Merry-Go-Round

Griffith Park Carousel, Los Angeles, California



I will always be a kid at heart... I just love riding on a Carousel.

Labels: Carousel, Griffith Park, Los Angeles, Merry-Go-Round

  posted by Matildakay at 7:43 AM 0 comments

Women on the edge, writing from the edge


On one of my weekly treks to the Noveltown postal hub where big puffy packages arrive full of books, I opened Women on the Edge Writing from Los Angeles, edited by Samantha Dunn and Julianne Ortale. Dunn sent the book of short stories for N.L. Belardes of Noveltown to read and review. Good thing he never got the chance.

The title, Women on the Edge, and the Andy Warhol-style pop art faces of the women authors on the book cover called out to me as if they knew what I needed to know: revelations in writing and life from women writers.

I discovered compelling literary stories from women who have experienced hard lives, emotional times, strange events, unexpected turns and twists, and women who were unafraid to face obstacles. After reading such haunting stories I can easily say Belardes is not getting this book back.



Janet Fitch, author of White Oleander, wrote the foreword for Women on the Edge.

I pondered one of her quotes:

“Out here on the perimeter, there are no stars. Out here we is stoned, immaculate.”~The Doors, from L.A. Woman

Not a huge Doors fan, I wondered how a rock music quote could encapsulate women on the edge, writing from the edge. With each story I read, the subtle nuances, the profound moments, the hard emotions, and Fitch’s words in the foreword about these stories and women authors echoed true. Women on the Edge stories were about women at varying stages of life experiencing the beauty of life at its messiest.

I found myself living through the characters as if their experiences were my own. I understood Mrs. Poovey’s need to feel useful and needed again in Julianne Ortale’s Milk, and Debbie’s ostracization as a school girl in Aimee Bender’s Debbieland, or having to put a grandmother away in a home in Dylan Landis’ Rose, or wanting to know if love is somewhere in your future in Liz Gonzalez’s Destiny, and dealing with the loss of a loved one in Jody Hauber’s Between the Dog and the Wolf. These were stories from the heart about women whom I felt I was or had been at some point in my life.



The characters haunted me. So did the writing. I was just as enthralled with the language, beautiful prose and fine sentences expertly disguised within the hard, dark and emotional circumstances of each story.

In the end, I realize the beauty of Women on the Edge is the stories within tell a tale of what it is to be a woman. And that story links the contributing women authors and characters to women everywhere out on the edge, which is life.


Samantha Dunn - Photo by: Lupe Fernandez

You will want to read these stories!

Women on the Edge Writing from Los Angeles
Authors/Stories:
Karen Horn, Levinium 241
Julianne Ortale, Milk
Erin Julia McGuire, Crowfeathers
Aimee Bender, Debbieland
Samantha Dunn, Going Green
Lindsay Fitzgerald, Hunger
Dylan Landis, Rose
Lisa Teasley, Magda in Rosarito, Beached
Lisa Glatt, Ludlow
Abby Mims, Me and Mr. Jones
Michelle Latiolais, Boys
Rachel Resnick, Meat-Eaters of Marrakesh
Liz Gonzalez, Destiny
Anita Santiago, Flying Blind
Carol Muske-Dukes, Contraband
Rochelle Low, Where Angels Tread
Jody Hauber, Between the Dog and the Wolf
Mary Rakow, The Memory Room

Recently, I had the opportunity to talk with Samantha Dunn about Women on the Edge Writing from Los Angeles and how this wonderful collection of short stories came together.

(Read the full blog and the interview with Samantha Dunn on Noveltown's blog Papaerback Writer.)

Labels: literary fiction, Los Angeles, Noveltown, Samantha Dunn, short stories, The Doors, women on the edge, Women on the Edge Writing from Los Angeles, women's fiction, Writing, writing from the edge

  posted by Matildakay at 7:32 PM 1 comments

Rich Ferguson's 'With This Kiss'
With this kiss there are revelations tattooed upon our lips; revelations more easily read on account of this silent pact with recognition where I'm beginning to see that we are slowly becoming healed... ~Rich Ferguson

Los Angeles Spoken Word Poet Rich Ferguson has a new music video for his spoken word poem With This Kiss...



With This Kiss is one of my favorite's from Rich's spoken word album Where I Come From. (Buy your copy here)

I lose myself inside Rich's lyrical prose and discover unspoken nuances of my personality every time I listen to Where I Come From. Even physical therapy and my relationship with my deformed knees was illuminated through Rich's spoken word poem Bones.

Where I Come From makes you think, makes you listen...

Rich Ferguson's spoken word is not boring poetry. N.L. described it as: "a spoken word masterpiece that blasts at you like a Robbie Robertson/Velvet Underground counterculture shotgun ripped from the hip." (Read N.L.'s review of Where I Come From)

Dive into Rich Ferguson's spoken word... it might just affect your life the way it did mine.

Labels: Bakersfield, Kiss, Los Angeles, N.L. Belardes, Poetry, Rich Ferguson, Spoken Word

  posted by Matildakay at 10:05 PM 0 comments

How to buy Police tickets from work
Last week Police tickets at Dodger Stadium went on sale at 10:00am on a weekday and I had the dilemma of figuring out how to buy Police tickets from work. My desk sits in an open area with no cubicle walls and my computer screen is visible to all who pass by. I also sit directly across from my boss’s office.

That morning I logged into ticketmaster.com found the Police dates and waited. I kept the Internet page minimized while working, checking it occasionally to see if the tickets were on sale yet.

Ten minutes to 10:00am I got my debit card out of my wallet, minimized the Internet page and continued working.

Five minutes to 10:00am I refreshed the Internet page. Tickets still not on sale. I minimized the Internet page and continued working.

Two minutes to 10:00am I refreshed the Internet page. Tickets still not on sale. I minimized the Internet page and continued working.

One minute to 10:00am I refreshed the Internet page. Tickets still not on sale. I minimized the Internet page and continued working.

10:00am! I refreshed the Internet page. Tickets now on sale! Woo hoo! I put in the number of tickets I wanted, chose a price range and clicked on “look for tickets”.

A box popped up on the screen that said: “Your wait time is approximately 7 minutes. If you refresh or hit back you’ll lose your place in line.”

“Your wait time is approximately 5 minutes.”

“Your wait time is approximately 3 minutes.”

“Your wait time is approximately 7 minutes.”

What? It’s going back up!

Just then my boss got up from his desk and walked past my desk towards another co-worker’s office.

Shit!

I quickly minimized the Internet page and pretended to be working. After he passed, I maximized the Internet page again.

“Your wait time is approximately 5 minutes.”

“Your wait time is approximately 3 minutes.”

“Your wait time is approximately 1 minute.”

One minute left!

Just then my boss walked back around the corner passing by my desk.

Shit!

I quickly minimized the Internet page again and pretended to be working. Once he was back at his desk, I maximized the Internet page again.

“Your tickets have been located. Enter your credit card information in the next minute if you want to purchase.”

I quickly entered my credit card information.

Processing…

“Thank you for purchasing Police tickets. Your confirmation # is…”

Oh my God! I got Police tickets! I wanted to scream.

I couldn’t call my friends that I’d just bought Police tickets for because my boss would hear me telling them that I’d just bought Police tickets while at work!

I had to tell them I got Police tickets!

“I got Police tickets!” I sent in a text message.

“Oh my God! Police tickets!”

“Yeah. We’re going to see the Police.”

Labels: Bakersfield, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, Music, The Police, tickets

  posted by Matildakay at 12:35 AM 11 comments

Year of the Pig
Recently some friends and I were in Chinatown Los Angeles for the Chinese New Year's parade. We ate Chinese food, did a little shopping and enjoyed a wonderful day celebrating culture.





Dragons roamed the streets...





Angels and people danced in the streets...




This landed at my feet as firecrackers exploaded all around us.


Porky and Petunia Pig.

2007... the year of the Pig.

Labels: Bakersfield, Chinese New Year, Los Angeles, Parade, Pig

  posted by Matildakay at 10:17 PM 6 comments