We are exactly 382 miles from Los Angeles! We have stopped in Williams, AZ for the night.
We could have made it to our final destination today but we decided to do the tourist thing. Dana recommended that we visit the Acoma Sky City Pueblo in New Mexico. We took tons of pictures (if you are a Facebook friend you can go and check them out) and some footage of the land leading up to site (you are not allowed to take video of the actual space on the mesa.
I am always leery when I sign on to be a tourist, especially when I am in someone else's actual living space. There is always the possibility of someone saying or doing something stupid. The folks on the tour didn't disappointment.
Fred was a our tour guide for the 80 minute excursion. He was basically responsible for entertaining 20 adults and making sure we didn't break any traditional rules or fall off the mesa. I was surprised how many times he had to redirect grown folks. They acted like because they paid twenty bucks they could just trample all over the land and do whatever. By the end of the tour the irony of their behavior was not lost on me.
Any ol' way
The tour was fascinating. The history(the Acoma people were invaded by the Spaniards and made to accept Catholicism in very brutal ways). The ruggedness and beauty of the land (being on top of that mesa made it clear why it was called Sky City). Fred's pride in the accomplishments of his ancestors (the Pueblo Rebellion of 1680).
The minor detour was definitely worth it and driving through the desert of the Southwest is absolutely breathtaking. We ended our night at a restaurant with a singing cowboy (see end of the video) and a juicy steak.
Check out our video for the day.
Michelle
wwww.girlchildpress.com
Friday, July 3, 2009
GirlChild Press on the Road (Day 4)
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
GirlChild Press on the Road - Day 3
600 more miles closer to L.A.
We are in Albuquerque, NM tonight. The ride didn't feel as brutal today. The landscape continued to get flatter and the temperature hotter, but we wouldn't trade in this experience for anything.
Everyone kept warning us about the drive through Texas, but Oklahoma was the state that just kept on giving. I swear we drove from one end to the other. We just kept saying, "are we still in Oklahoma?" For most of the 600 miles it seemed the answer was YES! We drove through the panhandle of Texas and felt like we were in the state all of five minutes. We did get to see the "biggest cross in North America" while driving through the state. It was quite the sight.
Our day ended with dinner with the lovely Dana in the equally lovely Albuquerque, NM. Dana and I have never met but are Facebook friends. She invited us to dinner when she heard we would be passing through her neck of the woods. This was our first opportunity to sight see on this trip. Albuquerque is a city with a whole lot of personality.
We are actually a day ahead of schedule and we might slow things down a little tomorrow. Dana suggested some places we can check out and we might just hang out in Arizona a little. We'll see how we feel tomorrow.
Here is our video for the day. Don't judge us too harshly on not using sunblock...lol
Michelle
www.girlchildpress.com
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
GirlChild Press on the Road (Day 2)
We logged in about 600 miles today! Amanda did all the driving so that I could write my blog for Velvet Park and read the remaining short stories for the Woman's Work project (and make final decisions). I was supposed to have rejection letters out tonight but that doesn't look like it is going to happen. It doesn't help that the hotel internet is tre shakey! Hopefully I can send them out tomorrow night.
Interesting note about the submissions this time around.Not as many young writers (21 and under) as before. More speculative fiction. More women of color. More clustering of east coast submissions. More repeat submissions from writers from the previous anthologies. Equally as hard making selections:)
We are bedding down in Tulsa, OK. Another day of flat lands and high temperatures. It is 93 degrees at 10:30pm. I am sure as we continue west it will get hotter and hotter.
Tomorrow we are looking at 1200 miles. No, we will not drive them all! Our goal is to make it to New Mexico. We have a dinner invite so we hope to break bread with cool folks on the third day of our trip. At this rate we might be in California by Thursday, but I still think we are looking at a Friday arrival so we can do some sightseeing.
Thank goodness for unlimited phone and text services because we are getting calls/texts from all over checking in and wanting to chat us up. Too bad you can't put positive energy in the gas tank, 'cause we getting that in abundance.
Note: Amanda keeps referring to Marriott because she works for them and we are using her major employee discount to have a nice place to sleep at the end of these long days!
Check out our video for the day.
Michelle
www.girlchildpress.com
Monday, June 29, 2009
GirlChild Press on the Road (Day 1)
The GirlChild Press Express has pulled into Louisville, KY for the night. We did ten hours today. Actually, I drove ten hours. The kid sister talked and slept (see video below).
We started out a couple hours behind schedule but the road conditions were great so we made good time. We spent most of our day in West Virgina and Kentucky. Nothing interesting to report. Mostly rolling hills and long roads. I'm sure folks from both states will let me know there is tons to see in their respective states. It just wasn't apparent from my vantage point (going 75 miles an hour).
Tomorrow we will hit the road at 8:00am. We will be tackling St. Louis and Oklahoma. More videos and pictures to come.
Michelle
www.girlchildpress.com
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Here is the cover of the new anthology Woman's Work: The Short Stories. I am working with the wonderfully talented Kendra Kuliga (again) and as always she is working her magic with this project.
The cover model is Melani N. Douglass. She is both a striking and confident young woman. A perfect cover model for this project!
Tell us what you think about the cover.
Michelle
www.girlchildpress.com
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The End of Overeating and the Food Conspiracy
A couple of weeks ago, Diane Rehm had Dr. David Kessler on her NPR show promoting his new book The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite. Dr. Kessler believes there is an active and growing conspiracy against the American people, spearheaded by the agencies that are supposed to be protecting us.
Dr. Kessler is no weirdo food crackpot. He has a million credentials, but his most notable are his tenure as commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (under the first George Bush’s administration and a repeat performance during Bill Clinton’s), and he is a self-declared food-aholic. By the time the show was over, he had altered how I look at my local grocery store and I was half-way to the nearest bookstore.
Dr. Kessler’s new book touches on two very clear and hard truths. The first is not necessarily shocking, but I don’t think our egos would allow us to readily admit it. Here goes: We are fat because we eat too much. Earth-shattering, right? But most Americans, spurred on by the diet industry, believe that if you try a magic food or pill or drink we will be “cured” of our fat. But the reality is much plainer and harder than that. Fewer calories in, more calories out. If you eliminate 400 calories from your diet on a weekly basis, you would lose weight or at least stave off any additional gain.
Second truth: The food industry is aiding and abetting in the expansion of your waistline. Specifically, the folks responsible for the processed food that most of us consume on a daily basis. Three simple ingredients, utilized in consistent and amplified amounts, keep us addicted to food like your local heroine addict. Sugar, fat and salt are the building blocks for most of our diets. Even if you are not adding them to your food directly, often they are being added during the processing. Dr. Kessler likens this “adding during processing” to what the tobacco industry has been accused of in making cigarettes addictive. Tobacco smoked in its purest form would not have you chain smoking a pack a day, but the additives are what make you crave it. The same goes for processed food. The double helping of salt, fat and sugar (often in the most unlikely recipes) keeps you eating long after you should be satisfied.
Along with the three magic ingredients, the food industry has hired an army of savvy and creative folks that market food to you in such a way that it literally becomes irresistible.
Now according to Dr. Kessler, there are 15% of you out there that this all sounds ridiculous to. You are the folks who could take your food in pill form and go about your day. For whatever reason (genetic, culture, trauma), food just doesn’t get you off like us 85%-ers. For the rest of us, food is a valid way to nurture, reward, soothe and celebrate. We connect with food in a way that goes beyond our biological needs – and that’s how the food industry has engineered it.
Example: How many of us have been at a restaurant and returned a soda because it has been deemed “flat?” Technically nothing is wrong with the soda, except it hasn’t arrived at your table the way that that giant billboard that you pass every morning says it should. It is not cold and powerful and full of pop! Because a can of soda is more than a can of soda. Madison Avenue is selling you something besides those 16 ounces. It is selling you refreshing, sexy, thirst-quenching goodness. They have assigned a set of attributes to that soda that goes beyond the 200 calories in the can.
As I finished reading the book, I realized it was a great argument for going raw or, at the very least, eliminating all the things that your supermarket sells in those middle aisles completely out of your diet.
New York Times food writer Mark Bittman (during a talk at Ted 2007) has come to the same conclusion. Take a look.
Friday, June 5, 2009
7th Annual Women's Words Slam - $300.00 Prize!
Sisterspace and Books and GirlChild Press
Present
The 7th Annual Women's Words Slam
$300.00 Grand Prize
Friday, June 19, 2009 - 7:00pm
Hosted by Michelle Sewell
Come out and celebrate the fiery and phenomenal women poets
of the Washington Metropolitan area!
Over the years this slam has seen the very best artist step up to
the mic and blow us away. This year will be no different.
POETS SCHEDULED TO APPEAR:
Porscha "Lyrik" Coleman, Jade Foster, Joanna Hoffman, Bassey Ikpi, Natalie Illum, Kanikki, Sarah Lawson, Dehejia Maat and more!
This will also be a farewell celebration for Michelle Sewell
as she heads off to the west coast to follow her Hollywood Dreams.
SEE YOU THERE!
Festival Center
1640 Columbia Road
Washington, DC
Cover: $10.00
Interested in performing contact us at girlchildpress@aol.com
