Saturday - Not Much of a Day Off

 Yesterday, I came close to a meltdown.

I did get the table straightened and organized after my the whirlwind of working on "Love Stinks," I will call that my big accomplishment of the day. 

I did get through some of my email. I did not get any posts written. The email newsletter went out to my 2 subscribers, neither friends nor strangers nor family seem keen to subscribe.

I did get out to the grocery after noon. That was when the trouble began. Since the #5 bus runs on the hour on Saturdays, I decided to go to the westside Payless. That may have been my first error. I find that store set up differently from my usual. I got a sandwich at Arby's. I was incredibly hungry. They do not make a bad gyro. Things went pretty well while shopping. Somewhere thought I tripped over some bad karma. The food stamps card was tapped out even more than I thought ($35 goes only so far), but this I do not find out until after I have run through a roasted chicken. Had to use the debit card, had to get to checkout person to reset me, and then I forgot to use the coupon. Twice more, I needed the checkout person to reset the machine. I never understood why it balked me the first time, and have forgotten the other's cause. When I did not get the discount promised on the two bottles of Coke, the check-out lady asked if I used my Payless card. For the first since getting the thing, I did not. So, I had to run that. I am sure that the poor woman running the self-service checkout was quite happy to see me leave. Outside, I opened a box of sushi and dumped most of it; luckily, I had a coupon for that, too. The bags started to rip, so went back in and did what I usually do and double-gagged the things before the bus came back. Nothing happened on the trip back downtown, i had my thoughts on catching the #5 and going straight here. Nope, I walked onto the wrong bus. I noticed it was a different driver, my mind was on getting home and on how I would fix the pork loin I bought at the store. I got off, sat down and smoked a cigarette and called K. I told her I didn't know what I had done; maybe I gave her as good a laugh as I gave myself. Just to be safe, I caught the Burlington bus (which becomes the #5) and did a little sightseeing. Not that I saw anything new. This time I made it home without any more trouble, just a little headache and a sleepiness.

 I dozed for an hour, after getting the groceries put away.

All I can account for my problems (besides bad karma) is I did not take my meds yesterday morning.

I piddled with the email when I got up, had my dinner.

Another rejection, "True Love Ways Gone Astray," this time:

Thank you for allowing us to consider your work.  Although your submission was not accepted for issue 14, due for release in late December 2023, I hope you’ll try us again in the future.

Glint is currently closed to general submissions in poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction, but will open again in these genres for issue 15 in November 2023.


We are still looking for visual art and book reviews for issue 14.
 

Brenda Mann Hammack

Editor, Glint Literary Journal

I did submit some of my stories last night: "The Local Boy Who Made Good" went to The Missouri Review and Atticus Review., and "The Dilemma of Basketball" to Pangyrus LitMag.

I did not get to Roberto Bolano last night, but I did get two short stories read that I will recommend to you. Sebastian Melmoth in Silver City from Pangyrus and My Fortieth Day of Sabbatical from Atticus. Considering what I read in these stories, I do not have a prayer.

I also spent a considerable amount of time researching Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe. Here are some articles from The Guardian and The Times Literary Supplement:

•  The Jew of Malta review – prescient, reverberating, immediate
• Happy 450th birthday to William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe
• The week in theatre: Tamburlaine; Pericles – reviews
• Edward II; Peckham: the Soap Opera – review
• The Marlowe Papers by Ros Barber – review
• Tamburlaine Must Die
• My hero: Christopher Marlowe
• Doctor Faustus
• Is there life after Deptford?
• Dead reckoning
• Stylistic worlds: Shakespeare and his collaborators
• Ambiguous gifts: Remembering Christopher Marlowe 450 years on
• Wanton

 Shakspr might be of interest, probably not The Marlowe Society of America.

I also managed to get "Love Stinks" in a bit better order, too.

Well, the morning has become the afternoon. Laundry is done,  I need to do a few more posts here, and I need to get the bike out. All the exercise today was my walk to McClure's.

I think I have mentioned before my affection for Timothy Harris' Thomas Kyd (a name that came up during my Marlowe research), he was the successor to Raymond Chandler and Ross MacDonald. Some links collected this morning:

1. Thomas Kyd
2. Interview Timothy Harris (January Magazine) 
3. Unfaithful Servant (Thomas Kyd #3) By Timothy Harris 

 I also found out January Magazine remains in publication.

 

Finally, I noticed a piece drafted a few days ago that I did not post, so I will now:

 U.S. Inflation Falls To 3%, Lowest Level In More Than 2 Years, As Price Pressures Ease

Yet with most measures of inflation still uncomfortably high, the Fed hardly appears ready to halt its rate hikes. Its expected hike later this month will follow the central bank’s decision to pause its rate increases last month after 10 consecutive hikes. The Fed’s policymakers have signaled that they could hike rates yet again when they next meet in September.

Some economists have suggested, though, that if inflation keeps slowing and the economy shows sufficient signs of cooling, the July increase could be the Fed’s last.

Used-car prices, for example, have been falling. Automakers are finally producing more cars as supply shortages have abated. New-car prices, too, have begun to ease as a result.

A sustained slowdown in inflation could bring meaningful relief to American households that have been squeezed by the price acceleration that began two years ago. Inflation spiked as consumers ramped up their spending on items like exercise bikes, standing desks and new patio furniture, fueled by three rounds of stimulus checks. The jump in consumer demand overwhelmed supply chains and ignited inflation.

Many economists have suggested that President Joe Biden’s stimulus package in March 2021 intensified the inflation surge. At the same time, though, inflation also jumped overseas, even in countries where much less stimulus was put in place. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also triggered a spike in energy and food prices globally.

 Lunch break!

sch