Odd morning. I woke up…

Odd morning. I woke up around 6, got up and worked for an hour -- then felt tired and went back to bed. Didn't get up again 'til 8:30. Since then, it's been going okay, though. Roshani called and I chatted with her while drinking tea, watering plants, clearing things off my desk. It's good to have company while doing minor chores. When I got off the phone with her, I finished reading a collection of stories by Ha Jin, Under the Red Flag, for my fiction workshop class. Not sure what I think of them; some are undeniably powerful, but...not my style, I think. Yesterday I read The Matisse Stories by A.S. Byatt -- those were fabulous. Just three stories, but each one was pretty substantial; I haven't written any stories that long. And just beautiful. Sharp and intense and saturated with color.

I'm trying to get a head start on my reading for the semester. I'm going to go to campus today, apply for student loans and pick up some of the books for my post-colonialism class. Should be interesting. If I read a couple more before classes start Wednesday, that'll help. I'm expecting the fall to be rather busy, as you may have gathered. :-)

Had rehearsal last night, which was wonderful. I'm so glad I decided to go back to playing; I was really jazzed after we stopped playing, really until I went to sleep. In retrospect, I'm amazed that I let myself go years without playing music, given that I enjoy it so much. There are some SCA events coming up that I'll be playing at -- if you're local, I hope to see you there. I think there's one on October 23rd...

We've started to see some good publicity for AE, btw. I've heard it described as "the perfect marriage of form and content, taking the traditional pillow book from the bed to the bath and beyond", and there's some kind of funny commentary here on various books, including AE. It'll be out Aug 22, for those of you waiting...soon! Anyone want to review it for a local publicatin? I think I can get a review copy sent to you -- just let me know.

Well, I could chitchat here all day but that doesn't get my kitchen cleaned, unfortunately. So I will talk to y'all later...

10:30. Hey, munchkins. Good evening. I went to campus in the afternoon, applied for financial aid, bought some textbooks. Got home and vegged for a bit, and then met up with Newton Ewell for dinner. Newton is an artist I met at ConDuit and we've been meaning to get together forever. Had a really good dinner at Bombay House, drove home in a rising thunderstorm (pausing in the parking lot of the Red Butte Garden for a while to watch the spectacular sunset), and then hung out at my place eating sorbet, drinking tea and talking about writing and art. Really cool and inspiring; there's something really energizing about hanging out with other creative types. We're going to think about maybe putting some of our work together; if I do that CD, I may get him to do the cover. We'll see.

I did realize something a bit negative, though. You know how I was thinking of doing a kids' CD as well as an adults' one? Well, the main item on the kids' CD was going to be this story I wrote -- and I realized that I really did want to try to sell it to a children's book publisher, which meant that it probably wasn't the best idea to put it on a CD first. :-( Sorry 'bout that. So I'm going to (at some point) try to sell it -- if I fail, then you can have it on CD, okay? So you can hope for that... :-)

Anyway, Karina's about to call, so I should probably get going. Just wanted to comment briefly on what a nice evening it was, and how I wish I weren't tired, so I could write!

Sitting Under a Tree, In the Rain

reading a book of poetry
or maybe short stories, or
both -- it's hard to tell
with this author; rich wet air,
occasional drops falling into
my hair, onto the pages, and I
am purely happy, in a way
that is like riding your bike
down a very steep hill, or
wading in a stony brook --
it is a way that I knew
how to follow once, but
for a long time, I
have been too scared --
to read a book,
under a tree,
in light rain.