IF I GET ANY WEAKER I MIGHT TURN INTO KINDLING

…I have new stories up: "Oriole" at Fix It Broken, "Identical Opposites" at Pure Slush, and "Thieves" at Milk Moon Review. All are also here under "Words In Print."

…Tonight I got my 400th acceptance. That’s since I started sending stuff out in May of '09. It's a bit of a rush. I still remember the moment, at age nine, deciding I wanted to be a writer. (but holy hell, look how much time it's taken me to get around to it.)
I have a list of ten different goals/resolutions for the year. Getting to 500 acceptances is one, so I'm doing okay in that regard. Now I just need to get my first story collection published, find an agent for last year’s novel, and finish the other two novels I've already begun.

…Yesterday I wrote three stories, one while in the bathtub. The suds piece was about a couple having sex. The whole thing occurs as the pair are having intercourse and you're in the mind of the man. Well, you're also kind of in the body of the man, and therefore, because of what's happening, you're also inside the body of the woman, literally and metaphorically.
I don't usually write about sex because it can be a cheap trick. But when it’s a bit cerebral as well as sexy, maybe even a tad dark, well, hey, I can do that without hesitation.
And yeah, so these two people having steamy intercourse have been divorced from one another for some time, yet they keep coming back to each other, trying to recapture an intimacy that they can't seem to find with anyone else.
The story is called, "Muscle Memory." I think it's pretty good actually.

…I just read Gregory Sherl's collection of linked stories called, "I Have Touched You." It's a little piece of shrapnel waiting to rip you into a jar of Ragu. Yowzah.
And I'm reading a classic on the craft of creativity called, "Writing Down the Bones," by Natalie Goldberg. She has so many wonderful things to say about writing and art and, well, life really. Natalie studied meditation with a Japanese Zen master for over a decade, so she incorporates a lot of that into her habits and exercises.
I’ve also learned some new words that are fun to say: zafu and mudra, for instance.

..I think xTx is very clever. Even her little posts on Facebook are witty. Today her book jacket wanted to have sex with Bradley Sands' book jacket. So is Colby Carlson. Colby is beautiful and funny in a disarming way that is always unexpected. And Lara Konesky should be doing standup somewhere. Everything Lara says is funny. She likes to take pictures of herself on the toilet, usually going number 2, and I know, I know how bizarre that sounds, but it is all very hysterical in a Howard Stern sort of way, though funnier, even, and less uncouth.

…"Parenthood" is the best show on television. It makes me smile, laugh and sometimes weep. Yep. You should watch it. Your neighbors and relatives should, too. Your cats might even like it. I know for sure your dog would be howling, not to mention your kids. It's on Tuesdays at 10:00 pm, but if you're not a night owl, you can always record it. Trust me: you won't be sorry.

…I have been listening to:
Hole "Live Through This"
Eric Carmen
Blur
Candle Box
Kanye
Dave Matthews
Madison Kuntz
Better Than Ezra
and right now, precisely at this moment, I am listening to The Mountain Goats. I had no idea they have 16 albums. Holy crap. They sound like a folky REM, yet their lyrics actually make sense.

…One of these days we are going to see each other face-to-face and it will be fantastic. It will be something else. I will say, “Oh, hey, it’s you.” And you will dip your chin and say, “Yeah, it’s me.” And we will be so cute together.