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What I’m Into – September edition

Posted in Food, TV, What I'm Into, Writing, tagged on September 30, 2013| 4 Comments »

September is the month when two of my favorite kids in the world were born.  In fact, I remember the call I received ten years ago today.  I had just walked out of the building, relieved and also sad to be leaving my last class of my first semester at El Centro (I started working there as a substitute for the department chair while she was on maternity leave).  Then my phone rang. On a windy day in downtown Dallas, I learned that my best friend had just given birth to her son Micah and that mom and baby were doing just fine.  He’s so smart and so bold.  He’s a lot taller now, but here’s the first picture I have of him:

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Has any other face in the history of the world ever been that sweet?  I just don’t see how that’s possible.

A few years later, his sister Raven was born in September, too.  She is funny and creative and has an intense moral compass, overflowing with compassion, that I pray she never loses.

Happy birth month, beloved ones.

Here’s what else I’m into:

To taste –

Apparently, the sound of football makes me want bar food.  That seems to be the major theme of my meals this month.   I also blame National Cheeseburger Day (September 18), but, really, that only covers the one day.

My favorite things that I ate/served people this month:

– Vegetarian Beanie Weenie – just sauté some onions, cut up some veggie dogs, add some beans (I used a mix of cannellini, pinto, and black beans), spice it according to taste (I recommend chili powder, cumin, and a sprinkle of brown sugar), and you have one delicious treat.

– Sausage and sauerkraut on Bavarian Rye with horseradish mustard

– Frito pie (both veggie and traditional)

– Goat cheese quesadillas with roasted red peppers and olives

Honorable mention goes to Whataburger’s Avocado Bacon Burger.  This burger gives me so many happy feelings and only a little bit of indigestion (worth it).

And no bar food meal would be complete without a cold beer.  Beer goes well with all of these things.

 To read –

 The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman – I read this book in one sitting.  Granted, it’s pretty short, but I just couldn’t put it down.  Gaiman is such a captivating storyteller.

 Lie Still by Julia Heaberlin – This was our book club read for this month, and I liked it a lot.  I read it over the course of a weekend.  I like the way she created suspense and didn’t give too much away too quickly.  Some of her “Texas women” characters were a little caricature-y and over the top, but she pretty much admitted that in the Acknowledgements section, so I can’t be too upset about it.

The Tucci Cookbook by Stanley Tucci – I want to marry this book and have its babies.  Delicious, starchy babies.  I haven’t technically finished it yet, but that’s because I keep putting it down and going to the store, because I have to make the food in the picture IMMEDIATELY.  I might be talking about this one for a while.

 To watch –

Because of my voracious love affair with his cookbook, I had to watch Stanley Tucci’s The Big Night.  I have three thoughts:  1) I want all those foods on that screen, 2) I need to have more parties with dinner and music and dancing, and 3) like a good wine, Stanley Tucci only gets better with age.

I tried to get into Rescue Me.  I almost made it through the first season.  Nope.  Not going to happen.

TV is back!  My current favorites (changes weekly):

– Revolution.   I watched the entire first season in one day.  And now I’m all caught up and need to see the premiere.

– Parenthood.  I missed this family so much!  And you can’t prove this, and I’ll deny it if you try, but it’s possible that I might (or might not) have let class out early so that I could watch the premiere.

 To hear –

 My friend Karyna played at a wine bar, so I went to see her, which I hadn’t done in a while. Windchimes and Honeybees is my favorite song of hers.

I have been on a weird hair band kick (specifically, Poison and Whitesnake).  I’m not sure what that’s about.  I’m also not sure that I want to analyze it further.  It is what it is.

 To write –

For those of you who have followed since the livejournal days, I am back to working on the Fishbowl story.  I really love my main character Bob.  He might be my favorite character I’ve ever written.

I am also starting to gear up for NaNoWriMo.  I am thinking about trying my hand at Young Adult.  I can do that for a month.  It’s also going to be set in a different era, so I might be biting off more than I can chew.  It will be interesting to find out.

I’m linking up over at Leigh Kramer’s blog – won’t you join us?

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Guest Post at Andilit!

Posted in Andilit, Writing, tagged on September 25, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I have the honor today of guest posting over at Andi Cumbo’s blog while she’s in the final countdown week before her wedding.

I write almost every day.  Writing is the only way that I’ve figured out how to get my charming friends who live in my head to come into the world and play without making me look like a crazy person.  I don’t always write well, but I write easily.

I also get distracted easily.

Grab a cup of coffee, and join me at Andi’s place to read how I manage the distractions.

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Changing scenes

Posted in Work, Writing on June 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

You go through your day, and people talk to you.  They ask you questions.  They need directions.  They just wanted to stop by and say, “Hello.”

They talk to each other, and you overhear it.

“Did you learn about aspartame in your nutrition class?  I learned about aspartame.  It kinda freaks me out.”

“And then he said, ‘I like your socks,’ and I was like, ‘Really?  You have to try harder.'”

“It’s so muggy in here.”

They nod at you as they pass by, and you both manage to speak in the short time it takes for them to walk by.

“Have a good day.” –  “You, too!”

“How are you?” – “I’m doing fine. And you?” – “Just great!”

“Thank you!”  – “You’re welcome!  See you tomorrow.”

Every once in a while, though, someone comes through, and the scene changes.

You’ve noticed him before.  He comes in often, almost everyday.  You have exchanged passing pleasantries prior to today.

But today, he pauses and reads something on the desk in front of you.  And you look up from your book and watch him read.

And the scene changes.

He’s scruffy.  He has brown eyes. He has a light scar above his left eyebrow.

He glances at you and smiles as he says, “Hi,” and then goes back to reading.  He doesn’t give in to the popular compulsion to narrate why he’s breaking his routine.  You like that about him.

You don’t give in to the popular compulsion to rationalize aloud why you’re watching him.

His focus is intense.  It’s just a flier about the building, but it has his full attention in this moment.  The same full attention he gave you with his greeting.

He finishes reading, and then says, “Community baths, huh?”  His voice is the exact moment that the buttercream from your cupcake mixes with the first sip of espresso on your tongue.

You manage to pull off a sympathetic smirk and say, “Yeah.”

He smiles and shakes his head.  Your smirk grows into something more open.  More alive.  His smile does the same.

He pats the desk once and says, “Have a good day.”

And the scene has changed.

Not really.  Nothing is different.  Tomorrow, it will be back to “Have a nice day!” – “You, too!”

But you remember that you can notice.  And feel.  And appreciate.  And be awake.

And the number of days, weeks, months since that has happened has been reset to zero.

 

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Spring turns into summer

Posted in Books, Seasons, Work, Writing on May 15, 2013| Leave a Comment »

It’s summertime for me.  I know, it seems a little early.  Summer camps haven’t started.  The summer reading program at the library hasn’t begun.  The kids aren’t even out of school yet.

My seasons tend to start early, though.  I work with college students, so the seasons tend to go with the semesters and their breaks.  Also, I live in Texas, so it starts to feel like summer here earlier than most places.  In fact, it’s not so much fall, winter, spring, summer for me as it’s fall, holiday, spring, summer, because February might not always feel like winter here, but it always grades like spring. I turned in grades on Monday for Spring 2013 and have started working for summer conferences, so in my mind, I’ve transitioned.

It’s a new season.  A new photo album on Facebook.  A new goodbye, making way for a new hello.

I will miss my residents.  Well, most of them.  I will not miss teaching, but I’ll be ready to go back to it in August.

Summertime means conferences, the part of my job where I feel most like a fish out of water.  Day desk has been rougher than I expected it to be, but conferences are even rougher.  Training is my strength; customer service is not.  And customer service is all that summer conferences entail.  On the upside, it’s easier to leave behind when I leave work for the day.  I gratefully flee.  No chance of it following me home.

Summertime means reading.  I read a lot anyway, but there’s more time for it in the summer.  I am not reading many deep things this summer.  I actually have romance novels on my list.  I might flip out and throw some Proust in there or tackle Infinite Jest, but I make no promises.

Summertime usually means more writing, too.  I am going to work on my Fishbowl story this summer.  I am also submitting a few posts in a few places as a guest blogger.  And I have the urge for the first time ever to try my hand at poetry, so perhaps I will do some of that, too.  I am in love with poetry these days, from E. E. Cummings’s “I’d rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach a ten thousand stars how not to dance,”  to Pablo Neruda’s  “I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.”

But most important of all – summertime means snow cones and popsicles and yoga.  Cooling off and calming down.  It’s my sanest season.

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Weekend in Review: Camp NaNoWriMo

Posted in Work, Writing on April 16, 2013| Leave a Comment »

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This was pretty much my main view this weekend.  Other than eating and sleeping and laundry, I worked on my Camp NaNoWriMo piece.  I had great aspirations of reaching the halfway point by Sunday night, but I am still not there.  I got sucked into a little editing, and I just couldn’t seem to stop.

The semester is winding down.  My students are working on their third and final group presentation this week, which means easy and boring week in class for me.  But I look forward to the presentations next week.

 

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NaNoWriMo novel is finished! Well, 50,000 words of it is finished.

Posted in Writing on November 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I’ve learned something about myself in writing this story.  I’m not one of those people that can write a novel based on a true story.  I’m good at fiction; I’m good at nonfiction.  I am not good at any sort of hybrid.  It comes out…well, like this did.  Awkward, repetitive prose that has bits of humor stashed in it, but overall, it’s just trying too hard.  It’s too hard for me to meld the two.  I need facts and I need fiction, and never the twain shall meet.

I also need to stop using cliches.  I used them so often that my narrator called another character out on it.  I’m meta-chastising myself.

I’ve also learned that I can do this.  Even with the two jobs and 50-60 hour work week, I can do this.  I don’t have to quit one of my jobs to make writing work.  I mean, I might not ever get paid to write, but at least I will love it.  I have done it for free all my life, so what is the loss really if I continue to do it for free?  I can write and have two jobs until writing replaces one or both of them.  I can actually do this!

I’ve been reminded that my worst days writing are better than my best days teaching.

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Dear Me

Posted in Writing on October 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

“It’s the last Friday writing prompt before NaNoWriMo! Today’s challenge: write a letter to your mid-NaNo self…then save it somewhere you can read it during November.”

Dear self,

You’re halfway through! Good job! You are on schedule. You are the best writer on the planet. You are fun and smart. You’re the most awesome person ever to live.

[If you are not halfway through, you are still awesome, but know that I’m judging you a little. I mean, not enough to discourage you, but *stern look*]

At this point, you might be tempted to slack off a bit. I know you’re on schedule (you ARE on schedule, aren’t you?), but that’s no reason to get cocky. Here’s a list of twenty things that can wait until December:

1. Trying out that new olive/prosciutto sourdough loaf with the fifteen million steps.
2. Reorganizing your closet.
3. Reorganizing the kitchen.
4. Reorganizing…period.
5. Christmas shopping.
6. Shoe shopping.
7. Grocery shopping in a specialty store or farmer’s market that is more than a twenty-minute drive from home.
8. Trying your hand at making cheese.
9. Monday night margaritas, because you and I both know that you won’t “just drop in and have one.” That’s an all-night event.
10. Calling everyone you’ve been telling, “We should get together sometime.” Sometime has waited this long; it can wait a few more weeks.
11. Learning to sew.
12. Making curtains, skirts, pajama pants, etc., in order to practice your new sewing skills (which you do not have yet anyway – see #11).
13. Starting a new knitting project.
14. Finishing one of the knitting projects that you’ve already started.
15. Hosting a theme dinner/party, unless the theme is Frantically-Caffeinating-to-Finish-NaNoWriMo.
16. Baking a pie.
17. Reading what you’ve written so far. November is for writing. January is for editing. Is it January? No? Then keep writing and quit reminiscing.
18. Completely changing the premise of your novel, since you blatantly ignored #17. It’s a first draft, and a rushed one at that. It’s supposed to be bad.
19. Getting involved in Facebook drama. In fact, that’s just something to avoid in general. Let’s remember in December how nice it was to take a break from that for a month and prolong the magic, okay?
20. Anything on Pinterest that you’ve not already tried to make/do.

Oh, no. I’m just giving you ideas.

Well, don’t do them. Eye on the prize! Press on! Something-super-inspirational!

And bask in the knowledge that you actually have a better excuse for not going out than “…but I’m watching Dr. Who on the Netflix.” Actually, that’s a pretty good excuse. No one at the bar is more interesting than David Tennant.

…

Do not go watch Dr. Who right now. Write!

Love,
You

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#Nanoprep

Posted in Writing on October 17, 2012| Leave a Comment »

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Today is the official NaNoPrep day.  Here is how I prep for NaNoWriMo:

1.  Clear a space in the apartment that is to be The Main Writing Area.  The name is neutral now, but depending on how things go in November, the name of the area either changes into “The Place Where the Magic Happens” or “The Place Ideas Go to Die.”  This year, my writing area in the new apartment is actually my desk in the reading nook.  Exciting stuff!

2.  Choose a roaming notepad for when I am inevitably not anywhere near the novel and suddenly have marvelous ideas – check (see above)!  Into the purse it goes!

3.  Make a master grocery list for the month (with weekly supplementals) for meal planning.  This generally consists of sandwich stuff and frozen vegetables so that I can throw them in a pot with some broth and call it soup without having to chop anything.  On the last weekend of October, I’m actually going to make and freeze loaves of bread, veggie burritos, and a few casseroles so that I can do no-brainer dinners in November.  This is what keeps me from the very tempting, “Write?  Sorry, I’m out of bread, so clearly I need to spend time making this incredibly complicated loaf that I’ve been planning to try when I have a day off instead,” and the more tempting, “No food in the house?  Clearly I need to drive through and get something that will make me feel terrible.”

4.  Pick up books on writing from the library.  I find this helpful when I’m trying to write a large word count, because reading is one of the ways that I procrastinate.  So when I try to avoid writing by reading, these books will inspire me to get back to writing.

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo?

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