I should be sending out plenty of writing this week. To make it easier on myself, I even managed to organize a list of everything that is ready to send out; the list includes a novel, a screenplay, 3 books of poetry, a cookbook, a book of short stories (as well as the short stories themselves to magagzines) and a TV pilot. Several of the pieces deal with activism. Hopefully some of it will sell. Actually, I'm hoping it all sells; this "starving artist" life stinks!

I am still working on some of the free Boca Java coffee. The stuff I'm working on now is their Blogger's Pajama Passion. The blurb on the package reads that it is an "exotic flavored coffee featuring vanilla, kahlua, and caramel". The blurb is correct. One taste of this and I know that this is definitely one of my new favorites. A cup of Blogger's Pajama Passion, a couple of homemade peanut butter cookies, a working computer to write on...What more could I want?

Except, maybe, a really nice hefty advance on my writings!

And to think that while posting earlier today, I forgot to add animal rights. Here I am, a vegetarian, coming closer and closer to veganism, and I forgot animal rights!

I remember the first time I ate at one particular boyfriend's house. I was 15 at the time and had just started dating bf. It was Sunday dinner, which meant meat, potatoes, a green veggie taken from their 1-acre (!) garden. (They had a 65-acre piece of property and had several cows, as well as a steer.) As we ate, bf asked his mom, "Is this still Eddy?" He was holding up a forkful of meat at the time. "Yup. But we're almost done with Eddy, so I guess it's almost time for Joe."

"Who's Eddy?" I asked. Turns out he was dinner, and Joe was the steer I'd seen in the nearby field. It made finishing dinner difficult, to say the least.

Since then, I've gotten to the point where it's difficult to think of eating meat. I'm not going to walk up to someone and smack them around for eating meat. Hey, I'm married to a carnivore. (I've been known to tell people we have a mixed marriage: I'm a vegetarian, he's a carnivore. Makes for an ice-breaker, for sure.) But the point is this: I don't feel comfortable at all eating anything with a face. Could I eat our 16 year old cocker spaniel? Our 10 year old cat? No. So where does it start? Where does it end?

The best laid plans of mice and men...not to mention women.

I spent the week being overwhelmed...I got hurt during a run last weekend--more embarassing than anything else. Skinned up knees. Then the beginning-of-the-month stuff--paying bills, doing the "big" shopping of the month, etc.

The plus side is that I picked up 110 stamps this week so I could do a mass-mailing (okay, semi-mass-mailing) of my writing. I want to send out my novel, short-story book, poetry, etc. And, yes, I'll be writing again. Even if it is only two hours a day. It'll beat not writing at all. If it makes a difference in someone's life (as well as a decent advance for me!), it'll be even better.

I just watched a news item on the Today Show (weekend version; today is Sunday, after all). Apparently, even the poorest in England have a longer life expectancy than the richest here in the U.S. The biggest factor, according to the study, is the fact that England has Universal Healthcare. Hmmm...Looks like something I need to check into and write about...I'll need to Google up statistics, write a relative of mine in England, then start writing...

Then again, maybe I should write and run for office. Hmmm...nothing worse than a radical older feminist writer with an attitude and the inklings of running for office...Could be interesting...

One final thought: I need a list of things I want/need to continue writing about, so here it is:
Domestic Violence
Poverty
Healthcare, including abortion (though this could also go under the poverty & DV headings)
Environment
Human Rights (this includes gender, race, FEMINISM, etc.)

I'm sure this list will grow, but it's a start...

Activism. Writing. Life. They're all intertwined...