Workaday

The time I had between rehearsal and show yesterday turned into sit-and-stare at the screen time. Not ideal, but not a complete waste either. Got some reading in as well.

Today, I took a 1,029 word section and interspersed it with the opening I've been working on, wrote a new 500 words, and all together, I have something that looks like a chapter. This is exciting because so far I haven't been able to think of this project in terms of chapters. If I can, I think I'll feel better about structure. Okay, good day.

Best part is, I'm still eager to work on it.

TMI

I got to see my dear friend Lucas from LA last night, and it reminded me how much you've got to appreciate friends who can handle you saying anything that comes into your head. I don't seem to be able to say anything that shocks this guy. Now that I think about it, I spent this afternoon catching up with a few people like that. Maybe that's how I make friends. I just throw things at them and see who's left standing. I'm hoping the current object of my affection has good reflexes, but I haven't figured that out yet. What do you think, O of my A, do ya?

What? That's way too personal for this blog!
No, no. Did you read the title of this post?

Aside from the awesomeness of friends, this weekend's been all-Monkey all the time, lots of reading, and a start on a paper. Tomorrow, I'm back to revision-land.

Twist

I just got an update from my old friend, Sara (I've linked to her blog). Turns out she's now, among other things, a balloon twister. Even cooler, she twists balloons when she travels, as a way of connecting with locals.



She has some pictures on her site from Guatemala, which I've just been researching since I hope to go there for a wedding next winter. When I read about the crowds at the airport and the chicken buses that will take you where you want to go but not necessarily when you want to go there, I admit, I got intimidated. I don't want to make this trip by myself. But as far as I can tell, she did. She even twisted balloons for the mannequin saint in Zunil. He fell off a bus, and people worship him as a gift from God. He loves balloons!



Sara's one of those people who has an idea and makes it happen. I'm one of those people who has an idea and thinks about it for a long time. I'm cool with this, but I also know that my life gets more interesting when I surround myself with people like Sara who inspire me to take a leap every now and then.

I made a decision earlier this week that left me feeling old -- smart maybe, responsible and sane -- but old. I made a good decision. I don't regret it, but I do want to make sure that I make "good decisions" like this for the right reasons. May I never let practicality or fear keep me from adventure. And may I never see myself as too old to learn a new skill, like balloon twisting.

Met my word goal for yesterday: 1020 revision, and it was like pulling teeth. Did another 500 something on the same section today, cut about 300 more, and I'm pretty happy with it for the time being. I realized part of what made it so hard was that I'm trying this scene as the opening of the book. I wanted to make it a perfect opening, a perfect introduction to my characters and themes and all that. And since there's no such thing as perfect, that was a silly goal. The word count was a better goal, because now I have something on paper, something I can change again whenever I want.

7th grade jokes

Daytime Monkey rehearsal's cramping my writing routine, but it's worth it. I had a moment at rehearsal this morning when I thought, "There is nothing I would rather be doing right now," and I almost said it out loud, which would have been rude since folks were showing off their adaptations.

Monkey means Barrel of Monkeys. One of our recent postcards captures it well: "Written by kids. Performed by grownups. Enjoyed by all." We teach writing workshops and then perform the students' stories for their schools, and on Mondays at the Neofuturist Theater, we do a review of favorites from the past years for an all-ages audience. Sweet.



So, the show we're rehearsing right now is for our after school program, which includes older kids than we normally get to teach. This is how I've learned that 6th or 7th grade is when you get how to write an original joke. Younger kids write goofy characters, cool surprises, hilarious circumstances, but around middle school, the number of intentionally constructed "funnies" goes way up. Satire too, like an ad for "Farticine," the new medicine that can help you with your embarrassing problem as long as you, "Do not take with any solids or liquids."

My favorite from rehearsal today: Villainous Victoria says, "See ya at Niagara Falls! Ha! Oh I forgot - Victoria Falls. (Villainous laughter) I'm not going to destroy the GEM I'm going to keep it and Boom I will rule all the Gems and diamonds and . . . Whatever, I get the point."

I'm going to try to work, "Whatever, I get the point," into conversation at least once this week. If you do it too, we can start a revolution.

Writing goal for tomorrow (read, I got jack done today) -- At least 1,000 words revision and some good note-taking for an essay.
Currently reading: Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Ravelry

I got my invite to Ravelry today! It's an online community for knitters and crocheters to store and share info about their projects. They're still in testing but adding people daily -- it's not exclusive, you just have to wait your turn. The neatness of it, the details you can record about your past, current, and future knitting, I can't explain how much this excites me. And yet, I'm wary because I know it's a procrastination destination.

Knitting doesn't count as procrastination for me. It's meditative and satisfying, and I usually do it while I'm doing other things. It's practically creative, but you can follow a pattern, which makes it a good complement to writing, where there are no patterns. And it's still a good metaphor for writing -- stringing little stitches together like words to make something huge.


Here's my almost bound-off Hoover blanket for my friend Jay's baby, Joseph. It's my first double-knit project, and it's based on the Hoover blanket, a recreation of a pattern by first lady Lou Hoover from Knitty.

Also, 13 Dead Husbands made me really happy. It's Jeff-Recommended, an original, modern ghost story/fairy tale. It's whimsical and playful and has cute Frenchmen playing ukulele, but it's also darker and more thoughtful than some reviewers are giving it credit for. It gets at the romance to be found post-disillusionment, which isn't your typical fairy tale message. Also, Sarah Goeden is beautiful.


Words: 2,656 revision, same section. Think I'm done with this guy for a while.

Thaw

Finally, we've gotten enough warmth to make a difference, and it's doing weird things to my brain. I'm happy for the thaw, but it's a little overwhelming too. It inspires all kinds of indulgence. I had an aggressively unproductive day yesterday, but I think it was good for me. My dog was dreaming about running, yipping in her sleep, so for one thing, I took both of us on a long walk.

This morning, I felt like my brain had thawed. I did some loose outlining, just writing out my story -- a good 1072 words, and then later this afternoon, I did around 800 revision. Same section I tackled last time, going back and forth with tense and adding some tension and details that have been there in my head but not on paper.

Okay, here's a challenge -- John Green's dedication to his wife in An Abundance of Katherines is in the form of an anagrammatic poem. It inspired me to try my own full name. I'm going about this the lazy way, using Wordsmith, but I think it's warranted seeing as my full name can make over 50,000 anagrams. Mine's still more a list than a poem, but here's a go at it.

Post your own in comments if you dare . . .

"Girls wrote her almanac"

Mean gal, scholar, writer
A charisma teller grown
Sorrel warmth, angelica
Agrarian wretches' moll

Scarlatina germ howler
Sacramental whore girl
Alligators' new charmer
Amaranth's cowgirl reel

Archangel wails tremor
Stormier archangel law
Warier archangels molt
Maniacal regrets whorl

Her lost magical warren
Her magical errant owls

A macaw shelling terror
Her scalawag relit morn

First Shark

No expectations for today. If I feel like writing after my nap, I will.

Early rehearsal and a matinee for Monkeys. Speaking of expectations, the new story's called "I Remember When I Got My First Shark" from the Seward School. I love the use of the word "first" there. A good story title makes a promise. This one promises there will be more than one shark, and it delivers, especially since all the sharks are played by Kurt Chiang.

I can already tell that a lot of this blog is going to be about how good my friends are at acting. That's just going to keep happening, so better get used to it.

Tonight I get to see the brilliant Sarah Goeden (originator of the shark role) work her way through 13 Dead Husbands. with Sanculottes Theater.

Currently Reading: An Abundance of Katherines by John Green