Fight Like a Girl–now with video!
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Category Archives: writing
Fight Like a Girl
This is a new song Rand and I have been working on…we’re trying hard to have it ready to debut in a circle at this weekend’s FilKONtario. We also plan to perform it in our concert at Marcon in May.
UPDATE: we now have video, thanks to the awesome Tom and Sue Jeffers. 😀
I can roar like a lion, though I look more like a lamb
And I know I’m so much stronger than you all think that I am
I’ll stand up for every person in the world who’s ever heard
Someone say, “You’re not a fighter, you’re just a girl”
I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll fight until I’ve won
I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll show ’em how it’s done
I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll make them all eat their words
And fight like a girl
I’ve taken down vampires, zombies, Sith lords, reavers, and spies
I’ve escaped from countless supervillains without the help of the guys
I’ve destroyed evil empires and cheated death like a pro
With my stake, my katana, my battle staves, and my bow
(Repeat chorus)
Bridge:
My name is Kamala, Natasha, Michonne
It’s Katniss, it’s Zoe, it’s Sarah, the clone
Buffy, Veronica, Bobbi, Barbara, Diana, Melinda, and Rey
Call me Leia, or Sydney, or Peggy, or Carol, or Kara or October Daye
I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll fight because I’m right
I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll fight all day and night
I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll fight the dark with the light
I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll punch, kick, and bite
I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll fight with all my might
I’ll fight like a girl
I might even decide to not fight
Nah
I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll fight until I’ve won
I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll show ’em how it’s done
I’ll fight like a girl
Til everyone in the world has heard
I’ll fight like a girl
Inside the burst bubble
In November 2011, after the whole Penn State scandal blew up, I wrote a little essay on my blog titled “We are…heartbroken.” Shortly after that, I was contacted by a professor at PSU who was interested in putting together a book and wanted to know if my essay could be included. I said yes, and waited.
There were some ups and downs in the process, but the final decision was to fund the project using indiegogo, with all proceeds beyond the cost of the book itself to be donated to RAINN. Here’s the link to the project page, where you can read more of the details:
Notes from Inside a Burst Bubble: Penn Staters on the Penn State Scandal
I am proud to be a part of this project. If you are so inclined, please help me spread the word.
Goals
I’m having a meeting with my creative writing club at school, and I’ve asked my students to come up with some writing goals (or resolutions) for the coming year. So, since I’m asking my students to do this, I figure I should do the same!
I’m hesitant about calling them “resolutions,” so I’m going to call mine a loose collection of goals that I resolve to feel no guilt or pressure about. 😉
1. Post something in my blog once a week.
2. Start journaling regularly again.
3. Find more time for reading (for fun).
4. Prepare something (probably a short story) for submission somewhere.
5. Do something during NaNoWriMo this year, even if it’s a smaller goal than a complete novel.
By posting this here, I’m making good on #1 already!
This is not really writing-related, but I’d also like to find more time to work on calligraphy projects…sadly, I have to get caught up on that pile of grading first!!
What goals are you setting for yourself, writing or otherwise?
Dead of Winter contest open
Dead of Winter
The 2008 contest is now OPEN.
Dead of Winter is a fiction contest (any genre) for stories with supernatural elements or themes. Ideally, stories should be set in autumn or winter. The most original, most haunting stories will be chosen for publication.
Details, including specific theme and length, are announced November 1.
The deadline for submissions is December 21.
Entries are blind-judged by Baker & Billiard. Decisions are final. Winners are announced January 31.
Winning stories are published in the March issue of Toasted Cheese. Winners receive Amazon gift certificates: $20 for first, $15 for second, $10 for third.
Stories submitted to the 8th Annual Dead of Winter contest (December 2008) should follow one* of the following themes:
* Alaska
* Alternative Santa
* Blood River Bridge
* Ventriloquist
The word limit is 4,500 words.
The contest opens on November 1, 2008 and the deadline for submission is December 21, 2008. E-mail entries to dow2008@toasted-cheese.com. Your subject line must read: Dead of Winter Contest Entry.
Post any questions you have about the contest in our DOW thread at the forums. Please do not post any part of your entry in the thread.
You may post your work for feedback at one of the critique forums but please title your post “DOW entry for feedback” or similar so that the judges don’t read it.
Be sure to (1) set your story in winter (2) write using supernatural elements or motifs (make our spines tingle, make us hesitate to turn out the lights, etc.) and (3) use one* of the themes provided.
*You are welcome to use more than one of the themes in your story (for example, you could write a story about a ventriloquist and set it in Alaska) but you must use at least one of them and make it strong enough so that we know which theme you’re focusing on.
Only ONE entry PER AUTHOR, not one entry per theme.
How not to write a short story
Last night, I watched a random episode of Friends that TiVo kindly “suggested” for me. The episode was “The One with the List,” which (if I’m remembering correctly) was early in the second season.
Setup: Rachel and Ross have kissed. Ross has a girlfriend, but is in love with Rachel. Joey and Chandler suggest that Ross make a list of pros and cons to help him decide what to do.
Chandler has typed the list on his new laptop. Rachel sees the list (only that is something about her) and insists that they show it to her. What happened next had me laughing so hard, I was nearly crying. I took it back and watched it again, and then made Rand watch it. I don’t think he thought it was quite as funny as I did. 😉
Rachel: Chandler wrote something about me on that paper and I want to see it!
Ross: Chandler isn’t that the short story you were writing?
Rachel: Short story? And I’m in it? I want to read it!
Ross, Joey, Chandler: NO!
Joey: Why don’t you read it to her?(this is the part that had me in tears…)
Chandler: It was summer… and it was hot. Rachel was there… A lonely grey couch…”OH LOOK!” cried Ned, and then the kingdom was his forever. The End.
Is this as funny as I think it is? I’m still laughing. I think the next line was Joey saying Chandler was the worst writer EVER. 😀
Happy Mother’s Day
Yes, it’s a day late, but I just read this lovely post from Michelle Sagara West, and I needed to share it.
We saw Rand’s mom yesterday…I sent my mom flowers and talked to her on the phone. I’m going to be seeing my parents this weekend, and Rand and I will be traveling to St. Marys next weekend.
Life continues to be crazy. It’ll get less crazy soon. I think. 😉
OMG so much to do
Gah.
Where’s the vacation part of this week? Hmmm? Sigh. Here’s what’s on my to-do list:
1. Write TC article due tomorrow (this is pretty much done, but may need some tweaks…)
2. Work on invitations (I’ve done a little bit. the reply cards are gonna be a nightmare, b/c the printer doesn’t seem to want to print them straight)
3. Work on getting a final for-real guest list including all necessary contact info.
4. Grade a bunch of papers (*weep*)
5. Get together w/my little b/c it’s her birthday this week.
6. Plan lessons and gather materials for next week.
7. Go to two yoga classes, b/c I missed last week.
8. Get a mani/pedi.
9. Wash springy-summery clothes I took out of storage.
10. Play with iPod.
11. Walk every day.
I’ve about given up hope of ever catching up on the blog posts I meant to write…but I have uploaded photos!
That’s all for now. Happy Monday!
Obligatory post
I promised I’d post every day during this BufBloPoFo thing, even if I didn’t get around to the prompt (and truthfully, I’m too lazy to go see what today’s prompt is…), so here I am.
Today was a typical day in the life of a sub…phone rang at 6 am (gah…hate that…but glad I took it) and I had a very laid-back day with a great schedule. Score. I managed to both finish Living Lost: Why We’re All Stuck on the Island by J. Wood (which I enjoyed, but somehow, not as much as I enjoy his blog!) and Boy Proof by Cecil Castellucci. I love how raw and honest her characters are.
Aside? Lost is totally rocking my world this season. Bring it on!
And what was even worse than the phone ringing at 6? Well, digging my car out. Rand had to give me a push b/c I was completely stuck.
Over the weekend, I ate too much pizza, slept too much, and had a brainstorm for a series of YA novels that I need to let marinade or percolate or whatever for a while. I think it could be really, really cool.
(Speaking of writing, I need to get going on my April article for TC!)
OH…and another big thing happened over the weekend, but I’m not quite ready to go totally public with it yet. Soon, as soon as things are definitely definite. 😉
And that’s what’s new with me today. Hope you’re all having a spectacular Monday!
I could hear the voices of my childhood
In response to today’s BufBloPoFo prompt:
BufBloPoFo Topic for Day 6: What kind of stuff (toys, books, TV shows) were you into when you were a kid? Do you think that had an effect on what kind of a person you are today?
Hmm…I had lots of the typical toys of a child of the 70s/80s. Hungry Hungry Hippos. Lite Brite. Viewmaster, Sit’n Spin, Etch-a-Sketch. I played with Barbies and Strawberry Shortcake dolls, My Little Pony, the Rubiks Cube, Cabbage Patch Kids (I had two). I enjoyed all that stuff, and I think that they serve as cultural markers–in some ways, we’re all identified by these things…the toys we played with, and the music we listened to, and the shows we watched on TV.
But of everything, I think the things that most influenced me were my books. I’ve always been a reader, ever since I can remember. I continue to tell people that my favorite book of all time was and continues to be A Wrinkle in Time. I loved the Chronicles of Narnia, particularly The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Another one of my favorites was the lesser-known The Girl with the Silver Eyes. I absolutely ate up anything magical, anything extraordinary, and I so desperately wanted it to be real. I wanted to open a door and emerge in a different world. I wanted to bend the rules of space and time. I wanted to be able to move things with my mind. I loved these books, and I read them over and over and over again. It was in those stories, I think, that my desire to be a writer first emerged. I wanted to be able to make other people feel the way I felt when I was reading.