Nadia Larissa Trousdale

Just a few recent pictures from life at large…

We visited Lincoln Park Zoo on Wednesday and the red panda was heart-capturingly adorable.  I want one!

My Isis shrine, redecorated for springtime.

Oscar Wilde and his new boy-toy, Ripply Rex.

I got bored and ambitious yesterday, and made a hoop skirt!

And the recent addition of my poem “Isis” to the shelves at Alchemy Arts, Chicago’s finest occult supply shop and a favorite of mine for over a decade.    Books will be there soon, as well.

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As we all know, I’m slow to update this website, and only now, a year after moving out of the…let’s call it ‘festive’ apartment on Rockwell, did I change my ‘currently residing in’ bit to Ravenswood.  Our lease is up at the end of April, which is a little sad because, as I told my roommate today, I’m just starting to get the rhythm of this neighborhood, just starting to really truly enjoy it.  Although Ravenswood isn’t far from Andersonville, my stomping grounds since I was a wee thing, the Metra tracks that separate them form a border of sorts – rarely does one living in Ravenswood have to venture into Andersonville, and vice versa.  So, despite having lived nearby my whole life, only now am I beginning to enjoy the many cool places Ravenswood has to offer.  Here are some of the best:

Budacki’s – My roommate, a transplant to Ravenswood from Batavia and a burger afficionado, has decided that Budacki’s has the best burgers in the city, and I’m inclined to agree.  The food’s tasty and cheap, the staff is nice, and the outside seating is perfect for the lovely weather we’ve been having.

Ravenswood Grill – Seeing as I work there, it would be biased to try to review the place, but the gourmet menu speaks for itself.  As do the sweet potato fries (especially when dipped in chipotle mayonnaise), goat cheese gnocchi, the end-all be-all of Philly Steaks, and the new special Sunday brunch menu.  Come visit me at work!  I’d love to see you!

Hoard Antiques, 4710 N. Damen Ave. – I’ve mentioned it before and am happy to do so again, because it’s awesome.  Very cool retro and antique trinkets/furniture/art/books/etc. at decent prices, a wonderful staff and lively atmosphere, and the Hoard mascot, a friendly dog named Layla.  It’s a new shop, only been open a month, so be sure to stop in and show some love!

Gio’s – I don’t usually dig sports bars, but the charm of Gio’s is irresistible!  Monday night is Trivia, followed by an open mic frequented by many a talented stand-up comedian, but don’t stop there – they’ve got something cool going on every night of the week.  I can’t remember which night is karaoke but it’s always packed and lots of fun.

Second Journey Resale Shop – I never pass up a good thrift store, and Second Journey is my favorite in the vicinity.  Their items are always clean and only gently used, the prices often more than reasonable, and the book selection exquisite.  It’s a little easy to miss if you’re walking along Montrose, so just keep your eyes open. 

The Perfect Cup – Seriously the most perfect coffee place ever.  No joke.  Fantastic teas, a HUGE variety of flavorings for your coffee, tons of interesting people, cozy couches, and a fun staff.  Not crazy-pricey, either.  VERY writer-friendly, and open later than one would logically assume.  Dammit.  Now I have a craving for their coconut coffee.

But where do I go when it’s too late for coconut coffee?  Where do I and all the other overly-caffeinated nocturnal hellions go at three in the morning to satiate their growling tummies?  It’s the meeting ground for Andersonvillains and Ravenswooders alike, as it’s right there in the middle, the ever- flashing sign a beacon in the night for all who love waffles with ice cream on top….Yep.  The Golden Nugget.  The good ole G-Nug.  If the walls of the Golden Nugget could talk, I’d be in big trouble.  I effing love this place, no matter what the hour.  Sunrise is beautiful at the corner of Lawrence and Ravenswood.

And that’s what’s good in the ‘hood.  To me, anyway.  I’m sure there are tons of places I’ve yet to discover – all in good time.  The above are simply the ones I’ll return to, again and again, no matter what neighborhood I’m living in.

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Omegle is hilarious.

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Just to let everyone know, there are four new poems, destined for the next book, posted under Writings.

Also, if anyone’s stuck on what to listen to, here are a few of my favorites…We can call it Sporadic Panic Radio:

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This year has been passing awfully quickly, evidenced by the fact that this is my first blog post of 2010; either time flies, or I’m extremely lazy and neglectful. Either way, I really need to remember to keep up with this a little more. It’s not like I don’t have the time; despite working two jobs, I do have many hours I could conceivably be filling with blog posts. But writing has always been for me something that just happens, not something I can schedule – that, and the Facebook game ZooWorld is so addicting it should be illegal. I still believe it to be a step up above FarmVille, but that’s a different topic for a different day.

What else has devoured my year so far? I read Michael Moore’s Dude, Where’s My Country? and Lauren Weisberger’s Everyone Worth Knowing last week, and am following those up with Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions and Irvine Welsh’s The Acid House – it’s an eclectic mix, to be sure, but it’s good to diversify. If I read too many books of the same genre or by the same author too close together, I’m likely to fall deeply into one thing or another. This is how obsessions happen, and I’m not sure I have the energy to keep up with obsessions the way that I used to, which is probably just fine for everyone around me. Oh, and crosswords. If I don’t have my daily forty minutes plowing through the RedEye’s semi-challenging crossword, I get a little cranky.

Yep. Crosswords. Man, I must be getting old.

I’m also rambling about nonsense, when I should be filling you all in on some wonderful pieces of news. A Damsel in This Dress is in the editing process, which is running more smoothly than I imagined it would, now that I’m doing more than simply procrastinating. ‘More smoothly’ is a relative term, though, considering that the first day of editing looked like this:

3:15 PM - Whoa! I have today off! I can start editing. Cool!

3:17 – Okay, there’s a lot of material, but maybe I can just get a few done. That’d be a good start.

3:20 - With The Who on my iPod, I can do anything! Apollo, unleash thy abrasive fury! Great editors of the past, let my red pen be your medium! Bring it on, bitches!

3:26 – I picked a font! Go, me!

3:28, staring at first poem that I’ve never liked too much to begin with – Alright, it’s you and me. Let’s get this done in a quick and painless way for us both.

3:30, having ass kicked by poem – Well. Fine. Have it your way.

3:49, reworking the poem, feeling pleased about it – Wait, I got this!

3:52, stuck on third line of second stanza – No. No, no, no. I do not ‘got this’.

3:54, staring from facedesk position at aforementioned stanza – Ohmyfuck.

3:56, pondering dressing up the cats as mariachis because it’d be something to do that isn’t editing – Why am I a writer, again?

And so on.

But things are happening, and quickly. The new ETA for the book is May 15^th, but there will be a preview of a few poems under the Writings tab by the end of this week. Damsel may include some essays/short stories along with the poems, and I’m insanely pleased to announce that it will be illustrated by the wonderful Stephanie Holcomb, a long-time friend and freakishly talented artist.  My dear brother Eric’s artwork, of which I’m a big fan, may also make an appearance on the front cover.

In all truth, I’m slightly nervous about this one. I’ve yet to let anyone read some of the poems intended for the book, and therefore have no idea how they will come across. I suppose I’ll just have to wait and see. I welcome any and all comments, either in person or on the guestbook.

But in the meantime, I wish to let everyone know that Two Seasons is still available for purchase both in person and in the Sporadic Panic Store. I’ve only got twenty-five copies at the moment, so even if you can’t grab the book yet, shoot me an email and I can set one aside for you. There will also be copies available soon at Hoard Antiques, a great new shop in Ravenswood you should check out at the soonest opportunity. It’s also possible that there will be a small reading/release party at a nearby used book and record shop, but details are hard to pin down as of yet – I’ll keep you all posted as soon as I know for sure. I’m excited, over all, about the opportunities available to me because of the books, and grateful to everyone that’s been kind enough to not only read Two Seasons but offer their helpful opinions of it. I write for myself, because I enjoy it and can’t imagine any better way to pass my time, but the fact that I’m not the only one reading it makes me happier than anything else in the world. My thanks goes out to anyone taking the time to read even this blog – it may be just a click of the mouse and a few minutes to you, but it means lots to me.

2010 should be a good year, and hopefully I’ll be writing in here more often. (Less sporadic posting would probably cut out the apparent necessity for long, rambling, four-birds-with-one-stone entries, don’t you think?) Now that I’ve got all that out, I’m off – there are dishes to wash, kittens to snuggle, poems to edit and ocelots to be saved on ZooWorld. And where in the hell did I put that damned crossword?…..

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