A is for..,

ART!
Hang on a moment, I'll get there.  It's time for a wee bit of reflection.

Well, here I am again blogging away for the A to Z Challenge.  Last year my posts were all about death, which kind of makes sense since this is the "Death Writer" blog and I have a book written that is all about death.  But, ya know what?  I don't want to do that this year.  This year I want to wing it.  I want to fly by the seat of my pants and be spontaneous. In other words, I want to live.  So, each night I'm going to write the first thing that starts with the corresponding letter of the day.  It's like a psychological test of sorts and anything can happen.

So, why am I going to write about art today?  Well, my husband, the love of my life is an artist.  Last week, I saw a post on Facebook about grants for artists and one of them had my husband's name all over it.  Painter over 45?  Check.  And guess when the deadline is?  Today.  We had seven days to complete an essay, an artist's statement, a resume, an application and assemble ten jpeg images of his art.  Oh, and he happened to be out of town at the time.  I am not one to cower away from a ridiculous deadline, so I gently encouraged my husband to hop on this crazy get a grant train and get er done!  And as I'm typing this, he is putting the finishing touches on his artist's statement.  If anything, it allowed him to focus on his art for the week and maybe think about what he wants to accomplish in the next year.  It's a win-win situation.

So, here is a pic of my husband's handiwork when he painted backdrops for touring rock bands.  I loved this image.  It was done for the band Slayer and was designed by Paul Booth.  Erik just recreated it on a 24 x 40 foot backdrop.


Scary, huh?

Well, my fellow bloggers.  I'll keep this short and simple.  I look forward to meeting you in the next month.

Spring Has Sprung!

Birds are chirping, flowers are blooming and I'm sneezing like crazy. It must really be Spring, despite the fact that it seems to be snowing everywhere but here.  So, with April fast approaching, I've been thinking about returning to complete the A to Z challenge.  I've been ignoring my blog and signing up for the A to Z would force me to blog every day.  That's a good thing, but it's also a huge commitment.  And if I do do it, I may have to veer away from a death A to Z.   We'll see how I feel next week and if I come up with any ideas.

So, this is totally unrelated to Spring, but I wanted to let you all know that I have an essay in the Spring Issue of Witness.  You can't read it for free on their website, but here's a link to buy the issue if you are so inclined.  It's not about death.  It's an essay about life, hope and redemption.

Happy Thursday and maybe I'll see you on April 1!

Me Speak Pretty One Day

This week I am on a podcast called "The Drunken Odyssey" with John King reading a short essay I wrote about "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris.  I've heard my voice before when I had to transcribe a bunch of interviews and let's just say that I'm not in love with it.  It sounds way different in my head than it does when it's recorded.  Has anyone else found this to be true about their own voice or am I just crazy?

So, if you are so inclined, go check out the podcast.  My story is about having surgery on 9/11 and discovering the genius of David Sedaris in the Pre-Op waiting room.