SOMEONE SHOULD PLAY THAT DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL SONG AND DANCE ON THE KITCHEN COUNTER IN THEIR UNDERWEAR. I'M PRETTY SURE THAT WOULD REALLY MAKE SOMEONE ELSE'S DAY.

…I have a new story, "Traveling Mercies" up at 52/250 A Year of Flash and also here under "Words In Print."
I like the story a lot. It's tragic, of course, but the voice is different (for me) and the father felt very real and human.

…"All My Children" and "One Life To Live" have been cancelled. What does this mean?
Maybe it's a reminder that things die, even television programs.
Everything is finite except infinity.
Change is the only thing we can count on.
In college, I had a mad crush on AMC's Jenny Gardner. I used to skip my Statistics class to watch her and the show. I did not do so well in that class but I stayed current on the AMC story line. Kim Delaney, who played Jenny Gardner, is now on "Army Wives" which I've seen but do not watch compulsively.
What do crushes mean?
What purpose do Soap Operas provide?
Is it a good thing to be curious?
I think so.

…A couple of times now, within the last week, I have written poems with another person. They've just been quick bursts of spontaneous writing, tag-teaming with the other author, nothing formalized or pre-arranged. It's been fun. Sometimes it's best not to think about the words, or even the process of writing them, but rather let them spill out of your head like hot jelly.
Maybe you and I should write a poem together. What do you think? The topic could be about anything. It could be about your favorite chair, pet, place or person. It could be about the very thing that you most detest, whatever that is.

…Great retail stores are similar to museums or art galleries. Take "Anthropology" for instance. Every time I go in there, I walk around with my mouth gaping, ogling what they've put on the walls, what's hanging from the ceiling, an arrangement, certain clever folding techniques, usage of color and shadow and space and loft. Last week they had these wonderful globes dangling from twine. The spheres were different sizes but they were large and each one was made of CORKS, as in WINE CORKS. How clever. And not only that, but real, living plants were growing out of parts of them.
Whoever is responsible for Anthropology’s interior designs is a genius. They should contact me and I will then tell them how brilliant they are. I will really pile on the compliments and adoration. If they (this person, or troupe) ever has a blue day, they need only contact me and I will cheer them right up. They will feel god-like by the time I'm through.

…I realized that I write about water a lot. I live on a lake and it's always lying right outside my windows. Today the surface is muddy green and slightly wrinkled, like elephant skin after the animal's just slopped out of a huge African puddle.
Water is a wonderful metaphor for many things, don't you think?

…Next week I am doing a reading in Portland with Riley Michael Parker and a gaggle of other hipsters. I haven't read aloud to an audience since Creative Writing in college. Oh, I've done oodles and oodles of public speaking, but not an actual reading where it's my words and I'm trying to find the correct cadence and lilt.
I'm excited to do it. I learned a lot from listening to other writers in New York and DC.
I have two edgy pieces. I'm not sure which one to choose. Either "Medicine and Meat" which starts: "You wouldn't expect a little girl like me to be able to carry such a long penis inside her, yet I do." Or, "Crowded House" which begins: "I am his fat girlfriend. He likes me that way, me fat and him trim and married." Both stories have been published before and are here under "Words in Print."
What do you think?

…Last night my son and I watched "Gattaca." I'd seen it several times prior but my boy hadn't, so I rented it for us to view together. It held up nicely. Such a clever film. And Jude Law is pretty brilliant.

…It's Friday and my daughter is coming home for the weekend. This makes me very happy.

…"The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow, but the rainbow won't wait while you finish the work." -- Pat Clifford