Shel Graves' Sensorium

My great loves include books. Specifically, feminist literary utopias (Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time and Charlotte Perkins Gilmans' Herland for example); comic books with strong female protagonists ( Runaways, Promethea, Death, Black Orchid ) and vegan fiction — fiction with vegetarian or vegan protagonists and environmental and animal rights themes. I read lots of nonfiction, too, but I feel strongly that the world needs fiction (and fiction readers) — authors to fire our imaginations by showing us the world as it could be (hence the love of utopias) and books to increase our empathy and help us see (what sometimes we will not see otherwise) and understand our world in new ways. A few years ago, I did a series of posts on 20+ Powerful Works of Vegan Fiction ; some of my favorites. Then, for awhile I reviewed some additions to this list at EcoLitBooks  ( Ashland Creek Press awesomely publishes Vegetarian and Vegan Fiction ). Here's a quick list of eight ...

April 1, Seattle: More tour dates Taste: lavender vodka - soy milk, Kahlúa, the Rocket to Russia at Highline Bar; lime, strawberry smoothie — Be Bedazzled Sight: the bold, bright, yellow, glowing moon the features of its surface visible; Western Scrub Jay Sound: birdsong; concrete creaking; Are You Afraid, The Waking, I am Not Afraid ("I am not afraid. I am not alone. Although sometimes I think so." Nite ; "you call me demon, I am an angel," Entity, Project Pitchfork; Evil Spells , Decay , The Obsession —"Expanding/Contracting," The Labrynth Smell:  vanilla; lime Touch:  swaying; lightness while running; fleet of foot Extra: a dreamed invention; a nonlinear story Grateful for: music, new music, musicians, new musicians

Taste: cilantro, rosemary, basil, mint, dill; olives; Tieton Apricot Cider; blueberry cocoa Sight: the hillside along the cemetary Sound: storms; "Does that make sense?" Smell: a vaguely familiar name brand, department store perfume; a male patchouli Touch: smooth fruit drinks and ice creams; five flights of stairs Extra: "On sweet stormy nights in February, the wind mingled my desire for Gothic architecture with my desire to witness an ocean storm." — Marcel Proust, "In Search of Lost Time: Swann's Way" the graphic novel Grateful for: art and justice; beginning a promising book and finishing one

Taste: dates and cashews Sight: an orange-streaked sky; waves of clouds over the moon; a couple hug romantically and tragically on the waterfront Sound: boats rocking on the waterfront; "That's just logistics." Smell: sea air Touch: night air; roomy Extra:  change and changing Grateful for: he runs and walks with me around the town, the sights we enjoy together

Taste:  Araya's Drunken Mushroom; a tart lemon kiwi smoothie Sight:  a pale blue painted wall in a small room; a volcano; a playful cat Sound:  friends' laughter Smell: ground watermelon rind; ground orange rind; cooked orange-ginger Touch:  wobbling balance Extra: pareidolia - familiar icons where they don't exist; Lunar Maria - smooth dark areas on the Moon's (plural for mare; Latin for seas), volcanic plains of basalt Grateful for:  evenings out