

Thanx, Michelle Tea!
I have read a lot of memoirs, and How to Grow Up by Michelle Tea is one of my favorites. Michelle Tea is an author, performer, mentor, and advocate for women who write, create, and break the rules. She founded Sister Split, a series of events and programs for female and feminist writers/performers of all persuasions. She is very proactive and someone I admire. At the point in which this memoir opens, she never would have imagined that she would have a fan club. She grew up


For Emily Dickinson
I have written elsewhere on Virginia Woolf’s theories about a woman writer needing a “room of one’s own” in which to write, as well as my own experiences writing and working from home. Another writer known for working, or just being, at home, is the nineteenth-century poet, Emily Dickinson. I wanted to know more about her. I had found some books about her and her poetry and put them on hold at the local library, but the library had been closed due to icy weather. Instead of


A Room of Ann’s Own
I work from home. I also don’t drive, which I used to do before my 2007 accident, and now, I spend most of my time at home. Not driving has changed my life, but not necessarily is all bad ways. I never liked driving. Sometimes I think I never felt safe while driving, although I question whether my memory of driving is clouded. In any case, I always preferred to be driven if the option arose. I also don’t go out as much as I used to before the accident. By “out,” I don’


First Among Equals
As I discuss in my memoir, collage has a history as an art practice of defying conventions, as well as embracing spontaneity, freedom, the release from rules. Also, collage-making is often used in art therapy, according to art therapist Cathy A. Malchodi (2007), because clients feel less intimidated by it than when they are asked to draw or paint. I become very interested in collage, because I enjoyed bringing images and techniques together spontaneously, and then talking wi