B is for...

Books, bitches!


After an evening walk with the hub, I sat down at my computer to think about what I was going to blog about for B in today's A to Z challenge.  Naturally, I logged onto Facebook first because I love to procrastinate.  So, the first thing I see on my feed is a post by my sister-in-law.  She just got back from a trip to Portland and she got to shop at Powell's bookstore.  I've never been there, but I hear it's amazing and the store takes up a whole city block.  She bought several new books with real paper and there they are up there.  One of them is for me.  Can you guess which one it is?  First person to guess correctly will get to choose my topic for "D."  And no, it can't be death.

I love books. I've been sort of a non-fiction fanatic for the past several years, but recently I went totally crazy and read the first Harry Potter book.  I know, I know.  I'm a little late to the JK Rowling is a goddess party.  Well, my son was reading it and loving it and I wanted to be able to talk about it with him.  Now I'm like a totally pushy parent telling him to hurry up and finish the dang second book so I can read it too.  Like his mom, he's easily distracted and he has three books that he's reading at the same time.  What can I say?  It was the Scholastic book fair at his school last week and you can't just buy one!  

So, speaking of books, I'm going to see a somewhat famous writer tonight. And I'll have this person sign my dog-eared book that's about writing and I've had it for ages.  If you can guess who this writer is, I'll let you choose my "G" topic.  Here's a hint.  The title of the book would totally work for today's blog post.


This is totally random, but did you know that April is National Poetry Month?

Okay, my fellow blogging peeps, write on!

A is for..,

ART!
Hang on a moment, I'll get there.  It's time for a wee bit of reflection.

Well, here I am again blogging away for the A to Z Challenge.  Last year my posts were all about death, which kind of makes sense since this is the "Death Writer" blog and I have a book written that is all about death.  But, ya know what?  I don't want to do that this year.  This year I want to wing it.  I want to fly by the seat of my pants and be spontaneous. In other words, I want to live.  So, each night I'm going to write the first thing that starts with the corresponding letter of the day.  It's like a psychological test of sorts and anything can happen.

So, why am I going to write about art today?  Well, my husband, the love of my life is an artist.  Last week, I saw a post on Facebook about grants for artists and one of them had my husband's name all over it.  Painter over 45?  Check.  And guess when the deadline is?  Today.  We had seven days to complete an essay, an artist's statement, a resume, an application and assemble ten jpeg images of his art.  Oh, and he happened to be out of town at the time.  I am not one to cower away from a ridiculous deadline, so I gently encouraged my husband to hop on this crazy get a grant train and get er done!  And as I'm typing this, he is putting the finishing touches on his artist's statement.  If anything, it allowed him to focus on his art for the week and maybe think about what he wants to accomplish in the next year.  It's a win-win situation.

So, here is a pic of my husband's handiwork when he painted backdrops for touring rock bands.  I loved this image.  It was done for the band Slayer and was designed by Paul Booth.  Erik just recreated it on a 24 x 40 foot backdrop.


Scary, huh?

Well, my fellow bloggers.  I'll keep this short and simple.  I look forward to meeting you in the next month.

Spring Has Sprung!

Birds are chirping, flowers are blooming and I'm sneezing like crazy. It must really be Spring, despite the fact that it seems to be snowing everywhere but here.  So, with April fast approaching, I've been thinking about returning to complete the A to Z challenge.  I've been ignoring my blog and signing up for the A to Z would force me to blog every day.  That's a good thing, but it's also a huge commitment.  And if I do do it, I may have to veer away from a death A to Z.   We'll see how I feel next week and if I come up with any ideas.

So, this is totally unrelated to Spring, but I wanted to let you all know that I have an essay in the Spring Issue of Witness.  You can't read it for free on their website, but here's a link to buy the issue if you are so inclined.  It's not about death.  It's an essay about life, hope and redemption.

Happy Thursday and maybe I'll see you on April 1!