What Goes Around - Friday 2/1/2008

I wrote first thing this morning, of course.

But one of my other projects today was to make postcards from some of my photographs. The photo of the cards didn't come out as well as the cards themselves.

I'm sending these to a big-time writer who has been kind enough to carry on a correspondence with me for a couple of years. I'm sure she does this for a lot of writers. She uses postcards, so I thought I'd make her some and put postage on them so she can continue her good work.



I would like to say in my defense that this peach/blueberry pie is only the third pie I've ever made. And that I don't think the thermostat on my oven is right, because I had to leave it in there for about 20 minutes longer than the recipe called for to get it browned at all.

But for Pete's sake, will some one help me with this whole sealing the crust issue? I made cute little scallops around the edge of the pie plate, but you can't tell it now. It sort of got pulled taut during baking. Any clues for me? Just leave a lot more when I trim the dough in the first place??

From sampling the filling that oozed out onto the aluminum foil (I have learned a thing or two around the kitchen after all), it's gonna be delish. The peaches are from our crop last summer, frozen lo these many months.

Cool Thing: My essay, "It Ain't Las Vegas" is now available online (without most of the photos, sadly) at Weber: The Contemporary West. Check out the other writers, too. It's a good journal!

Toot! Toot! - Friday 12/28/2007

Yes, that's the familiar "toot" of my own horn you're hearing.

I wasn't sure if this was actually going to happen this year, but I received my contributor's copies of Weber: the Contemporary West in the mail yesterday!

Yes, you read that right. Contributor's copies! My personal essay "It Ain't Las Vegas," about life, nature and development in my area, and four or five of my photographs appear in the Fall 2007 (24:1) issue. You can get a copy through their submission page. I think they lag by about 1 issue in putting the content online, which makes sense.

This is a really nice way to end the year.

I decided to start sending out my photos at the beginning of 2007 and I placed them in 4 of the 5 publications I sent them to (Agua Dulce/Acton Country Journal, The Houston Literary Review, Raving Dove, and now Weber.)

It feels just wonderful to end the year with some credits under my belt!

And I thought Wednesday was a frabjous day!

Whoo Hoo! - Wednesday 10/31/2007

When I checked my e-mail this morning, I found a small honorarium waiting for me from the online journal Raving Dove. They bought a photograph I took some years ago of barracks being moved back into the Manzanar National Historical Site! (Although I also placed photographs in the Acton/Agua Dulce Country Journal and Houston Literary Review this year, this is my first paid photography publication.)

I'm proud of this one... Raving Dove is all about promoting peace and humanitarian actions. And they advertise in the classified pages of Poets & Writers magazine which for some reason adds a little cache in my mind.

I'm really pleased to have found a home for this lucky photograph. It was taken a few years ago with my first digital camera, a Nikon Coolpix with something like 3.1 megapixel capacity. It probably couldn't have gone anywhere but to a website like this because the resolution is low. The light was amazing on that mid-November day.

Thanks to all of you who read and especially those of you who comment. I started this blog a little over two years ago to see if I had the discipline and interest I thought I needed in order to warrant buying myself my beautiful Nikon D80. (You can hum "Give Me That Old Time Religion" while you read this because, yes, that's got something to do with a Midewest version of the Puritan work ethic.)

It's turned out to be a much more interesting and rewarding journey than I ever could have imagined.

Photography Publication!

Somehow, it seems appropriate that I not post a photograph to accompany this announcement that some of my photos have been published.

I'm working on a book project with Gia which involves me being the photographer, and I thought I'd try to generate some credits to put into the book proposal.

Well, shoot. I sent out three submissions and two of them were accepted! (One hasn't responded yet.) That was way less painful and time-consuming than sending out short stories.

They aren't paying gigs, but as those of you who write short fiction, etc., know it's not all about the paycheck.

The first ones were in the March 17th issue of The Country Journal , a local newspaper that printed shots I took of the fire behind our house. And now the online journal, The Houston Literary Review has published a handful, too!

Now to pursue actually getting someone to pay me for something so I can write off my new DSLR!