Room Mag

Well, actually, I'd also like a bunch of material things, such as some new clothes and teas and coffees and maybe a gift certificate or two to a decent restaurant so that I can entertain my fantasy of being a real-life "foodie" and not just live vicariously as I watch the Food Network.

I'm caught up in my wants today for some reason. I blame early Christmas commercials, the music, the wreaths... all of this makes me think of presents. Not just receiving, mind you, but giving as well. I love giving gifts. I enjoy watching someone unwrap whatever material thing I have injected with good intentions and love, especially when the present hits the mark and earns a genuine smile.

As I make my list this year, I can't help but think lists are an excellent device for creative writing. In nonfiction, Lena Dunham's Not That Kind of Girl uses this device expertly. Leonard Michaels' "In the Fifties" is a good example as well, a listing that becomes a sketch of a narrator's experience of an era. 

I think it would make a good prompt for fiction. Each list item can help the progression and smooth out an otherwise more erratic delivery. I'm going to do this prompt with you, that is, if you do it...

Write a short list of presents, for Christmas or whatever holiday/birthday that best suits your purpose:
John, socks - silly-themed socks
Candie, self-help books
George, flavored hot chocolates
Mark, a wallet with a foreign coin in it
Terra, crystals and books on crystals, a candle
etc...
Then, beneath each character and present designation, write out the narrator's reasoning--a short sketch that introduces both the person and this person's relationship to the narrator. The challenge is to see if you can tie it all together at the end (a neat little bow, if you will).

Let me know if it's successful. Let me know if it's a disaster. Whatever, I think it will be fun.

I haven't reported much writing news lately, but you know how nothing happens for a while, then bam! There it all is? Well, something like that is going down, so I'll post updates soon. Work is forthcoming in Superstition Review, Sleet Magazine, Room Magazine, and there may be a fiction collection in the near future. Stay tuned...

xo Jen

5 Reasons Not to Travel on Christmas Day

This is a cautionary tale, in list form. It is based on my experience flying from Ohio to Atlanta to San Antonio yesterday, with a three-hour layover. The takeaway here is that I do not recommend traveling on Christmas day. I do not recommend it no matter how cheap your tickets. Here are the top-five reasons why:

1. Multi-baby planes. Let me clarify here: I am pro-baby. And, I empathize with the challenges of the traveling parent. That said, this is a simple equation to consider when traveling. More families are traveling, and this means more babies. Consequently, there's a chance at least one will be crying during any given minute of the flight. And sometimes, two or three will be crying at once. Noise cancelling headphones can only do so much. 
2. The people at the airport DO NOT want to be at work. Before we were greeted for our Christmas dinner in a restaurant in the airport, we heard a five-minute argument about how our server was not going to take any more tables, hell no, because she had to get to Christmas dinner with her family. And a rebuttal something along the lines of, I have a family, too, and I actually got here on time. It went on. 
3. Things are out of stock. I don't think shipments come in on the holidays, so good luck getting your favorite brand of gum or sparkling water.
4. Ukuleles. In my experience, there's a better chance you'll be in the waiting area next to a girl playing the ukulele as her boyfriend rubs her leg.



Image by: William Fisher

5. Bathroom bathers. Perhaps because people are going to meet family or friends/coming from meeting family or friends, it seemed the women I encountered in the bathrooms were more thorough. One seemed to be washing her hair in the sink, another flossing her teeth, complete with the pop-floss-out-of-space-between-teeth projectile action. My husband's experience, however, was far more disturbing. He reported a rather hefty and weathered man with his shirt off at the sink, wash cloth in hand, working on his pits.

So there you have it. It's up to you, but in my experience the cost-benefit ratio of traveling cheap on Christmas day turned out to be a mediocre deal. My family was more than worth it, and I had a magical time in Ohio as evidenced by my previous post. But, I'll be damned if there isn't a cost-efficient alternative waiting for me next year. 

(I'll post about writing this coming weekend. Now, to decompress, relax, and enjoy being home.)