Oooo, neat-o!

I did a search for freelance writing jobs just for funsies and came across this page. It's still in beta mode (testing, testing...1,2,3), but I signed up anyway. Nothing like getting your name and url out there to keep the dream alive....

'Tis the season to kick ass

Today is the official first day of holiday shopping madness and I'm boycotting. Ok, actually, I just don't have any money to shop with, but even if I did, I would not be shopping today. All the people pushing and shoving their way through department stores and mall food courts has a claustrophobic effect on me and if I had high blood pressure, it'd probably give me a heart attack. I still have to get out there and shop for Christmas and birthday presents, but it boggles my mind how rude and self-absorbed people become at this time of the year... so, in an effort to change that (at least among the people I come in contact with), I'm starting a smile campaign. I read somewhere that the act of smiling causes your brain to release seratonin, the chemical that regulates your moods. If you're in a good mood, smiling makes you feel even better. If you're in a bad mood, even just trying to smile lifts the cloud a little. Since the normal response to someone smiling at you is to smile back (regardless of your mood), I'm going to make an effort to smile more at random grumpy shoppers. Then they'll smile and other people will see that and then they'll smile and so on and so forth. Call me self-serving, but if everyone will just smile more and be more considerate of the folks around you, maybe I can get my shopping done without wanting to hurt anyone this year...

More notes to self

The last groove train home from downtown leaves promptly at 12:32am from 5th and Main. Don't freak out if you miss it though because there's a different one that leaves 10 minutes later and gets you just as close to your house so you won't have to sleep at a bus stop. *whew*

Your ass isn't really big. You just have wide hips and a small waist. There's a difference.

Kell's is the place to go on Thanksgiving Eve.

Your Eugene friends are goofy. Don't let them fade away.

Metropolis may have $1 drinks, but it's not the place to go on Thanksgiving Eve.

Riding the groove train

I loaded the cd player with Abandoned Pools, Mad At Gravity, and Heather Nova and I'm wondering where the boys from Eugene are. I figured they'd be here by now. Huh. Wait, the phone is ringing....that's Chris. Ooo, creepy.

Ok, so the plan is to meet downtown and hit a bar or two. There's potential for dancing. Oi. The challenge will be to see how far I can ride the groove train on about 10 bucks... have I mentioned I need a job?

Notes to self

Call your sister. Again. But don't expect her to answer the phone. Just leave another message.

Pick up wine for Thanksgiving.

Find a date for New Years.

When you have a head cold, avoid milk in any form at all costs.

No, those pants don't make your ass look big; your ass makes your ass look big.

If someone comes along and offers to pay you to blog all day, don't cry until they've given you your first paycheck and even then, wait until you're alone.

Why me?

Ok, so Sigur Ros was friggin' amazing. It's super emotionally charged music and I sat there in awe the whole time. I'm so glad I got to go. Not so glad he tried to kiss me goodnight though (he got the cheek). I'm still trying to get to know him as a person but I don't see that there's any chemistry between us and we only just met four days ago anyway... can you hear the squealing brakes?

Went to the temp job today only to wait in the lobby for 1/2 an hour, move file folders for ten minutes, file for an hour and 1/2, make copies for almost 6 hours and then get told they weren't expecting me and weren't prepared with stuff for me to do, so they'd call the temp agency and let them know when they wanted me to come back and not to show up tomorrow. Oh. My. Gawd. Not cool. If they call and tell me to come in tomorrow, I'm gonna be pissed. I'll go, but I won't like it. Damn temping...

And now, all the way from Iceland...

So, check it out.... Dave the "I Saw You" guy called me last night and asked me to go see Sigur Ros with him tonight. Cool beans. Pretty much every music store in town is advertising their new album, which incidentally has no title and none of the tracks have names either, so I'm hoping it'll be a pretty good show. He said a bunch of people from work are going without having heard them just based on what other folks have said about how cool the band is. Huh.

I just found out today that I've got a temp assignment starting tomorrow at 8am, which means getting up at 6am, that runs the rest of this week and all of next. Guh. Not working has spoiled me with sleeping in until 8 or 9 but hasn't done much for my bank account, so it's time to take one for the team and quit being a lazy ass. Sleep is good but, at this point, money is better.

Home Alone 4: Nina's Revenge

As of yesterday, it's just me and the cat until Tuesday. The roomies have hopped in their rented Mustang and headed east to Boise to visit Shauna's family out there. I was going to go to Eugene, but I felt like crap and the cat missed the litter box the other day so I wouldn't have wanted to come home to that. One might think that having the whole place to myself for four days would mean inviting the gang over for cocktails and strippers, but I wisely chose to spend yesterday in bed eating Chinese food and ice cream and watching movies (Trainspotting, Deuces Wild and the home movie from New Year's 1994/5). Then I slept in today and walked from my room to the bathroom and back in just my underwear. I even went all the way out into the kitchen and fed the cat like that. Somehow, having the cat see me half naked was unsettling (he cocked his head to the side, gave me a weird cat look, meowed and then started rubbing on my leg), so I got dressed while he was distracted by the full food dish. My only plan for the rest of today is heading out to Old Navy to see if I can find some pants and the folks who came up with the idea to put the American Idol rejects in their latest commercial so I can bitch slap them. Tomorrow, I have an interview at 9:30 and then a whole lot of nothing planned because I'm sure I'll need to rest after all that bitch slapping...

Oh yeah, I went to the Clinton St. Pub with Dave the "I Saw You" guy and had a good time. Cool...new friend for me!

It's story time

Once there was this girl who spent a lot of time going to interviews and applying for jobs. She was unemployed, so it seemed like the right thing to do. As time went on, she got more and more disillusioned with the job market and corporate America. She started plotting to take over a small country and turn it into an artist's colony where no one ever had to look for a job again and she and all of her friends could go there and write and paint and do anything but look for a job. Then, one day when she was reading the "I Saw You" section of the Weekly, she came across an ad that she thought was for her. She'd never answered an ad before and thought it probably wasn't really for her anyway, but what the hell. So she called the number and left a message and waited. The next day, the guy who placed the ad called her and after talking for a few minutes, they established that it wasn't her after all. They ended up talking for over an hour anyway and he asked if she wanted to meet up just because. So she decided to meet him. The end. For now.

That's more like it

Had yet another interview today... they asked me back for a second interview tomorrow and the position pays $13+/hr with benefits. I aced all four of their preliminary tests (Windows, medical terminology, math skills, essay questions) and did better than they require for typing speed. So if I'm not in like flynn, I'm gonna kick someone. For real. And then I'll go to the other interview I have scheduled on Monday. *sigh*

You want to pay me how much?

I got an e-mail from one of the places I interviewed with last week and they wanted to see if I was still interested after letting me know the position started at $9.25/hr. Say whaaa??? I was making over $12 in BFE (that's Bum Fuck Eugene, fyi) and I know damn well my skill set and experience are worth at least that. $9.25??? Guh. I knew I'd probably have to swallow my pride and take an entry level job when I moved up here, in part because I got fired and in part because the job market bites the big one. I've even set $10/hr + benefits as the lowest I'm willing to go. A girl's gotta pay her bills, right? So I let them know I couldn't afford to work for less than $10 and to let me know if they could work that out.

Then this morning, some recruiter from Boston calls and says he saw my resume on Monster and wanted to know if I was interested in working as a clinical researcher for the company's Portland office out at PDX. Well sure I am if you'll give me a car to drive so my commute is only 1/2 hour each way instead of the almost 2 hours it would take me to get out there on the bus/MAX. Damn guy. He didn't even have an accent.

I so don't want to work in the medical field anymore. It's friggin' depressing. And, I admit, I've been soured by the whole firing thing. So, if someone would like to pay me to blog or something, let me know.

Damn, that's some funny shit

If you don't already check in periodically, go check out Greg's page and learn the truth about the world.

It's Tuesday and I still don't have a j-o-b. Why, God, why??

Shauna is coming back from Austin tonight, so that's good. My parents won't be back from California until the 30th, so that's bad. When I get home, the dishes in the dishwasher will be clean, so that's just fine.

It's days like today when I secretly wish for someone to check me out in the library.

I should probably go down to Eugene again on Saturday for Nick's going away party because I know Chris is going to bug me about it (read: me: "I can't come down again." chris: "why? why? why? why infinity?" me: ".....*shrug*.....").

The city put up the big Christmas tree in the middle of Pioneer Square yesterday while I was watching the new Harry Potter movie. The official lighting will be on Nov. 29th at 5:30pm and since the guys will still be in town that day, we should go see it.

I'm wearing my "charm school reject" t-shirt and I think that must be why no one is flirting with me in the library today.

Never assume anything

I should know better by now than to expect an early night if Chris is involved. For example, before I left for Portland, we went out and he said it would have to be an early night because he had to be up early the next day. We were still at Rennie's for last call. Then last night he says on the phone that the guys were going over the the Vet's Club and he didn't expect things to go too late or get too liquored up. Again, it was past last call when we left the third bar we went to and all I have to say about getting liquored up is....brownies. I guess you had to be there, though...

Hello? Anyone?

So, I was invited to come down here to Eugene and hang out with Becca, but I can't get a hold of her. What's up with that? Anyway, it looks like I'm headed over to the Vet's Club for a bit to hang with Chris and the gang and then to Diablo's to meet up with Heath around 10ish. I have a strange feeling it'll turn out to be an early night...

It's weird to be at my folks' house without them here. However, even in their absence, they do have cable, which means 24-7 Game Show Network. Can't get enough of the old episodes of Press Your Luck.... "No whammy...no whammy.... STOP! Nooooooo!!!" * then the cartoon whammy comes out and takes all of the money in your bank and does a little dance or mows the lawn or flies off in a superman cape* Most likely, though, I won't come down when they aren't here again.

Anyone want to interview me?

I've had three interviews this week. I'm actually wearing a business suit right this very minute. Oh my gawd. I had lunch with Owen today and he said I looked all corporate and stuff...and then he said I looked cute. Ugh. I've gotta get out of this thing. I have a pair of lovingly worn jeans, a long sleeved t-shirt and a short sleeved t-shirt that says "dweeb" to wear over it waiting at home... ahh, comfy clothes. If all of this conforming I've been doing all week doesn't pay off with a job, I very well may go postal.

Enjoying the lull

I have been jonesing to write for the last three days, but between playing Xbox, running around in the mall, chatting with strangers, going to dinner, the movies and hanging out at the Ohm, I haven't had time for anything else. I had a job interview on Monday at an ad agency and I'm hoping against hope that they call me back. They got over 200 resumes and only did 10 interviews (one of which was with me), so that made me feel good even if they don't.

In music news, Dr. Theopolis is playing at a strip club tomorrow night. To go or not to go, that is the question. Why they took this gig, I'll never know, but I'm sort of curious to see how many of the girls the band knows will actually turn up at this show. I don't have a problem with strip clubs, but I don't understand the motivation to diversify into a live music venue. I mean, really..."Sorry, dudes, I was trying to pay attention to the band, but I kept getting distracted by the naked chicks."

And now on to the emotional portion of the program... J. came into the cafe where we were having lunch and looked right through me. I'm proud to say I've finally learned how to turn invisible! I'm sure this talent will come in handy next time I need to avoid someone. However, I'm going to have to work on the whole being blatantly visible thing....

Come on down

I think a friend from Seattle is coming down tomorrow to stay for a night or two. We haven't seen each other since I was in NYC, where he was previously living, three years ago. Should be a good time and since he's never been to Portland, I get to play tour guide again. I love it! I've also been invited to go down to Eugene next weekend to hang out with Becca and Heath so I may drop in for a night and see what's shakin'. Guess he's been going through some rough times and she thinks a visit from me would maybe do him some good (or just get his mind off of his troubles for awhile). If I head down Saturday day, I can surprise him at work and maybe cheer him up a little. If I wasn't convinced that he has to work, I'd invite them up here just to get them out of town for a break from the drama. Anyway, it'll be good both to have a visitor and to be one... makes for interesting stories to tell later...

Holy crap has left the building

It's a sad sad day. Ezra, Craig and the rest of the Holy Crap crew have packed up their thoughts and closed their doors. One can only hope that each will find a new home and that the creativity will continue to flow. You will be missed...

Taking candy from strangers...or something like that

Hey, guess what I'm listening to right now?

A Modest Mouse album from Koji!!! YEAH!!! This calls for a special thank you... details later...

For now, Koji, you are the coolest. *hugs and smooches*

There's more where that came from

I'm reading this book I picked up at Powell's the other day call Pretty Vs. Smart by Valerie Frankel and it's got me thinking about my sister. The story revolves around two sisters who run a small coffee shop together and are trying to compete with the Moonstruck (read: Starbucks) that moved in just down the street. The older sister is "the smart one" and the younger sister is "the pretty one." As the story progresses, you come to understand a mutual jealousy over the labels... which I've found to be the norm since bearing one label is somehow indicative of lacking the quality the other possesses. Circumstances and setting aside, the relationship is my sister's and mine to a tee. I overheard so many times during my childhood at parent-teacher conferences, school plays, etc., "Mrs. Krell, your daughter Tiffany is such a bright, gifted child. It's a pleasure to have her in my class." I also overheard family and friends telling my folks, "Brandy is so cute! She's going to be a little heartbreaker when she grows up." In high school, I had my nose in a book more often than not and when I was being social, it was with the student council or the AP English class for a project or the thespian society doing behind-the-scenes work for the next school play. My sister was a cheerleader. 'Nuff said. She's been engaged once and lived with her finacee until she broke it off. She's dated some of the guys she works with on the Disney cruise and has never seemed to have a lack of admirers interested in taking her out. I, on the other hand... well, if you've read back a few entries, you already know I'm lacking in the romance department.

Near the end of college, I had moved back in with my family and had let my sister read my journal. That was the catalyst for a long overdue conversation about the labels and how we both to some degree felt it and tried to break out of the stereotype. She told me she felt she had to compete with me for grades (though we were almost 4 years apart and I was away at college while she was in high school) and always pushed herself to do better than I did...to compete with "the smart one." I was always trying to fit in by getting involved in theater and begging for the same clothes my friends wore and...well, competing with "the pretty one." She thought I hated her and I thought she was embarrassed to be seen with me. Funny how that works, huh?

Our relationship now as adults is pretty good, I think. We're supportive of each other and have genuine interest in each other's life. She isn't around much because she lives and works on the other side of the country and I'm sorry for the distance as I know we have much more in common now than we did as kids. I'm sure if we lived closer, we'd be shopping buddies and hang out at clubs or coffee shops together. As it is, we don't talk that often and her visits are getting fewer and further between.

Anyway, check out the book. It's a quick read and it's entertaining...

Allow myself to introduce....myself

I have another interview on Monday that I'm actually looking forward to this time. It's at an ad agency and the woman on the phone today said she was interested in finding someone who was willing to start at entry level as a receptionist, but was also wanting that person to transition into a project tracking position (bye-bye entry level, hello cool job in an ad firm with more $$) over the next six months. From my resume and the brief chat on the phone, I appear to be a good candidate and she'd like to meet me. Well alrighty then. I'm crossing my fingers for that one.

In other news, my father's mother sent me a little card and a check for $75, which I received today. I have some mixed feelings about that and I can tell this is going to turn into a longer post than I'd intended. Anyway, I spent the majority of my childhood dreading the annual visits to her house. Since my grandfather died when I was 1 1/2, I never knew him and I've always been a little sad about that. We share the same birthday and I've always been curious about him but have gotten very little information from my grandmother. Whenever I'd ask her about him, she'd say she didn't want to talk about it or to wait until another time. Another time never came.

Since she's lived alone in that big 5 bedroom house for as long as I can remember, she's used to having everything just so and all of her time to herself. She would keep busy with a bridge club and volunteer work and gardening, etc., but one would think that her grandchildren coming for a visit would warrant a little flexibility in her schedule. Not so. I remember one visit when it was just my sister and I staying with her and her bridge friends were coming over to play for the day. Instead of introducing us to the ladies and letting us hang around in the backyard or upstairs or something, she gave us some money, dropped us off in town and told us to walk back a few hours later. I think I was 11 and my sister was 7.

A few years later (I was 14 or 15), our family had come to visit and go to my dad's youngest sister's wedding. My dad has four sisters and he's the oldest and only boy, so he'd been asked to give the bride away. At the time, everyone in my family except my sister, who as a child was a little elvish wisp of a girl, was a bit.....round. We look back on the wedding pictures and we're all appalled by our appearance. My folks weren't exercising like they do now and were carrying some extra weight. I was at that age where things are filling out and the baby fat is still hanging on and the last thing you want is someone looking at you and drawing attention to it. I've never been a petite girl anyway, but I'd spent a lot of time in school being picked on for various reasons, not least of which was my height and weight. So, the day before the wedding, the whole family was at my grandmother's house for a barbeque in the afternoon before the rehersal dinner. My cousins, my sister and I were all in the kitchen getting a piece of strawberry shortcake for dessert. I remember this very clearly because my aunt Kathy went off on my grandmother later for what she said to me: "Now Tiffy dear, you don't need any of that. We need to be watching our girlish figure." That day directly affected the way I perceived myself all through the rest of high school and college. She'd singled me out in front of my sister and cousins and the other people in the dining room as unattractive and I was horrified. She didn't even realize how what she said affected me and didn't seem to care one way or the other. I was easily pushed to tears in those days, but for some reason I held them back and just walked out of the kitchen. A little later, my aunt Kathy came over and took me aside and told me she's spent her whole life hearing comments like that from her mother and hearing her say what she'd said to me was the last straw. She laid into my grandmother about making her feel ugly as a child and said she didn't ever want to hear her say anything like that to me again. Later that night, my grandmother gave me some money and thanked me for watching the younger cousins and being a good example. Never was there an apology offered or requested.

Throughout my life, I received birthday cards with money in them from her and the same deal at Christmas. Very little interest was taken in what I had to say or was interested in when we'd all go visit, but there was always money being given at the end of each stay. Near the end of college, it was passed through the familial grapevine to me that my grandmother was telling people not to give me money as I would just squander it away. Strangely, the checks kept coming and I've felt for a long time that she's tried to buy my affection with money rather than genuine interest or love.

When I opened the card today, I was expecing the note... my dad had let me know she'd asked for my new address and said she wanted to write to me. I wasn't, however, expecting the check. It's not my birthday for another four months and Christmas is still two months off. The note said something about always needing a little extra when you move and to let her know if I got it. So, I wonder now, does she write to my sister? Or my cousins? Why is she suddenly reaching out to me after spending the last 28 years making me feel insignificant? I don't get it. My dad says he thinks she's getting senile and won't be around for too many more years. It's terrible to say, but I don't have any feelings about that one way or the other. She hasn't been a significant presence in my adult life and while I'll feel bad for my father's loss when she's gone, I can't say that I'll miss her. It seems like I should, but the truth is still there that I won't unless something seriously changes in the next few years, but even then, I'm afraid it's too late.

Two steps forward, one step back

I don't know how I did it, but I did. I finally took off the rose-tinted glasses and caught a glimpse of the truth. And I'm over him. Thought about it briefly last weekend but it finally hit me last night. I didn't see him or talk to him or anything like that. While I was cruising around someone's web page, it just struck me that I was done and it didn't hurt anymore. And though it came as sort of a relief, there was still that residual empty feeling that inevitably follows the death of an emotional tie. The empty feeling doesn't hurt like the rejection or the betrayal, but it's definitely not a pleasant feeling. The empty feeling eats at you for a little while then waits to be filled by someone else. The empty feeling reminds you that you're alone and that you don't want to be. But, strangely, it doesn't hurt. It's just there. Because the empty feeling reminds you that you survived another blow to the ego and stab to the heart. The empty feeling reminds you that you have more love to give someone else. And the empty feeling reminds you that you're human and are allowed to make mistakes. I'm constanty learning from those mistakes so I can handle the empty feeling for a few days. Anything is better than the hurt...

Welcome back to reality

It's blank. Totally blank. I thought for a minute there was something really good in there waiting to get out, but whatever it was is gone and now it's blank. My mind, that is. I looked at the clock when I turned the laptop on to write and it was 12:53. Now it's 1:23 and I've been staring at the screen and eating a bowl of Mini Shredded Wheat and waiting for something amazing to come pouring out onto the screen, but I've got nothin'. But then, nothin' is what I've done today (aside from going to interviews this morning, but that's boring) and nothin' is on the agenda for later. OK, I might go see Signs at the Bagdad. But that's it. Well, ok, I might go over to Hawthorne and see if I can find a few books I've been wanting to read at Powell's. But I'm really not doing anything else. Hmmm, since I'm going to be over there already, I should stop in at Freddy's and get some milk... and since there's a ton of salad left over from last night, I should get some chicken and Chinese noodles to throw in for tonight. Oh yeah, my dad's birthday is coming up next week and I need to find a present for him. Ooo, I have e-mail to catch up on too. Gawd! I have a ton of stuff I should be doing! What am I thinking sitting here staring blankly at the screen?? Dang, I've gotta go!

I can quit anytime...

Oh my gawd. I bought two more cds today. I couldn't help it! You know those themed compliation displays they have all around Target with the little cover picture buttons you push to hear samples of the albums? *hanging my head in shame* Yep, I bought two. But it's not what you think. Honest. One is called Martini Lounge and it's got some great stuff on it... Tony Bennett, Louis Prima, Mel Torme, Nat King Cole... very hep. The other is 70's R&B and let me just say, I can't get enough of your love, Barry White, and I'll be more than happy to stay together with you, Al Green. Mmm mmm mmm. But I digress. This is getting ridiculous. One day, the cds are going to take over my entire house. Floors...ceilings...every surface will be covered with jewel cases and cover art and I won't be able to tell the "3000 free minutes of AOL" coasters from The Strokes or Beth Orton. I'll just have to catalog the collection by room and location to keep everything straight... "N.E.R.D.? Let me check my book... oh yeah, that's in the second room on the left, far wall, third row down, sixth from the right." I'll start a new trend in interior design concepts. People around the world will start tiling their walls with jewel cases and I'll be famous. So, getting all this new music is a good thing...right? I'm not just trying to make myself feel better about a serious problem that should be dealt with on a professional level...right? I can quit whenever I want...right? Anybody know the number for CD Addicts Anonymous?

CD Junkie

There are a crapload of used cd stores in Portland. This makes me happy. In the last few weeks I've bought the following:

Sneaker Pimps - "Bloodsport"
Amar - "Outside"
Vast - "Music For People"
Juliana Hatfield - "Hey Babe"
The Emo Diaries Vol. 1 & 5
Heather Nova - "Siren"
Jimmy Eat World - "Clarity"
Indie Top 20 compliation
The Matador Records 10th Anniversary Anthology
Coldplay - "A Rush of Blood to the Head"
Another Year on the Streets Vol. 1 & 2
Camber - "Beautiful Charade"
Pretty Girls Make Graves - "Good Health"
Pinback - "Blue Screen Life"

I'm still adding to the list I keep in my bag of new stuff I want (like Modest Mouse, but I can't decide which album to get) and I'm gonna have to get another rack to keep all this stuff organized. Guh. Must....not...give...in.....to.....the temptation..... must...not...buy...more...cds.....

I win, I win!

Woo! I got the decision from the unemployment hearing in the mail yesterday and the original decision was upheld. This means I won't have to live in a box down by the river and I'll keep getting unemployment checks until I find a job. It had been eating at me for the last week or so and now it's done. All's well that ends well, eh?

Chris was here this weekend and it was cool to be able to show him some of the things I love about Portland like the MAX ("...and it's free!"), the Saturday Market (might go back for that spoon mask with the antenna) and Todai ("Irashaimasu! Welcome!"). Jen met us to hang out for mojitos at my cousins' restaurant and gave me a lead on a job fair at Powell's Books. However, I'm apparently TOO cool to work there. ;-) They wouldn't even give me an interview since I have no experience as a cashier in the last two years and the line for applicants was already about 70 people long one hour into the four hour job fair. Can you believe it? I'm not even qualified to be a cashier at a frickin' book store! Damn. So much for thinking I'd be a shoe-in with my pierced tongue, black t-shirt and love of books...

The best plan is no plan

Ok, ok, I didn't stay home last night like I thought I would. When I called O. to see what was going on, he said he was going over to Jody's to help her paint her bedroom. Um. ok. So, I took my roomies up on the offer of going to a small get-together with them (read: crash a party) and we all threw together costumes in about an hour. Ryan was a vampire, Shauna was a futuristic secret agent and I ended up going as a dead prom queen. The three of us went over and picked up Bolton, who went as Charlie Brown complete with ghost costume from the Great Pumpkin, and headed over to his friends' house to read scary stories some of the folks had written for the occasion and recount scary events that had happened to the folks who came without a story to read. Seeing as Shauna and I only really knew the people we came with and had only met the hosts once before about a week or so ago when we all went to a movie and didn't get to talk much, we had a great time. Everyone was friendly and between the stories people wrote (some funny, some scary) and the real experiences people shared, people were adequately creeped out. Seeing how cool that turned out makes me want to put together an event of my own. I know some talented writers and most of them are eager to share their work with the world, so why not give them a venue? Something like that could turn into a regularly scheduled event and encourage us to write more new stuff.