Grokking the GIF

Well, yes, I really am working on the much-delayed podcast 21 of the projected 24 podcast series, Marfa Mondays (listen in to the 20 posted so far here)... but thanks to my IT Mexico City go-to guy, Rubén Pacheco, I have grokked the GIF.

The thing is, I love using brief video clips to illustrate podcasts and articles, but a GIF is lickety-split easier to make than a video, even a very short one, as edited in ye olde iMovie. 

Another advantage of a GIF: you, dear reader, need not click to launch it from YouTube.

This is the first GIF I made and it will probably forevermore remain my fave, because it is of my writing assistant, my dear departed pug Picadou (2000-2014), and her doting godfather, Mexico's foremost James Dean-channeler, actor Fernando Cattori. 

Using the GIF Grabber app, I just "grabbed" the couple of seconds from a video I took on my iPhone.

Here is a GIF I took from my brief video of the Pecos High Bridge near the US-Mexico border (I was traveling there for my book in-progress on Far West Texas):

[High Bridge Over the Pecos River, near Comstock, Texas]

You might notice I added another GIF to the sidebar of this blog, and there was one of BorderSenses magazine in this blog post from last week.

> To make a GIF from a video, I use the app GIF Grabber (free)

> To make a GIF from a set of images, I use the app Easy GIF Maker (99 cents)

> To add text to the GIF, adjust its size, and other edits, I use the webpage www.ezgif.com (free)

Here's a GIF of the March 2016 issue of Letras Libres, which includes my essay "A Visit to Swan House" (Una visita a Swan House),  translated by Mexican poet and writer Agustín Cadena:

> You can read "A Visit to Swan House" in the original English and also listen to it as a podcast.

OK, I'll go work on that next podcast now.

Book Trailers: Some Categories

Cyberflanerie: Naomi Shihab Nye, Chinese Chicken Pop, etc etc

Edward H. Miller's Nut Country: 

Right-wing Dallas and the Birth of the Southern Strategy

CLICK HERE.

CLICK HERE.

The Secret Ingredient in My Writing Process

Thanks to my amiga, novelist and blogger Leslie Pietrzyk, I'm posting today as part of a "blog hop" of writers blogging on process. So check out Leslie's post on her process over at her blog, Work-in-Progress. 

Before Leslie, it was Anna Leahy on the Lofty Ambitions Blog; today it's Yours Truly (scroll on down), and apres moi, not the deluge… but my DC writing amiga, editor and writer-for hire, world traveller, and blogger, Judy Leaver.

Question 1: What are you working on?
World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas-- apropos of which I'm hosting the 24 podcast series, "Marfa Mondays." Listen in anytime. Latest podcast: Looking at Mexico in New Ways: An Interview with John Tutino (and if you think you know anything about Mexico, it'll knock your huaraches off.)

I see this book as a companion to Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico. Baja, Big Bend, they have a surprising amount in common.

Question 2: How does your work differ from others of its genre?
Well, go read my work, you tell me. One thing I will say, however, is that I offer a sharply different take on Mexico than you'll find in most books on that mammoth and cliche-saddled subject.

Question 3: Why do you write what you do?
Because I believe that through narrative we become human; truth is beauty; exploration is infinite. Long story short, I choose the subjects I do because they seem best suited for me to work in these directions.

Question 4: How does your writing process work?
The answer to that would be more than I could cram into a blog post, but I will offer hereby my secret ingredient: Pug. Picadou! Born in 2000, ever since she came to me as a tiny puppy, the minky chica has been my writing assistant, providing a background white noise of puggy snores and, most crucially, frequent walks. Walks, dear readers, refresh and rewire the creative brain. For me, as for many people, however, they just wouldn't happen every day without all that barking.

Picadou

As a puppy, oh, she was a princess-- of the universe and all realms beyond. (She knew she was a pug.) She had such a strong, joyous and silly-willy way. For the first time I felt inspired to write for children-- and a poem in her "voice." One of those poems, "People Who Pat Me" appears in Karen Benke's anthology on creative writing for children, Rip the Page! -- and will appear in Spanish translation by Agustin Cadena in a collection of micro-fiction published in Mexico. (I always say, prose poems and micro-fiction, same thing.)

When she was in her prime, I wrote an essay about our daily walks, "The Essential Francisco Sosa or, Picadou's Mexico City." It was published in Creative Nonfiction magazine, won two prizes (Lowell Thomas Award for Travel Journalism Article, Personal Comment, First Place (Gold), 2005 and Washington Independent Writers Award for Personal Essay, 2005), later appeared in an anthology, Hurricanes and Carnivals: Essays by Chicano, Pochos, Pachucos, Mexicanos and Expatriates, edited by Lee Gutkind, (University of Arizona Press, 2007) and-- this was my first foray into audio-- as a CD.

Audio CD
The Essential Francisco Sosa or,
Picadou's Mexico City
by C.M. Mayo

She was small for a pug, small enough to fit into a Sherpa bag, so she traveled with me oftentimes-- once as far north as Jackson Hole, Wyoming. (But no, I haven't taken Picadou on my forays in the Big Bend-- the desert, with all those coyotes and rattlesnakes, is not Picadou's style.)

Here's a photo of her beneath the lovely green canopy of the Parque Juárez of San Miguel de Allende-- where we went for the writer's conference.

Picadou in the Parque Juárez

Picadou also spent a lot of time in Washington DC, where I lived on and off for a few years. (I still teach once in a while at the Writer's Center, where I serve on the board.) Here's a (very brief) video of her at Rosedale, the historic estate in Cleveland Park (with an attached dog park--yeah!) that features in my novel, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire. 



Back when I was flogging my novel, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, my guest-blog post about Picadou appeared (with more photos) in Marshal Zeringue's #1 author & dog blog, Coffee with a Canine.

And here she is in her fire-engine-red coat on a stormy day visiting Sky Meadows  in Virginia:




Here she models her new spring coat (another one of the results of my learning to make little videos with iMovie):




Dashing back into the office, Mexico City:

Here she is on a visit to California, looking uncharacteristically serious, with her uncle Pabu:

Over the past few years, Picadou was more often than not snoozing on my lap as I wrote… for this blog, for my podcasts (though sometimes the snoring was a problem...) and my latest book, Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero and His Secret Book, Spiritist Manual.  

Last month, after a long life of 14 years and almost another month, Picadou crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

Rest in peace, little one.

Picadou at 14 years.

In answer to the question everyone asks: Yes. More about Uli anon.

Next up in the blog hop: Judy Leaver. Check in with her blog next Monday.

COMMENTS always welcome.

Rosedale, the Historic Estate in Washington, D.C.

UPDATE over at my other blog, Maximilian ~ Carlota, for researchers, both serious and "armchair," of Mexico's Second Empire, the tumultuous period also known as the French Intervention:

Pictured here is my pug dog, Picadou, a little tuckered out after her walk at Rosedale, when we were visiting just the other day. Rosedale plays an important part in my novel, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, because it was the family home of (prince) Agustín de Iturbide y Green's mother and, later, his home for many years, on and off, until it was sold in the early 20th century.

As I recount in the epilogue of my novel, "The Story of the Story or, An Epilogue by Way of Acknowledgements," when I first began researching the novel in the late 1990s, there was nothing-- and I mean absolutely nothing-- available on-line about Rosedale.

I found my way into the story ... CONTINUE READING

Mexico City Melissa Garden: March 2010

I sometimes feel like I owe a gadzooksalillion e-mails. I fell behind the curve with my booktour back in 2009 and ever since, I feel like I'm just falling farther and farther behind. In part, I know, same as everyone else, I'm just swimming (against? with? ayyy) in the tsunami of the technium. Still, I am keenly aware that behind every e-mail, there is a person, a relationship. So if I owe you an e-mail, please know, well, I'm doing my best. And just as in a chef's mise-en-place, a little break is an important part of the process. Herewith: Picadou, enjoying the Mexico City Melissa Garden (aka my office), this very morning. Right after I took this photo, a hummingbird tried to fly in.

Mexico City Melissa Garden with Picadou

This is a photo of my Melissa Garden, a rooftop with pots of lavender; and that's my muse, the inky minky chica, Picadou. Read more about Melissa Gardens here.

P.S. The other day I was googling "Melissa Garden" when I came upon an artist named, in fact, Melissa Garden Streblow. Check out her website; she's very talented.

Picadou is Ten Today

Today is Picadou's 10th birthday. (Pictured right is her buddy, Tibetan Spaniel Pabu.) Read more about Picadou in Marshal Zeringue's bodacious blog, Coffee with a Canine. More anon.

Coffee with a Canine Features First Pug

Picadou is the first pug to be featured in the very fun blog, Coffee with a Canine, by screenwriter Marshal Zeringue.

More anon.

Picadou (aka Princess of the Known Universe & Beyond) in the Parque Juarez, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

The new novel I'm working on is tentatively titled The Museum on the Parque Juarez. But it's not set in San Miguel de Allende, rather, a fictional town which, as I see it now, is a sort of amalgam of San Miguel de Allende, Ajijic, 1960s-era Cuernavaca, and Antigua, with a touch of Peggy Guggenheim's Venice. There needs to be a tomb of a conquistador. And many fabulous dogs. (All dogs are fabulous, we know this.)


More anon.

Alice's Tulip Analogy

The other day I described this blog as not a diary or log, not a community bulletin board, but a filter. I've also said many times that a blog doesn't have to be this or that; it can be whatever the blogger wants it to be--- a diary, a newsletter, a column, a recipe book, a whole novel.... I recently met with fellow blogger Alice of Alice and Pabu, who posts a little something a couple of times a week in the channeled "voice" of her Tibetan spaniel, Pabu. She's not trying to sell anything--- there's no book, no DVD, etc.--- she does it, as she puts it, as one would plant tulips in the front yard.

"You hope other people enjoy them. But they might walk by without noticing. Their dog might pee on them. They might steal them. But most people are happy that you've planted tulips. Anyway, like I said, you do it for yourself." 

That's Alice's photo of me with my pug, Picadou, admiring some early spring tulips.

Madam Mayo's Sleepy Doggie

This is not a frivolous product, way-out as it might seem. It's not only been psychoacoustically designed by none other than music producer and sound researcher Joshua Leeds, but it's also been clinically tested on 150 subjects by veterinary neurologist Susan Wagner. And it's very beautiful... classical selections played by concert pianist Lisa Spector. Through a Dog's Ear: Music to Calm Your Canine Companion, is like a cup of valium for the furry ones... I tried it on my pug, Picadou, and we got some major zzz's...

Pug Vid: Madam Mayo's Top 5 Picks

#1. I'm a Pug!
Y'all ready to do this thing? Whucha gonna do?

#2. Planet of the Pugs
Grrr... lollipops in the sand...

#3. Japanese Chewy Steal
The big white dog is a Zen Master--- or else stone-bag dumb.

#4. Hi, Sophie!
Weely kwute

#5. Alas, there is no number 5. I'd recommend the one of pug eating the cheet-O, but nah.

Hurricanes and Carnivals

My essay from Creative Nonfiction (also available as an audio CD), "The Essential Francisco Sosa or, Picadou's Mexico City" appears in Lee Gutkind's anthology, Hurricanes and Carnivals: Essays by Chicanos, Pochos, Pachucos, Mexicanos and Expatriates (University of Arizona Press). Here's the book's description:

“In Mexico,” writes Ilan Stavans in the introduction to this provocative new collection on Mexican culture and politics, “ [the essay] is embraced as passionately as a sport.” While the American essay may be personal and confessional or erudite and academic, it is presumed to be truthful. By contrast, the Mexican essay pushes the boundaries between fact and fiction as writers seek to make their opinions heard—in literary journals, in newspapers, and even on cereal boxes. “What is real and what isn’t in a Mexican essay, only God knows,” concludes Stavans.In Hurricanes and Carnivals, Lee Gutkind, a pioneer in the teaching of creative nonfiction, brings together fifteen essays by Mexican, Mexican American, and Latin American writers that push the boundaries of style and form, showing that navigating “truth” is anything but clear-cut. Although creative nonfiction is widely thought to be an American art form, this collection proves otherwise. By blending fact and fiction, story and fantasy, history and mythology, these writers and others push the bounds of the essay to present a vision of Mexico rarely seen from this side of the border.Addressing topics that include immigration, politics, ecology, violence, family, and sexuality, they take literary license on a whirlwind adventure. C. M. Mayo shows us Mexico City as seen through the eyes of her pug, Picadou; Juan Villoro examines modern Mexico through the lens of demography; Homero Aridjis uses the plight of nesting sea turtles to document a slowly changing Mexican attitude toward natural resources; and Sam Quinones documents the decline of beauty-queen addiction in Mazatlán and tells us about the flower festivals where, according to lore, only two things matter: hurricanes and carnivals. For readers interested in a literary view of contemporary Mexico, as well as students of the creative nonfiction genre, this volume is essential.

And here is a bit from a recent review in the University of Pittburgh Bookshelf:

"A pug named Picadou and her owner walk eastward down the Avenida Francisco Sosa... in Mexico City.... It can be a literal dog-eat-dog world on these streets, which the pug’s owner, C.M. Mayo, captures vividly in an essay she wrote about Picadou and what she thinks and feels. It’s just one tale in Hurricanes and Carnivals (University of Arizona Press), a collection of essays by Mexican, Mexican-American, and Latin American writers, edited by Pitt English Professor Lee Gutkind. The compilation exhibits the catch-22 life of Mexico—a country both united and divided in a mélange of culture, myth, politics, and history. Gutkind, dubbed in Vanity Fair as the “godfather” of the creative nonfiction writing genre, says the difference between American and Mexican writing is that American authors tell you what they see, while Mexican authors tell you what they think. He hopes the Mexican style of “less reportage and more literature” will become a trend in the United States, fodder for enjoyable reading." —Lauren Mylo

More anon.

Pugtacular

Picadou sure does wish she could attend this one--- Wilson the Pug (read his person Nancy Levine's guest-blog post here) will be there and the whole enchilada goes to benefit pug rescue.

Guest-Blogger Nancy Levine (with Wilson): Five Favorite Pug Sites

Pugs, pugs, pugs, pugs--- and more pugs! Madam Mayo loves pugs! Indeed, Madam Mayo owns a pug--- or, rather, Madam Mayo is owned by a pug. (Picadou, the tiny, shiny, inky, minky princess.) We, and that's the royal "we," are big fans of Nancy Levine's Wilson the Pug series. Apropos of Nancy's latest, The Ugly Pugling, Wilson the Pug in Love, we have invited her to guest-blog here with her five favorite pug sites. Here goes:

#1: Rainbow Pugs
Love the cool, stylized art of Michael Hamlin.

#2: Pug Savers
My hometown pug rescue; Roxane Fritz who runs it is amazing, as are all the folks doing pug rescue around the country. It is truly noble work.

#3: Who Stole My Monkey
The first true social networking site for pug people. It's brand new, but great functionality. Like MySpace for pug people.

#4: Pug Village
I check the forum whenever I need to know anything pug.

#5. Lenny the Pug
Lenny is tireless in doing great work to help pugs and abandoned animals in New York City.

--- Nancy Levine

To read Madam Mayo's other guest-blog posts, click here.

Yes, Picadou Is Smiling

because her CD, "The Essential Francisco Sosa or, Picadou's Mexico City," is just about sold out. CD Baby has a few copies. I'm down to three. Collectors take note! So is the CD dead? Obviously not. And I'm booked to read at the sound studio for the next one, "From Mexico to Miramar or, Across the Sea of Oblivion" an essay about a journey to the Emperor Maximilian's castle in Trieste. Next up: vid-lit. More anon.

Viva Los Tibbies!

Here's a photo of Pabu with one of the hedgehog croquet balls. Today, Picadou guest-blogs over at Alice and Pabu. More anon.

Presencia Animal's June Adoptions

Presencia Animal, one of Mexico City's dog rescue organizations, is working hard! Here's a photo of their placements for June. Please visit their website! A portion of all sales on my audio CD, "The Essential Francisco Sosa or, Picadou's Mexico City" go to benefit this terrific organization.

Inside Mexico: Found in Translation

As usual, I have lots to say about literary translation and Mexican literature. Margot Shetterley's profile of Yours Truly (& Picadou) appears in the June issue of Inside Mexico. The photo is by Luz Montero. More anon.

A Necklace for Every Pug, Woman, and Child

This photo is of the beautiful black Yogi, of Pug Snuggly by Yogi. Picadou loves-loves-loves her Pug Snugglies by Yogi--- these are soft-soft-soft coats specially shaped for a pug's cobby body. Picadou has two, one in black with a pink lining, and one in red with the black-and-bone collar.

Well, pugs are so cute it may be hard to believe: there are many, many pugs in need of rescue. (Read more at www.pugrescue.com) Yogi and Jett write:

Help us help those in need by purchasing one of our "Have a Heart" necklaces for only $25. Yogi will donate $15 of the sale to the Pug Rescue of your choice. This wonderful necklace was designed to be worn by every Pug, woman and child.

Sounds like a grand idea to us!!! More anon.

Dog Rescue in Mexico City: Presencia Animal

Here are photos of the animals rescued and placed for adoption in May 2007 by Presencia Animal, a Mexico City dog and cat rescue organization. A potion of all sales of Picadou's audio CD go to benefit Presencia Animal.