Yes I Wrote That

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 ๐Ÿ˜† although it would’ve been hilarious and fitting if they caught me on a really bad day๐Ÿ˜†

Thrift Treasures

20240817_162617~2A 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 ๐Ÿ˜†, 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.

This Poem Of Mine (7.4.24)

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.

the realization poem (watermarked)

Little Treats To Myself

20240511_110915~2

Thank goddess for Lily’s and Choc Zero for now I can have my own chocolate-covered strawberries! Made them to treat myself, and for a good reason. This time of the year, as well as Father’s Day, is usually a tough time for me. It’s another long story for another day, but the TL:DR version of it is that it’s fine to not celebrate those days, and that I’m glad to be in a better place now. ๐Ÿ’œ

Fragrance Flashback

Looking back at some of my favorite fragrances from my teen years on this National Fragrance Day

Calvin Klein’s “CK One” – this scent may have been responsible for my current love for unisex smells. I got introduced to it in the seventh grade, three years after its debut. Since I was a total geek in junior high, in my attempt to be cool, I wore what the cool girls wore. And the cool girls wore CK One.

Clinique’s “Happy” – the very first fashion mag I owned was a late 90s copy of Allure, given to me for free by my then-dentist. The date of the mag is lost on me but the two things I remember from it was that supermodel Niki Taylor was on the cover, and an ad for this perfume. Its fruity, citrus-y notes attracted me. When I put this on now, it’s an instant throwback to eighth grade (oh, whyyyy did the Spice Girls break up?!).

Estee Lauder’s “Dazzling” – RIP Dazzling, both gold and silver. A relative gifted me Dazzling Silver, and it was the first perfume that made me feel grown up and sophisticated like Liz Hurley in that ad (even if I was still a geek now in my high school years).

Tommy Hilfiger’s “Tommy Girl” – another scent that takes me back to my high school years. I also used to be a mild gamer then, so now whenever I get a whiff of Tommy Girl, I get this weird urge to play Wipeout XL on the OG Playstation.

Body Fantasies’ “Raspberry Fantasy” – this is actually the very first fragrance I bought. (The others listed here were either gifts, something borrowed from relatives, or a scent I would buy later on.) I think it was, what, $3 at Walgreens then? I know Body Fantasies had other scents, but Raspberry Fantasy was my jam. Sad that this scent no longer around, and the current incarnation of Bath & Body Works’ Sun-Ripened Raspberry is doing its best to fulfill my raspberry cravings, but it’s not the same! (B&BW even messed with the original formula of SRR! Booooo!)

Leap Day Random Thoughts

…that’s too hot and long for Twitter!

Part One of my work-in-progress is complete! I plan on having four parts to my story, with the third part bringing in most of the action and drama. Don’t worry, there will be a nice ending between my protagonists…and that’s all I’ll say about it for now. I’m the type who stays mum about her projects until it’s 100% complete and ready to be marketed. And this time, I know its genre! ๐Ÿ˜œ

Over a month ago, I had a wooden bookshelf that collapsed all of a sudden. *sad face* Won’t say what brand it was, but I’d figure for something worth “$250”, it would hold up for a long while. I actually bought it for cheap from a Craigslist seller years ago, and now I know why the seller offered it for cheap. *sighs* After seeking out similar replacements this past month, I settled for something different: a steel shelf! The one I got is said to hold up to 350 lbs per shelf, so hopefully it holds up over time. I just assembled it (on my own–you can assemble this solo, despite what other reviews say), and reshelving all the displaced books will be my other rainy-day project this weekend.

My new favorite low-carb recipe: Crustless Pizza! Domino’s who?

Something I want to make in the next month: Chocolate Covered Cherry Fat Bombs. I plan on making them as gifts for two friends celebrating their birthdays in March. And for myself, of course.

I find this very disappointing. Voter apathy will be the death of democracy for us all. Not sorry for the bold all-caps, but GET OUT AND VOTE, PEOPLE!!ย Have some not learned from 2016?

I find this very rad, though. (Yes, I still use 1980s-era lingo.)

Rainbows And Votes

How I’m celebrating this holiday: by admiring the sights of rainbows from my studio apartment and getting out to vote! The weather here still isn’t pretty, but I’ll always enjoy a rainbow sighting (the one pretty thing to come from this icky rain). And my state’s Primary Election Day is in two weeks. If you haven’t yet voted in your state’s primaries, get out and vote! These days, all elections matter!