Randoms...

A couple of random updates...

1. The cat went home to his owner. Thank God.

2. I've had a couple of people email me asking about my friend April, who set up a chipin.com account to collect for her kittycat (Nala Arowen) to get shipped over to the USA from her former home in New Zealand. I'm looking for the link she sent out to post up here. I certify that it's a good cause, and while it's no 501.3.c, she's pregnant (about 6 1/2 months), her husband is still in New Zealand and she's stuck in Lynchburg just nesting and eating prenatal vitamins by the handful. Take a couple bucks (you can paypal it) and contribute to helping the pregnant lady out. She'll be grateful and will return the Karma. I'll post the link as soon as I get it.

3. Still working on a couple of pieces for here with the feedback I've received from the editor. I did the parenting one (feel free to comment with your opinion, even if you hate me now), and a couple others are in the works.

4. I'm debating switching to WordPress or Typepad. Blogger's great, but with a little work, I can get a lot better results from these services. If anyone has any experience they'd like to share, holler.

5. Trying to increase traffic on here without having to refer readers in from the other site I write on. I'd rather keep them separate, and while I don't care if some people from one find the other, I'd rather keep them apart for the time being.

6. Writer's block is and never has been a problem for me. Artist's block, however, is a very real and sometimes insurmountable problem for me. I'm trying to get some of that juice flowing, first and foremost by trying some different media than I had been doing in the past. Also a way to use up some art supplies that have come into my possession over the years. Ideas?

7. I'm looking for a couple of pieces of software - Adobe Creative Suite (CS3) for Mac OS X (Leopard), all the design stuff. If you happen to know of anything...

8. I'm a little under the weather today, mostly because I ignored my lifelong intolerance to dairy products and had a big old VAT of Cheerios last night. Last time I saw a doctor, she wanted me to get tested for Celiac Disease, which is largely caused by an allergy to dairy and wheat gluten. If you watch The View, it's what Elisabeth Hasselbeck has. I haven't gone to the specialist (hello, COBRA copays) but at this point I may have no other option, I end up losing weight every ten seconds and feeling like general ass if I eat an increased amount of dairy or wheat. I sincerely hope this is NOT the diagnosis - I love carbs and milk, dammit. But I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired, so we'll see.

9. If I feel better tomorrow, I'm doing the Philadelphia March of Dimes Walk/Run, which benefits the prevention of birth defects and funds research for healthier premature babies. I was an early baby myself, so I try and do it every year. I just found out this week that one of my sorority sisters had twin girls recently who were born at 30 weeks....I don't know too much, but they're on that progress train, and I put them down on my "I'm doing this for..." sheet. If you'd like to donate to the cause, send me a message and I can point you to the website.

10. If I can get the money together, I am planning on taking a writing seminar in June in - you listening Meghan? - Charlotte, NC. So if you're looking for artwork and would like to help a starving artist, now's the time. If you ever read Creative Loafing in Atlanta (I love you, Philadelphia Weekly and CityPaper, but CL is just an animal of its own), Hollis Gillespie, one of their contributors, runs the seminar. If I could ever hope that my writing would emulate a particular writer, I'd pick her. I read her books a while back and laughed so hard, I peed a little.













To all my writing friends, if you'd like to take a great seminar, come with me. The promotional materials I received promise "finger food, champagne, and inappropriate conversation." For all the difficulties involved in a creative profession, I look to the fact that I can deduct THAT from my taxes as evidence that the First Amendment was written for people like us. And as living proof that we have the coolest jobs ever invented.

11. I'd like to say how joyously happy I am that New Kids on The Block are going to do a reunion. When I was 11, I was absolutely convinced that Jordan Knight was destined to take my virginity. In retrospect, Joey was the best-looking one but I think if offered the chance, I'd still seriously consider any one of them. Even Donnie, who likes to burn things, or even Jon, who might have a severe panic attack. I saw one of them when I lived in Boston and nearly had a panic attack of my own.