4th anniversary of the first book I published, or, how I became an orientation and mobility teacher.

This past weekend marks the four year anniversary of when I published the first book from my press, Medusa's Muse. Traveling Blind: Life Lessons from Unlikely Teachers, by Laura Fogg, is a memoir of Laura's 30 + years teaching children with vision impairments, and ultimately what those children taught her about life, love, loss, and joy. Laura has been my daughter's teacher since Queen Teen was 3, and when I discovered Laura was also a talented writer, I offered to publish her book. After a year-and a half of edits, revisions, and debates over cover design and font choices, her book was launched at the California Association of Orientation and Mobility Specialists Conference. The other teachers were excited and impressed, and we sold almost 100 copies in two days. Laura was ecstatic and I was thrilled. I was also intrigued by the other O and M teachers I met at the conference and the work they so obviously loved doing. A few days after the launch of Traveling Blind, I decided to go to Graduate School and become an O and M teacher too.

Four years later, I attended the Orientation and Mobility Conference again, this time as a credentialed O and M Specialist with a Master's Degree and a job working side-by-side with Laura. I'm still a publisher, but I'm also a teacher, working with visually impaired students throughout all of Mendocino County. It was a long, exhausting crawl to get my degree, as many of you saw if you've been reading my blog for the past three years, but so worth it. I love teaching, I love Orientation and Mobility, and I love my students.

The conference is held every other year in Monterey at a hotel right on the beach. About half of my classmates from SF State were there, as were my teachers. My main focus as a teacher was learning about GPS systems for the visually impaired because I have a student who may benefit from using such a device (see, I already sound like a teacher. "may benefit from using such a device." lol). On Saturday was a GPS treasure hunt in downtown Monterey where teams of six competed against each other to find all the clues and get to the last location before anyone else. Our leader was a visually impaired man who just so happens to be the President and CEO of Sendero Group, the manufacturer of the GPS we were using. Is that why we smoked the other teams, arriving 20 minutes before anyone else at the bar, where we waited near a warm fire and drank cold margaritas? But the best moments for me were when I got to spend time with my classmates, catching up on our lives and our teaching jobs while sharing wine and champagne. I've missed everyone so much! It's like we're part of a submarine crew, a small group of highly trained people sharing very specific experiences that hardly anyone else can really understand.

There was a raffle to raise money for the scholarship fund, so I donated four copies of Traveling Blind. As I was sitting in the audience listening to a speaker talk about the pros and cons of using GPS on a smart phone, it suddenly hit me how much my life has changed since the first time I was at this conference. Last time I was a publisher sitting behind a table covered in copies of Laura's book. Now I'm a teacher, just like Laura.

I'll always be a book publisher; no way will I give that up. But it's very hard to make a living publishing books, so I teach to support my book habit. Thank goodness I love my "real" job. 

New Video from Heavy Load

"They call me retard.... they call me mental.... they call me special.... THAT's NOT MY NAME"

Paul Richard of Heavy Load is a contributor to the punk anthology I edited and published, Punk Rock Saved My Ass. This song off his band's new album, Wham, shows perfectly how they feel about being called "special," or anything else that labels them. You've got to see this, and pass it on

Keeping it Real

How much information is too much? After I wrote the post about my struggle with depression, I had to ask myself that question again. Am I sharing too much, especially now that I'm a teacher? What if my boss or co-workers read my blog, or the parents of one of my students? How will they feel learning that I need to take medication just to get out of bed in the morning?

But after thinking about it for a while I decided to go ahead and click "publish." This is who I am. I'm not trying to get sympathy votes and I certainly don't want to sound whiney (whiney people bug the hell out of me, so I hope that's not how I sound!). I simply want to keep it real. Depression is a very real part of my life, as it is for thousands of others, especially parents of special needs kids. Just the every day stress and fatigue can make even the toughest person start to crack. There is only so much a human brain can handle before it decides to go on strike and stop absorbing serotonin. If my honestly about depression can help others, then my blog is doing its work.

I've always been forthcoming. Too forthcoming! I know it, and I've tried over the years to keep things quiet and close to the vest, but it's so against my nature it makes me feel like I'm trying to wear a wool sweater against my bare skin (I'm allergic to wool). So I gave up. I'm more selective as to where and when I speak my mind, but I still suffer from severe oversharing. My friends understand and seem to put up with me. People who think I'm weird stay away.

I'm just as eager to know about you, too. What do you think? Hope for? Need? What makes you mad, and what makes you so happy you almost piss your pants? What were you like in the 3rd grade and what do you think you'll be like when you're 80? I love hearing people tell their stories, which is one of the reasons I love blogs so much. Don't just post a recipe or a photo of a cute kid, and please don't try to sell me something by reviewing it. Tell me a story.

This is also why I love publishing memoir. Even though it is extremely hard work helping a writer tell her story in a way other people will want to read (no one wants to read about why you bought green pants at K-mart on Jan. 3rd), after three years of being a publisher I still love editing memoir. Human beings and the epic nature of their lives make fascinating reading.

So I'll keep writing what I think and how I feel, and I'll hold fast to keeping it real.

(cool, I made a rhyme)

Why does being away for two days create five days of work?

Shouldn't it be 2 days = 2 days? My friend Julia says it's because I typically do 1.5 days worth of work in 1 day. She may be right.

Where have I been, you ask? At the Anarchist Book Fair in San Francisco. I spent this past weekend selling the books I've published through my press, Medusa's Muse. The event was fabulous. Although I'm not an anarchist (nor do I claim to really understand what anarchy is), I enjoyed spending time with so many passionate, political, idealistic, hard working people of all ages. I sold enough books to cover the cost of the table, and then blew it all buying other people's books. I'll definitely be back next year. Go to my press blog, Medusa's Muse, to read more about the fair and my thoughts on Anarchy.

Saturday morning before the fair opened, my husband and I walked to a cafe on Haight Street for our morning coffee and found this mural:

That's me, offering my decaf-soy-latte to my muse, Medusa, to ask for success at the book fair. The mural is stunning and if you're able, go to Standley near Haight Street, right across from Cafe for the People, to see it.

Beyond the book fair, a lot has been happening around here, which I'll blog about later (hopefully). First, I have to catch up on that five days of work created from one weekend away, and then get ready for another conference, this one called Lit Fest where I'll be teaching a workshop on getting published.

Oh, and I'm still catching up on two seasons of Glee. 

Too busy for lounging

When school finished, I imagined that I would spend several weeks puttering around my garden, watching movies in the afternoon, finishing a cup of coffee before it got cold, and writing... lots of writing. But the reality is mighty far from my plans. Instead of basking in a little post-grad school lounging, I am almost as busy as I was in school; the only difference is that there are no tests to study for.

9 months of to-do's are now demanding my full and immediate attention, as in NOW. There is no time to read a book, you must sort the filing cabinet in preparation for taxes and Queen Teen's IEP and medical appointments. And while we're on the subject of appointments, you should make a few for yourself. Those teeth are mighty stained from all that cold coffee you've been chugging, and when was the last time you went to the gynecologist? If you can't remember your last PAP, then it's been too long. Plus, those clothes won't iron themselves and those weeds in the back yard are two feet tall. Oh, and your in-laws are coming.

Which was nice, actually. My in-laws live in Texas and fly out once a year to visit and help with Queen Teen, who was out of school on Spring Break. They stayed a week and during that time helped me clean and organize the pantry. Look, there's food in the pantry behind all that crap. Who knew we had so much Saki and oatmeal? It wasn't all chores: we went for walks in the morning and chatted on my deck with a bottle of wine before dinner, and took a day trip to Healdsburg for lunch. By the time they left, my house was cleaner and my daughter was smiling. I wish we lived closer, but California is too expensive for their liking, and since I refuse to live anywhere Summer lasts 9 months, Texas is out.

This week I'm preparing for the Anarchist Book Fair in San Francisco where Medusa's Muse will have a table. I hope to sell lots of books and network with other indy publishers. I'm amazed my poor publishing company is still alive after three years of neglect, but miraculously, we made a profit in 2010. Of course, I didn't spend very much because I didn't have time to do any promotions, but a profit is a profit. Plus, Uncle Sam will still give me permission to call my publishing company a business and not just a hobby.

To "force" myself to write, I signed up for Script Frenzy. I will attempt to write a 100 page, full length play in April. It started April 1st and I've written 4 pages. Queen Teen goes back to school tomorrow, so I'll be spending the morning working on my play. Far more fun than pulling weeds or ironing shirts.

Hello blog world. I'm back. What did I miss?

Holy Cow! What happened to October?

Is it really the 20th already? Last time I looked, it was October 9th. Since then I've been focused on my internship and my Master's Exam, studying like a fiend when I wasn't teaching visually impaired people, driving too many hours, or keeping up with Queen Teen. Plus, there was a Book Expo for my press in the middle of all that, and a book reading with two of my authors (check out my press blog Medusa's Muse for more on those events). So much happening, so much busy-ness, so much learning and growing and exploring that I'm feeling breathless. Really. I need to sit down and rest for a few days.

But no. No rest for the wicked, or crazy in my case. Although I did find a glimmer of sanity in all that chaos. Since my internship is going to take longer than anticipated and I won't graduate this semester, I postponed my Master's exam until Spring. Suddenly a huge weight disappeared from my chest, plus I had time to tackle that gigantic mountain of laundry in the hall, half blocking my bedroom door.

Alas, there was one casualty this month.

My house plants may never be the same.

Why I have had zero time to write

First of all, I launched a new book this month, an anthology of true, transformative punk rock tales, called Punk Rock Saved My Ass.

Plus, it's the end of the Spring semester. Recently, we went to Guide Dogs for the Blind and learned to travel with a Dog Guide.

This is Toledo, one of the greatest dogs I've ever met. He and I had a blast traveling together, and when we were done, we took some time to play, which included face licking (he licked me. I'm not fond of licking dog hair).

And then there is Queen Teen, who will be graduating Jr High this June and will soon be a High School student. Oh my...

It has been a fast paced, overwhelming, fascinating, thrilling, and enriching Spring. But I'm glad the semester is almost over. I miss writing. Once classes end, I'm looking forward to finishing my play and blogging again. I have a lot to write about, and I'm looking forward to reading your blogs.

Until then, enjoy.