serene | Luxury

It's 5:08pm right now. My next class starts at 6:30 (usually a few minutes later than that, actually), and I've already eaten and done all my homework. That means I genuinely have an hour and change to just hang out and do what I please. This is limited a little by the fact that the library computers don't offer any privacy, so I won't be typing up any posts I wouldn't want strangers seeing over my shoulder or anything, but oh, my. An hour to myself, with nothing pressing on me! (I have essays due Monday; I don't count that as having homework to do, because they're already in good-second-draft form or better. Likewise a little reading I need to do before Monday, but the book's at home and it's short, anyway.)

Whee!

And speaking of school, because I'm usually speaking of school, it's been a good week for my ego. My fiction teacher said I'm an astoundingly good writer; my expository-writing teacher said something like "Wow. That's a beautiful piece of writing!" and my senior seminar teacher hailed me in the hall to tell me I got the highest honor in her class -- I'm the only one she put her "Dr. Debbie" stamp on.

Me: What does the Doctor Debbie stamp say?

Her, rolling her eyes: 'Doctor Debbie!'

Oh, and another student read a reflection essay I wrote about liking my fat body, and said she was not giving it back to me, because it gave her goosebumps and she wanted to keep it.

Today's my long day, and I may require caffeine to get through it, but it's the end of week 5 of 10! Yayyy!

My mom was very sick for more than a week. I'm scared about it. She has a CAT scan tomorrow. The kid is down there with her, so she has some company, but I wish I were there to offer practical support. (At the same time, of course, I'm glad I am not there, because I like being here.) Also, in the space of a week, her favorite sister died, her best friend and yardsale buddy died, and her brother disappeared. This has been one of the worst weeks of my mom's life. I repeat: I wish I were there. I'm glad I'm here.

If you write or do art of any kind, please consider submitting to the magazine, which is coming out of hiatus. This time, I hope to be much more organized, and I can already tell you the writing is again really good, though I'm still rejecting 50 submissions for every one I accept. If you had a subscription when we bailed in '09, you still have one now. I'll send out an email soon to make sure I have your proper mailing address.

Please pass the link around. We would love stories and other art from people of all genders, backgrounds, and identities.