Before the Debate
I saw this article yesterday. Bush's hometown paper endorses Kerry. I've been reading various books and articles about 9/11, Bush, the Israel-Palestine conflict, etc. that are just depressing the hell out of me. I also read this (look for the 9/29 post titled "WSJ reporter Fassihi's e-mail to friends," which is an email from a Wall Street Journal reporter about the war in Iraq (seen on Pamie). Anyway, I can't think too much about the war, Bush, or terrorism without wanting to take a nap, so I'll change the subject.
I love my new job. But after having most of the summer off, I'm having a little bit of trouble getting back into the swing of a full-time job. I mean this only in the scheduling sense. I'm tired and having a hard time doing all the things I want to do in the day (especially writing). I'm in the new job adjustment period, which one friend told me lasts about a month, so hopefully I'll be able to pull it together soon. This is a very minor complaint, more like an observation. I'm just trying to figure out how to work full time, finish my book, and spend time with my husband. And work out, and clean the house, and cook, and, you know, have a life. The same problem everyone else in the world is trying to figure out, unless we die in the meantime. I mean, we all gotta die sometime, right?
See the train of thought my brain is on when I think about the current political situation? Scary. My opinion of current events is so poor that I think, "Well, I'll be dead someday and it won't matter." Sad, sad, sad. I think I'm becoming a pessimist.
Thursday
Tuesday
9/11 Widows
The "Jersey Girls," four 9/11 widows, endorse John Kerry, even though at least two of them voted for Bush in 2000.
"'The truth is, after watching the Republican convention in New York, I am scared. I am scared of the mentality,' said Kirsten Breitweiser, the most celebrated of the self-styled Jersey Girls, four widows who led a dogged campaign to force the Bush administration to establish an independent investigation into the attacks."
The "Jersey Girls," four 9/11 widows, endorse John Kerry, even though at least two of them voted for Bush in 2000.
"'The truth is, after watching the Republican convention in New York, I am scared. I am scared of the mentality,' said Kirsten Breitweiser, the most celebrated of the self-styled Jersey Girls, four widows who led a dogged campaign to force the Bush administration to establish an independent investigation into the attacks."
Saturday
Employed
Through a strange twist of events, I seem to have landed my dream job.
Nate and I had a plan regarding our move to Dallas. Since I was going to quit a job I enjoyed because of his job relocation, we decided that I would get to take some time off to write my novel. Also, I had been accepted into a writer's conference, and since it was 11 days long, the unemployment timing worked out really well. I didn't think it would make sense to try to find a new job and then ask for almost two weeks off. So I didn't really look for work during July and August. I applied for two jobs during those two months, I think, and had a first-round interview for one, and didn't get hired, which I am now thankful for.
I got back from Bread Loaf and started looking for a job more seriously. And I got really depressed. For two weeks, I didn't see any writing or arts related jobs at all. I had started considering other kinds of jobs, which Nate talked me out of applying for. He argued that we are no dire need of money and that I should try to find something I would like. And he also said he thought I was getting depressed for no reason because the way things tend to work for me is that I get anxious and impatient about something and then that thing suddenly appears in my life and I say, "Woah, wait, isn't this happening kind of fast?" Which is pretty much what happened here.
On Tuesday I applied for what can very nearly be described as my dream job. The position is to help coordinate a series of author readings here in Dallas. So the job duties include things like: researching authors; reading the invited authors' books; entertaining those authors while they are in Dallas; and attending book and literary festivals to scope out future invitees. On Wednesday I had a phone interview. I interviewed in person on Thursday. They offered me the job on Friday and I start working on Monday.
I know this will be a job, like any job, with duties and assorted things I may not like about it. No position is perfect, but I think this job is going to be close, and perhaps a little dangerous for me. Because books and writing are my crack. (Case in point: I stayed up until 5 am last night/this morning finishing a book because I get obsessed like that. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver, in case you're interested.) I am essentially going to get paid to do what I like to do anyway. Read, research writers, and go to book festivals. I'm feeling pretty darn lucky right now. And happy.
Through a strange twist of events, I seem to have landed my dream job.
Nate and I had a plan regarding our move to Dallas. Since I was going to quit a job I enjoyed because of his job relocation, we decided that I would get to take some time off to write my novel. Also, I had been accepted into a writer's conference, and since it was 11 days long, the unemployment timing worked out really well. I didn't think it would make sense to try to find a new job and then ask for almost two weeks off. So I didn't really look for work during July and August. I applied for two jobs during those two months, I think, and had a first-round interview for one, and didn't get hired, which I am now thankful for.
I got back from Bread Loaf and started looking for a job more seriously. And I got really depressed. For two weeks, I didn't see any writing or arts related jobs at all. I had started considering other kinds of jobs, which Nate talked me out of applying for. He argued that we are no dire need of money and that I should try to find something I would like. And he also said he thought I was getting depressed for no reason because the way things tend to work for me is that I get anxious and impatient about something and then that thing suddenly appears in my life and I say, "Woah, wait, isn't this happening kind of fast?" Which is pretty much what happened here.
On Tuesday I applied for what can very nearly be described as my dream job. The position is to help coordinate a series of author readings here in Dallas. So the job duties include things like: researching authors; reading the invited authors' books; entertaining those authors while they are in Dallas; and attending book and literary festivals to scope out future invitees. On Wednesday I had a phone interview. I interviewed in person on Thursday. They offered me the job on Friday and I start working on Monday.
I know this will be a job, like any job, with duties and assorted things I may not like about it. No position is perfect, but I think this job is going to be close, and perhaps a little dangerous for me. Because books and writing are my crack. (Case in point: I stayed up until 5 am last night/this morning finishing a book because I get obsessed like that. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver, in case you're interested.) I am essentially going to get paid to do what I like to do anyway. Read, research writers, and go to book festivals. I'm feeling pretty darn lucky right now. And happy.
Wednesday
Oh, the Irony
As I get closer to finishing the draft of the novel, as I know more and more about my characters, as I have fewer and fewer doubts about what will happen next or how the characters would respond, I find myself slowing down. I don't think it's any kind of a block or fear of failure or any other psychoanalytical bs. I think as I near the end, it feels like a good-bye. And I've been living with these characters for two years now, longer if you count the time the idea was in my head but not yet on paper. So it's hard for me to let go, even though this is just a draft and after it's finished, the real work will begin. So even though I'm months away from truly being done, it still feels like the beginning of the end, which is why I'm slowing down. I guess. Still, no matter how much I drag my feet, I should be done with the draft by the end of September. (Knock on wood. Hope I didn't just jinx myself there.) In fact, if I were writing at the rate I was earlier in the summer, I would already be finished.
I've been thinking about productivity in terms of writing, probably because I read several writing-related blogs and some of those are written by successful, published novelists. And I think that publishing one book a year, while probably optimum for sales, is not so good for the writing. I think it is very difficult to write a serious book in a year and damn-near impossible to do it year after year. Some stories are gifts. William Faulkner reportedly wrote As I Lay Dying in six weeks, but that kind of thing happens once (twice, if you're lucky) in a lifetime. I think your brain needs time to recover after writing a book. And if you push yourself to produce another one too soon, you're bound to produce some derivative stuff. I'm sure there are exceptions to this rule and some people can effortlessly produce masterpieces in six months but I think those writers are rare.
And when I say "serious" I don't necessarily mean "literary." I read all kinds of fiction--genre, literary, whatever. If it's got a good story, I'll read it. When I say serious, I mean a writer's best effort, not which section the novel will find itself placed in a book store.
As I get closer to finishing the draft of the novel, as I know more and more about my characters, as I have fewer and fewer doubts about what will happen next or how the characters would respond, I find myself slowing down. I don't think it's any kind of a block or fear of failure or any other psychoanalytical bs. I think as I near the end, it feels like a good-bye. And I've been living with these characters for two years now, longer if you count the time the idea was in my head but not yet on paper. So it's hard for me to let go, even though this is just a draft and after it's finished, the real work will begin. So even though I'm months away from truly being done, it still feels like the beginning of the end, which is why I'm slowing down. I guess. Still, no matter how much I drag my feet, I should be done with the draft by the end of September. (Knock on wood. Hope I didn't just jinx myself there.) In fact, if I were writing at the rate I was earlier in the summer, I would already be finished.
I've been thinking about productivity in terms of writing, probably because I read several writing-related blogs and some of those are written by successful, published novelists. And I think that publishing one book a year, while probably optimum for sales, is not so good for the writing. I think it is very difficult to write a serious book in a year and damn-near impossible to do it year after year. Some stories are gifts. William Faulkner reportedly wrote As I Lay Dying in six weeks, but that kind of thing happens once (twice, if you're lucky) in a lifetime. I think your brain needs time to recover after writing a book. And if you push yourself to produce another one too soon, you're bound to produce some derivative stuff. I'm sure there are exceptions to this rule and some people can effortlessly produce masterpieces in six months but I think those writers are rare.
And when I say "serious" I don't necessarily mean "literary." I read all kinds of fiction--genre, literary, whatever. If it's got a good story, I'll read it. When I say serious, I mean a writer's best effort, not which section the novel will find itself placed in a book store.
Thursday
Stolen
Yesterday, our Kerry-Edwards sign was stolen from our front yard. Curiously, they left the Martin Frost sign. Today I found out at least one other neighbor's sign went missing the same day. Luckily, we had an extra. It's already up but now we have to make a stockpile. I'm sure as the election gets closer, the signs will disappear again. It's so nice to respect a diversity of opinion, don't you think?
Yesterday, our Kerry-Edwards sign was stolen from our front yard. Curiously, they left the Martin Frost sign. Today I found out at least one other neighbor's sign went missing the same day. Luckily, we had an extra. It's already up but now we have to make a stockpile. I'm sure as the election gets closer, the signs will disappear again. It's so nice to respect a diversity of opinion, don't you think?
Wednesday
My Old School
St. Ann's has a web site. Pretty exciting stuff. This is where I spent some of my formative years, had my first boyfriend, first kiss, etc. The school has even found its fictional way into my novel. There's a scene in the book that takes place at the annual family fair and although the scene is fictional, the setting is not.
Also, I get a lot of emails from Dutchovers around the country. So, do any of you Dutchovers know when the annual Dutchover family reunion is? I'm trying to find out. And if any of you have historical/geneaological information you'd like to put online, I'd be happy to post some of the info on my site.
St. Ann's has a web site. Pretty exciting stuff. This is where I spent some of my formative years, had my first boyfriend, first kiss, etc. The school has even found its fictional way into my novel. There's a scene in the book that takes place at the annual family fair and although the scene is fictional, the setting is not.
Also, I get a lot of emails from Dutchovers around the country. So, do any of you Dutchovers know when the annual Dutchover family reunion is? I'm trying to find out. And if any of you have historical/geneaological information you'd like to put online, I'd be happy to post some of the info on my site.