Good morrow OS friends. It is April 7th, 2011 and here again is your friendly announcer. If you missed the OS Weekly debut issue last week, get it in gear and catch the hell up. We'll wait...

                     From Joan H's Spring in the Bishop's Garden

                                               ~OS Buzz File~

Last week we took to the couch to discuss the OS tendency toward dysfunction. Though we seem to be in a good place now, the week was not without it's rumblings. Nanatehay apologized for his part in The Flame Wars and the Razzing and the Incivility, but did he really mean it? We'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Matt Paust told us How not to be a Dick on OS-- referring to Fool's Day where  Greg Correll discussed his deletion of a post about autism, Israel, and cross-post stalking problems on OS. Quite the mix Greg, sorry we missed it. It seems he found himself knee-deep in nasty with comment trolls.

Oh, and speaking of dirty birdies, JD Smith confessed he'd slept with no less than 20 OS gals. True or April Fools gag? You be the judge. Either way, the commentary was priceless.

                  Featured Blog of the Week~ Rebecca Sarwate

The artist formerly known as Becky Boop to all you old-heads out there is now Rebecca Sarwate; different handle, same fabulous pen. Rebecca started blogging at OS in May of last year. I arrived just a month later, but I could not have guessed at the time that she was a newbie herself. She garnered her first EP with the award winning post, So this is what fat looks like? after only a handful of submissions. Damn she's good, I thought.

Writing from Chicago, she had that "windy city" cache and a writing style that was both accessible and a cut above. Her blog quickly became an object of intrigue. So, I added her to my fave list and waited for her to return the gesture. I no longer expect automatic returns, but back then I knew no better. When she didn't reciprocate, I decided she was one of those crisp career women with an aloof air and no time for the likes of me. I liked her anyway.

The coolest cat in town, Rebecca would swoop in, drop a bomb ass post, often an EP, and then she was out. Poof. She didn't hang around to do a lot of commenting and rarely responded to comments on her blog, but like the geeky kid in Jr. High who longs to hang out with the cool girl, I continued reading, commenting, and hoping to engage.

As it turns out, when she wasn't on OS writing polished prose about everything from Chicago politics to mental illness and ignoring baby bloggers she was writing in the otherworld and winning accolades for her efforts. Last year she took home two awards for her work at StreetWise, a local newspaper specializing in empowerment for the underprivileged. She has also won top prize in both the Illinois Woman's Press Association and the National Federation of Press Women specializing in the area of urban agriculture and writing several features about the explosion of the trend in Chicago's neighborhoods in 2009.

Okay enough already right, we get it that she rocks, but there's more. This year she was nominated at the state level in several categories: Best Blog, with two submissions from right here on OS, the aforementioned Is this what fat looks like?, and A Generation X Bedtime Story. Also, Best Feature writing for the web (Jettison Quarterly Magazine), and Best Column written for the web (RootSpeak magazine) for the her thoughtful piece, Education: No longer key to economic kingdom.

Meanwhile back in OSville, I commented on a post she wrote about Obama where she lamented the loss of Tim Russert. When I let it slip that I had attended his wake, she was impressed and finally responded. I remember thinking, I just "met" Becky Boop...very cool. Funny the small mutualities that forge connections. We exchanged PMs, bonded over our mutual affection for the late, great Mr. Russert, and have been friendly ever since. In reality, she was easy going and warm to the touch. My initial assumptions; all wrong.

As I began to read through her life I noticed several parallels between us. Two political junkies were we, and she too was born to a mother with issues and raised under the influence of crazy. We were both known to take the occasional "green tea" supplement, and she was struggling through a marriage with serious compatibility problems. I knew something about that too.

This week Rebecca blogged about her impending divorce and the fallout thereof. As usual, she writes in fine style, even through the palpable pain.  She will need some healing time, but having lived through more trials than most for a woman of 32 years, fighting her way through it all, there is no doubt she will end up on the winning side of life. 

Fake it 'till you make it Rebecca.

Sending you our very best...

                                     Who gave good comment?

 Rita Shibr in JD Smith's April fools confession, I admit to affairs with 20 OS Women. 

"Back in the days of OS lore.... I was once rumored to be in the Trig harem. JD I never promised you a Rose Garden.. you knew going in what it was all about (no pun intended)."

 Leepin Larry in Margaret Feike's Math Lesson.

"(4x + 5)(7x + 3)"

 Skypixie0 on Tinkerertink's hilarious, YOU'RE NOT PREGNANT, BUT YOUR WIFE IS !!! 

  Caroline Marie asked us to share our coming of age stories to assist her with a book she's compiling for her 13-year old daughter. In typical fashion the OS community responded with poignant prose to spare... sharing stories of adolescent angst, middle-school melancholy, and surly self-doubt. Here are a few of our favorites: 

Joan H. (A Year of Blue)    FusunA (To Caroline Marie's Daughter)

Lorianne (Imagine All The People)  Scanner (Thirteen was a Bitch!)         

       patricia k (Coming of age: Ten years old was the hardest)                    

                   Lea Lane (An Ugly Duckling Coming of Age)

 ~In the news~

 Mary Mycio wowed us with her perspicacious overview of the nuclear disaster in Japan. Her post, Level 7 at Fukushima, delved into the nitty gritty of the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES); taking the Japanese government to task for what she saw as a minimization of the crisis at hand.

 ~Birthday Blog~

 Hip hip hurray for Femme Forte, a double birthday call. On April 4th she sprang to life and quickly belled the ball. And so it seems on that same date she came to play with us. But not alone was her foray, she shared the light with five that day, and all still with us come what may, so we shall make a fuss. Happy Blogaversary Gary Justis, Seer,  Linnnn,  Mumbletypeg, and Noisy Nora.

                                     What was Emily thinking?

    RomanticPoetess is a spiritual teacher who uses the power of her pen to examine the very essence of the human spirit. It remains a mystery to me why Emily does not see fit to feature poetry on the cover. I guess she has her reasons, but here at the Weekly we have no such reservations. 

In February the Poetess released the first in a series of poems on the Tao, beginning with... The Tao and Our Thoughts ~ Connection ~  Pleasure ~ Effort ~ Reflection~ Doors ~ Destruction~ Words~ Limits~ Our Teachers~ Vulnerability~ Guilt~ Integrity and Sexual Qi.                                                    

                                             ~The Art House Files~

 Cranky Cuss  takes us along on his musical journey to the heart of the beat. In his second effort, Cranky's record reviews #2, he covers artists as diverse as Adele, Aaron Neville, REM and Lucinda Williams. If you missed the first installment with his "Pop Diva Smackdown", you missed a good time.

  Monsieur Chariot, a gentleman and cinephile of the first order, has returned after an extended hiatus to recommend an eclectic spate of films available on netflix. Goodbye Again, The Big Lebowski, Antichrist, and Smash His Camera are all reviewed for "the finical filmgoer" in the Monsieur's Les Netfliques recherchés. 

    Steven Axlerod reminds us why "It's not TV it's HBO" with an in-depth review of yet another powerhouse HBO mini-series--"Mildred Pierce: Masterpiece in the making". Wondering how it compares to the original film version with Joan Crawford? Mr. Ax covers that. If you don't happen to have HBO, no worries. It will soon be available on Netflix.

                                         ~Miscellaneous Cool~

 Helvetica Stone writes Ghostory, a micro novel comprised of 100, 40-character chapters. No Twitter fan here, an obsession waiting to happen I say, but we at the Weekly give this blogger high marks for developing an engrossing narrative with a series of tweets. The effort is highly inventive; the experience, highly recommended.

 Harry's Ghost is another blogger we chose for sheer creativity. The post entitled, The Song remains the same, is a captivating thrill ride about how the person of Jesus is manifest within music and art. Or maybe it's not about that at all. Click on the provided links to hear some great music.

                                                ~My Confession~

I won't ask for a show of hands but I suspect some of you might have an alter ego or two to augment your OS persona. Certainly there are myriad reasons to divide oneself in this way. For me, it was all about ambition. I hereby confess-- in the early days of my OS membership I had employed alters for the express purpose of boosting my ratings. At the height of the game, I had as many as three.

It started innocently enough with my husband when I "suggested" that he sign on to OS and support my work. Not his thing really, but he did so, or I did so for him and there it began. After hitting publish, I would ring the intercom downstairs to his office with a direct order--"log on and rate me within the hour. Don't have time to read it? Rate now and ask questions later." 

Before long he grew weary of my game and told me to play by myself. I did, and then enlisted others to play as well. Desperate to get noticed, a few extra ratings in my pocket seemed like a gift from the gods. All I needed was one or two more ratings to take me to that next level, or so I thought. Looking back, it may have had some minimal effect, but it never really changed the score. Even with my little "helpers" I was never one to ride the East Coast for any length of time. I should explain.

West Coast/Activity Feed--kind of like a Hollywood party; a good place to be seen, especially if you're not being seen anywhere else.

OS Cover/The Fly-over states-- generally speaking, you don't get read and rated on the cover unless you're one of the popular kids. Though it's nice to bask in the glow of Emily's love and acceptance, once you've come down from the initial high the cover can often be a cold, lonely place.

East Coast/Top-rated and new--the place to be, but watch out. If you don't have a support structure in place, you'll be outta there before you can grab the camera for a screen shot (not that I've done that, just sayin'). In a perfect world, you fly straight from the new post southland to the "Big Apple" up north, but I digress...

Busy with life at the end of last year, I had to take an extended break from OS. When I returned in earnest, some time in February, the alter thing was no longer my thing. Besides, I could never remember all the usernames if I tried. Yes I still strive to increase my readership, but I've lost that all-encompassing OS fever. I figure it's better to focus on the craft and hope for the best. Here's to high functioning neurotics one and all...

             From Edward R. Morrow and the staff at OS Weekly,

                                     "Good day and good luck."

~My Bad~

Last week I featured Alysa Salzberg but failed to mention something important about her. As the founder of the literary e-zine Beguile, she is an accomplished publisher in her own right. Our sincerest apologies for this glaring omission.

~The Weekly Rival~

     Robin Sneed returned this week with her dynamite OS Week in Review. Oh, and it's not that I'm overwhelmed, overworked and just plain late. I decided to give her Wednesdays as a professional courtesy. Thumbs up Robin!