Monthly Archives: July 2025

I’m Out Here Testing the Maxim  Now Playing: God’s Favorite Customer: FJM I broke out the Freewrite tonight. Seemed just right for writing poetry at the cafe, even if my name isn’t Chad and I don’t smoke cigars.  Word Raccoon was just messing around, socializing, but when I opened the Freewrite, her eyes got huge.Continue reading “I’m Out Here Testing the Maxim “

Word Raccoon is not a coy creature, so she nudged me to share this:I might have good news. Today, I had my fingers x-rayed. Two on my dominant hand (I’m a Southpaw) have been swollen for what feels like forever. I’m still using the hell out of them: typing, cooking, writing, you know, living, butContinue reading “Word Raccoon Will (Possibly) Wear Rings Again (Someday Soon) and the Butterfly Lives!”

🎵 Now Playing: “Slow Burn” by Kacey Musgraves “I’m alright with a slow burn…”(So is cube steak, if you treat it right.) Word Raccoon has a new device she LOVES: a solar-powered charger! It’s barely bigger than my phone, and now when I’m writing outdoors, I don’t have to worry about running out of juiceContinue reading “Word Raccoon Versus the Mystery Meat”

Word Raccoon got too much sun yesterday.She knows better, but she forgot—so now she’s pink.Not blush-pink. Not beach-glow pink.More like regret-meets-crustacean. But she also submitted poetry, processed another rejection like she was made for it, and even arrived at the gym all in the same day. (Accepting rejection is part of the writing gig, loveys.Continue reading “Word Raccoon Listens to The Swell Season’s New Album, Forward”

CW: Word Raccoon wrote some angsty, irreverent song lyrics below. I’m just in charge of her care and feeding, not her writing. Proceed with care. Saturday night, I, the responsible adult part of this writing operation, went to bed.Word Raccoon did not.She stayed up writing poetry. Unsupervised. Again. I thought she was doing research. Ha!Continue reading “WR Wrote Poetry Unsupervised Saturday Night”

NOW PLAYING: “Strange Mercy” by St. Vincent I tried to read The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden before the Book Review podcast aired their episode on it. (I don’t even have to mention the layered title, do I? Dear Reader, keep it in mind as you read. It’s perfect.) Then I tried to readContinue reading “Strange Mercy in The Safekeep”

I’ve never been the type to need a lot of things.I don’t collect lots of keepsakes. I don’t hoard tons of mementos. I keep some of both, of course. I’m not a monster. Usually, when my family divides up what’s left behind (too often in recent years), I say:“As long as someone has it, that’sContinue reading “To Kiss a Frog You’ve Written On”

Now Playing: “Lovefool” by The Cardigans I woke up this morning and found Word Raccoon in my blue chair downstairs reading.  “Hey,” I said.  She waved a paw in which she was holding a protein bar. In her other, she clutched the novel we’d fallen asleep reading the night before.  “Give me that,” I said,Continue reading “Serial Killer Games: Not Just For Reading Anymore “

Word Raccoon is out of the hammock and coming for the to-do list. 🎵 Now Playing: “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield (It’s Word Raccoon’s Tuesday morning mood. And don’t give me any shizz about this feel-good song.) Yes, it’s Tuesday. But don’t tell Word Raccoon that; it’s her Monday, and she’s got pages to devour. PoemsContinue reading “Drema Vs. the Long Weekend”