High on Sunshine (Awards)

2014 is two weeks old, and already I'm pretty pumped about it. Joining BLUNTmoms has given my writing, editing, and thinking a massive creative jolt. They inspire me to be funnier, more concise, better in every way. Finding said bitches has been like finding my homeland, or maybe I mean like being adopted into an insane, profane, and utterly politically incorrect all-woman version of the Brady Bunch.

You can only begin to imagine my elation (defined above) when BLUNTmoms mastermind Julie bestowed upon me a Sunshine Award.  It came after a particularly rough and barfy day, and her love warmed my world like, well, sunshine. A Sunshine Award is FBBB (for bloggers, by bloggers), and a way to recognize people who have charmed, supported, enlightened, and inspired the awarder in recent months.

An Affable Muse: The Juggler

It's both wonderful and heartbreaking to write about sad, lonely times 

and have readers say, "me too." -Pete D.

Okay, so Pete Derk's not a juggler, really. But I couldn't come up with a classification to squeeze him into (the best I did was The Heartfelt yet Ironically Snarky Intellectual, which didn't feel right, either). I'm talking poems, fiction, non-fiction, comics, a radio show, screenplays, and probably more that he hasn't yet unveiled, like inventing time travel or solving the Jacobian conjecture. You see my quandary; juggler is the best I could do.

An Affable Muse: The Author

I may be the worst (ever) at keeping in touch, but I at least mentally visit the people in my life quite often, whether our last rendezvous was yesterday or a year ago. In the middle of my very routine lovefest the other day, I was suddenly blindsided with admiration.

Whoa.

I know some crazy talented people. And I had the sudden urge to call everyone I know on a rotary telephone, one by one, with a fervent, "CHECK THIS OUT!" But it's, like, the middle of 2013. And I have a blog. So I'll do this the efficient way and introduce you to, in no particular order, some terrifically creative folks you should go virtually visit. Or personally visit. But call first, or it might get a little restraining-orderish and weird.

Today, meet Christine Stocke. (I imagine all of you doing the AA thing right now... "Hiiii, Christine.") I knew her as Christine Stroik in high school. We come from the same Wisconsin town of 30,000 but managed to mostly avoid each other, for no spun reason, really.

Fast forward to 2012. I got an email from her saying she was moving to Den Bosch, an hour and a half away from my front door. In the past year, after a wildly successful first date, we've found that we're unsettlingly alike. Wonderfully quirky and thoroughly genuine, she loves improper humor and good food, making her a supreme being in my universe. We should have had ourselves a platonic pal commitment ceremony of sorts a long time ago, but I guess we can't blame our fifteen-year old selves, who didn't know anything about anything.

But I'm not here to tell you how great Christine's personality is. This lass can write. Her poems and fiction have been picked up by a number of notable publications, including the 2012 Best New Poets anthology, which is a pretty huge honor. Visit her young blog to get in touch (and see photos of a massive, old dictionary that came loaded with random peculiarities stuck between the pages), or her Etsy shop for signed pieces, or to request a custom poem or short story.

In Bed With the Enemy of Mediocrity

So, you may or may not know that the guy I sleep next to is rather talented. He just had two photos published in Incandescent, a zine dedicated to color film photography, and also recently rolled out an online portfolio that's sigh-worthy. If I were you, I'd def take a gander.

xxx,
j

Minds Bright, Minds Shiny: Shenandoah Davis

photo credit: Hayley Young

It's pretty incredible to me that I am connected to so many inspiring folks all over the globe. Some of them I've known since childhood, others I connected to in class or at a job, and there are a random few that I met by pure chance. Social networking has its annoyances, sure. But it also allows me access to the boundless creativity output by brilliant minds. Such content is especially compelling when it's produced by someone you've had the golden opportunity to cross paths with.

Friends, meet Shenandoah Davis, whose intellect is matched only by her artistry. She's an old pal and living on the other side of the world, calling Seattle home. I know you have a spare five minutes and thirty seconds (exactly!) sitting around unused in your day, somewhere. Use them wisely (see below).