Open arms for July

does anyone else find it cathartic to rip the page off the calendar when it's been a rough month, and see a fresh, clean new month ahead? All those blank squares, just waiting to be filled with possibility...

and then, in that silence, music!

Catching up:
Playlist updated, more or less.
I've moved to North Carolina, more or less.
Got a job, more or less.
Started taking a kickboxing class.
Need to buy a new car.
Tuned up my cello for the first time in a year.

Finished drafts of Eat the Comet and another as-yet-untitled piece. I have high hopes for Comet and plan to knuckle down on it this week and crank out another draft now that I've gotten tons of great feedback for it.
That story really is my red-headed stepchild. Some days I love it and some days it just pisses me off. It really is outside my comfort zone and isn't really my genre, but I think as long as I'm patient with it and not too hard on myself for not being a better parent to it as I neglect it or tear it apart, it could grow up and find a home someplace like Asimov's. That's the shoot-for-the-stars dream, anyway. As it is, I'm happy just knowing that something I created has already made my friends laugh out loud in such places as Economy Class transatlantic flights, Nursing school classrooms, coffee houses, and desks in various offices.

My current writing space is Caffe Driade, which has excellent coffee and this great middle-of-nowhere feel to it. I go there and feel like I've stepped into a vast wilderness that just happens to have a little coffee house there. I actually see foxes and other critters hanging out around me and there are trees and plants everywhere, including a giant potted tree on the roof. It is the best possible environment for me to be productive. It was there that I completed the handwritten first draft of a Once Upon A Time type story. I haven't typed it up yet, as I'd planned to do today, because I needed to let it settle so I could figure out which of the 3 endings I'd come up with to use.

Lastly, as usual, I find out about these things late, but though the story's a couple of years old now, you may find the same inspiration I did in learning about Owen and Mzee, a baby hippo and an ancient tortoise, respectively, who bonded and became best buddies after Owen washed up in Africa after the tsunami.

Good Morning

This morning, I woke up late, hobbled around on blistered feet, accidentally spit toothpaste into my hair and decided that checking my e-mail would be a safe enough activity while I waited for the coffee to brew.
Alas, my friend M-M had other plans in store for me. Waiting in my inbox screaming to be read aloud just to be comprehended was the following:


i haven't called you like i planned on doing like everynight this past week! here's what to do if i don't call you tonight like i say i is...

...go to the tallest tree where by you shall reach up to the closest branch, after reaching that very most approiate branch thee shall break said branch away from previous metioned tallest tree which is to be located by thee at the chosen hour of 9:42 pm eastern standard time (taking into account that the clocks hath moveth in speed one hour, not bothering here fore that if thy country hath not switchith all presently known americaized clocks in speed one hour, the time indeed would stillist be a' tick and tock at one hour behind in retrospect makethingth all presently know americanized clocks (save clocks pretaining to hawaii and alaska) the time of 8:42 pm eastern standard time, but this the time shall not appear in the mountain/central or west coast and island time zones. but heed the the correct hour of passing which be 9:42 pm eastern standard time. hence forth, once the having obtained the one and desired severed branch from the before metioned tallest tree lookest thou about thy urban landscapes to go set off on the task of selecting the most shinny metal

trash can that stands like a grungy centinal to the northern horizon. when upon this shinny metal of a trash can is to be discovered, stand tall and be proud in thy discovery and in celebration and jubilation raiseth most recently and only severed branch of aforemetioned tallest tree and commence in the beating and banging of found shinny metal trash can, whileist reciting in a lound and shrill command :

"why didn't you eat that party mix! why didn't you eat the party mix! damn you!".

such is the solution to pursue if none of the phones calls are received in the proclaimation of friendship, knitting circles and inquries the availability of the african racoon during drought season. [sic.]

Pictures on a Sick Weather Night

Had fun running around the A.R.E. and the beach with my friend Sam. Click on the pictures to see them bigger (I hope. Blogger is iffy about this today. Let me know if it doesn't work!)

	yes, I'm hugging a shrink-wrapped palm tree.
	Can anyone NOT scream along with "livin' on a prayer?"
	at least Sam agrees with me
	Sam contemplates the water lilies
	Don't fall in!
	I stop to smell the gardenias
	So, bamboo... not so good for hiding!
	pretty fountain
	you remind me of the babe... okay, so not that kind of Labyrinth
	these boots are made for walkin'
	tree hugger, I know
	tree climber!
	can you see me? I can't see you!