Or, When's That Phone Going To Ring, and How Many Books Can I Read At One Time?

I thought a 3-month severance/vacation would be fun.  And, for the most part, it has been.  Beach trip, hanging out with Budd and the cat, reading the paper from cover to cover every day.  But now, I'm getting antsy to get back to work.  Lots of resumes sent, several interviews, and now I find myself sitting by the phone every weekday, especially since our shared answering machine has a really bad version of "Hello, I Love You" on it sung by Budd's father.  He refuses to change it because Budd's maternal grandmother just loved it everytime she heard it, even though she is now in the Great Beyond and is highly unlikely to call.  I'm sure I'm not alone in this endeavor.  By the way, if you are reading this and need a top-notch administrative assistant/graphic designer/marketing assistant, I'm available for hire.  Email me and I'll send my resume right along.  I'm also available through Creative Scamper, my freelance endeavor. 

In the meantime, I'm trying to increase my reading.  I've read those great books that I reviewed earlier, White Noise and The Colorful Apocalypse.  Now I'm working on Cosmopolis, another DeLillo novel, and in my stack (I'm trying to keep up with Budd who reads at least 5 books at a time) are The Reader by Bernhard Schlink; Plainsong by Kent Haruf; Straight Man by Richard Russo; and What is the What by Dave Eggers.

I chose these because, 1) I like DeLillo; 2) Russo's book got great reviews and he won a Pulitzer; 3) Schlink's book was a NY Times Notable Book of the Year and LA Times Book of the Year; 4) Haruf's book was a National Book Award finalist; and 5) Eggers' book also got great reviews and the first couple of chapters are mesmerizing.

I seem to gravitate toward books that are award-winners.  I'm particularly interested in reading National Book Award winners and finalists, and I've found some good ones that were NY Times Notables, in particular, Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. 

If you've read any that are in my pile of five mentioned above, let me know what you think.  And if you have any employment leads, I'd love to hear from you as well. 

My Husband the Writer

I'm so very proud of my husband, Budd Wilkins, as his short story, Fearful Symmetry has been published in this month's edition of WordCatalyst Magazine, an online magazine for creative expression.  Fearful Symmetry is a dark, humorous psychological piece that I, of course, as his biggest fan, think is just great.  I'm not the only one who has made this assessment.  I invite you to visit WordCatalyst, poke around, and have a look at Budd's story. 

Birthing an Event - Like Birthing A Kid?

I am so excited about Blogsboro.com's first event, "Joetry - An Open Mic Event of Poetry, Prose, Song and Coffee" that's going to be held at The Coffee Break, 1820 Spring Garden Street on Jan. 27 at 4:00 p.m.  The Coffee Break is just a terrific space perfect for this kind of event, and the good folks who own and run the place have graciously allowed us to hold the event in their great venue. 

I know my good friend and partner, Billy "The Blogging Poet" Jones will be reading from one of his books...I hope he does "Carrot on a Stick" again.  I just love that poem.  And my darling Budd will also be reading an excerpt from one of his stories.  We're hoping to attract many more performers and make it a wonderful and fun event.  Jerry from The Coffee Break tells me that Patrick Murphy will also be doing a musical performance.

This promises to be the start of something really wonderful; a place for artists to gather, perform, and enjoy each other, as well as a place for the public to come and hear, and enjoy yummy beverages and desserts from The Coffee Break.  I'm so impressed with this new business, and want to do all I can to help keep it around.  Once you've been there, you'll see how cozy and inviting it is, and how great the offerings are.  I saw my friend Elizabeth Castelda from Coldwell Banker Triad Realtors there last night, and she remarked how much she liked The Coffee Break.  It's a great place to network and close a business deal.  Elizabeth's got something exciting and "green" in the works in Greensboro which we will be profiling here on Blogsboro soon.

Since this is the first event I've put together for Blogsboro, I'm just flush with pride.  I do hope you will join Team Blogsboro as we work together to keep art, poetry and music (and a great new business) alive and well in Greensboro.

Poetry Alive and Well in Greensboro

My husband, Budd Wilkins, took these photos last night at the poetry reading hosted by Jordan Green of Yes! Weekly.  We had a wonderful time, and Budd also read an excerpt from his latest short story, Plush Life.  Clement Mallory and Ron Whitehead were mesmerizing and performed for an appreciative crowd.  The Blogsboro Team hopes to host some events like this in the near future, so stay tuned!  We would like to personally thank Jordan for his hospitality, and his wonderful poem.

Listeners 

Clement Mallory

Billy Jones reciting Carrot on a Stick

Our very own Billy Jones
Clement Mallory's amazing performance

Having a good time!
The "In-to Poetry" Crowd
Danny on guitar
Jordan reading his poem
Ron Whitehead
Ron Whitehead 

One of the hundreds of things I love about Budd is his wicked, lightning-fast wit and sense of humor.  He has the ability to make me (and lots of others) laugh harder than ever before.  And he can trigger those laughing spells in me that I can't control or stop at will. 

Over the holidays, we are housesitting for his parents, and I'm just like Goldilocks - I can't find a comfortable place to sleep.  I'm also like the Princess and the Pea in that regard.  So, last night, after deciding which bed to sleep in, I'm lying there trying to go to sleep, and he caught me at just the right moment and said something funny.  I began to laugh, and I could feel one of those laughing fits coming on.  My immediate reaction to this is to continue laughing while begging Budd, "Stop making me laugh!" because it hurts my stomach, I can't catch my breath, and the laughing is just uncontrollable.  Here's how it went:

Tina: "Hahahahaha, stop making me laugh hahahahah!"

Budd:  "Ingmar BERGMAN! Ingmar BERGMAN! Existentialist DOOM!  Oh, the AGONY of EXISTENCE!" (in his best acting voice)

Tina:  "HAHAHAHAHA (uncontrollable laughter) STOP, it HURTS to laugh!"

Budd: "A-HA!  Now you KNOW what Bergman was trying to tell us!  Laughter is really PAIN!  You might think it's joy, but it's actually TORTURE!"

A few minutes later, I said something about the bed covers not being on me right (Princess and the Pea syndrome, I call it), and he said, "Well, they were all right a few minutes ago before you went into...(pause) paroxysms of mirth," which of course, made me laugh even more.

I'm sure when anyone reads this, it might not sound nearly as funny as it struck me.  But I giggled on and off throughout the night when I thought of our exchange.  And I thought of how blessed I am to have someone who can make me laugh until it hurts.  You should see him when he walks down the hall carrying my cane and does his Nicholson/The Shining impression at the cat...."I'm NOT gonna hurtcha, Kitty....wait, you didn't let me finish my SENTENCE...."

Well, here's the wedding song.  It's by the Vandals.  Here are the lyrics if you have a hard time understanding them in the clip.  But this is priceless, hilarious, and something that me and Budd will  laugh our asses off at. (pardon the bad grammar there)

Young girl says to her mom,
"How did you know that father was the one?"
Then mom just rolls her eyes
She says, "You'll find that special guy"
but to herself she cannot lie
She says, "I'm praying for the day I die
and they bury me"

Then boy become a man
He finds that special one who understands
He knows 'twas meant to be
her faults he cannot see &
now he's down on bended knee
I pledge my love eternally,
will you marry me?

Do you take this woman?
I don't!
Do you take this man?
I don't!
For the rest of your awful life
she is your lawful wedded wife

Do you take this woman?
I don't!
Do you take this man?
I don't!
Eternal agony in holy matrimony

The two now joined as one
and from this holy union comes a son
and the cycle begins again,
another fool is on his knee
Where is my alimony?
Hang yourself from the family tree,
Say marry me

Menopause, mid-life crisis,
moments for the rest of your life
'Til death do you part,
'til the kids leave home she is your wife
(June?)

Just look at your parents strife
Imagine that for the rest of your life
Do you take this women?
Indubitably I don't!

Lyrics © The Vandals

(But, Budd, I do, and I am going to marry you, and for the rest of your un-awful life, I'll be your lawful wedded wife!)