It's Been A Minute
Hi Y'all!
Life has been happening in spades since the last time I mailed out my Writing Shenanigans.
There's been health stuff (mine and my family's), mental health stuff (mine and my family's), and hella burnout from churning out content and taking on more projects than I could complete.
I'm betting a lot of creatives run into these challenges. So, solidarity, y'all!
Kiki Walter has graciously taken over the publication I founded: Age of Empathy. I'm continuing on the team in a very behind-the-scenes manner. It's a huge relief. I'm proud of Age of Empathy and the vision I put into reality during the pandemic. <3
I'm going to keep this newsletter short and attempt to send them out more frequently.
A Selection From Aimée's Article Arsenal | Free Links
I'm working with creative Gentry Bronson to birth my first book into the universe. It will be a collection of memoir essays I've written over the past 2+ years. Here's a bite, written in 7th grade!:
California is very different than Oklahoma but not in the way most people seem to think. I didn’t live on a farm where I had to get up to milk the cows when the roosters crowed at 6:00 AM., and my best friend wasn’t named Billy Bob, and we didn’t drive horse drawn carriage’s [sic]. However, country was a ten to twenty minute drive from Norman.
Moving From Oklahoma to Oakland in the 1990s | it’s just foam
From the middle school archives
In the early 1990s, I was having a very difficult time with mental health, before we knew much about brain chemistry. I begged to move from my mom's home in Norman to my Dad and soon-to-be stepmom, Lil's, home in Oakland California. A lot happened over the year and a half I lived in Oakland. In many ways it was magical and in others it was very difficult. This is about that. A polished essay from high school. I'm so glad I saved my writing.
I was a mousy 12 years old. Dad had recently moved from my hometown in Oklahoma out to California’s bay area. While dad rolled in his wheelchair, I walked by his side, past Telegraph Avenue storefronts, on our way back to the car. Telegraph was a grimy street that stretched over a couple of blocks near the Berkeley campus. It was a hip, liberal, urbanite place to be. Its storefronts were home to many homeless people. My innocent small-town eyes began to open wider and wider as we headed down the street.
Street of Poverty: I’ve Seen Pain and Poverty That I Had Only Heard Existed in America | by Aimée Brown Gramblin | The Memoirist | Medium
From the teenage archives (with light edits), March 7, 1996
Let's lighten up the mood a little bit with some fun empowerment. I had a blast writing this piece on how I'm finally embracing myself as a Wild Woman.
There is an innate “wild” quality in all of us that’s authentic and beautiful. Women are often put into the “slut” or “loose” category if we call them “wild” — I call bullshit on this.
When Did You Realize You Are a Wild Woman? | Sensual: An Erotic Life
Wild women start fires, mix cocktails, and call you on your bullshit.
Sticking with a bit of older work, I'm finding poems I wrote in my teens and 20s that still resonate with me. This is one of them, inspired by musician, Paul Simon. Happy Poetry Month, by the way!
We sung the rain down
sung “El Condor Pasa” through
whispering dirt
to two kids playing in a two-street town
tucked away
me and my son and the two kids playing guitar
Excursion: A Poem From Simpler Times — Inspired by Simon and Garfunkel | by Aimée Brown Gramblin | The Lark | Medium
Poetry POV — Paul Simon
Books! Books! Books!
Looked up an old friend and found their new book. I devoured it. It's healing, beautiful, lyrical, magical. Highly recommend.
https://www.kalw.org/newarrivals/2022-03-10/new-ld-green-book-celebrates-bisexuality-non-binary-gender-while-reckoning-with-trauma
Order LD's book here: https://www.ldgreen.org/
Happy Reading and Writing!
Aimée
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I opened a Redbubble shop this month! https://www.redbubble.com/people/AimeeGramblin/shop?asc=u&ref=account-nav-dropdown