this page is prompted by a memory that has holes shot through it.
i try, as i sit here, in a recliner of all damn things, to put my writing life in order. it seems important to do so since i've spent the last week sleeping excessively because i'm sick and need to get well. but the finnish protestant in her work boots with her work ethic, has started gnawing on fingernails in because of a slight but yet persistent nagging (which is all in her mind) that she is lazy and hasn't amounted to anything.
oh, those protestants.
my work is sparse. the bulk of it, over the years, has been produced in the month of july. that is something i just noticed.
there's an essay i wrote called spring break, consisting of a dozen or so paragraphs, that i spent a decade working on. then, there are other things, those written in the month of july, that even though they are short, still, have been written in a rush with no effort on my part.
here, then, to satisfy my finnish ancestors and to silence their voices in my head, is a time line of the work i've produced. it's basically the same information as in the "works" page, but in a linear fashion.
mid 80s, before i "became" a writer: black sky, silver stars (buried deep in hard copy archives somewhere. i might find it, might not).
1989: spring break (the original) and journal entries (the first ones).
1990 - 1994: obsidian, the novel (nowhere on the web but could be i suppose) oh wait, here it is! along with los gallos and some other random short stuff.
1997: leaving.
1999: shelter along with the poetry collection please catch the next wave and ride your board to shore, which included domesticity, ensenada, and breaking it down, all of which can be found at the 3dogs, 1 bone.
2001: journal entries.
2004: journal entries.
2004, 2005: spring break (the second one).
2004, december: nice photos from san miguel.
2005: the essential baby j.
2004, 2005, 2006: prologue.
fall, 2005 - july, 2007: longing and bliss.
july, 2007 - fall: obsidian. music and words.
2008, december: husk and obsidian letters.
2009: digital stories.
september, 2009 - june, 2010: the way i live now.
january, 2010: mr jack and me.
february, 2010: an audio recording re: american beauty, among other things.
july, 2010: here :)
spring, 2011: one main sound, the memoir and, of course, "the essential baby j".
ah. feel so much better now. do you?
still to come, and soon, i hope:
ruthie grace lahti
the men i have loved