8:00 p.m. I was going to write more at work, but first I got busy and then I got tired. Recap of weekend; Friday night went to cocktail party with Arthur, which was fun, though I was a bit tired for mingling with people I had never met, and then dinner at a rather nice Italian restaurant named Apuerto, maybe? The crab cake/risotto appetizer was delectable, and the chocolate souffle was truly stellar. Stayed up too late talking to Arthur but didn't regret it, as it was a really wonderful conversation, probably the best we've had. Great evening.
Saturday went up to Berkeley in the morning, sadly missed the early morning birthday thing I was supposed to do, went to Anna's and worked on Kaplan stuff, met up with Zed, did some more Kaplan stuff, including walking over and touring their library, came back to Anna's and met up with Jed and the three of us worked on our critiques for the SFY writing group for a while, then Zed took off and I finished mine and then read the beginning of Severna Park's _Speaking Dreams_, which I liked almost as much as her _Hand of Prophecy_ (translation: quite a bit). I recommend reading them in the opposite order from what I did; I imagine you'll be much less confused. Jed finished up his critiques, we picked up some roses and bread and pate, and went off to a potluck birthday dinner for Jen (of Jen and Swati). Pleasant conversation and good food (someone brought Ethiopian!), but I was again exhausted by 10, and Jed kindly took me home. Good evening.
Did manage to sleep most of 8 hours; the next morning was spent doing a bit more working, printing out the NEA application (did I mention I was applying for an individual grant? I managed to get it out today, the deadline, woohoo! Worth a shot, eh?), getting groceries, and making tea. The daffodil cake came out a little odd 'cause Avi turned up the heat, not realizing there was something in the oven (he took over making the scones when he arrived, and he was prepping his oven), but tasted good, and looked so purty with the fresh daffodils (a bunch for $1.50, what a deal!). The scones were lovely, and Susan and I made tea sandwiches, smoked honey turkey this time with a dijon mustard/mayonnaise spread on Swedish rye (no seeds, 'cause Jed doesn't like caraway seeds), garnished with sliced olive and fresh parsley from the garden. Yumyum.
It was a good writing group (that's why everyone was over and eating tea) meeting, especially since nothing of mine was being critiqued! :-) That evening I can't remember what I did -- oh right, laundry and preparing the stories for the NEA application. I sent out "Minal in Winter", "Mint in Your Throat", "Ghosts", and "Esthely Blue". We'll see what they think. (Eventually. The earliest reporting date is January 2000).
I'm tired. One more thing, and then I'm going to go. This is a big one, though:
Heather and I are doing a CD! And yes, you can buy a copy! When we get it done, that is. We're each going to take half, and we'll do the joint piece, "Carol Throws a Party". It'll be a mix of poetry and prose, and I think it'll be really fun. She's got a friend who has all the equipment we need, so all we need to do is choose our pieces, time them, organize them, rehearse them, and record! I don't actually think it'll take more than 8 hours total, so it seems a manageable project. So once we know how much it'll cost, we'll let you know about how to order it. In the meantime, let me know if you have any requests! I'm pretty sure "Esthely Blue" will go on there, but I'm really not sure what else. Don't say "Challah", 'cause it still needs a bunch of revision. But any other romantic and/or erotic pieces are fine.
Okay, that's it -- I'm beat. Talk to y'all probably Wednesday (tomorrow is work followed by Kaplan followed by Clean Sheets, oof.)