My Cardboard Balcony

Best way to put down introspection this week is through ups and downs. Ready go! Ups: I'll be seeing my girlfriend the weekend after Thanksgiving; she also landed a role in a show at her university. My sister is busy rehearsing for a musical adaptation of A Christmas Carol, and I've begun work on a TV pilot. I'm planning to restart my graphic novel script in the next few days, I've composed a pretty little song I'm quite proud of, and I'm all around satisfied. Yay! Downs: I'm fighting a cold. Girlfriend isn't going to be here for a while still. Worst part? ReARTED Zine is shutting down. Meaning my novella isn't getting published after all. Just...boo. I'm definitely disappointed. I thought this could really be an opportunity to get a piece of work sent out to a magazine that was actually willing to publish it. And now, considering the hostility publishers show toward novellas...my work is back on the shelf for now. It really is a major ...

A List of Tips for Little Tykes Who Don't Know Anything About the Freaking World At All by Belinda Roddie - No matter what, you will always stub your toe. - Don't trust someone who says, "One more time." Chances are, he'll ask you to do it again. - It's good to be annoyingly literal and bug someone about saying, "Never say never." - Always press MUTE on car commercials. - "A little learning is a dangerous thing" (Not that there's anything wrong with that). - Electricity plus water equals bad! - Friday is always the longest day of the week. - Whining will get you what you want...including a slap in the face. - Don't ever, ever get caught in the midst of a governor recall. - If you play with matches, you will burn your house down. - Don't talk to strangers and you'll be isolated for the rest of your life. - Bored? Read War and Peace. Now stop complaining! - You will get killed by an angry mob of kids if you hat...

In the downpour of November streams and autumn leaves dank with moss and fog, I held an umbrella out to the young woman standing by the bus stop, dressed in a long red coat and tall red heels. She didn't turn to look at me or acknowledge my gesture, but she huddled beneath that fragile cover like a spider beneath its dark web, waiting for the sun to come back out.