Mae's Days, or: Things I Have Done Since My Last Post Instead of Blogging

1. Visited family out-of-town. Ate way too much. Bonded.
2. Took too many meaningless, random photographs with my new camera.
3. Met my co-bestie Rebecca for drinks, hilarity, and catching up.
4. Continued the endless flat hunt. After much due diligence, we met the perfect place. We have asked it to co-habit with us. Answer pending.
5. Packed, not nearly enough.
6. Listened, obsessively, to John Hiatt's new release, The Open Road. Check it out.
   
7. Used the dog as an excuse to go on several long walks in the blissful Spring weather we have been enjoying in the Queen City.
8. Fell a bit deeper in love with The Chef.
9. Read Arna Bontemps' God Sends Sunday.
10. Worked too much.
11. Bought a breathtakingly cool mid-century modern chair here.
    
12. Found the perfect neighborhood bar--complete with incense, fairy lights, and pomegranate martinis--only because The Chef forced me to check it out. He was right, I was wrong.
13. Rode the Project Runway roller coaster. Anthony was out, then back in, then declared the (highly deserving) co-winner of last night's episode.
14. Purchased a brilliant pair of heels. Very high heels. Very high heels that rocked The Chef's world. They were worth every penny. I found them at one of my favourite shops in Columbus, The Emperor's Newest Clothes (the Short North location).
    
15. Ate at a Greek restaurant without ordering baklava.
    
16. Discovered that Jezebel can really piss me off. As much as you love or enjoy something, you will inevitably have a disagreement at some point.
17. Designed a new web-site (more on that soon, I promise).
18. Researched new laptop options.
    

Things I Learned Over the Weekend....While I Wasn't Writing

1. 'Baby' sunscreen is just as effective as the regular kind.



2. My father makes his own Kimchee (and, no, we are not Korean).



3. That worrying is a useless diversion. It kills time, effort, and brain-cells. Usually, the things that we are worried about never reach fruition, or are vastly over-blown.



4. A chasm of 35 years can be crossed in 90 seconds.



5. The person who gave birth to me is still my best-friend.



6. It is never too late to have two parents.



7. Brothers, though they are born jack-asses, can be kind of cool.



8. I am still fascinated by bats.



9. Cincinnati is not entirely without its cultural benefits.



10. I am a really phenomenal daughter.



11. Going to the zoo is just as fun now as when I was a little girl. And I still have no interest in petting the goats, thank you.

Photos: Top:"Please,dahlings, no photographs!" Bottom: A stork.

THINGS I WANT TO BE (NO FOOLING)

Life is short and full of infinite possibility and wonder.It is never too late to become exactly what you want to be, or enhance who you already are.

1. Photographer (black and white)
2. Collage artist
3. Anthropologist
4. Window dresser
5. Short-film director
6. Boutique owner
7. Saloniere
8. Yoga instructor
9. Nutritionist
10. Bookstore/Tea-Shop Owner
11. More myself than ever I was (this is my life's worthiest goal)
12. Renn-Faire Wench
13. Performance artist
14. Someone who never stops adding to her list of life's possibilities
15. Small-Press publisher (on a letter-press, of course!!!!)

If I Were a Beat Poet.....(Circa 1957)

I would:

1-Wear skinny, black clothes--the more wrinkles, the better.
2-Own a stunning collection of berets and loafers, also black.
3-Paint my short nails bloody-red. Keep the polish studiedly, carelessly chipped through incessant nail biting.
4-Always wear my long, straight hair in a pony tail.
5-Smoke. A lot. Never be seen without a cigarette, lit or unlit, between my fingers or lips.
6-Drink nearly as much as I smoke.
7-Use my carefully crafted smoky-whisky voice to my advantage while giving readings of my poetry to the wasted,indifferent masses.
8-Change residences--and cities--with impressive alacrity. You cannot pin down a free spirit.
9-When at all possible, sleep on friends' couches and floors or, when pressed,rent the smallest place available.I will not spend much time there, anyway.
10-Write eloquent, pissed-off poetry that very few people will read, until I am good and old or long dead.Fame is for untalented,grubby whores.
11-Sleep around with fellow poets, professors or drifters.
12-Put off eating in favour of other pursuits: poetry,readings,booze and men take up a lot of time. Enjoy the resultant thin figure.
13-Travel to places like Mexico and San Francisco, spur of the moment, at the invitation of twin spirits.See 8.
14-Dabble in all aspects of art:film, publishing,painting, performance art.It is all connected,man.
15-Spend my nights in smoky,hazy jazz clubs in "the bad" part of town where good girls do not go, and are not welcomed.
16-Feign utter indifference to the growing acclaim of the male Beats, who still consider women to be their satellites and playthings. You will regret this when I expose you in my memoirs forty years later.In the meantime, I will continue to craft my poetry and refuse to sew on your buttons.

CANNOT WAIT TO READ:A LIST EVER-GROWING

I enjoyed doing the mini series "A Reading List a Mile Long" so much that I have decided to make it a regular feature.I am always coming across new books, old books, all kinds of books that instantly catch my fancy.I enter them into my beloved moleskin, where they remain until, one day,I am able to cross them off my list.

Many sources help feed my bookish desire. I am inspired by random meanderings through stalls of all persuasion and origin, be they at library, book store or flea market, as well as catalogues and, occasionally, recommendations from others.Through these means, I am always being exposed to new wonders, and reacquainted with old favourites.

This space will be home to some of those finds, as I add them to my anticipatory "Cannot Wait to Read Log".

Today, I am really digging the following:

1-Life in a 17th-Century Coffee Shop by David Brandon (SUTTON) I would love to flow back in time so that I could sit, a mug of that exotic new beverage coffee at my elbow, and observe some of the great literary talents chat, argue and engage in the polarizing topics of the day. Oh, to be at a table near that strange genius, Samuel Johnson! Unfortunately, barring some fabulous scientific discovery, this book is as close as I will ever come to such an experience as that.

2-Murderers' Row An International Murderers' Who's Who by Robin Odell & Wilfred Gregg (SUTTON) File this under: Mae, Morbid Curiosity

3-Dietrich by Malen Sheppard Skaerved (HAUS PUBLISHING) Dietrich is one of those enigmatic phenoms whose lives I will never cease to find fascinating, puzzling and engrossing.I could read a volume dedicated to the German goddess every six months for the rest of my life, and never read my fill.

4-The Custodian of Paradise by Wayne Johnston (NORTON) A novel that appears to have one of the most vivid, memorable heroines in the annals of literature. It is set in WWII Newfoundland, a place that I came very near to visiting 5 years ago.This book will surely resurrect those plans.

5-I Celebrate Myself The Somewhat Private Life of Allen Ginsberg by Bill Morgan (VIKING)Beat poet, intellectual renegade and legend: Ginsberg's life was meant to be chronicled in a vast, encompassing fashion. This books, at 700 pages, at least aspires to accomplish that.

6-Women Who Write by Stefan Bollmann. Francine Prose, forward. (MERRELL)One of the abiding obsessions of my life as writer and woman.

ARTWORK: SAMUEL JOHNSON by EVERT A. DUYCKNICK, 1873

SIMPLE PLEASURES: THINGS TO ACTUALLY DO THIS SPRING

I spend all winter pining for warm weather, for sunshine, for leafy and lush greenness. I spend the arduously long, cold nights sketching out the details of the legion of fabulous things I plan on doing once the weather turns, when the days are endless and temperate.

Without fail, come warm weather, most of those things, however simple, remain but a dream and are still undone once the leaves start falling.I am determined, this time around, to actually do those exuberant,joyous little things that pop into my mind. This year, as nature cycles from Spring to Summer, and then to Autumn, nothing that I yearn to do will be left behind.

Each season, and our experience of it, is entirely unique: it will pass, taking with it all but fleeting and liquid sensory memory. The next version will be the same in name only, the contents will be different. I have vowed to embrace this Spring and all it has to offer. I will follow wishes and whims--when Autumn emerges, slowly and colourfully,I will have no regrets.

SOME LITTLE THINGS TO DO THIS SPRING

1-FLY A KITE. YOU CAN STILL FIND THEM AT DOLLAR AND TOY STORES AND, OF COURSE, ON LINE. BUY AN ENTIRE SEASON'S WORTH, PLUS EXTRAS. WHEN THE STRING BECOME TANGLED OR THE KITE PUNCTURED, YOU DON'T HAVE TO MISS A BEAT. IF YOU ARE AMBITIOUS YOU COULD EVEN MAKE YOUR OWN.

2-DINE AT A DRIVE-IN RESTAURANT, EVEN IF IT IS JUST A SONIC. PUT YOUR SEAT BACK AND KICK OFF YOUR SHOES.

3-SAVOR A CONEY AND A ROOT BEER FLOAT WITH ALL OF THE GUSTO OF YOUR INNER 8-YEAR-OLD.

4-GROW SOMETHING. FROM SEEDS.EVEN IF YOU ARE IN THE CITY WITH NO PERSONAL INCH OF EARTH, ALL YOU NEED IS A SMALL POT AND A PATCH OF SUNSHINE.

5-BUY A HANDFUL OF PINWHEELS AND STICK THEM IN A LARGE CONTAINER,DIRT AND ALL, OR IN A VASE. OPEN A WINDOW AND LET THE BREEZE PROPEL THEM. SMILING IS INEVITABLE.

6-WEAR LOTS OF WHITE.

7-MAKE FRESH-SQUEEZED LEMONADE.DEVELOP YOUR OWN SPECIAL BLEND.

8-IF YOU HAVE A DOG, WALK THEM FOR THE JOY OF COMPANIONSHIP AND THE CHANCE TO BE OUTSIDE, NOT AS A CHORE TO SPRINT THROUGH.

9-WHEN LATE AFTERNOON SUN INTRUDES INTO YOUR SPACE,OBSCURING THE TV OR COMPUTER SCREEN, BASK IN THE WARMTH OF ITS RAYS INSTEAD OF BEING ANNOYED BY THE PERCEIVED INCONVENIENCE.

10-SCAMPER THROUGH A PARK BLOWING BUBBLES. YES, LIKE YOU DID AS A 5-YEAR-OLD.

11-GO ON A REAL PICNIC, THE KIND THAT INVOLVES LOADING YOUR CAR WITH A BASKET, A BLANKET , PLASTIC CUTLERY AND A COOLER. IT IS WORTH IT.

12-PICK ENOUGH DANDELIONS FOR A BOUQUET.

13-EAT FOOD AS IT COMES INTO SEASON. BAKE FRUIT-BASED DESSERTS WHEN THE FRUIT IS FRESH, RIPE AND LOCAL. IT WILL TASTE DIFFERENT.

14-BUY ARMFULS OF VINTAGE SUNDRESSES AND SUNGLASSES. WEAR THEM EVERYWHERE WHILE PRETENDING THAT YOU ARE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING: BRIGITTE BARDOT, SOPHIA LOREN, AUDREY HEPBURN, ANN-MARGRET, LESLIE CARON.

15-RIDE A BICYCLE.

16-HIKE AT STATE OR NATIONAL PARKS. THAT IS WHAT THEY ARE THERE FOR, AFTER ALL.

17-SLEEP WITH THE WINDOWS OPEN.

18-RISE EARLY, WITHOUT COMPLAINT. ANTICIPATE THE LOVELY THINGS THAT YOU CAN DO WITH A FEW EXTRA MINUTES A DAY.

19-WATCH FIREWORKS IN PERSON, NOT ON TELEVISION.

20-WALK ACROSS A BRIDGE--APPRECIATE THE GRACEFUL, UTILITARIAN MERGING OF MAN AND NATURE.

21-EAT OUTSIDE AT RESTAURANTS WHENEVER POSSIBLE. COLD DRINKS TASTE BETTER WHEN THE SUN IS SHINING DOWN THAN THEY DO WHEN YOU ARE BEING SUFFOCATED BY ARTIFICIALLY COOLED AIR.

22-SPEND AS MUCH TIME AS YOU CAN WATERSIDE.

ILLUSTRATION:"A June Afternoon" (1898) by A.B. Frost