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In like a lion, out like a…lion.

Wow. Where the heck did March go? When it started, it was with a bang and a mad dash. Four steps into April, and it’s only barely slowing down.

But that’s not necessarily bad. Just exhausting.

So first, some updates.

About a month ago, a friend was diagnosed with cancer. After surgery & starting chemo, he seems to be doing really well. Word is that he’s not had any ill effects from the chemo, and he’s back to work too. Also, another friend’s dad was also diagnosed with cancer. He’s due for surgery in mid-April; the doctors are optimistic. All good news.

The first week of March a big deal (for me at least) opportunity came up to work “full time” from home. Unfortunately, long story short, that kinda fell through. But that’s not all bad either: with alerting my current employer of my consideration of the other opportunity, I forsee that situation getting better in the very near future, especially with evals coming up in the next couple weeks.

This whole month, it seems, has been a whirlwind for SMR. Especially the first & last week. Well, after my 4:30 am the other night, and finally buckling down, the cover & contents are done!

(note, that cover’s for front AND back; folded in the middle)


So I finalized that today & added it to the site store. I expect you all to order a copy. Or a subscription. Or five. 😉

…after all, it’s National Poetry Month!

Anyhow, hopefully this month will provide ample opportunities for promoting (and selling) the magazine. This one got fatter than anticipated. It’s beautiful, though. Really. And I swear I’d say the same thing even if I wasn’t totally biased.

Well, I’m pushing 3 a.m. again, so it’s time I crash for the night. I am SO ready for sleep without this hanging over my head!

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Resolve: more than a carpet cleaner!


It’s no secret (to anyone who actually knows me) that I’m a procrastinator through perfection. In high school, I got a C in Physics because of missing lab reports. It’s not that I didn’t do the labs. Or the write-ups. Rather, I was such an anal perfectionist that rather than turn in a less than perfect report, I didn’t turn in one at all. Stupid.

But my illness goes back even further: the first manifestation I can remember was in first grade. I can remember having stacks of unfinished assignments in my desk. Most were coloring sheets & cut & paste things. In hindsight, I know they were things Mrs. M gave the class to keep the us busy between reading and math, but at the time, I remember being pretty distressed about it. It was my dirty secret. Quiet little, neat-working little, little little Julie who always did so well in school had piles of unfinished work in her little (unkempt) desk. (Most unfortunately, my perfectionism has never really overflowed into my workspace.) I remember having nightmares about it.

Since school, my perfectionsitic procrastination has continued. And usually that means that I start a lot of projects with genuinely good intentions but I fail to see them through to completion… or simply see them through.

THIS blog is no exception. Almost a year ago I established, and no sooner had I registered it than it became one of the more recent in my string of defunct online journals. And the big reason why: because I didn’t have the formatting quite to my liking.

Well to hell with that.

Today, on the eve of 2008, it’s about time I do something despite it being humanly imperfect. It’s time I do something — THIS — because it is (& I am) humanly imperfect.

I resolve to do this.

I will post no less than once a week. I will post even if I can’t add the pictures I want to at the moment. I will post even if I don’t have time to spellcheck or proofread. Likewise, I won’t apologize or feel guilty for not posting enough or for posting about the mundane. I will, however, write with a purpose each and every time.

I resolve to do this. Consistently.

Won’t you join me for the ride?