February 13, 2015 at 4:23 pm (Books, Weather, Women Writers, Writing)
Tags: Literary Magazines, Mayor of the Roses, memories, short story, short story collections, Stanford, writing process
Feb. 12, 2015: Saw this outside the Stanford Bookstore.
It was warm yesterday! While walking around the Stanford University campus, self saw that someone had stuck glittery red hearts around the planter box in front of the Bookstore. The Post Office looked exactly the same. They’re tearing down Meyer. Which means self will have to re-write the stories she’s set there. Yes, she does have stories set in Meyer Library.
The students she spoke to yesterday certainly made her think. Yes, she told them, the stories in Mayor of the Roses were written while she worked at Stanford at various administrative jobs.
Did you ever go to The Bridge (24-hour free counseling service on campus), someone asked. Of course! self replied. Didn’t everybody?
Self told the students that she had a more recent story about the Bridge, but in tone the story is as different from the one in Mayor of the Roses as night and day. In self’s story, which appeared in Waccamaw, the Bridge is a counseling hot-line called 1-800-U-R-Saved. The story is “Bridging.”
She talked about her Creative Writing Program years, and how she felt at the time she wrote the stories in the collection. She really really wanted to take a picture of Professor Miner’s copy of Mayor of the Roses because it was completely marked up. Notes on the margins, arrows pointing every which way. Looked like a piece of post-modern art.
She told the students she was writing science fiction now.
The time was really too short.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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February 7, 2015 at 4:04 am (Movies, Surprises, Weather)
Tags: Channing Tatum, Fridays, humor, Mendocino
The storm hit in the wee hours. Self knows because she’s been up since 4 a.m. The wind was howling.
Then there were these periodic siren blasts.
What does that mean?
At about 4 p.m., self began having major claustrophobia FEELZ. She felt that if she did not get out of the apartment for some fresh air, she would Read the rest of this entry »
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January 26, 2015 at 2:54 am (anthologies, Books, Places, Recommended, Sundays, Weather, Women Writers)
Tags: adaptations, Mendocino, praise, science fiction, Sundays
It was a beautiful day in Mendocino. The sun was shining. It was warm.
Self had lunch out, at a small deli just a block away.
She was reading about Read the rest of this entry »
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January 17, 2015 at 11:40 pm (Books, Places, Recommended, Weather, Women Writers)
Tags: England, Mendocino, novel, reading lists, Saturday
It is a very chill, bluster-y day in Mendocino.
But self is snug as a bug in her apartment, endlessly reading angst-y Read the rest of this entry »
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January 13, 2015 at 4:27 pm (Places, postaday, Weather)
Tags: Mendocino, photography, postaday, postaweek, Wordpress
The Photo Challenge prompt this week — SHADOWED — is forcing self to move around after dark, which is excellent. She’d never get out, otherwise. It was freezing last night, but self was nothing if not determined.
Little Lake Street, Mendocino
Still on Little Lake Street. Self hopes dear blog readers appreciate the fact that in order to take these pictures, self had to wander around in FREEZING COLD.
And this is what morning sunlight looks like, through the door to her unit in the Mendocino Art Center:
Early Morning From Self’s Apartment
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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January 11, 2015 at 1:16 am (Links, Places, postaday, Weather)
Tags: discoveries, Mendocino, postaday, postaweek, Saturday, Wordpress
Self took these pictures yesterday, when the sky was unbelievably blue.
Today, it’s cold and grey. But that’s to be expected around here, on the northern California coast.
Self rather liked the interplay of light and dark here, so she decided to include it in this second post on the theme of “Shadowed.”
From The Daily Post:
“Shadows can add depth and drama to an otherwise ordinary image.”
View From the 2nd Floor of Old Fellows Hall, Mendocino
And here’s another shot in which she was experimenting with light and dark:
1st Floor, Odd Fellows Hall, Mendocino (The wooden boxes stacked on the table are cigar boxes)
Porch of Odd Fellows Hall, Mendocino
What led her to enter Odd Fellows Hall was the porch: She was looking for pictures that would relate to the theme of “Shadowed.” She peered in a window and saw that the building was an art gallery.
She entered the building and had a most fascinating conversation with the curator (also an artist), Janet Self.
And self just couldn’t resist telling Janet that she wrote a blog in 3rd person, using the persona of “Self.” Janet said that “Self” was quite a common name — in the United Kingdom.
More to follow!
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January 6, 2015 at 9:32 pm (Flowers, Weather)
Tags: coffee, flower photography, Flowers, Garden, Mendocino, plans, postaday, postaweek, Wordpress
It is such a bee-yoo-ti-ful day! This week’s WordPress Photo Challenge is NEW.
As the prompt on The Daily Post puts it: Let’s celebrate the new!
Tomorrow self will drive up to Mendocino and inspect her new digs. She’s packed almost everything, including Sumatra coffee, a coffee bean grinder, and Krups.
Today, self walked all over her garden.
Here are the first daffodils of the year:
And here is a picture emblematic of the mind frame with which self greeted 2015!
You can see this figure busting out of a wall in Ontario Mills Shopping Center (near Claremont)
She tweeted that 2014 was her BEST YEAR EVER.
She has the feeling 2015 might be equally good.
Because, you know, she is starting it off with her residency in the Mendocino Art Center! High Fives! Plus there’s lots of artists up there who self is just dying to meet.
Followers of self’s fan fiction also know that she is up to 17 chapters, 288 hits, and 14 kudos.
YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY!
Although nephew Chris Blackett asked for her fan fiction pen name, IXNAY to that because, you know, fluff! Too much fluff!
Here’s another picture that’s emblematic of NEW MINDSET:
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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December 30, 2014 at 11:05 pm (Artists and Writers, Links, Places, postaday, Weather)
Tags: California, discoveries, Los Angeles, memories, nostalgia, postaday, postaweek, Venice Beach, Wordpress
Self visited Venice Beach twice this year: the first time in September, by herself. The second in November, with Angela Narciso Torres, who was giving a reading at Beyond Baroque (which, incidentally, was where self discovered that Viggo Mortensen of Lord of the Rings fame used to participate in their poetry writing workshops, way back in the ’80s!)
Both times, the weather was beautiful and warm.
The beach itself had very few people, surprisingly.
Venice Beach, November 2014
Venice Beach Boardwalk, November 2014
Sunbathers, Venice Beach, September 2014
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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December 29, 2014 at 9:44 pm (Food and Drink, Holidays, Links, postaday, Recommended, Weather)
Tags: Christmas, desserts, Gardens, indulgences, memories, Mondays, postaday, postaweek, restaurants, Wordpress
Oh the sun was out, and it was glorious.
Self was inspired to capture the moment with her camera.
So here is her second post on this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge: WARMTH
Wee Bit of Sun on a Cold Winter’s Day!
This next shot has something to do with the nice weather: The Man and self took a walk around downtown Redwood City yesterday afternoon, and wound up at Pamplemousse, where self bought a couple of caramel salt macarons! Heaven!
Self hearts Pamplemousse!
Christmas Day self truly had a burst of energy: she and The Man drove to Benicia to see some old friends, and what a treat to have such warm, glorious weather! Here’s a shot of their lemon tree:
This magnificent lemon tree grows in a friend’s backyard in Benicia.
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December 28, 2014 at 12:30 am (postaday, Weather)
Tags: California, farmers markets, Garden, memories, postaday, postaweek, Saturday, seasons, summer, Wordpress
This week’s WordPress Photo Challenge is WARMTH.
Think “indoor pools . . . heated sidewalk cafés . . . spaces dedicated to the preservation and celebration of warmth.”
That said, here are a couple of pictures self took in the fall, when northern California had a month-long string of sunny days.
There is nothing more calming for self than being in her garden on a sunny day:
The Side Yard (It looks very different now: for one thing, all the trees are bare.
The Apple Tree
Another image that recalls WARMTH is this picture of sunflowers self took at the Redwood City Farmers Market. The market is held every Saturday from April through November.
Redwood City Farmers Market: Summer 2014
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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