walk this world with me

It's definitely a Heather Nova sort Tuesday morning; drizzly and angsty. How's everybody doing out there? I'm gearing up for spending part of today and part of tomorrow on the crash book I'm dealing with at work right now. And I'm still on last week's to-do list. At least there's nothing on my list for Thursday and Friday; hopefully I'll get caught up then.

In other news, I broke thirty thousand words over the weekend on the novel I'm writing. And I managed to reorganize the closet, and did a lot of freelancing. A good productive weekend. But I have to be honest, I'm still aching for a lazy day at home alone with a cup of tea and a good book. And maybe a good angsty movie, like Foxfire.

I with I had more to report, but things are quiet and busy these days. Between freelancing and apartment hunting and band rehearsals, there hasn't been a whole lot of time for reading or introspection or anything.

Happy Tuesday, everybody!

dreaming of poetry

Sorry for the long pause there; between a crash book at work, two freelance projects at home, and beginning the search for a bigger apartment, I've had very little time for reading, blogging, writing, etc. It's a shame, really, because I feel like I've had a lot to say. And I've been dying for a nice autumn day in the park with some tea and a book. Maybe I can make that happen for a while Saturday morning. . . .

One book to report: 43) Birds of Paradise by Diana Abu-Jaber. I loved this book. Frankly, I love everything I've read by Diana Abu-Jaber; her language sings. This book is about a fractured family. The daughter ran away at thirteen. Five years later, the mother and father are struggling to hold it together, while the son, a college dropout, struggles to keep his organic market afloat. This book is really about a chance for redemption, and it's beautiful. If you haven't read any of Abu-Jaber's books, go to the bookstore RIGHT NOW. She's amazing.

Beyond that, I don't have much to report. I'm still restless. I still am lacking in time to do the things I want to do. Lately I've been really missing poetry. I want to start reading/writing it again, but I find it hard for my writer-brain to exist on the poetry side and the fiction side at the same time. Anybody have any poets to recommend, for new reading material? I'd love to get into some different writers.

I did go to a CD release party last week for Bess Rogers. I supported her album on Kickstarter. I really enjoyed her as well as her two openers. But going to her show really made me miss being in a band. Anybody want to jam, once my bass is no longer residing in my storage unit?

All right. Busy week at work; I should probably get to it. Happy Wednesday, everybody. I'll see you on the other side.

daydreaming of the deli girl

Happy Monday everybody! How was your weekend? Mine was good. Really productive. I wrote five thousand words, did a bunch of copyediting, got most of my handwashing done, practiced clarinet both days, watched Easy A, which I loved, and finished two of the books I've been muddling through!

Without further ado, the last couple of books I read:

40) City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare. This is book four of the Mortal Instruments series, and it was a lot of fun to delve back into the world of the Shadow Hunters. I enjoyed getting to know Simon better as a character as he struggled with his new identity. It's definitely worth reading, and definitely a keeper, but I didn't feel like it was quite as good as the first three. There was a lot more teenage emotional angst in this one. And while I really like where the story is going, and understand that some of the angst really is necessary to the plot, I had a couple moments when I wanted to grab the characters by the shoulders and shake them. that said, Cassie is a consistently good urban fantasy YA author, and I definitely recommend her.

41) Territory by Emma Bull. I love everything I've read by Emma Bull, to be honest. Her books blow me away. This one is Tombstone, and Wyatt Earp, and Doc Holliday, plus magic. What's not to love? I don't want to be any more spoilery than that, for those of you who haven't read it, so I'll just say that I love the slow build-up with the magic. I adore the characters, especially Mildred Benjamin. And I could easy hang out in this world for a few hundred more pages!

42) Live Nude Elf by Reverend Jen. This is basically a memoir of the two years she spent writing a sex column for Nerve, and all the crazy things she did so she could write about them in said column. I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would; Reverend Jen is a quirky, candid narrator with a good sense of humor. However, I don't think I'll be revisiting this title. I only need to read about violated jars of mayonnaise and seventies-inspired key parties once, really.

So, think I'll make it to fifty titles this year? I'm sure I will. I don't think I'll match last year, though. How on earth did I read seventy books last year? Maybe I'll aim for fifty-five this year. That's not a bad number.

There's a deli I go to every morning to buy my coffee before I start my work day, and the girl who works the cash register is great. Quirky, slightly retro sense of style. Tattoos on her hands. Amazing jungle green nail polish that inspired me to go find a bottle in that color. She's always friendly. But she's not there on Mondays. Somehow I never remember this, and am always saddened when I enter the deli to discover that my deli girl isn't there behind the counter.

Ah, well. On to my Monday. There's a lot to do at work today, and freelancing and band rehearsal after. Ta!

Mabon

Happy Mabon, everyone! (Yes, I know I'm a day late.) Mabon is the second harvest festival, so we had a great dinner: an entire chicken, stuffed bell peppers from our garden, and a sweet potato puree with fig goat cheese on top. Top that off with a bottle of red, and it was perfect. After dinner we did a really nice ritual with our friend A. Even though we were all up way past our bedtimes, it was a lovely evening.

What did you all do to celebrate Mabon?

Addendum

As an addendum to the link I posted last week regarding LGBT characters/themes in YA fiction, please read this as well. Ah, Internet, how easy it is for things to spiral out of control. . . .

It's Tuesday, but today is my Monday. I took yesterday off since it was my partner-in-crime's birthday. We had a really nice weekend. I think America should change to a four-day work week. How great would that be?

I'm a little sad this morning; our foster puppy moved in with a nice family yesterday. I miss her. I know I haven't mentioned her before. I'll try to do a post soon about our whole experience with the puppy. For now I'll just drink my coffee and get to work, and try to ignore the sadness.

I hope everyone has a good week!

link salad

Hey guys, no time for a long post, but I wanted to share a few links:

• Check out this amazing book art. I would love to have a sculpture like this on display in my apartment!
• This blows my mind. What is the point in asking authors to cut gay characters from their narrative? I'm very offended about that happening in my industry. I hope it wasn't one of the agents I've submitted to; I would hate to support an individual who's close-minded about character types in fiction.
• Here's a map of New York that shows the current location of many food truck vendors. How cool is that? It doesn't show ALL of the food trucks out there, but it's a good start.
• Hedi Slimane's photo diary is a thing of beauty. Recently, he posted pictures of Frances Bean Cobain, and they are STUNNING photos.

Time to get to work. Happy Wednesday, everybody!

champagne dreams

Life has continued to be busy, busy, busy. I'm definitely struggling with balancing work, freelance, writing, relationship, clarinet, and social life. I'm determined to slow down for the rest of September, to have time to enjoy the beginning of autumn. I want time to sit in the park with a cup of tea and a good book.

That said, apartment hunting should begin sometime in the next week or two. I can't WAIT to live aboveground, in a place with lots of windows and more space. I'll tr to post regularly about how the hunt goes.

And here are a couple books:

38) Heartless by Gail Carriger. This is the fourth book in the Umbrella Protectorate series, and as I've said before, I just adore them. The language is sharp, I love the juxtaposition of the vampires and werewolves with Victorian London, and the steampunk bits are great without being overwhelming. I can't wait for the fifth and final book in this series.

39) How Did You Get This Number by Sloane Crosley. I always enjoy Sloan Crosley's essays. I think they're sharp and funny. I read her first collection a year or two ago for a book club, and was hooked. For anyone who likes the essay as a writing genre, or who likes humorous writing, I'd say give her work a try. This one is definitely a keeper for me.

In other news . . . I have a temporary puppy. She's lived with us for three weeks now. If anyone out there is interested in adopting a very sweet chihuahua mix puppy, or knows someone who might be, please get in touch. I love the puppy, but we can't keep her. Sigh.

I need to start thinking about plane tickets home for the holidays. It seems early for that, doesn't it? It seems early to me, too. But tickets are just getting more and more expensive. I paid far too much to go home for that wedding in July; I'd really like this plane ticket to be cheaper.

Last night, I dreamed that my twin sister was marrying her boyfriend. It was the day off; all the guests were arriving, we were trying to get ready, things were in chaos. Then we decided to take a ten-minute power nap. We laid down at 2, and the ceremony was supposed to be at 2:30. We woke up at 4, and panicked. All the guests were wondering what was going on. My sister finished getting ready while I circulated among the guests to tell them that the ceremony would happen at 4:30. I caught a guy trying to steal a camera from a girl's backpack, which he then denied. Weird. When it was time for the ceremony I still wasn't ready, although I was the guest of honor, so I slapped some makeup on and just left my hair down, and we went to the hall to do the ceremony. The groom-to-be's friends were playing the music for the ceremony on guitar, bass, and drums. It was fun. I woke up thinking how fun it would be if they actually got married.

And on that note, I should settle into my Monday morning at work. Have a good week, everybody, and I'll do the same.