In the interim, I had an idea for a story. Late last night, actually, when I was just too damned tired to get up and write it -- it'll be long. At least 3000 words if I'm going to do it right, I think. Which means at least 3 hours (it's convenient that my writing tends to translate so neatly in time). And I didn't want to be up that late and I don't have that large a stretch of uninterrupted time today. So I think it'll be tomorrow. The only thing I have scheduled is to go see "Lolita" with Heather and David at 1 -- if I get up early, I can get in a good 5-7 hours of writing before that, and maybe I can get this damn thing down. If I do it right, it'll be scary (for me), but possibly very good. We'll see.
Clean Sheets could easily take over my life, you know. I think about it all the time. Still, this upcoming week shouldn't be too bad -- two fiction pieces which Kirstin will put up, one book review, one website column, one reprint of mouthorgan. Any suggestions on which was mouthorgan's best September column? I haven't looked yet myself. I've done book reviews before, and the other two columns are basically the same setup. Should be fine, right? Should be simple, hmmm? Famous last words.
Plan for today -- hang out with David mostly. Around lunchtime, run up to Lacis with my friend Chris -- I'm making a costume for him. Well, I'm actually only making a bit of a costume for him, the vest. He'll buy a foofy white shirt and some fabric for a cravat (anyone know how to tie a cravat?) and wear appropriate pants and socks and shoes. It'll be lovely. Very 1800's. I'm still waffling on what I'm doing for Halloween, but if they have the appropriate pattern (Stone Mountain & Daughter was out), I may make an empire gown for myself. High-waisted, cord-crossed -- imagine the old Grecian look and you'll be right about there. I can't figure out whether to go for classic white with gold cording or something like a rich green, which is more my color. We'll see what fabrics they have, I suppose.
Then this evening, Mike and Leah's wedding. (Oh, I still have to pick up part of their present. Must remember to do that while I'm out.) (And I have to wrap them. Right.) Leah was one of my Clarion classmates, if you remember. It's so lovely that she's marrying Mike -- they're both sf writers, and they're so stable together, it's really nice to see. Mike's an astronomer by profession, and the wedding is going to be in an observatory. Or the reception is. Something like that. In any case, there will be ample opportunity for star-gazing, which is pretty damn cool. David and I tried to find constellations last night, but only managed to pin down Cassiopeia (which looks like a 'W'. How is that supposed to look like a woman, huh).
I think I may just putter for the rest of the morning, cleaning and such. I'm trying to resist the urge to check Todd's journal often -- he got very upset about LeGuin a third of the way through _The Left Hand of Darkness_, and I offered him some commentary LeGuin wrote on it (both the 1976 and the 1988 versions), and he felt a little better, I think. But I'm intensely curious to know what he thinks of it once he finishes it. Okay, one check -- and then dishes. I've been promising El that I'd do the dishes for days now...she keeps doing them before I get to them.