I imagine that many people discuss David Sedaris like they would a band who became commercially successful following years of extraordinary indie popularity that was never supposed to make them so famous that even cheerleaders and jocks would listen to their music despite not owning their obviously superior earlier albums.

(My sister was all like “‘Me Talk Pretty One Day’ is sooo funny.” And I was all like, um, yeah, but it’s no ‘Santaland Diaries.’ And she was like, “What’s that?” Can you believe it!?)

I couldn’t give a rat’s patootie if it’s fashionable to like him or not. He’s an effin’ dynamo, I tell you what. He does what he does well. Here are some specific, and to me inspirational, examples of why he is an effective – and successful – writer.

(Read on …)

Y’all are boring! Do something to surprise me!

“Sidebrow, an online & print journal dedicated to innovation and collaboration, seeks fiction, poetry, art, essay, ephemera, found text, academia, as well as creative response to current posts and ongoing projects. Submissions to Sidebrow are evaluated both as stand-alone set pieces as points of departure for establishing multi-authored/multi-genre works. Submissions that re-imagine, depart from, or explore the interstices between posted pieces are highly encouraged.”

I found their site a little confusing, but some of the projects look interesting. For example, The Letters Project, where they are “reviving the epistolary novella.” Check out Letters to Kelly Clarkson. I also liked the Page 24 Project, “a chapbook concerning and consisting exclusively of page 24s.” Weird and different.

I want to point out Leona’s love letter to Marcia and me for starting Word Pirates. Yay! We love to hear testimony from our members (especially those who write steamy stories!).

As Leona mentioned, for the last meeting, our prompt was to pick a “post card” from the site Post Secret and use it as inspiration. We also read aloud from the prompt where we wrote about a celebrity.

The next meeting is July 20, 7 p.m. at my house. See you then!

Meeting at Joy’s house.

I recently discovered Opium Magazine. I don’t know about its tagline, “literary humor for the the deliriously captivated,” but some of this stuff is pretty funny. Read about submitting here. Doesn’t look like they pay, but hey…

See you tomorrow at the meeting!

Dearest Word Pirates,

Remember how I told you at the last meeting that McSweeney’s publishes short humor pieces about celebrities alllll the time? Check out the newest: COMMENCEMENT SPEECH, WHITNEY HOUSTON, EAST SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY, JUNE 9, 2006:

(Assistant whispers to Whitney, points to note cards on podium.) All right, right now, don’t you be bossing Whitney around. (Rummages through note cards.) Who got my glasses? Shit. (Tosses cards into air.) No one needs to tell me how to live life. I am Whitney Houston, baby. I can tell you all you need to know about being a success in life, ’cause I’m a diva.

So, let’s take these essays seriously! Finish up whatever you wrote from the last meeting and bring it in for next time. You can do it!

I love me some McSweeney’s.

Last month, I posted this list of hi-larious writing prompts from McSweeney’s. Now they are having a writing contest based on those prompts. The deadline is June 21. Click here for contest details.

Do it! I think I will do this one:

“Write a story that ends with the following sentence: Debra brushed the sand from her blouse, took a last, wistful look at the now putrefying horse, and stepped into the hot-air balloon.”

So, I got tired of deleting comment spam. It’s true. I couldn’t keep up. So for now, there are no longer comments on WP. However, if you are a WP and would like to “comment” on the site, I can arrange it so you can post on the blog.

BTW, here is last week’s prompt: Write something about a celebrity/popculture, either an essay or a piece of fiction. Marcia read us a story to get our juices flowing and we wrote on the prompt for 20 minutes.

Noelani, sorry you can’t make it July 20th. Hope to see you June 15th.

The Word Pirates are going monthly! From now on, meetings will be on the third Thursday of every month. The next meeting will be June 15th, and then not again until July 20th.

ALSO our meetings are now starting at an earlier time at 7 p.m., not 7:30 p.m.

Change is good. Embrace it.