Life and Stuff

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Hello all my Darlings,

Sorry I've been absent. I'm terribly behind here and I see about a bagillion messages and some notes to respond to and I've started trying to catch up, but I likely won't anytime soon. Last couple of months have been a sorted variety of hell.

So first my last ferret died, that makes three in six months to cancer. Don't really want to get into it because it makes me angry and sad and all sorts of unpleasant, but I'm going to miss my little Tatsu.

Got incredibly sick shortly after, probably due to being a big sobbing mess, and then somehow developed allergies for the first time in my life. Getting old sucks. So I've been dealing with a whole shitload of allergy related issues, mostly which center around my eyes. I've spent several days half blind and have had to mostly wear my glasses. I've worn my glasses more in the last five weeks than I have in the last six or seven years combined. I loathe my glasses as they make me dizzy (I have a crazy prescription and the difference between focusing with lenses on my eyes versus out on my nose is a pain). Also, whereas I've always been able to work my 40 hours a week on a computer and then work on the journal and my own writing and dA after-hours and most of the weekend, my eyes are no longer able to handle it. At this point, I'm lucky on days I can do anything outside of work, including reading a book.

So, I've been freaking out. I have three books to review in the next month and a half (I'm now on staff at Up the Staircase Quarterly and Stevie Edwards will be mailing me her latest book as soon as it's off the presses this month; I have a Stephen Fry book to review for Atticus Review; plus a translated book to review for our journal) as well as our issue to read for and compile that's out in April. Icing on the cake is this special feature that's supposed to be out this month on our site--I've been waiting to share this for SIX MONTHS--that I am preparing to contact it's contributors and inform them that I have to delay until May or June. I simply cannot trust my eyes to work on days I have the time and I've been advised to get the fuck off my computer start resting them. Well, not in that verbiage, but the whole thing has made me quite pissy so I'm just going to get it out: SHIT FUCK MOTHER TWAT PISSBUCKET.

Not all is dismal, however. Jenner has moved to California for his new contract, which means I'll be following in a couple of months. While I'm not excited to be back in California, I cannot work my job out of that state (laws and shit) so that means that I will no longer be in front of the computer for 40 hours during the week for work. He's also agreed to let me go either unemployed or get a very part time job for a while so that I can focus on my own writing and future plans. God I love that man. I've been invited to intern with Sundress Publications (love love love them, like mega humps, you can quote me on that) once I get to California and through December (after which point I'll rejoin the job market). I'll have time to catch back up on my journal responsibilities, look into grad school (I'm planning to go for my Poetry MFA before an MA/PhD in publishing), finish some work I have sitting around, etc. So there is a rainbow in my future, if I can make it through the next couple of months.

Also fun: I have a minichap (Coyote & the Birds) coming out with Origami Poem Project, a little place I've had my eyes on for a while. Not a major credit, but I adore what they do ("An Origami Micro-chapbook presents poems arranged on a single sheet of paper that is folded, origami-style, into a palm-sized book.  Download the PDF books to print, read and share).  Should stave the itch to submit my longer works until I am focused enough to give them one last go-through. Anyways, Origami's pretty cool, and anyone who wants to test the water with a short poetry collection, I suggest checking them out: www.origamipoems.com/  If you're accepted, make sure to note me so I don't miss it. I know several poets they've published, but nobody on dA that I can think of. And that is sad, because you are all awesome bitches.

Like clockwork, my eyes are starting to swim, so I'm going to wrap this up. I miss you all immensely. I'm going to leave my account up for now instead of deactivating, and I hope you'll catch me up with a comment on all your latest happenings. It may be a bit longer before I can respond but I will look forward to it.

XOXO

-Raquel
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cwedmart's avatar
Always great to hear from you.