Sunday, November 01, 2009

i had visions, i was in them, i was looking into the mirror

Today was, for the most part, a totally excellent day, filled with equal parts productivity and fun -- and only a few small annoyances in an otherwise delightful Saturday. I woke up around eight and spent an hour or so finishing a recommendation for a friend/coworker who is applying to school. Then, I quickly cleaned up around the apartment, showered, and packed my things for a day of writing. I mailed the recommendation, then settled in at Leland Tea -- the combination of tea, scones, adequate power supplies, and a hilarious owner (who unfortunately wasn't there today) makes it one of my favorite places to work.

I was highly productive for the first two or three hours that I was there, writing a full ten-page synopsis of my second book that I shall tweak tomorrow to send to my agent. But then, madness descended, since Vidya, Katrina, Omar, Adit and Priyanka all arrived within fifteen minutes of each other. Vidya and I had discussed working there when I had dinner with her on Thursday, and I mentioned to Adit that we were going there -- but that large of a group isn't really conducive to working, especially when most of them aren't really there to work, and so I wrote about ten lines in the second two hours that I was there. I finally gave up around four and went to Vidya's to retrieve my car from her garage, but went upstairs to say hi to her first since we hadn't gotten a chance to talk at Leland Tea. This was both a wise and stupid move; it was stupid because it eliminated my last chance at productivity for the day, but it was wise because I ended up having a totally fun evening as a result. We hung out in her apartment for a bit and chatted; as a result, I was still there when her friend Vidya (yes, I hung out with two Vidyas -- but only one of them is the Chandlord) showed up. I intended to part ways with them then since they had much catching up to do, but they convinced me to have a 'totally low-key' drink at my favorite wine bar a few blocks from Vidya's apartment. 'Low-key' is the key to getting me to do anything after six p.m., and in this they were successful; we each had wine (flight/small servings of three different wines for me and Chandlord and a glass for Vidya #2) and shared a cheese plate while having a generally good time discussing life, work, issues, etc.

After that, we were in the mood for some more light snacky snacks, so we made a quick stop at a Salvadorean restaurant on the way back to the apartment. It was quite entertaining watching people walk by the restaurant tonight; given that the restaurant is in the Tenderloin and a block from a tranny bar, there were plenty of people who merited a double-take to see whether they were wearing a Halloween costume or their normal get-up. The other restaurant patrons including a man dressed as Thor who kept making loud, Thor-like statements behind me (none of which I can remember now, but I was entertained). We also watched someone spend four minutes trying to parallel park his car (including one attempt at getting out of the car to verify before reparking -- which is understandable except when you, like him, are trying to park a standard sedan in two contiguous spaces that you could just drive straight into. And, VIdya #2's friend showed up since the snack made us run late; it was lovely to meet her as well, and a fun time was had by all! After that, we went back to Chandlord's to grab stuff, and then I dropped them off at their first party of the night before coming home.

Theoretically I should be out embracing the last remnants of my fleeting and tattered youth, but I'm over it. Actually, it's more that I want to use this weekend to get back on track with the book, and tomorrow (actually, now) is the start of November and thus the start of National Novel Writing Month. The entrance deadline for the Golden Heart is also at the beginning of December, so if I want to enter book two, I really need to get cracking. Not going out tonight will ensure that I'm well-rested enough in the morning to go forth and write the 3000 words or so that I will need to write in order to feel productive. And so, goodnight!

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