Rita Arens's Blog, page 7

Brought to You by Solar Panels

When my husband was unemployed, he regaled me with tales of the unemployment office. When my letter arrived last week instructing me to report today, I envisioned long lines of people (some smellier than others) based on his experience.

Some things must have changed in the past three years, because when I arrived, hardly anyone was there except the employees. I was immediately directed to a group of chairs facing a wall. I sat and read my library book for about fifteen minutes until I was joi...

The Softness of a Blanket

When I was in my early twenties, my paternal grandparents died. It was the first time I suffered a great loss far away from my nuclear family. I lived in Chicago and received the news over the phone with no shoulder nearby to lean on.

I remember quite clearly sitting on my bed the night I learned about my grandfather, wrapped in a blanket they'd given me. It was a soft blanket. As I stroked it, I remember thinking I was off the hook from my usual worries, because not even I could hold myself...

Missouri Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Featured Author

Since I last posted, I've had a lot of tumultuous change. Suffice it to say my car was totaled, among other things. I'm fine, though, and will continue to be fine, because I'm the protagonist in my own story, and protagonists with no obstacles are boring and nobody likes them. I'm so not boring this month!

Here's one of the reasons! I was chosen as the Missouri chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI)'s September featured author. This is a huge deal for me, as...

Missed Communication

In my last post, I talked about how my cat Kizzy has been a dick lately. Shortly after I wrote that post, I took Kizzy to the hospital for a week. Last year he had PU surgery because he kept getting blocked -- he couldn't pee -- which can be fatal within 48 hours. After the surgery, I thought he couldn't get blocked again.

I was wrong.

So we took him in last Monday and he was blocked and they catheterized him and kept him for an entire week in the hopes that he would heal after being unblocke...

I Am the Alpha

So lately Kizzy has been a bit of a feline asshole.

I think it's because we're almost out of his expensive prescription cat food and normally he has his bowl refreshed several times a day.

Due to present circumstances, he is eating leftovers.

It just goes to show: Anyone can develop First World problems. Even a pound cat.

So today he tried to show me his vampire teeth, which is what we call the face he does when he's ready to fuck your shit up and he kind of half opens his mouth so just hi...

Maybe I'm the Asshole

When I was younger, I was always positive I was right.

The older I get, I realize all our politics are the same. Only the hero is different.

My father has a saying: "Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug."

That echoes in my mind almost daily. I don't relish being either, but I get we are all both, depending on the situation.

With the national events of the past few weeks and my own usual tendency to absorb emotion wherever I find it, I've grown agitated. It primes m...

Seeing Through It

"Mama," she said, "eventually I suppose I'll have to get SnapChat and Instagram because it would be weird if I didn't have it. But I'm waiting, because I'm afraid I'll get caught up in it."

I looked guiltily at my phone.

"You're wise," I said, wishing I were as smart as she is at twelve. "There's a lot of danger in caring too much whether strangers like you."

Like a Goat

Sometimes, I feel like a goat. Bleating. Because I am so useless.

Last year at BlogHer, I went to a panel about white privilege, among other things. I was one of the fewer than 10 white people there, and I was ashamed. Not to be there, but that more white people weren't.

I should've written about it then. I don't blog so much anymore. But that's not an excuse.

It's not intentional, not to write. It's that with all the bullshit that's gone on in the past two years (the past 1,000 years), I'...

Twenty Minutes Ago

"So you're turning 21 tomorrow?" I asked. The kid had high color in his cheeks and a scar on his arm. He threw the rope with the strength of the young.

"Yeah," he said. He was from up East staying in his folks' Florida condo for the summer, mating on the parasail boat.

"So that makes me exactly twice your age," I said, toeing the dock. "I feel old." Sometimes I fool cashiers if I have my hat on, but only until they look into my eyes and see the years and the learning and the lines.

"But in...

Fun Author Tool: Quotes Rain

Recently someone from Quotes Rain contacted me so I set up a profile. It has a tool that makes creating quotes more top-of-mind. (There are lots of ways to put text on pictures, and I know a lot of them, but it's reminding myself to do such things that is the kicker.)

Anyway, I created two quotes. I will probably keep updating these from time to time, but if you have a favorite quote and would like your name mentioned in the quoteboard (submitted by, etc.), please leave info in the comments!

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