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.

Butterscotch Schnapps by Belinda Roddie Butterscotch schnapps and golden memory befit this table of mahogany, as amber flows from glass to lips to glass and swirls in frozen colors. And the crisp sensation of a kiss upon your tongue makes you wish that the night's only begun instead of ending quickly as the walls pulsate with heated laughter and delight. Then you rise from your chair, lopsided grin, and press your lips against your lover's chin and nose to feel the warmth of the embrace. Thank God goodbyes are just temporary. You taste the sweet butterscotch memory as you and your lover depart the scene.

What Billy served Jacob was a combination of meatloaf, egg, onion, and plenty of ketchup and sauce. His Texas-style meatloaf hash, he called it. Jacob chewed slowly, grinning, savoring the high-packed salty flavor of the meat crumbs and the red pepper sprinkled throughout. "It's damn good," he told the stubble-faced, cowboy-esque man in front of him. "I made it just for you."

Red Dye by Belinda Roddie   You took red dye and you took your golden hair and made rubies not as sparkly, but still polished hue so simple light as sunrise on blue-spun sky Ruby and gold together makes you beautiful always forever

To be profound, you must not try to be profound. Don't use big words. Don't try to speak in meter or in long phrases. That was Shakespeare's job. That's eloquence. Eloquence is the petals of the rose, fragile, pretty, and usually withering rather quickly. Profundity is the bud when it's closed off - modest, humble, but capable of withstanding an entire hurricane of denial.