50,000 words! If this were November, this would be very significant. As it is, it’s just another signpost, rather than a goalpost.

(A few weeks back, JT Glover posted about chapter themes. My chapters generally aren’t themed, but this, the sixteenth, clearly is. It’s about nudity, bodies, being naked emotionally and physically. Which is, I think, the only way my fourteen-year-old narrator, in fact any fourteen-year-old, can be naked; there are no exposed bodies at that age without emotions being likewise exposed.)

Other writing news of note: I finished a series of mutant turtle poems, which I started back in my last semester, so that I could submit them to this superhero poetry anthology. Even if the anthology doesn’t work out, writing poems–not just motes, but honest-to-gee-dash-dee poems–feels good. In celebration, here are the four best TMNT things I could find on youtube:

and this (click on it–it’s worth it). Good god, what is coming out of Donatello’s face?

(In other-other news, ten days till matrimony. Weird.)

I’ve been aiming a little “higher” in regards to places to send my poetry. Sending it to places that pay, mostly (honestly, how else would I rank magazines? I’m not sure. Plenty of “little” mags, not paying, have work that I adore). So it’s been rough going–rejections, rejections, long stretches of waiting and rejections.

I got a nice one today, from Andromeda Spaceways:

Now, this shows promise, but there are structural problems. The triplet form doesn’t work the way it’s laid out. I’d like to see a rewrite where the form is not so rigidly controlled, but for now, no.

The poem in question is a loose terza rima so I’m not sure that I want to abandon the format, but they might be right–my poems have generally become sort-of rigid in certain ways over the last few years and relaxing that might be the way to go. I’ll sit on it (Potsie). But still, some good news–even amidst bad news–is heartening.

Man, is this the semester from heck. I have been a super busy Phoebe. I’ve fallen asleep grading papers like four times in the past two weeks.

That doesn’t mean that I haven’t had time to eat, though–there’s always time for food! Last week (or, ten days ago, actually), I whipped up this recipe from this blog. Great for left-overs, as demonstrated above. I added a teensy bit of Gorgonzola to give the reheated veggies some bite and whipped up a tuna sandwich with walnuts and cranberries. The result was a superbly autumnal meal.

Excuse the Vulcan hair. These were taken on Halloween, and I was getting prepped for a costume party

You know, a lot of people, generally, but women, especially, feel self-conscious about the idea of having someone watch them eat. This webpage has been an interesting exercise in confidence. Obviously, I’m not afraid of posting unflattering pictures of myself, but I actually think I look pretty good in these. Pocky and a bit freckled, maybe, but I don’t feel squeamish. There was a point in my life when I probably would have felt at least weird about it–self conscious of the act of eating and my food choices (thinking to myself: “There’s cheese and mayonnaise on that plate–what will people think?!”). I think part of being fearless is acting fearless, though; in order to slay the beast, you have to face it head on. This beast is called food. This beast is called eating in public unabashedly and unashamedly.

(But maybe I’ve just traded in self-consciousness for vanity. That’s possible too.)

After lunch, I partook in some wonka brand confections. I love runts. And nerds. And everlasting gobstoppers. Sweet, glistening carnauba wax. Apparently, the neighborhood kids weren’t so excited by it. No one came to my house on Halloween! I ended up unloading most of the loot on my students, who didn’t seem to mind.

Science Officer T’pho demonstrates the proper way to consume a fun-sized box of nerds.

Insert nerd joke . . . here.

Oh, incidentally, I have some poems up right now at nth Position. There’s no food in them, but there is raunchiness. Eating and raunchiness are sort of related, right? It’s all about being a good animal.