somehow

every time I try to take pics for the shop, this keeps happening:

notes

* We will be releasing 4-5 new chaps in the next week or so, and they are filled with amazing poetry and have the most gorgeous covers, you will love them. I'm hoping to have at least some of them done in time for next weekends Printer Row (formerly Book Fair, now Lit Fest). We'll be in a tent devoted to Chicago publishers (including Switchback Books Orange Alert Press, and a host of others) sponsored by the Department of Cultural Affairs. We sold quite a few books last year up until mother nature went all apeshit on Sunday, so it should be fun again this year.

*I am still forever fidgeting with the kissing disease manuscript. There are poems that might or might not be part of it. Another group of pieces that I am just in the midst of now that potentially could be part of it, but maybe might be their own little thing. I spent a good part of the three day weekend staring at it, trying to figure it out, putting things in, taking them out. I've once again bult up a backlog of work to submit, so there is that task too. Sometimes, it feels a little overwheming.

*I have finally once again found the closet floor beneath the laundry and various detritus and found a number of peices of clothing I'd forgotten I had, including a black dress I'd loved and bought at the end of the summer two years, thinking I couldn't wear it til Spring. It had, however, sometime in the intervening year, fell off the hanger and languished beneath a box of clothes I'd been planning to either sell on ebay or give to goodwill along with yet another pair of sparkly flip flops, a scarf someone made for me, and the cutest little silk purse (I swear it was like Christmas)...Next task is the linen cabinet in the hallway, which I hope to clear out enough to hold all the soap supplies I have been amassing on the dining room table the past couple of months.

*I am back to working the 11-7 shift in the library for most of the rest of the summer, which means I finally have some evenings free and should be able to get to some readings, that is if I can climb out from under the deluge of chapbooks I need to get done at the studio. I'll be featuring at the Cafe next Tuesday, so will get to read some of my newer stuff there. I'm also trying to figure out when to schedule the next dgp extravaganza at Quimby's. There might actually be two, since we have alot of books by local folks coming out this year (Susan Slaviero, Kristen Orser, Stephanie Anderson, Jen Blair, Rachel Webster, Sara Tracey, plus some others within driving distance who might be persuaded) and I want to give them a lengthy chunk of time to read... Stay tuned...

window shopping

Since I tend to spend quite a bit of time daily sitting on a bus on Michigan Ave admist traffic lately, hands down my favorite store to drool over their windows is J. Mendel, tucked right at the top of the Mag Mile. They're actually a pretty slender storefront, but the clothes in the displays are always lovely and switched out often. Gorgeous, flowy, soft colored dresses and coats--corals and lavenders and luscious creams that seem to float there.




I always scoff at the ridiculous amounts people will pay for things on that stretch--Chanel, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, which usually seems ugly and overpriced. But those Mendel dresses make me wish I had the sort of money to shop there (and the body to make them work). Apparently they are most famous for their furs which I am of course, not really comfortable with as an industry, but oh the pretty dresses..*sigh*

in which I may sound smarter than I actually am..

Simone Muench was kind enough to post some of the questions I answered for her class over at Sharkforum..enjoy!

notes: weekend edition

* I am loving these essays over at Delirious Hem. It's caused me to think about a few things myself, and clarify a few of my own ideas, and as soon as they are in readable form I will post them here. Speaking of feminism, I like what Lara Glenum has to say about the Gurlesque here. The part about the grotesque and the biological body vs. burlesque and the body on display. I like that her take on the subject is based in the theory, rather than the reductiveness I've sometimes seen in other discussions of the subject..

*the weather, with the exception of a couple warm rainy days, has been glorious this past week, everything blooming and greening. The semester came to an end yesterday, and amazingly the deluge of returned books was not so horrible. There was much ado this, though, with events all week and the Manifest festivities on Friday (though the parade was sadly rained out). Now, it will be rather quiet for the next three months.

*I am just finishing up the layout on a new batch of dgp chapbooks that will bring us finally up to date on the schedule pretty much. I have a couple more tweaks I plan to do Monday before I send them to the authors for final proofing, but otherwise they are done. I'm also making progress on Robyn Art & Robin Barcus' photo/poetry collab full length project. a couple of weeks ago, I was also so very psyched to be asked to consider a submission from hands down one of my favorite poets ever (who I had no clue had even heard of us let alone would like us to publish her) In fact, is in our guidelines page list of poets whose work we love..so yay!

*I am working on a postcard poem collaborative project with forthcoming dgp author Julie Strand that is turning out to be very fun. It's still in it's infancy, but I am liking what were getting so far..

*other weekend tasks include laundry, mending a couple of slips, putting a final glaze coat on some new flasks for the shop and making/packaging new soaps (this week: cherry almond, sweetgrass, apricot, & fresh clover.)

even cowgirls... by wickedpen featuring Juicy Couture Bags

"the world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places."

-Ernest Hemingway

creepy cool

latest obsession..

If anyone has talked to me recently, you know I've taken to soapmaking like a fiend. The money I have spent on bases, oils, butters, and plastic molds is sort of ridiculous, but I am addicted. The nice thing about poetry, and even collage, is that it's a pretty cheap endeavor. Even the press operates on a smaller budget monthly than what I've sunk into the shop this month. When I spend every cent of my birthday money on supplies, and have indulged in many a 3 am soap making binge, it's probably a little out of control.

notes

spring by wickedpen featuring Etienne Aigner shoes

*So apparently my headache was not, after all, swine flu, but allergies. After popping ibuprofen for two days to no avail, I tore into some benedryl and everything is all better. Usually, every spring and fall I get some mild pressure behind my eyes and maybe a sniffle or two. But this felt like the nasty hangover headache that wouldn't end.

*Isabel somehow busted the dress mannequin when she knocked it over last night at the base. I've glued it and it appears to be holding. Since she breaks at least two or three things a week in her wild acrobatic overtures. If she weren't so cute, I might just have to sell her on ebay.

*I am working on some new hair clip and brooch lovelies made from all the dye botched slips I continually end up with. Maybe another batch of the lemon verbena soap. I have new supplies on their way and am currenly staring at several large bricks of shea butter, oatmeal, and goats milk bases, but I'm waiting for some new oils, including lilac, magnolia, and honeysuckle.

*On the docket this weekend poetry-wise, since I actually have a blissful weekend without work or other pesky obligations, I am making my way through Brenda Shaughnnessy's Human Dark with Sugar and Robyn Schiff's Revolver... both authors whose first books I adored, and am liking these as well...