This Lady:

Kelly Oxford. My my my.

Did I mention she’s bangin’?

She’s got a lot to say and has been saying it for years and encourages others to say say say. I appreciate that. I appreciate her twitter feed, blog, etc. But mostly, today, I’ve discovered that I appreciate her drive. Read this.

Here’s a quote to get you started:

“Write.
Write and write and fucking write and when you think you’re done and you hate everything you are writing you are almost halfway there. You’d better enjoy writing a LOT because that’s all you are going to be doing for the rest of your days if you want to make a living at it.
24/7… it’s writing. 
It’s that Sunday night before a Monday when your book report is due and you haven’t begun your opening paragraph—-Every. Single. Day.”

Thank You. Ok?

We have failed you, dear readers. I promised we would return to our regular postings, but we haven’t, and that makes me a gross liar. We have been busy bees this fall. School, new jobs, and puppies have filled our time. Sometimes, all I want to do is cuddle and play with this babybabe, Geoff, all day long:

Show me one person who doesn't think this is the cutest pup ever, and I'll show you a liar.

NEW CHICKLITZ BLOG COMING SOON

Keep a lookout! We should be up and running by the end of August.

PEACE AND BLESSINS

^THIS^

moving, renovation: relevant (perhaps always)

so, here’s the low down.

Things are happening right now, important things, hard things, big things, things that tire us like the wailing of sirens in the morning. Moving is a theme of our lives right now and that’s making blogging a difficult task for us. I am speaking for all the girls here, but I think they’d agree if I said, we’ve sorta hung a sign on this virtual door saying, “Be back shortly” in loopy red writing.

Don’t get me wrong, we’re here, physically. Ask us things, take us out to coffee, tell us you love us so much. But, seeing as the website is currently under construction, we’ve kinda begun to get our own personal lives in order before getting back into the swing of this here thing. [I’ve mentioned this but we’ve got this cool web designer guy going to town on the site right now. He’s like magic or a man in an orange protective helmet].

Here is a short list of what’s been going on with the Chickz:

*Abby Hines became Abby Grindle and the other five of us dressed in our wedding finery and went out to support the blushing bride.

*Lindsey has found her various game systems: Nintendo, GameCube, Sega, etc and is currently attempting to rule the world of gaming.

*Lindsey and Lora moved into the house, they are sharing the apartment below Ashley and myself (along with Mr. McNelly). Layne has yet to move but will be around August. (She’s just ‘cross town from us other gals). And, Abs is around the block with her hubby.

our house.

*I have been diligently working and searching for more work. I just secured a second job at Tradehome Shoes in the mall (Sean Lovelace, come see me and I’ll sell you some nice hiking boots and running shoes)!

*Ashley Ford has been working on decorating her new bedroom. It looks stunning thus far. She also works two big-girl jobs!

*Lastly, Lindsey, Lora and myself are trying hard to acquaint the three cats in our lives: Sampson, Pol Pot, and Ghenghiss Khat. So, needless to say, a lot of hissing and cat drama.

Dear readers, the darling few of you who have kept with us during this time of slow reading, we sincerely promise to bring you a spankin’ new website with new and stellar material soon.

We love you guys.

a) sorry I’m late. b) in lieu of an actual post.

Someone please tell me where in Indianapolis I can hold a baby deer in the palm of my hand before I die.

Oh, Last Night. Oh, My Heart.

Handsome is one of my besties. He was at VGR in spirit.

– Last night was (obvs) the CHICKLITZ reading at Village Green Records, and my goodness, so many people we love came to support us, and wow, that was just lovely. Having Jill Christman (the spirit animal of CHICKLITZ) introduce us, and love us, and be there was amazing. Moms, sisters, fiancées, friends, professors, and heart-dwellers all shhowed up to stand in our corners! We performed separately, we performed together, we had others perform our pieces (Spencer McNelly is EVERYTHING) and we did it all nervously, but with so much love for everyone else in the room.

That chapbook was beautiful, the girls were gorgeous, and the crowd was full of eye-swelling faces, making me feel some kind of way, you know? There will be pictures soon. I just don’t have any. I brought my camera then got too excited to document much.

– I got my very first rejection yesterday. Yep, right before the reading. I didn’t say anything to the girls because it somehow didn’t seem relevant until now. I didn’t get upset about the rejection. They said they liked my writing, but this story didn’t really work for them. It was a personal rejection. That made me feel better. The best part? I didn’t die like I’d somehow convinced myself I would if I ever received a rejection. Either I’m gaining some confidence in my writing or–wait, no–that’s exactly what it is. I know I’m a good writer. I’ll find a new home for that story.

-Last night I dreamt I found out I was related to Oprah. Like CLOSE related. She was my aunt, or birthmother, or something. She came to hang out with me in Fort Wayne. I took her to Hyde Brothers book store. We browsed for hours, sometimes running to different ends of the store to find one another and read some passage in a book that made our bellies drop to our knees. If she was really impressed, she’d hold the book above her head and yell, “BOOK CLUUUUB!” The smile on her face would be wide and real, and I would not be embarrassed. Not even a little. My birthmother/aunt/muse/fellow-book-lover was giving me something like purpose and I just want to make her smile again. Off in search of the next scalp-blowing passage.

READINGS READINGS GALORE! WOMEN! MERMAIDS! C-C-C-CHAPBOOKS!

Layne mentioned THE GUERILLA READING that we did last Saturday, and we’ve got video for that.
Big thanks to Tyler Gobble (STOKED PRESS) for getting us all together, and for uploading the videos. I’m going to put a couple here to wet your w-whistles, but if you mosey on over to Gobble’s youtube channel, you’ll find them all. The entire reading. It’s almost like you were there. I mean Wowzers, go technology.

This here’s one of my favorites. Layne reads “Charlie Sheen Makes A Milkshake,” and we all get rowdy. Also she reads “Nasty,” that song by Janet Jackson and well, that’s just fun.

We read outside Lafollete, just in that parking lot. No one came that didn’t read, really. A few cars honked and some pedestrians stared, but mostly it was just us. That was nice. Read: (raucously supportive) or, (sweet enthusiasm babies).
Having the camera made it something special, because we knew we’d be sharing it with you. And, not to get mushy or anything [VOM], but: you matter. We’ve always written for ourselves. Now, we write for you, too. That being said, sorry if we get a bit lewd. Keep in mind, it was a Saturday night. We’re young and frisky, can’t be helped.

Like I said, the whole reading is available online. Some poems are chopped in half and sometimes the camera is wiggly, but that’s part of the charm. Go see, tell us what you think.

ALSO, IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
The Chicklitz reading is tomorrow.


We picked up the Chapbooks from the printer today and they’re great. They’re in the backseat of ma car, and I’m proud like a daddy. Here’s Elysia posin’ with one, lookin’ gorge. You can get ’em at the reading for $3. We only printed 50, so get your scurry on.
We are excited (understatement). Hope to seeee yooou theeere.

Ps, sorry I haven’t posted in awhile. It’s not you it’s me. (I missed being here)

Emily Dickinson Gets Drunk

(aka: unrelated post title…sorta)

Some things about living.

Last night, I was explaining to Lindsey that I want people to look at me and think to themselves, wow, she looks exciting! I am always wondering how people can look exciting…I mean, I have tattoos. I kiss my lady in public. But, what else is there? Sometimes, I think that I am moving too fast for people to even see me, let alone formulate an opinion about me.

I used to cross my arms hard over my chest. My  mother told me she never worried about me being kid-napped, I looked so tough. Now, I still do that thing… that thing where I intimidate people by staring too long. Where I move so quickly, no one can see me. I’d like to call it a compulsion: the itch to constantly move. I’d like to say it’s ADHD. But, I’ve never been tested. I don’t take any prescriptions. I thought the other day how people just want to sit still with me for a few minutes. But, those minutes feel like hours. My brain strains and screams, you’re wasting time!!!

VIVA LAS VEGAS

This is where I’ll be tonight:

This Weekend was Woo.

That's how I felt after the reading. Booyah it was rad.

As Layne has already mentioned, this weekend went smashingly. It was wonderful to get down to  Alabama in some warm weather and share the experience of reading with students from all over. Being a young’un, I especially enjoyed the chance to interact with college seniors, those planning to get an MFA and those making other graduate decisions. Also, I learned a lot about getting a job as a professor, which I thought was pretty complicated and fascinating. Matt (Mullins) spoke about his hiring process and both he and Sean (Lovelace) described their post-graduate careers.