Progress Report(s)

1. The Writing Group: I am having a disappointing time of things trying to get this group going. I handed out flyers at that writing event last week, and the library is posting my notice in ten branches. I have yet to distribute copies to the local bookstores, but will do so after this week (this week is kind of spoken for, what with the Monday deadline). But only one person has responded. Now, she is very enthusiastic and seems like a good fit, but we need a critical mass of people if it's going to work. One of the comments I've heard is that people can't commit to twice a month (even the one who is interested said this). But all of the input I've had from those in writing groups seems to suggest that twice a month is the way to go. What would be even better would be to find an existing group.

2. Philosophy book manuscript: Publisher still has it and expects the reviews to come in sometime in November on the assumption that they are going to be late. Just following up made me nervous. I can enjoy the sense of accomplishment as long as the manuscript remains out of my hands.

3. Fourth Submission: Annotations are done. The revision is going slowly but I like what I've done with it so far. The main comment was that I needed to add scenes ("show, don't tell" of course). So I've added some scenes. And based on Bug's formula for how to spend your time, I've spent a lot of time re-reading the original draft, making notes in the margins, and planning what is going to be expanded into a scene. I had planned to submit something to the CBC Literary Awards but the deadline is tomorrow. It's the first year of replacing the travel writing competition with creative non-fiction, including memoir. We'll see how things are by the end of the day tomorrow. I've got a few meetings tomorrow with some time between for writing.

4. Ideas to pursue. I have had a number of ideas since that seminar I was at last week and the experience with Linda Hirshman's fee. First, I am going to look for markets where I am already an expert and so have some credibility. Today I received a nice looking magazine called Academic Matters, which is a "trade" magazine for Canadian academics writing about issues of general interest to other academics (e.g. academic freedom, which is this month's theme). It's got a circulation of 14,000 readers and it pays. So I've started keeping a file of potential markets (this is probably an obvious thing that most freelancers do, but I feel inspired by the fact that I've started one!). Second, I have been invited to speak at a "Feminism is for Everyone" themed Awareness Day. For free. But the exposure is a good thing. Third, at the publishing panel at the summer MFA residency there was an agent from an agency that specializes in non-fiction and likes to work with academics who are trying to write more accessible books. I am going to work on a package to send them indicating a couple of ideas that I have for more popular versions of some of what I work on in my research. Fourth, the people at last week's seminar mentioned using your research to produce more than one thing (again, seems obvious). So I have decided that I am going to write an essay based on what I come up with for the radio documentary. And I am going to submit it to a market that pays, even if they don't pay a lot. Fifth, I didn't know that Bug taught a course on freelance writing. I am going to pick her brain when I see her in January! Same goes for FC, who not only teaches writing but freelances for a living (or at least for a good part of her living).

Sunday Scribblings #31 Bedtime Stories

When I was growing up, bedtime meant story time, and I am so grateful to this early exposure to books and stories. The hands down favourite in our household was Caroline and Her Friends, a collection of several illustrated Caroline stories by Pierre Probst. It was filled with captivating stories of Caroline and her animal friends. When they were in Germany, they wore liederhosen. In the Alps, the blew alpenhorns. It was a large book (14 x 10 inches) of sturdy paper and colourful, detailed illustrations so vivid and alive that I wanted to jump right into its pages.

The well-worn book survives in a delicate, tattered state, stored in the basement of my parents' home. Its blue cloth binding is coming away from the spine. Some pages are torn or missing. It is out of print. Used copies of this now rare collection, published in the UK, show up on ebay from time to rare time, fetching auction prices up to $1000. Its American counterpart, The Golden Treasuring of Caroline and Her Friends, also appear irregularly on ebay, with the highest bid ranging between $300 and $1000, depending on the book's condition. The stories were orginally published published in France, in French, in the 1950s. A French collected edition was released as recently as 1997, under the title Les Amis de Caroline.

I recommend that anyone who wants their children to fall in love with books get their hands on anything in the original Caroline series, whether in French or in English. Most book sellers sell individual stories for modest prices, but they do not compare to the anthologies. If you can find a collection, snap it up immediately. They will introduce you and your children to the magical journeys of Caroline and her friends, and are sure to recruit them as readers.

For more scribbles about bedtime stories, check out this week's Sunday Scribblings.

What Kind of Writer Do I Want to Be?

Last night I went to a panel discussion/seminar type thing put on by the local chapter of PWAC (Professional Writers' Association of Canada) about "developing your writer's toolkit." It was, as I had hoped it would be, a learning experience. PWAC is an organization for freelance non-fiction writers who, get this, earn a living as writers. And you know what? They're ordinary people. They pitch ideas, they send queries, they follow leads, they keep their ears to the ground for good material, they have business cards and letterhead with their names on them (followed by "professional writer" or somesuch), and lots of them sell hundreds of stories a year!

It was exciting, and it got me thinking. What do I want to write? What do I have to offer as a writer? I thought that narrowing it down to creative non-fiction instead of poetry or fiction (both of which I do like to dabble in) was step forward. But even once you get into non-fiction, the possibilities are endless. You've got your newspaper articles - features, news stories, reviews, columns and opinion pieces - you've got your magazines and trade publications, you've got your memoirs, self-help books, how-to books, travel books, cook books, collections of personal essays. Even within magazines, there is a huge range from the literary to the news-oriented, from the cultural and political analysis to the entertainment reviews. So what they do, the people who do this for a living, is keep their eyes and ears open for new markets and then query, query, query. Rare is the professional freelancer who will write an article that has not been accepted first. But it all seemed like such a schlep to me. I can't imagine a life of pitch after pitch after pitch.

So what else is there? A department at my university is looking for co-sponsors to throw in some money to bring a speaker, Linda Hirshman, whose agent makes her arrangements. Linda Hirshman is the author of a number of books, most recently a controversial feminist "manifesto," as she likes to call it, called Get to Work. On her website, she describes herself as a retired feminist philosopher. She got her PhD in 1994, two years after I did. The reason the other department needs co-sponsors is that Linda Hirshman's speaking fee is $7500. Okay, now, I am also a feminist philosopher (I wasn't previously a trial lawyer, of course). I also have views -- informed ones -- about the kind of things Hirshman writes about. Maybe that's the kind of writer I want to be, the kind that actually makes a difference and can command a decent fee for speaking. You know, they always tell you to write what you know. Well, if I know the same sorts of things as she does, maybe I can write the same sorts of things and sell them. Get to Work was a bestseller!

And then there is the whole question of writing with dollar signs in our eyes. This cannot be good for creativity. This is not what I want to be doing. But there is something legitimating about getting paid for what you do. I really picked up on that last night at this seminar. The people on the panel were no different as people from anyone else in the room. But they were getting paid to write, and that gave what they had to say about writing a kind of legitimacy because, in getting paid, they have become legitimate writers.

I don't know exactly what I want to write, but I do know that I want to get paid for it.

Annotations -- Done!

Okay then. I am ready to focus on revisions of my own writing now that I have completed the craft annotations on Eudora Welty's One Writer's Beginnings and The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty. I did learn a couple of techniques by reading her with the annotations in mind, so they served their purpose. When I sit down to revise I am going to think about establishing minimal character and place at the beginning of a scene, and then letting the action of the scene dictate what else needs to be revealed. I am also going to use the idea of inherited traits to develop my parents' characters and my own at the same time in the memoir. Eudora does this to great effect in her memoir.

I am glad that I have these behind me now because I find that when I am reading and thinking about the annotations, I am not spending time on my writing. That concerns me only because I know how important it is for my process to keep the momentum going. I have been gripped during this time by surges of creative energy but no time to pursue them (I've got some reasonably helpful notes as a result though). I am going stop now because there is simply no need to undermine today's accomplishments by lamenting that they are not something else. The road is long and every step takes me forward.

Oh meme, oh my!

A meme from Writer Bug.

Fill in what you've "done". (Note to Mum: stop reading now) :
(X) Smoked a joint
(X) Done cocaine
(X) Been in love
( ) Had a threesome
(X) Been dumped (didn't want to be with him anyway! So there!)
(X) Shoplifted (As a kid, and only once!)
(X) Had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back
( ) Been arrested
(X) Made out with a stranger (How many hours do you need to know him before he's no longer a stranger?)
(X) Gone on a blind date (Met R that way)
(X) Had a crush on a teacher
(X) Been to Europe
(X) Been to Canada
(X) Been to Mexico
(X) Seen someone die.
(X) Thrown up in a bar. (And then passed out on the floor of the bathroom and had to be taken away in an ambulance. On a class trip. Age: 16)
(X) Met a celebrity. (Does Noam Chomsky count as a celebrity?)
( ) Met someone from the Internet in person.
( ) Been moshing at a concert
( ) Gone backstage at a concert
(X) Lain outside in the grass and watched cloud shapes go by
(X) Made a snow angel
(X) Been lonely
(X) Fallen asleep at work. (I have a special chair for that)
(X) Fallen asleep at school
( ) Used a fake ID
( ) Been kicked out of a bar
( ) Felt an earthquake (But I have felt the earth move ;) )
(X) Slept beneath the stars
(X) Been robbed
( ) Won a contest
(X) Run a red light
( ) Been suspended from school
(X) Had braces
(X) Had deja vu
(X) Totaled a car. (Two of them within six months of getting my licence.)
( ) Stolen a car
(X) Hated the way you look
(X) Witnessed a crime
( ) Been to a strip club
(X) Been to the opposite side of the world
(X) Swam in the ocean
(X) Felt like dying
(X) Cried yourself to sleep
( ) Sung karaoke
( ) Paid for a meal with only coins
(X) Had a one night stand
( ) Been a cheerleader
(X) Sat on a roof top
( ) Talked on the phone for more than 6 hours straight
(X) Stayed up all night.
(X) Not taken a shower for three days. (Sailing is good for that)
(X) Had more than 30 pairs of shoes at a time (does that include boots?)

List Update

Things are actually getting crossed off the list, but not quite as rapidly as I had planned. I am ready to write my annotations on the Eudora Welty books (both of which were to have been completed by now). That is tomorrow evening's task.

The shawl is knitting up well. I had the good fortune of being a passenger in both directions this weekend, travelling with friends who didn't mind if I knit (it's always polite to ask). I got in three full hours of shawl knitting each way. That was about all I could accomplish over the weekend since I was at an annual meeting that left no time for other things. I am on row 111 at the moment (there are 146 in all, plus 25 rows for each point).

The flyers for the writing group are ready to go. Today I printed 10 of them onto green neon paper. I've also printed up a bunch of smaller ones to distribute at a publishing workshop that I am attending on Wednesday evening this week.

Class is prepared for tomorrow; all papers have been graded.

I have made extensive notes concerning the revision for my next submission, and the creative wheels are really turning there.

The IS project is shaping up.

I did 20 minutes of cardio today.

The balance of the bulbs are still in the shed and we are expecting rain or wet snow tomorrow...again.

There is a window of opportunity (in which no rain or snow is forecast and the temperature is going slightly up) for the final trip to the gas station with the motorcycle on Wednesday -- fill it up, throw in some fuel stabilizer, run it with the fuel switch off until the carburator is empty, take out the battery, and cover it for the winter.

I've joined Soul Food Cafe and am finding it a little overwhelming. Still eager to explore.

Yoga class at 6:30 tomorrow morning.

Sunday Scribblings #30 Good

This week's Sunday Scribblings prompt is, simply, "good." It's a dangerous post for a philosopher, so I decided to keep it good and simple. Have a good weekend everyone.

The Good List

Good start, good friend, good life, good food, good mood, good car, good house, good sex, good pen, good legs, good sound, good vision, good dreams, good drugs, good writer, good knitter, good lover, good ink, good change, good mango, good pond, good talk, good restaurant, good game, good scissors, good label, good slogan, good chardonnay, good jump, good marriage, good pregnancy, good walk, good song, good morning, good afternoon, good day, good evening, good fight, good try, good dog, good book, good photo, good trip, good reason, good season, good chocolate truffle, good one, good feelings, good girl, good woman, good man, good boy, good childhood, good feminist.

Goodness me the list could go on and on.

Good night.

Learning from Eudora

This is the look of my day today (slightly behind Tuesday's list, but it is possible to catch up):


I am enjoying Eudora Welty a lot. She has a great gift for setting scenes and bringing her characters alive. Here's one thing I have noticed so far about her short stories: nearly every one of them begins with a character either speaking or doing something in a setting. In the very first sentence, she establishes the character and the place.

For example, the first sentence of "Lily Daw and the Three Ladies" is: "Mrs. Watts and Mrs Carson were both in the post office in Victory when the letter came from the Eilisville Institute for the Feeble-Minded of Mississippi."

And "A Still Moment" begins: "Lorenzo Dow rode the Old Natchez Trace at top speed upon a race horse, and the cry of the itinerant Man of God, 'I must have souls! And souls I must have!' rang in his own windy ears.

And my so-far favourite, "Why I Live at the P.O." starts like this: "I was getting along fine with Mama, Papa-Daddy and Uncle Rondo until my sister Stella-Rondo just separated from her husband and came back home again. Mr. Whitaker! Of course I went with Mr. Whitaker first, when he first appeared here in China Grove, taking 'Pose Yourself' photos, and Stella-Rondo broke us up."

"No Place for You, My Love," starts out: "They were strangers to each other, both fairly well strangers to the place, now seated side by side at luncheon--a party combined in a free-and-easy way when the friends he and she were with recognized each other across Galatoire's."

For fear of this post starting to seem like an annotation, I just have to say that when I noticed this particular fact about Eudora Welty's stories, I took note. There is no running start here. No confusing period in which you don't know where you are or who you're dealing with. Nonetheless, she hasn't given away the game, either. I have struggled in my own writing with setting the scenes and, more seriously, introducing my characters. Watch how Eudora jumps in with both feet in the opening of "Petrified Man":

"Reach in my purse and git me a cigarette without no powder in it if you kin, Mrs. Fletcher, honey, " said Leota to her ten o'clock shampoo-and-set customer. "I don't like no perfumed cigarettes."

Right away you know that the speaker's name is Leota, she's a hairdresser, she's in her salon in the morning, wants a cigarette (which she keeps in her purse, alongside the powder), is good at asking for what she wants, and her customer's name is Mrs. Fletcher. It's also a good bet that they're in the South somewhere and Leota didn't go far in formal schooling.

Anyway, I love that ability to bring a story alive immediately. There is a lot of good craft "advice" in Eudora Welty's short stories. Today, I will read her as a teacher.

New Look

I have not finished Welty, though I have made good progress. Instead, I have freshened up the look of my blog (not on the list). I felt a strong need to de-clutter, hence the more minimalist template.

Okay, I'll Make a List

Another member of the Mutual Inspiration Society (Bug) has inspired me to make a list. The next submission date, the final one for this semester (hard to believe) is Monday, November 6. I've got two books to finish reading so that I can write my annotations, earlier work to revise in light of excellent comments from my advisor, and a couple of new scenes that I need to write so that I can get feedback before I change advisors in January. I also have to get going on my interdisciplinary project, which I have been neglecting. So, here is my list:

Tonight: Finish Eudora Welty's, One Writer's Beginnings, as well as her short story "Why I Live at the P.O."

Thursday: Write first draft of annotation on Welty's memoir.

By Sunday: Finish reading ten stories (that's enough, isn't it) from The Collected Short Stories of Eudora Welty and write first draft of annotation on it.

Monday October 23- Saturday November 4: Revise earlier work and incorporate new scenes.

Wednesdays between now and then (3 of them): work on interdisciplinary project, which is the syllabus for my "Globalizing Feminism and Feminist Theory" course next semester and send draft to IS supervisor for comments. (I have already chosen and ordered the main books for that course).

Other to-do:

Start exploring Soul Food Cafe.

Plant the rest of the bulbs (25 tulip bulbs to go; so far that squirrels have left the first 25 tulip bulbs and all 70 crocus bulbs alone).

Use the lace shawl knitting project for breaks.

Incorporate at least 3-4 cardio sessions (20-30 minutes each) into my weeks.

Post flyer for writing group (thanks, FC, for the sample from which I have borrowed liberally) at the library and local bookstores; make copies to take to "Developing Your Writing Toolkit" seminar.

Sunday Scribblings #29 If I Could Stop Time

Sunday Scribblings is asking us what we would do if we could stop time. If I could stop time today I would keep on knitting my lace shawl until finished. I have found my rhythm with the pattern and am loving every minute that I spend on it, even when I have to undo rows. Then I would do what needs doing in the garden, finish reading the book that I meant to finish reading this weekend, and prepare for this week's responsibilities at work.

Since I cannot stop time, I am setting the knitting aside, having an abbreviated session in the garden, and doing a minimalist job of prepping for the work week.

If I could have any superpower, I would like to be able to function at full capacity on two hours or less of sleep per night.

Writing Groups

Whenever I hear other writers refer to their writing groups, I am filled with longing. I would love to belong to a writing group. Since starting my MFA, I have had my first taste of what it is like to have other writers read my work and take it seriously enough to offer me constructive criticism. It's a great feeling and I am always inspired and encouraged by the new writing community that I have tapped into. I am relishing the experience of developing friendships with like-minded souls.

Still, it would be something else altogether to have a group of local writers to meet with on a regular basis -- I'm imagining monthly -- to read and discuss one anothers' work-in-progress, maybe take some time to freewrite, celebrate our successes and encourage each other to stick with it. But I don't know how to find them.

I'm considering starting my own. In a couple of weeks, I am going to a seminar on query-writing. I thought I might make up a flyer explaining that I would like to start a writing group and am looking for 4-5 (what's a good number?) others to be in it. I'm not sure, at the flyer stage, how specific to be about the kinds of writing or the kinds of writers that I am looking for. I think that a combination of fiction and non-fiction writers could easily work, as long as they were all serious about the craft. That is the other requirement. But how do you determine how serious someone is about the craft? I wouldn't want to require that they have published (I haven't!), but I do want people who have some publishing goals in mind.

If anyone does respond, I need to be prepared with a list of interview questions so that I can determine their suitability. At the same time, I don't want to be overly controlling because though I want to start the group, I have no desire to run it. Once it is up and running, it needs to be a joint effort.

If you are in a writing group, how did you find it or start it? What format do you use? How often do you meet? What questions do you think are helpful to ask prospective members?

Snow Report

It is early for snow, but we did a get a little bit. See it here, clinging to the Japanese maple:


It's just a little weather blip. Not only do we not usually have snow that stays in October (certainly not mid-October) but, for all the downsides of climate change, the reality is that we are supposed to be experiencing global warming. We haven't even had a chance to rake the leaves and plant the bulbs. This afternoon, not one person I passed by on the sidewalk had so much as a scarf on -- I certainly saw no gloves, no hats. A few people fought a feeble battle with the elements using their umbrellas. We are a community in denial.

I am going away for the weekend. By the time I return on Sunday, I want this weather situation to be resolved.

I'd Rather Be Sailing

A friend of mine said to me this evening that she would see me tomorrow afternoon "as long as it isn't snowing too much, 'cause I'll be on my bicycle." "Snowing?!" I said. Gimme a break. Is this because I didn't plant my bulbs on the weekend? Summer is well and truly over. I do hope that we get one more little break in the weather because I have not taken my bike in for its last oil change (more on the bike in a minute).

I mentioned that we usually spend the summer sailing on this:


But for the past few months, it has been in various stages of this:

And we don't expect to have it ready for next summer either. So we have instead had to settle for:

This one's mine:

I do think it's a beauty. But it is not as comfortable as the sail boat. Not by any stretch of the imagination. And though at first I felt super cool on my motorcycle, I am now more aware of my sore butt, the hot road, and cars and transports blasting past me on the highway. On the sailboat, by contrast, I feel at ease. I can knit or read or write or even sleep while we are travelling. I can pack more than one change of clothes. I don't have to worry about it falling over. Parking is even easier on a sail boat. Just drop the anchor (well, okay, there are sometimes issues with how well the anchor is set and whether it is dragging, but that is not my department) and make some lunch.

After one boatless summer, I can say this much: I miss the boat. I can't wait to get it back. I will not be going on another two week road trip on the motorcycle again. Ever.

Still, I am not quite ready for the snow. And I did plan to take one more ride somewhere before that final oil change.

Want to Sabotage a Relaxing Evening? Knit Lace

I put in a good, long day at work today. It was the kind of effort that I feel deserves a reward. My reward: an evening completely off, to do exactly what I want to do, with no expectations for accomplishment. I started by making french fries (the baked kind, Bug) and a salad with mixed greens, arugula (my favourite green), blue cheese and dried cranberries. I used to think that you had to eat fries with burgers or fried fish, but I have since come to think that if I just want a salad and fries, that's okay too. R is out on a personal-time night (we do this sort of thing), so I didn't have to share my fries.

Next, meditation. Meditation, which I usually do at the beginning of the day, is qualitatively different in the evening. Of course, I lit candles. During the meditation, every effort to clear my mind was thwarted by a drift towards the idea of starting a new lace knitting project. I want to knit a shawl with the pure alpaca that I bought from elann.com awhile back. I did the recommended meditation thing, which is bring my mind gently back to nothingness, but it consistently wandered back to the shawl. So when the timer finally went off (finally!), I hauled out the pattern (elann's flower petal shawl), the yarn, and the needles, and set to work.

I have started this shawl several times already. It is very simple (see the photo; it's from the elann.com website). The pattern says it's a great first lace project. But for some reason I can't get beyond the first twenty rows. Tonight, I actually had the wrong number of stitches by the end of Row 11. The thing with lace pattern repeats is that you only find your mistake at the END of a row, when you've got the wrong number of stitches for the final repeat. It's also really hard to un-do lace rows. This particular shawl has 146 rows, and then another 22 rows of "fishtail points." And I cannot get past Row 11. I have ripped it all out and am back to empty needles. If I try again, it will be my fourth attempt. Give me cables, give me intarsia, I could probably even pull off fair isle if I liked it, but lace? Will I ever be able to knit lace?

Sunday Scribblings #28 An Assignment

This week's Sunday Scribblings prompt was an assignment.

You are an eleven year-old, blond-haired, blue-eyed, bicycle-racing cherub. Your yellow locks curl down to your shoulders. Like Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, you’re making mischief on the centre of the track, as the grown-ups speed around you in a blur round the velodrome. It’s Saturday race night – no brakes! no gears! – and a fifty degree slope at either end. And you are never bored as you await your time to shine. You pull your older sister’s hair and run away. You lie on your back on the mat and pretend to turn pedals in the air. You giggle and squirm. You high-five the adults when they finally slow down and upclip their feet after a race. There you are, walking like a chimpanzee, trying to get the attention of the racers who have no time for you. Now it is time for you to don your yellow helmet, #2 and slow pedal your way around the centre until it’s your turn to sprint. Now you’re on the track doing your warm-up laps, gaining momentum. The whistle blows and when you cross the start line you move down to the shortest circle at the bottom of the slope, up off your seat on the straightaways and fearless on the turns. Your bike wobbles with the effort and your legs are running away from you with the pedals. The crowd is cheering you, partly as a mascot, partly as a wonder-boy, partly as the future of bicycle racing. You flash past us across the finish line and the clock stops on a very respectable 11.91 seconds. We’re not trying to rush you, but we can’t wait to see what you will be like in five years.

Thanksgiving

In Canada, this is Thanksgiving weekend, culminating in Turkey Day itself on Monday (mind you, this vegetarian only eats tofurkey!). As a kid watching soap operas with my grandfather, I used to get really confused when everyone sat down for "Thanksgiving" dinner on a Thursday in late November. "What are they doing?" I said to my grandfather. "Don't they know that Thanksgiving was ages ago -- and it's on a Monday?" Where our American friends associate Thanksgiving with the beginning of the festive season, in Canada we have quite different associations. In my part of the country, it's about autumn leaves ablaze with their most brilliant reds and oranges, the harvest of squash and yams and rutabagas, unpredictable weather. At my parents place on the lake, where I usually spend my Thanksgivings (though not this year), we've had everything from a dusting of snow in the morning -- sure to melt by lunchtime -- to balmy weather that allowed us to take our late afternoon hors d'oeuvres down to the dock so we could savour the last unexpected gasp of summer. This year we're at our own home for this long weekend, just the two of us, planning to visit the lake next weekend instead. We're skipping the feast. Taking it easy. Going to the velodrome to watch bike racing tonight. Going to see our favourite junior hockey team play tomorrow afternoon. Putzing around the garden and planting some bulbs. And, of course, giving thanks to the universe for the fullness of life. I completed my work for the deadline a day earlier than my personal deadline. So today -- the first day of a three day weekend -- I am experiencing time as expansive and utterly nonthreatening. Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving, whether on Monday or in November!

Until Deadlines Do Us Part

I love my husband a lot, and I love his company. But when I have a deadline…look out. Would you please get out of my way? What? You want to spend some time with me this weekend? Go on a date Friday? Don’t you know that I have a deadline coming up?

[Yeah sure, like he doesn’t know … I’ve only reminded him every day for the past ten or so not to count on me, especially this weekend]

He did a good thing this week: he took a holiday without me. This is good for at least two reasons. One, said deadline, of course. Two, he went to visit family. Need I say more. I’ve had all this time to work on my writing uninterrupted. All kinds of time…Every waking hour that I’ve not been teaching, sleeping, eating, doing e-mail, blogging, doing yoga, talking on the phone, attending meetings, or reading (well, I had to do some reading for my submission) I have dedicated to writing. I have also had some excellent sleeps this week.

My DH is returning on Friday. The deadline is Monday (psst: my secret personal deadline is actually Saturday. But the last time I shared with him that I had a personal deadline, he became Mr. Enforcer. As it approached, he said, you better be done by Friday. You said you would be done by Friday. I’m counting on you to stick to your word… I didn’t actually give him my word. Anyway, I am a reasonably quick study, so this time I didn’t mention the Saturday deadline). I will do my best to be happy to see him when he comes home on Friday, even though I would rather (in the sense of “rather” that is responding to the facts as I see them, not to what could be if I had planned a bit better and the new writing had come more easily this month) be left alone for just one more day. Not that I don’t miss him, of course.

Yoga Hangover

I am one tired yoga student today. I am also aware of every single muscle and joint in my body. I hauled myself out of bed this morning for my usual 6:30 a.m. Tuesday morning yoga class, shlepped in the dark through the rain, not feeling quite recovered from the weekend yoga marathon, and took my place on the mat. What really needed was a supportive practice or a long savasana, but no, a full hour and a half of forward bends and standing poses is what was on today's agenda. What I would love to do right now is go back to bed. But I have office hours in less than an hour and am teaching a three hour philosophy class followed by a one hour extra discussion section this afternoon.

Holistic approaches be damned: I'm taking a couple of advils.