Hip Mama fiction contest

It's time to make something up!

For all of you beautiful liars out there- Hip Mama is gonna be breaking some fresh ground and doing a Short Story Contest judged by Kerlin Richter and Ariel Gore.

First Prize is $100, your Short Story as the feature in issue 44, the Creativity issue, along with a profile and picture of your brilliant self, AND a Lifetime Subscription to Hip Mama (we don't even sell lifetime subscriptions anymore).

Ten runners up will get a four issue subscription, their names and story titles in the zine and their full stories will be published online.

Get all the info right here

$25 per story entry fee

And check out the new issue of Hip Mama on Utne.com

debt

Maybe it's because I'm not getting any younger or maybe it's because of the crowd I've been running with or maybe it's just the time we're living in, but I'm hearing an awful lot of anxiety about all the debt we're in.

Credit card debt especially.

You're maxed out and they're raising your APR something crazy.

And I know credit cards. I've got some of them. And I know anxiety. I've got some of that, too. But how many nights sleep are we going to lose over it?

We don't need good credit. We don't need credit cards. We didn't used to have those things and we can live without them again.

My friend K says, "c'mon, what if your car breaks down and you need to fix it, well, you'll need a credit card then."

What I'll need is a bicycle and a bus schedule.

Good credit is nice. You should keep it if you can. But plenty of people live perfectly normal lives with really bad credit.

There are no debtor's prisons.

The worst-case scenarios:

They tell you to cut up your credit cards. They take away your car in the night. Maybe they even take your house. (That last one really sucks, I know).

But then you figure out how to get an apartment. And you get that bicycle and you get that bus pass. And you tell the collection agents to stop calling you. And you send them a letter and you "cc" the attorney general and you insist that they stop calling you. And it's OK. You have your body. You have your creative mind. You have the moon and the stars and you have every right to be here. And you have every right to a good night's sleep.

And repeat after me: There are no debtor's prisons. 

love

I was just email-talking with another editor woman & she was lamenting the myth of The One--and haven't we gotten past relationship as the ultimate validation?

What's up with the hysterical fear of not meeting The One?

Is it about wanting kids and the fear of single motherhood?

Or is it something else?

hungry

So I went wheat-free vegan no-sugar for lent.

What should I eat?

Give me the recipe!

I'm getting hungry...

(thanks).