Tag: travel

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What’s On My Nightstand: December 2018

Nonfiction/Memoir

Some Bright Morning I’ll Fly Away, by Alice Anderson

When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir, by Asha Bandele and Patrisse Cullors

Dreaming the Dark: Magic, Sex, and Politics, by Starhawk

Fiction

Blood and Guts in High School, by Kathy Acker

The Answers: A Novel, by Catherine Lacey

Short Fiction

“Surplus Male,” by Caitlin Bagwell, NUNUM

“Acceptance Journey,” by Mary Gaitskill

“Staring at His Converse Tennis Shoes,” by Anne Gudger, 50-Word Stories

“Two Sisters,” by Ludmilla Petrushkevskaya

“Time for the Eyes to Adjust,” by Lin Ullman

Young Adult Fiction

The Hate You Give, by Angie Thomas

Poetry

“Prognosis,” by Meena Alexander

“Arrival at Santos,” by Elizabeth Bishop

“Dinah,” by Sarah Blake

“Saturday,” by Caryl Pagel

“The Sagittarius” and “A Song of Monsoon and Blood Lava,” by Pamela K. Santos

Journal

The Paris Review, No. 227, Winter 2018

Ploughshares Fall 2018

Essay / Interview / OpEd

“Roxane Gay: ‘Public Discourse Rarely Allows for Nuance. And see where that’s gotten us,” by Aida Edemarium, The Guardian

“The Thread: Outside the Gaze,” by Marissa Korbel, The Rumpus

“I Used to Give Men Mercy,” by Therese Mailhot, Guernica

“Why You Should Be One Too?” by Spencer Reed, Granta

Catalogue

Mt. Airy Learning Tree Winter 2019 Course Catalogue

Magazine / Newspaper

Lesbian Connection: free to lesbians worldwide, but the suggested donation is $7/issue (more if you can, less if you can’t), January/February 2019 issue

The New Yorker

The Week

Random

author photo (below), photograph and styling by Gracie, age 5

HURRAW! lipbalm

pomegranate majolica dish

hummingbird Xmas ornament, made by Nicolle

ginger cookies, made by Echo Bodine)

Smith’s Rosebud Salve

lavender bath salts, made by Charlotte

Leigh_by Gracie_Xmas2018
author photo, photograph and styling by Gracie, age 5

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What’s On My Nightstand: November 2018

Nonfiction/Memoir

When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir, by Asha Bandele and Patrisse Cullors

Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking, by David Bayles and Ted Orland

The Art of Misdiagnosis: Surviving My Mother’s Suicide, by Gayle Brandeis

The Constitution Today: Timeless Lessons for the Issues of our Era, by Akhil Reed Amar

Fiction

The Last to See Me, by M. Dressler

Short Fiction

“The Deer-Vehicle Collision Survivors Support Group,” by Porochista Khakpour (Guernica)

“The Proxy Marriage,” by Maile Malloy (The New Yorker)

“The Sex Lives of African Girls,” by Taiye Selasi, (Granta)

Young Adult Fiction

The Hate You Give, by Angie Thomas

Music Together Teacher Training Manual

“Hello, Everybody!” Music Together: Family Favorites

Poetry

“Perhaps the World Ends Here,” by Joy Harjo

Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman

The Love Poems of Rumi, edited by Deepak Chopra

Journal

Carnegie Science, Fall 2018

The Paris Review, Issue 225

Ploughshares Fall 2018

Essay / Interview / OpEd

Toward a More Radical Selfie, by India Ennenga (The Paris Review)

The Guardian view on Donald Trump’s credibility: America’s compromised leader (The Guardian)

Meet the New Freshmen in Congress: More Democrats, Diversity and Women, by Catie Edmonson and Jasmine C. Lee

Magazine / Newspaper

Lesbian Connection: free to lesbians worldwide, but the suggested donation is $7/issue (more if you can, less if you can’t)

The New Yorker

The Week

Vanity Fair

Random

beach shells

Betron earbuds

blue light blocking glasses, Pixel

The Master Key pitch pipe

ukulele cheat sheet

 

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What’s On My Nightstand: August September October 2018

I was posting the pile on my nightstand every month but got sidetracked, so I’m sure I’ve missed something. A quick note on two important favorites:

The Reckonings, by Lacy M. Johnson

When I read my friend Kelly Thompson’s Guernica interview and this NPR review of Lacy Johnson’s newest book of essays, I knew I needed to own a copy. This morning I read the last paragraph of the first essay about ten times while crying into my coffee. If you’re a trauma survivor, this book is a balm.

The Constitution Today: Timeless Lessons for the Issues of our Era, by Akhil Reed Amar

I don’t remember how I heard about this 2016 book on constitutional journalism by Yale law professor, Akhil Amar. I ordered it from my public library and received a notice that it was available yesterday, just hours after the GOP-in-Chief announced that he was rethinking the 14th Amendment. The Constitution Today is described as a “handbook for thinking constitutionally about today’s headlines,” and I’m already knee-deep.  (Check out p. 240 for a breakdown of what the 14th Amendment has to do with same-sex marriage for your daily dose of brain-burning.)

What’s On My Nightstand

Fiction

An American Marriage, by Tayari Jones

Silver Sparrow, by Tayari Jones

The Vampire Gideon’s Suicide Hotline & Halfway House for Orphaned Girls, by Andrew Katz

Bell Canto, by Ann Patchett

 

Short Fiction

We’ll Always Have Paris: Stories, by Ray Bradbury

“Cecilia Awakened,” by Tessa Hadley

“The Wind Cave,” by Haruki Murakami

Sour Heart, by Jenny Zhang

 

Children’s Fiction

Catwings, by Ursula K. LeGuin

Quiet, by Tomie de Paola

 

Nonfiction

The Constitution Today: Timeless Lessons for the Issues of our Era, by Akhil Reed Amar

The Reckonings, by Lacy M. Johnson

You Are a Badass®: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life, by Jen Sincero

 

Journal

The Paris Review, Issue 225

Ploughshares Fall 2018

 

Essay / Interview / OpEd

“You’re Disillusioned. That’s Fine. Vote Anyway,” by Roxane Gay, The New York Times

“Lacy M. Johnson: Moving the Conversation Toward Justice,” by Kelly Thompson, Guernica

“Maltese for Beginners,” by Judith Thurman

 

Poetry

“Brett Kavanaugh Does the Dishes,” by Katherine Harer

“Epithalamium,” by Sarah Holland-Batt

“Little Dog’s Rhapsody in the Night” by Mary Oliver

“Bees,” by Maya Ribault

 

Magazine / Newspaper

Lesbian Connection: free to lesbians worldwide, but the suggested donation is $7/issue (more if you can, less if you can’t)

The New Yorker

The Week

Vanity Fair

 

Random 

“I VOTE / I MUST” button (given to me by my local postal worker after we talked about the pipe bombs sent and I showed her my “VOTE” t-shirt. She reached behind her and dug through a box and said “A sweet old lady named Mrs. Lovejoy makes these buttons, and she said to give them to whoever needs them, so I’m giving this one to you.”)

birthday card, by Atticus

ukulele cheat sheet

Bach’s Rescue Remedy

library card, Free Library of Philadelphia

 

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What’s On My Nightstand: July 2018

Fiction

Two Spoons of Bitter | Sonja S. Mongar

The Catcher in the Rye |JD Salinger *

*missed it in high school

 

Short Fiction

Under the Wave | Lauren Groff

Pause | Mary Ruefle

The Blackout | Kelly Thompson

 

Nonfiction

Emergent Strategy | Adrienne Maree Brown

Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Account Right Now | Jaron Lanier

Energy Transmutation Between-ness and Transmission | Richard Rose

Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities |Rebecca Solnit

How to Love | Thich Nhat Hanh

 

Memoir

Pastrix | Nadia Bolz-Weber

 

Journal

The Paris Review, Summer 2018

 

Essay / Interview / OpEd

Why I helped organize the ‘Handmaids’ protest of Mike Pence| Samantha Goldman

American Garbage | Marissa Korbel

From Dictatorship to Democracy | Gene Sharp

The Saddest Children’s Book in the World | Yevgeniya Traps

 

Poetry

Call Me By My True Names|Thich Nhat Hanh

Running| The New Yorker | Joy Harjo

 

Magazine / Newspaper

Lesbian Connection: free to lesbians worldwide, but the suggested donation is $7/issue (more if you can, less if you can’t)

The New Yorker

The Week

 

Random 

pine cone

 

 

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What’s On My Nightstand: June 2018

Fiction

There, There / Tommy Orange

 

Short Fiction

“Without Inspection” | Edwidge Danticat

People Like You | Margaret Malone

Nonfiction

Emergent Strategy | Adrienne Maree Brown

Who Will Speak for America? | edited by Stephanie Feldman and Nathaniel Popkin

Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities |Rebecca Solnit

Tao Te Ching | Lao Tsu

 

Journal

The Paris Review, Summer 2018

 

Essay / Interview / OpEd

Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Comes to Terms with Global Fame | Larissa MacFarquhar

 

Poetry

If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho | Ann Carson

For You / Sharon Olds

 

Magazine / Newspaper

Lesbian Connection: free to lesbians worldwide, but the suggested donation is $7/issue (more if you can, less if you can’t)

The New Yorker

The Week

The Shuttle – Weaver’s Way Coop

 

Random 

rock: “There will be rough times and hard times, but you can never be put down” – Alexander, age 8

180 | Mnemosyne notebook

Blessing Spray: palo santo + selenite | Ark Made

June 30 flyers

 

 

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What’s On My Nightstand: May 2018

Fiction

La Bastarda, Trifonia Melibea Obono

The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy

brown girl dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson

 

Short Fiction

Without Inspection, by Edwidge Danticat

The Long Black Line, by John L’Heureux

 

Nonfiction

we are never meeting in real life. by Samantha Irby

Energy Transmutation Between-Ness and Transmission, by Richard Rose

 

Journal

The Paris Review, Spring 2018

 

Essay / Interview / OpEd

Why Are We So Fascinated by Cults? by Kirstin Allio (The Paris Review)

What Just Happened in Malaysia? by Tash Aw (The New York Times)

Stop mocking Kim Kardashian West for caring about prison reform, by Chandra Bozelko (Los Angeles Times)

 

Poetry

The morning after / my death, by Etel Adnan

The Universe in Verse, by Maya Angelou

Testament Scratched into a Water Station Barrel (Partial Translation), by Eduardo C. Corrall

Reconsolidation: Or, It’s the Ghosts Who Will Answer You, by Janice Lee

Marina, by Cynthia Zarin

 

Monograph

A Commonplace Book, by Christina McPhee

 

Magazine / Newspaper

Lesbian Connection

The New Yorker

The Week

The Shuttle – Weaver’s Way Coop

 

Random 

paper cranes

peonies

map of Portland, OR

map of Powell’s Bookstore

day planner, Mon Carnet de Poche

Rosebud Salve

purple pony

 

 

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“Test Tank” (New Short Fiction)

My most recent short fiction piece, “Test Tank” is up at Corporeal Writing. Read an excerpt below, or read the full essay here. 

Coming in July: If you’re a writer of any kind and you’re looking for community and feedback on your writing, join the newest section of my online writing workshop at Viva Institute. Class begins July 17.

 

 Excerpt: “Test Tank”

 

1.

“I missed my deadline.” It’s the first thought.

 

“Hey.” The sound is thick. “Welcome back.”

 

Drifting.

 

“How are you feeling?”

 

I missed my deadline. Again.

 

“Can you tell me your name?”

 

Ocean glass. Blue-green.

 

“I know it’s difficult, but can you wiggle the finger on your left hand?”

 

Certainly.

 

“Great,” you say. “You’re doing really great.” Warm and soft, the way I love. “Now can you tell me how you feel?”

 

“Like the ocean,” I murmur. “Without the waves.” I stretch my left arm and flex the fingers, swirling. I stretch the right, but it’s all wrong. Stretch left, stretch right – nothing. “Something’s wrong.”

 

The scrape of a chair. “Naia, listen. There’s not much time before we need to send you back, so I’m going to explain quickly, OK?”

 

“Back?”

 

“There’s been an accident.” You clear your throat and start again. “You were in an accident, but you’re going to be OK.”

 

“Back where?” I reach again, but everything is ocean. “Why can’t I see?”

 

“It’s part of the process. Just one of the stages of regeneration.”

 

I wince. From somewhere deep.

 

Thirty seconds, says a voice. [Read “Test Tank” here.]

 

Publications

You say, write something hopeful, Corporeal Writing.

Make a Little Birdhouse in Your Soul, Corporeal Writing.

You Can Do Anything, Corporeal Writing.

The Right to Bare Arms, ENTROPY Magazine.

Still Gonna Do (#ShePersisted), The Manifest-Station.

Upcoming Classes

Online Writing Workshop: The Illuminated Narrator – begins July 17

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LeighHereNow

PO Box 27771

Philadelphia, PA

19118, USA

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You say, write something hopeful

My most recent essay, “You say, write something hopeful,” was published yesterday at Corporeal Writing. For the month of June, I have the incredible fortune of living on one of the Dodecanese islands in Greece, and I’ve included some of my personal shots of the places mentioned in the piece below.

Read the full essay here.

 

 Excerpt: “You say, write something hopeful”

Something that makes people feel as hopeful and beautiful as this moment is, and even though that seems like an impossible thing to do, although it actually seems like the very worst thing to do, I say OK, I’ll try, because at this moment the sun has just done a kind of magic trick on the water, everything shimmering layers of gold and blue, and then I wonder how many times people have used the word shimmering to describe sunlight on water, and I stop.

Later, I say. I make a mental note that once we have walked back along the pebbled road, away from the darkening cliffs and spiked green shrubs, past the farmer who herds the goats to their night pasture, bronze bells clanging around their necks as they shuffle and call, once we have stacked the dishes and shuttered the windows and poured two glasses of water for bed, I will make a list of hopeful things, just to remind myself.

But as I stack the dishes, I am thinking of this morning’s hike to a remote beach on the north side of the island, how when a cheerful woman called “kalimera!” followed by “good morning!” (just in case I didn’t know) I slowed my gait and responded in kind, and then, because we are both travelers, I asked the question travelers ask: “Where are you from?” and she smiled “Australia,” and I nodded and smiled, and she asked, “You?” and I answered “The United States,” and I dropped my head. [read more]

Publications

Make a Little Birdhouse in Your Soul, Corporeal Writing.

You Can Do Anything, Corporeal Writing.

The Right to Bare Arms, ENTROPY Magazine.

Still Gonna Do (#ShePersisted), The Manifest-Station.

Upcoming Classes

Online Writing Workshop: The Illuminated Narrator – begins July 17

Subscribe

To receive blog updates, subscribe to LeighHereNow.

Postage

LeighHereNow

PO Box 27771

Philadelphia, PA

19118, USA

 

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Make a little birdhouse in your soul

My newest essay, “Make a Little Birdhouse in Your Soul” was published today in my monthly column, Secret Circus. Last month, I was invited to create a featured column on Corporeal Writing, the online writing workshop run by bestselling-author Lidia Yuknavitch. Lidia’s newest release, The Book of Joan, was recently featured on the cover of the New York Times Book Review and it’s getting rave reviews. (Read it – it’s worth the hype!) This is my second piece for Secret Circus.

The starlings are back. For each of the past three years, they have returned to gather a chaotic pile of damp grass, peeled bark, and matted bits of twine, threads still unraveling even as they are tucked away. One day a silky puff of cream-colored fur appears, the next, a waxy red leaf. I marvel at their ability to make do with such a seemingly uninhabitable place, an old crook of drainpipe beneath the roof of my apartment building, but this is what starlings do. I watch them, thinking of home.

Twenty-nine places in twenty-seven years. Never allowing myself to need anywhere or anything or anyone long enough to stay.

I think this is not true.

(Maybe it is partly true.)

Starlings are “egg droppers.” When they’re feeling competitive, they swoop into unattended nests and steal eggs, dropping them from great heights. Glossy and pale blue… [read more]

Publications

You Can Do Anything, Corporeal Writing.

The Right to Bare Arms, ENTROPY Magazine.

Still Gonna Do (#ShePersisted), The Manifest-Station.

Subscribe

To receive blog updates, subscribe to LeighHereNow.

Postage

LeighHereNow
PO Box 27771
Philadelphia, PA
19118, USA