till human voices wake us | cmr

Check it ....

2007-06-20T05:33:00.000-07:00

The New Cool

2007-02-21T13:28:00.000-08:00

That would be me.

I am going to be cool soon. I just wanted you all to be prepared. It's gonna be big, baby!

Toronto Photobloggers

2006-06-28T11:18:00.000-07:00

As posted below, I look at Daily Dose of Imagery as often as possible (lately I've been slacking because I'm more and more busy) - today I discovered, in back tracking, three other Toronto Photobloggers, all featured on Photogrammetry.

Check them out:

Sam Javanrouh - daily dose of imagery
Matt O'Sullivan - the narrative
Gayla Trail - making happy
Davin Risk - low resolution

Now if only we can get our very own Alice Merchant to do a photoblog, I'd be in photoblog heaven!

From The Narrative - Matt O'Sullivan

A Call to Action!

2006-06-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

Finally! The foster kids are gonna get some cred! ABC is launching a call to action to investigate and report on the state of the foster care system nationwide. I'm so very glad. The only problem is that there are some many different issues regarding foster care, I'm very afraid they are going to focus on those areas that suggest 1) all foster homes are good home; 2) kids are placed for their own misgivings and not necessarily that of their parents; 3) that no matter why they are placed, foster kids will become "special needs" - not true, not necessary, and that's how stereotypes are born; 4) foster kids will appear as orphans with no direction, no goals, limited potential, less worthy than the rest; 5)any label is a bad label.

For research, things to know, statistics, volunteer information, etc., go to my delicious page. And because I had to, I had no choice, I wrote a letter to Primetime. I had to. Yes, I know. I can get dramatic. But like I care. What on TV isn't dramatic?

Agents can be bitches!

2006-05-25T07:33:00.000-07:00

I have no idea if any writers at all visit my site, but I came across some interesting news today. A popular website for writers, that I admittedly never visited until today, posted a 20 Worst Agents List on their website. The site, Absolute Write is one of the few writing sites not meant to post your short poem/opera/screenplay version of "Puff the Magic Dragon" - done in three lines. This site actually has writers.

One literary agent took offense to her presence on the list of bad agents and complained to the host, claiming the site was causing her spam and thus, labeling them as spammers, and thus: shutting them down. You can read a direct account here. And Miss Snark, an honest and rockin' literary agent, posted her own response to the debacle here.

Let's all take a minute to thank Miss Snark.

Being that I am a writer and I love all acts of free speech (including calling Barbara Bauer a scared cow whose scams are caught), I will also post the list of worst agents. Take a look:

* The Abacus Group Literary Agency
* Allred and Allred Literary Agents (refers clients to “book doctor” Victor West of Pacific Literary Services)
* Capital Literary Agency (formerly American Literary Agents of Washington, Inc.)
* Barbara Bauer Literary Agency
* Benedict & Associates (also d/b/a B.A. Literary Agency)
* Sherwood Broome, Inc.
* Desert Rose Literary Agency
* Arthur Fleming Associates
* Finesse Literary Agency (Karen Carr)
* Brock Gannon Literary Agency
* Harris Literary Agency
* The Literary Agency Group, which includes the following:

Children’s Literary Agency
Christian Literary Agency
New York Literary Agency
Poets Literary Agency
The Screenplay Agency
Stylus Literary Agency (formerly ST Literary Agency)
Writers Literary & Publishing Services Company (the editing arm of the above-mentioned agencies)

* Martin-McLean Literary Associates
* Mocknick Productions Literary Agency, Inc.
* B.K. Nelson, Inc.
* The Robins Agency (Cris Robins)
* Michele Rooney Literary Agency (also d/b/a Creative Literary Agency and Simply Nonfiction)
* Southeast Literary Agency
* Mark Sullivan Associates
* West Coast Literary Associates (also d/b/a California Literary Services)

Writers unite!

Now find me a literary agent to publish my memoir, will ya?

Max Zappa and Kenneth Parker

2006-05-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

A big THANK YOU to Helen Day for linking me to these two:

Max Zappa

and

Kenneth Parker

Easter 2006

2006-04-19T13:36:00.001-07:00

Last weekend was Easter. I did not know this on my own. The day the bunny was born was of no consequence to me. However, Joey made a good point about Good Friday. If that is the day the Bunny died, why is it so good? And what help is that Bunny if his death caused all daycares to close?! Bastard...

Anastasia had fun anyway... the Bunny was back and she had candy, a park, and rockin' friends (click photo to see pics).

Overheard in the Office

2005-07-01T06:29:00.000-07:00

Discovered a new link through a LiveJournal friend, Overheard in the Office, a collection of things people say while they're at work. Some of them are absolutely hysterical and made me just laugh and laugh.

daily dose of imagery

2005-06-22T06:26:00.000-07:00

Every day, I check out Sam's site, daily dose of imagery, a collection of digital photos, updated daily. I love the view of Toronto that he shares and can't wait for a trip there. Check out the city before the release of romero's Land of the Dead.

Auschwitz

2005-06-10T11:52:00.000-07:00

Auschwitz II, May 2005

New Gallery Posted

2005-05-07T19:57:00.000-07:00

More photos from our trip to the Asylum in late April. Enjoy!

Upstairs | The Asylum

2005-05-07T18:55:00.000-07:00

Down the hall, up the stairs | The Asylum, April 2005

2005-05-07T18:54:00.000-07:00

Butts in a can (or, "Vices") | April 2005

Asylum - Revisited - #2

2005-05-01T18:21:00.000-07:00

Dave hard at work on a scene we didn't even have to stage. Asylum | May 1, 2005.

Asylum - Revisited

2005-05-01T18:14:00.000-07:00

Dave and I ventured to the Asylum again today. This time I went with my own camera, the Sony Cybershot P150, 7.2 megapixels. Last time I went with Dave's camera, a Canon Powershot S50. I have decided, perhaps with Dave's agreement, that to investigate the origins of what we call "The Asylum" could potentially be disappointing. Could have been a respite house for lazy housewives or something. Either way, we both took 100+ photos, a little preview of what's to come when we go to Europe.

Photo : Alley

2005-04-24T07:19:00.000-07:00

Through an alley : April 23, 2005

Photo: Puff

2005-04-23T16:11:00.000-07:00

A photo of my cat, Puff, who turned 13 this last St. Patty's Day. He's very photogenic and was sitting on my chest at the time.

Photo Op by Dave

2005-04-19T20:24:00.000-07:00

Photo by Dave with his digital Canon Rebel XT camera of my apartment on a lovely Sunday morning.

Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand

2005-02-10T05:24:00.000-08:00

Now despite the many scrunched up faces I got while reading Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, it was, by far, the best book I had ever read. This is a big deal. I absolutely loved it. It made me feel more in touch with my own sensibilties than a book has ever done before. There are times when people say "This book changed my life," and I've heard it said numerous times about Atlas; however, though it didn't change my life, it sure did change the focus of my life's appreciation. It hit me in a personal way when it comes to family relationships, giving, taking and what it means to those who are giving and taking. I lived a long time giving money I had to my family, working hard for my mother, and though it made me feel good, I realized after reading Atlas that I did it out of a sense of guilt: I felt bad for having money. Which also explained why I did not seek out a job that offered more.

The point is that I found this quote by Ayn Rand and that is why this post is on this page:

Live a life as a monument to your soul
Ayn Rand

So get to it.

Honda Accord Advertisement

2005-02-01T10:16:00.000-08:00

I love advertising. Some commercials deserve a lot of respect. In fact, I feel I'd do well in the industry. Last week, Leslie and I were out shopping and I was starving so I stopped at the Burger King drive-thru. I never had a whopper and Leslie loves the Whopper Jr.'s, so I got one, feeling I could master the art of eating while driving (manual shift, too). I'm eating; things are a little sloppy, and I took a huge bite of only mayonnaisse and wanted to barf all over the steering wheel. I need napkins. I feel wet stuff in my lap and when I turn on the light: dropping of condiments on my lap, coat, steering wheel and column. PATHETIC! We decided it'd be a great commercial: dark. Car pulls up to drive-thru, order a Whopper. The car is driving along; we can't see inside. We hear eating noises; disgusting, fat, devouring noises with "Mmmmm..." going on. Then the car pulls up to a light, where there's more light, we look inside and see the face covered in food and two smears where the eyes are. Delish.

But I'm never getting a Whopper ever again.

Well, Honda Accord has a great new advertisement. It was filmed in real time, no CGI was used, and it cost $6 million dollars. There were 600 takes (or something like that). I think it's amazing, so you go check it out.

White Shoulders, by Carl Sandburg

2005-01-06T11:09:00.000-08:00

White Shoulders by Carl Sandburg

Your white shoulders
I remember
And your shrug of laughter.

Low laughter
Shaken slow
From your white shoulders.

Alice Munro, Short Story Writer

2004-12-22T07:08:00.000-08:00

Last year, my mother Ellen sent me a care package (I'm sure I had some underwear in there, definitely some bills, and perhaps a letter written on the back of an envelope). In the box was a book she thought I should read: Women & Fiction,* by Susan Cahill (edited). Some nights before bed, when I want a break from novel reading, I pick up the book and read through it. Two nights ago, I read a fantastic story in the book by Alice Munro, called "The Office." I've been trying to find a link to the story, but was only able, instead, to find her story, "Chance", published in The New Yorker(someday, my story will be too. Wahoo!).

"The Office" is about Alice Munro, writer, but also housewife. She writes of the day she decided to tell her husband that she needs an office, and she goes to get one, but though she writes in it, and though she has her own space, her career space, she's a mother--and men can't let her work the way men would let other men work. It was a fantastic short story.

For more info about her, here is an interview done through Random House Books.

*Please take note that from here on out, my links to books are through Barnes and Noble rather than Amazon. I recently discovered that Amazon gave more monies to the Republicans this last election while Barnes and Noble were huge Democratic supporters--and so am I.

Harley Brown, Painter

2004-12-21T10:29:00.000-08:00

I have a crush on a boy who paints and he recently showed me work by Harley Brown. In looking through the book, I lingered over the portraits of children. Their lips, looking soft and wet the way kids lips are, unable to form dry, crisp words... they looked perfect. And round eyes, curious and serious, but childlike and vulnerable.

William Beckman

2004-12-17T13:55:00.000-08:00

A recently discovered artist who does incredibly realistic portrait paintings. Check it out:

You can find more about him here.

Carson McCullers on Writing

2004-12-16T15:13:00.000-08:00

"It must be that one writes from some subconscious need for communication, for self-expression. Writing is a wandering, dreaming occupation . . . The writer by nature of his profession is a dreamer and a conscious dreamer. How, without love and the intuition that comes from love, can a human being place himself in the situation of another human being? He must imagine, and imagination takes humility, love and great courage." From "The Flowering Dream," Esquire (December 1959)