criss-cross in the wrong direction

I did a lot of thinking today - which doesn't mean that I actually wrote fresh manuscript words, but there are some days where thinking is more important than anything. I also continued to navigate my remodel (I had no decisions to make today, which was a relief), and I had a v. boring but tasty sandwich for lunch. I also had a long catch-up with Heather (aka dear respected madam), whom I hadn't talked to in ages - she was as great as ever, so I'm glad that my post-day-job aversion to Zoom is slowly healing because I really do want to be able to connect with people again.

After I talked to Heather, I quickly reheated some chicken and composed a beet salad for dinner. Then, I went to a meeting of my secret society - I'm the second youngest person there, but I've been a member longer than several of them, which is an interesting situation. I guess in this case I'm what the tiktok kids would call a 'nepo baby', since my mom and aunt and grandma and great-grandma were all in the group, which is why I was initiated at eighteen instead of waiting until a more respectable age. All that aside, I had fun at the meeting and got some jello for dessert, so I'll take it.

Then I came home, did some more thinking/journaling, and wrote a couple of emails (v. unusually for me, don't get excited). And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

but i ain't never crossed a man that didn't deserve it

Today wasn't quite as productive as I'd hoped - writing is a weird and sometimes stupid process, and I am far enough out of practice with the weirdness of it that I can't always tell when I'm procrastinating vs. when a break is necessary because something is percolating. However, I did mess around with fountain pens for a good chunk of the morning, which *feels* like it's writing related. I haven't used fountain pens in a couple of months at least, and over a certain span of time they eventually dry out and need to be cleaned before they can be reinked. So, I cleaned out some pens, reinked a couple, and am delighted to be back in the pen game (yes, I am a nerd).

At some point in the afternoon, I did a v. light workout, and I also spent some quality time on my balcony with my notebook and one of my freshly-inked pens. Fall is starting to set in, and while it wasn't cold outside, I still felt happy to have a blanket while I wrote. An idea is percolating that is either going to be amazing or terrible, and I'm still feeling my way through it - we'll see what I come up with.

Eventually, I had to put on real clothes so that I could go into town for a meeting of my secret society - it was the first meeting of the year, which meant dinner, which meant I had an extra incentive to show up. My mom saved me a seat next to a woman who is just as obsessed (if not moreso) with the royal family as I am, so we discussed the queen's funeral while things got underway. The supper was pretty tasty (mashed potatoes, roast beef, green beans, fruit, etc), and the social part was good - I've known most of the women forever, so it was fun to see everybody. And my mom and I both won some of the raffle decorations at the end, so #yayme.

Then I came home, messed around online, and wrote for another hour-ish. And now I should go to bed so that I can do a million (or at least ten) things tomorrow - goodnight!

one night samba

I'm strangely exhausted...I don't know if it's because I'm still recovering from staying up until three a.m. the other night reading, or if it's because I haven't had any added sugar in the last four days and my body is probably reaching peak withdrawal. Either way, I hope my body gets its shit together soon, because I've got stuff to do and I don't have time to indulge my inner octogenarian right now (or maybe I should say my inner toddler...the octogenarians I've known probably get less sleep than I do).

But despite that exhaustion, today was a good day. I woke up at nine and scrambled to get ready, then left the house and walked down to Yerba Buena, where I went to my beloved Samovar. I was there to meet up with Lisa, who used to report to me at my old job (she left before I did and went to business school, and recently graduated and started working). We only had an hour, but it was great to catch up, and I forced her to watch me eat bacon and poached eggs since I hadn't had time to make breakfast before going there. An hour definitely wasn't enough time to catch up on everything, but at least it was better than nothing, right?

After we parted ways, I ran a couple of errands around there - I went to Target and got a cheapish white bedskirt since I'm planning to switch up my bedding (using stuff I already have + the lovely pillows I got as freebies from Ritu's wedding), and I went to Container Store to return something, and I stopped by CB2 and Crate and Barrel to browse and indulge in some homemaker daydreaming. Crate and Barrel made me super sad because I discovered that they discontinued the blush color of my dinnerware - I have a hodgepodge of light grey, dark grey, blue, blush, and white (all in the same pattern - they're intended to be mix and match) and I had intended to get some more blush, but that dream is now dead. It doesn't appear that they're going to discontinue the rest of it since they introduced a new color, but I'm still sad.

But I suppose that's a #firstworldproblem, so I'll move on. I took the bus back to my neighborhood and went straight to Peets, where I drank iced coffee and wrote for awhile. Then I came home and took a nap. And then I worked on a secret project, the results of which may be shared someday, but not today. But I had to stop doing stuff for myself then and walk over to Fillmore for dinner - I met up with Carolyn, who you likely won't remember.

Carolyn and I taught a summer class to high school students at Berkeley several years ago, but she was only out here for the summer, and then she went back to NYC. But she has moved here full time, and so we finally got together - it was supposed to happen in San Mateo today, but I bailed on writing down there and then also bailed on driving down for dinner. But while she's working down there, she's currently living up here, so dinner in the city ended up working out. We went to Gardenias (which I'd been to with Lauren once before), and it was a lovely place to catch up - we spent a couple of hours talking over wine and tasty food, and it was all delightful.

Then I walked home, and now I think I'm going to go to bed rather than trying to force myself to get anything else done. Goodnight!

you'd still enjoy it with your foot on masada

Okay, today was really long, but I got a lot of stuff done that I had intended to get done, so I feel good about that. I didn't get up until 9:30 since I went to bed so stupidly late last night (a feat I'm on track to repeat tonight), but then I cleared things off my table and took care of things in the kitchen so that I could start working by 11. And I actually worked for several hours (four-ish, which is less than I need to work but more than I've worked on a book since finishing the last one) - most of it was research, along with some daydreaming, but I think I'm tiptoeing toward a viable plot and am nearly ready to begin writing in earnest.

But then I took a break to go to Staples to buy markers (so very necessary, because I only have like a hundred markers), and also to a hardware store to buy some supplies for a home project. Then I came home, turned on the Olympics (last night's coverage, then tonight's coverage), and did three loads of laundry, ordered Indian takeout (I look like such a poser with mehndi on my hands and a bag full of butter chicken), and organized all of my jewelry (verdict: I have too much stuff, but I always want more) while watching. I also put away the rest of the stuff that I'd dumped in my apartment after coming back from the wedding - I have more stuff than I had when I left, which is unfortunate since my place is too small for more stuff, but I'll deal with that later.

Then I continued to watch the Olympics while working on my secret home project for awhile - we'll see whether it comes to fruition. But it's suddenly almost one a.m., and I have stuff to do in the morning before another writing date with Barbara and Deborah, so I should sleep and prep for that. But at least I'm not Ryan Lochte (or, worse, one of the swimmers he was with who didn't make it out of Brazil in time - lolololol). Goodnight!

swears she knew it, now she swears he's gone

I wasn't as hermity or as productive as I wanted to be today, and I'll blame the latter on the former. I woke up around 7:30, which was pretty good, but I only had an hour and a half or so to get some work done, and so I mostly did admin stuff (and procrastinated). Then I went downtown to the conference hotel - I didn't want to attend the conference itself anymore, but I had told Barbara and Bella that I would meet up with them to discuss some tings. So we sat in Bella's room for three hours and discussed those tings, which was all great, even if I probably should have been writing instead of indulging in my desire to hang out with other writers.

By 1pm, though, I was about to eat my own arm off, and Barbara's husband came to pick her up, so we adjourned. Bella and I ended up getting lunch at Wayfare Tavern, which was super delightful - I've been wanting to go there forever, but I never go to the financial district in normal circumstances, and when I do think of it, I'm never able to get a reservation. But walking in on a Sunday for a late lunch was totally fine. I've got to say that my burger didn't delight me - maybe it would have been better with the bun, but the combo of that particular type of cheddar on top of that much of that particular type of bacon didn't quite work for me. Or maybe I'm being overly critical because the burger was $22, and I've had a much more delightful experience at In-n-Out.

However, the restaurant itself was super cute, and their wine and cocktails looked great (although I didn't partake - Bella doesn't drink and probably already thinks I'm an alcoholic after seeing me at our writing retreats with the other residents of Martini Corner, and also it was 2pm, and also I need to keep detoxing after my month of fun (aka funth)). And if I ordered something else, I would probably be #inittowinit.

ssssanyway. Bella and I had a highly entertaining conversation, and she encouraged me to move to the north bay and said I could get married at her house once the pool house is done, so I guess that's helpful? I told her it would probably be more convenient for her to host my whole wedding than to fly to Iowa for it, which I think sealed the deal...especially since I had told her at some point in the distant past that Sonoma is the only part of California that my mom actually liked, so she said my parents would love it if I got married there. I think there are a lot of flaws with this plan (namely, I haven't locked down a date, or a suitor, and it's hard for a pool house to compare with the Round Barn). But it was still entertaining to discuss it, even though it was perhaps less pressing to find a wedding venue in comparison to other things on my to-do list.

Then I walked home, called my parents, and spent some time laying on the couch staring at my phone, since I needed to chill out. Then I ate supper, and then I meant to write....but instead I read a book for a contest I'm judging. It was super fun and cute, and I can't tell you what it is because I'm not supposed to divulge that, but perhaps I'll tell you someday when you've forgotten about this. I should have read all these books on the plane or on the beach, but I of course didn't, and now of course I only have a week to read them (when I should be reading my own book). But this one was short and I finished it in one sitting, and I've only got four more to go, so I think I'll make it.

But now I need to sleep - the foghorns are mournful tonight, which is an odd counterpoint to my happy heart, but hopefully that weird combo of drama + optimism will set the right tone for my dreams so I can write romance in the wee early morning hours before I go out for my lunch plans. Yes, I realize nine a.m. is not considered 'wee' in most places, but whatevs (and I actually plan to start writing at 7:30, but we'll see if I make it out of bed by then). Goodnight!

like the ceiling can't hold us

I meant to go to bed two hours ago. Yes, I'm old.

However, my best laid plans were overturned by a sudden burst of productivity on some hated tasks that I really needed to get out of the way. The day had started much too early, when I woke up at 6:15...but then I hit snooze one too many times, and by the time I left the house, it was 7:15 instead of 6:55. I had an 8:30 meeting, and theoretically I would have gotten to Mountain View in time...but I was going to be cutting it close, and I was tired, and the meeting I had was a training that was led out of the San Francisco office (which meant going there would put me in the same room as my director and the HR/training person). So, I abruptly turned left instead of going straight at the intersection of Bush and Gough, and I went to the SF office instead. That put me into the office at a little after 7:30, which was absurdly early, but that meant I was able to have breakfast and read email before the training. Miraculous.

The training was good, albeit long, and by the time I was done it was time for lunch (which I had with Katrina, which was lovely). Then I worked at the office for an hour, and then I came home because my battery was dying. Once home, I got myself organized and slogged some more. But by five p.m. I was beyond done, and I was tired, and sad and cranky over my twitter feed + the Boston Marathon bombings, and I realized that maybe part of my problem was that I hadn't had red meat in days. Yes, not having red meat is a real, bona fide problem for me.

So I grabbed my notebook, switched back out of my pajamas and into the dress I'd worn to work, and walked to Des Amis, where I had a thoroughly decadent and expensive solo dinner. I have absolutely no fear or shame when it comes to going to fancy restaurants by myself, and a burger from Roam just wasn't going to cut it. So I had a New York strip steak instead, with awesome french fries and a v. v. nice glass of zinfandel. I also talked a bit to the waiter, who has his MFA, so we talked a bit of writing shop.

And, the very big news is that I wrote three pages on a new book. Not Alex and Prudence, and not the gargoyles - the opening scene (which I'm sure I'll trash at some point) of the first book in this new series I've been brainstorming. And I love it so far! That may change in the morning, when I'm less full of red wine and redder meat, but it felt so, so good to write something new....

And then I came home and ruined that feeling by doing stupid promo-related tasks (all related to workshops I'm giving at various conferences this spring/summer). But they needed to get done, and finishing them hopefully staved off my ulcer friend for another day. Now, I must sleep; I have to go down to Mountain View tomorrow, so laziness can't be in my cards. Goodnight!