The latest Covid booster and the flu shot, to be exact. Antivaxxers can never stop me! 😆
And if you wanna stay safe this winter and beyond, get your shots, too! 💪💉
**ETA: I posted this here and on my socials, unaware of what had just happened in Missouri at the same time. My apologies, as I just wanted to share some good news.
1980s/90s R&B and Rap!
What a time to have been alive for this golden era of R&B and rap. If you remember watching MTV Jams, Yo MTV Raps, or/and BET’s Video Vibrations, you know! The beats were beating, the vocals were vocaling, and the remixes remixed (especially Mariah’s remixes). Almost every hot artist then had either a gold single or platinum album (what streams?), bridges were present, and the top hits were over three minutes, TikTok be damned.
(By the way, I’m very aware that the era also had its problematic figures. *cough*RKelly*cough*Diddy*cough* I’ll replace any of the vids above if I find any bad tea on the artists featured.)
The next week of faves will all be music-themed. In what would’ve been John Coltrane’s birthday, today’s musical fave is: Classic Jazz!
I enjoy jazz music from past to present, but Classic Jazz just DOES it for me. Coltrane, Davis, Holliday, Fitzgerald, Vaughn, Armstrong, Parker, Getz…And if you don’t know the legends like Coltrane or Holliday, then we can’t hang, not sorry! I know metal heads that know who they are, so there’s no excuse! The voice and lyrics of Holliday’s music hits you in the feels, and Miles’ trumpet carries you to another world.
When My Work Gets Published!
Speaking of writing, there’s a joy I get when I see my work get accepted for publication. It’s one thing to self-publish my work, but when my work has impressed editors to where they want to publish my work, the thrill is more grand. I’ve been published in my hometown newspaper, poetry anthologies (like the one you see above), short story anthologies, and, most recently, in newsletters. (All those pieces were written under my real name or a pen name, by the way.)
**Note: there was another favorite I originally posted for #39, but I’m choosing to save it for later in this list.
Forty days from now, I’ll be turning 200 21 40, and rather than bemoan about it a la Edie Monsoon, I’d like to do a list on 40 of my favorite things! This daily countdown will be exclusive to my blog here, and the list won’t be in any order. I’ll kick it off with the first fave: writing!
Who didn’t see that coming. Writing is my therapy, my art, my creative outlet, and it’s also made me a little money. Just don’t ask me to write my work by hand these days; my penmanship has gone downhill over the past 10-ish years.
Just published: my essay in the latest issue of Bi Women’s Quarterly! The theme for the current issue is “Childfree” (the theme was given back in the spring this year, and it means a lot more now), so if you’re not JD Vance or a crazy breeder, please give my piece a read! (Click on header pic) I actually submitted two pieces to the newsletter, and maybe I’ll share the other piece here another day.
Also, something I noticed: many of the other submissions in the current newsletter have the author’s profile pics as the header image. Kudos for BWQ for not doing that with my piece 😆 although it would’ve been hilarious and fitting if they caught me on a really bad day😆
A few of my favorite thrift store finds over the years, in honor of National Thrift Shop Day today. (As a former hardcore thrifter who has since cut back her shopping due to, simply put, having too much stuff and not enough space for it all 😆, trust me when I say this is just a few!)
About some of these finds:
–that Maxima/Wilson’s Leather black jacket retailed for a whopping $10 at a Savers. There was also a 30% off sale going on when I spotted it, so I got it for $7 altogether. Did I mention it’s a real leather jacket?
–that flower print shirt remains one of my favorite shirts. I bought it way back in 2013 at a North Bay store simply titled Thrift Center. It has since gotten too oversized for me.
–do not be surprised I own a book titled Bitch.
–it did not dawn on me until days after buying that pink-purple-blue bracelet that it symbolized Bi pride. How did my Bi ass not know that right off the bat?
–That Peanuts Classic book is a recent find. I’ll always adore all things Peanuts, but that book title spoke to me.
I’ve been writing poems for almost all of my 200 39 years on this earth and have had a few of my pieces get published to newspapers and poetry anthologies. I have a Google Doc that holds all of the poems I’ve written since 2011 (none of them have been published elsewhere), and I’d like to share this poem I wrote two years ago today. It’s succinct and I think its message suits how I feel about this year as well. Share it if you like.
Just being my usual Biconic self on this start of Pride Month. (Although I’ve been Biconic since 2006 😉) 🩷💜💙
That shirt, if my fellow Bi-peeps are interested, came from this Etsy shop (and they have other shirts reppin other sexual identities, too).
Enjoying this sunny day-off from work…and my new mani! Come thruuu with the sparkle 💅 🤩 ✨️ 💙
Lex Writes On 