My Cardboard Balcony

Back to work after a two week break. It was great to see my girlfriend to celebrate the New Year. I just spent a week testing my girls on their reading, and all of them, at least slightly, have improved. Which is good news. Lots of interesting stuff coming up. I may be talking on a panel for my coworkers in a safe space session. Maybe bring up LGBT stuff so I'm pretty open (obviously) about my sexuality. Performing in a talent show - on my dad's birthday, no less. It's mandatory (funnily enough), but it should still be fun. ...Yeah, I'm not being very poignant tonight. That's what happens when I return to work. Back into a routine. Back into teaching. Back into learning. I missed deadlines to enroll in graduate school, but I'm going to start researching for potentially getting a master's in the fall of 2014. That, or a teaching credential. Or both. Wish me luck. Writer's Quotation of the Night: There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortuna...

Sober Thoughts by Belinda Roddie I’m going outside when the carnival’s over That merry-go-round of everyday life Each creature and beast not quite the same But it spins in a circle every day I’m going to the place where the moon is still sober No wine from the flesh to satisfy   I wait until I can ride the tornado Like the wispy gray back of a wild mustang As it screams its demise, I cannot tear my eyes From the hollow wood whose haven is mine It takes me to the place where the moon is still able To see clearly enough for it to be sane   And so when the fool’s wits are recovered I drink a wine sweeter than the blood of the savior Whoever it is who made the sacrifice Whether to save us or just to be nice I drink to the moon and my thoughts are uncovered In the saving wine’s rich and blessed flavor   A feeling of peace pervades the midnight hour When I leave the storm and dismount from my saddle Into a...

"Don't cry." Can't stop, can't stop. "Don't cry." Can't stop, can't stop. Clinging on wood, chair cushion soaking saliva. No. Can't stop crying as you coil around me. Scaled snake attempting to comfort me. Forked tongue slipping across my cheek. Hot water. Tea steeped. Brewed. Brewed. Served lukewarm.