…I have a new poem, "Bulimia" up at Clutching At Straws and a new story, "Lips, Mouth, Heart" at 52/250 A Year of Flash. Both are also here under "Words In Print."

…I wish I was more witty. Do you ever do that, wish you were something you're not, or sort of crave a quality you consider yourself void of?

As a writer, I should be a lot more clever and funny, edgy and illustrative. At least it seems that way, or I feel that way. (This is me being raw and insecure now.) I get jealous and envious. I do. I never wish any other writer ill, but I can--and often do--wish I had some of their mojo or sensibility when it comes to off-the-cuff commentary.

There are writers I admire for sheer talent, and then there are writers who have mad story writing skills but can also blog as if they've spent their whole day coaxing out the words, pruning and such, when it's obvious they've just vomitted all that cleverness out in the time it takes the rest of us to blow our nose.

xTx is a great example. Okay, so I don't get some of her subject matter, such as a recent and rambling obsession with boil lancing (yep), but overall she's something of a--what? genius? no, not that. artiste? no, that's too gentrified in a francoise sort of way. relevant, hip pulse-point for modern day? yes, that. she's a pulse point. what she says matters, or even if it doesn't, it's always worthwhile reading, and it leaves you in a better (creative) place. and she does it with relative ease. i envy her. i do. (if, in fact, she is a her, which i'm pretty sure she it.)

There's also Roxane Gay. I love her blog. She just lets it all pour out and she makes herself vulnerable. A writer, stepping out of the shower stall naked on purpose is a very rare thing in (writer's) cyber world where tooting your horn is the norm. (I should tell Roxane that I admire her. The tricky thing is, people only know you cyberally, and so, if you give them a simple yet random compliment like a real (physical friend) would do, here (online) they might worry that you're some stalker nutjob.)

I think Meg Pokrass is very clever and funny and quirky in so many ways. Her posts are always risky, but they work (i.e., the photo of her leg with flea bites all over it) plus she has a legion of fans, of which one is me.

Anyway, enough self-therapy… I guess I'll be myself and see what happens. After all, it's not like I have a lot of other options.

…Here are some great quotes I like (I hate that word "quotes." I should say, Here are some great philosophies I like.)

--"Find a subject you care about. It is this genuine caring, not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style." Kurt Vonnegut

--"Successful writing inspires the writer to do better, to attempt the scaling of greater heights."
--"It is an intriguing fact that in order to make readers care about a character, however bad, however depraved, it is only necessary to make hi love somone or even something. A dog will do, even a hamster." Ruth Rendell

--"At the most basic level, I appreciate writers who have something to say." Daniel Alarcon

--"To be a good writer, read until your eyes swell, and take your time and follow your weird, even if it means being lost for intolerable stretches--your weird will guide you, it will deliver you to a place that will be worth all th suffering and disorientation." Junot Diaz

--"Before you can become a writer you must make it new and the only way to do that is to run a harrowing, fearless, rughtless self-audit. You have to take an emotional, moral inventory." James Robinson

--"A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people." Thomas Mann