: About Me

I'm sitting on my bed in an old Soul Asylum t-shirt, watching House, trying to figure out exactly what to write here.

Words, I'm good at. Words about myself, not so much.

So. Where to start...um...OK, there we go. I say "um" a lot. I've been told that I use too many big words, which combined with the ones I make up, make for some interesting conversations, I suppose. I am lazy to a fault, but in constant motion. Some days I am the sun, other days I am nothing, and after thirty years of that, I'm used to it.

I am a mother, artist, writer of course...my loves are simple, for the most part: silly kid giggles; music that makes you feel; sweet chai, iced or hot; people who are beautiful in their guts; bubbles, glitter and candy; time alone and with people who make me think; silly TV; Donnie Darko; palindromes and even numbers; finding the perfect pattern of words or beads or colors; the smell of rain and nag champa and that one spot on the back of a baby's neck; lavender clouds...the list is never-ending, so I'll cut to my most important love: my family. They are everything; without them, there is nothing else.

I've been writing since...forever. There were the usual awards and anthologies and such, and then life became about parties and self-medication, and then about babies, field trips and patching up boo-boos. When my youngest began to read, I began to write again.

So here I am, and it's quiet for once, and I've said all I can think of.

My passion is ...

life, and every beautiful, crazy, maddening thing in it

I know too much about ...

grammar, psychology and kurt cobain

My parents always told me ...

to be quiet and do what I was told (I'm still not listening)

My childhood ambition ...

was to avoid anything ambitious. I was remarkably successful.

My favorite memory ...

Who can choose one of these? I have a thousand favorites.

Why I write ...

because if I don't, my head fills up with words, and might explode.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

The Beans of Egypt, Maine/Scrubs/The White Stripes

My first job ...

land surveying with my dad

My best moment ...

is waiting for me

My inspiration ...

radiates from my children and spreads into everything around me. They are the light.

Creative Writing > Short Stories Short stories: Laundry day

43 of 43

It never ends. A simple thought, and true enough with a houseful of active, messy kids, but somehow on this rainy Tuesday, it seemed to carry more significance than it should. For a moment the pile of muddy socks, worn jeans and frilly pink skirts seemed overwhelming, frightening, as if it might topple and bury her under the weight of the past few neglected days. She could picture herself there, suffocating under the weight of her children's discarded clothing; she hoped she wouldn't end up with one of her teenage son's socks up against her nose. Barring that disgusting thought, she suppos...

More..

• Helium Charter Member