I (Sort Of) Labored Today


Actually mostly what I did was sit at home and read blogs and download apps. And now I'm gonna share them here. I came to find the Biz*Ladies section of Design Sponge by way of the Girl's Guide To Web Design, which is an online class I want to take about Wordpress because I'm on Blogger and have web envy. The gal who conducts the class has contributed to Biz*Ladies (about Wordpress, of course) and when I started reading back posts on Biz*Ladies I got ever so inspired and excited and I even emailed my ol' pal Keva with new ideas (mind you she had emailed first, a few days ago, but still, I haven't emailed new ideas to Keva in years!) Really there are some very wonderful posts over there, in particular, I got a lot out of the following:

* Get a Website in a Weekend (a Wordpress primer)
* Advanced Functions of Wordpress
* The One Simple Thing You Need To Know For Your Online Business (hint: relationships)
* Free Publicity Techniques

But they were all pretty good.

Then I spent some time trying to retrieve my notes that I (thought I) lost on Evernote, but voila! They were there once I got back into my account. And now they have this section on their site called The Trunk that showcases all sorts of iPad and iPhone and Android apps that integrate with Evernote and so I spent an hour or three exploring those and downloaded quite a few, in particular I liked these:

FastFinga - A handwriting app that allows me to write notes with my finger on the iPhone screen
JotNot - Nifty document scanner
FotoNote - Captures text from a photo and does a decent job of it, too. This is going to come in handy at the hair salon where I always read interesting things in their magazines and try and shoot them with the iPhone camera and well this will convert it if I want and send it to Evernote and I like that.
ScanBizCards - Bet you can figure out what this one does? The free version let's you scan 2 cards a week which is enough for me.

*Those are the nachos that Keva and I shared last time we saw each other. Yum, Roxy.

My husband and I love this house in our neighborhood. It has a bridge to the front door. It's weird. And wacky. And wonderful. And the old couple who have lived in it since it was built in the 60s are moving out and their son called us and wanted to know if we wanted to buy it. O. My. God.

I don't have a real job. And I impatiently await to see if any of my new book proposals will be loved and purchased. Dreaming of this house got me through the tumor and the hospital stay. Weird that exactly two years later (seriously, like to the day) we get a call about this house. Yep, it's the two year anniversary of my very own heirloom tomato being removed from my heart and lungs. Yipee for me! I'm alive and healthy and well and occasionally wise.

So this being a writer thing, it's wonderful and joyous and painful and rough. I can look at other writers' books and blogs and think, why didn't I do that? I could have done that, I think. And then I proceed to beat myself up. And to an extent, rightfully so. Because I am not the most focused person in the world and I try and juggle so many different ideas and thoughts and roles and personas and geez, even blogs that I end up doing all of them sort of half-assed. Which isn't a new concept, I mean it's common, it's a cliche. I'm a cliche. It's such a cliche that I just called myself a cliche. I am so not good at the meta thing.

I probably should pick one thing to be and be it. Or at the very least one blog to write and write it.

So we got a new puppy, who is mega cute and mega annoying. She nips and barks and pips and grrs and jumps and I forgot how hard it is to have a new pup! But she is cute and the best part is how when she sleeps, she cuddles up to George our older dog like she's her own personal pillow. And George lets her. George lets her do most anything and occasionally puts Ozzie's little head in her big mouth (oh, they're just playing!)

Everyone is doing their round-ups of Best Songs of 2007 and I love this time of year because I will always find something I haven't heard of on someone's list that I give a listen to that just rox my sox. This year it's a band called Bodies of Water. This is such a Clea band-- weird choral-like back-ups, female lead vocals, peppy music that belies the over dramatic nature of the lyrics! Love it. Found this one on Bon Ton's round-up of 2007 faves.

Bodies of Water, "Our Friends Appear Like The Dawn"

I may do my own list soon, but honestly, it's going to be very predictable (in other words, Wilco will top it.) The other artist I fell in love with this year was Maia Hirasawa, from Hello Saferide, but I actually don't own the album. I want to. But it's a $32 import. I'll pony up post holidaze. I just love everything I heard from her. Fresh, clean, brisk girl-pop with a Swedish accent.

Maia Hirasawa, "And I Found This Boy"

So my book comes out January 9th, less than one month away. And I should let you know, I finished the follow up already, it's about FRIENDSHIP and I'm pretty happy with it. My editor is the best. That book just wasn't clicking with me entirely until she got her hands on it.

So anyway, 30 DAYS TO GETTING OVER THE DORK: A Heartbreak Handbook, will be out next month. Request me at your local Borders or indie bookseller! I have made these DORK BINGO game cards, got myself a bunch of bingo markers and am ready to roll. I'm going to bring them to my in-store appearances and we're gonna play games. And maybe make some voo doo dolls out of old socks, who knows. Look back here, I'm going to post some of that stuff for download on this here blog i case I ain't coming to your town.

That's the latest. Thanks for visiting and reading and just being you. xoxo

This, That. And the Other.

So I've been out of the loop for awhile thanks to a giant beefsteak tomato of a tumor in my chest that has since been removed (and it really did look like a beefsteak tomato, my surgeon took a picture on his camera phone!) While I am still in a fair amount of uncomfortable (and occasionally blinding) pain, I am no longer bed-ridden and glued to the bad TV that makes up 99.75% of what's on the air.

What don't I hate? Of course, Gilmore Girls. Although admittedly this season's premiere started off with less than a bang. Was not my favorite episode. But the one from last week with the dirty texting and the what if Pop Tart speech redeemed. I look forward to tonight's episode.

I wish Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was better. Don't get me wrong, I really like 1/2 the show. I like the characters immensely and I never, ever found Chandler compelling, but quite like Matthew Perry as Matt, I find him cute even, in a bloated sort of way. But I can do without Christine Lahti and worse yet, the "comedy" writing is simply not funny. Aaron Sorkin can write funny, I mean, Sports Night was one of the best shows, ever, in my mind. I don't mind the stage-y thing Sorkin does with his dialogue, the stilted fast-talk that sounds hyper-real only unreal but still enjoyably sharp. (Shockingly Amanda Peet handles it well, but Lahti sounds like she's in an off-Broadway play in a too big for it's own good theater.) And what a waste of Lorelei?! Ultimately the big problem is the show within the show is just not funny or hyper real or sharp. (I'm of course, not the first person to say this.) It undermines the whole premise of the show. Why doesn't he get a real comedy writer to write that stuff? Or if he already has gotten one, why doesn't he get a better one? Still, I keep watching... for now.

I love this commercial. (Wait for it to load, it will play on this front page.)

Did you know Scrubs is on like 5 hours a day? Even more than Saved by the Bell.

During my inability to leave the house (i.e., go shopping) I ordered way too many beauty products online on Sephora. I wait anxiously for the box to arrive so that I may change my look entirely and go from once tumor-ated and tired Mommy to hot author chick with (almost always) sexy husband and brilliant daughter. (By the way, daughter essentially learned how to read this week! Nothing more exciting than that, not even the Project Runway finale.) Speaking of which, I wanted Michael to win but it appears he totally crumpled under pressure. So now who? Uli? Jeffrey? Please, not Laura.

New favorite website: CookingCute.com She's inspired me to make my daughter bento lunches each morning. I would have taken a picture of this mornings but frankly, not so cute, save for the terriyaki tofu stars! You can't look at this website without smiling.

A most important note: I am currently shopping a book called Getting Over the Dork You Used To Call A Boyfriend. It's genius and if I can find a daring, smart publisher who is willing to actually attempt to sell non-fiction to the YA crowd, it will sell millions and help girls around the world. But meanwhile, I've created a little podcast and blog dedicated to Getting Over the Dork. You'll find it here, at GettingOverTheDork.com. Download the podcast!

Now for the music. Lady & Bird is a side project of French singer-songwriter Keren Ann's that she does with Bardi Johannson and here they cover the M*A*S*H theme, which is a very, very sad song in anyone's hands, but especially theirs. This Hem song was used in some financial company's ad, I think. It's a purty one. Au Revior Simone are not French, but rather from Brooklyn. They have another song on their website. I heard of them on my own blog, the other one, smallages, while Phil and others were sitting in for me. The guest posters - Deb, Zak and Phil - did such a lovely job, I asked them to stay awhile. I like this band, three girls, electro beats, sweet simple vocals, sing-a-long la la's. Everything I look for in a song. Thanks, Phil.

Lady & Bird, "Suicide is Painless"
Hem, "Half Acre"
Au Revior Simone, "Hurricanes"

More about: Lady & Bird (in French), Hem, Au Revior Simone

Quick One: I'm married now.

But years ago, when I wasn't, I felt exactly this way.

And I'm quite certain that another boy felt exactly this way about me.

And yet, no one said it. And certainly, no one said it in a song.

The lyrics and sentiment of this song are so spot-on and really simple and yet also excrutiatingly astute and painful and insightful and clever. There is more in this song than in most of the young adult novels I read.

Donovan Woods, "I Ain't Saying She's Better"

...And the voice ain't half-bad either.

Oh yeah, and he's Canadian.

Donovan Woods info; Donovan Woods MySpace page.

About Clea's Fascinating Life

Born a small non-denominational child in San Francisco, Clea's life quickly took a wrong turn and she ended up growing up in a town called Hollywood. Florida. Which is really, really flat. And hot. It was a life filled with too many Nacho Cheese Doritos and trips to 7-11 on her Huffy and it was a life had in a house filled with noxious pumped in faux air and More (the brand *and* the adjective) Menthol cigarette smoke.

Clea returned to Cali in her teen years but this time chose the southern end. It is there that she still resides, quite happily, with her hilarious and handsome husband and her even funnier (and shockingly beautiful) daughter.

But what of those in-between years? There was her unfortunate Super Big Gulp addiction. Clea was notorious for her used record store attitude, a sad attribute garnered from her other addiction, hoarding too much useless musical knowledge. She co-owned a small shop called Wonderama in downtown San Diego that sold bitchin wares from her tormented childhood. She worked for the racy and questionable International Male catalog as their chief copywriter. She did a lot more stuff that is mostly, now, inconsequential. It was good. Real good. But it's even better now.

Clea has now written 12 books for major publishers. She's concepted for major ad agencies and worked on campaigns for Target, Hello Kitty and a beer company that will remain nameless. Clea wrote girl-centric video games and answered an advice column for Girlsense.com, and now has a column and blog about shopping in San Diego over at City Beat. Clea even opened up a bar and restaurant in San Diego with a couple of partners. Random, right? But that's Clea. If there is one word that describes her, it's random. Oh, and short. Short and random. That's two words.