- Wed: Arrived at parents', mellow evening with relatives, helped my
mom cut up so many carrots that I got a blister on my finger -- ouch! My
sister and I went clothes-shopping (at 9 p.m. :-) for stellar pre-T-giving
sales; I got a lovely long purple velvety dress for $20 -- woohoo!
- Thurs: Lots of relatives, fun with little cousins (not so little
anymore), setting up table with apple candles, cloved oranges, and a bowl
of floating candles and cut flowers (amazingly, my dad's mums are still
blooming outside, despite snow and freezing weather), spreading tables
with both American Thanksgiving food (turkey and all the trimmings) and
Sri Lankan party food (fancy fried rice and about ten other dishes).
Astonishingly, this is actually cutting back and taking it easy for my
family. We're still eating leftovers.
- Fri: David came and picked me up; went to his sister's place and met
nieces, then to his parents' place for dinner. Nice, though on the quiet
side. Played Scrabble and he stomped me once again, though I did have
something of a comeback in the last third of the game. He dropped me at
Alex's, and hung out for a bit chatting with Alex, Yuko (visiting from
S.F.) and I. Once he left, I think we talked 'til midnight.
- Sat: Slept in...mmmm....then went for brunch at Tea and Sympathy.
Absolutely delectable scones (want their recipe!) with clotted cream and
jam; highly recommended. Also had sardines on toast with a side of
grilled tomatoes -- really felt like I was back in Britain. It's been
something like seven years; I miss it. Good tea. Afterwards Alex took us
to a musical -- we saw Dirty Blonde, about Mae West. Clever
and fun and sweet; really made me want to go rent Mae West movies. In the
late afternoon, played poker and drank more tea; I started with a hundred
chips (in go stones, actually) and ended with a hundred and ten, which
after two hours of playing in a game with Alex is quite an accomplishment
(though, of course, that money actually came from Yuko, who hadn't played
before). Evening, met Shmuel for kosher pizza, good conversation, and
then dragged him back to Alex's for more conversation. On the way,
stopped at Warner Brothers Studio Store and bought Gryffindor t-shirt!!!
Shmuel got a Slytherin one. Was ridiculously pleased despite caving in to
consumerism in the most awful way. Am wearing it now with my pyjamas.
Stayed up talking past midnight.
- Sun: Train to Mamaroneck, met by David, gave me a ride up to CT.
Very sweet of him, especially considering that I dozed most of the way.
On the train, had a sf story idea, oddly enough. Got to parents', ate
lunch with little sister who then went off to bus stop to go back to
college. Went upstairs, avoided computer for about an hour (dozing some
more), and then wrote furiously from about 2 -- 5:30. Finished first
draft of "Savariian and the Aliens". Sent it out. Waited eagerly for
responses from loyal readers. Received none in the first three hours of
waiting. Attempted to stave off post-story depression by re-reading first
Harry Potter (good) and journal-entry-writing (not quite as effective).
Okay, it's not all she wrote. She's writing more. See? Probably 'cause she's not quite sure what she's going to do once she stops writing. 8:30 is too early to go sleep, but if she goes downstairs, she might have to talk to her parents without either sister (or other relatives) acting as buffer. Oh, the horror.
Hmm...is kind of interesting that I felt the urge to write a sf story. I wonder if it's because I was reading a Star Trek novel (not one of the better ones) a few days ago. I think maybe I'm heavily influenced by what I read, so that when I'm reading a lot of smut, I start wanting to write smut, and ditto with immigrant stories, sf/f, or general mainstream lit. I'm a literary chameleon -- which is okay, I think. If I like reading in all those genres, there really isn't a good reason for me not to write in all of them, right? The only genre not well-represented in my writing is probably kids' lit, which I do love but am scared to attempt for fear of doing it poorly. I had an idea for a kids' novel a while ago, but it seems to have drifted off into the aether for the moment.
Oops -- hear a relative downstairs. Must go chat. Talk to y'all from Salt Lake tomorrow!