Boo Google. 50 dkp MINUS!

Win a Sony Reader, but only if you live in the U.S. Boo-urns.

I entered anyways... :P

What will reading look like in 100 years? "Reading will be fluid. Novels, articles, poetry even, will be fully integrated into life. Words will flow from writer to reader as instantly as either desires. Reading will be then, and forever, the first love of many, words as intimate as though wrapped around our fingers; they may very well be."

Mexico was so hot the mexicans were sweating!

Mexico was fantastic. I'll miss the abundance of guacamole and parrots.

Of course, upon coming home, I was hit with a case of the blahs. Real life is just so... blah. I like vacationing. It doesn't help that I came home to a work schedule of afternoons. I hate working later in the day; it gives me an entire morning to brood on the workday ahead, so of course I can't get anything done. So despite the mexican refresher, nothing new has been produced.


Periods in which nothing gets written, a dry spell one could call it, is not a bad thing if you can identify the causes, and endeavour to enjoy the respite. View it as a chance to wash clean of any bad habits that inadvertently crept into your writing, to dispel whatever was plaguing you before to get written, to distance yourself from the challenges that bogged you down before. Identify this as a time to 'not write' and be grateful for it. When you return to your desk, your pen, you will be as new, able to sit before your poems, written and not, and see them afresh. The main thing is to remain calm and happy, and not panic or beat yourself up over all the not-writing you're doing. Remember, lots of people are not-writing.


I had a fantastic time last weekend when a friend came to visit. I suppose any night the strata president calls with a noise complaint is a good night. Whoops.

And this weekend will have lots and lots of time spent with family

*** this is where my computer craps out and I start up the bfs comp to finish the post. While waiting, I run the dishwasher, put on a pot of water for tea, and check the mail. Ohh a package for me!

Ahem, this weekend will have lots and lots of time spent with family out of town, which I'm very excited for!


... His computer screen is so small. And this ergonomic keyboard is, uh, challenging to say the least!


Ya, my computer is, uh, ya. Earlier in the week my video driver... melted... corrupted... vanished? Whatever, I redownloaded it. I did see that one coming though, strange flickers in the video when playing WoW, the occasional blank screen, and then of course the full return to 8bit colour. Nice. Fixed now, but...

The firefox isn't so hot. Completely draining all resources, and after 6pm when my virus scan starts, my comp is totally out of commission for the day. Never mind the random freezes throughout. Buh. I can look over at my comp right now and see the task manager showing two firefox.exe, each at 50% cpu occasionally 49/51. Like, why?

Don't worry though, a bluescreenofdeath did prompt a full backup of all my writing as soon as I got back from the mexico!


My tea is ready.


My package from the mail? Let's call it a souvenir from mexico. Except instead of spending an outrageous amount of money at the resort's boutiques, I came home and bought the same thing off ebay for cheap. Lol. Savvy!

Maybe my rogue will get past level 74 today, cuz I ain't going in to work!

Oh, I'm sick. So sick. I'm going to eat chocolate ice cream for breakfast, cuz my throat hurts, my skull aches, and my face is filled with goo.


Dear Mexico, please be kind to my weakened immune system, this cold is wearing me out.
Love, a super fan.


Dear Cold, goooo awaaaay!
From your worsest nightmare ever, rarr!


Dear Goo, get out get out get out!
From you-know-who.


Dear Friends and Family, if I don't make it through this, and I may not if the ice cream runs out, please have my remains placed in the pool at Cancun, so that I may float through eternity in sunshine. Also, tape a Pina Colada to my clenched fist, I like those.
Love, a somewhat pathetic sicky.

It's like a diary entry, without so much angst.

It is hot out. The weather seems to have gone from "jacket and a scarf" to "god damnit now I gotta shave my legs" over night. But that's ok. I was gonna shave them soon anyways; I'm going to mexico in less than two weeks!


In other news, I had a dentist appointment yesterday, and was able to schedule a follow up appointment for this saturday. The hygienist there was very gentle and had worked in a periodontist office for a while and so understood my paranoia surrounding the gum graft I'd had done a year ago. The dentist himself was very nice too. And the receptionist was very accommodating when it came to scheduling appointments, as everything needs to get done before the end of the month, when I will most likely loss... loose.. er.. loos... looozze (what?) my benefits.

Not only does 'poet' not come with a salary, the benefits suck too. The hours are nice though.


A few more rejection letters, and a slew of lit mags have reached the end of their reading periods and wont be accepting any new material until september. I am considering sending material to online magazines, something I've yet to do.


I planted some mint. And by planted I mean I bought two thingers of mint in the plastic pots and stuck those out on my patio. They came with dirt in them and I threw a cup of water at 'em. They'll be fine. I'm gonna make mojitos! I have to make ice cubes first though.


I don't have much else to type about... so I will tease you with some sample lines from my bestest dino porn poem:

"Everywhere they go, a hundred tons
of flesh smacks against another
hundred tons..."

Writing this poem I learned three new words: thews, milt, and amative. Oh what fun!

I want to live in a StarTrek.

Books are wonderful things. The covers, the paper, the binding, typography, formatting, size, style, the smell, the very weight of one in your hand, it all combines to create a thing of art. But can I ever become one of those people who can forgo all that and enjoy simply the words?

I've been looking into different eReaders, for reading eBooks, and wondering whether this is a thing I could work into my lifestyle. For one thing, the idea itself is cool and very sci-fi.

My bookcase is very much nearing capacity. Even with awful books, I can't bring myself to get rid of any, and I am very much a re-reader of all my books, so I like to have them in my life. I am a library user, but still wish to own the books I love. Could eBooks be the solution? They take up virtually no room, and hitting a delete button on those bad books would be easier than feeling the need to find a home for the print versions. I'd also like getting rid of the more pulpy/commercial books and having the room for chapbooks/artbooks, the rare and beautiful pieces.

There is a cost though. The eReaders are expensive, and the technology keeps changing and upgrading. And eBooks themselves aren't always as cheap as you'd think when compared to the print version.

I like what I've seen online of the Sony Reader PRS-700. It has built in side lighting and a touchscreen, with the ability to take notes. I especially like the idea of adding annotations, and when combined with the ability to download both .doc and .rtf, it opens up the option of editing my own work on the go. The touchscreen does decrease the contrast of the screen, so I'd want first to compare it instore with the PRS-505, though this one lacks a light and annotation capabilities.

But beyond simply liking the technology, are there any good books being ePublished? Any poetry? Any lit mags jumping on board? A lot of authors and publishing houses aren't, and I'd hate to be limiting myself, or spending the money on something I can't use universally. Although my very own library does offer eLending, so there's hope.

I can definitely envision myself reading off of a softly glowing metal slate, fingers brushing its buzzing surface now and then, spaceships zooming around outside my spacedome, rocket-dog at my feet, so I'll keep thinking about it and looking around at options, though it waits entirely on getting a better job and bigger paychecks!

Dino... porn? Well, if you insist!

How can I possibly resist this? A small Toronto based press is looking for poetry submissions based on the prompt "Dinosaur Porn". So yes, I ran with it. Yet the master piece (if I may be so bold, and I shall, because frankly it is awesome) leaves me with a single word on my lips everytime I read it, every time I get to the end of the last line. "Ew".

I shall make more!

Read these other things, m'kay?

Busy busy busy! I've only just now managed to catch up on all my blog reading. And to hold you over while I get back to blog writing let me recommend some reading for you :) It's the lazy way to blog!

I just finished reading Mary Novik's novel Conceit. For a book I randomly pulled off the shelf at the library, it was better than most books I've paid money to read! I can't recommend this book enough. I couldn't put it down, both the world within it and the langauge woven throughout are so rich, beautiful, delicious even. A book of love and passion that takes a route that in a way avoids any notion of romance, it is refreshing and bold. Oh, and there's a poet in it, too! I want to start reading it all over again, right this minute. This is a book I now need to buy, as it simply must live on my bookcase forever. And I had to share this with you all, 'cuz I hope you read it, and that it can be a thing you love as much as I do. I'm nice like that.

Also, a quick read on not being a poet from a blog I follow. Very interesting and definitely food for thought.

And now for some tea, some writing, and then some awful work work ( I am now actively looking for something else though, work work shouldn't be so 'ugh'), and some daydreaming of a week in Cancun.