You are currently browsing the The Mark of Ashen Wings weblog archives for April, 2008.

Breaking News

The New Frugality

drupagliassotti @ April 30, 2008 # No Comment Yet

Today’s been “chore day,” and I’ve spent most of it on the phone and online making all the necessary arrangements for my move on May 10….
A thought-provoking post at Digerati Life on the recession diet and the shift to frugal living caught my eye as I was working my way through the gas company’s telephone […]

More on page 350

More Clockwork Heart Reviews!

drupagliassotti @ April 28, 2008 # No Comment Yet

Okay, my hands are shaking a little as I go over the latest reviews. They’re so good my pessimistic nature just knows that I’m due some horrible luck soon to restore the karmic balance….
Reviewer Cheryl Rainfield gave Clockwork Heart 5 of 5 stars on her book blog and teen books sites. Reviews just don’t get […]

More on page 348

Words I Live By

drupagliassotti @ April 27, 2008 # One Comment

When I was interviewed for the local paper, the reporter asked me what my favorite phrase was. I gave her the first phrase in this list, but as I mulled over her question later, I realized that I’ve adopted several phrases that I repeat to myself over and over. As I write them down, I […]

More on page 347

TV is an Emotional Abuser

drupagliassotti @ April 26, 2008 # No Comment Yet

Stressed about life? Feel like you don’t have enough time on your hands? Maybe you’re a victim of emotional abuse — from your television.
What is emotional abuse? Its manifestations include ignoring, rejecting, isolating, exploiting, verbally assaulting, and terrorizing its victim. Emotional abusers make their victims believe they are deficient in some way, leading to symptoms […]

More on page 345

Ventura County Star Article

drupagliassotti @ April 25, 2008 # No Comment Yet

I’ve been profiled in the local newspaper, the Ventura County Star, for writing Clockwork Heart and editing The Harrow’s Midnight Lullabies. The photo from the Star here shows me and some of the university multimedia students who are creating online promo videos for Clockwork Heart.
The best thing about the being-profiled experience was meeting the reporter, […]

More on page 344

My Dream Trip

drupagliassotti @ April 22, 2008 # One Comment

I’m on the Save Venice mailing list because last year I requested some information from them for a talk on City of Falling Angels that I was giving. Being on the organization’s mailing list is pretty ironic for a frugal liver like me, however, because Save Venice is a charity for the very rich.
For example […]

More on page 343

On Rape

drupagliassotti @ April 21, 2008 # No Comment Yet

Fantasy author Jim Hines wrote a good post on men and rape today. He comments that rape isn’t discussed enough in society, especially among men. I agree.
As a media scholar, I am well aware that depictions of sexual violence in the media — primarily in pornography, although we see the effect in music videos and […]

More on page 341

I Want a Paperless Society

drupagliassotti @ April 20, 2008 # No Comment Yet

Spurred by my upcoming move, I finally hauled out my plastic crate full of files this morning, after letting loose bills and receipts pile up on top of it since, oh, probably January. It took me about 15 minutes to tidy everything away and drop the crate back into my closet.
I don’t understand why I […]

More on page 340

What is this thing called “settling down”?

drupagliassotti @ April 17, 2008 # No Comment Yet

Today my department chair saw me in the parking lot and we stopped to chat, finding it much easier to talk uninterrupted in the middle of a bunch of frantic students driving around looking for parking spaces than, say, our offices, where we’d just be interrupted.
“You should apply for the new housing loan,” she encouraged […]

More on page 339

Reader’s Clockwork Heart Artwork

drupagliassotti @ April 16, 2008 # No Comment Yet

Reader Lys Rian posted a quick review of Clockwork Heart on her blog, I Read What?? and included this sketch she’d made in her journal.
When I was a gamemaster, I loved it when my players created sketches, poems, and stories about my game world. It delights me that Lys read Clockwork Heart and felt motivated […]

More on page 338