There is a God.

Sanjaya finally got the boot.

Option, options

So, the ball is rolling. Today the film producer optioned Nearer Than the Sky... I have a great feeling about this. That's the good news of the day -- and a seriously welcome change to an afternoon spent watching the madness at Virginia Tech, imagining my own classroom, my own children in theirs. I can't get any sort of handle on this horror. There was something portentous about this whole day...frigid weather and violent wind. I spent most of the day examining the trees around me, wondering if any of them might come crashing down.

Anyway, here's a lovely picture of our garden before the storm:

A Little Easter Surprise

So Easter was one helluva a gluttonous event; check out the carnage!

Kicky, on the other hand, exercised remarkable self-control (probably after last year's hard-boiled chocolate barf fest). Esmee wound up with an all-night bellyache as well as an earache which was later diagnosed as a giant acron-size ball of wax in her ear. Beats a jellybean, I suppose.

Three weeks until the semester is over.

Viewfinder

I am too busy. There. That's all I'll say...the edivence is in these sparse mermanderings.

Anyway...a few big bits of news here. The first is that I finally bought the new Digital SLR camera I have been coveting for nearly a year now. It's my new favorite possession. It takes amazing pictures...already, and I don't even know how to use it yet. Here's one of Miss E.

Secondly, I booked my flight to San Diego for the Ocean Beach Street Fair and Chili Cookoff. It's one of the things I miss most about OB. And this year it's on my birthday! What a present.

Lastly, I have a producer and screenwriter who really want to work on getting Nearer Than the Sky made into a film. Lovely, lovely people. I am so excited.

Last night was a crazy night, a rockstar night (well as close as I'll get to a rockstar night anyway). I joined a few of the GW faculty at dinner with Vikram Chandra before his reading. His new monster of a book, called Sacred Games (900 plus pages) came out not that long ago. I haven't read it yet...but it sounds fascinating. Vikram was very kind and friendly. Joining us at dinner was Howard Norman who is married to Jane Shore (whom I adore). They have a home in Vermont, and they invited me to swing by this summer. Oh...do I love hanging out with writers. I got a chance to catch up with some of my other colleagues who I haven't bumped into yet this semester, despite my taking up residence in my office.

Three and a half weeks left of school...and then I will be finally be able to get back to work on the novel. Still writing poems, though lately they've been pretty crappy.

Why do my children look so sad???

Eight Arms

I am not dead.

I was simply luxuriating in the blissful nothingness of an uneventful springbreak, and now I am a single mother while P globe hops with his buddies. He is in Amsterdam until Wednesday night, and (can you believe it??) his cell phone is for the first time non-functional. This is good for him. I suspect the beers and everything else are good for him too.

I actually managed to get a lot done last week. I collected fifty pages of poetry for a contest...the collection is called "Small Sorrows." I'm as proud of it as you would be of a homely child. I mean, I made it, even if it's not perfect. I also painted an octopus for the girls over E's bed (see below). I revised the novel a little bit, watched a lot of movies ("Half Nelson," "Sherry Baby," and "LoverBoy" -- as well as "Barbie Princess and the Pauper," "Peter Pan," and, tonight, "ET").


But the nose will be pressed back against the old grindstone again tomorrow. Ah well....six weeks until summer break.

Second Story

I finally sent Henry some of the new book...and after re-reading it tonight, I feel good about it. Really good. It's requiring some research on stalkers...who'da thunk. I always wonder what the lady at the Circulation desk thinks of me. Hunger, Starvation, Fasting, Stalking, Salinger. Light reading fare...

The poems are coming along nicely...54 and counting. Today I wrote a nasty bad-love poem using each of the twelve Chinese horoscopic (is that a word?) animals.

I've been reading a lot lately. I finished The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood which just made me cry -- maybe too close to home. I am reading Chris Bohjalian's newest The Double Bind now, which I am amazed by. I'm not sure how he's going to pull off the sort of literary high jinks he seems to be up to in this one, but I'm just along for the ride.

We're talking about putting a second story on the house, and I've been fantasizing about a new office/library. That and a tub that doesn't require the contortionism our existing tub does. Not in the library, I don't think. Though that that might be an idea...

Freezing Rain Allelujah

Amen, it's raining ice! Just when I thought I might lose my mind, the weather went berzerk, and I got a grown-up snow day (and suspect I'll get another tomorrow). Time to catch up on all my work. Time to catch up on the house which is falling into massive disrepair around me.

Today was a weird day. I finally got confirmation from UMD that the position I applied for has been filled...a disappointment, but good to know I made it so far along in the selection process this time. And, the director of the search committee is also the director at Breadloaf, and asked me to join them for a night and a day this summer while I'm in Vermont. So exciting!

I've submitted my poems to two contests so far: The Iowa Review and The Florida Review. Both have a $1000 prize. Now wouldn't that be a treat??!! I am fairly certain my poems aren't quite the caliber they're looking for, but I swear I'll get a poem published before the year is out. All part of the resolution.

I sent Henry the first 40 pages of the new book. God, my heart just aches that Two Rivers is dead in the water. Move on. That's all I can do.

Sorry this is so schitzy. My brain is fractured and fragmented these days.

Catch-Up

This semester will kill me.

Sorry for the delay. Here's the last month in a flurry...Flagstaff was wonderful, lots of snow and sunshine. Esmee's birthday, a ride on The Polar Express, belated Christmas celebrations, a night out at Kama Sushi...the best sushi ever. Lots of great times with both sisters and all the family. Then, to San Diego. Oh, my heart. That's where I belong. Every time I have to leave, it feels like I'm tearing off my own skin. We caught up with all of our friends, got a chance to show the girls off, and then spent lots of time at my super duper girlfriend, Heather's house with her husband and her own two beauties. So hard to come home.

THEN...school started. talk about biting off more than you can chew. I'm like a crazy cave man gnawing on the leg of an elephant this semester. Three classes at GW and one on Saturdays at the Writer's Center. I have sixty students. And I KNOW THEIR NAMES. It's nuts. I didn't think there was room in there for sixty more names.

Since we got back, I have thrown a belated class birthday party for Esmee (which went great until I gave a Reeses to a little boy with peanut allergies...he's fine, no reaction, what does that say about what's in a Reeses though???). Here is my birthday lovely...

I have also managed to write 31 poems in the last 31 days. Some suck. Some don't. If I get gutsy I'll post a couple.

But for now, I need a beer and some American Idol.

Post-Holiday Mean Reds

What is it Holly Golightly said she got sometimes, The Mean Reds? After dragging the tree out of the house leaving a pound of needles in its wake, after washing out the now-empty snowman cookie jar, and after putting out the mountain of cardboard boxes for recycling, I'm feeling agitated. I hate the days after Christmas.

Anyway, Christmas was awesome. The girls were precious...they swear they heard Santa's sleigh taking off ("the whooosh," Kicky explained). It was a day of gluttony all around. Eggnog pancakes, eggs, and bacon for breakfast -- a four pound roast and nearly five pounds of mashed potatoes for dinner. We all went to bed that night fat and happy.

Christmas may be over, but the packages keep coming. Today we got the Cuisinart Indoor Grill we ordered (it has a griddle and a panini press!!) and my book on the Minnesota Starvation Experiment arrived. I am obsessed with this...found out about it during my research for the new book. 36 men (mostly conscientious objectors) volunteered to participate in this experiement at the end of WWII in an effort to understand how the ravages of war would be remedied...they were starved and refed over the course of a year. Fascinating. I think Sam's novel is going to be about this.

Anyway, here are my cuties on Christmas Eve....

Huuuuuuup.

That's just me coming up for air.

Alas, as the semester came to a close and just as I thought I might be able to breathe again, I took on more freelance work...needless to say, the blog and my novel have been put on the back burner on a stove that is probably not even in my kitchen. This morning I got up at 5:00 just to let my characters know I haven't stranded them in their unfinished story. I am feeling particularly antsy to make some headway because I have big plans, BIG PLANS, for next year. I might as well make the announcement now...

My first New Year's Resolution:

1. Live like a mad poet for the next 365 days: 365 days. 5 days off. 360 poems.

I am going to live, breathe, and eat words next year. I am going to try to live my life, for one year, through a poet's eyes. (That and exercise more. Eat less crap. Be a better mom. Watch less TV. Well, maybe not that much less TV.)

I did it.

I really did it. I finished a very rough draft of a novel. 29 days. 51,000 plus words. 200 pages. (This is the screen shot of my NaNoWriMo profile page...) I am sick, exhausted, and happier than I've been in a long time. Wow. It's 9:40 in the morning, but I feel like I need to pop the cork on a bottle of champagne.

I did it.

Mad Hatter (Knitter, Shopper, Writer, Raker)

I am in super-duper-girl mode today. Kicky had a field trip to see the Lincoln Memorial, so I got an extra hour at home to work. I got up at 5:00, wrote 2500 words, got the girls dressed and fed, went to Target (finished birthday and Christmas shopping for the girls as well as bought a gravy boat), came home, knit a sweater (well, part of a sweater) while watching a documentary on eating disorders (research), picked up the kids, raked every goddamned leaf off the front lawn, and ate a bowl of homemade chili. I can do anything!!!! (Actually, I'm not feeling so hot...sort of feverish with chills...but I can still move mountains!!!)

This weekend Kicky is having a Mad Hatter tea party for her birthday (15 or so kids). I'm making a teapot cake complete with a door mouse and "Eat Me" cupcakes. Then, later that day, the Thayer Family is arriving (yay!) with our awesome nephew. I am so looking forward to their visit. I love Thanksgiving; it always means sisters visiting. I wish my own could be here. We're having about ten people for Thanksgiving, and I am going to get the biggest turkey I can find. I'm thinking 50-60 pounds...

Washington Post Post

Here's the article on NaNoWriMo in the Post this weekend.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/09/AR2006110901695.html

I should make it to 20,000 words today.

Me, the girls, and my amazing boots. 

Gala

Wowee. The gala at The Atlas last night was nothing short of spectacular. It started out with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, an a capella group of DC cops (the Doo-Wop Cops). Then we were led into the flex theater for dinner (food from the three ethnic groups that founded H Street: Jewish, African-American, and Irish). The sweet potatoes were the best I have EVER had. During dinner we were entertained by a hip-hop dance troupe and Cirque de Soleil acrobats (not together...though that would have been interesting). After dinner, we were all led upstairs to the main stage theatre for a musical based on the history of H Street. Lastly, there was dessert (little tiny pies and donuts and tarts). It was incredible...so moving to see this building, this community beginning to flourish again. And my husband was a ROCKSTAR. The media was following him around with cameras. I am soooooo proud of the work he's done. His mom came for the event as well, and she was teary-eyed throughout the whole night.

The book is still on track...16,000 plus words at this point. And joy, of joys, Effie (from Breathing Water) is back! I won't spoil things, but I was so excited when I sent Mena on a walk to the boat access area at Lake Gormlaith, and found Effie there (and she wasn't alone).

Tomorrow I am talking a game plan for Two Rivers with Henry...as well as about this new book. I am excited about it. God knows if it will ever sell...I need to stop worrying about that. It's paralyzing.

Oh, lastly, I got interviewed this week by a Washington Post editor who is writing a story for the Sunday Source on NaNoWriMo. My picture might even be in the paper! How exciting. Now I HAVE to finish the novel this month.

Still ahead

I took yesterday off from the novel to clean the house...NINE loads of laundry, good gawd. But I was back up at five a.m. today, and I'm at 12,000 words. The book is sort of all over the place....not much has happened in the present story, but we're getting a whole lot of the family's history. I really, really like Finn. I actually like the whole messed up bunch of them. Franny is hazy...but then, again, she's the dead one.

Anyway, the grand opening gala at The Atlas is Wednesday. P's mom will be here tomorrow night to help us celebrate. I'm so proud of all that he's accomplished since we got here. The Atlas was featured in The Hill Rag last week....with a terrific picture of him in one of the theatre spaces.

Nocturne

So whatever bug I had came and went...thankfully, and I wrote through it. I have now gotten up at five o'clock three days in a row, and I have almost 8500 words (I haven't uploaded since this morning). It's amazing how holding back all these months is making this whole process go so easily. I've spent so much time thinking about the story that it actually feels like it's writing itself. Also, I didn't wind up making a soundtrack CD. I just turn on MusicMatch and find music for the mood I'm looking for, and hit Play. (Today it was Norah Jones and Yehuda Hanani, an Israeli-American cellist I discovered.) If I had to pick a song/composition to be theme song right now, it would be this: Nocturne, Op. 19, No. 4 - Tchaikovsky . It's so beautiful and haunting...

Things I didn't know before I started: Mena is Greek. Sam has a stalker/potential biographer. Finn is in love with a girl who's going to Brown.

Fall. 

Day One

Good writing day...check out my word count! I got up at 5:00, fought to get MusicMatch started, and then went for it. 12 pages down. I am starting to get the stomach bug though...cancelled class tomorrow, since I spent much of my day crippled in pain.

Sad news in the literary world today. William Styron has passed away.

More tomorrow as long as I am able to get from my bed to the computer.

The Countdown Begins

Only three and a half hours until NaNoWriMo begins. Tomorrow, I start writing the novel that will change my life. Scary, huh???? Check out the Nano counter...it will update as I spew. My goal for Day One is 2500 words. Any ideas for a first line? (Keep in mind the book is about manifestations of hunger.)

Meanwhile, check out my lovelies:

The eyebrows are what make the costume. I missed my calling as a makeup artist, I think.