Category Archives: Writing (elsewhere)

I have written five essays in the last two months

I haven’t written anything much at all here lately, I know, but since September I’ve written off-the-internet about a memory of a sleepover I went to when I was a kid, I’ve written about both of my grandmothers and I’ve tried to write about Poppy. That one is unfinished. I’m not sure where I want to go with it. I’ve written a couple of other things, too, but I’m not sure exactly what they are. That is not a great sign.

I would publish it all here for you to read, but then I couldn’t get it all published in elite paying marketplaces. I’ll share the links to those unicorns with you when they’re available. /sarcasm.

I’ve been writing these offline because I’ve been taking a writing class. I’ve spent a few hours every Wednesday for the last few months in a room downtown with about a dozen other people, talking about our writing and writing about our families. The class is part of a local university program. It has been even more enjoyable than I’d expected it to be. The Spring class offerings were released last week. Nothing leapt out at me, but I might sign up for something anyway.

I am writing this while US Ambassador William Taylor testifies in the House impeachment hearings, and one thing I have learned today is that it is not a good idea to try to write a blog post while listening to US Ambassador William Taylor testify in the House impeachment hearings because it is both sort of boring and very distracting simultaneously. #writingtips

How Poppy flipped the script on Black Friday

A few years ago, The Story Pirates asked kids to send them stories about a made-up holiday. That sounds like a weird thing to do, but it’s actually normal for The Story Pirates. They’re a sketch-comedy group that adapts kids’ stories and performs them on satellite radio. They also do live performances, but usually just in California and New York. So for us, they’re just on the radio.

Anyway.

They wanted stories about made-up holidays, and Poppy and Pete decided they’d each write one. So they did, and we submitted them, and a few weeks later I got an email from a real, live Story Pirate asking my permission to produce Poppy’s story for the show. They were kind enough to send me an audio file of the performance after it had aired, and today seemed like the appropriate time to share it with you.

“White Friday” by Poppy & The Story Pirates

Didn’t they do a wonderful job? If you know Poppy, it’s pretty easy to pick out the lines they pulled verbatim from the source material. Pete was also thrilled that they included the cheeseburgers, as his entire story was a celebration of them.

I hope you have a thoroughly relaxing White Friday!

NaBloPoMo November 2015

Elsewhere: I tell you how to make a showy, glowy picture pumpkin

The Photojojo showy glowy picture pumpkinI don’t think I’ve carved a pumpkin since early in Rockford’s graduate school days, when he worked for a gentleman who was very enthusiastic about Halloween, but I’ve spent a lot of time over the last couple of weeks thinking about things to do with pumpkins. (Besides turning them into pies or smashing them, obviously.)

Why the sudden gourd obsession? Because the fine folks at Photojojo wanted a post about a Cool Thing to Do with a Pumpkin.

I’m pretty pleased with the final result.

You can read all about it at — and be a witness to the launch of Rockford’s career as a hand model — at Picture Pumpkins: Give Your Halloween Memories a Gourdy Glow. Let me know if you give it a try! I’d love to see your fancy photo pumpkin.

(Related: “Gourd” never, ever looks like its spelled correctly. Especially after you type it multiple times. Gourd gourd gourd.)