Tag: election

Weeks 8 and 9: one step forward, two steps back

Along with the rest of the country, I have been mourning the loss of life in Pittsburgh. If you haven’t seen it already, I recommend this video by Mayim Bialik the actress from Big Bang Theory. Her raw emotion captures how many of us are dealing with the fear of anti-semitism and the frustration of being Jewish in this time in history—a time filled with hate (racial, gender, sexual, religious) we and our parents had been working so long to overcome. I also want to amplify Stacy Mozer’s “My Thoughts on Pittsburgh” from her children’s writing blog It’s All About the Journey. 

I’ve been “shopping” synagogues the whole time I’ve been here, so I did #showupforshabbat last Friday night and a lovely new group of people welcomed me. We wrote letters of condolence to the Tree of Life and other congregants. During the amazing service, with my back to the door, my spine tingled with the fear of violence. Later in the weekend, I found out that the synagogue where I attended Yom Kippur services saw anti-semitic vandalism.

One of the songs we sang on Friday night was Heneni or Here I am with a melody by Julie Lipson. The chanted call and response was powerful and sad in the well-attended service. You can hear it here. The experience inspired this poem.

Heneni—Here I am

Heneni
Here I am
scared
insignificant
inadequate

Heneni
Here I am
all I know
all I have to offer
all I have to learn

Heneni
Here I am
walking in peace
finding the light
leaving things better

Heneni

Of course, when one is on edge emotionally anything can topple you. The enormity of my transition, past pain, current family illness, and the fact that two months ago I kissed my kiddos good-bye. The excitement of NY had allowed me to push aside my empty-nest feelings but that sadness rushed in with the grief of the shooting.

In other news (or the same news really)…tomorrow is Election Day. I spent some time phone banking yesterday and have been posting regularly to remind people to vote. I think hope lines will be long. Stay with it folks. Dress appropriately, bring a plus one, and find a way to have fun. Don’t even watch or listen to the polling numbers. Every race is a tight race and your vote matters!

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As my savings decrease, I’ve been working on a freelance article and pursuing some retail and some teaching opportunities. I’ve been accepted to VIPKid, a company that provides an online platform and lessons to teach English to Chinese children. There’s a lot of hustle required, but at this point, I need something. I also had a phone interview for a substitute teaching position at a local independent school.

My end game is still a job in children’s publishing. I’ve been looking into industry organizations and following up on leads that come from friends and family. Thanks to everyone who has been emailing and calling.

Thanksgiving is coming. Take time to hug your loved ones. Try to find common ground. If you can’t…just hold each other in silence. See you in a few weeks.

Rabbit, Rabbit. Five on November first.

  1. I am confident that my AROHO Gift of Freedom Application will be in the mail today. I’m searching Norfolk, VA for print/copy services and hope to brave the very spread out and convoluted roads around lunchtime. The process has been a wonderful. I’ve revisited my blog posts, education, professional development as a writer/illustrator/educator, manuscripts, and community service and honestly- I am happy with what I’ve done with my life. Those who were going to apply but are dealing with Hurricane Sandy, the deadline was extended until November 15th. 
  2. I’ve been away from home this week and miss my children. For some reason, I’ve always had to parent Halloween on my own for the past many years. This year they went with neighbors and had a blast. I called last night for the report, three pounds of candy for the younger son, and two pounds for the older one. They agreed that they’d be donating most of that to the Candy for Soldiers program *after they save the Snickers for me*.
  3. I’d like to know more about the demographics of kidlit authors and I’m considering a survey. Some of it will be about advances, and agents ala this survey from Tobias Buckell. Some of it will be about women in the arts, grants, childcare, day jobs. These are issues that I struggle with and completing the AROHO application brought up a lot of emotional and intellectual issues for me. If there is anything you were wondering about our community, leave me a note in the comments and I’ll see if I can include it in the survey.
  4. Today is day one of PiBoIdMo and NaNoWriMo. If you have been working with Jo Knowles you may have started a bit earlier with JoNoWriMo. All of these online communities are great for writers because they offer 1) Goal setting 2) Accountability and 3) Support! Who doesn’t need support? I need TONS! Personally, I will be working on my new middle grade novel project. I love shiny new projects. This one has the benefit of being shiny and new but I’ve already done quite a bit of planning for it. Scenes have been workshopped at VCFA, and a synopsis has been written. I can see the climactic scene clearly and I’m eager to start the journey towards it. My calculator tells me I’d have to write 1,666 words a day to get to a 50,000 word novel but I’m happy with a daily 1,000 word goal. I’m in this for the long haul folks and hope to have a draft by Winter Break.
  5. Election day is Tuesday. Vote. I know you are sick of the ads. Vote. Some of you think voting doesn’t make a difference. Vote. I lost the election to the Maine State Legislature in 1996 by 27 votes. Vote. Some of you say that it doesn’t matter who wins. Vote. You’re wrong. Vote. I don’t usually wax political here on this blog because I don’t want to alienate anyone. Vote. But if you follow my Twitter feed you know I support President Obama. Vote. If you want to know why, please contact me. Vote. I’m happy to tell you my reasons. Vote. This video says it pretty well. Vote. If you haven’t registered or don’t know where to vote, check out the Rock the Vote Election Center. People starved and died for your right to vote. Respect their sacrifice, please… Vote.