August 22nd, 2008

While I’m at it…

I didn’t realize that the Canadian Notes and Queries online exclusive included me, but it it does. My profile and a short story, “The Words,” are both there, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Well, you don’t lie to me!
RR

August 13th, 2008

Today

It is rainy and cold in Toronto and I have something in my eye. On the upside:

–Today is the media launch for The Eden Mills Writers Festival. I am going to read a story (well, part of one) to the media. I hope I get whatever it is out from behind my contact lens by then.
–Today I have an essay on That Shakespeherian Rag.
–Today (well, tonight) is the Salon de Refuses launch for TNQ and CNQ, both of which I received in the mail yestereve, and they are so lovely to look at (I trust they’ll be lovely to read, too, but we’re not moving too fast around here, being now particularly blinky).

She’s too good to be true / to me
RR

July 25th, 2008

Next next next

There’s always more cool stuff to do in the world, and I always want to do it. There’s a new and very funny blog in the world, The Royal Order of the Indolent, out to promote the new book, Idler’s Glossary, which is about…well, you can guess. I find the blog (and accompanying Facebook group) very fun, even though it’s probably designed for people who can relax even when they don’t have heatstroke, ie., not me. Actually, I see a few people hanging around the Facebook group who could be accused of workaholism, but I let it rest…

Other than blogging and Facebooking, I am up to some slightly more active stuff:

–in August, Steven W. Beattie will run a Short Story Month on his website, That Shakespeherian Rag, full of essays, paeons, and musings, I have no doubt. The story story being a form to which I have devoted many months, I am happy to be contributing an essay, “18% More Effective,” somewhere in the middle of things.
–September 24, I’ll be speaking at a couple of events at the dynamic and diverse Thin Air Literary Festival in Winnipeg. I’m really excited both to be participating and to check out what the other writers have to say.
–this fall, I’m pleased to say that my story “Hello Hello” will appear in Windsor’s Rampike Magazine. It’s the 25th anniversary year for this postmodern Canadian journal, and I’m proud to be a part of it.

All this, and 4th place amongst my friends on Word Scramble! Yeah, ladder mode brings out my competitive edge.

Hey shoplifter / why did you take her?
RR

July 23rd, 2008

Creative Endeavours

I don’t really mind heat, even on the extreme side–I have a lowish body temperature, and sort of even like an occasional scorching day. Some do, some don’t, with heat–but does anybody really like humidity? Other than making my skin look really good, I don’t know what there is to like about maple-syrup textured air. If you have pro-humidity theorems, I’d love to hear’em–it might make me feel better. I hate air-conditioning, but I think I hate humidity more, so it’s a fine dice of discomfort lately and really just hard on morale. Also on getting anything done: I’m working as much as ever, but at much slower rates. To slow down ones running or lifting of heavy objects in the heat seems logical, but since mine are mainly endeavours of the mind (wow, that’s a new height of pretension–I’m leaving it in!) it seems odd that the humidity has dragged me down.

It’s better tonight, whetherwise, so maybe work will improve also. In the meantime, inspiration!

I discovered The Ting Tings on David Whitton‘s website and felt an immediate sympathy with the plaint, “That’s Not My Name.” Besides having a wicked beat, the song perfectly captures my pain: despite my so-called “cool name” (I certainly think so), I am frequently called “Jane.” Also, “Rachel.” Also, very often, “you” and yesterday, “whatsyername.” This song makes me feel less alone and anonymous, but the other ones I’ve heard are good too.

Virginia at UofT Alumni endeavours made a beautiful webpage for *Once* on the Great Books by Great Grads site. You can’t see it unless you are an alum, unfortunately, but if you are one, I urge you to check out the full roster–who knew there were so many published past students?

Finally, a dead-sexy website showcasing a designer’s talents–that works. Even if you don’t need a website or letterhead designed, you should look at Create Me This for sterling examples in the form.

Ok. I’m gonna go accomplish stuff now. Really. Yeah.

Maybe Julisa / always the same / that’s not my name
RR

July 16th, 2008

On nostalgia

For my birthday, my friend Shannon gave me Listography, a workbook compiled by Lisa Nola so you can make up an autobiography in lists, cued by prompts in the book (or on the website. Obviously, fun for those of us who like lists, and possibly a little OCD for those who do not. I’m ok with that, and appreciate Shannon’s endorsement of my fetish.

Still, not every list is magic–the one I made of every address I’ve ever had was depressing, mainly because I can’t remember the apartment number of a place I live in seven years ago, which is frustrating for my obsession. I probably can’t remember every toy and game I ever played with, either, but that toy-and-game list *is* magic, because there are plenty of them I *do* remember, and those toys are far enough in the past that I feel a pleasant burst of oh-I-remember thinking of them, whereas I still have most of the same furniture from the apartment of no-particular-number.

Oh, kid nostalgia! It’s been making the rounds lately, must be seeing all the water-fights in the park. Kerry and I were pleased to find we both desired a Power Wheel and never got one. I was mentioning to a less-astute friend that I still think Power Wheels are cool, and he said, “Uh, don’t you have a driver’s license now?” As if that makes it any better! Driving acar is totally not the point.

Nevertheless, my parents weren’t stupid–they knew that kids that could make an afternoon out of playing with a toad and drinking from the hose (my friend Nancy reminded me of that long-lost glee!) didn’t need to drive around the backyard. I don’t mean to paint my youth as quite the countryside idyll of Laura Ingalls or anything–we were as obsessed with Nintendo as any kids anywhere, we just also had the toads and the fields and spring run-off, etc.

And then eventually, you get into high-school and either start trying to be cool or actually are, and either way there’s a lot less time to waste on playing–what are toys and games but ways to occupy people who don’t have anything else to do.

I wrote a story once about hanging on to kid games when you’re in high school, about not feeling up to growing up–it’s called Grade Nine Flight. I always forget about that one, because it was written ages ago, though it later appeared on The Danforth Review, that wonderful online journal of (mainly) the short story. Someone reminded me of it recently, because it’s the only actual story that comes up when you google me (TDR archives all their stuff). She read it wanting to know what my work is like, and there’s a kind of double-nostalgia here, because that story is in a very different vein than my work these days. I’m not only nostalgic for childhood, I’m nostalgic for three years ago.

I’ll go back to that sort of story one of these days, I’m sure. On Monday night, in High Park, I saw a toad.

When Johnny saw the numbers he lied
RR

July 3rd, 2008

Scream scream

Hey, the Scream in High Park starts tonight, with the Alumni Night at Supermarket. I am sad that I can’t go, so maybe you could go instead and tell me about it? It’s going to feature more established poets reading the work of the new generation, which is a pretty cool concept. One the poets being read is Emily Schultz, who will also be officially launching the Joyland site tonight. And the Scream archive launch is happening also. You see why I’m sad.

What I am able to attend, vis The Scream, is the Seen Writing Youth Event. Obviously, I am not youth, so my role will be modest, non-participatory, really a cue to action: a still-life of reading to inspire the young writers (one hopes). If this sounds a little hard to picture, you obviously haven’t been reading the wonderful Seen Reading website, where Julie Wilson spins tales about readers every day. Anyway, it’ll no doubt be cool, so if you know any youth, send’em out!
Saturday, July 5, 2008, 4:30pm – 6:00pm, Tinto Cafe, 89 Roncesvalles Avenue

I’ve been livin’ for ya since the age of 17
RR

June 28th, 2008

Internet Abundance

There’s been much action on the interweb while I was away–yall just wait for me leave, don’t you? Or, actually, some of this stuff has been up a while, I’m just slow. But now I am alerting you! If you, you know, care about any of this.

–The last ever installment of rob mclennan’s “12 or 20 Questions” series–with rob himself. So interesting. I was shocked at the lack of enthusiasm for pears! Also involving mr. mclennan, witness via YouTube the intense run-up to the Throw-down in O-Town last night, vs. Nathaniel G. Moore. It’s too bad they couldn’t have had one here (or I couldn’t have posted about this earlier for the Ottawa reader(s) out there) but the videos are pretty amusing.
–In further bookishness, the always insightful Kerry Clare, writes movingly about the books we read again, on Descant Blog. I can’t quite nail down the metaphor here–if the past is a foreign country, books are open tickets…? Oh, she says it much better–go read.
–Toronto poet Dani Couture has started a photo blog called Animal Effigy in order to document the ways the urban environment is haunted by images–effigies–of the animals we have shut out. The pictures are often funny and sometimes sad, and you can contribute if you have a similar eye for this sort of thing.

Enjoy!

Your soul impedes on mine
RR

June 2nd, 2008

For Your Enjoyment

This is my CBC3 Radio Playlist. I think it’s so clever that you can make a playable list of your favourite CanRock, and then send it to your friends so that they can experience what it’s like to live in your aural landscape. I don’t know if anyone cares to listen to mine, but if you have one (or get inspired and build one) I’d love the link, as I am musically ravenous these days. When I like a song, I like it 15 times in a row.

I have read enough acknowlegement pages to know that many writers thank a particular song or album they have listened to on repeat throughout the writing (and/or they thank their housemates and neighbours for putting up with it). I am hoping that my relationship with the “repeat” button has more to do with my literary tendencies than my obsessive ones. Not all songs, no matter how beloved, are musically or lyrically complex to stand up to this treatment (sorry, Avril.) To listen to a 3 minute song for 3 hours, it’s got to have a lot of elements in play. If you are looking for recommendations, Wintersleep and The Arcade Fire both stand up to the challenge quite well (they’re on the playlist).

Another thing, completely unrelated, that you might enjoy is that Diane Schoemperlen did a 12 or 20 Questions or at rob mclennan’s blog. I’ve been waiting for this one (I have full faith rob will get everyone eventually), not only because Schoemperlen is so witty in everything she writes (not everyone who writes good fiction writes good non-fiction *about* writing fiction [witness that sentence]). The other reason: everytime I read one of these and reach question 8 (when was the last time you ate a pear?), I think of the Schoemperlen storylette, “Small Room with Pears” (from her brilliant Forms of Devotion) and thought the story would be referenced when the author herself answered #8. But she doesn’t bring it up, which was a small disappointment, but still, her answers were quite wonderful to read. Enjoy!

Resurrection/livin’ in the past
RR

May 29th, 2008

New Friends

If I’ve gotten my dates right, today is the launch of University of Toronto’s online alumni community, of which this blog is a part! Which is cool.

Although I am UofT class of 2007, and have therefore been an alumnae (is that the right noun? I never took Latin) for less time than I was a student, I am already profoundly nostalgic. No matter how much you like your grown-up job, there’s no seminar-style debate, no library borrowing-privileges, no deadline-extension pink forms.

Worse, even though I can’t see it, I *know* that UofT campus is May-time gorgeous right now, and somewhere on that big field in King’s College Circle (why did I never learn the name of that field?) someone is under a tree sorta reading a book, and sorta watching some other someones playing Frisbee. It’s enough to make you forget all about seminar-snark, dead printer cartriges at the last minute, and low-caliber coffee.

This weekend is Spring Reunion, which will take me back to campus to read, to mingle, and to embrace my nostalgic side. See you there?

Oh the sweetness that could send me flying
RR

May 27th, 2008

Moving Right Along

The new issue of Exile Quarterly is out (with a gorgeous flame-y cover) which means I had to take “my” issue off the “Now” list. The saddest moment in publishing, the no-longer-on-newsstands moment. But moving right along, there is the summer issue of The New Quarterly to look forward to. In addition to what I hear is an amazing line-up in the “Salon de Refuses” feature, there will be (in a separate section) an interview with me by the insightful and charming Amy King, as well as my short story “Linh Lai.” I am excited about the whole affair, utterly.

Also upcoming–this blog is being “syndicated” at the University of Toronto alumni community website (not live yet, hence no link) starting on Thursday. If you are already reading this blog, this means very little to you. It’s just another place people can read a slightly abbreviated version of Rose-coloured. Anyway, it’ll be cool to encounter my fellow alums on the interweb, and I liked the idea of community, as you know, very much. So on Thursday I’ll be posting the link (I hope) and the “Welcome, new friends!” message, and then probably, business as usual.

Moving right along…

Where’s the tenderness? / Where’s the girl I miss?
RR