tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55134721211385371392024-03-13T13:08:43.797+00:00MORE MADELINE MOOREWinner of Erotic Awards 2011 "Story Teller of the Year."
Sarah's Education is 3rd on the Stellar Libraries' list of 30 most titillating tales of all time, reports UK newspaper The Daily Mail,November 2012.
READ ME AND SEE FOR YOURSELF!
Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.comBlogger210125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-24784156290766899302016-10-13T04:05:00.000+01:002016-10-13T04:05:01.406+01:00On Writing the Erotic - Emmanuelle de Maupassant Emmanuelle de Maupassant started by interviewing 130 of us (which is close to ALL of us, isn't it?) and from there, launched a series of thoughtful and insightful pieces on the inner workings of the erotica author. We now have, at our fingertips, (both writers and readers) mucho informative and not-overly-academic in language (though close to academic in scope and clarity) reading material.<br />
<br />
I'm a slag when it comes to blogging, I might as well admit it. My blog is PANTS. But that doesn't mean the culmination of Emmanuelle's work should go unmentioned by me. (After all, I'm not unmentioned by <i>her</i> <b>preen preen</b>)<br />
<br />
We have lots to say. I'm chuffed to be part of this project and I know my colleagues are as well.<br />
<br />
Here's the latest in the series, <a href="https://emmanuelledemaupassant.com/2016/10/08/women-writing-the-erotic-part-three/">Women Writing the Erotic part three</a>, but there are a lot of titles worth exploring, and they can be found here on <a href="https://emmanuelledemaupassant.com/">Emmanuelle de Maupassant's</a> website.<br />
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Thank you for your hard work, Emmanuelle.<br />
<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-8829810597451602082016-09-18T02:51:00.000+01:002016-09-18T02:51:52.663+01:00<a href="https://www.sexylittleauthors.com/book/silver-desire">SILVER DESIRE</a> is available now!<br />
I love my story in this anthology and I'm really enjoying the stories by all the other authors as well.<br />
Get your copy now... because we're never too old to make whoopee...<br />
and we're never too old to voraciously devour an anthology on the subject!<br />
Right?<br />
RIGHT!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SM1dAGe33T4/V93yuJ15sGI/AAAAAAAADoQ/MvtRn2KjI5E2NxxLMdDuZ2_jMuFBlIECgCLcB/s1600/silver-desire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SM1dAGe33T4/V93yuJ15sGI/AAAAAAAADoQ/MvtRn2KjI5E2NxxLMdDuZ2_jMuFBlIECgCLcB/s400/silver-desire.jpg" width="250" height="400" /></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-50546808443221802902016-06-30T22:06:00.000+01:002016-06-30T22:06:23.550+01:00A BLOG for FALL<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Up9cY57uvC8/V3WBN-HrLqI/AAAAAAAADnE/qzWHwqIVsLk6QttL-6jRkd-W1j3SBnzDACLcB/s1600/under%2Bconstruction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Up9cY57uvC8/V3WBN-HrLqI/AAAAAAAADnE/qzWHwqIVsLk6QttL-6jRkd-W1j3SBnzDACLcB/s400/under%2Bconstruction.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Coming soon:<br />
<br />
The Good Doctor's Private Practice<br />
<br />
A little old school erotica serial, featuring the cool, elusive, studly Dr. Goodman and Em, the patient who adores him. There's personalities and sex and well-rounded characters and more sex. The serial may be short on teaching points and revelations but it's long on longing and flirtation and sexual gratification. I think you'll like it.<br />
<br />
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Excerpts of my works in progress and where permitted, excerpts form the short pieces I've recently sold. (EEEEEEE-lectronically signed a contract today so that's fun!)<br />
<br />
Pretty pictures! <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Probably a lot of opinion pieces ... which are better off here, I think, than plastered on my Facebook page.<br />
<br />
Laughs.<br />
<br />
Keep an eye out. I plan to relaunch in the fall.<br />
<br />
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xo mad<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-20445849668052439782016-05-16T03:01:00.001+01:002016-05-16T03:01:29.427+01:00Bulls in a China Shop - book review by Madeline Moore<br />
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I agreed to write an honest review of Jay Miner’s book with some trepidation. I know him primarily as a poet so I first asked him if it has a plot. The author assured me that it did and so this fine coming-of-age tale slipped into my hands.<br />
This slim volume feels good to hold. The photographs (taken by Jay) complement the text, which is spare but truly stunning.<br />
Our guide moves us quite swiftly from a place of relative safety (home) to serious danger (the road) with mental illness as the catalyst and drugs the primary fuel. This particular road trip tale is a swift and scary descent into seediness and danger. Happily, Jay Miner has chosen his words with care. He writes with both detachment and fervor: part “nothin’ but the facts, ma’am” and part gonzo revelation rumpus rioteer. <br />
It begins where many such stories end – at the rehab. I might have liked to linger there with him and the girl called Smith and Wesson but there will be no time wasted in the telling of this tale. Our hero hooks up with his new pal Crazy Horse, fakes his own death and we move on to the travel section of the piece. Las Vegas is where these two beeline like grifters to a con. There, at the Blue Angel Motel, they meet Chernobyl Charlie, the Locust, Full Moon Baboon and (my favorite) Velveeta Elvis. These guys keep black widow spiders as pets in their room. The webbed corners full of free range spiders is a brain burn I’m not overly excited to have acquired, but acquire it I have.<br />
I don’t want to give away any plot twists so I’ll stop there. It doesn’t take a long time to go on this trip although I can practically guarantee you’ll ride along twice. I did.<br />
While Jay chronicles events in an often dispassionate voice, he is no bystander. This is the story of a naive young man who pays his way, for the most part quite willingly, with the broken pieces of his sanity. While it’s not the story of a true miracle, the ersatz Vegas-style version is just good enough to save his life.<br />
Although Bible verses are quoted throughout, the reader isn’t rewarded with true redemption at the conclusion of this debut volume and for that I’m grateful. It would not have rung true. I’m happy to report that Mr. Miner is wise enough to know he’s just started down the road. This is a book of beginnings, well told. <br />
<br />
<a href=" http://www.amazon.com/Jay-Miner/e/B01DHCBWAO?ref_=pe_1724030_132998060">Bulls in a China Shop</a> by Jay Miner<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-44193047171257468482015-10-03T18:15:00.000+01:002015-10-03T18:15:52.625+01:00Mythologically Torqued Vol IIIsn't this a fabulous little thing? It's my story, "To Hell and Back", available all on its own (as an e-book) or as one story in a fabulous collection of LGBT tales that mingle old myths and modern life to bring YOU, dear reader, something new.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bCGH15UIqXc/VhAHzVMW3wI/AAAAAAAADjQ/oLexkxUhm90/s1600/Mythologically%2Btorqued%2B-%2BTo%2BHell%2Band%2Bback.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bCGH15UIqXc/VhAHzVMW3wI/AAAAAAAADjQ/oLexkxUhm90/s400/Mythologically%2Btorqued%2B-%2BTo%2BHell%2Band%2Bback.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Here's the BIG BOOK, <i>Mythologically Torqued Volume II</i>, available as an e-book or a paperback:<br />
<br />
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You can buy them both on Amazon:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hell-Back-Madeline-Moore-ebook/dp/B014668LUO/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1443891564&sr=1-1&keywords=to+hell+and+back+%2B+madeline+moore">To Hell and Back<br />
</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mythologically-Torqued-II-Anthology-Tortuga/dp/1610409574/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1443891609&sr=1-2&keywords=Mythologically+Torqued+II">Mythologically Torqued II</a><br />
<br />
OR direct from Torquere Press:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=76&products_id=4452">Mythologically Torqued II </a>(e-book)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=79_93&products_id=4478">To Hell and Back by Madeline Moore</a><br />
<br />
By the way, it was a delight to work with Torquere. They really care!<br />
<br />
I hope you enjoy taking a dip in the pool of re-imagined myths. Just don't forget to wet your heels!<br />
<br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-68040615204325646042015-09-02T04:23:00.001+01:002015-09-02T04:23:56.780+01:00BASTARDS HAD THE WHOLE HILL MINED - poetry by Dominic AlbaneseBASTARDS HAD THE WHOLE HILL MINED<br />
<br />
(note: Dominic Albanese is a Facebook friend of mine and I liked his book. I’ve never written a review that was otherwise.)<br />
<br />
BASTARDS HAD THE WHOLE HILL MINED is not an easy read. It should be, given how plain the language is, but the subject matter and the poet’s voice make it a very rough ride. Not as rough, of course, as fighting in the Vietnam War, which is what this collection is about. As for the poet’s voice, it is that of a raconteur with a powerful flair for vernacular. To quickly become fluent in Albanese is time well spent.<br />
<br />
From FIFTY YEARS AGO<br />
<i>gun oil, fish sauce, blood, creosote, “l’odeur de la papaya verte”<br />
Asia of the jungle, Asia of the mountains, Asia of the<br />
sea<br />
such a long time ago, yesterday to me</i><br />
<br />
Bursts of black anger or hilarity share the page with lamentations,<br />
like this line from what is I think my favorite poem in the collection,<br />
<br />
POSTED:<br />
<i>weeping wondering calling on the dusty bones<br />
to remember me and our times</i><br />
<br />
In 1964, having already left Mark Twain Junior High on Coney Island and gotten into trouble, a big kid found himself enlisted in the US Armed Forces. He was 16 but as far as the Military knew, he was 17. Imagine the meeting, on a bus from basic training to begin jump school, between Dominic Albanese and John G. Madison, then 19. By the time their Special Forces Training was done and they shipped out, Monk and Maddy were tight.<br />
<br />
From THROW BACK THURSDAY<br />
<i>two grizzled 40some year ole Master Sargent s<br />
Maddy n me not 40 between us<br />
in years but armed to the teeth</i><br />
<br />
In verdant green and black and white, we are unsettled into foreign territory, with Dominic Albanese as our guide. Not that he paints himself as a hero.<br />
<br />
From MADDY AND ME:<br />
<i>(I was young, scared, over my<br />
head)<br />
Virgil Gray…n…some other Old timers would allow me<br />
slack as long as when the shit hit I fired back</i><br />
<br />
but it’s clear that there are other soldiers, particularly Maddy, who are his personal heroes and that those who survived carried some seriously scary demons home to the USA.<br />
So, in the final poem, MAYDAY, when I read this simple line:<br />
<br />
<i>I am glad to be here<br />
</i><br />
it makes me want to weep with relief.<br />
<br />
Mr. Albanese has said, “All writers are poets. Poets are just lazy writers,” but he has also said, “Why take 400 pages to say something I can say on one page?”<br />
His stream-of-consciousness style and his ear for the vernacular took me on one unsettling journey after another, one page after another. I’ve been back and forth in space and time with Monk and Maddy and I understand, better, the tragedy of “The American War.”<br />
Why does a poem that starts:<br />
<br />
<i>…in jungle grunt through bush<br />
wading streams small river<br />
leeches bugs snakes<br />
never mind around a corner<br />
some green hat NVA would love to kill ya…</i><br />
have the title THE FUNNY OF WAR?<br />
<br />
It’s easy enough to find out!<br />
This volume of poetry is a hard-won grace, fifty years in the making. The relevance of the book is not limited to Veterans, although BASTARDS matters to a lot of them. It is ultimately the tale of a big, terrified kid and his best pal, miraculously surviving a stupid bloodbath only to discover that the stupid bloodbath sloshes in their boots with every step they take.<br />
<br />
from POSTED<br />
<i>into the tropic magic, into the terror<br />
laughing, burp guns, grease guns, grenade launchers,<br />
large bore pistols<br />
rucksacks full of dried fish and rice, wearing car-tire<br />
sandals<br />
acting like real soldiers, only playin war<br />
</i><br />
Poor Monk. There’s a hell of a heart beating inside that big, scared lug and lucky for us, it is the heart of a fine poet.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/dominic-albanese/bastards-had-the-whole-hill-mined/paperback/product-22176751.html">BASTARDS HAD THE WHOLE HILL MINED</a><br />
by Dominic Albanese<br />
published by Seb Doubinsky, Les Editions du Zaporogue<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-5309355382810964562015-08-24T00:39:00.000+01:002015-08-24T00:39:57.539+01:00The Poverty Grind<br />
<br />
My ver$ion of a grief memoir would include the denial of more than a death, although death, all by its lonesome, is a major player in provoking the unconscious, self-protective, irksomeness of the process of denial.<br />
In my case, Michael’s death was a harbinger of my financial nightmare. The fact that I ignored that for as long as possible, no matter how irksome that fact is, makes me happy.<br />
<br />
After I saw that he was dead I went home and suffered for awhile and so on. It wasn’t until I decided to consider following his death with my own that I looked at my life, now that he wasn’t in it any more. (Well, first, as those of you who know me already know, I tagged the as yet unwrapped Christmas gifts so my mourners would know which gift was for whom, and threw all the sex toys down the chute) <br />
<br />
At that point I looked at my present situation and concluded that it would take the rest of my life to dig myself out of the mess. If I hurried I could still catch up to Michael. (This turns out to be a very common thought for the bereaved to have.) But there was the cat and Brill’s final semester, which I imagined might be negatively impacted by my death. I called Mary T.<br />
<br />
I coasted along on the money I had and the money people gave me until Deluxoid came with me to see a rather soppy social worker and said, “What about my friend?” and after that, Megamensch came along and after that, applications and more worker-types and government money and HALLELUJAH rent-geared-to-income-housing.<br />
<br />
All the paperwork and double-speak and signing away my secrecy was overwhelming but the assistance has been much appreciated. It’s unfortunate that I didn’t realize that when my rent went down, my government assistance would dwindle, too. That’s where the denial thing gets irksome. <br />
<br />
I moved into my new neighbourhood a year ago. We are two small apartment buildings (total of ab out 14 apartments) squatting amidst half-million-minimum brick homes in a stately part of town. But there is “our” neighbourhood and “their” neighbourhood. Happy, friendly, two-income young families are very friendly on the street but when it comes down to it, they align with the owner of the buildings, not the people who rent from him.<br />
<br />
My rent is so low a monkey could cover it but August’s rent wiped me out. I’m the only person in either building with cable TV (and a two-year contract for it.) Oops. I didn’t listen to my friend’s poverty lessons, although I’ve put all her money-saving tips into effect now that money has finally become an issue.<br />
January 1, 2015, a year into my bereavement, I understood. This place may not have been a slum when I moved in (or maybe it was and I just didn’t see it because my apartment is so adorable and we had a beautiful garden!) but it certainly is well on its way, now. I wouldn’t give it more than another year, if the water pipes and the windows hold up. The Lord of the Land has been a slum lord for years and my building, stone though it may be, succumbs.<br />
<br />
I’m much more calculating now that I have very little to add up and lots to subtract. There’s no public transportation in this quiet town so getting around is a problem. I no longer take cabs anywhere. The new neighbour who is already moving out is a lonely Newfie so she’ll do anything in exchange for a little mindless conversation. I get rides and then pay her off with a cup of coffee and a (bored) ear to bend.<br />
<br />
Basically, I trade my time for favours. I suppose I could say, I barter my time for transportation. Either way if it’s not a new behaviour (and when it comes down to it aren’t we all trading our time for $$ on some level?) it’s now stark.<br />
<br />
Poverty is absolutely grinding. The relentless concern, the stealthy manoeuvers, the serious adjustment of the mindset, these things are akin to gears that must keep in motion no matter how loudly they protest. It’s imperative to keep on top of everything because one slide can mean disaster.<br />
<br />
Hydroelectricity and water bills are the Achilles’ heel for many, including me. I didn’t see this cost coming my way because I was floating on a sea of relief.<br />
<br />
When I fought my landlord for heat and cajoled the hoarder next door to do the same she demurred. “You weren’t born poor so you don’t understand,” she said. She gave me another pair of her hand knit socks and went home to hide under the quilts.<br />
<br />
She was my best neighbour, besides the ex-cop who kept an eye on things. They’re both gone, now. She fled and left her neighbours with a mountain of stuff to sift through, which created unending drama for fall of us, especially me, the keeper of the key. As such, I am the prime suspect in the case of the missing Mix Master. I am not amused and I am no longer keeper of the key.<br />
<br />
His exit is much quieter, but he is missed. My building is silent but the other one (and even more so, the drug-dealing apartment block that shares its parking lot) get louder by the month. Hot August nights drew the drunks out into the muggy air and there’s a lot of ‘em. They like my lawn. <br />
<br />
Neighbours knock on my door every day. One even drops himself, shirtless, into a chair while I’m sitting in my stoop, smoking and talking on the phone. I’m unnerved, frankly, by the assumptions of my fellow renters. Have I joined a commune?<br />
<br />
I’m not even particularly nice to them, even when they’ve paid for my time with gas and wheels. I don’t want to explain what I do. It should be enough that I’ve told them: I’m a writer. I often work at night. I teach, too. I shall have to elucidate: Just because I’m home, even if I’m having a smoke in my stoop (I’ve been ordered not to smoke in my apartment, although it isn’t on my lease) doesn’t mean I want company. But they forget. They don’t even necessarily know my name but they don’t mind hanging out in my yard. I’m flummoxed.<br />
<br />
The Lord of Slum Shire shows up whenever an apartment is vacated, which is to say, monthly. Presently he’s not-dealing with a steady stream of clean cold water spewing from a faucet into my tub. It’s literally money down the drain but he doesn’t care because he doesn’t know he’ll be partially liable for my water bill when it arrives, two months from now. He forgets that I have “my guys” too, and one of them is a city inspector.<br />
<br />
Now I turn off the power bars off when I’m not using them and shower at night. I eat more vegetables and a lot less meat. Every pack of smokes I buy breaks my bank as much as my heart. I can’t afford to smoke. I can’t really afford to have a pet, either. But I do smoke. I do have a cat. Bad Mad. It grinds a girl down.<br />
<br />
Deluxoid hung my Mexican mirror and said, “Here’s your lipstick mirror!” We happily freshened our lipstick. When I pointed it out to the carnie and my Grief Gal they both insisted I rename it my “self-affirmation mirror.” I protested. They pressed the point. I mightily protested! “If you want a self-actualization mirror, hang one up. This is my mirror and it’s a lipstick mirror!” <br />
Goddam it I’m not going to be bossed by women again. I’ve no more interest in that than being bossed by men. I followed most of the rules all of my life and look where it’s gotten me.<br />
<br />
Nobody gets to tell me what to do. I made this bed and I’m sleeping in it (although my Dad bought me my actual bed.) Get that sharp edge of defiance? That comes from poverty, too. Don’t mess with me. I may not have been born poor but I’m getting the hang of it now. <br />
<br />
Is a lipstick mirror an act of defiance? I don’t care. There’s more than one way out of my situation and I’d be a fool not to consider all the angles. I’m a woman, alone, under reduced circumstances. I think war paint is a good idea.<br />
<br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-28666930101615525752015-05-23T21:22:00.002+01:002015-05-23T21:30:49.551+01:00Lighten Up, Madeline!I'm working on a new bio so I took a look at my blog. Man, that Madeline Moore is a bummer! This will not do. Time to dream up something fun for summer blog readers, me thinks.<br />
Leonard Cohen says sometimes he looks in the mirror and says, "Leonard, fer chrissakes, lighten up!"<br />
I'm all LC all the time so if it works for him it'll work for me.<br />
<br />
I've got a bee in my bonnet now so I'm gonna put on my thinkin' fascinator...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gN-0KvAhoUQ/VWDfuL26oaI/AAAAAAAADhQ/Fd57auOSsxo/s1600/fascinator%2B-%2Bbug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gN-0KvAhoUQ/VWDfuL26oaI/AAAAAAAADhQ/Fd57auOSsxo/s400/fascinator%2B-%2Bbug.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
EEEEEK! Get that bug outta my eye.<br />
<br />
Maybe go patriotic? This is the one Kate wore to Canada.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hpD9Y0tUZEg/VWDgp3-JuII/AAAAAAAADhg/c8P7JppgbsQ/s1600/fascinator%2B-%2Bcanada.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hpD9Y0tUZEg/VWDgp3-JuII/AAAAAAAADhg/c8P7JppgbsQ/s400/fascinator%2B-%2Bcanada.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Meh. A little more pizazz, please...<br />
<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XGi7-vhWcLo/VWDfzyANuLI/AAAAAAAADhY/IyBOXUjcX8g/s1600/fascinator%2B-%2Bfeathers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XGi7-vhWcLo/VWDfzyANuLI/AAAAAAAADhY/IyBOXUjcX8g/s400/fascinator%2B-%2Bfeathers.jpg" /></a></div><br />
A little less pizazz, please...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OiUnX0reoWI/VWDg-YaQt7I/AAAAAAAADho/KmUuZijfvNE/s1600/fascinator%2Bwith%2Bclavicles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OiUnX0reoWI/VWDg-YaQt7I/AAAAAAAADho/KmUuZijfvNE/s400/fascinator%2Bwith%2Bclavicles.jpg" /></a></div><br />
I'll take one of these with two clavicles, please.<br />
<br />
Happy summer, peeps.<br />
<br />
xoxo mad<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-77254888067328829062015-04-04T03:39:00.000+01:002015-04-04T03:39:08.140+01:0004/04/2015<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
I only called him sweetheart for the last week of his life. Of course, I didn’t know it was his last week. He told me, “I think so-and –so should have my leather jacket, don’t you?” and “Make sure my youngest son gets my watch.” <br />
<br />
I said, “I’m starting smoking again,” and he said, “No,” but I did and I didn’t pretend otherwise. I’d taken over the cooking because he wasn’t up to it. I cooked his last meal, which, as luck would have it, happened to be his very favourite.<br />
<br />
We fell madly in love again during that last week.<br />
<br />
Friday night, I couldn’t help him anymore so I left him alone in the hopes that he’d get some sleep. There was nothing I had to do so I finally contacted two big-shot men in the film business that I knew from my early days. I did it for him, because he wanted me to very badly. He didn’t understand <i>the business</i>, ever. These guys can’t help me get a gig. They’re below the line; I’m above. But I did it so I could tell him I’d done it and when he called me I went to the bedroom to announce just that.<br />
<br />
When I got there he said he’d vomited blood and thought we should maybe call Telehealth, which advises Ontarians as to the best course of action when there’s an emergency. I said, “I don’t think we need Telehealth, I think we need an ambulance.”<br />
<br />
You might think I knew these were our last days together. But you’d be wrong. I didn't have a conscious clue. Sunday morning, when he died, I waa shocked <i>to the bone</i>. <br />
<br />
Go figure.<br />
<br />
Ice storm/internet down/Michael in hospital/power outage/Michael dies/get this body outta our morgue!/Christmas/power up/internet back up and – Happy New Year!<br />
<br />
Enthusiastic replies from the two guys I’d emailed at the very end of the part before the beginning of the end. <br />
<br />
I’m still in contact with them. My situation has changed, of course, but <i>the</i> situation hasn't. They can’t do anything for me. I’m still above the line; they’re still below.<br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-23725563383044780562015-03-11T23:00:00.003+00:002015-03-11T23:00:42.765+00:00AN INTIMATE EDUCATION - review by Madeline Moore<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b690__wQwGo/VQDElu2_pLI/AAAAAAAADdk/dM9IHIs8JgM/s1600/EWBD%2B-%2Bintimate-education-book-cover-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b690__wQwGo/VQDElu2_pLI/AAAAAAAADdk/dM9IHIs8JgM/s400/EWBD%2B-%2Bintimate-education-book-cover-.jpg" /></a></div>Full disclosure:<br />
<br />
I have a story in <i>An Intimate Education</i>, the e-book that was launched at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/880543642004967/permalink/893454000713931/">Erotic World Book Day Party</a> on March 5. All proceeds from the sale of the book go to charity. More about that in a moment.<br />
<br />
There is a fabulous prize up for grabs for anyone who reviews the book on Amazon or in their blog. I sorta really want this prize and contributors to the antho have been encouraged to enter to win!<br />
<br />
I haven’t finished reading the anthology because it hasn’t been mine for long and I have to read one story at a time because – sizzling hot!<br />
<br />
Here’s what I can tell you about <i>An Intimate Education</i>:<br />
<br />
All the stories I’ve read so far have been well-written, lusty little tales that are wildly imaginative, kinky and achingly lust-enducing. A couple are even moving. <br />
<br />
I like this anthology. I like the cover, I like the stories, I like being in it, I like the editor. I like that it’s for charity. I’m more than proud to be in it, I’m excited by it.<br />
<br />
I like the charities that 100 percent of the proceeds from the sale of the anthology go to. In the UK, <a href="https://www.brook.org.uk/donate">Brook</a>.<br />
In the USA, <a href="http://www.scarleteen.com/donate.html">Scarleteen</a>.<br />
<br />
Both charities work with young people (teens and early twenties) to help them with many of the often-confusing aspects of sexual maturity. Don't you wish such a thing existed when you were a teen? Man, I sure do! I’m glad these charities exist, now, and I’m thrilled to help generate some moolah for the cause.<br />
<br />
If you enjoy good stories about kinky sex (and maybe there’s even a vanilla story or two in the antho, like I said, I haven’t finished it yet)<br />
and you support sex education for our young<br />
<br />
I want you to:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intimate-Education-charity-anthology-Erotic-ebook/dp/B00U9OB67S/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1426113441&sr=1-1&keywords=an+intimate+education">Buy An Intimate Education.</a><br />
<br />
It’s a veritable steal at 2.99 pounds sterling and did I mention it’s for a good cause?<br />
<br />
<b>IT’S FOR A GOOD CAUSE.</b><br />
<br />
I do not know exactly what I would do with those red lips in this prize package. I just know that I want those red lips, too. I want them MADLY.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g0vtuI_Slds/VQDGuFgj2MI/AAAAAAAADdw/R6daJZOUma4/s1600/EWBD%2Bprizes%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g0vtuI_Slds/VQDGuFgj2MI/AAAAAAAADdw/R6daJZOUma4/s400/EWBD%2Bprizes%2B1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
I know if I actually win the grand prize I’ll experience a tantalizing sensation of guilt.<br />
I kinda want that, too.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XdDZMQ-Q9-Y/VQDHkHKAKoI/AAAAAAAADd4/vgaWP0gnzrU/s1600/guilty%2Bpleasure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XdDZMQ-Q9-Y/VQDHkHKAKoI/AAAAAAAADd4/vgaWP0gnzrU/s320/guilty%2Bpleasure.jpg" /></a></div><br />
It’s been a long winter!<br />
<br />
Xoxo mad<br />
<br />
Follow #EWBD on twitter<br />
<br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-37297597897944463362015-03-05T18:02:00.001+00:002015-03-05T18:02:15.986+00:00EROTIC WORLD BOOK DAY PARTY TODAY!<br />
<b>PARTY TIME, PEEPS!<br />
</b><br />
Where Madeline, <b>where</b>?<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/880543642004967/">Here!</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YV0CG0o1n9g/VPiRbxKfm8I/AAAAAAAADbo/Uk6tJC64hyA/s1600/EWBD%2Bparty%2Bbanner.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YV0CG0o1n9g/VPiRbxKfm8I/AAAAAAAADbo/Uk6tJC64hyA/s400/EWBD%2Bparty%2Bbanner.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
Why Madeline, <b>why</b>?<br />
<br />
You need a reason? I GOT ONE! We're celebrating World Book Day with <i>Erotic</i> World Book Day(#EWBD on Twitter). <br />
<br />
Our indefatigable leaders have whipped together a gorgeous anthology that goes up for sale when the party begins. I'm in the anthology, so happy to say, with my contribution "It's Simple". I am in excellent company, peeps. The antho looks like this:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KBswPpvTsgo/VPiSf0HdxOI/AAAAAAAADbw/rT5SD3TSC8c/s1600/EWBD%2B-%2Bintimate-education-book-cover-.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KBswPpvTsgo/VPiSf0HdxOI/AAAAAAAADbw/rT5SD3TSC8c/s640/EWBD%2B-%2Bintimate-education-book-cover-.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
So pritty! I'm so proud! <b>ALL</b> proceeds from the sale of the anthology go to charity, primarily to <a href="https://www.brook.org.uk/">Brook</a><br />
which "provides sexual health and wellbeing services for over 275,000 young people UK-wide, each year."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BUvKUrfCPsI/VPiTerAI7RI/AAAAAAAADb4/G1Iuu3hvzi0/s1600/EWBD%2Bdonate%2Bto%2BBrook%2Bbutton.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BUvKUrfCPsI/VPiTerAI7RI/AAAAAAAADb4/G1Iuu3hvzi0/s320/EWBD%2Bdonate%2Bto%2BBrook%2Bbutton.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
Also, in the USA, to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Scarleteen/app_128953167177144">Scarleteen, <br />
</a> which provies "inclusive, comprehensive and smart sexuality information and help to teens and 20s"<br />
<br />
When Madeline, <b>when</b>?<br />
<br />
The event kicks off at 7pm in the UK which is 5 hours earlier in USA/Canada. It's sorta NSFW but with competitions and surprises every FIVE minutes, you wanna be there on your lunch break so you can enter to win some of our prizes. We now have over 1500 pounds sterling in giveaways including enough erotica and toys to keep you good and hot right into spring, summer and straight into the next season that follows fall which I do not want to give a name to in case it thinks I want it to stick around longer which I do not.<br />
<br />
Oh Mad, What do the prizes look like, <b>what</b>?<br />
<br />
Well, some of them look exactly like this:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uC9pZRGqKlM/VPiXOgbZiWI/AAAAAAAADcU/0PPr6h9zvb4/s1600/EWBD%2Bprizes%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uC9pZRGqKlM/VPiXOgbZiWI/AAAAAAAADcU/0PPr6h9zvb4/s320/EWBD%2Bprizes%2B1.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wetl75mj6MA/VPiXShWIy-I/AAAAAAAADcc/ofHnFgpW5VM/s1600/EWBD%2Bprize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wetl75mj6MA/VPiXShWIy-I/AAAAAAAADcc/ofHnFgpW5VM/s320/EWBD%2Bprize%2B2.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZxWzxNfg440/VPiXVW81nxI/AAAAAAAADck/jCZbQVey_zk/s1600/EWBD%2Bprizes%2B3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZxWzxNfg440/VPiXVW81nxI/AAAAAAAADck/jCZbQVey_zk/s320/EWBD%2Bprizes%2B3.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1kXJplBGyTk/VPiXYLW56TI/AAAAAAAADcs/HO-I3CaLz3c/s1600/EWBD%2Bprizes%2B4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1kXJplBGyTk/VPiXYLW56TI/AAAAAAAADcs/HO-I3CaLz3c/s320/EWBD%2Bprizes%2B4.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<b>AND MUCH MORE.</b><br />
<br />
<i>Everyone</i> who attends gets this:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a7NyvFNCRyU/VPiZD0jwRTI/AAAAAAAADc4/LrGoUR_5KD0/s1600/EWBD%2Bprizes%2B5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a7NyvFNCRyU/VPiZD0jwRTI/AAAAAAAADc4/LrGoUR_5KD0/s320/EWBD%2Bprizes%2B5.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Who Madeline, <b>who</b>?<br />
<br />
<b>YOU!</b><br />
<br />
Wear, Madeline, <b>wear</b>?<br />
<br />
I could go on about this all day but I'm not gonna because I have to get ready for the party. So what should I virtually wear? Basic black or something sparkly? I look good in pink but ... oh I dunno. My birthday suit? I can if I want! And so can you.<br />
<br />
Oh do come!<br />
It'll be fun! <br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-73521955280954642062015-02-19T04:03:00.002+00:002015-02-25T04:54:36.202+00:002015 - March 5 - Erotic World Book Day My first post of the new year. Gasp.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LxebbY2OphE/VOYOGvHFsiI/AAAAAAAADaM/LqcCugiL8VE/s1600/2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LxebbY2OphE/VOYOGvHFsiI/AAAAAAAADaM/LqcCugiL8VE/s400/2015.jpg" /></a><br />
<b>WHAT'S HAPPENING</b><br />
<br />
<br />
I am part of this huge celebration and you can be, too. The e-book is taking shape. The prizes are already beyond fantastic. The proceeds of the book go to charity and - everybody gets quality erotica to enjoy. So... come play with us!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0fDEWL7tYb0/VOYPGidrt7I/AAAAAAAADaY/06QVvGmAM2w/s1600/EWBD%2Bparty%2Bbanner.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0fDEWL7tYb0/VOYPGidrt7I/AAAAAAAADaY/06QVvGmAM2w/s400/EWBD%2Bparty%2Bbanner.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
Here's your Facebook link, dear readers: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/880543642004967/">Erotic World Book Day</a>.<br />
<br />
We're on Twitter at #EWBD<br />
<br />
Here's the organization the proceeds from the e-book will go to: <a href="https://www.brook.org.uk/">Brook</a>, The Sexual Health Charity<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hfimJhNWKa8/VO1VVW1FPPI/AAAAAAAADbQ/_WTFz4u_lAg/s1600/EWBD%2Bdonate%2Bto%2BBrook%2Bbutton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hfimJhNWKa8/VO1VVW1FPPI/AAAAAAAADbQ/_WTFz4u_lAg/s320/EWBD%2Bdonate%2Bto%2BBrook%2Bbutton.jpg" /></a></div><br />
I didn't know the deadline for submissions until today, the 18th, so the first order of my business is to write a story. As luck would have it a <i>great</i> first line of a story blasted to the surface this morning so that is the what I'll write and submit to the antho. The word count is tight The deadline is Feb. 22.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZEWeCrmmJQs/VOVZOkXF5NI/AAAAAAAADZc/viEGjPI2-0s/s1600/Fall-2014-deadlines.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZEWeCrmmJQs/VOVZOkXF5NI/AAAAAAAADZc/viEGjPI2-0s/s320/Fall-2014-deadlines.jpg" /></a></div><br />
My submissions and published new stories of late move in a bunch of <i>new</i> directions. I'm excited about it. This story (working title "Womanly Wiles") is no exception.<br />
<br />
Once I get the story subbed there'll be more time for me to fling myself into the buzz. It's energizing, like the early days of my career when I joined the (now archived) <a href="http://lustbites.blogspot.ca/?zx=4cc8710353ef18f4">Lust Bites</a> Blog. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
It's nice to be emerging from the shadows.<br />
<br />
<br />
Oh thank you to my dear colleagues and friends! You helped keep the MM - um - brand alive.<br />
That is sort of true and sort of a joke.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9QXztADN3CI/VOVhZ0zoNDI/AAAAAAAADZ0/dlNFYk46r8A/s1600/mm%2Bshadow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9QXztADN3CI/VOVhZ0zoNDI/AAAAAAAADZ0/dlNFYk46r8A/s320/mm%2Bshadow.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Oh thank you to my dear colleagues and friends! You helped keep MM alive.<br />
That is no joke.<br />
<br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-59885371148327080242014-11-28T03:43:00.000+00:002014-11-28T03:43:13.285+00:00Shoulda, Wanna, Gonna<br />
A few decades ago, a member of Greenpeace appeared at my door, soliciting funds. He told me, “There really is only one issue – the environment.”<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J6-SpBSfQBg/VHfuBkPUSXI/AAAAAAAADWM/yLpVPe-39js/s1600/keep-calm-and-support-greenpeace.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J6-SpBSfQBg/VHfuBkPUSXI/AAAAAAAADWM/yLpVPe-39js/s400/keep-calm-and-support-greenpeace.png" /></a></div> <br />
Ten days ago, I was at the end of my “morning” ritual: drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, gobbling pills, crying and admonishing myself to write that letter to the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons about the appalling treatment (or lack thereof) that Michael received from a specific doctor, when I came to a decision. “I will not suffer this for one more day.”<br />
<br />
So I wrote the letter. I’d made notes on December 24 (!) complete with dates and quotes. I’d imagined those notes needed work but in fact they did not. All I needed to do was write a cover letter, print off a form, have it witnessed and get the package in the mail and I did.<br />
<br />
It was a relief, for a few days, but not anymore. <br />
<br />
I’m so sad that he died. I’m so angry about the way he died. I want that doctor to be held accountable for what he did, in the Emergency Room on Dec.1 (“You want me to admit him with gas?”) AND when Michael was finally admitted to hospital on Dec. 20 and the same goddam doctor was his attending physician on the floor.<br />
<br />
We could have done an anticipated death at home. All you need is a brave patient, a brave primary caregiver and proper pain management. He was brave, I was brave (and experienced at the process) but he didn’t have proper medication because he wasn’t diagnosed on Dec.1. It would’ve taken that doctor five minutes to have a portable ultrasound machine wheeled into the room where Michael lay. I respectfully disagreed with the doctor’s diagnosis but to no avail. So we went home. We lacked the information and assistance we needed to do things right.<br />
<br />
This “morning” I went through my usual routine, including the crying. I should have dug my heels in. It would’ve humiliated Michael and probably angered the doctor but I should have done it. We could’ve had a peaceful last Christmas together and I would have that to remember (as I remember my Mother’s peaceful last Thanksgiving.) We could have created something beautiful, together; a small, sweet triumph wrested from the maw of tragedy.<br />
<br />
There are so many things I should have done but more to the point, there are so many things I should be doing. These past eleven months I have been stripped of almost everything that defines me. I’m a lousy feminist. I was a lousy wife, for the most part and, if you ask anyone but me, a pretty lousy mother. I wouldn’t have defined myself as arrogant but I’ve been humbled so thoroughly that I must’ve been arrogant. I’m not even middle-class, anymore. <br />
<br />
Light another cigarette. Eat a chocolate muffin. Ponder.<br />
<br />
I hung my identity on “writing” before I even clearly understood that I was female. I decided to be a writer when I was twelve. But professional writers (especially, I think, genre writers) gotta write and get published. I will have published two short stories this year, but neither of them was written this year. I have two short stories under consideration for publication but of them, only one was written this year. The sum total of my creative writing in 2014 is one new short story.<br />
Wait! What about all my fabulous face book posts. Don’t they count? Well, no, they don’t.<br />
<br />
What about how hilarious I am on Twitter? Isn’t that writing? Oh Gawd no. It is not. Here's me playing a hashtag game. I love hashtag games.<br />
<br />
#Thingsthatcanimprovethanksgiving The Get Smart "cone of silence."<br />
<br />
Well, I’ve heard from a representative of the Ontario College and Physicians. She said she usually lifts sections from a complainant’s letter to forward to the doctor in question but in my case, my letter is so clear and well-written that she’s going to forward the entire letter to him. So I will count that as good writing, although it isn’t creative writing. I just told the truth.<br />
<br />
It’s been a tough fucking year but it’s almost over and I’ve taken great strides forward. A lot of the particulars have been dealt with. But December looms large and I know, every “morning,” that I have managed to circumvent grieving in many different ways and, now that I’m all safe and sound in my new little apartment, it’s coming home, too.<br />
I should be writing.<br />
<br />
I should be teaching.<br />
<br />
But more importantly, and I have been told this repeatedly by my grief peeps, I should be grieving and sleeping.<br />
<br />
Never in my life have I gone for so long on so little sleep. I don’t like going to bed because I think about Michael when I go to bed and I don’t want to think about him because it makes me so terribly sad.<br />
<br />
I want to: smoke cigarettes and watch TV and hangout on social media. <br />
I don’t want to read, I don’t want to teach, I don’t want to write.<br />
<br />
I think what I need to do (as opposed to what I should do) is start taking care of this microcosm of the environment that is me. I need to stop polluting this poor body with cancer-sticks. It makes no sense to fight the good fight, have surgery, have a mammogram, visit my doctor, begin the long process of getting a shrink, and so on and on if I’m going to kill myself with cigs. I needed them but they’ve done their job. Now I have to get rid of them. <br />
<br />
I need to shower (even if the water gets cold in five minutes) and I need to eat right (which means I have to cook every day, not just a couple of days a week) and I need to go outside and breathe fresh air. I need to clean up the mess that is me. <br />
<br />
I need to stop thinking that I should be a voice of reason on Twitter. Twitter is for laughs and sex (virtual or real.) Twitter is not about making sense or pointing out fallacies in other people’s comments. Of course, it’s not a bad place to get attention and I am starved for the kind of attention I used to get. But that was unsolicited attention and it died with Michael. It is no more likely to come back than he is. I was lucky to have it and now I have the bad luck of learning how to live without it.<br />
<br />
I need to stop digging deep into international issues. It occurs to me that I don’t really care about Bill Cosby’s reputation. Or perhaps more to the point, what I think about Bill Cosby is entirely irrelevant to everything. I don’t even really need to write. There’s a plethora of erotica authors out there; the world doesn’t need my stories. If I want the world to have my stories I’d better write them. <br />
<br />
In order for me to get anywhere, I’m just going to have to succumb to grief, cry myself to sleep and sleep. That’s the first order of business. I was dreading Dec. 22 but I now realize that Dec.1 is when the horror really began and it’s days away. I can’t escape it; I have to go through it.<br />
<br />
When I’m ready to write I’ll write. When I’m ready to consider the issues of the day, I’m going to concentrate on the environment. We’re all in it together but my country is rich in natural resources and our evil Prime Minister is dedicated to destroying those resources. Google Stephen Harper + environmental issues if you’re interested but be forewarned – it’s really ugly. Here's a pic of Harper addressing the United Nations General Assembly in September of this year.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zI5V3Oqayuw/VHfsQ--p8XI/AAAAAAAADWA/vv76GSYis7c/s1600/Harper%2Bat%2Bthe%2BUN%2B-%2Bclimate%2Bchange.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zI5V3Oqayuw/VHfsQ--p8XI/AAAAAAAADWA/vv76GSYis7c/s400/Harper%2Bat%2Bthe%2BUN%2B-%2Bclimate%2Bchange.jpg" /></a></div>This fucking pipeline of his, the one that has smart people tearing out their hair and going to jail, is all about getting our fossil fuels to the USA. Canada isn’t even going to make any money out of this thing. America gets our natural resources and American companies reap the profits. So – WTF? THIS is an issue that should be of interest to people who want to save the environment EVERYWHERE, not just in Canada.<br />
<br />
I’m going to go make myself something to eat and then I’m going to allow grief to take me where it wants me to go. I don’t know how long this is going to take. But it really can’t be more of a waste of time than trying to avoid it is and I have faith in myself. I am a tough prairie broad and I will come out the other side.<br />
I’ll end this thing with some good news: <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/Blog/one-amazing-week-in-the-fight-against-the-tar/blog/51483/">Good news week! says Greenpeace.</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kw0iqm3QZT4/VHfuobD8XPI/AAAAAAAADWU/LhgsfRyPtIs/s1600/green3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kw0iqm3QZT4/VHfuobD8XPI/AAAAAAAADWU/LhgsfRyPtIs/s400/green3.jpg" /></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-81179622548629507692014-11-26T01:47:00.002+00:002014-11-26T01:47:29.865+00:00BIG DEAL, USAJoyce Carol Oates posted this on Twitter today, November 25, 2014:<br />
"Hard time to visit Canada & recall sanity, graciousness, & over all respect for "commonweal" of that country at this time in our country."<br />
<br />
Last night, Ferguson erupted and so did Twitter. Once all the non-residents of the USA got the message, Twitter was turned over to Americans. Why?<br />
Obviously, something huge was going on in America; something much bigger than the shooting of a black man by a white cop in Ferguson, Missouri. Race relations. Police brutality. And so on.<br />
<br />
I follow liberal Americans so, in the main, the Tweets I read decried the decision of the Grand Jury. But even they posted emotional tweets stating stuff like, "If you aren't outraged by what's going on right now in Ferguson, unfollow me now" and "Nobody should be talking about anything but Ferguson" and "Stop your stupid promotions!"<br />
<br />
Well, okay, America. As you wish.<br />
<br />
I had nothing to say about what was going on because:<br />
I'm not American.<br />
Canada is where runaway slaves ran TO when slavery flourished in the US.<br />
We have gun control in Canada.<br />
Our cops fuck up, there's lots of racism here, the ol' white man has all the power, but we're not as important as the US. Arguably, there is no country on earth that is more important than the Super Power to the South (our south, anyway.)<br />
I've already expressed my concern over the present state of America.<br />
(The word "America" is the short form of USA, not North America. If it were the short form of North America, it would include Canada. It doesn't.)<br />
I don't even GET an American news channel that was exclusively covering Ferguson. CBC TV led off with the story but there were other things happening, right here in my home, that mattered, too. Not to the USA of course - but still. Other things mattered.<br />
<br />
I posted two Tweets last night:<br />
A link to a news report that said Government offices had been warned of possible ISIS attacks targeting soldiers and police prior to the murder of Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, which took place 2 days *before* the murder of Nathan Cirillo by Zehaf-Bibeau. After the murder at the War Memorial "Zehaf-Bibeau returned to his vehicle...drove a short distance...abandoned his vehicle...carjacked a parliamentary vehicle...entered the Centre Block through the main entrance under the Peace Tower...wounded a security guard, ran down the main corridor firing at closed doors behind which the Conservatives (one one side) and the NDP (on the other) were gathered. Finally, he hid in an alcove where Chief Superintendent Kevin Vickers "took him down."<br />
THIS IS RIDICULOUS! Where the HELL was increased protection in the face of an ISIS threat, which at the very least should have been ramped up at our Federal Parliament Buildings?<br />
It is a big deal in Canada.<br />
(Are you still reading this post? I tried to make that recap of the event that shook my country up, real bad, as short as possible.)<br />
<br />
Second tweet: High winds battered the GTA, creating havoc and cutting off power to thousands of homes.<br />
This was (and continues to be) a big deal in the Greater Toronto Area, where I happen to live.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ye0XT6PBdHs/VHUtZC5IyOI/AAAAAAAADVo/Uw0mheypv6k/s1600/tree%2Bknocked%2Bover%2Bin%2BNOv%2B2014.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ye0XT6PBdHs/VHUtZC5IyOI/AAAAAAAADVo/Uw0mheypv6k/s400/tree%2Bknocked%2Bover%2Bin%2BNOv%2B2014.jpeg" /></a></div><br />
Here's the thing, American Tweeters:<br />
You don't actually get to tell those of us who are not American what we may or may not Tweet about and when.<br />
I can say with certainty that the vast majority of you don't give a rat's ass what's happening in MY country, let alone the UK, let alone the rest of the world, until and unless it impacts on your country.<br />
<br />
Often, I admire the exuberance of Americans. Often, it dismays me.<br />
<br />
Please don't get me wrong. Every time another guy goes postal and massacres a bunch of innocent American civilians I AM SORRY. Every time violent riots erupt that are ignited by perceived or real racism, I AM SORRY.<br />
The thing is, I can't even vote in the USA. I am (we are) not able to help you.<br />
<br />
Don't imagine for one second that your neighbour to the north doesn't care about what Americans do. Canada was targeted by ISIS because our government decided to join your government on the ground in Iraq. Canada cleared its air space on 9/11. We sent Aid Workers to New York. We sent search and rescue teams to New Orleans.<br />
<br />
We always stand by the USA and probably always will. That's what allies do. That's what neighbours do. That's what we do.<br />
But you guys don't get to bully <i>any</i> of us guys on social media because some of us (not me! not me!) were slow to get that something big was going down in Ferguson last night. You don't get to say what's important to the rest of the world.<br />
<br />
Really, you don't.<br />
<br />
Maybe the ongoing serious issues in the USA are internal issues. Maybe you have to handle them yourselves. Maybe, some of us are overwhelmed or just plain getting tired of your constant problems with prejudice, overeager cops/militia, and your goddam lack of gun control.<br />
We're very sorry. Fix your problems or something. I don't know.<br />
I DON'T KNOW.<br />
<br />
And I get to say so. I get to say whatever I want, whenever I want, on social media or wherever I want, because I live in a free country, too.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RM6qPzpz9Rw/VHUu9sM4YSI/AAAAAAAADV0/WZG3nlXR4s8/s1600/Protestors%2Boutside%2BUS%2Bconsulate%2Bin%2BToronto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RM6qPzpz9Rw/VHUu9sM4YSI/AAAAAAAADV0/WZG3nlXR4s8/s400/Protestors%2Boutside%2BUS%2Bconsulate%2Bin%2BToronto.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Protestors outside the US Consulate in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Story <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ferguson-aftermath-protests-in-toronto-ottawa-spark-debate-1.2850162?cmp=rss">here.</a><br />
<br />
Photo Credits: Tree: CBC, Nov. 24, 2014 <br />
Protestors: Nathan Denette, The Canadian Press, Nov.25, 2014<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-78324703365178929832014-11-24T23:47:00.000+00:002014-11-25T17:11:02.039+00:00Ready For My Close Up<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aFUMbml79MY/VHS235eyVrI/AAAAAAAADVY/N_xGIviLCkk/s1600/Andrea%2BMartin%2Bfacepalms%2Bme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aFUMbml79MY/VHS235eyVrI/AAAAAAAADVY/N_xGIviLCkk/s400/Andrea%2BMartin%2Bfacepalms%2Bme.jpg" /></a></div><i>Me getting hand-blocked by Andrea Martin. I'm the blonde in the jean shirt.</i><br />
At long last I have located the SCTV episode I appeared in. This cracks me up. We had video playback so I could see what was in frame. Notice how I manage to sliiiiide into view as much as possible.<br />
<br />
Michael thought I should've been an actress. I think this confirms it. I'm a natural!<br />
<br />
By the way, everyone in the arts in Edmonton was an extra on SCTV at one time or another. But not everyone got so much air time.<br />
<br />
I appear at 13:00 and reappear throughout the "UNION" scene. Watch for my exit, stage left, at the end of the scene. If you listen hard, you'll hear me shout, "Let's go!"<br />
<br />
I coulda bin somebody...<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I9cmFNtA_Y">ME ON SCTV</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-17682116883397435642014-11-15T21:29:00.001+00:002014-11-15T21:29:48.226+00:00MADELINE MOORE WINS A STRANDED SEVEN LIGHT SABRE AWARDFirst annual <a href="http://www.strandedintoronto.com/2014/11/15/seven-lightsabers/">Stranded Seven Lightsabers</a><br />
<br />
Pink Light Sabre goes to: Madeline Moore "Class, femininity and a pleasure to read and flirt with."<br />
<br />
Why thank you, Mr Stranded.<br />
<br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-71968789662614664572014-11-14T06:16:00.000+00:002014-11-14T06:16:48.671+00:00#STUMPCRYSTAL - Contest time!<br />
@CrystalPenguin sez:<br />
<br />
#STUMPCRYSTAL <br />
Win a signed book by erotica author @MadelineMoore<br />
<br />
We are looking for sexy questions that cannot be answered by googling (I don't wanna be accused of cheating) <br />
Example:<br />
"If you were w/ 5 men & they all wanted to penetrate you, how would you do it?"<br />
@madelinemoore will be judging <br />
@penguincrystal will be answering<br />
Ask using the #StumpCrystal<br />
<br />
Bookswill be sent anywhere in North America. But anyone may participate, what a gift for you favourite tweeter over the ocean!! Nov.30 we will choose a winner, so book may be received by XXXmas. <br />
<br />
If you've read this far, please participate and retweet these instructions. I will be tweeting them once a day to try to get maximum penetration.<br />
(Do I mean participation?) both are good. <br />
Xxxo <br />
CrYsTaL PeNgUiN<br />
@penguincrystal, amateur attention whore and<br />
@msmadelinemoore, professional attention whore. <br />
<br />
#STUMPCRYSTAL<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-32731379287617733872014-10-26T23:47:00.000+00:002014-10-27T16:38:14.668+00:00What the Actual F**k, Canada?You know how you guys sometimes say, "What The Actual Fuck, Canada?"<br />
<br />
Well, what the actual fuck, Canada.<br />
<br />
Many of the the politicized people I follow on Twitter (whom I assumed were my like-minded peeps because of their outspoken views on the way Prime Minister Stephen Harper is destroying the environment of Canada) have revealed themselves to be conspiracy nuts with little attention paid to the facts. I've become the person with the facts. If my life as a social media pundit was doomed (and it was) my life as a political pundit is laughable at best.<br />
<br />
But what the actual fuck, Canada?<br />
<br />
I'm afraid the country is going to go all "Lady Di" on Nathan Cirillo's funeral. The family has been asked to have the funeral at the Colosseum in Toronto. We didn't even know he had a girlfriend until yesterday and have yet to see her or his 4 yr old son or either of his parents but they're being asked to throw a funeral in a stadium?<br />
<br />
Harper is criticized for hiding in a closet in chambers when told there was a shooter in the house? This is normal, although maybe in other countries the hidey hole is less makeshift. And by the way, if he arranged this event to make our country into a police state, wouldn't he have made like a hero and grabbed a flag pole, too?<br />
<br />
And if you're going to criticize the lack of security on Parliament Hill (which should be criticized) you cannot turn on a dime and accuse Harper of infringing on our rights. You can't ask Harper why the government knew that we'd been hiked up the ISIS list since joining our USA allies in strikes against it and did not act (a good question) and then accuse him of being a totalitarian when he seeks broader rights and increased policing powers.<br />
<br />
It's Canada's turn to relinquish freedom for protection and we're perplexed. We want everyone to like us. Maybe we really are the tard little brother of the USA, a description I've kept to myself for many years.<br />
<br />
Who the hell voted for Harper? This is his third term in office! Cut it out!<br />
<br />
Right now, Stephen Harper is our leader. Pick your battles, peeps.<br />
<br />
Canadians want to "get back to normal" but that can't happen until we're sure the threat from ISIS and Lone Wolf types inspired by ISIS is over and that time hasn't come yet. It may never come.<br />
<br />
As well:<br />
The vote for Toronto mayor takes place tomorrow (Monday.) Rob Ford is out (he has cancer, bad) but he's been replaced in the campaign by his brother Doug. So Doug Ford is running for major and might WIN the race.<br />
<br />
Earlier today I was arguing on Twitter that Harper cannot, as the above pundits proclaim, dismantle the CBC. They say it will happen under Harper's watch and I tell them they're wrong. I worked at CBC Radio (regional and network) when the Corpse didn't have a building of its own. There were major attempts to destroy it back then. Now its got pride of place in downtown Toronto. Harper won't take it down. But . . . this afternoon we discovered . . .<br />
<br />
Jian Ghomeshi, the talented host and co-creator of CBC radio's Q, was just fired from the CBC (because, he says, his private life has been paraded all over social media and the perception of it is not in synch with CBC standards) and fighting back on social media by telling us he's into <i>consensual</i> BDSM. C.B.C. can't respond because Ghomeshi has launched a law suit. We shall see how this unfolds. If he's a date-rapist, he loses. If he was fired for his sexual predilections, he'll become a rich pervert. He's suing the CBC for $50 million The C. B. C.<br />
The CBC does not have fifty million bucks to spare.<br />
<br />
So, What the Actual Fuck, Canada?<br />
<br />
These are dangerous times, which is why it's integral that we all keep our WITS about us. Justin Trudeau says, "I want your smarts." Until we can give them to him we have to use them individually, as best we can.<br />
<br />
Justin's Dad, Pierre, said, "There's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation."<br />
Did the CBC just cut its own throat. At the very moment when we really need it?<br />
<br />
Pierre Trudeau also called in the National guard during the October Crisis. Remember it? We got through that bout of domestic terrorism. We can get through all this. Everyone just needs to smarten up.<br />
<br />
xoxo Mad<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dGNDUdtNh8">Bruce Cockburn </a>- Lovers In A Dangerous Time<br />
<br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-89918776106434811472014-10-24T02:57:00.002+01:002014-10-25T11:22:08.620+01:00The Trickle Down of Tragedy<br />
<br />
A lost Canadian man, age 32, applied for a passport to go to the middle-east. Due to his criminal record the application was denied. Stuck with no way to join his like-minded brethren in another part of the world, he struck at the very heart of Canada. Domestic terrorism.<br />
<br />
The symbolism of what he did, murdering a 24 year old soldier who stood ceremonial guard over the War Memorial on Parliament Hill, is breath-taking. Minutes later he burst into the Federal Parliament Buildings, House of Commons, pursued by police. If he'd done it an hour later, the corridors would've been packed with MPs and press. Inside, a lot of gunfire took place and when it was over he was dead. He died less than ten minutes after he murdered Nathan Cirillo.<br />
<br />
Even for a big country like Canada, this was a big shock.<br />
<br />
<br />
The killer's father (originally from Lybia) hasn't spoken. Today, the killer's mother (an employee of the Federal Gov't) issued a statement on behalf of the family. She said, in part, "I am mad at our son, I don't understand and part of me wants to hate him at this time...Please respect our privacy although many may not feel we deserve any . . . Once again we are so sorry."<br />
<br />
Cirillo had a 4 year old son. (The mother is no longer in the picture.) Now, Nathan's mother will care for his son. Today she is “... just completely broken, broken right now."<br />
<br />
Everybody is so sorry. People get weary of dealing with crazies, even when the crazies are their own kids; members of their communities; fellow citizens. It's even easier to get weary of crazies who live far away.<br />
<br />
93 passports have been seized from people the RCMP deem "dangerous." We keep them here rather than let them ship off to boost the ranks of the radicals. Maybe that's an act of charity on Canada's part. Or is it an infringement on our rights? The killer in question wasn't one of the 93.<br />
<br />
All this terrible pain has come about because a deranged man wanted to make a statement. I wonder what his statement really would have been? Neighbours say he was a nice kid. Was there anything left of that kid? Probably not. I suppose he'd have said something maniacal and senseless, although his actions were astonishingly clear. It was too late for him.<br />
<br />
Keven Vickers said, "I took him down."<br />
<br />
It's also too late for a seemingly all-around nice guy, a reservist who dreamed of becoming a full-time soldier. The manager of a Hamilton restaurant where Cirillo served as a bouncer said...." he would often come straight from the armoury in his fatigues, and change at the club before his shifts, joking he would go from one service job to another."<br />
<br />
It's typically Canadian for us to produce this black and white story. There's a bad guy and a good guy and both are dead.<br />
<br />
So much sadness and loss trickles down, all the way down to the dawgs.<br />
<br />
<br />
These are Cpl. Nathan Cirillo's dogs.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pOSoHnG0Gl4/VEmxJocvxTI/AAAAAAAADMA/u6o88HNqK-I/s1600/CIRILLO-DOGS-1-570.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pOSoHnG0Gl4/VEmxJocvxTI/AAAAAAAADMA/u6o88HNqK-I/s400/CIRILLO-DOGS-1-570.jpg" /></a></div><br />
photo credit: Molly Hayes, Hamilton Spectator (I think)<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-26616922516342672062014-09-21T08:33:00.000+01:002014-09-21T08:33:12.388+01:00#LeonardCohen80 Happy birthday to The Man!<br />
<br />
The Man is 80 years old today. Lou Reed said, “We're so lucky to be alive at the same time Leonard Cohen is.” Lou Reed is right!<br />
<br />
Here's my tribute to Leonard Cohen, written for Lust Bites "Crush Wednesday," on the occasion of his 76th birthday. (To the melody of Famous Blue Raincoat)<br />
<br />
Famous Troubadour <br />
<br />
It’s four in the morning but everything's okay <br />
I’m writing you now just to say ‘Happy Birthday’ <br />
Toronto is steamy I like where I’m living, <br />
they’re busy on Clinton St. all through the evening <br />
<br />
I hear that you’re working <br />
writing your poems, singing in Europe <br />
You were robbed of your savings, G-d! <br />
I hope you’re keeping some kind of record <br />
<br />
Yes, and John came by <br />
just to drop off the girls<br />
we’re finished as lovers, for sure <br />
It’s been good for us, we have grown <br />
Apart, and for good. <br />
I loved you, as John did, <br />
your songs were about us,<br />
destructive, creative and tortured with love/lust <br />
You were part of our courtship, <br />
and part of our wedding <br />
still we weren’t prepared <br />
for the pain of our ending <br />
<br />
And you treated all women to a sip of your life <br />
I took more than my share, now I’m nobody’s wife<br />
<br />
Well I see you, hair grey and wrinkly face<br />
Silent One so full of grace<br />
Well I’m dry again <br />
but now I know how to wait <br />
<br />
He took all of your albums <br />
I knew they would help him <br />
He cried all the time, just like me <br />
It cost us so much <br />
to be free of each other <br />
a home and a whole family <br />
<br />
It’s hard when you’re young <br />
it gets soft later on <br />
so much to collect, <br />
then so much to be gone <br />
<br />
<br />
Yes and thanks for the trouble you took for us all <br />
for showing us it's okay <br />
to fall, rise, and fall <br />
I’m so happy you’re happy <br />
an old monk who’s still sexy <br />
and living among us again <br />
I said, ‘Leonard I love you’ <br />
at the time of our meeting <br />
I feel like we’ve always been friends <br />
<br />
John and I aren’t pals<br />
No secrets, no sighs <br />
but we talk and last night<br />
we laughed at his lies <br />
<br />
And thanks for the poems and songs that you write <br />
for helping us give up the fight <br />
<br />
We're beautiful losers, like you. <br />
<br />
Sincerely, M. Moore<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-36721510687380679202014-08-22T22:01:00.002+01:002014-08-22T22:04:43.417+01:00Fantasy Sanatorium<br />
<br />
This is where the fragile go for treatment, because in this fantasy land psychological pain is honoured, even if the source of it is common. Death, divorce – even the existential dilemma we call ‘mid-life crisis’ is treated with compassionate care.<br />
The patients’ rooms are large and immaculately clean. The nurses wear traditional nurses’ garb. There are doctors who treat both physical and mental disorders and each one has plenty of time for each patient.<br />
There are lovely drugs, of course. Therapeutic baths. Little walks around the aesthetically pleasing grounds are encouraged but not mandatory. The food is irresistible, delivered three times a day by pleasant people. There is beautiful music.<br />
<br />
Everybody is kind. The more the patient suffers, the more delicately she is handled. Sensitivity, in this world, is highly regarded. Those who work in the arts are valued for their dedication, not their popularity. There is art everywhere in this land but in the sanatorium all the art, while of the highest quality, is soothing.<br />
<br />
The patient has no workload; it’s all being taken care of. If her home needs to be cleaned it is cleaned. If she has pets they are well-looked after. If she has children they are coddled. There is nothing for her to worry about while she is in the sanatorium.<br />
<br />
She sleeps between sheets of fine Egyptian cotton. She sleeps until she isn’t tired anymore. She talks until she doesn’t want to talk anymore. She visits with her friends as often or as infrequently as she wants. Everybody understands. When her children come to visit they bring fresh flowers and chocolate and they are delightful. They shower her with baby kisses, even if they aren’t babies. They love her more for her fragility than they did before. She doesn’t have to be strong for them, they are magically strong and well and sweet.<br />
<br />
There are peer-affection-workers; nice men and women who have been where the patients are now. They visit often and their job is to pet and compliment and make love to their patients. No pain; no expectation. If she wants kisses she is kissed. If she wants sex she gets sex. She is not expected to play any role of any type. She accepts what she wants when she wants it. There are no complications or consequences, except she feels better. The human touch.<br />
<br />
Because she has been diagnosed as sad, all her external problems are taken care of in her absence. If she needs a bed, there will be a bed in her home when she is discharged. And so on.<br />
<br />
Really, this is a place dedicated to loving and accepting those who have become, through sadness, pitiful and irritating. They don’t ever have to leave but because they get better they want to leave and so they do. Some return as peer-affection-workers or volunteer flower-arrangers. Some donate their paintings or their music or their art, some donate their time, or money. Some donate nothing. It’s okay not to give back. By getting well, the patient has already given back.<br />
<br />
Oh! That’s right! In this magical sanatorium, everyone always gets well. <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-40337157300043884482014-08-22T04:14:00.000+01:002014-08-22T04:14:19.852+01:008 MonthsIf you could see me<br />
you’d be so sad<br />
your eyes might fill<br />
with the only kind of tears you ever had<br />
unshed.<br />
<br />
I’m skinny, I swear, I smoke and I flirt like mad<br />
there’s no black on white only the blur of grey and –<br />
look, never mind, I promise I’ll be okay<br />
I’m still here so I may as well stay.<br />
<br />
Don’t let little old me <br />
make you feel bad.<br />
It’s a bitter pill<br />
I choose not to swallow. <br />
Close your eyes, sweetheart, or turn away<br />
I do not want to burden the gentled shoulders<br />
of the dead.<br />
<br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-70498908618926195132014-06-28T08:47:00.001+01:002014-06-28T08:48:25.778+01:00Too muchI cannot take <br />
another loss<br />
but lose is what I do<br />
I do not know<br />
why I must pay<br />
so much for loving you.<br />
I cannot take<br />
another love<br />
but love is what I do<br />
I do not know<br />
why I must pay<br />
so much for losing you.<br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-24380637016601207252014-06-22T03:09:00.000+01:002014-06-22T03:19:05.235+01:00Six MonthsSix months ago today, (E.S.T) . . .<br />
<br />
Michael is in the hospital. Ive written this poem, (for lack of a better word.) Now I'm sitting beside his hospital bed, facing his back, working on it. (I only know this because the date is typed on the copy I'd printed to take with me to the hospital.)<br />
<br />
He is facing the window, where the big tree at the entrance to the hospital is labouring under the weight of an encasement of ice.<br />
Neither will last till morning.<br />
<br />
We don't talk. I have him cranked on morphine so he will not be in pain. I never want him to be in pain again. He has been made comfortable facing the window. I can't sit on that side of his bed because that will position me beside the radiator and I can't take the heat.<br />
<br />
I've already had pneumonia guy removed from what passes for I.C.U. in this community hospital. I've already rattled the bars on the empty bed beside him until the alarmed nurse said, "What's the matter with you?"<br />
<br />
"I want to know what's wrong with him. I think he has leukemia!"<br />
<br />
"He doesn't have leukemia. The Doctor will fill you in. He's making his rounds."<br />
<br />
I get that if I misbehave I'll have to leave, so I take a valium, sit back down and work on this thing some more. <br />
Michael says, "Are you crying?"<br />
I say, "Yes."<br />
<br />
I haven't looked at this since he and his tree broke down and died.<br />
<br />
It isn't very good but this is all it'll ever be. I can't touch it, not even to fix a grammatical error. I'm going to have to let it stand. This is my six month tribute to my late man.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Poor Me<br />
<br />
or<br />
<br />
If It’s Christmas This Must Be I.C.U.<br />
<br />
I’ll bring you the poisonous plant<br />
(poisonous for the cat)<br />
the poinsettia from my Dad,<br />
same as before.<br />
<br />
This time I don’t have to worry<br />
about paying for parking,<br />
because we don’t have a car!<br />
But it’s hard to get a cab this time of year.<br />
<br />
Poor me.<br />
<br />
Bell cut off our internet.<br />
Yeah, behind all the ISPs<br />
lurks Ma Bell.<br />
<br />
I called the techie super nerd<br />
and asked him to fix it<br />
but he said he can’t.<br />
<br />
I said, “What if I threaten to kill myself?”<br />
I said, “I’m a writer, I could pen a piece for the Globe and Mail.”<br />
I said, “My husband’s in the hospital, we get paid by e-transfer.”<br />
<br />
He said he had no opinion on any of that.<br />
(Not even the suicide threat. Stupid boy.)<br />
I hope we get it back before Christmas,<br />
Seems all my real friends aren’t here.<br />
<br />
Twenty years in this two bit town <br />
I can’t get a ride to the hospital?<br />
<br />
Poor, poor me.<br />
<br />
I’m no poet.<br />
I don’t call you Felix.<br />
I call you “Boss” most of the time.<br />
Sometimes Mikola.<br />
<br />
OH MIKOLA DON’T GO.<br />
<br />
I taught you that anger is a valid emotion.<br />
It’s okay to laugh out loud.<br />
You can love without risking the cheap tricks<br />
of women who want you to change.<br />
<br />
You taught me that a man<br />
could know me, really know me<br />
and love me all the time,<br />
and say “I adore you,” and “I never lie,”<br />
and I could believe him, love him back<br />
and not risk the terrible tricks<br />
of men who want to change me.<br />
<br />
C’mon sweetheart,<br />
we’ve been here before.<br />
Okay, the ten good years you promised me are up<br />
but you know I always want more.<br />
<br />
Come home come home<br />
We (that stupid cat and me) can’t be a family without you.<br />
I made stew! I cleaned up all your blood!<br />
I’ve never had a problem begging,<br />
look at me, so “decorative” <br />
down on my knees,<br />
I beg you and baby Jesus and God and Bob and Zeus and all<br />
the big guys you don’t believe in.<br />
Come home.<br />
<br />
Hey Boss! We forgot to get married!<br />
But we never forgot to be in love.<br />
<br />
Lucky, lucky me.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Dec.21, 2:50 a.m.<br />
<br />
T.O.D. Dec. 22, 6:20 a.m.<br />
Last words: “I’ve had enough. I’m going now.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5513472121138537139.post-36118791904318150312014-06-15T07:04:00.002+01:002014-06-15T07:58:40.078+01:00Written On Skin - Edgy Erotic Stories about Body Modification<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ErXGySW9mkI/U5057AyqLxI/AAAAAAAACqo/zOIwMpSkXgs/s1600/book-promo-roundel_small.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ErXGySW9mkI/U5057AyqLxI/AAAAAAAACqo/zOIwMpSkXgs/s200/book-promo-roundel_small.png" /></a></div><br />
Oh boy I've been published in 2014. Almost unbelievable. Not only that, but I intro the antho with my short story, "Hemosexual." <br />
<br />
The piece was accepted before Michael died and written before I even met him. (I reworked it after its acceptance.) "Hemosexual" is one of those stories (and I have very few, as I find the promise of payment embarrassingly inspirational) that I <i>had</i> to write, though I knew at the time it would never see the light of a computer screen. Too weird.<br />
<br />
Times have changed. Maybe I'm not weird; maybe I'm <i>transgressive.</i><br />
If I weren't before, I'm pretty sure I am now. <br />
<br />
So here's the thing: It's an e-book, just published by <a href="http://burningbookpress.com/">Burning Book Press</a>, edited by <a href="http://remittancegirl.com/">Remittance Girl. <br />
</a><br />
Here's what it looks like:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C1rtHPsAwyk/U50xv6ooFvI/AAAAAAAACp8/3lsIjNT3FdM/s1600/Written-On-Skin-Cover_Lrg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C1rtHPsAwyk/U50xv6ooFvI/AAAAAAAACp8/3lsIjNT3FdM/s400/Written-On-Skin-Cover_Lrg.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Did I mention that <a href="http://moremadelinemoore.blogspot.ca/">my</a> story introduces the anthology?<br />
Hahaha I just linked to <i>myself</i>. Oh shameless one! (It was an experiment . . .) You want proof? I'll give it to you:<br />
<blockquote>Contents<br />
Preface by Remittance Girl<br />
Hemosexual by Madeline Moore<br />
</blockquote><br />
I've been reading the anthology since I got my contributor's copy and there's something in it for everyone! <br />
<br />
That's a lie.<br />
<br />
It's about the eroticism of body modification. But Remittance Girl describes it better than I can so just go buy the book and read the preface. Wet yer whistle on this: <blockquote><i> ...sexual desire . . . may be born in the mind, but it is always lived in the body.</i></blockquote>Slippery sapiophiles yer already panting for more . . . <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HLpug2YXqfM/U502GIJNidI/AAAAAAAACqU/xZ1CGadE3cQ/s1600/remittance+girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HLpug2YXqfM/U502GIJNidI/AAAAAAAACqU/xZ1CGadE3cQ/s320/remittance+girl.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Some of us you've read before and some of us you haven't. All of us are talented. How else do you suppose we got into the anthology? There's no bribe big enough or beg grovelly enough to blur the clarity of Remittance Girl's editorial eye.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y0X37EVuei8/U51DGUFx6vI/AAAAAAAACrA/L6myhCvglD0/s1600/superiority-complex.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y0X37EVuei8/U51DGUFx6vI/AAAAAAAACrA/L6myhCvglD0/s200/superiority-complex.jpeg" /></a></div>So get yer not-quite-five-bucks together and put yer ove glove on and buy the book. <br />
<br />
Then you can be part of the conversation. It promises to be a good one.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Written-Skin-Anthology-Erotics-Modification-ebook/dp/B00KYDK1JI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402814837&sr=8-1&keywords=written+on+skin+by+Remittance+Girl">amazon.com</a><br />
<a href="http://burningbookpress.com/products/written-on-skin/">Burning Book Press </a><br />
<a href="http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/131126/Written-On-Skin-An-Anthology-of-the-Erotics-of-Body-Modification">Drive Thru Fiction</a> <br />
<br />
photo of grovelling button from <a href="https://rossrightangle.wordpress.com/2013/08/11/whinger-winfrey-billionaire-a-chip-on-each-shoulder/">rossrightangle</a><br />
All other photos from the private collection of Madeline Moore :P<br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Madeline Moore</div>Madeline Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16485601071092171174noreply@blogger.com0