Mario has won another award, this time for his story "Untied States of America." It's a fabulous story and Mario is a fabulous writer. Yay! I'm so happy for him—and for us. He's going to get a stipend. I might get dinner and a movie tonight. Score!
You can read a fascinating interview with Mario here. I learn from him every single day, and I learned things from this interview I didn't know. I'm so glad he's in my world!
Mario put his arms around me for the first time in a week. Yay! He went to the physical therapist today and then we came home and did the exercises. Well, he did them. I cheered him on. (It's so difficult to see him in pain. Just breaks my heart. So I went to the acupuncturist so that I wouldn't break my heart.) The exercises are really helping. As I said, he could put his arms around me without being in pain. Good for both of us.
And I fell in love with a chair tonight. Yep. I'm ready to buy it wine and bring it flowers. Man. We were looking for ergonomic furniture for Mario, and he mentioned Herman Miller's chairs. We went to the website and found the Embody chair. OMG. Yes, I just typed OMG.
It's beautiful. It's ergonomically correct. They use recycled material. It's environmentally cool. And it's beautiful. (Yes, I said that twice.) It's way expensive, but I still want to date it. That's what good design can do.
Also, I got into school. Yay! I start in July. Now I'll rustle up some money. I'm also going to take a class here in Portland on architectural drawing. A good thing to have to help me with my ecological planning and design courses.
All right. More tomorrow, I hope. I want to get back to writing. Not that I've been a slacker. I revised The Blue Tail this weekend and sent it out again.
Let's keep on movin'!
I'm looking out at sunshine. Almost unbelievable. It's been raining for so long. Yes, I know people believe it rains all the time in the Pacific Northwest, but it doesn't. In fact, June through August is pretty dry. Yesterday I was supposed to drive up to Seattle for an interview at the university where I'm going to get a graduate certificate, but it was so rainy, I actually changed it to a phone interview. I don't think I've ever cancelled an appointment because of rain.
The poppies and peonies are all squashed down from the rain. Or were. The poppies have rebounded. The peonies are still halfway pressed to the ground. Pink petals are scattered near them, like discarded clothes after a night on the town.
Mmmm.
I haven't been sleeping. Mario's been in pain. Whenever he is sick, I don't sleep. Someday I will conquer this incessant and insistent anxiety I have. Conquer is probably not the right work. Terrorism. That's a good word for how this feels. Mind terrorism. And we all know you can't wage a war on terrorism. You can't feed it, either. I've tried that. To eat it away. Sleep it away. Ignore it away. None of that works.
Today Mario goes to the doctor. Crossing my fingers that goes well.
May you see sunshine today!
Did you know you can get all of Mario Milosevic's books on Amazon now? Go here and have a ball (or a book)! By the way, Mario has a poem on the farewell issue of the Journal of Mythic Arts.
First, I've been away, and now I'm back. Many tales to spin. We'll see if I actually sit down at the wheel and spin them. In the meanwhile, check out Mario's delightful "Pulling Strings." It is all Mario, so Mario, and thus (yes, thus) it is marvelous! You can also hear him reading it at the same link.
Indeed he does. And writes well. Mario Milosevic has a new website at Mariowrites. Yeah! He has a blog, plus a short bio with a cute photo, and a bibliography. Best of all you can find out about his books here. Look around. Have fun. Mostly, read Mario's work. No one thinks like he does; no one writes like he does. You want something different, read Mario. You want something moving, read Mario. You want something funny, read Mario. Want to read all of the above, read Terrastina & Mazolli. You want to read something amazing, always, read Mario.
