Elly Lonon's Blog, page 3

It’s Not Over: Tides are Changing

Don’t let the perfect get in the way of the good. If you’re one of the generous souls that’s come out to see me in support of the book, you’ve heard my spiel about that being our mantra for creating the book…and the merits of applying that mantra to choosing the candidates you support, as well.

Was last night the blue wave so many of us worked so hard for? No. Things are particularly dire in the Senate with several heart-crushing losses. Texas, I saw how hard you all worked for Beto. I know...

She’s Got High Hopes

She has high hopes for a lot of things right now. She has high hopes she’ll finish her Halloween costume on time. She has high hopes for the midterms. She has high hopes for the book. She has high hopes that she won’t be the only one that shows up at all of these tour stops in support of said book.

And maybe they are high apple-pie-in-the-sky hopes. But she doesn’t really know how not to dream big.

She is me, just to be clear.

How did I get stuck in third person? So gross. Let’s quit that.

Th...

The Ballad of Alex and Michael

It’s hard to write something light and pithy with the shit nightmare happening in Washington.

I know. I know what you’re thinking. Well, some of you dudes, anyway, might be thinking, “Which one?” I’ll give you a pass on that one, my dudes, there are PLENTY of White House-instigated shit nightmares to chose from these days.

But every woman I know is holding her breath over these hearings over Brett KavaNotEverHowIsHeStillBeingConsideredWTF. I’m holding my breath. Dear America- please stop pro...

Labored Thinking

It’s ironic, I suppose, that I spent most of Labor Day thinking about how to be able to work MORE and feel LESS safe. But that’s what I’m trying to do.

That’s how you sell a book. At least, I think it is? And sweet Stormy Daniels on a stick it makes me squirm.

AND WHAT AM I EVEN DOING? A BOOK TOUR? WHO THE FUCK DO I THINK I AM?

I kept waiting. Waiting for someone to give me permission to just run at this thing, push forward without constantly checking behind me to make sure that I wasn’t inco...

Trailers for Sale

A few weeks ago, on a whim, the boys and I took a detour from our errands to stop at Liberty State Park. I thought they might get a kick out of seeing the old train station, which, in my recollection contained a cornucopia of old train cars upon which children could gallivant and explore. (Plus when one is raising white males in this political climate and trying to explain why we march for immigration reform, laying eyes on that lady in the harbor seemed like just the balm to ease our outrag...

Tick Tock, Penguin Walk

If that title looks like nonsense to you, you clearly haven’t spent the entire summer trying (read: putting off and then totally losing track of time) to write your second Annual Summertime Song or ASS as I will OBVIOUSLY refer to it moving forward.

(And if you have not spent your summer in this pursuit, I commend you for your solid life choices.)

As you may or may not recall, 2017 was the inaugural ASS composition which resulted in the fairly palatable Dorilla the Gorilla. Which I like to t...

Let’s Get Rich

Look. I’m just going to assume you’ve spent the week calling, donating, emailing, letter writing, raging and generally doing your part as true patriots. Because I believe in you. And I believe in this country. So we’re not going to rehash it here today.

Though if you ARE NOT doing those things? Consider this ukulele video the popsicle to your lima beans – you may not watch it until AFTER you’ve done your duty as a red-blooded American. Eat your civic vegetables, if you will.

I’ll wait…

Now th...

Far Away Places

The thing about writing about people traveling is that it makes ME want to travel, too. Not necessarily to far away places, though. That’s more the result of both of my boys going through some…phases. As exhibited in this week’s video.

The other bonus to working on this project (Amongst the Liberal Elite) is that I am chronically behind on patience and racked with mom guilt that I don’t have more patience for their impatience. I like to scold myself with declarations that they wouldn’t be ac...

My Mom Still Smokes

Actually Pegger the Kegger hasn’t smoked since she realized she was an incubator. V.C. Chickering‘s mom is the one who still smokes. But wait, I’m ahead of myself again.

I spent last week at the most magical of writing places, the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop. Two years ago I took a wild leap, invested in myself, and spent four inspiring days with the wittiest of women (and a humorous handful of dudes) learning how to be funnier, be better, and be braver. You may remember, I won the pitchapalooza competition last time. And that’s how I managed to score the insight and mentorship of The Book Doctors – two of the savviest and giving people I’ve ever met – which led to the creation of THIS book.

Hang on a second while I pinch myself. Because this whole getting-to-make-a-book thing? I keep thinking one of these days it’s going to be start being less exciting. But so far, every time I see a new page of art, my heart explodes again with happiness.

Look…here’s a teaser of what Alex and Michael will be wearing in Chapter 4.

I MEAN COME ON! How freaking talented and witty is Joan Reilly?

Speaking of talented and witty, I need to bring it back to the V.C. Chickering story I started, don’t I? I started stalking her about two years ago, too. She lives near me and has this smart, sexy, and scandalous book called Nookietown. After I saw her perform at Listen To Your Mother, I decided to woo her and convince her to be my friend. Weirdly enough, that strategy actually worked! And now we do things like drink coffee and eat scones together.

ME! AND HER! WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT?!

So after listening to me gush about how magical the Erma Workshop is, she decided to join me this year. We even roomed together! Two-years-ago me is shitting herself.

So you see I really had no choice when she asked me, “If I can get a spot, will you stand on stage with me and snap?”

I HAVE NEVER SNAPPED HARDER NOR WITH MORE DEDICATION IN MY LIFE.

And so, dear reader, instead of your standard #UkuleleFridays I give you V.C. Chickering and her snapping sidekick with seven chins on the Erma stage.

Was that good for you, too? Then click here and follow my Facebook page. Or even better, join the mailing list. Free pony with every subscription. Probably.



Other Related Ramblings You Might Enjoy:You Don’t Have to Say You Love MeDorilla the GorillaCome Back and StayAnd Then My Ukulele Ran AwayThe Key to Happiness is Lamination

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You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me

Happy New Year! Why yes, technically it’s March already, but I’ve been a little distracted.

Besides, I was referring to the Lunar New Year. Probably.

The most exciting news?! My McSweeney’s column is going to be a book! Not just a book, a GRAPHIC NOVEL! Because political satire really is better with beautiful drawings. And Interwebz, you will be stunned by the beautiful work of my amazing partner, Joan Reilly. It is breathtaking.

Writers, if you ever have the opportunity to have someone illustrate your work, TAKE IT. My first time—when Margaret Riegel did an illustration for this essay in the New York Times—was almost eery. I was so grateful when I saw her image. Somehow she had managed to distill every emotion I tried to convey with that essay into a single image.

Turns out a picture really is worth a thousand words—quite literally since I’m fairly certain 1000 words is the Well section’s cut-off length for essay submissions.

This time, this foray into illustration is even better—in no small part due to the amazing partnership Joan and I have. If I am mother to these characters, Joan is their father.

PAUSE. Our character, Alex, would scold me for that gender-normative statement and correct me by demanding I refer to Joan as my co-parent. And that’s really where the magic of this process lies. Through creating these visible manifestations of these characters, they’ve taken on a life of their own—mannerisms, catchphrases, nervous tics, insider jokes. As Joan said to me the other day, “…I never believed authors who said that their characters took on lives of their own until I worked on this book.”

Me. Either.

And I feel so freaking lucky that I get to explore all this with a collaborator, a witness, and a partner in crime.

If you’re interested, I’ll probably keep posting here about this experience. I’ll probably keep posting about this experience even if you aren’t interested because honestly, it’s going to be the bulk of my life this year. But I will try to make time for ukulele, too, as exhibited by the video below.

And yes, I did manage to work a ukulele into the book. (If you’d like to see for yourself, you can pre-order a copy of the book at Barnes and Noble, on Amazon, or at IndieBound.)

In the meantime…your #UkuleleFridays:

Was that good for you, too? Then click here and follow my Facebook page. Or even better, join the mailing list. Free pony with every subscription. Probably.



Other Related Ramblings You Might Enjoy:Come Back and StayAnd Then My Ukulele Ran AwayAchievement UnlockedDorilla the GorillaSerendipity

The post You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me appeared first on Elly Lonon.