7-Imp’s 7 Kicks #148: Featuring Up-and-Coming Illustrator, Marta Pelrine-Bacon
January 3rd, 2010 by jules
Hello, all! And happy Sunday, the first of the DECADE. Kick up your feet and stay for the next ten years or so. 7-Imp’s happy to have you.
I love blogging. If I didn’t, I’d stop. But, having said that, I’ve enjoyed my blog break of sorts over the holidays and got into it so much that it’s taken me DAYS to get this post ready. (I usually whip ’em up in one night.) I’m moving at a snail’s pace, folks. It’s the holiday daze, which must end soon. This I know.
But today’s featured artist makes it really easy to get back into the groove of things. Check this out:
I don’t think there could be a more perfect way to kick this Sunday, the first of the year, in that I welcome an artist and writer here this morning who creates mysterious and evocative art with words and images. And that would be Marta Pelrine-Bacon, who takes the rough drafts of her novels, cuts them up into pieces, and makes pictures with them. The pictures capture the mood of the novels, though not the actual scenes, as she writes at her Facebook site. (Hint hint: If you like what you see here, visit “Words Are Art” at Facebook.) If a person, she further explains at the Facebook page, purchases a picture, they get a chapter password and can then take the password to the website for her novel and use it to read the chapter from which the art work comes.
Kickin’, huh? Marta also explains it all in more detail here:
A couple of years ago I started a blog for my characters. They spoke to each other through the blog, and when National Novel Writing Month arrived, I used them in my novel. One day I looked at the stack of printed pages and wondered what to do with all that paper. Five novels and all their rough drafts had left me with a lot of paper. That night I imagined a row of houses made of words, and that’s when the art and the words finally came together. We are now a happy threesome.
All the stories take place in the fictional town of Lake Belle. The stories are a mix of literary fiction and contemporary fantasy, and they are influenced by stories like David Lynch’s Twin Peaks and Bonnie Jones Reynolds’s The Confetti Man. In Jones’s novel a young woman becomes obsessed with paper and spends hours of every day pasting pictures together to create collages. I read this as a teenager and never shook that image of the slightly mad woman making art no matter the cost. This is probably also why a bit of madness appears in the novels.
(She also explains her affinity for rabbits in her art here.)
Marta, who was born and raised in Florida but now lives in Texas with her husband and son, teaches ESL as her day job (and used to do so as a Peace Corps volunteer). One of her current projects, Ink & Mirabelle, is “a picture book of two rabbits,” she told me, “who are separated when one decides to stay up on the moon.” Here’s the link to more of those images.
Her art is cut from her novel, The Labyrinth House. Here is a photo of the hand-made book she made of the novel, as well as a photo of all her novels, a stack which appears to be somewhat deadly:
I’m gonna shut my trap now and let her art do the talking. (Remember that you can click each image to see it up close and personal.) I thank her for stopping by and for sharing her rabbits, in particular, with us. Rabbits, you see, are a symbol of fertility, of course, so we can take these rabbits as a symbol of new growth, artistically and otherwise, in the new decade. Hey, why not?
Remember that there is lots more art and information here at her site.
1). It was so very, very good to see Eisha this week. Do I have pictures? No, ’cause I can sometimes be an idiot and usually forget my camera.
2). Pancakes on New Year’s Day morning with delicious, home-made peach fondue jam, the latter sent from a very kind Jam Fairy.
3). Once upon a time—in 1995, to be exact—-I decided, based on Frances Moore Lappé’s Diet for a Small Planet, to become a vegetarian. Then, almost ten years later, I got pregnant, craved meat, and ate it every now and again up until now — for about five years. I just finished this book, pictured here, which had a profound impact on me in many ways. It a.) reminded me why I became a vegetarian in the first place and b.) gave me a handful of other, even more compelling reasons to go back to being one. I want to write Mr. Safran Foer a thank-you letter is how good and so well-researched this book is — all because he wanted to give lots of thought to what he was feeding his child. I devoured (excuse the lousy pun) my library copy but then went out and bought a copy this weekend so that my husband can read it and so that I can do my own teeny-tiny part in supporting the book.
The kick here is reading a book that I found, well…life-changing, to put it bluntly.
Bacon, I will miss you. It was fun while it lasted.
4). My girls took a special week-long winter workshop this week at the art studio where they make wonderful messes every weekend, and since it was two hours each day, I got to go to the nearby coffee shop and sit and read for the entire time. With CINNAMON LATTES. This kind of me-time is pretty rare for yours truly.
5). And it was there that I not only finished Safran Foer’s book, but I also finished the new, not-even-out-yet Jon McGregor title I mentioned a few weeks ago. Wow. Eisha’s reading it, too. We might even co-post about it.
6). New music: Eisha gave me the recent Delta Spirit CD (and, I might add, some killer-good coffee). Delta Spirit makes good tune-age. Not to mention: Regina Spektor and her weird-ass pop songs. Now, there’s a songwriter who does what she wants and doesn’t give one single flip what current trends are. Also, if I could play piano like her AND sing like her, even for just about two seconds, it’d be fun. Finally, my girls got for a Christmas gift a CD of Shel Silverstein reading some of his own poems, and let me tell you that he sounds as unhinged as he sometimes looked. We’ve had fun listening to him all week.
7). Regular kicker John E. Simpson (“JES”) included in this post of his the other day this below excerpt, which I very much like, from this wonderful short story by Miranda July:
“Do you have doubts about life? Are you unsure if it is really worth the trouble? Look at the sky: that is for you. Look at each person’s face as you pass them on the street: those faces are for you. And the street itself, and the ground under the street, and the ball of fire underneath the ground: all these things are for you. They are as much for you as they are for other people. Remember this when you wake up in the morning and think you have nothing. Stand up and face the east. Now praise the sky and praise the light within each person under the sky. It’s okay to be unsure. But praise, praise, praise.”
Seems fitting for a new decade. Thanks, John (whom I also have to thank for introducing me to Marta’s art).
BONUS: The Cybils shortlists are out!
What are YOUR kicks this week? And how about Marta’s art? It’s the best kick of all this week. Here’s one more to send you off…
p.s. I would just like to note an Extra Kick, for anyone still reading: As a big fan of blue, I like the top three posts currently on the front page of the blog. Bleu bleu bleu. I didn’t even mean to do that.
Thank you, Jules. Really.
Happy New Year to all.
I was SO excited to see Marta’s art here on the first-of-the-new-decade 7-imp 7 kicks post! I remember being amazed when JES linked to her website, and twisting my head around in an attempt to read the words in every rock, leaf and sliver of moon. Wonderfully creative! And I love the “bleu”, too, Jules (my favorite color).
Thanks also for the lovely short story excerpt. It ties in with my #1 kick:
1) Since this is not only a new year but a new decade, my first kick must be this blog, because without it, I would not have learned to be as consciously aware of the many good things in life that I have to “come kicking” about. This is also going to be my focus for the new year: gratitude.
2) The kindness of two great friends (Jules being one of them) in helping me deal with a difficult family situation.
3) My boyfriend, Bob.
4) Seeing the movie “The Young Victoria” — a lovely, truly romantic film.
5) Simplicity
6) Reflection
7) This video (which I hope I embedded correctly, Jules):
Happy New Year, everyone!
P.S. Despite my best efforts, it appears that my first video embedding experience didn’t work. Here’s a link to it — it really is funny:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TjK1i5encw
As I’m up, it seemed like a good idea to post my kicks. Let’s see if I can work backwards.
1) I have an audition for The Mikado today. I’m feeling very good about it, in part due to much encouragement from Little Willow.
2) I had a delicious Black Forest sandwich at the Nordstrom Bistro yesterday. Not an experience I will repeat any time soon as ham + gruyere = too much fat for me to handle very often, but so tasty.
3) On New Year’s Day, I saw “Sherlock Holmes” in the theater for the second time and enjoyed it more than the first time. I feel like it’s really true to the spirit of the books and stories.
4) On New Year’s Eve, a bad thing happened: I burned myself on the bean dip for my party. But the kick is that two of my friends who were at the party took very good care of me and so a burn which could have been pretty bad just became a normal blister.
5) On Wednesday, Will and I came home and had the house to ourselves. It was nice after several days of social activity.
6) I finally uploaded the wedding photos my photographer/bff gave me in September! http://picasaweb.google.com/khirsh.wcross/WeddingPhotosTakenByCharlotteHayesOfShutterbugscreationsCom# I can’t get over how pretty my hair is.
7) My parents and brother were here from the evening of the 25th through the morning of the 28th and it was lovely to have them.
Happy Sunday, Happy New Year, Happy New Decade!
Love Marta’s art, so unique and the rabbits seal the deal for me. I’m with you on the bleu love, Jules. Bleu tea berrry!! Also love that quote from Jess’s post. Reading and cinnamon lattes sound like a heavenly combination!
Jill, I just saw “The Young Victoria,” too, and am still swooning over Rupert Friend as Albert. Faboo film!
Good luck on your audition, Kimberly!
Le kicks:
1. 7-Imp Crazy Retrospective, and this blog in general. Ditto everything Jill said about focusing on gratitude and being inspired to do so because of what goes down here every day.
2. Cybils Finalists! So happy for Sara, Liz, Marla, Grace, Barb, Laini, et. al. Also excited about checking out some of the short list books I haven’t seen yet.
3. Having DH home for an entire week, and during the holidays, no less (a rare occurrence).
4. Food fest: Oatmeal buttermilk pancakes, dim sum, Korean dumplings, teriyaki salmon. First meal of the New Year: homemade vegetable soup.
5. “The Young Victoria.” I’m a fool for anything falling into the categories of “period drama,” “British,” “hot British actors in period costume.” Oh, the sets and scenery were good too.
6. Receiving Smilebox slideshows featuring loads of family photos from 2009 — a great way to keep current with all the faraway rellies.
7. Hearing from a magazine who wants to publish one of my blog posts. This may or may not happen, but it’s very encouraging feedback.
Wishing everyone the best of everything in 2010!
*slinks away to have some bacon for breakfast*
Jules what a way to start the new year, the new decade! Marta’s work is incredible! I love al of it but especially the trees.
So glad you got to spend time with your bud, Eisha.
Kimberly, break a leg with your audition. The Mikado is one of my favorites.
Jama, I will tak a stack of oatmeal buttermilk pancakes.
My kicks to begin the new decade:
1. Love starting my Sunday mornings by reflecting on what was good in the week. Thanks, Jules.
2. The CYBILS shortlists and my awesome round one panel.
3. Time with family at the coast.
4. The coast! The weather was wonderfully wild. We got out of town before Ptown got hit with a sneaker snow storm (shortlived but it royally 5.Time to bead yesterday.
6. Selected 10 photos to submit to the annual “Photo of the Year” Contest. I will post later today.
7 The Georgia O’Keefe movie that aired awhile back. Starred Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons. I had recorded it but never watched it. Reminded me why I love her work so much.
Have a fabulous week in the new decade.
Marta, thanks again for stopping by.
Jill, thanks for the kind comments. I really need to see this Young Victoria already. Love that video.
Kimberly, break a leg at the audition! And if anyone’s gonna encourage you, Little Willow’s the one to do it. What gorgeous wedding photos! Lovely dress, though I think I said that before.
Oh, and very good that you didn’t burn yourself. Kudos to your fast-acting friends.
Jama, NO SLINKING AWAY and carry on talking about meat! (I knew I should have typed that in the post.)…KICK NUMBER SEVEN IS SO GREAT! Great is my woot for you! And of COURSE they’d want to publish one of your posts. You have a very well-written blog in which you clearly put a lot of time. Also oatmeal buttermilk pancakes sounds like something I need to try.
Jone, I think Jill also mentioned the Georgia O’Keefe movie a while back. Hmmm…Need to find that, too. Love Joan Allen. …Glad you saw the coast, and looking forward to seeing your chosen photos.
I love when words are all mixed up in illustrations, and Marta’s art is intriguing. I hope we’ll be seeing more from her.
Jules, Glad you’ve been having a good week with good friends and good food and good art. That’s the right way to start a new decade.
Jama, Just the mention of oatmeal buttermilk pancakes (and, let’s face it, bacon) makes me feel like maybe I should have a second breakfast for lunch today.
My kicks:
1. Five days off in a row. I needed a little rest break.
2. Today, for my last day off, the world has decided to go all snowy and give me the perfect excuse to stay indoors in my yoga pants and a nice, fluffy fleece hoodie.
3. Avatar=not bad at all. The 3-D didn’t even give me motion sickness.
4. I also watched Valentino: The Last Emperor on DVD, which I really enjoyed.
5. Several people on this very blog have recommended that I try getting some spices from Penzeys. Well, when I was in NYC the other week, I bought a few things at their store in Grand Central Station–cinnamon, vanilla beans, and Dutch process cocoa. I used the cocoa to make brownies for New Year’s Eve. So good. So, so good. I feel like I may have to make another pan today.
6. My dad drove out and spent a couple hours with me on Monday. It was good to see him.
7. The fact that my week’s been so Kick-y that it’s hard to even focus on what was most Kick-worthy and should be posted here. I am very content at the moment.
Adrienne, do it. Have the second breakfast. ‘Cause there is no better meal.
Glad you got the time off. The folks I work for asked us not to invoice them for anything last week, while they balanced the books. Oh twist twist my arm. It will be hard to get back into the work groove this week.
Sounds like Penzeys needs to be in my life.
Kick #7 is good. Real good. I wanted to compose a post this morning in which I took the best, most representative kicks from the year and compiled them into a list of seven. A kicks retrospective, too. But…too hard. We’ll just take your #7 and use it to transition into the new year, ’cause it’s good.
Here, everyone, is the video Jill was talking about. She asked if I could try embedding it:
Great way to wake up on a Sunday morning, to Marta’s magnificent artwork! Inspiring!
My kicks:
1. Continued my interview with agent Steven Malk for 7-Imp. Good stuff coming your way soon.
2. Watched Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring with my wife, after a long hiatus from the films, and found (again) how beautifully and effectively realized these movies are.
3. Reading THE ESSAYS OF E.B. WHITE and marveling at the startling clarity of “The Geese” and the almost mystical force of “The Ring of Time,” among others.
4. Played “kitchen” with my daughter, Marin, and we made clay pizzas and a birthday cake for a small dog. Took Lesley and me two hours to construct the kitchen set after Christmas, but well worth it.
5. Wrote a couple of poems, including a narrative rhyme for David Harrison’s monthly poetry contest:
http://cracklesofspeech.blogspot.com/2010/01/poem-time-ship.html
6. Got my comic book fix by devouring PLUTO, the transcendent manga series by Naoki Urasawa. Great work by a young master of the form.
7. Looking forward to 2010 and sharing The Library of the Early Mind with you all.
Merry New Year!
Steven, Steven (the other one, as well as you) is such a nice man, and I’m looking forward to hearing from an agent, too. This is gonna be a great interview, I can tell.
Reading the essays of E.B. White is a great idea I might have to copy. Eisha gave me as a congratulations-gift the Maira-Kalman illustrated ELEMENTS OF STYLE for the book-writing I’ll be doing this year.
I cannot WAIT to see your documentary. Big woot! Thanks for kickin’ this morning and for the link to your poetry.
Here, here for Penzey spices. Thank goodness there is one near my house.
Under the circumstances, I probably don’t need to say that I’m crazy about Marta’s art. It helps, maybe, that I came to it by way of her writing — which by itself actually doesn’t feature many rabbits, ha. But as Jules said, the fiction and art sort of mirror each other’s tones. (When I first read the latter, I thought of a late 19th-century Scottish fantasist named George MacDonald, filtered through the sensibilities of a young woman in the 21st century. As in her art, in her novels the trees, sky, and buildings both hide and reveal things in surprising ways — surprising to the characters as much as to the reader.)
…but I don’t want to embarrass her further. Will add only that it’s great to see her showcased here.
Jules: Happy New Year!
You’d mentioned Eating Animals as your Kick #7 in a Sunday post a couple of weeks ago. I followed the links you provided then and have been, er, ruminating over it all ever since. I’m not a ravenous carnivore, but mostly a to-each-his-own grazer of all sorts of food, and didn’t find myself 100% convinced by JSF’s arguments, at least as I could find them without reading the book. But the little sort of thought experiment he conducted, based on his surprising (to him) love for a new dog [story here at the NPR site — scroll down to the excerpt titled “George”], sort of blew my mind. He’s right about one thing: it can’t hurt at all to at least stop and think about the issue — probably often.
At Delta Spirit’s MySpace page you linked to, I loved the characterization of Mary Travers singing “If I Had a Hammer”: “Mary sang as if her knees were on fire and her mouth was brimming with more ire laced with optimism than she knew what to do with.” (Also loved learning there of a performance venue in Philadelphia called “Kung Fu Necktie.”) Delta Spirit’s own music is pretty kickin’ too!
Jill, amen to your kick #1. I think I sort of squeezed through the door here ahead of you; to say there’s no place quite like 7-Imp seriously understates the concept of uniqueness. (And I also want to second jama’s mention of the Crazy 2009 Retrospective post: wonderful!)
Cracking up at Jill’s tech-support video.
Steven: Any week with Tolkien/Jackson’s trilogy and E.B. White’s essays is a week well worth shouting about. And I’m looking forward to the next interview, too!
Some kicks from this quarter:
* Avatar, in 3D, at an IMAX theater. Holy COW. Part of me is really annoyed, because I so wanted James Cameron to fall on his I’m-king-of-the-world face. But it’s a real tiny part now. Overwhelming, really. Loved every second of it.
* New Year’s Day also happens to be The Missus’s birthday. (Which — conveniently for her — ensures that it’s the one birthday whose celebration we never postpone.) This year’s Day festivity was over at The Stepdaughter’s place, with all the traditional black-eyed peas, collard greens, conrbread, red velvet cake, etc., that anyone could possibly want. Oh, and presents (vicarious kick).
* We’ve got a Christmas tradition we started years ago, based on an old German tradition, of hiding a pickle-shaped ornament whose finder then wins an extra gift. The gift — because we don’t know in advance who will win it, what age or gender — is always a group board- or card-based game. This year The Stepdaughter won (for the first time, we think), and on Friday we also played this year’s game, Loaded Questions: a lot of fun for people who know one another well.
* Got a belated Christmas gift from the younger of my two sisters: a 400+-piece jigsaw puzzle. Yawn, right? Er, no. The picture is from a USGS street map of our hometown, centered on the house address itself. (She got one each for Mom and the four of us “kids,” including herself.) VERY cool!
* Worked two days this week. Not a kick per se. But it was at the request of *counting* my boss’s boss’s boss’s aide, and while it was a difficult, crowded two days, it also felt like a good accomplishment (although all my accomplishments tend to be big fish in a small pond, heh).
* Blue moon on New Year’s Eve — whoo-hoo! — even if it’s not really all that rare an occurrence.
* Emily Dickinson.
Have a great week, everybody!
[…] is why the 7-Imp post today is so cool, because it’s all about the artwork of Marta Pelrine-Bacon — RAMH’s […]
I’m baaack. My kicks:
1. General Santos City. This is my mother’s hometown and I just spent two weeks there with my family and relatives for the holidays. It’s more countryside than city. Which leads me to…
2. Our clan’s farm, where we grow fruits like pineapples, coconuts, and mangoes and raise animals like chickens, turkeys, goats, and cows.
3. My grandmother.
4. Going out dancing with my cousins on Christmas Day.
4.5 Any time with my cousins, actually.
5. Hiking to see seven waterfalls in the province next to General Santos City. Then zip lining over the waterfalls!!!!!!!
6. All those roast suckling pigs we ate over the holidays. Oh how I loved the crispy and salty skin of roast suckling pigs! *swoons*
7. Getting time with ALL my brothers.
Happy New Year, everyone!!!
Marta Pelrine-Bacon: Thank you for sharing your work with us. I love crescent moons. I like the embedded text idea, with the provided password to “unlock” and read it in full.
Hi everyone! (That includes the lurking Eisha!) I hope you enjoyed the holidays. May you look back on last year fondly, and may you be looking forward to all of the promise and hope of the new year.
Jules: So glad that you got to see Eisha. Welcome back to vegetarianism. Glad that your girls got an artistic outlet and you had some nice time.
Jill: I hope that additional good things come your way. I am glad that you have a support system, friends that helped you out when you needed it. I’m sending you good thoughts. Hi to Bob. Enjoy the simple things.
Kiba: You are going to ROCK that audition! I can’t wait to hear all about it. I wish you the very best of luck. I know that, as I am typing this, you are probably in the lobby/waiting area of the theatre. Be confident, and show them what you can do. Yay for friends literally helping you heal, and for the memories (and pretty hair) captured in those photographs. I’m so glad that your family got to visit.
Jama: My fingers are crossed for you, for the pending publication in that magazine. Good luck! Keep us posted!
Jone: Glad that you had fun with the fam. Good luck with the photo submissions.
Adrienne: Breaks are wonderful. I’m glad that you had a nice, long break. Enjoy the indoors and the rest. Mmm, cocoa. Hi to your dad. You sound very comfy and happy, and that makes me happy.
Steven: Yay for the kitchen set and family time! That’s wonderful.
JES: Emily Dickinson is one of my favorite poets. Have fun putting that puzzle together. Hurrah for accomplishments. Happy belated birthday to your wife!
Tarie: Welcome back! It sounds like you had an absolutely wonderful time with your relatives. Yay for it all. (Except for the pigs, admittedly…I want to save the pigs…)
There was an unexpected loss in my world this week. The shock and the sadness which followed, which spread to everyone he knew, was timed with sudden rain: the skies cried with us. Knowing that person, though, and knowing how many lives he touched in the short time he was here – though that knowledge won’t bring him back as I wish it would, I hope it provides some comfort, in some way, to his family and friends.
My kicks for the past week:
1) Photographic evidence
2) “Apples” and sea otters
3) Booked a spec commercial
4) Prepping for another audition
5) Sunshine after the rain
6) Feeling accomplished
7) Looking ahead
John, wow. Some random Emily Dickinson is always good.
JSF’s point about vegetarianism that included the story of his dog, George, was actually the least convincing argument for me (my point being that’s how compelling I found the rest of the book), but I did enjoy the story nonetheless. And, yeah, his goal is to simply get a conversation started about factory farming in this country. I love how much thought he put into it, based merely on impending fatherhood. That’s dedication right there.
Interesting you mentioned MacDonald. We were recently reading The Princess and the Goblin with our girls, as well as The Light Princess.
I love a great board game, and I’ve not heard of Loaded Questions. Sounds very fun. And what a great puzzle you got…Happy birthday to your wife!
Tarie, your time with your family sounds great. So glad you got to see your mother, whom I know you adore. How are your brothers? Still travelling and kickin’ (literally and metaphorically)?
Little Willow, whom I passed in cyberspace, so sorry to hear about your friend. Wish I could give you a real, non-cyber hug.
Break a leg at the audition, as always…
p.s. Tigers are so NOT in.
[…] before I go, a big thanks to 7 Impossible Things for featuring my art. Means a great to me. Jules features so much amazing art, I feel there has […]
I have such a weak spot for art that incorporates words, and Marta’s work is flat-out fun and beautiful and inspiring. Maybe I’ll mail my neglected and tear-stained rough drafts to her for some loving.
You know one of my kicks—getting an unexpected Cybils shortlist nod for Operation Yes. But it was equally thrilling to see friends’ names on other shortlists AND to see the poetry list, which as a judge, I have the joy of reading, discussing, and wallowing in with the most amazing panel of poetry lovers. Can’t wait to get started!
Also, can I add: my family, my family, my family. And your #7 kick up there. Thank you for sharing that. xoxoxo
Oh, Little Willow, I am sorry to hear about your friend, but I am glad to hear about sunshine after rain.
Sara, congrats again! And I agree that it’s so fun to see all those lists.
Your family has been in my thoughts a lot over these holidays.
Adrienne, Jules: Thank you.
Jules: Oh, but they ARE.
I wish I had the ability to make gorgeous art out of anything, but being a complete sucker for art that incorporates words, I am kinda panting over the artwork you posted!
Thanks all for the wishes of luck and broken legs! I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Kelly, isn’t it great, though at first I read “painting over” and was confused. Hee.
Kimberly, do keep us updated.
Little Willow, I am sorry for your loss. :o( *HUG*
Jules, in General Santos City, my brothers did taekwondo demonstrations for the local government. Now they want to rest. Hehehe. It’s back to their “day jobs” for now. More competitions are in store later on in the year. I will definitely keep everyone updated!
Jules–I used to be vegetarian, and requested Eating Animals from the library. I can eat a non-meat diet most of the time, but need a shot of red meat every now and again for the iron– I’ve got low iron, and no supplements have ever worked. I love the Jam Fairy! I’m glad you were blessed with peach fondue jam.
Little Willow: I am so sorry about the sudden loss of your friend.
I’ve missed everyone, while at the same time I’ve enjoyed the internet break. I feel as if I’m blinking in strong sunlight. Here are my kicks:
1. My short story is now published on EnchantedConversation.org.
2. Santa Fe at Christmas was beautiful.
3. I got to see a movie in the theatre. It was Avatar in 3-D (and like Adrienne, I did not get motionsick), and it was pretty.
4. Speaking of screen-time, I’m addicted to 30 Rock on DVD. Some people sip liqueur to relax, I partake of 20 minute episodes.
5. My daughter returns to school tomorrow.
6. I’m really glad to be alive. I am in no hurry to leave.
7. I created a new felt sheep pattern.
Love Marta’s work!!
I am a little stunned by the kids going back to school today. It felt like the holidays would go on forever…
Happy New Year to all!
The new year always brings us what we want
Simply by bringing us along-to see
A calendar with every day uncrossed,
A field of snow without a single footprint.
–DANA GIOIA
Farida: Beautiful story (at Enchanted Conversations) about the dangers of story-telling!
Little Willow: So sorry to hear about the recent loss in your world. Lighting a psychic candle for your friend here.
Tarie, good to hear from you — you’ve been gone a couple weeks, haven’t you?
Sara, thanks for the reminder (I’m sure you didn’t mean it this way!) of the value of revision, and getting it done for real before declaring it’s done. When I read your poetry I have a hard time imagining it as the product of many tear-stained drafts. But that’s a marker gene, if there is one, of a real writer!
Tarie, please do!
Farida, can’t wait to read your story! Liz Lemon is my hero. Glad you all had a good time in Santa Fe.
Hi, Tabatha. My school-going daughter actually starts back tomorrow. Wonky timing, huh?
John, I second the compliment on Sara’s poetry.
p.s. Farida, let me know what you think of the book. I probably should have added that it was never HARD for me to become a vegetarian. There are a lot of meats I just don’t like.
Thank you, JES! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
I found your site through School Library Journal, and now have discovered a wonderful artist, as well! Thank you!!!
Thank you, Tarie, Farida, and JES.
Welcome, Jo!
Welcome from me, too, Jo!
[…] Art, Blogs, Books, Web, Writers on January 5, 2010 by rreagler This week I “met” Marta Pelrine-Bacon on a blog that I read regularly called Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. I’m totally […]
[…] and in Art City Austin. Her work has appeared in Onomatopoeia Magazine and been featured over at 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast. NPR’s series “In Character” selected a short piece on her love of Dorothy Gale and a fairy […]