Friday, May 30, 2008
what was sex and the city really about?
I have to admit even though I know the movie is going to be awful, I'm going to see it tonight. I have a sort of love/hate relationship with SATC and those four women. While I didn't condone their obsession with shoes and men, I did adore their bond with one another. And I think that's what drew me to the series, the honest portrayal of female friendship and the fact that they were all single and strong and lived in NYC (where I had once lived) and of course were unabashedly seeking sex. For me living in Madison, Wisconsin with a husband and three kids, it was the fantasy path I didn't choose and sometimes wondered why...
and I have a little good news to share next week...
and I have a little good news to share next week...
Thursday, May 29, 2008
what I'm wrestling with...
now that I've started a blog I find myself drawn to the computer even more than I already was which wouldn't be a problem if I didn't have a family and a body to exercise and dishes and laundry and two puppies and a graduation party to throw and a gear up for the relatives arriving for that party and... all I want to do is chat in this cozy little cyber world. Anyone else ever feel like that?
Monday, May 26, 2008
what a rush to find my way home
As I rushed to find 90 west out of Chicago and turned up the mix my daughter made me "What You Want" blasting I burst into tears thinking this is what I've been waiting for my whole life to spend a weekend sitting on panels and meeting smart, funny, insightful writers and people who care as much about the word as I do and while I was nervous and had moments of feeling out of my element once I started talking I felt as if I'd found my way home.
Thank you Amy!
My first podcast here
update on presents: I'm starting to send them out BUT I can't find everyone's address (yes I DO have some organizational issues) so if I promised you one and you are NOT Amy, Judy, Larramie, Debra or Caroline PLEASE send your snail mail to my e-mail. I promise you will LOVE what I send...
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
reflections on a week of blogging...
I like it.
See post below for what I'm currently obsessing about.
afternoon update: Very exciting news. The presents have arrived. If you'd like one and I know I promised all of you one so far (and if I didn't you are still eligible!). Just send me an e-mail with your snail mail address and I promise I won't sell or share with anyone. Can't wait to send them...
See post below for what I'm currently obsessing about.
afternoon update: Very exciting news. The presents have arrived. If you'd like one and I know I promised all of you one so far (and if I didn't you are still eligible!). Just send me an e-mail with your snail mail address and I promise I won't sell or share with anyone. Can't wait to send them...
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
my first live appearance and I'm nervous excited nervous
So this Saturday I am speaking on my first panel EVER at the Pilcrow Lit Fest in Chicago and I keep flipping back and forth between excitement and terror and find myself obsessively thinking about my hair and what to wear (I know it sounds very superficial and really I'm not that superficial as a rule but when I imagine people staring at me on a panel...yikes!).
Other than the hair/clothing worries, I am really excited to meet Amy Guth and Katie Schwartz and Leah Jones and all those other fabulous writers descending in Chicago this week.
If you don't know about Amy, well she is an absolute dynamo who conceived of and organized and basically made Pilcrow happen. Plus she's tall and gorgeous!
So, If you happen to be in or near Chicago, I would LOVE to see you at Pilcrow. Find me and we'll talk. Okay?
Other than the hair/clothing worries, I am really excited to meet Amy Guth and Katie Schwartz and Leah Jones and all those other fabulous writers descending in Chicago this week.
If you don't know about Amy, well she is an absolute dynamo who conceived of and organized and basically made Pilcrow happen. Plus she's tall and gorgeous!
So, If you happen to be in or near Chicago, I would LOVE to see you at Pilcrow. Find me and we'll talk. Okay?
Monday, May 19, 2008
my friend and fellow deb is launching her book DRIVING SIDEWAYS today!
and it's so good on so many levels I can't help but suggest that you buy Jess Riley's book right now!
(another little experiment here... will this shortest post attract the most comments?)
(another little experiment here... will this shortest post attract the most comments?)
Sunday, May 18, 2008
anyone see the article....
in the NYT's this week about this family giving away all their possessions (or I guess most of them) and moving to Vermont to be homesteaders? The concept that possessions possess you has always struck a nerve with me. And reading this sort of made me want to sell everything. Except of course for my computer and books and iPod and coffee maker and bed and... how about you? What do you think of voluntary simplicity? Have any fantasies about selling it all or downsizing?
Share your thoughts on that AND what you ate for breakfast (I'm still interested!).
P.S. Do you twitter? I do now but I don't really know how to Do it...
UPDATE on the twitter thing: Any of you who twitter, I invite you to FOLLOW me. (I think that's the official language of twitterdom.) My twitter is here: gailstwitter. And if you don't twitter and want to, I'll send you an invite!
Share your thoughts on that AND what you ate for breakfast (I'm still interested!).
P.S. Do you twitter? I do now but I don't really know how to Do it...
UPDATE on the twitter thing: Any of you who twitter, I invite you to FOLLOW me. (I think that's the official language of twitterdom.) My twitter is here: gailstwitter. And if you don't twitter and want to, I'll send you an invite!
Friday, May 16, 2008
Some of us bloggers (notice how I've taken to this new persona so rapidly?) were discussing what kinds of posts readers comment on. And some of us bloggers said that often shorter posts and/or ones that ask questions of readers are best. So I'm conducting an experiment here. This will be the end of this post and I will end it with a question. What did you eat for breakfast? (I LOVE discussing food!)
Thursday, May 15, 2008
look to the left and you too could still win a prize
So here's the deal. I learned how to add links to the left! And I don't want to leave any of you lovely readers out so... if your link isn't there and you'd like me to add it, leave a comment with your web address.
Also, I've actually come up with some very cool presents (okay so I didn't really have a present idea when I promised them initially) BUT now I do. And I will have enough so that YOU too can still win a prize. All you have to do is leave a comment. You don't have to bitch, if you don't want. But you are welcome to, also.
See what I meant about this blog being about you? Am I delivering on my promises? Or what?
Also, I've actually come up with some very cool presents (okay so I didn't really have a present idea when I promised them initially) BUT now I do. And I will have enough so that YOU too can still win a prize. All you have to do is leave a comment. You don't have to bitch, if you don't want. But you are welcome to, also.
See what I meant about this blog being about you? Am I delivering on my promises? Or what?
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
maybe the life is a bitch thing isn't working
I'm feeling like my idea isn't going over as well as I'd hoped (see post directly below). So I'm thinking maybe YOU want me to start. Okay.
I'm from Toledo. Any of you from towns like that? The kind of town you mumble out of the side of your mouth when people ask where you're from, the kind you vowed from a young age to never settle in (after you got out AS SOON AS POSSIBLE)? But then you hear someone else NOT from said town, someone living in a place that sounds cool, bash your town and kind of insinuate that unsophisticated, uneducated people live there? And then you are like, What? Toledo isn't that bad. It has a ton of bookstores and a university and people from there are smart (Gloria Steinem) and funny (that guy from MASH) and successful and fashionable (Katie Holmes). Need I say more?
I'm from Toledo. Any of you from towns like that? The kind of town you mumble out of the side of your mouth when people ask where you're from, the kind you vowed from a young age to never settle in (after you got out AS SOON AS POSSIBLE)? But then you hear someone else NOT from said town, someone living in a place that sounds cool, bash your town and kind of insinuate that unsophisticated, uneducated people live there? And then you are like, What? Toledo isn't that bad. It has a ton of bookstores and a university and people from there are smart (Gloria Steinem) and funny (that guy from MASH) and successful and fashionable (Katie Holmes). Need I say more?
what will this blog be (and more presents!)
So I sat up in bed last night after finishing Amy MacKinnon's Tethered which I started reading after I finished Kristy Kiernan's Matters of Faith (both fabulous books!!) and thought, What should this blog be about? I mean honestly, does the world need another blog? Probably not... so here's the thing. Here's the spin I've come up with...
I want to make this blog as much about YOU as it is about me. I wrote a whole book about Cancer being a bitch (and, btw, if you don't know, I am okay, it was caught at the earliest stage possible and I'm going on 2 and a half years all clear!) but the truth is, Life is a bitch. Or can be. And sometimes all we need is a place to bitch. So let's try this... if you have something to bitch about, feel free, and I, with my vast bitching experience, will try to respond in a bitch-worthy way. Have I said the b-word enough? Are the censors going to shut me down? (I also might throw in some other stuff about yoga and running and my book coming out in the fall) But I'm really interested in hearing from YOU!
Oh yeah, and I'm thinking I'll come up with a contest or prizes for the best bitchin story (something like that).
Now I have to go order the prizes (they're REALLY good!)...
I want to make this blog as much about YOU as it is about me. I wrote a whole book about Cancer being a bitch (and, btw, if you don't know, I am okay, it was caught at the earliest stage possible and I'm going on 2 and a half years all clear!) but the truth is, Life is a bitch. Or can be. And sometimes all we need is a place to bitch. So let's try this... if you have something to bitch about, feel free, and I, with my vast bitching experience, will try to respond in a bitch-worthy way. Have I said the b-word enough? Are the censors going to shut me down? (I also might throw in some other stuff about yoga and running and my book coming out in the fall) But I'm really interested in hearing from YOU!
Oh yeah, and I'm thinking I'll come up with a contest or prizes for the best bitchin story (something like that).
Now I have to go order the prizes (they're REALLY good!)...
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
my first blog post and presents
I'm feeling a little shy not because I've NEVER blogged before but because I've never blogged solo. My blogging at thedebutanteball has been a group thing. And such a great experience that I decided to try my own blogging thing. It may take me awhile to find my blogging groove... Maybe I should start with why it says CANCER IS A BITCH above my head. If you click here you'll get the rest of the story. Any questions? Leave me a comment. I promise to answer!
I just made an executive decision (I can do that because I'm in charge here) that the first five people who comment will receive a special present. (You can send your address to my e-mail which you can find under contacts on my website and you can get to my website by clicking on CANCER IS A BITCH above my head). Tricky, huh?
I just made an executive decision (I can do that because I'm in charge here) that the first five people who comment will receive a special present. (You can send your address to my e-mail which you can find under contacts on my website and you can get to my website by clicking on CANCER IS A BITCH above my head). Tricky, huh?
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