Sunday, June 28, 2009

is that what they meant to say?

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While out for my daily training walk this morning, I came across two signs within one block of each other that made me pause.

RoadTrafficSigns.com
The first one was a little different than this - unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, so I couldn't capture the exact image. The sign I saw actually said "slow down for children and pets."

I guess it's okay to run over the adults on the road, then? *smile*

The second one looked like this: Exactly like this.

I guess the fast children are inside studying or doing laundry?
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Friday, June 26, 2009

prompt #27 or thereabouts

...for 10 minutes : write, paint, draw, sculpt, or create whatever first comes into your mind using the picture and / or the prompt below the picture....


When I stepped outside, I was surprised to see ...

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

on or off the road, it's all the same

dear B -

if you ever need to know where the construction zones are, just call me. send me out as a route scout and I'm sure to find them all, no matter where you want to go. especially if it seems like a more relaxing, pleasant drive - I will find any number of irritations to avoid!

D - trying to diffuse road rage in the heat and stinky lines of cars due to torn up roads!!!

ps: - don't worry about me driving and texting. that would be assuming that I had actually moved in the last 20 minutes. seriously.

pss: still haven't moved. time to get out avril's cathartic "let go" cd.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

book on the brink

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Okay! Okay! I know I should wait until we get the final proof editing done of the printed version. But I am so excited about the (extremely near) completion of this anthology that I want to tell my virtual world inhabitants that the book is on the brink of being released. Everything is uploaded and we are waiting for our proof copies to check the formatting and how it all looks in print. Once all of that is given the green light, I will post information about how you can order your own extremely reasonably priced ($6.32) copy of our book .


On the Fly: Stories in Eight Minutes or Less

A collection of short fiction and creative non-fiction -- each written in eight minutes -- these gems range from the raw as originally put to paper, to the peer edited and polished story. The writing shows the strength and energy that can be generated by writing quickly and honestly using prompts. The Collective's hope is to inspire writers in the sitting-down-and-writing-process and to provide enjoyment to both readers and writers. Introduction by Ariel Gore.
Soon, readers, soon! I will give a link to the publishing site when we've done our final proof. As a matter of fact, the book will probably live on the left side of my website for a while!
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Friday, June 19, 2009

MissFits on the move

What an amazing group of people have gathered under the leadership of MissFit Adventures owner, Nikki Becker.

As I've written about over the last six months, the MissFit Dragons was an amazing experience with an incredible group of women. We really came together as a team and we worked to do our best. And we did our best and we had fun.

Out of that experience, I created a Cascade Lakes Relay team, which we have called the MissFit WiseWalkers. (Remember that name! You have until July 1st to put together a team - either walking or running. If you do put together a team - for either this year or next - mention me and my team; we will get a referral gas card!) Most of the team is from the dragon boat team.

And speaking of other adventures from the paddlers, some of them are with Nikki right now and will begin their descent into the Grand Canyon tomorrow. They are doing a several days hike into and out of the canyon. Wow.

Another of our paddlers started organizing a Race for the Cure team. We will have walkers and runners; friends and family will be joining us, too. We don't have a name yet and many have been tossed around. Think about it: what rhymes with MissFit?! We probably won't go *there* with the naming .. but we had fun with seeing what we can come up with. I will let you know when we decide on something.

Then there are two of us who are planning to walk the Seattle half marathon in November. We will start recruiting other runners and walkers to join with us in that.

And I signed up for next summer's rafting the Grand Canyon eight-day trip with Nikki and some of the others from the team.

Gals on the go, indeed!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

English: now with a million words to choose from

From The Editing Room (can I post it, please? and thanks, Mead!)

All right, so the concept may be bogus, but according to the Global Language Monitor, the English language gets its millionth word this coming Wednesday, 6/17, at 10:22am (Stratford-upon-Avon time).

How does GLM know? Elementary. Because it has ascertained that neologisms are currently entering the language at the rate of 14.7 a day , it’s statistically likely we’ll get to a million words, including those freshly mined, just 30 scant hours from now.

Not everyone accepts GLM’s pronouncement, of course. Leave it to CNN to round up a few nay-sayers. While you’re reading the cheerfully skeptical article on its site, be sure to click on the inner link (what we called an “inset box” in the previous millennium) to see how English stacks up to other tongues — especially in regard to number of words vs. number of speakers vs. degree of global influence. There may be surprises for you there.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

quotes and fiction

The two friends eyes connected across the table in the dimly lit booth at the bar. The '90s music, blended with bits of hiphop, pulsated across the women on the dance floor.

"My father was a traveling salesman." Geri told Chris across the table. "My step-mother told him, 'I don't care where you get your appetite from, as long as you always come home for dinner'. "

Geri took a sip of her drink and let her eyes float back to the dancers on the floor. Her partner, Kendra, put her arms around Geri's shoulders and pulled her back against her body. Gave Geri's chest a gentle squeeze. Kissed Geri's ear and rested her cheek on the back of Geri's head.

Both content.

Chris watched the women on the dance floor and tried to remember the last time she had dinner at home, which was the last time she had dinner. She wondered how long before she would starve.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

events: book readings



Upcoming reading dates for Portland Queer: Tales of the Rose City in Portland, Oregon & New York, New York:



Reading Frenzy – Downtown Portland – Tuesday June 16, 7 p.m.
Featuring:
Lois Leveen
Michael Sage Ricci
Nicole Vaicunas

In Other Words – NE Portland – Tuesday, June 23, 7 p.m.
Featuring:
sts
Jacob Anderson-Minshall
Jacqueline Raphael
J.T. Neel
Megan Kruse

Bluestockings – New York, lower east side – Wednesday, June 24, 7 p.m.
Featuring:
Christa Orth
Gabrielle Rivera
David Ciminello
Stevie Anntonym

Powell’s City of Books on Burnside – Downtown Portland – Tuesday, June 30, 7:30 p.m.
Featuring:
Lois Leveen
Wayne Gregory
Dexter Flowers
Donal Mosher

Q Literati! – Q Center – N Portland – Wednesday, July 8, 7 p.m.
Featuring:
Nicole Vaicunas
Jacob Anderson-Minshall
David Oates
Lois Leveen

Monday, June 8, 2009

next?

After a rest and sustenance following two days of races, I returned to writing.

I did a final edit on a piece I'm sending off to the "Readers Write" section of The Sun magazine. Of course, the piece does relate to my new found physical freedom and to dragon boating. Of course. My working title, but not the one I used for the submission, has already appeared here: "Dragon Boating: My Gateway Drug."

The actual title of the piece is the theme to which I am submitting: "Walking Home."

Sunday, June 7, 2009

event: Dragon Boat results



My team, the MissFit Dragons, made it to the semi-finals. That is really good for so many reasons. And there was only less than a second which kept us from the finals. We paddled hard, we all showed up and kept our focus in the boat, and we gave everything we had to the team, our coach, ourselves. Our goal, in the words of our coach, was to be able to ask ourselves at the end of the event: "did I do my best today?" And all of us can answer with a heart-felt and proud: "yes!"

Awesome job this weekend!

Pictures:
(L) Tina captures the flag: yellow #2
(C) the team
(R) Tawna captures the flag
(center-below) Neck & Neck to the finish line for quarter finals

Friday, June 5, 2009

practice mid-May

This is from a practice in May ...




Stay tuned for results of this Rose Festival weekend's races! No matter our place in the races, we will give it our all and we will have fun. We are a cohesive and mutually supportive team. If I would've known it could be like this, perhaps I would have done more team sports earlier.

Go, Miss Fit Dragons!
Special thank you to teammate
Karen's husband for this
video!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

event: culmination of six months of training

Come support our team at the Rose Festival Dragon Boat Races this year. This is our 7th year paddling. Look for the bright green paddles and join us in our tent!
Race Times for Saturday, June 6th: Race #1: 9:00am
Race #2: 1:00pm

Sunday, June 7th: Quarterfinals: 9:15am (This race determines if we move on to the Semi's!)
Semi's: 1:05pm
Finals: 3:15pm

WISH US LUCK! It should be an exciting race weekend for the Miss Fit Dragons!

There are about 100 teams racing in total. Come to support me and stay to watch the other teams, too! The first category of races begins around 8 AM on Saturday. You can go to the PKSCA website for more information.

See you there!

Monday, June 1, 2009

event: "Journal to the Center" workshop

The Art Of Your Life's next class, by Serena Barton, is coming up soon. She promises a fun and informal workshop, which will be a great way to begin visual journaling or to get re-energized!


Journal to the Center


You'll bring a blank journal to begin your artful descent to your center with visual journaling!


You'll receive written and visual prompts to inspire you to begin writing and illustrating your experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Whether your subjects are profound or everyday, you will create a lavish and enticing book in which to record and honor your life.

When: June 14, 2009 12-5

Where: The Art of Your Life Studio1210 SE Oak St., Portland

Tuition: 50.Registration:

Online here or call 971-404-7664


To see more journal pages click here.