Tackling the Update
Today I’m going to take a long walk and then try to do something so I can see–actually see–what I’m typing into my posts. Still typing blank entries–just watching the cursor move across the white space. I see that WordPress has created “Beta” updates of this 2.8 release. I wonder if uploading one of those will be better or worse than where I am now? Which is essentially nonfiunctional.
I’d rather be working on my next novel!
I’m feeling a little guilty about sounding like a whiner. Oh, to heck with it, I AM whining. I know it. This sort of technology frustration deserves a good whine. I promise no more whining after this.
Everything Puttering Along
Just got my first look at the cover for TOASTED!! Super cool! As soon as I get a .jpg version, I’ll post it so you can all WOW over it.
Today I’m doing some final edit checks on the TOASTED manuscript. It’s a gray day outside and I’m also puppy-sitting. So I’ll have plenty of upping and downing from manuscript to potty breaks with the little one. I hope to get a long walk in too, to settle my brain. And of course: hockey game tonight!
New York City Day One
Left the midwest in an astonishing downpour–the kind where it rains so hard it sounds like rocks are hitting your car. Also a damp spirit as I heard from a friend that ADAM LAMBERT was on the Today Show this morning and I’d miss him by just a few hours.
New York is drier, but overcast and foggy. I walked down to the Empire State Building (which is right across the street from where the Lammy Awards Ceremony will be tomorrow night) and couldn’t see anywhere near the top.
I had a bagel with Nova lox for breakfast in Grand Central Station, so I feel like I’ve arrived. Then I went straight to the New York Public Library, where I’d never been before. They have many treasures, including a Declaration of Independence in Jefferson’s handwriting, and a great collection of 20th century dime novels and comic books. On the third floor, in the hall outside the great reading room, was a great timeline display of the gay rights movement, particularly focusing on Stonewall and the Liberation of Christopher Street. Reading the weeklies, the fliers, and the letters from folks fighting the good fight in 1969 and 1970 was quite moving, especially in light of the horrible Supreme Court decision in California yesterday. Topped the visit off with a visit to the Children’s Reading Room, where the original toys that inspired A. A. Milne to write Winnie the Pooh are housed. That was a lovely surprise for me!
I also walked by the Episcopal Center, home base of the national church offices and checked out their little bookstore.
Ate at Don Giovanni’s–great home-cooked Italian food, huge portions, relatively cheap. It’s on 44th near 9th–one restaurant I always visit whenever I’m in NYC.
Walked up Broadway and down 5th in the evening–including time in the brand new Times Square pedestrian mall. The city has put lawn chairs in the middle of the former street. It’s a blast to sit an watch people and signs and traffic and everything.
Tomorrow will be fun!
One Week to the Lammys!
This time next week I’ll be pressing my outfit, putting on the non-walking shoes and stuffing my phone and camera into my borrowed clutch to head off to the Lambda Literary Awards celebration in New York City!
I don’t really know what to expect, though I look forward to seeing my wonderful writing colleagues Karin Kallmaker and Ruth Perkinson again. I met both last summer in Phoenix at the annual conference of the Golden Crown Literary Society’s annual conference. (I am sorry I can’t attend that this year s well. But in the future, I hope!) I also look forward to meeting colleagues I’ve worked with electronically, but never met. It will be fun.
Writers Need Their Sleep
Writers need their sleep. And so do we all, especially if we’re learning new things.
I feel vindicated. I’ve always been a 9-hour-minimum sleeper, at least, if I want to be alert and functional. In college, I told people sleep was my Number One priority. Then studying. Then social life. I was a real charmer then, as now! Still, I stay healthy and mostly on top of things, even if I always felt guilty about being lazy.
But I just go my hands on a new book, Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School by John Medina. And it has a handy and fun website you can check out to get a taste for the book.
Anyhow, he explains that we need sleep time for our brains to process what we learned during the day. “Sleep well, think well,” he says. He says naps are a good thing! Love him! Can’t wait to read the book.
Lambda Literary Awards Invitation
I got this online and you can certainly go to the site to see more, but I thought I’d share! Kinda cool, huh? I’m very excited to go and check it all out!
