Of Sisterhood, Awards, and Other Blogs

The incredibly bright and talented Heidi Moore, who I've come to think of as "the biggest missed opportunity at a best friend, ever" has nominated The Superhero Lunchbox for The Sisterhood of The World Bloggers and the Tell Me About Yourself awards.




Better late than never - and I'm glad Heidi and I have found friendship and camaraderie, after so many years of being more acquaintances, than anything else. One of the sharpest, wittiest women I know, I'm constantly amazed by the grace and humor with which Heidi writes about some pretty heavy-duty topics that would have brought a lesser woman down, long ago. Check out her blog. Go back and start from the beginning. You will think about your own mortality. You will laugh. You will want to paint and write and eat vegan baked goods. You will wish you knew Heidi, too. Trust me on this.

So, the terms of this nomination require nominees to link back to nominator (seriously, don't skip the part where you check out HeidiWriting) and to write a list of : "Seven Things You Should Know About Me," and then to nominate seven other bloggers who are worthy of this award. This seems like a pretty neat way to spread the word about some of the great stuff that's out there for the reading. Here goes.

Seven Things You Should Know About Me

1. I identify as "culturally Catholic." I don't go to mass. I don't believe in 99.99% of what the church has to say. I eat meat on Good Friday. I'm a lesbian. BUT....I was raised Catholic and a lot of the stuff that comes with that has bugger all to do with religion, and everything to do with how a person moves about in the world. Also, my grandmother, who I loved A LOT, was Catholic, and I associate Catholicism with her. I respect your right to throw darts at the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but you won't be doing it in my house. It seems incredibly disrespectful to my grandmother and, truth be told, there's 1% of me that thinks you're going to burn in hell.

2. I have a freakish memory when it comes to words. At 45, it's not what it once was but, still and all - if we had a conversation 30 years ago about the merits of RC Cola versus Coke, I remember it. I may well remember it verbatim.


3. Conversely, my visual memory has always been crap. If I saw you this morning, I can guarantee I have no recall of what you were wearing. People say a lot of my writing is very visual. This is true. In cases where it's non-fiction, my memory is sharp and clear only because I internally processed what I was looking at, verbally, at the time I was looking at it. Possibly with the idea that I wanted to write about it, some day. Translating visual details into prose inside my own head makes it possible for me to turn details I'd easily forget into memories that I will never lose. I think a lot of people do variations of this sort of processing.

4. I'm from NYC, but I'm very proud of my mixed race, Caribbean heritage. My parents and grandparents were all born in Puerto Rico. My great grandfather was from St. Thomas, the son of former slaves. I've never been to Puerto Rico, but I always identify as Puerto Rican first, American second.

5. I'm also a citizen of New Zealand. Having a second passport comes in handy.

6. I'm the funniest person I know. This sounds so shitty, but it's true, and there's no point pretending it isn't. I may not be the funniest person that you know, but I crack myself up. And that's a pretty good thing to be able to do for one's self.

7. I have a deep love for soap operas. I don't mean an ironic, hipster, "OMG...this is so cheesy" love. I mean I grew up watching them and loving them, think serial drama is a literary genre and that it and the people who create it should get some real respect, and I think it's a damned shame there aren't any good ones left on daytime television. If you're rolling your eyes, ask yourself what the hell you're watching when you fawn over Mad Men or Boardwalk Empire or Downton Abbey.

Seven Bloggers You Really Should Check Out

1. Elegy and Irony - Notes from an Aging Hipster - Patrick Erwin writes about a lot of things - music, work, writing, family, sex, media...you name it. He's just interesting, and one hell of a good writer.

2. Musings of a Manatee - I really enjoy free-form blogs, where the blogger isn't stuck with one subject, just because he or she said they'd keep a daily blog on the NFL or comic books, or whatever. Like Patrick Erwin, Shirley Suzuki writes about a variety of topics. One day she might be posting photos of the knitting project she's working on, a day or two later, she'll review a book she's just read or talk about her experiences homeschooling her two boys. I like lots of topic-specific blogs, but I really love this slice-of-life stuff the best. It's sort of the best thing about the internet, IMO - getting to know people when they invite you to be a fly on the wall of their lives.

3. Jenn Hayes' Poked With A Stick Studios blog is a feast for the eyes. Jenn is a really fine illustrator who does so much more than draw. She builds these amazing shadow boxes and creates elaborate paper dolls. This is a new blog for Jenn, so it's not heavy on content, but what there is is really something. I really love her work. When I was at my lowest, I bought one of her shadow boxes, just because it made me happy.

4. Art, wonderful, beautiful art and words about art, by artist and art history teacher, Kenney Mencher. I love this blog, because it basically gives me a chance to sit in on some amazing art history lectures, without having to pay tuition. And don't let the word "lecture" fool you - there's nothing dry about this.

5. Lost City is a virtual love letter to my home town. It's Gotham, when it was at its best. Catch it before it's all gone. It breaks my heart a little, every time I look, because there's so little of it left.

6. The Map of When - Hugh Eliot is quite something. You never know what you'll find. He'll post dance music videos for five days running, and then an original short story that makes your heart soar. You will never be bored. You may, however, ask yourself where this man has been all your life.

7. This is just silly, but I love it. Putting Weird Things in Coffee. I found this blog a few years ago when I started to wonder if I was the only person who put cheese in coffee. (I'm not.) I sort of fell in love. This guy...well...he puts all sorts of things in coffee, films it, and writes about the results. This will not change your life. You will not be a better person because you've bookmarked this blog. It may even be the biggest time-waster, ever. I find it irresistible, though. As topic-specific blogs go, there is none that brings me more ridiculous joy.