On the Street Where You Lived

I promise I'll stop with the Spain is Cooler than Oregon stuff in a bit. But it was so cool to be walking around, licking your amazingly delicious helado and suddenly you're on a street where Cervantes lived.


Although it is possible to be licking your vastly inferior Oregon ice cream and run into Barack Obama.

Hillary Guilt

Okay. Pollsters can stop calling. I voted and now I feel guilty for drawing the arrow to Obama. I hate the way Hillary has been treated in the media and was tempted to vote for her in solidarity and protest. But I voted for Obama and now I feel guilty enough I refused an Obama lawn sign.

Who else is suffering from Hillary Guilt?

The Worst Food in Spain

The worst food in Spain was dog-chew chewy octopus swimming in a sea of grease and coconut-shell hard bread (a Mohs scale of 7) from a crowded patio restaurant in Madrid. A close second was a paella joint in Barcelona off Las Ramblas. And the meanest server (tied with the octopus slogger in Madrid) was a guy at the felafel chain who insisted I could not buy the felafel with hummos and then refused or forgot to add hummos to my felafel.

What we learned: If there's someone standing out front of a restaurant to entice you inside (especially if she speaks English) Save Yourselves!

And three meals in eleven days isn't bad, just a waste of precious stomach space.

It's Wednesday and I'm Still Not Famous

After my PW Starred Review I was certain this was it! and top agents and publishers would be lined up, anxious to see my nearly finished novel, but here it is Wednesday that hasn't happened. When I Google "Crazy Love by Leslie What" all I get is my website.

What gives?

So I guess I should say something about Spain. The problem is, of course, that there's so much to say it's hard to know where to start. I want to live there. Everything is better in Spain. There are amazing plazas and buildings and scenic alleyways. They have better ice cream with more butterfat and flavor and prettier money and everyone takes siestas and uses bidets. Downtowns are gathering places filled with tourists and city workers and thieves and historic sites. Whereas Eugene's downtown is a pit. Literally.

Even their chairs are more interesting than ours.

This just in: Crazy Love by Leslie What earns PW Starred Review!

The book will be out in July, so I'll post more about it later! But this excellent review bumps any travel reports from today's blog post (not even my picture of the grandkids of former Spanish Prime Minister Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, who, like grandkids across cultures, broke ranks to point to a pile of horse doo in the middle of the funeral procession trumps this review).

Crazy Love
Leslie What. Wordcraft of Oregon
(www.wordcraftoforegon.com),
$13.95 paper (200p)
ISBN: 978-1-877655-59-3

"Queen of Gonzo" What (Olympic Games) drags love out of its gooey, schmaltzy rut and takes it for a joyride in this exuberant collection of 17 stories. "Finger Talk" is a poignant take on unwanted pregnancy and cavalier men. "Babies" gives a Kafkaesque touch to a pregnancy that may or may not have been affected by pesticides during the first trimester. "All My Children" asks whether the provider of a sperm sample is legally responsible for the children that come from its use–and if he is, how does he pay for 10,000 college tuition fees? The 1999 Nebula-winning "The Cost of Doing Business" posits possibly the most incredible premise in the book: a love for others that is completely selfless and nonjudgmental. No matter how brief or long, no matter how bizarre, each tale in this collection grabs readers and demands they rethink how they see all the myriad forms of love. (July)

Own a piece of me

Here's a beaded necklace inspired by my short story "Post hoc" for the Interstial Arts Foundation auction, publishers of the anthology Interfictions. The necklace was created from turquoise, malachite, agate, and chrysocolla stone beads, Czech and faceted crystal beads, strung on jeweler's wire with sterling clasp. The Portrait of Stella focal bead is a found borosilicate glass bead and there's a sterling mailbox charm. Bid early and often, as they say.

Interstital Arts Foundation

The Rain in Spain

How To Romance a Girl With One Semester of Spanish

I am packing my bags and going to Spain with my sisters and my daughter. My prescriptions take up half the luggage. Kidding. Sort of. See you in a few.

Erotic Chips

A Vajayjay Sun Chip on eBay(Thanks to Thing Two for the link).

"WHAT A RARE FIND!

You could be the proud bidder and winner of this unique whole grain chip! Named after its likeness, the Vajayjay Sun Chip was found by the seller during a snack session on the couch after her long, hard day at work one March evening...."