08kjl

"How can I tell when a story’s done? I get to a point at which it feels like I’m going..."

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:41:56 -0800

“How can I tell when a story’s done? I get to a point at which it feels like I’m going over it and over it and the changes have stopped. But I always get to that point sooner than I should: which is why readers like Karen, and Ron Hansen, and whichever editors I deal with, are such a help. They always demonstrate to me why I was premature in my hopes.”

- Jim, my forevr advisr

Still not done with that ending

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:36:45 -0800

Talia: i feel like the two explanatory paragraphs at the end are surprising

emotionally

like: oh! oh? oh…?

Wednesday Things

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:39:17 -0800

1. It took me 2 hours to answer all my backed up e-mails today, but I DID IT. Inbox empty.

2. I just realized, for the first time, that you have to actually know what you’re writing about in order to write the end of a story. (Amazingly, I wrote 95% of my story without knowing.)

3. This might be a really California question, but as I think about moving to places with actual precipitation: How do you keep your nice shoes nice in bad weather?

Anonymous asked: SERIOUSLY. tell me about rag curlers!!! will it make my hair like brigitte bardot’s hair? what about...

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:29:46 -0800

Anonymous asked: SERIOUSLY. tell me about rag curlers!!! will it make my hair like brigitte bardot’s hair? what about...:

Nothing will make you happier than when you wake up the next morning looking like a wooly lamb.

glutyoursoul:

I GOT THIS ONE LADIES. By “Brigitte Bardot” do you mean “a wooly lamb”/”a toy poodle”/”the mean one from Little House on the Prairie?”

Because if so, it sure will! Let’s walk through those steps.

PRELUDE: make your rags. Basically cut an old t-shirt into strips — like,…

Photo

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 10:40:12 -0800

"If you’ve got a headache today, then ought you to wash your hair?” “I ought not to, but I want it..."

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:59:54 -0800

““If you’ve got a headache today, then ought you to wash your hair?”
“I ought not to, but I want it nice for tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? What are you doing then?”
“Confidentially, Portia, I don’t know what may happen.””

- Elizabeth Bowen, The Death of the Heart (via glutyoursoul)

Glut Your Soul on My Accursed Ugliness: Did you know? Red lipstick makes you a more productive writer.

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 12:52:16 -0800

Glut Your Soul on My Accursed Ugliness: Did you know? Red lipstick makes you a more productive writer.

Litany in Which Certain Things Are Crossed Out

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:18:00 -0800

Litany in Which Certain Things Are Crossed Out:

Fact: I had to buy this book four times because I kept lending it out and people kept keeping it. Folks, it’s a good one.

Excerpt:

For a while I thought I was the dragon.

I guess I can tell you that now. And, for a while, I thought I was

the princess,

cotton candy pink, sitting there in my room, in the tower of the castle,

young and beautiful and in love and waiting for you with

confidence

but the princess looks into her mirror and only sees the princess,

while I’m out here, slogging through the mud, breathing fire,

and getting stabbed to death.

Okay, so I’m the dragon. Big deal.

You still get to be the hero.

You get magic gloves! A fish that talks! You get eyes like flashlights!

What more do you want?

I make you pancakes, I take you hunting, I talk to you as if you’re

really there.

vintageanchor: Recession Books…new editions of Oscar Wilde,...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:09:04 -0800

vintageanchor:

Recession Books…new editions of Oscar Wilde, Evelyn Waugh, Virginia Woolf, and George Orwell classics.

See more here.

email from CS that made me lol on the bus

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:07:49 -0800

“The radio this morning was talking about ways to go on better dates. And the third thing on the list was don’t give up too early. I’m pretty sure I still think that’s terrible advice. It’s like pouring lighter fluid all over everyone around you. And then just standing around waiting for a spark.”

my favorite sister

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:43:11 -0800

kristine: did you eat anything exciting today

: helen and i went out to eat at “froggy’s”

: and i was wearing my work clothes with bleach stains all over them

: and it was like

: a fancy expensive french restaurant

: instead of a frog-themed diner

: it was so uncomfortable

I'M IN

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:50:24 -0800

at Minnesota!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was awake when Julie Schumacher called me this morning but she accused me of sounding asleep!

I liked it.

My mother

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:00:05 -0800

still manages to school us:

mama: i said, “that’s just not commonsensical” and my student was like, “what’s commonsensical.” give me a break.
my sister: …what’s commonsensical?
mama: are you joking? you don’t know what commonsensical means?
my sister: that’s not a word.
mama: wanna bet?
my sister: it can’t be a word!
mama: *points to dictionary*

We need to talk about Miriam

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:00:05 -0800

Miri: Have you read We Need to Talk About Kevin?

Me: No.

Miri: Oh you should definitely read it before we see the movie.

Me: Okay!

Miri: It’s really, really good. But really disturbing.

Me: Oh!

Miri: Yeah, I finished the book and couldn’t eat afterward.

Me: Oh.

Miri: Wait, no, I did eat.

Miri: But then I threw up.

my barista sister makes the cutest comics/illustrations ever.

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:00:05 -0800

my barista sister makes the cutest comics/illustrations ever.

Ben rapping

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 11:40:00 -0800

to Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” while making me breakfast

So find that juicy double

Ben-a-Lot’s in trouble

YES, Lake Shore Drive. If you squint, those wind blown icicles...

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 11:16:09 -0800

YES, Lake Shore Drive. If you squint, those wind blown icicles on the trees kind of make them look like palm trees.

…Why did I buy tickets to Chicago for February, again?

Upon purchasing

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:00:05 -0800

a $5 “mystery bag” from a used book store at a block sale.

Me: There’s a calendar in here… from 2002.

Clerk (defensively): The pictures are still good.

Curling my hair overnight was a big mistake and looks like this.

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:02:03 -0800

Curling my hair overnight was a big mistake and looks like this.

hobartpulp: yes. (via Promo Posters For The Upcoming Fifth...

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:00:13 -0800

hobartpulp:

yes.

(via Promo Posters For The Upcoming Fifth Season of ‘Mad Men’ |)

All the accessories Amy Hempel would cut as inessential.