show me yours, i'll show you mine

somewhere in a parallel universe, social media, particularly facebook, is a happy place where we reconnect with those we knew well, distant family....you get it...but in the real social media world everyone is a political expert, poised and ready for their fifteen minutes...and it evolves, or disintegrates (you choose) from there....i try to be tolerant, even read along...but it is hard...sometimes i shake my head and  admit that i learned all i needed to know about politics when i ran for student goverment in high school...i lost, but found out after that all the winners were alphabetically first on the ballot....i was an "L"...i never really needed to put up a poster...third on the ballot, third in results...if you think we as a nation are more evolved...well, it is a fact that weather is a large determining factor in turnout and votes...sad to think that my four grandparents left the anti-semitic cesspool that was eastern europe in the early 20th century for rights that we leave to the rain...i'll tell you what...you can put your opinions on facebook, or twitter, or whatever...as long as you realize they are just that...your opinions...and they may be so polar opposite mine that your skin crawls...just don't leave enough space for me to read between the lines and see intolerance, and hatred...then i just will have to hit delete...and if you really love the american dream...then walk the walk...in november, and every november...help someone get to the poll and take part in the dream...just don't pull the lever for them...

prose and cons

i am back from the southampton writers conference..kind of like summer camp for writers...first...i was a wreck heading out there...this was definitely a push out of my comfort zone...both physically and mentally...physically: living in a dorm if you were born let's say before '85...not so much fun...four months since my left-knee arthroscopy...three months after schlepping morning, noon and night when we moved...and there i was schlepping again...clothes, bedding, enough crap for a month to the dorm room...and white cinder block walls, the drone of the a/c and an industrial mattress do not a good nights sleep make...the communal bathrooms...do i have to say anything?...my personal favorite moment was when the lights went out in the bathroom while i was in the real luxurious shower stall...daisy shaver in hand, of course...realizing that deciding to do this at 3 in the afternoon, none of my suitemates in a screaming distance, was not the smartest move...luckily this lasted about one minute...no tv...i know, i know...i was there to write...but fuck, i was a tv major in college...i need a dose at least once a day....mentally: reading your work, allowing the criticism of peers...then rethinking the wheel and starting again...once my stomach stopped flip-flopping as i read and listened it was kind of freeing...my "classmates"...let's just say there are a lot of talented writers out there...but this wonderful group...these poets left it all on the page and then some...mary karr, our "teacher"...the original badass...the high-five from her after reading my revision that last day...pretty good...dining under tents in the southampton sun...people from all walks of life, from all around the globe, all born with a pen in hand, a need to create...and then enjoying the local scene...playing hookey at cooper beach...saturday night drinks at a semi-dive bar that looked like it doubled for the bar in "perfect storm"... the local bar flies trying to buy a round for me and my friend...then feeling the need to comment on our "breasts" on the way out...we laughed, but probably both took that writers' mental note...great line...and great time

The Write Stuff

an interesting conversation sprouted at my last writers' group meeting...we were discussing a piece someone wrote...a very pungent essay that talked about the virtues of princesses versus queens...first in fairy tales via disney...and in media...you know the drill...princesses admired for their beauty, and subservience...queens portrayed as horrible bitches mostly for any hint at assertiveness or power...and we talked about the old catch-22...what happens in society when princesses grow up...then, being a writers' group, we moved on to talk about women writers...and the way women conceal identity to reach a bigger audience (j.k. rowling, anyone?)...and i started to get depressed...and i get more depressed since i know a lot of women out there will tell me to look at e.l. james and the incredible success of "fifty shades of grey"..(please note the e.l.)...and then i have to watch local news shows cashing in on the pseudo-erotica cash cow that is "fifty shades"...segments featuring women's book clubs gushing over the trilogy...because it's never been done, you know...to which i say...erica jong anyone?.."fear of flying" was clever erotica for an evolving, savvy group of women...encouraging women to go for what they wanted...you know...queens...not giggling princesses...