The event yesterday was truly fabulous. My reading went well, and I was honored to be in stellar company -- the other perfomers, mostly bands, were tremendously good. We all donated our time to the event, which let the Hothouse make the benefit affordable; Funkadesi, for example, who performed late in the evening, usually charges $5000 a night. It was great fun, hanging out with friends: Sapna and Sanjay (who just went to India and got engaged) and Aparna and Neeraja and David and Heather and Aaron and Shannon and Julia and more. We ate the free food, we drank (I had a chocolate raspberry martini), we chatted in between half-hour sets, and at the end of the evening, we even danced. All good.
I'm still in recovery mode; the plan for today is to get the laundry and groceries under control, and keep the tv room, kitchen, and my bathroom clean. Also to write to my student in Ethiopia (one of my MFA students who is out of the country all semester) and set up a study plan with her. Modest goals, yes? No writing, though I think Bob and I are scheduled to have a long talk about my novel this afternoon. I think tomorrow I may start back in on the writing, though I'm reserving the right to wait until Wednesday if I deem it necessary. I have a job interview with Otis College Tuesday, and another with Nebraska Wesleyan Wednesday. I should hear from most of the schools I interviewed with at MLA this week, about whether they want me for an on-campus interview. We'll see what happens.
I leave April 3rd for Sri Lanka, so my new fitness goal is to be down to 130 pounds (what I weighed in college) by the end of March. That's 12 pounds in roughly 10 weeks. That may be a bit overoptimistic, but if I get to 135 (losing 7 pounds), I'll be content, I think. I think it's good to have a range for these things -- from ideal to acceptable.