Brand New Blog Post

I haven't blogged since last year! Yes, I'm sick of hearing and making that joke over and over in different contexts, but I just said it aloud to my husband and since he had to suffer it, so do you.

It's a brand new year, like it is every twelve months, and I get to decide what to do with it. Last year I was newly married, living in a tiny apartment (still in that tiny apartment), blogging and writing and not going to the post office. I'm still doing most of that. Well, all of that, I guess.

Last year I got my chapbook accepted for publication by NAP.

Last year we drove my old car to a buncha places on the east coast.

Last year I lost thirty pounds.

Last year I wrote 250 poems.

Last year I got over 100 rejections.

Last year I became the managing editor of Specter and the poetry editor of Stymie.

Last year I bought the most magical shirt from a thrift store around the block from our apartment.

Last year I chopped down a tree and put that sucker in the living room. (Okay, so Will cut it down and I pushed on it until it toppled over.)

Next year I have all sorts of big plans, and will put down my resolutions here so that I don't mess it up and forget about them. And so that you can point and mock if I abandon them.

1. Get into at least one “top tier” journal.

2. Do at least one poetry reading. (This will be easily accomplished, as I'm reading twice at AWP.)

3. Lose fifteen more pounds. (I think that should do it.)

4. Read fifty two books. (That’s only one per week. I failed hard at my goal for last year, meaning I read like, fifteen books, max.)

5. Run a half marathon. (This is a lofty goal, but I’m registering for one that's not until September. I feel like if I spend the 45 smackers, I'll be more likely to commit to it. I do love money very, very much.)

6. Enter ten writing contests. (I don’t have to win any of them, I just have to try to win them.)

7. Get 100 rejections. (This shouldn’t be hard at all.)

8. Write at least 250 poems. (Last year my goal was to write one a day, and I wrote approximately 250. I’ll strive for that again)

9. Put together another chapbook. (My first one, Ether/Ore, is coming out in April.)

10. Work on my full length manuscript. (It’s being read by one company right now. If they don’t pick it up, I'm going to do some major redecorating.)

11. Miscellaneous. The usual, and some not so usual: make a conscious effort to be happier, stop cutting my own hair because my hairdresser gets mad when I do, take more pictures, write more things down, learn new recipes, exercise once a day, make more things, dress better, all that.

And the resolution I've had since I was twelve or thirteen, which I have yet to do: teach a monkey to smoke.

Pithy Update

I updated the side links for my publications and other cool junk, because I'm important, and because I hadn't done it in many months. Now most of the links actually take you to my work. Not that you'd want to waste your life away reading my poems (CHA RIGHT).

The thing I like about Christmas is that everybody gives me treats, because I am so treatable.

Now I'm going to go chew gum until my brain turns into an ice cube.

Another Calendar Year

Today is my one year anniversary. I don't have anything profound or sappy to say about it. Time doesn't feel any different now that we're married, just better. I don't want to say I can't remember what it's like to not be married; I do. And not being married was okay, too, for a while. And being married is the best.

In the past year, many things have been accomplished.

We purchased and, shortly after, ruined the game Phase Ten.

We broke into our neighbor's apartment on New Year's Eve to watch the ball drop on his TV. Because we don't have TV.

I yelled at Mexican Music Lady, our neighbor, for playing her Spanish polka too loud during the night.

We stole a couch from a neighbor who got evicted and left his couch. I assume he left it because it's a broken piece of crap.

My chapbook, Ether/Ore, was accepted for publication by NAP.

I got a series of parking tickets for leaving my car on the street overnight.

We pulled a few Hank Moody nights.

We played a lot of Settlers of Catan.

I got over 100 rejections.

Anyway, we did a bunch of other stuff, too, but most of it is as boring as most of the stuff I already told you about.

Here's to another calendar year, another year of writing, another year of reading, and another year of marriage. Wherever we end up.

Presents Even I Can Make

So, Christmas is coming up.

Before last weekend, I kept using the phrase "Thanksgiving is coming up," and saying it like Daniel from the movie The Other Sister. Nobody even knew what I was talking about.

Anyway, I'm usually very terrible at thinking up what to get people for Christmas. I thought you might like to tell me some go-to gift ideas that even writers can make (since we're all poor), or gift ideas that are simple but nice. I know mostly everybody likes candles and all that junk. Maybe a book or two.

What are my other writer friends giving people for Christmas? And are you making any of your gifts? I want to see pictures.

OH! And also: check out some of my poems in Camroc Press Review. And order the current issue of Beloit Poetry Journal, because I'm in that, too!

AWP Dreams and Other Updates

Last night I dreamt I accidentally showed up to AWP a week early, but there were all these booths set up anyway. Real dorky guys selling crappy made-at-home comic books. I bought a new outfit and was wearing really classy stuff, guys. Really classy. And I had to meet dorky make-your-own comic book guys instead of, you know, AWPeople.

Rest assured, I will do my best to make it to AWP on schedule in real life, because advance copies of my chapbook, Ether/Ore, will be available for perusal!

Another surprise is that I have a split ebook coming out on Valentine's Day with poet Russ Woods, who is also a librarian, rap aficionado, and co-editor of Red Lightbulbs. If you want to check out the cover of our soon-to-be-book, go here!

The end of the year is coming up and aside from writing my butt off, I'm also eagerly awaiting some rejections to add to the heap, and looking forward to some 2012 publications! Can't wait to see my name in an issue of Beloit Poetry Journal and an issue of RHINO, two publications I respect the hell out of.

Go forth and be merry, eat some turducken, and show up to AWP on time, okay?

A Fun Way to Feel Bad

I have been putting off a blog post for a long time for a number of reasons.

First of all, this post SHOULD consist of a number of things. I promised a review of Ginger Piglet Press's Issue One, which really is lovely, and which I will, eventually, delve into more. For now, just know you ought to go to their website and purchase a copy yourself. The layout is beautiful, and is probably one of my favorite things about the magazine (not to devalue the words inside!). It's visually pleasing, and the binding is durable; it has survived in my work bag for three weeks. I tote it to and from work every day as a reminder of my promise to review it. I walk and bike to work, so the bag bumps my rump and has seen better days. But this little magazine is still going strong, and has a few coffee stains on it, like all my other well-loved items.

I have also been meaning to give a few words about Hayden Ferry Review's Word of Mouth, which is a fantastic collection of interviews with some really kickass writers (among them, Francine Prose, Bob Hicok, Franz Wright, and others). I love interviews and hearing about how other writers dive into their craft, and this is no exception. I'm addicted to the Paris Review interviews, and if you like those, you'll like this, too. Check it out. And to put myself on the line again: a longer review will come later.

This should say a little more about how busy I have been: my bookmark in Word of Mouth is a handwritten letter sent by a dear faraway friend which I have been meaning to respond to for a few weeks. I keep my to-dos closeby and together so as to add the guilt exponentially, which is a fun way to feel bad!

There is also some news to report that's not just ways that I'm slacking.

I have been named Managing Editor for Specter Literary Magazine. I am very excited about this. I am reading all of the poetry submissions, so please send in whatever you have. There are also other duties, such as remembering passwords to a new email address, a dropbox account, one more Submishmash account to look through, etc.

I have been going to classes at my local YMCA, and my legs feel like tiny things are inside of me lighting fires.

Another thing I have to do is remind myself of the good things that are eventually going to occur. I was pleased to be reminded that I have two poems up at Metazen. Some other upcoming publications include Beloit Poetry Journal and RHINO Poetry (both in 2012), Camroc Press Review, Stone Highway Review, and S/Word (all forthcoming this fall/winter), and I am STOKED to say I have had two poems accepted for publication in the third volume of Stoked!

Obviously things are changing up. I have had little time to write in the past few weeks, things with Specter are new and exciting, and the leaves are beginning to turn colors (I absolutely adore autumn).

But there are some things in which I find some consistency and comfort: reading submissions for PANK is always a delight, the rhythm of poetry editoring at Stymie is old hat, my husband keeps farting in his sleep, and of course I keep getting rejected. The count so far this year is six.

Look forward to some more posts from me in the near future. For now, we go to celebrate Will's birthday! Happy golden birthday, husband. (Oh Lord, we are so young. That is a good thing.)

Internet Games, Reviews, Rejections... All That.

Forgive me, Internet, for I have sinned. It has been two weeks since my last blog post.

I have been getting ready for the kids to come to school. They do that on Tuesday, and I am simultaneously ready and not ready. I'm happy to be getting back into a routine, and glad to start getting to know the kids I will be teaching, but I know that I'm going to have to see kids pee their pants and hear them cry, and those are not things I enjoy.

Also, I have been playing the crap out of some internet games. My mom made me start playing another Facebook game called Gardens of Time, and I hate it and love it so much I want to puke. I think I wasted two hours today trying to find stupid hidden objects.

Oh, here is a picture of some old people jumping:

Later on this week, I would like to post a review of Ginger Piglet's first issue, whose theme is "Conversations Over Coffee." I got sent this in the mail a few weeks ago and have not gotten to it yet, as you can imagine, because I've been so busy playing Gardens of Time! I'm very important.

Another thing I'd like to review is a book called Word of Mouth, which I won from Hayden's Ferry Review in a twitter contest. So far, I have only read the first chapter, but my husband has been reading it in the bathroom, so I'd guess that he is further along than I am, and he might post a little review of it on his blog if I bother him enough about it.

Also, hey wow whoa it is September already! This means a couple of things:

1. It's not August anymore.

2. Today it's autumn-like weather, and hopefully we'll have lots more of that before winter pushes through. Autumn is my favorite season.

3. Publications galore!

This month I have a poem in Writer's Digest, which you can buy at any major bookstore or newsstand.

Also, I have a poem in this month's issue of Bluestem Magazine, which you can find here. I'm so delighted to be featured next to my friend Jen Knox, and my Specter cohort Will Henderson. Please make sure to check their pieces out as well.

I will make sure to alert you about my other September publications as they are made public.

Another treat for you is that September 1 marked the end of 1 Year, 100 Rejections. For your viewing pleasure, I will have a complete list of my rejectors up at Specter Magazine's blog on Labor Day. For the record, I racked up 127 rejections and 22 acceptances.

I'm excited to move onto the second annual 1 Year, 100 Rejections. I even received my very first rejection on September 1. One down, 99 to go.