The theme for this year at The Good District has been straight up inconsistency.  Both in DC, and on my blog, things are feeling a little neglected.  In fact, if I am being entirely honest, I no longer even live in The District.  I happily moved out to the suburbs this summer and haven't looked back.  

After one too many mouse visitors actively inspired my writing, as if my name was Walt Disney, it was time to head out.  While I still work in the District, and play in the District, I have come to love my drive out of the city to the land of big grocery stores and easy parking.  It is nothing short of amazing.

In the peace and quiet of suburban living, I have had a chance to watch entirely too much reality television, shop at the mall, and clean out my walk-in closets.  I believe this is called: The American Dream.  And in the spirit of capitalism, I am pursuing attempt number three of "Project Selling Stuff to my Readers."

Attempt Number One:  Heart Shaped Chocolate Chip Cookies on Day 20 of this blog.  If you need a reminder, click here.  If you all had only had a chance to taste test these bad boys, I would not be blogging right now, but considering going public on the foundation of my cookie empire. They were that good.  But alas, after being played like a fiddle by a scam artist who took me for my goodwill and a ton of free cookies, that chapter is closed, never to open again. (Well, maybe I am being dramatic.)

Attempt Number Two:  The Good District T-Shirt.  I still think it was a good idea.  But I can also admit that I am officially the only person rocking said t-shirt, which was created in the DC Snowpocalypse of 2009. When my children ask how I survived all that snow, I can say I poured all of my creative genius into a 100% cotton garment, and the mental stimulation kept me warm, kept me going.

And here we are at Attempt Number Three:  EBay.

It was inevitable right?  Ebay had to emerge at some point in this conversation.  What do cookie baking, t-shirt designing bloggers eventually break down and do?  Ebay of course.  The blogging and cookie baking were like gateway drugs to the almighty Ebay.  In fairness I did put two books up for sale on Ebay earlier this year, and sold one.  So I have a 50/50 average.  And those are the best online selling odds I have had in two years.  So I will take it!

The latest?  13 items of women's clothing, that I have cleaned out, and would like to send to a happy home.  I like to consider this little EBay venture like my very own Good District Pop-Up Shop.  Everything is listed at a starting bid of $1 - and currently someone is making out like a bandit, getting a couple of my favorite pieces at the starting price.  So, go check it out!  Support capitalism and the almighty Ebay.  

More to come in 2012.  Milagros

A few days ago, I posted a list of ten things that make me happy on my Facebook page.  After reviewing my grand masterpiece of simple happiness (the opinions of the author are always endorsed by the author), I realized that I had left "WRITING" off the list.  I would even venture to say it was a noticable absense, considering that I dane to dream of being a noted authoress one day.  Why I left it off the list, simply speaks to the fact that I do not push myself to spend enough time writing, because when I do, writing truly brings me joy.

On that note, I started digging through some of my old posts, and found a review I did, as "Curator of the Week" on the 'shewrites.com' writing community.  I liked my review, (again, the opinion of the author tends to always be supported by the author) but more importantly, I loved the blogs, and highly recommend you check them out.  In most cases, the authors are just like me, sporadic in their writing.  But I think you will enjoy, regardless of when they last posted.  Enjoy!

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In my effort to not be a writer’s cliché, my goal today was to complete this project before I procrastinate my way to Curator of Next Week, or Curator of the Week After Next.

I have been a member of She Writes for just over two months, and the opportunity to be Curator of the Week feels like one of my first major milestones as a member of the writing community.  But as my mama always said, to whom much has been given, much is expected.  So I hope my first online reviews to be read by a group of writers does the showcased bloggers some justice.

For the past few days, I have been toying with how to approach this project.  The long and impressive list of blogs definitely merited a strategy of attack.  First I thought about showcasing other new talent.  As a new writer myself, I wanted to support my fellow compadres.  Then I thought about reviewing other DC bloggers.  We girls in the 202 area code have to stick together.  But when push came to shove, I ended up picking three blogs that made me laugh, and I could relate to.  Simple enough.  I hope you will enjoy these blogs as much as I do, and they give you something to talk about over the water cooler.

To the bloggers featured below, I am now a fan of your work, and look forward to reading more!  Thank you to SheWrites for bringing this community of kindred women together.

Lorraine Duffy Merkl: Fat Chick The Novel

http://fatchickthenovel.blogspot.com/

Fat Chick.  Do I really need to say anything else?  What is there not to love about the context of this book turned blog?  Short, tall, young, or old, what American woman has not given some serious thought to her weight.  Too skinny, too big, too round, too flat, we are all pushed to be consumed with appearances. 

I have not yet read Merkl’s book, but if the blog is any indication, I know I will be laughing.  Simply put, it was like saying “Hello Friend.”  Her January 17^th post on persistence to publication was inspiring, edifying, and engaging. 

The content is not too heavy on the site, so you should be able to peruse this blog pretty easily.  Enjoy!

Whitney Henderson: Here I Am

http://whitneyhenderson.wordpress.com/

Once you take a look at these blogs, they will really speak for themselves, but to give you a little tease:

“Bed.  She loved bed.  “I salute you, sir,” she whispered to the unknown Inventor of Bed.”  Who hasn’t felt that way?  I know I felt that way this morning, and then I had to get up out from under the covers and face the day.  Although reading Henderson’s April 2^nd post, which included a preview of her upcoming book, Manitorium, made facing Monday a little easier.  I can appreciate Henderson’s sensibility, and look forward to reading more!

Zoe Zolbrod: The Next Youth Hostel

http://zoezolbrod.com/

Zolbrand's post on her upcoming May 2010 book release party, makes me wish I lived in Chicago, just so I could meet this clever new author.  In her blog, The Next Youth Hostel, she speaks of her expectations versus the reality of life after publication.

If you are a member of SheWrites, I will go ahead and assume you are looking to publish (if you haven’t already), and reading about how Zolbrand finds joy, even in light of modified dreams, will keep you laughing and inspired. 

One of the advantages of working at home, is that you are able to take a lot of liberty in what you wear as “work place” attire. 

For example, on some days, it becomes quite late in the day before I actually take a shower.  On other days, I treat myself to an ice cream lunch.  In fact, I wrote a blog post about ice cream lunch day, but I was ultimately too ashamed to share my emotional tribute to peanut butter and marshmellow ice cream.  Just know, it is awesome.

And so it would follow that when taking my shower, and getting ready for work today, that I came to decide that I should wear the clothing equivalent of a hug.  As I sorted through dry cleaning, tore through my closet, and mulled over my sweater pile, I found an old gray hoodie that I have not worn in a while.  Thinking that it might do the trick, I slipped it over my head, and Pow!  Instant gratification.  Soft and cozy, I was getting a cotton hug from all angles.  It was an old sweatshirt from my college alma mater, which I paired with some leggings and oversized glasses.  Officially making it college throw back day in my office of one.

And it got me thinking, I never really took the time to enjoy being a student when I was in undergrad.  I was so concerned with wearing the right thing, and making the right impression, that I never really stopped to enjoy the moment.  And what a great moment it was.  Oh, "to be young."

But times have changed, and age has made me wiser and more present, so in honor of those lost years I will rock my hoodie and listen to music from the late nineties, and chose to remember fondly those times gone by.

I love the experience of creating.  Talk to any of my friends, and they know that making something beautiful, discovering something interesting, and exploring the unique, are my quiet past-times.  I think it is a vein of commonality that runs through my generation.  To make the uninteresting - interesting.  To see artistry in history, and to inspire intellect in uncommon places.  The good that came out of us kids of the 80s and 90s is very good.  

And generally I find, that if I allow myself, where I start my writing will usually not be where I land.  But such is life, where you start your journey is not where you finish, and the occasional diversion can be very sweet.

So, on the brink of the weekend, I am wishing you few days of sweet diversions, may you be blessed from the unexpected that may stumble your way.

Currently, I have locked myself up in a cave.  Fair enough, I am lying, it is not actually a cave, just my apartment currently playing the role of “cave,” as I attempt to play the role of "writer."  The boyfriend is out of town for work, so I have been on my own for the past couple of days.  Just me and my thoughts.  And my computer.  And my thoughts.  And my computer.  And the internet.  And some bad TV, just to break the day up.

I have been trying to focus, set some deadlines, and work towards awesomeness and creative genius.  Thus far, there have been a few flashes of it.  Followed by aggressive periods of distraction, on the part of yours truly, the "writer."  I have internet surfed, emailed friends, sent links to friends, texted, twittered, and watched some online episodes of my favorite shows.  

So the breakdown for today has been, one hour of writing, three hours on the internet, and so on, and so forth.  My friends have stopped responding to my emails because they are most likely doing productive things, like showering, eating, and participating in normal social interaction.  But no, I have decided to be an artist, and in order to do so, it apparently is best not to shower, only eat cereal, and keep actual physical human contact to a minimum.

But today officially starts the work week.  May the strict rules of productivity that are required of us Monday through Friday influence some accomplishment on the writing front, and, Dear God, lead me out of the “cave.”

Photo: We Heart It

I am just going to dive in and address the elephant in the room:  Why do I keep on trying to make this a Daily Journal? 

I do not even know what day I am actually on anymore.  I am going to have to figure out something new, because I am big on keeping track of things, but the daily counter is consistently setting me up for failure.  I am open to any and all ideas, as I am looking for some great distractions to keep me from writing.

I was just doing a little writing this afternoon, and I started thinking about who I would want to go against in a merciless game of Dodge Ball.  When I was little, any game involving a red rubber ball generated a sense of panic in my gut.  In dodge ball you were either the aggressor, or the kid being hit.  And more often than not, in fact, all of the time, I was the first target on the field of play.  

But isn’t that the premise of most great American success stories?  The underdog ultimately comes out on top.  Fortunately, me being a punk in dodge ball had no further meaning in my life.  But the memory of it did get me to thinking about my own short list of people I would like to meet in a dark alley with a red rubber ball.  Old college professors, a few bullies from school, and at least one or two other people from the 1980s.  

But just as I started to visualize that red rubber making slow motion contact with the cheek of my sworn childhood enemy, the Dr. Jekyll in me started to calm down.  I just need to stay the course.  While I may have tried to sit on the sidelines at the playground to keep from getting hurt, this time I am diving in.  And when my book is finally born, it will be able to take anyone on the dodge ball court - any time, any day.

Am beat.  Wrote a really bad poem about working all day.  Instinctively knew not to share it.  Need a nap.  Plan to come back to blog with more creativity.  Until next time.

Photo:  We Heart It

And then it happened.  I had a great idea.  One that I could actually write about and be excited to pursue.  Almost two years later, and I have finally hit pay dirt.

Photo Source: James Joyce