i almost forgot...

the kitchn blogged about this sandwich that i've been living off of for the past month. never mind the epic demise of all of my tomato plants this year. there are plenty of local tomatoes on sale at the farmer's market and i have been stocking up. behold, the tomato mozzarella sandwich: 

i'll make tomato and mayo sandwiches, caprese salads, salsa, tomato and cucumber salads...fresh tomatoes have been in pretty much every meal of late. and a good bloody mary...oh my.

things i like this week that have nothing to do with writing

for example, this article from apartment therapy on decorating with scraps of wallpaper. observe:

i'll live here someday

my friend and i have a notorious love of scrap pieces of kitschy wallpaper and fabric. i have box loads that i vow to use when i move into my lovely turn of the century house located in a cute suburb of a semi large city. observe: 

i'll live here someday.

but there was a small interview with illustrator and lovely carson ellis in huffington post today that made my day. i always liked the decemberists album covers, but it wasn't until i was at their concert  a couple years ago and i saw the wall-sized tapestry she illustrated. i was suspended in artistic immediacy because of both the music and the gigantic tapestry of an intricately detailed japanese landscape behind them (it was the crane wife tour). she's also created striking book art for some YA books. in the interview, she talked about the collaboration of children's books featuring her drawings and husband colin meloy's writing. i have a soft spot for strange YA books, including libba bray's "a great and terrible beauty" and all of joan aiken's books. i can't wait to read their story.

nevermind the animals

lastly, i ordered some vintage boots that finally went on sale and they came in the mail yesterday. already broken in and perfect for fall!  

novacaine for the soul

in a campaign to settle all my medical issues before i lose my employer's insurance, i just recovered from the second of three dentist's visits where they will eventually fill all eight of my cavities.  EIGHT. this was discovered a few weeks ago at a visit to a new dentist, and was a total surprise. i've been going to the dentist regularly for years without a cavity, and now that i'm about to become a penniless writer without health insurance, the powers that be decide to smite me with decaying teeth. it's a blow to my wallet as well as my pride. i know that i'm no marilyn, but i know i have great teeth. 


see below:

look at them pearly whites. 

heck, i even brush my dog's teeth. see below:

look at them pearly whites.

 

on another note, i found a new market! side B magazine is accepting submissions until november 13th, i believe.    since i've gotten no positive responses from the last batch of stories i sent out, i'm on the search for new homes for my stories. i took a break from sending out submissions, but now i'm back at it. laissez les bons temps rouler!

currently reading...

by janette turner hospital. i worked in a roadhouse very close to where the opal mining fields are in australia. this is this kind of reading i wish i had when i worked in those outback bars, when i was bored out of my mind serving XXXX to drunk retired miners at 10 in the morning. also, she's head faculty at USC and is an aussie. if this book is any good, i'm going to set out to meet her and buy a shout.

t-minus one week until...

application season begins. DOOM.

i'm applying to 12 (maybe 13) schools and the amount of material to prepare is immense. i know i've got a leg up with my portfolio, recommenders, transcripts and GRE scores (those places willing to accept scores older than 5 years). those places that won't accept my score are the reasons i've invested in the princeton review crash course book. i figure i've taken it twice, so i should be a pro. wrong. this test is the devil, satan, lucifer, beelzebub, and whatever name there is for the darkest, most evil forces known in this universe.

so here's my list so far:

colorado-boulder

oregon

vanderbilt

miami

u of s. carolina

virginia tech

VCU

ODU

portland state

LSU

either USC or texas-austin. maybe both.

things will be getting real here soon. i have a reading at the boot in norfolk, va on sept 23rd and the conference where i'll pitch my book to an editor. criminy.

as far as my portfolio goes, i have one story workshopped and ready to go, one story almost done and one story/possible novelette that i'm currently editing. i have a couple story ideas which i plan on hashing out in september by committing to a word count and sticking to it.

mur lafferty's podcast "i should be writing" offers a ton of amazing advice for writer who needs to just let go and write. i've been listening to her and downloaded her podio book "heaven" and really liked it. recommend recommend it. although, my biggest problem with her "rules" is number 2: "you are allowed to suck." i refuse to suck if i can help it. i will not stand sucking. maybe you write something just to write it, just for the sake of writing. that's absolutely fine. but you have to make it better. soon. before someone else sees that it sucks. right? right. the sucking should be minimal.

that said, there's a program i'm thinking of trying out. write or die promises that it will make you write, or suffer the consequences. while this belligerent view of writing isn't exactly my style (i prefer to walk around my house in my robe until ideas hit me), it's not something i will rule out. i'll give a couple days of wandering around in my hideous red robe until i decide write or die is something i should try out.

it's almost done! so for my 28th birthday, i decided i'm getting the tattoo i've wanted for the past 4 years. vice the decemberists album title, the banner will present a yeats quote from my favorite poem.got one more session to go to finish this baby, but it's pretty neat! this is special because it is the last expensive thing i'm giving myself before i start writing full time and sending applications and workshopping hardcore, wherein i will cease to have an expendable budget. yay academic life.

moment of wow

rare color photos from the great depression

i'm not sure what the farm services administration actually worked on from 1939-1944, but they were pretty damn good photographers. i should go back to my u.s. history book to look them up. either way, thanks to the library of congress, all 1600 pictures are online. it's a fascinating site anyway and i'd go there now if i didn't have workshopping to do!

currently reading...

"what the thunder said" by janet peery

a friend referred me to "alligator dance" and i was absolutely in love. i'm only 59 pages into "thunder" and i'm hooked. i'm applying to ODU's MFA where peery is one of the faculty. hopefully one day i'll get to meet her.

i got a scholarship!

hampton roads writers

as my inaugural post, i'll announce that i'm attending the hampton roads writers conference this september. it was a bit accidental, but i'm excited! i also submitted a creative nonfiction short story into a contest the conference is hosting, as well.