El Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead

All weekend long I wrote an essay about my grandparents and their deaths--the different lives they lived, how my relationships with each were filtered through their children, and how our families honored their passing in vastly different ways. And in my reflection, I learned some things:

"The rules of death don't obey those of the living, for death does not wait. It can't be scheduled between writing class and dance rehearsal, doesn't mind that you've already marked your calendar. Death doesn't consider vacation plans or convenient times. And no matter. What once may have felt momentous can quickly turn miniscule. For death does not care to fulfill the desires of those left behind."

Day of the Day sugar skulls

In honor of this week's El Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, here's an excerpt of my recent article about the revered Mexican holiday that is gaining much momentum in my little neck of the woods:

"To those not familiar with the Day of the Dead, celebrating death can seem like an odd thing. But the holiday is actually more about honoring loved ones that have passed on while acknowledging that death is an integral part of life..."



Read the full Petaluma Patch article: Day of the Dead Exhibit Celebrates Life, Aims to Build Bridges in Community.

Celebrating Success & Outlining New Goals: Tribute to a New Year II

Now that my beady-eyed inner beastie (i.e. The Critic) is laying low, I can celebrate my successes and outline new goals without any badgering before I even begin. My two biggest goals for 2011 are a) to get published in a magazine, and b) to write for a living at least half-time. Looking at last year's goals, I've accomplished quite a lot on my list:

• published my first newspaper travel article in the Los Angeles Times!
• received an honorable mention from the SOLAS awards for "Carnival Queen"
• updated my blog 2x/week & said good-bye to beijos do brasil -- my old travel blog
• applied/got accepted to 3 graduate schools (including merit scholarship)
• formed a writing group (and continue now in my M.F.A. critique workshops)
• joined writing associations (Redwood Writers & Bay Area Travel Writers)
• attended several author readings and one conference (Redwood Writers)
• researched, collected, bookmarked and organized writers' guidelines
• cross-referenced story ideas and drafts with possible publications
• created a story submissions database to track responses
• completed a final version of "OLK" and submitted it to 13 publications (all rejected)
• wrote several memoir essays with material adapted from The Journal Project
• interviewed Nels and Pearl and wrote a journalistic essay on farming families
• started writing a profile of Jess, a wildlife biologist working in Alaska
• several times revised and workshopped South Korean temple piece (not done yet!)

In addition, I accomplished things that weren't on the list:

• a nonfiction essay nominated by my MFA program for the AWP intro/journals national literary competition
• paid to blog twice a week for aha!Chinese
• hired as a freelance reporter with Petaluma Patch
• internship with literary agency
• two interviews for TAships in English dept. (I turned down this semester)

There are many writing projects left on the list. I still want to pursue children's book ideas, fiction (YA novels?) and poetry, but I am realizing it'll most likely not all be during this year! And there are plenty of travel, education and profile articles I want to complete and submit. I've just re-organized my old writing folders in the file cabinet donated from a friend. Then it's a matter of dedicating the extra time (during a 70+ hour week) and breaking down the goals into manageable and realistic chunks.


Dear Reader:
What have you accomplished in 2010? What remains on your to do list? What writing aspirations do you have for 2011? How do you set goals and what steps do you take to reach them?

Freelancing with Petaluma Patch

I was recently hired as a freelance writer/photographer with the local online news source, Petaluma Patch. You can read any of my articles online here or click on the links below.

Former Professor Teaches Next Generation of Farmers: On Green String Farm, what you invest in the land, you reap in harvest.

From Petaluma With Love: Ten easy gift ideas from local merchants.