Our goal is to simply influence the world with positivity.  Starting from within our own community, we all can have a positive impact on the world.

Today, I am Sharon’s special guest in:
Influence Positively Questionnaire – Kim Clune

Honored to be listed among those who strive to improve the lives of animals in need, I am also inspired by those who have appeared before me and eager to read about those yet to be featured.

Thank you Sharon!

When faced with a frightening medical and behavioral problem with Emmett, our challenging fostered hound mix, my husband and I knew he had nobody else. Emmett came out on the other side without issue, as did we, and in the process Emmett became ours.

We know Emmett is our family dog for all the right reasons and we couldn’t be happier. It’s difficult to imagine what his life would have been like had Emmett not had caring humans in his corner. Sadly, many animals do not. Strays, animals with health or behavioral issuess are often seen as disposable yet, if just given a chance, they can be the most valuable and appreciative friends in our lives.

Brava, Janie Franz! Your writing and story has not simply entertained, but my mind dances around the the possibilities of why and how you depicted Jan-nell, your main character, as an outsider. From the color she chooses for her skin to her unique spin on traditional village rituals, Jan-nell is never socially accepted for being different. This social commentary, a reflection of our own cultural shortcomings is interestingly executed from the first page to the last.

The reviews I write are voluntary and I receive no compensation beyond a pleasurable read.

Read “Five Questions: Kim Clune” to see how it turned out.

Thanks,Cecelia!

DogTime Media has accepted This One Wild Life (my blog about animal rescue, fostering and adoption) into their blog network. This is terrific news on several fronts.

With roughly 500 contributors including Animal Planet and Petfinder, Dogtime.com receives 22.9 million unique visitors which amount to 320 million page impressions per month. While these stats are for the network and don’t reflect my own blog traffic, my posts can now reach a much larger and targeted audience in order to promote animal rescue while denouncing pet store purchases and puppy mills.

With “Save a Dog” and “Save a Cat” Facebook apps, DogTime Media also works with shelters nationwide to feature real homeless animals which can be fostered virtually through a game-like interface. This not only raises awareness for the homelessness real animals face, but the points earned for petting or feeding the animals online earns real pet food for rescue groups. The more you play, the more DogTime will pay.

I’m pleased to be part of a network that recognizes a bigger picture and eager to celebrate all that animal rescue means to me.

I received a rejection letter on November 30th for my piece on the poetry of Anne Kingsmill Finch.  The rejection came with some deserved criticism. While one reviewer said, “This paper displays a sophisticated and confident command of language and secondary sources,” he/she also said that it drags in the middle and could use more close textual readings. The second reviewer said this piece was worth publishing, but with major revision. It was recommended that I revise and resubmit for the following year’s issue.

Truth be told, I was never driven by pre-romantic peotry in the way that theory and postmodernism classes fueled my interest. I wrote this paper to satisfy my professor and, while I did receive an A, my grade likely reflects my understanding of what was expected rather than any new and exciting contribution. This, I suspect, comes through in my final piece.

While rejection certainly fuels disappointment, mine was short lived. Later that day I received another letter. This one offered provisional acceptance for the second piece I submitted on the film The Last King of Scotland. Now this was exciting news. I worked hard on this paper to shed light on the colonization of Uganda via the cultural ignorance of the Western entertainment industry. After reading my reviewers’ very thorough critiques, there was nothing more satisfying than receiving this final comment: “All in all, however, impressive and interesting!”

As Dr. Straus explained, “Acceptance to the Journal is very competitive; we received over 20 submissions and are able to publish under half of those. As such, you should be very proud of your achievement.” Proud, I am. Beyond the long road of revision and more post-graduation all-nighters than I cared to endure, I feel I’ve honed my best work to date. I have since accepted an invitation to be recognized for having demonstrated “distinguished academic achievement” during the Saint Rose Honors Convocation Ceremony which will be held on March 27th. Perhaps it’s hokey to participate, but this is my first reviewed publication. I’m allowed to be hokey, aren’t I?

Below is the abstract for “Ideological vs. Factual Reality in The Last King of Scotland.” It provides a glimpse at what is now published.

Globalization and economics make the potential for colonization through entertainment media an ever-pressing reality. In the film The Last King of Scotland, the postmodern desire to believe in the political possibility of historiographic metafiction conflicts with the loss of true facts when the film’s unintended and most enthusiastic audience is a nation of Ugandans with a deep desire to learn their national history surrounding Idi Amin’s dictatorship. Comparing history with the concept of historicity illustrates the ways in which Ugandans trust the film’s seemingly factual “reality” while not understanding certain ideological realities created by its fictive devices. Filmmakers, although paying careful attention to Amin’s costumes and settings, intentionally distort the facts surrounding the death of his publicly adored wife, Kay, sacrificing the authenticity of an individual and national experience for the sake of an ideological representation of Western colonization. The determination is that while distortion and colonization are each crimes in their own right, the filmmakers’ profit-driven motive to draw the patronage of Western audiences unwittingly adds another layer of colonization to an already exploited African nation.

Now that this paper is finally in print, perhaps I will revisit that Finch paper … It did end up in a literary discussion on Finch in UK’s Guardian, after all.

Update: The Journal of Undergraduate Research is now available online.

My latest review has been posted at the new The Pagan and The Pen Book Reviews page (now separate from the main site). I gave The Fallen Fae a 4 out of 5 tarot card review. To find out why, visit the link below.

Book Review: The Fallen Fae by Connie Wood

The Pagan and the Pen connects readers with authors, editors and reviewers of the Pagan persuasion within the highly competative business of fiction and publishing. What I love most is the sense of community that this space offers, one which weaves a vibrant tapestry of exploration surrounding issues of equality and acceptance through fiction.

The reviews I write are voluntary and I receive no compensation beyond a pleasurable read.

Book Review: Tales of the Dark World Book 3: Fire Season by Lex Valentine

The Pagan and the Pen connects readers with authors, editors and reviewers of the Pagan persuasion within the highly competative business of fiction and publishing.

Upon posting this review, I felt very honored to receive the following letter sent in response by author C. H. Scarlett:

I just want to say that whenever I have a book for review, I would seriously hope you are the one doing it. I just finished reading your latest review and I have to say WELL DONE again. You are like Simon on American Idol (I honestly don’t know how else to put it). When you praise, it means so much more because of how brutally honest and detailed you are. And when you are not praising, it may be hard to swallow, but it is still golden and very constructive, not to mention helpful to the book’s author attempting to perfect their style. Mix that with a heavily seasoned dash of intelligence and a remarkably educated way of weaving it all together, and we have a timeless review. You are a true diamond to the reviewing arena … I seriously hope you realize that.

~Casey~

The reviews I write are voluntary and I receive no compensation beyond a pleasurable read.

An off-shoot of a Zappa birthday celebration in the New Jersey basement of guitarist Andre Cholmondeley, Project/Object has carried on Zappa’s musical legacy. Not only was Project/Object among the very first Zappa tribute bands, but, as Cholmondeley pointed out at Revolution Hall in Troy on Saturday night, they’re the only tribute band “with actual ingredients.”

“Accept no substitutes,” chimed in vocalist-guitarist Ike Willis, himself a decade-long veteran of Zappa’s bands.

(Pilarczyk’s article links to my photo gallery.)

During my days (and occasional concert nights) as a freelance publicist, Andre Cholmondeley, Ike Willis, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Don Preston and former P/O members Glenn Leonard and Robbie Mangano were always – and still remain – my favorite people. I now add Ray White to that list. These guys not only have the chops, but each is a real class act with a strong social ethic that makes the musical experience personal and the personal experience musical.

Love you guys. Thanks for the magic.