Lily Burana

HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY

Dogs are able to communicate joy at a magnitude that most humans cannot. In honor of our nation's veterans, and Chief, beloved Lab, whom my favorite veteran and I lost three weeks ago, I share some videos to bring you joy on this day of remembrance. 

Check Out a Bunch of Dogs Greeting Their Soldiers

Books. For Troops!

Please consider supporting Books-A-Millions BOOKS FOR TROOPS program! I am pleased to be part of this effort, and I hope you will join me.

Righteousness Tastes Like a Mars Bar

You know what's awesome? Six months after a book release (is it that long ago? time, she flies), still getting awesome, heartfelt, butter-melting letters from readers.

I've always felt like a freak, even when I wasn't cultivating Teh Freakness as a style and lifestyle, and publishing this book about being a Misfit Army Wife was no different. I shuffled the book off to the publisher with my usual "No one will ever understaaaand me" Emo 'tude. Let's face it, I'm no star pupil: I don't follow orders unless I approve them first; I automatically give side-eyes to people who decorate stuff with eagles; I have friends who exchange greetings with me like, "What's up, hooker?" and "Wow, if I'd known that's what you look like, I'd have booked two hours!" and it's incredibly difficult for me to sit through a sedate and dignified retirement or promotion ceremony without yelling "FREEBIRD!" from the back of the room.

(Mom, stop reading my blog...Think of your heart.)

You know those "Spouse of the Year" awards they give out? Yeah, funny, but my name never came up. 

And you know what? There are plenty of people who assert that I've done it all wrong. That I've failed my husband, my marriage, my Army, my country. Oh, and my gender. Don't forget that. All of womanity rests on my strangely broad, but ultimately, failed Viking shoulders. Also? One should be married to a soldier for 80 years before writing a book about being a mil.wife. Um, thanks for sharing? I'll do it better next time? Is this the part where I apologize? Underneath it all, I am a people-pleaser so darn it, let's just get it out now: I'M SORRY I FAILED.

But still, I love the military, or more accurately, I love the amazing, inspiring people that the military has brought into my life. It is a diverse, colorful, crazy-making, heart-thumping, emotionally stimulating, and pride-thickening population. And so many women (and men) have written to tell me that they feel the same way I feel: the confusion, the frustration, the delight, the claustrophobia, the pride, and the love. I've gotten a flood of sympathetic emails, and I'm so grateful--not just to be read, but to be understood. 

I AM UNDERSTOOOOOOOOOD. I need to stand on a chair and yell this: I! AM! UNDERSTOOD!

I know I am not alone. To the tune of hundreds of letters, I know it for real. My favorite stories of solidarity are from a woman who recalled the days when wives were warned that they could NOT wear curlers to the commissary (really? y'all tried to do that?), and another wife who made public her pleas for better military family care and found out that one wife said to another, "She sounds angry."

So, to all of you, thanks a million for taking the time to write. It is my pleasure to (slowly) correspond with you all. Don't hesitate to let a writer know that they struck a chord in you, because however much their book has done for you, you can easily double it to estimate how much your thanks does for them.

Never underestimate the healing power of "Me, too!"

Below: Rare photo of me in my Household 6 costume @ West Point's Pershing Room. Hooah.

NOTHING

Zen post. I'm working on a new piece of writing, therefore, there is no news but that news. 

Hope your summer is going super-awesome. I, personally, have PERSEID FEVER, and eagerly await our meteorite friends.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

I never go to horror movies, or watch myself on TV, or other potentially hazardous viewings. So when my mom said I looked tired on BOOK TV, I thought I'd take a peek. I don't think I looked all that tired but my mom was obviously feeling very polite because she didn't mention that my hair looked like a SHINY, KIM ZOLCIAK WIG!

It's like my hair is on a tightrope...

NERD FIESTA on C-SPAN JULY 4th.

Happy Birthday, America.

Well, on July 4th,if you feel like doing your flag-waving in front of the screen, pre-fireworks, my reading at Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver will be aired at 7 p.m. on C-SPAN.

Of course, there's always DVR and watching on the C-SPAN Web site. 

READ 'EM AND PEEP!

I fawn over two new bios of Gypsy Rose Lee in the Washington Post today. She was such a feminine force of nature. Proof positive that charm & pluck are a girl's best friends.

It's only FUNNY if you haven't LIVED it.

GOTHS IN HOT WEATHER

Sure, it SEEMS funny enough. But if you have personally experienced walking down the piss-hot streets of New York City in August, wearing an ankle-length black lace Victorian dress with long sleeves, and 700 fringed Ian Astbury scarves trailing down from your antique black picture hat, you will know that HEAT and GOTH do not belong together.

You want to turn away a vampire but don't have any garlic or crosses? Fine. Just turn off the air conditioning in July. Little Bitey McFang will flee posthaste.

I relived the glory at the West Point graduation parade when I wore a black Betsey Johnson suit. It was roughly 80 billion degrees out, then, on the way to the parade field, someone's black lap dog runs out, so I had to carry this poor little runaway dog, while I'm sweating away in this black suit. Dogs? You know mammals? They radiate body heat. A lot of it.

There's a photo of me next to a cadet. He's wearing a wool parade uniform jacket, and he's not sweating his wang-a-dang off. Meanwhile, my face is melting into my suit. GOTHS DO NOT DO SUN.

The dog? Left with the post MPs and reunited with her owner later that day.

CNN GOODNESS

Lily Burana on CNN May 24, talking about OPERATION BOMBSHELL and I LOVE A MAN IN UNIFORM 

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE CLIP. :)

Thanks, CNN! You are nice people. And yes, I am certainly going to offer Alina Cho a space in one of my classes. :)

I Love A Man in Uniform: TOUR INFO!

TOUR INFO FOR "I LOVE A MAN IN UNIFORM"

Please repost and share widely! Hope to see you on the road!

 

MAY 9th CLINTON, NJ READING & SIGNING

6:30 pm Clinton Book Shop 33 Main Street, Clinton, NJ. 908-735-8811

 

MAY 14th SAN FRANCISCO, CA

GREEN APPLE BOOKS PRESENTS BURLESQUE HOTNESS & BOOK SIGNING!

7-9 pm Hypnodrome Theater, 575 10th Street, SF. Special performance by Sugar Shack! burlesque troupe. 415-248-1900

 

MAY 15^th LOS ANGELES, CA

PIN UP GIRL CLOTHING.COM PRESENTS: OPERATION BOMBSHELL BENEFIT! With host Diablo Cody & burlesque by Masuimi Max, La Cholita, and Ms. Redd.

9 pm Trader Vic’s Downtown, 800 W Olympic Blvd LA, CA 

Advance tickets required. $25 Available HERE  

MAY 18th FORT LEWIS, WA BOOK SIGNING

4-5:30 pm PX Building 5280 Fort Lewis, WA 253-651-2718

 

MAY 18th SEATTLE, WA READING & SIGNING

7 pm Third Place Books 17171 Bothelle Way NE Lake Forest Park, WA 203-366-3333

 

MAY 19th DENVER, CO READING/SIGNING/C-SPAN “BOOK TV” TAPING

7:30 pm Tattered Cover Bookstore LoDo, 1628-16th Street, Denver, CO 303-436-1070

 

MAY 20^th FORT CARSON, CO BOOK SIGNING

4-5:30 pm PX Building 6110, Fort Carson, CO