Music & Memories

I was listening to the radio as I was driving home from a hair appointment the other day.  After going back and forth between talk radio and modern pop, I settled on the 80’s music station.  Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” came on.  I turned the radio up and sang along (off-key) at the top of my lungs.  It brought me back to junior high/high school in an instant. 

Instantly images of big hair, leg warmers, day-glo accessories, scrunchies, walkmans and high-tops popped into my head.  I have always had super fine hair so I was never able to get my hair to stand as high as some of my friends did.  Jealous, much?  I was!  We wore our collars up, preppy style.  Dress shirts under cowl neck sweaters.  Tight jeans with slouch socks.  Love’s baby soft. 

Not me, but I would have worn this, sans stockings

That song brought all of that back.  This got me thinking about music, songs, and their connection with our memories.  There are definitely songs that will bring a long buried memory to the forefront of my brain.  Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer”, Bryan Adams’ “Heaven”, REO Speedwagon’s “Take it on the Run”.  All involve boys/men that made a difference in who I am today.  Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out for a Hero” was the theme song to the Voyagers TV show.  At least in my head it was which brings back memories of Jon-Eric Hexum.  No one knows who I’m talking about when I mention him, but he would have been a star had he not had that unfortunate accident. 

So handsome...

Star power....

 The theme music to Star Wars always brings me back to the first time I sat in a darkened theater and watched the star filled space start scrolling “Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away…”

I’m asking you now, what music touched your life?  What song brings back memories so strong you have to sit a moment and savor them before you move on with your day?  I am seriously interested. If you don’t feel comfortable commenting, please email me at jennifermccann06@gmail.com .

April Contests

     Hey- I grabbed this list off of Publishing...and Other Forms of Insanity .  I apologize for the funky look - I can't change it for some reason.  Probably because I copied/pasted it.  This website is tres cool.  Good luck! 

APRIL 2016

Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest. Now in its 15th year, this contest seeks today's best humor poems, published and unpublished. Please enter one poem only, 250 lines max. Prize: $2,250 in prizes, including a top prize of $1,000, and publication on Winning Writers. Deadline: April 1, 2016. Submission form HERE.

The Marguerite and Lamar Smith Fellowship for Writers. Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians awards fellowships for writers to spend time in McCullers' childhood home in Columbus, Georgia. The fellowships are intended to afford the writers in residence uninterrupted time to dedicate to their work, free from the distractions of daily life and other professional responsibilities. Award: Stipend of $5000 to cover costs of transportation, food and other incidentals. Fellowship recipients will be required to introduce or advance their work through reading or workshop/forum presentations. The Fellow will work with the McCullers Center Director to plan a presentation near the end of the residency. Deadline: April 1, 2016. More details are HERE.

The Great American Think-Off. Genre: Essay on the theme: “Income Inequality Threatens Democracy.” Entrants should take a strong stand agreeing or disagreeing with this topic, basing their arguments on personal experience and observations rather than philosophical abstraction. Essay should be no more than 750 words. Prize: One of four $500 cash prizes. Deadline: April 1, 2016. Submission details are HERE.

Stony Brook Short Fiction Prize. Restrictions: Only undergraduates enrolled full time in United States and Canadian universities and colleges for the academic year 2015-16 are eligible. Genre: Fiction of no more than 7,500 words Prize: $1,000. Deadline: April 15, 2016. See submission details HERE.

The Waterman Fund Essay Contest. Genre: Essay. "The dual mission of the NPS is to conserve the resources and provide visitor enjoyment of uniquely wild and beautiful places around the country. However, with these high and growing levels of use, how can the NPS achieve these ideals? Is the spirit of wilderness alive and well in our National Parks? What do we gain or lose by protecting these areas over others? What relationships between stewardship and National Parks stand out as significant in preserving both our landscapes and our ideals of wilderness? Emerging writers are encouraged to address these questions and their own in well-crafted essays, drawing on personal wilderness experiences—in or out of Parks—as concrete examples for their arguments." Prizes: The winning essayist will be awarded $1500 and publication in Appalachia Journal. The Honorable Mention essay will receive $500. Deadline: April 15, 2016.  Submission details are HERE.

Toronto Book Awards. Genres: All genres accepted. Restrictions: Submission "must evoke the city itself, that is, contain some clear Toronto content (this may be reflected in the themes, settings, subjects, etc.). Authors do not necessarily have to reside in Toronto. Ebooks, textbooks and self-published works are not eligible. Prize: A total of $15,000 CD will be awarded. Each shortlisted author (usually 4-6) receives C$1,000 and the winning author is awarded the remainder. Deadline: April 30, 2016. Submission guidelines are HERE.

Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships. Restrictions: Applicants must reside in the U.S. or be U.S. citizens. Applicants must be at least 21 years of age and no older than 31 years of age as of April 30, 2016. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $25,800.  Deadline: April 30, 2016. Submission guidelines are HERE.

- See more at: http://publishedtodeath.blogspot.com/p/free-contests.html#sthash.IVkrCnQy.dpuf