champagne

who knows what she would do

what if she doesn't worry about her body and eats enough for all the growing she has to do? she might rip her stockings and slam-dance on a forged ID to the pogues, and walk home barefoot, holding her shoes, alone at dawn; she might baby-sit in a battered women's shelter one night a month; she might skateboard down lombard street with its seven hairpin turns, or fall in love with her best friend and do something about it, or lose herself for hours gazing into test tubes with her hair a mess, or climb a promontory with the girls and get drunk at the top, or sit down when the pledge of allegiance says stand, or hop a freight train, or take lovers without telling her last name, or run away to sea. she might revel in all the freedoms that seem so trivial to those who could take them for granted; she might dream seriously the dreams that seems so obvious to those who grew up with them really available. who knows what she would do? who knows what it would feel like?

-the beauty myth, naomi wolf

strawberry with

we lost something we thought

surely

was ours.

and now with a clean slate

we imagine

things like northern lights.

and mosquito bites.

and winks

and flights.

and i'd like to sew my own

clothes

waiting for you to come

home.

in the heat

of a hated loathsome july

waiting for

october to come home.

strawberry kisses coming home.

walking down a little

main street making us happy.

scuffing my feet

along in little lace up shoes.

being rested with

linen

like the song and california

wine

like the song.

oh, i do believe

call for submissions

Dear Friends,

We are gathering stories that typify the experiences of post-graduate artists during the Great Recession, and we invite you to participate in this project.

These stories will be used in two ways:

1) They will be drawn from in the writing of a one act play.

2) They will be compiled as memoirs that will eventually be submitted for publication.

We encourage you to choose a theme or through-line and to write about that. Possible themes include but are not limited to:

auditions / living in Hollywood / feelings of isolation / job interviews / day jobs vs. artistic work / wanderlust / transportation issues / community / people's responses to your work / current artistic endeavors

You may submit 1-3 pieces, but please keep the total length of your submissions to a maximum of 7 pages.

Also, please include your permission allowing us to make any necessary edits, while preserving the integrity of your work.

The Submission Deadline is 15 August, 2010. Please submit your work via email with an attachment at storiegatherer@gmail.com.

Thank you for partnering with us; we look forward to receiving your submissions!

Danielle & Jamie