (also there’s a wolf) (and I don’t use parentheses) at IndieInk, an inspiring…Continue Reading
Hair Today, Goon Tomorrow
I first met Mia, my most high esteemed hair stylist, when I was three months pregnant with Toots. My hair — normally a nest for rats on even the best days — was a ball of frizz and tangles. My face looked like zit pizza, and my stomach wanted to throw up all the time.…Continue Reading
