I will be writing about the reading and book signing last night at The Book Cellar. But, until then, enjoy this lovely post by Jim. It was a delight to meet him last night. I must say that OSers (when met in real life) have yet to dissapoint me.

I am a powerful woman
I eat things 

I open my mouth
and eat
all the darkness outside
I open my mouth
and chew
on the bones of broken dreams 

I am a powerful woman
I eat things 

Between my lips is a wide hole with teeth
I bite down
on hard, evil things
I bite down
and convert them into potent… Read full post »

Growing up as a non-denominational Christian, I heard a lot of preaching about the origins of mankind. I liked the story of Creation. It had a wonderful mystique about it and made me feel that God, as the Creator, really loved the world. But I had some issues with the origins… Read full post »

 Venus and Mars get ready to go out into the night.

Venus and Mars in brilliant array.

Venus is wondering if she has enough glitter. Read full post »

I was scared to death of Halloween. As a little girl, I believed that demons were real. I believed that witches were real and did bad things to little children. I had nightmares about demons and ghosts. I saw them creeping up the walls of my bedroom, hiding in the… Read full post »

It WAS a dark and stormy night. But I’m not going to say that.

It was a Chicago night in late October. The cold rain made the roads slick and slowed everyone down. It was getting dark around five-thirty already and the menacing clouds made the sky even… Read full post »

I can’t help myself. I really enjoy violence. It’s a conundrum for sure. Here I am: an educated, intelligent, passionate, liberal, soul-searching feminist. I read poetry. I listen to the Cranberries. I do yoga. And I have a thing for violence.

Not just any violence, but the old fash… Read full post »

Mary Wollstonecraft has posted an interview with me here! This blog is dedicated to creating positive conversations about feminism and how it relates to our world. I feel honored to be featured. Thank you, MW!Please go check it out!

As I’ve alluded to in earlier posts, I didn’t have many female role models while I was growing up. Feminism was a bad word in our home. Women were expected to be supportive to their husbands, good mothers, and take care of the home. Wives were told by God to… Read full post »

i am chasing the moon to find myself. he says: you can’t find yourself alone. so i buy my first pack of cigarettes (at the age of twenty-three)—marlboro lights 100’s in a box, please—and light one up under the september sky. between me and the harvest moon and the bits of… Read full post »

It’s a pandemic, folks! It’s a germaphobic’s nightmare! It’s sweeping across the land, laying our youthful and young flat on their backs!

Beware the coughing businessman on the Metra. Beware the sneezing child in the grocery cart, wiping her boogers on the handle. Bewar… Read full post »

I remember strange details from that day. I remember wearing a pink Strawberry Shortcake shirt and denim overalls. I remember that my white-blond hair was pulled into two pigtails. I remember the smell of wood chips and the hot steel of the monkey bars on the playground. I remember the looks… Read full post »

Last week I posted about my (very exciting!) first official reading at Women and Children First.  I opened for a brilliant author, J. Adams Oaks, who read from his debut novel Why I Fight. I was so impressed by the captivating novel (which I devoured in about two day/… Read full post »

I’m feeling a bit mischievous lately and I think it might have something to do with my blood red hair. I’m not a natural redhead, although my grandfather was. But I’ve always had an affinity for gingers. My favorite dolls had fire red hair and one of my earliest crushs… Read full post »

            Six years ago, I followed my heart to San Francisco. I had just graduated with an almost useless degree and spent the summer devouring Kurt Vonnegut and Sylvia Plath. I celebrated cherished friendships with all kinds of alcohol… Read full post »

Yesterday, I was born again. Yesterday was a day to be remembered. Yesterday was one for the books. (Yeah, I had to say that.) Yesterday, I had the profound pleasure of reading with the illustrious J. Adams Oaks, author of “Why I Fight” at Women and Children Fir… Read full post »

Lots of really good writers are going to write about 9/11 today. There are many good posts right here at OS. I had thought about writing a post about where I was that morning. Lots of really good writers are going to tell their stories and they’re good stories and they… Read full post »

I can’t escape the Open Salon vortex. OS has become an addiction. I fight the urge to check my favorites’ pages while helping a customer. (“I’m sorry, could you wait just a moment. I haven’t finished reading this blog post yet.”) Despite being stressfully bu… Read full post »

            Well, it’s fall. I guess. I wasn’t expecting it so early, but here it is. I welcome it. Fall is my favorite time of the year. There’s nothing I like more than riding my bike in the crisp autumn air down to Lake Michi/… Read full post »

            I began writing as a little girl and I never stopped. Writing stories was my door to Narnia, to a world where magic was real and good always won. Writing stories was my way of going on adventures, which were strictly forbidden by my c/… Read full post »

 This is a response to an open call. “Name ten poems that have touched you.” Thanks for the suggestion, Cyclopic! 

1. Ash Wednesday by T. S. Elliot

Against the Word the unstilled world still whirled

About the centre of the silent Word.

if my name was hazelwood 

i remember being a little girl (the weather was i don't know maybe nice i was with my brothers) we were at the house trailer my mom grew up in the country of ohio state (red and gray buckeye state) there was a school… Read full post »

How did the world begin? Rilke says, “It is a tremendous act of violence to begin anything.” Did it begin with a loud crash? An explosion of sight and sound? Did it begin with a word spoken softly or written with a great pen? Did if begin with a magnificent brush… Read full post »

In the last year, I had the extreme pleasure of being introduced to many remarkable feminists in different fields. I would like to highlight them for you.

The first is Sefi Atta, who was the writer in residence last fall at Northwestern University. She had a whimsical gr… Read full post »

1. I would like to know when comments are added after I’ve commented on a post. I know it’s possible, because it’s a feature on Facebook. I have a hard time getting back to blogs on which I commented after they’ve left my feed of past updates.

2. I would… Read full post »