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Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Last week, this week
After a fairly dreadful week (cat with incurable disease, currently not life-threatening but which makes him unable/unwilling to go outside hence necessitating much laundry, bleaching floors and finding of old litter tray; breakdown of both fridge and washing-machine (despite necessity of much laundry); remnants of continuing jetlag; edge of recurring depression), this week is looking better.
After a few weeks planning Telepathic Twins in Space using the Snowflake Method, I've started NaNoWriMo. So far, with a whole two days under my belt, it's going well. I'm hoping to end up with 50,000 real, useable words (unlike last time - ha), then to spend December finishing up, editing and polishing ready to start submitting in January.
Wish me luck! For any or all of the above. NaNo is important, obviously, but I have to say I'd like a working washing-machine soon. You don't need to worry about the fridge, though, cos we bought a new one. It's astonishingly clean - I'd forgotten that's how they could look.
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| Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Drollerie Blog Tour: Catherine Schaff-Stump on Sweetest Day
It's the Drollerie Blog Tour for October, on the theme of Sweetest Day!
My guest for today is Catherine Schaff-Stump. While Catherine takes over my blog, I'll be over at Fraser Sherman's. When you've read Catherine's post, carry on to Heather Ingemar's blog for the next stop on the Drollerie Blog Tour.
Sweetest Day
At first, when I heard of Sweetest Day, my thoughts were (cue movie announcer voice here) Valentine’s Day 2! I was prepared to write about why my husband is so special in my life. He certainly is special, but a little research has taught me more about Sweetest Day. This is a case where fact is more interesting than fiction.
Sweetest Day originated in that most romantic of cities, Cleveland, Ohio. Candy mogul Herbert Birch Kingston gave away candy and small gifts to the underprivileged in a philanthropic gesture. Maybe it would have been nicer to give apples or healthy food to the poor, but a candy manufacturer’s got to go with his instincts.
This is striking. What once started as a gesture to give to people who were in need has turned into a holiday to celebrate affection in our lives. In the United States, it really is all about me, sometimes. It’s important to celebrate love and affection, but I’d love to see the holiday carry on with its original focus—doing something nice for others.
Do you remember May Day? No, socialist buddies, not THAT May Day, but the one where anonymous well wishers left you baskets of flowers and sweets on your front doorstep to wish you a happy spring? What about those Christmas occasions when the giving isn’t just about your family? Or those times we dig deep to donate to charity?
There’s a certain something to a holiday organized around charity. If the confectioners of yesteryear were more commercial than altruistic, they certainly are living up to capitalist expectation. Yet, I can imagine for some very poor individuals back then, Sweetest Day candy was a rare and welcome treat.
Now that I know the rest of the story, what will I do for Sweetest Day this year? It’s too late for me to do anything this Friday afternoon, but maybe my students would appreciate a little something during their hard endeavors next week.
Like Mr. Kingston, I probably won’t give them celery.Labels: drollerie press
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Home again
New experiences in the last week:
Paddling in the Atlantic Ocean.
Finding an overnight hotel in Washington after my flight was delayed and I missed my next connection.
Getting lost at midnight in Savannah, Georgia.
Saving stranded starfish.
Eating a Chicago hotdog in Chicago airport.
Sitting outside Savannah airport in a wooden rocking chair. A wooden rocking chair, outside an airport. That doesn't happen at Heathrow!
Eating: s'mores
American frosted cupcakes
Krispy Kreme donuts
Sasha Knight's seven-layer bean dip
Sasha Knight's enchiladas
Green Fried Tomatoes!
I had a good time, thank you America and thank you Samhain!
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| Friday, October 09, 2009
Immi's American Adventure
 I'm writing this from my little box of a Travelodge room. Travelodge rooms, I have to tell you, are probably ideal for writers needing to get serious word count done, because distractions are almost zero, and there's a desk, a bed and a kettle, which is really all you need.
Not that I'm getting serious word count done now. I'm drinking a cup of tea, eating salt and vinegar crisps, and catching up on the emails I last checked seven hours ago. Hey, a lot can happen in seven hours!
I'm wearing the cosiest possible travelling clothes: tracksuit trousers, black hoody, purple Sunnydale High t-shirt. About the closest you can get to pyjamas without having people look at you oddly when you go out in them.
But it's nearly midnight now, and tomorrow I'm going to be travelling until, oh dear, nearly midnight, so I think it's time to change into my real pyjamas and watch a Friends DVD in bed. Or, you know, write something.
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