Poetry on Unwinnable

(My author bio photo! Back from last winter, after my first pixie cut, before it got even shorter.)

I’m very proud to announce that one of my poems from my latest book has been published on Unwinnable, a website that covers games, comics, and pulp culture. You may be wondering what my poem is doing on a website that doesn’t normally publish poetry. Well, the editor-in-chief was really interested in my work, and the day my book came out, he asked me if he could publish one of the poems from the collection on Unwinnable. Of course, I happily obliged, and so the poem “Point Hueneme” is now available for all to read! Check it out here:
http://www.unwinnable.com/2013/05/16/point-hueneme/

Interested in buying a copy now that you’ve gotten an idea of what’s inside? Go ahead and buy a copy straight from my blog’s store, which you can find at the top of the page or by clicking here.

First week

I would like to take a moment to thank all the people who bought my book, Alexandria, this past week. It means the world to me, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. It’s absolutely terrifying to release a book you have worked on for years and have put so much of yourself in, and the fact that people buy the book and enjoy it makes me so happy. It’s hard being an independent writer, especially one who writes poetry, so all of you who have purchased the book thus far have my sincerest gratitude. Thank you!

For those of you who missed the post last week, I finally released the poetry book I have been working on for the past two and a half years, titled Alexandria. It’s about Californian lighthouses, but it also has some sub-surface themes that you will find are more human than you might expect. The cover art is by Aaron John Gregory and colored by Julie Dillon (for those of you who are fans of my husband’s music from when he was in Cormorant, Aaron was guest vocalist on the song “Hole in the Sea” and Julie did the cover art for Metazoa).

To those of you who haven’t bought the book yet, there are still copies left! Feel free to mosey on over to my blog’s shop (at the top of the page, or just click here) and buy yourself a signed copy. And if you want, I have a splendid t-shirt deal: a signed copy of the book, plus a t-shirt with the book’s cover art for only $20.

Our puppy, Odo, will thank you for your purchase since it will help me buy him more puppy food and treats and other good things. And Lemmy will thank you too, because it will help me buy him more hay and bananas.

By the way, it took me about a bazillion years to get Odo to stand still for these pictures. Puppies are the wiggliest creatures on the planet!

My new poetry book, Alexandria

For the past two and a half years, I have been hard at work on my second book of poetry, Alexandria, and today is the day that it comes out! It’s very exciting and terrifying for me. I’ve invested all of my creative energy into this book, and now it is finally seeing the light of day.

For those of you who have noticed the prevalence of lighthouses on my blog, it’s all because of this book. Alexandria is a concept piece about Californian lighthouses. I wrote a poem for every classical coastal lighthouse in California. Plus, it has a handy appendix that lists my research notes. That way you can learn a little bit about the different lighthouse’s histories while you read the poems!

If you are interested in reading my poetry, or if you happen to like lighthouses, nature, history, geology, or ocean-related stuff, you should buy my book! It’s available right here on my blog in the Poetry Shop section, which you can find at the top of the page or at the following link: http://unpetitfauve.wordpress.com/shop

The cover art was drawn by Aaron John Gregory of Giant Squid fame. He’s a wonderful artist and a dear friend. You should also check out the cool t-shirt company he owns with his wife-to-be, Jackie: http://www.cottoncrustacean.com/

The cover art was colored by the gal who did my first book cover: Julie Dillon. Julie does art for Wizards of the Coast and she’s totally amazing. She also did the cover art for Arthur’s second record with Cormorant, Metazoa.

T-shirts for the book are available too, because who doesn’t love a good t-shirt?

And as a bonus, here’s a photo of Arthur and Odo during the t-shirt photoshoot we did.

So go ahead and buy my book! I hope you like it!

Ears

Odo has been getting bigger and bigger by the day. He’s getting heavier, longer, and taller. He’s slowly losing his puppy fluff and growing his coarse outer coat. He was born with a more sable-colored body, and it has gradually turned completely red (as is what happens with red-and-white Corgis). And his ears went up over the course of last week. First his right ear, then his left ear, about five days apart. Corgis are born with floppy ears, and they go up at some point during puppyhood. Odo was a late bloomer relative to his brothers and sisters, with his ears going up between 11 and 12 weeks.

He’s also learning a lot. He knows lots of commands and he can go up the stairs (he just has trouble going down)!

Maybe I’ll be able to wear something nice one of these days so I can make an outfit post. But as the mama of a young puppy, my wardrobe choices every morning usually revolve around the question “which t-shirt am I going to wear today, and do I have any clean pants?”

Arf

The radio silence on this blog for the past few weeks has been for a good reason: Arthur and I have added a new furry friend to our family: a little Corgi we named Odo! This photo of him is from the beginning of the month when his ears were still floppy (they’ve since begun to stand up). He’s been growing fast, learning a lot, and making tons of friends. I’ve been spending most of my time taking care of him and teaching him his puppy manners, and thus have had little time to blog. And because puppy companionship is a messy business, I haven’t been wearing any notable outfits as of late, and therefore there has been a lack of outfit-related blogs. It’s all t-shirts and jeans for me right now.

Give Odo a big welcome to the von Nagel family! And make sure to check back soon, because I have some more big news coming your way!

Public Domain Finds, Animal Edition

State Library of New South Wales

Field Museum Library

State Library and Archives of Florida

State Library and Archives of Florida

National Media Museum

Nationaal Archief

Arthur and I are adding another quadrupedal companion to our family. Stay tuned.

The tender axe of springtime

Tee: H&M
Skirt: Vintage, 1950s, from Chick-A-Boom! Vintage
Shoes: Naturalizer
Necklace: From East Brother Light Station

The weather has gotten to the point where tights aren’t necessary anymore. It’s kind of nice. I always get really into the whole sunny weather thing right at the beginning of spring, then by the time May rolls around, I’m ready for the rain again. I’m bringing out all the cottons in my closet right now. This circle skirt has made quite a few appearances in public ever since I got it for my birthday. It’s from the 1950s and I am completely in love with it. That pattern! That cut! That buckle! Looks like I found myself a new spring staple.

Music: Rome – Odessa

I’ll take the quiet

Dress: Anthropologie
Tights: Gifted
Shoes: ModCloth

Arthur’s basses and my mandolin: Nelson Stringed Instruments

Music: Liz Green – The Quiet
Dead Man’s Bones – Name In Stone

Crown jewel

First of all, happy International Women’s Day! Today I give my thanks and my respect to all the women, past and present, who have struggled to improve the lives of women all over the world. I also give my thanks and respect to the men and to the people of non-binaried gender identities who have contributed to the fight for women’s rights and gender equality. We still have a long way to go, but without these great people, we would be nothing. They are our heroes.

About the dress:

There are certain pieces of vintage clothing I own that I call the “crown jewels” of my collection. This dress, which my parents gave to me for my birthday this weekend, became a crown jewel the minute I took it out of the box.

It’s a 1940s hand-painted deadstock shirtdress. It came from my friend Marissa, who owns Chick-A-Boom! Vintage.

This is the most expressive, wild 1940s dress I’ve ever seen. It’s beautiful in every way. It’s an absolute privilege to be the owner and caretaker of this sartorial work of art.

Birthday by the bay

On my birthday, Arthur took me to the Ice Cream Bar, a 1930s style soda fountain and lunch counter in San Francisco. We went during the afternoon when they weren’t busy, so we pretty much had the fountain counter all to ourselves, which was great. The food there is excellent, but the real highlight of the whole experience was the soda jerk creations they offer: phosphates, lactarts, floats, malts, shakes, etc. I had a bergamot and almond phosphate and Arthur had a float they call “Tiny Bubbles,” which is made with star anise and black peppercorn tinctures with roasted pineapple ice cream. Next time we go, I want to try some lactarts and other specialties. And I will definitely visit in the afternoon again. I can only imagine how crazy they get at night!

After we stuffed ourselves on some food there, we headed to Fort Point, a place I hadn’t visited in a very long time. It was really nice to visit the lighthouse, which I think has a pretty interesting history based on what I learned during my Californian lighthouse research. In the early part of the 20th century, keeper James Rankin saved some people from drowning at Fort Point. They had fallen into the ocean after drunkenly dancing on the sea wall during a picnic.

It was a truly excellent birthday weekend. Check back on Friday for a post about one of the vintage dresses I got for my birthday (a really beautiful 1940s piece)! See you then!

Dress: Stop Staring!
Blazer: Anthropologie
Shoes: Naturalizer

(Photos by Arthur, except for the photo of him, which was taken by me)