A look at MoMA’s CRAFTING DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO exhibit
I’ve been so overwhelmed and deep into projects I’ve barely had time to breathe—but even though there’s light at the end of the tunnel, the burnout is real.
My friend Kristina and I, along with our friend Brigid, had planned a trip into New York City to see the Crafting del Toro’s Pinocchio exhibit this past Saturday, and it turned out to be Read the rest of this entry
Enjoy 34 ORCHARD Issue 4’s cover? Take a gander at the artist’s other work!
If you enjoyed Issue 4 (Autumn 2021)’s cover art—Walter H. Von Egidy’s The Ghosts of the Fair—then you’ll enjoy this post, where you’ll get to see some of his other work.
His 34 Orchard bio:
Walter H. Von Egidy (Cover Art/The Ghost of the Fair) is an American artist, painter and film maker known for his Super 8 photoplays and enamel/oil paintings.
He has had his work exhibited at Gallery 13, The Burnham Library, Housatonic Art League and the White Silo. He has seven finished portrait commissions and private and public collections including a portrait of composer Franz Waxman at Byrd Library, Syracuse University. His work has won first place at various film festivals including the United States Super 8 Film Festival at Rutgers University. He is the owner of New Milford Sign Shop and Von’s Studio. Most recently, his painting “Saturday Night in the Caverns” was chosen as the cover for writer Bob Deakin’s collection, Unruly Mix (Tales of Music, Artists, Posers and Misfits. You can see more of Walter’s work and contact him at www.walterhvonegidy.com.
Every March, Von Egidy holds an exhibit of his works—many of them new—at the Burnham Library in Bridgewater, Connecticut. It’s always a stellar event, with many people we know from town as well as a chance to enjoy Walter’s work up close. One thing about his art—it’s Dali-esque, it’s colorful, and there’s always a good bet you’ll find a piece that speaks to you.
I got a special bird for my birthday! Check him out!
WOW! I got a SPECIAL BIRTHDAY BIRD at the feeders this morning (it’s my birthday today)! This is a male house finch, but he is orange. Why is this special? Well, first of all, I’ve been a Disney Orange Bird freak since I was teeny, BUT…according to All About Birds, “When a bird is molting, its diet will determine the colors of its new feathers. If a diet lacks certain pigments, then a House Finch may end up orange or yellow instead of its usual red.” This makes him rare and special indeed. What a lovely gift! He’s hard to see against the ground so I put hearts around him so he’s easier to spot.
Pushing the Reset Button
When I was a kid, my parents had people over on New Year’s Eve. Usually, those couples brought their kids, and it was an evening of unsupervised fun in one of the downstairs rooms in our house. We got to eat things like Fritos and Port Wine cheese balls and could stay up as late as we wanted, playing Atari or watching movies.
But my parents looked at New Year’s as little more than the less exciting, not very meaningful finish to the holiday season, and I have to admit I did too, up until I got into my late 20s. Once I moved in with my housemate Charles and started to embark on my writing career and my own life in earnest, we began to mark both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day as something to be celebrated, something special. Over the years, it’s gotten to the point at which, after Christmas Day, I start taking down the decorations and switch those in my home over to “winter,” and New Year’s Eve and Day have a spirit, feel, and magic all their own—it’s a party with friends (virtual for the past few) followed by a full day of rest on the couch, eating fun food and taking in Syfy’s annual The Twilight Zone marathon (and I own them on DVD, so if that ever goes away, I can happily continue that tradition).
Over the past five years, the two days have also taken on a spiritual bent for me. Not only a holiday, but a chance to begin completely anew. I’m not one for “resolutions” and never have been, but I always look at the start of a new year as the chance to reflect on the past year, take stock of things, and set new goals with the idea of “working on it” and not necessarily “completing it” to be successful.
I’ve seen writers socially sharing what they achieved in the past year, and I thought it was a neat idea, because I don’t do that. Not in the sense of a “tally” anyway. Last year’s New Year’s Eve cracker wish for me was SUCCESS, and holy crow, I wasn’t prepared for what that actually meant.
The year was a whirlwind. There are probably some things I forgot—honestly, that’s how awesome this year was—but here we go:
7 polished new short stories
3 new works in progress
29 new story ideas (nothing written yet, no. They go in a file for later).
5 acceptances
2 invitations to submit (successful)
12 story publications
Guest Speaker at 2 College Creative Writing Classes
6 interviews (podcast and print)
9 positive reviews of my stories or projects
2 successful 34 Orchard issue releases
4 panel events
LOL – a tiny photo of me in the New York Times and an interview in the Washington Post
Featured Author for Sirens Call eZine’s Winter 2022 issue
Final selections for anthology I’m co-curating; editing underway now
1 incredible new opportunity I can’t talk about yet
…and 1 film credit! Thanks to my husband Nathan, I got to be an extra on the set of the upcoming horror movie Candlewood. My first time on a movie set, I was nervous as shit, but I had a wonderful time! Whether anyone actually sees anything more of me than my arm or something kinda isn’t the point. That was the experience of a lifetime, and I’m looking forward to this summer’s release.
I also opened my 2022 “Wishes & Intentions.” I didn’t necessarily Read the rest of this entry