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The Printer Saga

The installation of my new printer has become a sort of saga, marked with bouts of passive procrastination. It all began nigh a month ago, when I realized I needed to buy an electrical strip in order to plug in the printer, TV, and Xbox simultaneously.

Thus, I journeyed forth to Office Max and purchased the required electrical strip — only to discover that the electrical outlet is a two-prong outlet and will not accept my three-pronged plug of my strip. *le sigh*

Verily, I adventured into Home Depot and discovered an adapter that would allow me to use my three-pronged electrical strip in my two-pronged outlet. After a struggle to shove the three-pronged plug into the adapter, which resulted in a war wound in the form of a bruise on my thumb, the printer worked!

And one would think my story would be done, but no!

During set up, I came to realize the printer did not come equipped with a USB cable, as the wireless setting was standard… I do not have wireless… Hey, don’t look at me like that.

Thus and verily, I hath ventured into the wilds once more and have obtained a USB cable of my very own.

I will learn tonight whether this saga is finally at an end.

What I’m Reading

Six-Gun Snow White by  Catherynne M. Valente, which like most of her writing is lush and complex. I love how she keeps the fairtale tone, while mixing in the old penny western tone. Neato.

What I’m Writing

Let’s just pretend I was productive this week. Agreed? Agreed.

Goal(s) for this week: Enjoy my time at FogCon. If I manage to get something written, then awesome. If not, well I have an excuse.

What’s Inspiring Me Right Now

Honestly, I don’t know. For some reason, I’m finding it a challenge to list something here each and every week, as I tend to find inspiration in random insignificant things of everyday life and can never remember them when I need to write these posts.

Where I’ll Be

March 6-9: Floating around FogCon, talking about books and writing and generally having a good time.

March 26: I’ll be a featured performer at Cito.FAME.us. I’ll share the link, when I have more info.

Linky Goodness

Heather Web writes on The Science of Creating Authentic Characters.

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Forward motion is forward motion

I spent Saturday night in San Francisco with my friend An Xiao Mina, who happens to write a tech blog about meme culture and many other interesting things. We spent the afternoon eating sushi, getting lost in the city, and watching a fiction reading in a little cafe.

Sunday was primarily consumed with my minimalism efforts, as I trolled through stacks of old magazines deciding what was worthy to stay. It was a long, boring process, but it feels good to have most of that out of my house.

What I’m reading

I’m still working on Ancient, Ancient, by Kiini Ibura Salaam, and  Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas A. Blackmon.

Both I have been slowly enjoying and both I’ll be finishing this week.

What I’m Writing

I’ve worked on poetry in some form or another everyday this week, but did not finish anything.

I’m okay with that. Forward motion is forward motion.

Goal(s) for this week: Type up one to two novel poems. Finish and send out a submission of four poems to Poetry Magazine.

What’s Inspiring Me Right Now

The crisp cold days, full of blue skies and a plethora of imaginatively shaped clouds.

Opportunity of the Week

The Emerald Tablet is looking for original work that in some way reflects an influence of your choice as part of an ongoing reading series (so you would need to be able to perform at an upcoming event. The submission requires that poets and writers include an original fragment of fiction or poem that shows how their own works were influenced. I rather like how poems can be in conversation with one another, so this appeals to me.

Linky Goodness

Dissolving barriers between the real world, the digital world, and the creative world, a look at the 365 Project as a Creative Process, by Marisa Goudy.

“Certainly, a year of photos taught me to see my life from countless new angles. Early in 2014, my newborn and I were trapped inside by the polar vortex, tested by a four-year-old who was stuck in the Frozen vortex. With one creative outlet to depend upon every day – my 365 project – I kept the walls from closing in on me. Later in the year, as I rediscovered my public self, I was able to look at my world with new wonder and discernment, knowing I had to capture at least one moment of each day.”

I tend to be terribly inconsistent with daily goals, but I love the idea of them.

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Need to turn off the procrastination station

I planned to see Selma over the weekend in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but a lot happened this weekend and it didn’t work out. I will see it this week, however.

Among the many things that happened, I took a couple of hours to sit down with a friend’s daughter, who just graduated from college and is considering what she wants to do with writing or editing. It was interesting to look at her situation and see how it related to my situation before I finally landed my day job. Trying to get a job fresh out of college and feeling like you’re caught in a experience needed catch-22 was so familiar to me.

Perseverance and a willingness to explore unexpected avenues of writing and editing employment can open up amazing opportunities. I never expected to be working at a technical trade magazine, but it’s been a fantastic experience so far.

What I’m reading

I’ve just started reading Ancient, Ancient, a collection of beautifully written, sensual tales by Kiini Ibura Salaam.

I’m still working through Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas A. Blackmon. It’s full of fact, which my overloaded brain will only accept in small increments at the moment. It’s fascinating though and disheartening to know that human being allows such horrible things to continue to be done to fellow human beings after the Civil War.

What I’m Writing

Progress was slow this week, which is to say, I can’t quite remember what I accomplished — which is to say, probably not much at all. Not where I want to be.

I partially blame Letterboxd for the bulk of my procrastination. It’s a social website for tracking movies watched, posting and reading reviews, and (my favorite part) creating lists of favorite movies and other such goodness. It’s bright and shiny distraction, so I’ve been having a bit of difficulty trying to shake it. (My LB profile is here, for anyone who wishes to procrastinate with me.)

Part of the distraction has been that thinking about movies has me thinking about writing movies. Ideas, oh so many ideas.

However, as I mentioned at the beginning of the year, spiraling off into a new BIG project would be just another distraction. It’s important for me to refocus this week on the BIG project I’ve already started.

Goal(s) for this week: Type up one to two novel poems. Send out a submission of four poems to Poetry Magazine.

What’s Inspiring Me Right Now

Cleaning out and decluttering my room. I’m going (sort of) systematically, section by section through all of my things to see what I can release. I’ve already filled three paper bags full of clothes and shoes I know I’ll never wear and I’m working toward an ultimate sense of open space.

The open space makes me fell more mentally clear and relaxed, which helps me have better head space for writing.

Opportunity of the Week

Submissions are open for Dreams from the Witch House, an anthology of Lovecraftian fiction written by women. Payment for accepted stories will be 5 cents per word up to 5k words, then 3 cents per word over 5k up to 10K words. Deadline is January 31.

Linky Goodness

Upworthy currator, Rajiv Narayan, posted “This Doesn’t Sound Like The MLK I Learned About In School,” which looks at and quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1967 “The Other America” speech.

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Words Inspiring Words

What I’m reading

Finished Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente, which was wonderful and I am hoping to have a review for tomorrow.

I’ve started Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas A. Blackmon. This will prove to be a slow read, but is so relevant right now.

What I’m Writing

Novel in poems progresses. I’ve typed out the first poem and have it “finished”. It came out entirely different than I first imagined it would, as my writing sometimes does. Usually this surprise is for the best, and I feel like this is the case here.

Many more notes and starts of poems were handwritten out.

Goal(s) for this week: Type up two more novel poems. If this is accomplished send out a submission of existing work.

What’s Inspiring Me Right Now

The act of writing itself, words inspiring words. It feels good.

Opportunity of the Week

WEIRD SISTER is a new literary, feminist, and pop culture blog that my friend Marisa Crawford is editing along with Becca Klaver. The site is looking for “feminist literary and cultural commentary that’s critical, creative, incisive, and playful, sometimes all at once.”

Linky Goodness

In “To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This,” Mandy Len Catron describes an experiment in which psychologist Arthur Aron succeeded in making two strangers fall in love in his laboratory. She then describes going on a date and going through the same list of questions used by Aron, with fascinating results.

How have you been this week?

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Book Review: House of Leaves

It’s hard to know how to explain the story of House of Leaves, which is deeply layered. I suppose one could start the explanation with what is essentially the core story, Navidson, an acclaimed photographer moves with his family into a country home in order to rebuild bonds and find a calmer, more cohesive life together, only to discover that the house is much more than it seems.

That explanation just barely scratches the surface of this book, however. The story begins with Johnny Truant, who learns of the death of a man named Zampanó and discovers a chaotic stack of papers in the man’s empty apartment. As he starts to put them together, his life starts to fall apart.

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