I recently received my yearly report from WordPress on the progress NOLAFemmes made in 2012 and thought I’d share some of it with y’all. It was all good and some of the stats included in the report were:
NOLAFemmes was just a baby of an idea I began tossing around in my head about four years ago because I realized there was no local group blog made up entirely of women writers at the time which I saw as a serious flaw in the NOLA blogosphere. As far as I know, we are still the only local blog staffed entirely by women. Some people say blogs are dying but our stats and our readers call BS on that. 
Our first post was published on July 12. 2009 and it’s been full steam ahead ever since.
It was a very busy 2012 for this blog and it started off with a Very. Big. Bang. in February with A.L. Mueller’s heartfelt post “Lit Up Like A Parade” which went viral nationally very, very quickly. (Examples here, here and here.) Emily Gras grew out of that post and was one of WWL TV’s most viewed stories for 2012 and WDSU’s Top Stories.
In March Lunanola was the first New Orleanian to tweet about the sidewalk defacement in the French Quarter by representatives of CoCa Cola looking to advertise during the NCAA Men’s Final Four event. She quickly blogged her outrage in her post “Historic French Quarter and Faubourg Tremé defaced with graffiti advertising Coca-Cola products” and was joined in her outrage by many New Orleanians. Due to her activism, Coca-Cola subsequently apologized and had reps scrubbing the sidewalks.
Liprap’s poignant and personal post “Help. Now.”, including helpful information for victims of Hurricane Sandy, earned the blog a prominent spot on WordPress’s Freshly Pressed page. This is a big deal in the WordPress community and gives a blog great exposure. (This made our third time on FP!) It was a well deserved honor and we thank Word Press for the nod.
These are only three of the many well-written, informative and entertaining pieces written by the women of this blog who were all hand-picked for her individual talents. We strive to be a well-rounded site incorporating local issues of interest to New Orleanians as well as cultural and personal pieces of interest to all. We don’t want to be only a “political” blog, a “mommy” blog or a “pop-culture” blog; we want to be all of that and more. We want to inspire, inform and entertain. Our readers are why we are here at all and we always want to give them a perspective they won’t read anywhere else. Our perspective.
So I want to thank all of our readers for choosing to read this blog in a world where an internet surfer’s interest is increasingly being vied for, especially in the social media world. We couldn’t exist, much less thrive as we have, without you.
I also want to thank my writers:
Maringouin
Pistolette
Lunanola
Shercole
Emofalltrades
JudyB
Nola Notes
Laura Bergerol
A.L. Mueller
and also welcome once again our newest
T. Kaupp
Liprap
Bayou Creole
Thank you all, my writing companions, for all you do for this blog. You’re the best!
We look forward to another great year here on NOLAFemmes. May you all have a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!
Dec 29
This gallery contains 2 photos.
Once again I’m ruminating on social media and my participation in it. Lately, I’ve been enjoying the interaction on Google+ where I’ve been very careful as to who I circle. I’ve learned from my Facebook account that friending/circling can get out of hand in a flash and you end up with the electronic version of […]
Kelly Harris-DeBerry writes about the literary renaissance in New Orleans post-Katrina on the Poets and Writers blog. I had the pleasure recently of hearing Kelly (and others) speak at the first Yeah, You Write reading series at Tipitina’s. Check out Kelly’s great post for what’s happening in your back yard, New Orleanians!
Aug 31
On Writing in the Wake of Katrina I watched CNN on Sunday for a long time, following the path of Hurricane Irene, worrying about relatives and friends who were in various states along the storm’s expected travels. As it became clear that the inland flooding from overflowing riverbanks would be by far the greatest danger […]
This morning this headline on The Awl grabbed my attention as I was trolling my list of zines for a good read: A Q&A with the Advice Columnist Called ‘Sugar’. I suspected “Sugar” was Sugar the anon advice columnist from the lit magazine “The Rumpus” which I read now and then and I was right. I’d seen Sugar’s column featured prominently on “The Rumpus” but had never actually read it since I’m not a fan of advice columns and I figured it was all about sex anyway (not that that’s a bad thing!); however, I was curious as to what Sugar had to say in this interview so I clicked through. I skimmed through the first half when I realized it was all about how the interviewer knew Sugar in real life but didn’t know she was the anon Sugar of “The Rumpus”…. yadda, yadda, yadda and then I zeroed in on the following question and Ms Sugar’s answer (boldface is mine):
“Tell me what that message is.”
“Well it’s so many things that I feel like, what you could do, if you read all of my columns they do boil down to some pretty essential truths. You hit on one of them when you said ‘the hard choice is often the best one,’ that life is both more simple and more complex than most of us would like to believe, that there is something about the essential, that we all have an essential truth within us which if we really listen to that, which is totally different than that bumper sticker ‘follow your bliss,’ which is bullshit. You know? And that’s, I have never read a self help book in my life. I think self help is pretty much bullshit. I don’t pay attention to this…what’s that Oprah book, like The Secret, or some sort of crap like that? ‘If you only believe, then it will be true,’ I think that’s a really aggressively entitled bullshit sort of approach to life’s complicated questions. And at the same time there’s a piece of that in Sugar that says ultimately we’re all responsible for our lives, we’re all going to fail, we all have something inside to offer, and our work here is to find out and express it in whatever channels are appropriate. So it’s not Sugar’s message, but it’s really just my life, everything I think about how to live, which is in opposition to that self help crap.“
I find it ironic that Sugar thinks self help books are bullshit , apparently not recognizing that she engages in the same “bullshit” on a different level. I’ve read a self help book or two in my day, in a quest for finding workable solutions for life issues, by people educated and published in their area of interest. It’s easy to find experts on a given subject by simply researching a subject and assessing the qualifications and education of those who have written about it or soliciting recommendations from friends and colleagues. The same cannot [always] be said of advice columnists, many of whom are people who are hired by infotainment newspapers and magazines to give their opinions on any and every subject under the sun without any discernible expertise. In the answer above Sugar even states herself that “…but it’s really just my life, everything I think about how to live “. Um, o.k. But don’t read those self help books by psychologists, physicians and educators because that’s, ya know, bullshit. Interestingly, in this interview, Sugar describes her column thusly:
“It’s self-help and it’s also anti-self help.”
It seems to me Ms Sugar is as dazed and confused as the rest of us poor slobs trying to make sense of this thing called life.
While I’m not a regular reader of advice columnists, I’ll admit to occasionally rubbernecking a particularly sensational advice column headline in the newspaper or a magazine. In my opinion, though, most advice columns are really just voyeuristic exploitation of people’s confusion and hopelessness for the ratings game and/or public recognition and that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But everyone is entitled to their opinion and is free to seek help from whatever forum they please. Maybe an anonymous advice columnist of unknown qualifications has more validity for some because of her life experience than the author of a self help book. And that’s….o.k. I’ll just take my chances with a well researched book, thank you.
It’s 4:41 in the morning and I can’t sleep. I’ve been tossing and turning for about two hours so I finally got up and got the computer and some peanut butter cups and I’m sitting in bed hoping to get some of these thoughts whirling in my head down on paper. Or rather, computer screen. Whatever. I can’t ever remember having done this before since I’m an easy sleeper and rarely have insomnia. I guess this is what this is: insomnia. She’s a companion I’m not familiar with except at times of extreme excitement or anxiety over an event coming up the next day and it’s been a long time since I’ve had such an event in my predictable life.
I was thinking, as I lay here, that once again I didn’t finish a project I began – didn’t reach a set goal (as far as the goals I set go, which are never far). I signed up for NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month) on April 1 but only made it through April 14. I’m not really disappointed with myself – I know myself and I knew going in it was unlikely I’d make it to April 30. I don’t beat myself up over my lack of persistence – life is too short for that. (I suppose some would say I take the easy way out.) This whole “writing” thing has me confused anyway. All my life my impetus for writing has been one of three things: inspiration, obsession or sorrow. Let me explain. By inspiration I mean something or someone or an event has to inspire me to write about it. It has to grab my attention, make me feel vibrantly. By obsession I mean something or someone has to invade every pore in my body, transfix every thought in my mind, inhabit my every dream at night. By sorrow I mean sadness and loneliness so dark it has one rolling in the deep (as the song says). I try to stay away from regret though – it’s a soul-killer.
Much of the advice I’ve read from other writers says it’s important to practice the craft of writing every day. One friend of mine said after reading The Artist’s Way she began a ritual of writing every morning. I thought that sounded like something I should try so I started a daily journal. At first it went well but, like most of my “projects”, I slowly began missing days until I was only writing maybe once a week. I simply didn’t have anything I felt worth writing down every single day. I recently read an essay by a writer who talked about how obsessed she was with writing, how it consumed her and every minute of her life. She described being in such a frenzy of writing that she peed in jars rather than stop to go to the bathroom, she lost jobs for her distraction, she wrote on anything and everything she could get her hands on. I guess she had a lot to say. That is just foreign to me, that need to talk and/or write so compulsively. I especially feel that with poetry which is my main form of writing. I just cannot write a poem every day. Some people can – it’s like they have sunny days every day of their lives and poems just pop out like flowers in June. I, on the other hand, have thunderstorms from time to time and that’s when I’m able to write. I don’t think sunny days are necessarily better than thunder storms nor that thunder storms produce better writing than sunny days. It’s just the way it is with me. So I’ve decided I’m not going to try to force my rain to be sunshine anymore. I’m just going to write when and if the words are there. Like at 4:41 on a Saturday morning.
The Neighborhood Story Project is holding its Third Annual Write-a-Thon! Join us in raising money to support documentary poster- and bookmaking in downtown New Orleans. During the Write-a-Thon, writers will write novels, theses, poems, exposés, love-letters, short stories, blog entries, and autobiographies, until they run out of ink. Food will be served and there will be a forum for readings- all to benefit the NSP. We’re now entering our seventh year, coming out of a jam-packed spring, and looking forward to future projects!
Sign up here.
Date: Sunday, May 15, 2011
Location:New Orleans, Louisiana
Contact:Lea Downing
502-541-6856
leadowning@gmail.com
Two months ago I started reading Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, the seminal book on spiritual healing for the creative force in all of us. I found myself blocked, frustrated, and constantly nursing this place of fear inside of me when it came to sitting down with any piece of fiction I wrote. This fear manifested in physical symptoms—clenched stomach, quickened heartbeat, an icky feeling in my chest—that encouraged me even more to abandon writing and pursue other avenues of satisfaction (shopping online for boots anyone?).
The Artist’s Way speaks directly to this kind of creative atrophy and anxiety. Even when I found myself outwardly rolling my eyes at all that Great-Creator-Within business, inwardly I nodded along as she talked about nurturing the inner self before outward production. This made tremendous sense to me. So, without my usual trepidation or excuse-making I dove right into one of Cameron’s two prescriptions for the creative soul: Morning Pages. Her other exercise required a weekly excursion, called an Artist’s Date, that you made with yourself to try something new each week. I didn’t prove so diligent here.
For some reason, Morning Pages clicked with me. Each morning, (okay, most mornings) I wake up, brew a pot of coffee, and load a Pages document—password protected, of course—and write three pages of whatever pops into my head. Sometimes I write about my daily tasks ahead. Other times I write about something bothering me too newly formed or personal to disclose to anyone else. I’ve even written about having nothing to write. What I write isn’t the point though. I just need to show up to something, every day. A commitment, a practice, some continual thread in my life, a constant I can look to and learn to count on.
I can’t point to anything in my life two months later and attribute some change directly to this practice of Morning Pages. But I can testify to a daily sense of satisfaction and accomplishment with the completion of those pages, and that something in me has changed. Cameron says in her book that it’s almost impossible to write about something every single day and not eventually be forced to make a change. I’ve found that to be true, and some of these changes have happened almost unconsciously. I discovered that my attitude has changed completely when I went back this morning and read my very first week of Morning Pages. Two months ago I was pessimistic, depressed, angry and overly critical of the people around me. My Morning Pages for the month of January look nothing like this at all.
Dedicating your mornings to this kind of daily practice can give you a sense of accumulation and allow you to discover meaning in your daily life. It also creates an almost effortless record—of your moods, your worries, your daily life. I was surprised when I read about an unusually pleasant dinner I hadn’t thought of since that night. Those pages can serve as reinforcement of the positive, reminders of the small experiences that make life worth living but also become overshadowed by the larger and more emotionally taxing events of our lives. There is also an immense satisfaction in the act of building. Over the past two months, I’ve built a document over 30,000 words and almost 100 pages long.
Every morning, the best you can.
Notice up above I conceded *almost* every day. I seem to operate at about 70% of the time. I’m terrible about the weekends and not as dedicated midweek. Set a goal of every morning, five mornings a week, or just every Sunday. Whatever your goal, try to reach it. My Morning Pages don’t take me long at all, but I’m a super typer. (Thanks should now be given to my cruel high school typing teacher who would bark out the letters and slap a ruler on her desk to beat time. This gesture also subtly conveyed to her sophomore typing class that if we missed a single letter, she just might beat time on our knuckles. I was scared to death of that woman and even hated the class, but there is no denying 80 WPM.)
How to—
Write in whatever medium you feel comfortable. I’ve gotten out of the habit of longhand writing, but Cameron recommends this way in order to allow your brain time to slow down and think. If you write comfortably this way, do it. If you like to type on an old Remington despite the key jams and ink blotches, then that’s the best way for you. Do whatever way you find most comfortable and know that this is the right way. But, if you decide to write longhand make sure you find a place to keep it so that you feel safe writing. Nothing kills this whole self-reflection process like a deep fear of prying eyes.
Nothing to write about. Not.
Although I’ve written a couple times that I couldn’t think of anything to write, most of the times I can. Our brains are wheel hamsters on steroids, constantly whirring with all kinds of thoughts. There is always something to write about. In the beginning, write about how pissed off you are, how your partner leaves the effing milk out to let it spoil, how the bank overdrew your account, or how you got a bad haircut. Think of these mornings as dumps for all those negative feelings. By getting all of these thoughts cleared out of the way, you open your mind up for something more positive. If you share space with others, password-protect these pages so that you are the only eyes that ever see them.
Eventually rev up your engine and get ready to drive
I got a little tired of my own whining even though I never went back to read it. I knew it was there, front-loaded all over my then 60 page document. So I decided to change directions. I started writing about my goals, my dreams, the things I wanted. Attainable things like a house with an office that gets tons of sunlight. Completely unrealistic things like a Pulitzer prize. Everything in between. The act of wanting is incredibly powerful. When we don’t name the things we want, we are almost sure never to receive them. Plus, it’s just fun to daydream sometimes. Put me in a way better mood than talking about how pissy I was. Start pushing your Morning Pages to talk about the way you want your life to be and see what happens. I credit this more than anything else with changing my perspective.
Just like that old adage about life, this is a journey not a destination
Seriously. Don’t look for some direct means of measuring the success of your Morning Pages. Don’t even think of them in terms of success. (By doing so, you unconsciously signal to your little dude within that you will measure this in success or failure, opening up an outcome you will label failure.) Writing these every day is about growth, but also about dedicating yourself to something. One of the greatest unintended consequences of these things for me has been just proving that I can stick with something. That’s worth my 30 minutes every day no matter what.
Good luck and happy writing. You won’t regret it.
No, this isn’t a post about Kermit’s new CD which is on my very short list of must-haves but, yes, I did steal the title from him. My must-have list is very short because I have begun a journey of decluttering my life and home and have vowed that any material item I purchase must be something I really need or can’t live without. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time…..my house is bursting at the seams and all this stuff has become a bigger and bigger background stress for me.
Today is my first step toward purging some of the stuff in my home that I really don’t need and can’t use. I cleaned out my closet and donated 3 large lawn and leaf bags full of clothes, shoes and handbags to the Vietnam Veterans of America. I even purged items I held onto in the last 3 closet cleanings. Let me tell you, when I lugged those heavy bags down the stairs and out the door this morning I felt such a lightness of spirit it was exhilarating! And when I looked into my closet which is now only half full, I felt like I was floating on a cloud. It was all just stuff I didn’t need. And this is only the beginning. I have 4 more bedroom closets, 2 linen closets, 3 bathroom vanities and a kitchen full of cupboards to purge and I Will. Be. Ruthless. Oh yeah, and a sideboard full of dishware I never use too. I just don’t need it all.
Serendipitously, I found the website Miss Minimalist (whose motto is “living a beautiful life with less stuff”) and may I say Yay! What an inspiration she is with her wealth of experience and tips. If you’re on a decluttering journey too I highly recommend her website.
So a couple of unexpected things happened to me recently that have made me a happy girl and I’m going to tell y’all about them. Two of my loves in life are photography and poetry and I dabble a bit in each. I have a blog where I post poetry that I write and interact with others who share that passion but I’ve kept it a bit of a secret for the past 3 years and published under the pseudonym Zouxzoux. In January of this year I took the shaky step of submitting some of my poetry to online zines for publication. I guess I had beginners luck because the very first submission was published in The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature and I’ve really had very few rejections from other zines I’ve submitted to since. Anyway, a few weeks ago I received notification from St. Somewhere Journal that they’ve nominated one of my poems for the Pushcart Prize. I was (and still am) astonished and very grateful – it’s such a privilege, especially for a struggling writer like me. I know thousands of writers are nominated and it’s unlikely I’ll actually win but the fact that I was nominated has really given me a boost of confidence and that means so much. Another source of that strange feeling known as confidence comes from my friend and mentor, Tammy Vitale. I met Tammy several years ago online and she has really been a creative inspiration for me. When she heard about the nomination, she asked if she could interview me for a post on her wonderful website, Women, Art, Life: Weaving It All Together and I was, of course, thrilled. Here is the link to the interview and I encourage you to peruse her website – it is such a positive and beautiful place to visit.
Then a few days ago I won a copy of Debra Shriver’s beautiful book, Stealing Magnolias: Tales From a New Orleans Courtyard. (Check out this great piece about the book on Style Court.) I had entered a photography contest on FaceBook sponsored by Glitterati which asked for photos of New Orleans and I won! I entered a photo of Nick’s Supermarket on Washington Avenue (below). It’s not what most people think of when photographing the city so I guess that’s what caught their eye. Of course, to the locals, it’s pretty much a typical scene although I’m sure there are plenty of locals who pass scenes like this everyday and never really see. I know not everyone likes street art but I think it’s really interesting and, often, carries a message if you’re only open to it. This creature is known as “Tard” and the lettering is by local sign painter Lester Carey who’s painted many, many of the signs you see everyday in the city. There’s a great write-up about him here on NO Notes blog so go on over and read his story. It’s fascinating. One local who photographs scenes we all might pass everyday without seeing is the blogger at What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today. I’ve been following her for probably a year or so now and she always has fantastic local photos as well as interesting posts. You should visit.
Well, I’ve about run out of “Happy Talk” for the moment and the cat is meowing for supper so I’d better get off my butt and get going. Have a great week-end, y’all!
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