The jasmine is blooming….

The jasmine is blooming. I took the bus home from dinner with my uncle and when I stepped off it I was hit by a wave of fragrance. I remember this from when I first arrived in the Bay Area, August a year and a half ago -- I'd drive up to Berkeley with friends, and all along route 13 (a quiet back road highway that practically takes me from my door to my favorite sf bookstore, games store and places to eat out) there would be this incredible, indescribable scent. It took me weeks to figure out what it was, since I was whizzing by it in a car, and I was somewhat embarrassed when I finally realized that it was jasmine, since on the rare occasions when I wear scent, it's usually a drop or two of jasmine oil -- somehow it smells different when it's fresh from the blossoms and suffusing the air...

It's Friday the 13th and a full moon tonight. Nothing strange has happened so far, unless you count meeting up with my uncle (not really my uncle, but my cousin's husband, but since he's older and has a baby and all...) for drinks and snacks and conversation. I haven't seen him in quite a while, and it was nice to get together, even if briefly; he was in town for a business convention, and short of time. We mostly talked family stuff, which was only mildly stressful this time around. I had forgotten that he is not only sweet, but possesses a sense of humor, which I sometimes think is rare in my family (and in me, to be honest). Of course, he married in...

I'm fighting the urge to be a little mopey. I'm tired...it's only an hour or so 'til my bedtime and tomorrow promises to be very busy. I'm moderating a panel at a publishing conference at Mills, and from the conversations I've had so far with the panelists, I'm afraid there may be a bit of a battle over the question of self-publishing on-line...

If any of you are writers and in the area, I probably should have announced this conference before; it starts at 9:30 at Mills and costs $10 for non-students, and I think it promises to be well worth the cost of admission...and you get to watch me cracking the whip over unruly panelists. :-)

I'd probably best just go read a little and then go to sleep. Have a lovely weekend, my darlings...