Tonight, I am an indoor kid

I could be at a cabaret that features a lot of my friends tonight. My teaching partner Joe is doing a new piece with words and movement about JonBenet, and that's only one example of the awesome I'm missing.

There's a thing that happens when you live alone, and do a lot of your work at home, where you want to do everything that happens outside of your house -- take advantage of every single social opportunity that comes your way.

But there's something empowering about staying in every once in a while. There's a satisfaction in abstaining. Tonight, I've been listening to podcasts, doing the dishes . . . Got some Harpoon IPA, which feels homey since it can always be found at my parents' house. For the first time ever, I let iTunes Genius make a playlist for me (based on "Wildflowers" by Tom Petty. I've got that on while I cook for myself. And I'm really happy right now.

Also, the track my iTunes thinks is "Great Balls of Fire" is actually "Get Your Write On," the old Monkeys school closer, as sung by Laura McKenzie. You got nothing on McKenzie, Jerry Lee!

Here's the list Genius made me . . . At the price of letting Mac study my music collection, I think it's a pretty sweet toy.

Wildflowers -- Tom Petty
Learning To Fly -- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Ripple -- Grateful Dead
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down -- The Band
And She Was -- Talking Heads
Ride the River -- JJ Cale & Eric Clapton
Squeeze Box -- The Who
Me & Bobby McGee -- Janis Joplin
Runnin Down A Dream -- Tom Petty
Touch Of Grey -- Grateful Dead
Your Life Is Now -- John Mellencamp
Stand By Me -- John Lennon
The Dark Of The Sun -- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Great Balls Of Fire -- Jerry Lee Lewis
Barstool Blues -- Neil Young & Crazy Horse
You Wreck Me -- Tom Petty
Someday Baby -- Bob Dylan
Ever Fallen In Love? -- The Buzzcocks
St. Stephen -- Grateful Dead
Between The Bars -- Elliott Smith
Magic Bus -- The Who
Beyond My Wildest Dreams -- Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris
Right In Time -- Lucinda Williams
Rockin' In The Free World -- Neil Young
Tuesday's Gone -- Lynyrd Skynyrd

Tone deaf and all washed up

I hesitate to share this, it so depresses me, but maybe you'll fare better than me.

Created by Train Horn

Via Caitlin R. Kiernan, who passed.

I am trying to write books for teenagers, and I do not know what they're listening to.

Also, I love this vid from Jackson Pearce, "about giving cats baths, also giving up on your novel." Via Cynsations.



I'm not giving up on my novel (not all of it anyway), but I am more aware than ever that all this writing I've been doing has been me learning to write, which is a good thing no matter what comes of it.

Cutting

Ever read An Invisible Sign of My Own by Aimee Bender? The character quits things, ritualistically, almost anorexically. She fantasizes about cutting off parts of her own body. I'm feeling that way about my book. I've cut so much that's it's hard to wrap my mind around what's left, hard to figure out if it can still stand up and walk down the street.

But I just reworked my opening scene, and I'm preparing a second outline for my advisor, and I'm thinking that it's going to be okay.

If I just keep breathing.

Also, I just found out that An Invisible Sign of My Own is being made into a movie starring Jessica Alba? Really? Okay.

I can't imagine that it will match the book's brilliant weirdness, but if Jessica Alba's the star, that is already a pretty weird choice, so who knows.

Linkitties

After I joined Twitter, I had to get Shelf Awareness to explain it to me.

My rockstar friend and classmate, author Varian Johnson, is featured in the Austin American-Stateman talking about The Brown Bookshelf.

Laura and Kate have started a silly, assignment-based blog that will Rock Your Face!

Share a Story - Shape a Future Blog Tour for Literacy starts March 9.

I'm going to check out Fangs, Fur, and Fey's live podcast: "Writers on Writing" on Blog Talk Radio, February 27 at 1pm CST.

I share, and want to share with you, Justine Larbalestier's RomCom Rage.

"How to Make Boys Like You: Advice from a Nerd" -- nerd being John Green.



And speaking of nerds, Alan Moore talks to Wired about comics, graphic novels, Watchmen, and The League. Via Tai.


Currently reading: Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block. I know I'm about twenty years late, but yay!

Day of the Tweet

With great horror and trepidation, I joined Twitter. Here I am.

Here are some folks from my school. Were it not for them, I would not venture here.

I am scared, and also a little giddy.

World Hearts Rachel

I'm in a creative muddle and a social slouch, so instead of a self-disclosing rant, I offer this disclosure:

What Rachel's doing at one in the morning when she should be sleeping . . .
Free Will Astrology

A friend showed me this website maybe a year ago. He knew it was a guilty pleasure, but he was also pretty sure it knew his life. I don't visit the site often, but it rarely disappoints. The readings are often abstract. Usually weird. But because they're so odd and open, they leave a lot of space for you to bring your own baggage to them . . . a little bit like reading tea leaves as described by my friend Laura.

Here are a few gems from this week's readings:

Beware of people who act like polite jerks or tone-deaf music critics or emotionally numb lovers.

As coffee drinking came into vogue in the 18th century, it became a driving force in the Age of Enlightenment.

If you put a corn chip in guacamole, take a bite, then dunk the chip in the bowl again, you're doing what's known as double-dipping. Scientists say it transfers about 2,750 bacteria from your mouth to the guacamole.

To me, Freewill says: "The world is once again falling deeply in love with you."

Me: Oh yeah, Freewill? It doesn't feel that way. Prove it!

Freewill: "Let's hope that on this occasion (unlike what happened the last two times) you will accept its adoration in the spirit in which it's given."

Me: So, what are you saying, that was my fault? I didn't . . . well this changes things. I didn't realize the world felt that way about me.

Apparently, me and the world need to work on our communication skills.

Also, while we're on guilty pleasures, over the last four days, I read Twilight and New Moon back to back -- just over a 1,000 pages of identifying with an obsessive, codependent, often suicidal, completely subsumed 17-year-old-girl with low self-esteem. So, there's that.

Here Monkey, Monkey

I want to share a couple of Monkey-related links:

Barrel of Monkeys has launched a series of podcasts, and the first two, "The Haunted Piano" and "The Servant's Skills," are up on our website. Enjoy!

Also, Tai wrote a post about one of my favorite Monkey stories ever, "A Bad Day," which is enjoying a long run in That's Weird, Grandma right now. I scripted its first draft with some serious cheer contributions from Laura McKenzie, and every person who's performed it in TWG from August to now has added a bit. It's bit-tastic!

Two very selfish desires made the original story call to me -- the need to act out my lifelong fantasy of seeing two men cheer-fight to the death over me, and my drive to say this amazing line:

"I like both of the men."



Oh, "Bad Day," I feel you. And now you are a fan fave! Go team!