i can't really sing, so

Dear Post Office, I mail a lot of things. I mail copies of Gigantic Sequins out personally to our subscriber base, contributors, and the other editors around the country. I mail packages to friends. I mail my bills in sometimes instead of paying electronically. I am getting married in June, and I have been sending things through the mail and will be sending more things through the mail regarding my impending marriage. I wait in long post office lines joyously. That is not an understatement. I happily wait, always prepared with a book or music or something to occupy my time while I wait. When I worked at Strand Books, one of my favorite errands that my managers would send me on was to wait in line for them at the post office. Sometimes, I don't wait joyously. Sometimes, I am annoyed like everyone else in line, but usually this is because I am already annoyed that day, not because of you, post office. I love getting mail. I do a recurring blogpost called " Exciting Thing...

The holidays mean spending time like money depending on whether or not you like to spend money, but then it's January and you are recovering from all of this time AND money spent, so you are a hermit, mostly. I unhermitted last Saturday to see Eileen Myles & CAConrad read for the Chapter & Verse series and even though the room was small and packed and first too cold and then too warm the reading was excellent and I was glad every second I was there. It wasn't like when I go to see a movie, and I like the movie, but I want it to be over so that I can tell everyone how much I liked it. It was the opposite. It was warm, and there was a reading, and I was listening and grateful, and I wasn't sure that I'd be able to tell everyone how much I was liking it in any real way, so the inverse of that would be just wanting it not to end, except I had to pee, so I knew it had to end or it was going to end with me peeing myself. I just ordered Eileen's Book from Wave...

Feast your eyes on the GS 4.1 cover! We are so psyched to go to print! Pre-order now !

I accomplished my goal, and I amped it up for 2013 :: I am going to go for 75 books. I didn't read as much as I wanted to in December because it was a crazy month (holidays, grades due, getting together Gigantic Sequins 4.1, etc.), but I did get a Kindle for Christmas. Using it has changed my reading experience slightly-- I don't have to worry about packing multiple books when I am about to finish one, for one. For two, I can download my bookclub books and begin reading them ASAP rather than waiting for them to come in the mail. And finally, a lot of classic lit past its copyright is available for free. The day I got the e-reader, I downloaded The Complete Sherlock Holmes, and that's what I've basically been reading since Christmas! Mission:  to read 52 books in 2012 Books Read in 2012 thus far : 59 # of Books Read, November:  2 MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Notes on Books Read: 58)  How Not ...

I am a bit "late" on this post. My December has been quite busy. Onwards... Mission:  to read 52 books in 2012 Books Read in 2012 thus far : 57 # of Books Read, November:  4 MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Notes on Books Read: 54)  Sherwood Forest by Camille Roy This was a strange, very sexual, book of poetry that I felt picked up speed towards its second half. Roy puts her more "obvious" poems towards the front of the collection, though I would be amiss to say that any of them are truly obvious. They are all there for a reader to unravel. My favorite poems were "Lucky Fortune is Good", "Princess & Salt: A Ballad", and "Artifact". In my unique, personal way of "ranking" books, it received a plus sign and an ellipses.  55)  NW  by Zadie Smith It's no secret Zadie Smith is my favorite. This being said, I wanted to like this book more than I did, but I sti...

I made a pretty bangin' sangria for Thanksgiving, and I wanted to share the recipe I threw together with anyone who may stumble across it. I started with this recipe as a base, and then put a "thanksgiving" spin on it. First of all, I double it. It was a Southwick Family Thanksgiving, after all. Secondly, though the "Cranberry" aspect of it made it Thanksgiving-y, I added another few twists there. And finally, instead of bourbon, I used a local Art in the Age liquor, Snap . I got compliments on the clove/nutmeg flavor that was subtle, but also helped the sangria combine to be "not too sweet"-- cutting back on the sugar, I think, also helped. If I would have truly doubled the recipe, there would have been 2 total cups of sugar, but instead I used 1 cup and a half cup of brown sugar. My aunts that love something sweet and tasty enjoyed this, as did my male cousins, who perhaps would normally think of sangria as a drink "too girly" for them. ...

Something that has happened in the past: writers who have recommended books have told me that they did not necessarily want me to, after I had already done it, tell the world via my blog (HELLO WORLD!) that they had recommended certain books to me. However, I really can't help myself. So my apologies now and to the future to anyone who gives/lends/recommends a book to me that I "call" them on recommending. When you recommend something, it isn't always because it's your favorite book-- often it's more because you feel that a certain book fits a certain person, is something someone who is a writer/reader/_________ should read, or is something that you want to have a conversation about with someone else whose opinion on books you value. I think this is an important thing to consider when people give/lend/recommend books to you and also when someone asks you for a recommendation! I personally love giving them. Mission:  to read 52 books in 2012 St...