if you think about it too much, you may stumble, trip up, fall on your face

My plan for today was to take care of a bunch of administrative stuff, and I succeeded in forcing myself to buckle down and do a bunch of vaguely unpleasant tasks. The day started off at Another Cafe, where I spent a couple of hours going through all the things I want to accomplish, daydreaming about goals for the next few months/years, etc. I eventually had to leave so that I could speed over to my salon and get my bangs trimmed, which was accomplished as efficiently as possible (and now I can see again, so it was worth the effort).

Then I came home, made some lunch, and was v. focused and productive for approximately three hours to get through nearly all the things I planned to get through today - mostly financial stuff (compiling sales data) + some planning for my upcoming NYC trip + some answering of email, etc. I felt pretty happy with what I got done, and while I wasn't quite ready to quit for the day, I ended up stopping at 3:30 so I could walk down to my old neighborhood and see my aesthetician. I walked back and was home by five, and I ate a snack and took a ten minute nap before driving over to the panhandle for dinner with Claudia (aka Santy Claude).

We went to Nopalito, which I adore; they usually have a very long line, so I don't go there all that often, but we met at six and so were able to sit down basically immediately, which was delightful. All of our food was great, although I particularly love the quesadilla with pork belly, and I also enjoyed the beef empanada (they make their empanadas with masa rather than wheat flour, so I'm delighted). Claudia and I hadn't seen each other since our outing to see 'Mad Max' before I went to Texas, so we took our time catching up; we couldn't keep our table forever, but we adjourned to the plaza outside and had tea from Peets until it was time to part ways.

And now I should probably sleep; I have to train with Alyssa tomorrow, which means if I don't get up early I won't get anything done in the morning, and I really want to start making progress on Rafe and Octavia's story. Goodnight!

lost control when i panicked at the acid test

I did no writing today, but I have no regrets. I meant to get up early and go to the cafe before seeing Alyssa, but I slept abysmally for reasons that are totally unknown to me - I woke up at 5:30 feeling totally unrested, with a kink in my neck that got worse as the day went on. So, that was annoying, and it kept me in bed - I ended up sleeping from 6:30 to 8:30 (this time much more deeply), and then I messed around the apartment and drank tea and ate eggs until it was time to go to Palo Alto.

Once I got there, Alyssa pursued her nefarious kettlebell agenda, but the workout was good. And, happily, I don't have dengue fever, unlike one of the trainers there whom I hadn't seen around in two weeks (because, as it turns out, he went to the emergency room seven times because he had dengue). So really, when one considers that one could have gotten dengue or chikungunya in the South Pacific and spent the last month miserable, it makes the fact that I haven't finished a book yet (which, let's be honest, was *never going to happen anyway*) totally bearable.

After my workout, I showered, cleaned up my face, and went to my old place of employment for lunch with Alaska Matt. Due to our varied and conflicting schedules, it's unlikely that we'll see each other again in person for awhile, but it was lovely to catch up with him over salads in the sun, and I have high hopes that we'll have lunch over videoconference together occasionally going forward. He was his usual entertaining self, and it reminded me that I need to do a better job of staying in touch with those people whom I love but don't see very often.

But let's be honest again, I suck at that. But maybe I shall make an effort to get better. sssanyway, after parting ways with Matthew, I swung by my old building on a stealth mission to pick up Eugene (I told him to bring me some ibuprofen for my neck and tell no one where he was going, which he duly obliged, even if he did make an uncalled-for joke about how stealing ibuprofen from work was now my only form of health care). We went to the coffee place on campus for a delightful bit of catching up, and I had a triple-shot iced latte solely because it was free, so we'll see how I sleep tonight.

Coffee was supposed to include Tomas and Dave, but Tomas bailed (and sent me a text saying he hated me, which was super sweet), and Dave arrived shortly before Eugene needed to leave. So I basically had the equivalent of two coffee sessions; Eugene took off, and Dave and I caught up too-briefly (but v. nicely) on whatever has happened in our respective lives since the last time we saw each other (pre-Texas). I ended up dropping him off at our old building, and I escaped campus by 3:30 without seeing anyone else, which enabled me to beat some of the traffic and make it home in an hour. Score.

Once I got here, I walked down to the Marina and bought some new running shoes. Then I made an amateur mistake and tried to go to Mezes, forgetting that it's closed on Mondays. So I ended up at Aix, where I had a steak that did a lot of wonderful things for me (I don't think I've had beef since the brisket at the family reunion, and I'm genetically wired to feast far more often on the flesh of my enemies, and by 'my enemies' I mean 'beef'). I also had two glasses of wine, which may have done even more wonderful things for me. And I spent some quality time with my new planner notebook - I haven't set my goals for July yet, but I wrote out everything I want to do this month, and I'm excited to get cracking.

And now, after a delightful uber ride home with a strange and interesting driver whose RV basically blew up recently, and almost falling asleep watching the sunset, and taking my time getting ready for bed, it's time to sleep. Goodnight!

thank you india

My goal today was to socialize, and I would say that I exceeded expectations! Hopefully this refills my extrovert well for the week of writerly solitude ahead (although since I have plans most of tomorrow, maybe I'm not exactly being a hermit at the moment). The day started off relatively early - I met up with John and Jess at 9am (which turned into 9:20am to our mutual benefit, since I was able to walk to the destination and get some steps in before a massive consumption of food) at Caffe Union for breakfast. Don't you dare call this brunch, since Jess abhors brunch. But as you know, Caffe Union is one of my favorite places, and the owner (Tony) gave us mimosas (I would say that mimosas makes it perilously similar to brunch, but don't tell Jess).

Thus properly welcomed to my former neighborhood, we spent a couple of hours catching up on our respective lives over tasty food and beverages. Good things are afoot for all of us, since John and Jess are moving to Berkeley (okay, that's bad for me) to be closer to their respective jobs, and I'm still basking in the glow of my freedom, so we had a lot to celebrate. We continued the celebration by walking down the street, where Jess bought a dress and I bought some eyeliner at Sephora before intending to part ways...

...but then our intentions were dashed upon the rocks of a series of texts and calls from Adit and Priyanka attempting to arrange brunch. We were by no means hungry, and John and Jess were leery of going anywhere in the city due to the traffic shitshow caused by pride weekend, but we ended up rendezvousing with Adit/Priyanka/Chandlord for second breakfast (don't call this brunch either, although it was totally brunch) at Rusty's Southern, which is relatively new and is delightfully close to my current abode. In fact, if they were open for breakfast during the week, they might become my go-to. Despite being totally full, I succumbed to temptation and had another mimosa + the pulled pork and grits with poached eggs, all of which were perfect (and, happily, John ate some of it or I might have exploded). The vegetarians were slightly limited in their options, but their eggs and grits looked good as well, and Priyanka's oatmeal was really tasty. And Jess, in deference to her brunch-hating ways, managed to get the most lunch-y thing available (a piece of fried chicken + an off-menu side salad).

So, family brunch lunch was delightful. We spent a couple of hours catching up, thwarting Chandlord's attempt to make us play Uno, and generally making merry. Eventually, though, it all came to an end, and I came home to do laundry and talk to my parents (who are in fine form, albeit sick or allergic or something from Texas). Then, I left my apartment again (shocking, I know!) to see 'Spy' with Lauren (aka Subz). It was pretty funny, but it was more of an actual spy movie with actual plot than I was expecting. However, all the actors were really good (particularly Jason Statham, whom I adore more than I should), and it was an enjoyable way to spend a Sunday night.

But now, after coming home and messing around with my planner for the week (way to end on a dork note, Sara), it's time for bed - Rafe awaits in the morning, followed by some time in the glorious south bay. Goodnight!

and i can never leave the past behind

I was very productive today, and since almost none of it involved screens, I'm pretty pleased with myself. I slept for 10+ hours last night, which helped to make up for some of this week's deficit, and then I met up with Kathia for what was supposed to be a writing date. However, since she spent the last month in Paris and we hadn't seen each other since the first week of May, we had a lot to catch up on, and so we spent almost three hours talking and not writing at all. This was much, much preferred over trying to get back into Rafe's story, although I want to do that tomorrow.

Anyway, it was great to see her, and it sounds like she had fun in Paris, which is making me want to sneak away there this fall (although I'm not allowed to go on any fun trips until I have a better routine established and can either a) write while traveling or b) write enough in advance to give myself a break). We eventually parted ways, and I came home, ate lunch, took a nap, and then spent the rest of the day and most of the evening cleaning. This involved vacuuming, changing my sheets, dusting, rearranging some stuff in my closet, cleaning the bathroom, rearranging the linen closet, unpacking from Texas, etc., etc. I've decided that I can't do most domestic tasks during the week (other than groceries/cooking) because it's too easy to waste a bunch of hours when I should be writing, but cleaning today was v. necessary for my sanity. I still need to do laundry, but I'm excited to crawl into my freshly-made bed and dream of everything I'm going to write this week.

So yes, I was a super hermit today, but it was lovely to be one. I did take a break to get coffee at Philz (and wonder why I live here, since I saw human feces on at least two blocks of my walk), and I also took a break to grab some snacks and sushi at Whole Foods. And I spent some evening time geeking out over printable planner templates so that I can redo my notebook and set some goals for Q3 (if I'm CEO of my own life, setting objectives and key results seems like a decent enough thing to do). And then I showered and painted my nails so that I would feel like a lady again rather than a common household drudge.

And now, after having accomplished everything I wanted to do today, I'm going to go to bed, hopefully have sweet dreams, and spend tomorrow socializing + doing laundry + organizing myself and my thoughts for the week ahead. Goodnight!

adult education

I've spent too much time staring at screens today, and I can feel the press of a headache against my eyeballs, so I'm going to go to bed early despite all the celebrating going on in SF tonight. I didn't sleep that well last night, mostly because I didn't go to bed until midnight and was awoken by the sun and instinct at 5:30 even though I could have slept until eight. Groggy, I then went to Palo Alto and trained with Alyssa, which was good. Then I had a writing date, where I did a bit of work, before coming home to beat traffic and continuing to slog until 6:30ish.

At that point, I was ready to send the first part of the gargoyles book to my editor, so I pressed send and took a break to have dinner (chicken skewers and wine at the bar at Troya; the food is delightful, but I'm not getting the vibe I got at Mezes or Des Amis, so it may not become my total go-to). Then I came home and spent another hour and a half writing a synopsis of the rest of the book + ideas for the rest of the series so I could give my editor some context about what I'm trying to do.

And with that, I'm going to take my hermity self and go to bed so that I can get eight hours of sleep before daylight and hope that it helps to restore me so that I can go back to working on Rafe's story tomorrow. Goodnight!

if i could find a way to see this straight i'd run away

I should have gone to bed ages ago, but I got lured into the book I started reading yesterday, and I'm so close to finishing...but that way lies madness. Today was okay enough, I guess; I got up earlyish and went to a cafe, where I accomplished some decent work between 8:30 and noon. Then I was going to come home and work some more, but I got distracted by Chandlord and Hugo, who had been working in the same cafe and lured me to Chandlord's place for lunch.

So that was nice, but it kind of broke my focus...and then I had twenty minutes to take a nap before John came over and helped me to jumpstart my car. This was duly accomplished without too much drama, and it was good to see him. We parted ways so that I could drive around for awhile and let the battery charge - I drove out to Ocean Beach and back, so hopefully the car will work tomorrow so I can train with Alyssa.

After that, I came home, messed around here for a bit, and then walked to the Mission, where I wrote/daydreamed for an hour at Four Barrel. Then I met up with Jen at Locanda; she's part of the friendship renewal group (in fact, was the person whom I named friendship renewal after), and she's now working in the city, so we can get together up here occasionally between meetings of the friendship renewal group in the south bay. It was great to see her, and I'm glad she's moved back from NYC and has forgiven me for showing up drunk to her wedding.

Once dinner was accomplished, I walked home, picked up my book, and was lost until now. And now I need to sleep so that I can accomplish many better and more useful things tomorrow - goodnight!

we buried it alive and now it's screaming in my head

Today was markedly worse than yesterday...but I suppose that's to be expected. When I'm being sane and self-forgiving, I remember that I tend to work like this - a twelve-hour rush of madly frenzied production, followed by a couple of days of less-than-stellar output. But that doesn't make the day after, when I just want to do it again but somehow can't find the rhythm, any easier to bear.

Of course, then there are the times when I do a madly frenzied rush for more than a day...but the recovery period is longer and more brutal. So I didn't try to beat my head against the wall too badly today; I got up and was at the cafe by 8:15 (where my possibly-adulterous lovebirds were making out again), and stayed there until noon, but even though I think I got some good words, my monkey mind kept luring me away from the page. So eventually I came home, ate a snack, took a nap, contemplated how I might get the words going, and instead said fuck it to the blank page and walked to Equinox, where a brutal kettlebell workout helped to clear my head. I should have seen Alyssa today, but since my car is still dead (a situation I hope to rectify, with a little help from my friends, tomorrow), I was left to my own devices instead.

But the evening got better, as things always do...I came home, showered, and had a hangout with Terry so that we could catch up between my Texas trip and her upcoming vacation. And then I spent the evening reading a book ("Uprooted") - it's magical fantasy, which is pretty much exactly what I wanted, and I saw a glowing review of it on twitter today, so I bought it and started it on impulse. I'm halfway in and it feels like this should be the climax, so I'm super super curious to see what happens in the second half.

However, I'm no longer a spring chicken, and so I shall do the sensible thing and go to bed even though my young, obsessive heart wants to keep going until it's four a.m. and my eyes are gritty and my body has burned itself out to get through the rest of the story...a feeling I used to have every week, but I'm too old for that now. Or maybe it's not that I'm too old, but I certainly like my sleep (see: the fact that I take a nap every day), and I have to get some immediately if I'm going to tell my own stories tomorrow. Goodnight!

the dream maker's gonna make you mad

I was highly productive today, which felt awesome (even though my eyeballs would like to fall out of my skull and surrender). I didn't get to the cafe quite as early as I intended, but I was still there by 8:15ish, which was early enough to verify that my possibly-adulterous lovebirds were back and making out in the upstairs corner table. It was also early enough that I was able to get in three hours of work/writing/brainstorming before coming home and making some eggs to sustain myself with.

After I ate, I took a brief nap (this is the best part of being self-employed), and then I spent the afternoon/early evening alternating between researching/reading on my couch and at Philz. I started reading a fascinating book on magic in the middle ages (called "Magic in the Middle Ages", of course), and the relationship between magic and religion, which is giving me some great ideas for the young adult books. I didn't do any actual writing today, but I was thinking hard about the rules of the world, how magic works, what their limits are, etc.

I also happened to come up with a great idea for Rafe's story while I was at it - I'm not quite unblocked there, and I have some reading/research to do to see if it will work, but I'm tentatively excited about it again. And I'm curious to see whether hopping back and forth between Regency and fantasy young adult will actually be good for me, or whether it's an exercise in total madness.

However, not everything went swimmingly - my car battery is dead, which is a most unwelcome discovery and means I probably won't go to Palo Alto to train with Alyssa tomorrow. However, at least I discovered this tonight when I went to get something out of my trunk, rather than tomorrow when I was trying to drive to Palo Alto. Other than that, though, the day was good, and I hope to make similar progress (but hopefully with a bit more original writing) tomorrow.

But progress tomorrow requires sleep tonight, and sleep requires that I stop staring at a screen for at least the next half-hour, so goodnight!

with or without you

I very nearly didn't blog tonight...not out of lack of desire, but because I have been staring at screens all day and can't bear to open my laptop. So you're getting an abbreviated phone version, and you'll have to take it up with the management if you're not satisfied. But today was great for getting back into the writing...I made it to a cafe by nine and worked solidly for a couple of hours (on the gargoyles book, FYI). Then, in deference to my empty fridge, I had lunch at MyMy...I've never been since the weekend line is insane, but I only had to wait for five minutes at 11:30ish, and my scrambled eggs were delish.

After that, I went to Staples for paper (my drug), then came home and had a phone date with Maya (a writer friend based in nyc). I then procrastinated/napped for a bit before going for a walk and eventually looping back to get groceries so I don't starve to death. And then I spent four hours brainstorming/falling down an infinite Wikipedia rabbit hole covering many and varied topics in western civilization, before abandoning screens in a sudden burst of revulsion. I compensated for my screen filled day by painting my nails and reading part of a paper book (shocking, I know) on effective habit-forming (so far she hasn't told me how to write a book in a week, but we'll see what happens).

Now, though, I'm going to sleep and dream the impossible dream that I'll make it to a cafe by seven tomorrow...goodnight!

sleeping children better run like the wind

No time to blog tonight, but suffice it to say that I have made my glorious return to San Francisco with only moderate delays to hold me up. Of course, this was accomplished after spending all day in transit - I had to ride back to Austin with Uncle Mark, whose flight left three hours before mine (which was better than what Drewbaby had to suffer, since his flight was another two hours after mine). Five hours in the Austin airport was about four hours more than I wanted to spend, but it was mostly done by sitting at a bar with Drewbaby, so it could have been far worse.

And happily the day started off well - I had breakfast with my parents before saying goodbye to them, which was lovely (albeit brief). And I bid my farewells to [censored], who [censored] entirely too early for my tastes. And now, after getting home and spending too much time reading the book I started on the plane, I need to sleep so I can hit the writing hard tomorrow - goodnight! And happy father's day!

i believe there is a time for meditation in cathedrals of our own

There are many strange and wondrous things I could tell you about today...about breakfast at Cracker Barrel, about attempts to infuse tequila with jalapeños, about using a box grater as a drink strainer, about using a potato masher as a muddler, and about eating fried catfish (which were caught when they were trapped in a spillway, and out Oklahoma relatives were able to stand in the creek and catch them with their bare hands). Or I could tell you that I continued to spend quality time with many and varied relatives, hearing about "online" dating via classified ads in the late 80s, or about genetic mutations that may mean I need to take more vitamins. Or I could tell you that the fireworks our Texas cousins shot off at the end of the night were more spectacular than any display ever put on by my hometown.

But to tell you all that while typing on my phone is simply too much, especially since I need to get up in less than seven hours to see my parents before going to the airport and eventually flying back to SF. So I shan't tell you any of it, and instead I shall go to bed. Goodnight!

don't want your picture on my cell phone...i want you here with me

The reunion started today, and I'm happy to report that it was entirely successful. We had breakfast at the hotel before starting the trek out to the ranch, which is always a good idea since it takes an hour to get there over entirely unmarked roads. [censored] drove me out there, and while I usually [censored] everything [censored] does, it's entirely possible that [censored] gunned it through a water-covered ravine, then nearly ran into a pack of wild hogs. Welcome to Texas!

sssanyway, we got to the ranch, where we spent the day visiting with a passel of relatives. It rained off and on throughout the day, which was actually awesome from a coolness perspective even if it made the swimming hole muddy. Lunch and supper both featured brisket, but the supper brisket was out of this world incredible - Wendell's son David slow cooked it all day, and it was totally perfect. And I got to spend some quality time with my more immediate family - particularly Drewbaby, who is now of legal drinking age, which meant we could enjoy cold beverages together without any possible legal repercussions.

But now, alas, I must sleep - we have to go out to the ranch again tomorrow, and even though we've now refreshed ourselves on how to get there, it's still not the easiest route in the world. Goodnight!

how much longer will it take to cure this

Today was all about what so many days are about: the War in the Pacific. I know, this is no surprise, since all y'all also spend hours at museums reading about WWII, right? But between the six of us on this trip, we're all on the 'way too fascinated' end of the bored-to-fascinated spectrum when it comes to WWII, especially since both my grandfathers were in the Pacific (and my mom's dad was in heavy fighting on Iwo Jima and Okinawa).

So, when we went to the Admiral Nimitz / War in the Pacific museum in Fredericksburg today, it was probably inevitable that we would spend like five hours there and feel like we hadn't seen nearly enough of it. It was very very well done, and it was v. interesting to read up on a lot of stuff from the Pacific theatre (which I know far less about than I know about Europe). After the museum, we were all ravenous, so we had a late lunch at one of Fredericksburg's fine dining establishments. Then, five of us wandered around the streets of town for an hour and a half while [censored] [censored]. Eventually, we all drove to Luckenbach, which hosts live country music every day (my idea of hell).

Luckily, no one wanted to do anything more than look briefly at the locals before leaving, so we all came back to Kerrville, where some of us reminisced about the things we saw at the museum because we're all total dorks. Then we had dinner (at the same place we ate last night, because no one likes change, although I got a steak this time), and then we came back to the hotel, where [censored], Drewbaby, and I have [censored] for the last hour (note: this time it doesn't involve lactation porn).

And now I must sleep - goodnight!

my seat's been taken by some sunglasses asking about a scar

I returned to San Antonio today for the first time since my trip there for a romance conference last year...and it's probably possible that I have no need to go back there again, although I enjoyed today well enough. But it's so fucking hot in Texas that I can't survive here longterm, and it wasn't even that hot today compared to how it was in July last year. Luckily, at the end of the week I will return to the fog of San Francisco, so if I can survive until then without my face melting off, it will all be good.

The day started somewhat lateish with breakfast around 9:30 at the hotel restaurant. Then, the six of us (my parents, [censored], Uncle Mark, and Drewbaby) loaded up and drove to San Antonio. Our first stop was the Alamo; I hadn't actually gone there when I was in town last year, even though my hotel was a block away, and I didn't really miss much. The gift shop is approximately as large as the shrine itself, which feels a little icky, but the grounds are landscaped nicely enough, and it was worth seeing (if the alternative was sticking around the hotel, which would not have been worth seeing).

Post-Alamo, we went to the Riverwalk, where Herman gave us a boat tour of the main Riverwalk area. I had walked up and down various parts of the Riverwalk last year and really liked it, but I hadn't taken any of the boats, so it was fun to see more of the Riverwalk from the comfort of a boat rather than schlepping through the heat (although in a total amateur move, I got a bit of a sunburn on my shoulders - I made it through all of Bora Bora without a burn, and then burned myself in an hour in Texas. Stupid.). After we'd seen several of the restaurants where I ate last year and several landmarks that we would never revisit (including a v. large mosaic mural, some random statues, an amphitheatre, etc....you've lost interest by now, I can tell :( ), we had a late lunch at Casa Rio. It's a bit touristy, the service was somewhat slow (although if I had to carry banquet trays in this heat, I would be dead instead of merely slow, so whatever), and the children near us kept feeding chips to the pigeons and then wondering why they were covered in birds. But the Tex-Mex was pretty good, and since I'll happily eat enchiladas until I die, it was perfectly lovely.

What wasn't perfectly lovely was the drive back, accomplished in brutal heat from which the truck's air conditioner never quite rescued us (as my stomach regretted the last half of the lunch I'd eaten and my eyes regretted the loss of my usual afternoon nap). But we made it back to Kerrville, and we rested when we got here (including some lovely discussion with Drewbaby and [censored] about [censored], which resulted in the hilarious substitution of the word "[censored]" for "[censored]"). I also spent some quality time talking to my mom by the pool, and we decided to walk back to our rooms just in time - in the fifteen seconds we were in the covered corridor between the pool and our side of the hotel, a total downpour started. It turns out we were lucky that we left San Antonio when we did, since they got four inches of rain and a lot of flooding as soon as we left. Crazytown.

Even though none of us were particularly hungry, we eventually went out for dinner (somewhat for lack of anything better to do). The food at dinner was surprisingly, uniformly excellent - we went to Billy Gene's (no apparent relation to the song, given the spelling and some other obvious clues), which had a cool deck overlooking the Guadalupe River, and a good time was had by all (except for my stomach, which is crying - I need to slow my roll tomorrow). Then we came back to the hotel, where Drewbaby and I listened to my dad regale us with stories of his misspent youth (including one I'd never heard, which involved a lot of blood, which is actually less common in his stories than I may have led you to believe).

And now, alas, I must sleep; no writing has happened here, which isn't exactly a surprise, but I at least want to be well-rested for tomorrow's activities. Goodnight!

heart skipped a beat

Howdy from Texas, where everything is bigger, including my headache. But the headache is probably because I had a glass of wine on the plane and another glass of wine at dinner, without enough water to combat both the wine and the flight. I know, I never learn.

However, my day went perfectly smoothly...I didn't write before leaving for the airport, but I took care of everything I needed to take care of around the house, left exactly on time, hit no traffic at all, enjoyed the benefits of TSAPre to get through security within five minutes, and then had a v. leisurely breakfast at the airport before boarding my flight. The flight was perfectly on time as well, and 3.5hrs is long enough to get some work done without being so long as to be unbearable.

And the work I did was mostly pleasant - I reread everything I've written for zee gargoyles, and I'm pretty happy with what I have, so I think I might pursue the plan I mentioned yesterday and work on it for a couple of weeks. If nothing else, I think it will help me to get back into the writing groove - once I've had several days in a row of writing a lot of words, it's easy(ish) to keep going, but it's the starting that is the hardest. I don't know how much I'll get done in Texas, but I'm excited to work on this project again (as long as I haven't jinxed myself by acting happy about it).

Anyway, I got to Austin at 5pm, which was v. shortly before my cousin Drew (you may know him as Drewbaby, although he's over twenty-one now) arrived from Denver. Our respective parents were already at the airport - Uncle Mark flew in this afternoon, and my parents drove down (with a stop in Oklahoma last night). I used all of my powers of sorcery to find someplace for us to eat (and by sorcery I mean I used Yelp to find someplace that looked tasty, and then Waze to avoid traffic). I was pretty pleased with the results - we went to Little Barrel and Brown, where I had a v. tasty burger and a v. respectable glass of malbec. They served the burger with 'marrownaise', which I was surprisingly not into - the mayonnaise had bone marrow in it, but it just resulted in this weirdly unflavorful sauce. Maybe it would have been better on a bun, but it was a bit strange on its own. However, the burger was great, so yay.

After Austin, we drove the ninety minutes or so to Kerrville, which is home base for the family reunion (although we're here a couple of days early). My parents and I arrived just as dusk was settling, and I hung out with them for a bit before adjourning to my room to wait for [censored] and watch the last quarter of the Warriors/Cavs game. [censored] arrived around 10:40pm, which was way later than I'm sure he wanted to arrive, but at least he made it despite the best attempts of Tropical Storm Bill to derail him. And now we're watching 'Highway Thru Hell', which I'm telling you even though [censored] usually prefers that all of our activities be [censored], but this show (about guys helping other guys to get out of the ditch during winter storms in Canada) is so fucking boring that I see no point in censoring it.

Now, though, I believe I shall go to bed so that I can be so fresh and so clean for tomorrow's festivities - goodnight!

i think you're a contra

Good evening, friends. In approximately thirteen hours I shall board a plane to ye olde Texas for a family reunion, and I can report that (miraculously) I'm all packed up and ready to go. Yes, I am as shocked as you are!

But today, while not the best for writing, was sufficient for getting things done before the trip. I did go to a coffee shop from 7:45am to 9:15am, but I only got a few hundred words; I spent the rest of the time rereading some stuff from Callie and Thorington's story to make sure I have the timeline right for this one. And I have to say...I am really not feeling this book. So much so that I'm considering giving myself a break from it, writing furiously on the gargoyles book that I keep going back to every couple of years, and turning that into my editor in a couple of weeks instead. I'm going to spend some quality time on the plane tomorrow considering my options, but there's something seriously fucked about what I've set up for Rafe and Octavia, and I can't seem to figure out what it is. Or maybe I'm not in the mood to write about love after my spinster honeymoon. Or maybe it's something else entirely - I don't know. But banging my head against it seems counterproductive, especially when there's another book I could way more easily work on instead.

Anyway, that's a decision for another time. After I was done banging my head for the morning, I came home, ate some breakfast (does a banana and string cheese count??), and went south to train with Alyssa. She was particularly brutal today, which felt good, although we'll see if it feels good tomorrow when my arms give out while lifting my bag into the overhead bin (I've always wanted an Owen Wilson nose, and this may be my chance). Then I showered, grabbed food, went to the post office, came home, and did a variety of internet-related tings.

I eventually ventured out into the fog to take a walk, get some cash, buy a couple of last-minute travel items, and get coffee to fuel me up for the evening (and consider Rafe and Octavia, to no avail). And then the rest of the evening was consumed with packing (and attempting not to overpack), cleaning, etc., etc.

And now, alas, I must sleep; I didn't take a nap today, which is very unwriterly (and untodderlike) of me, so sleep is imperative if I have any hope of writing in the morning before going to the airport (level of current hope: not much). Goodnight!

i wish that i could be like the cool kids

It was a lovely Sunday in San Francisco, thanks for asking. I didn't get up quite as early as planned (are you sensing a theme?), but I still made it to a cafe in time to write for an hour before Chandlord (aka Vidya) and Jess (aka Jwan) showed up to rescue me from my labors. We had a girls' morning out with an extended brunch at Nob Hill Grille (even though Jess hates brunch), followed by more chatting at Chandlord's house (the house she lives in now, not the place she rents to me).

This was a v. excellent outing, even if I was the only one who had a mimosa (which the menu promised was 'delicious and nutritious' - it was certainly one of those things). We had many tings to catch up on, including Jess's singing, some tribulations with someone's extended family (not mine...although maybe that's destined to happen in Texas this week, but if so, it won't be because some of them don't speak English and/or aren't willing to drive anywhere), the fact that Vidya has been to a million weddings (including two this weekend), etc., etc. So, I would judge the girls' morning out to be a success! And I would also say that it is delightful to have friends so charming and helpful, even if Chandlord only hugs me when she is distracted by something else.

Followed by that rousing effort, I came home, messed around for a bit, called my mother, had a delightful hangout with Terry, and did some laundry. Then, I spent the evening taking care of tings that needed taken care of - paying taxes, writing checks to people for services rendered, packing up things to be returned, etc. You will note that none of that includes watching either the Warriors game or the 'Game of Thrones' finale, since I am living in a strange bubble outside the confines of current pop culture. Come for the royal family trivia, stay for the fascinating tidbits about Regency history, but don't expect me to know anything about any tv show from the last five years.

And now, I believe I shall go to bed so that I can (you guessed it / you rolled your eyes at it) get up early tomorrow and write before going to the gym. Goodnight!

hunting for witches

Writing was a fail today, but I am reminded that I had planned to be nicer to myself about not working on weekends (although I'm not sure if that counts since I haven't ramped up to working full days during the week). I had meant to get up early and write before brunch, but I got up too early (5:40am, after six hours of sleep), and so dozed off and on for another couple of hours. That left me a little too lethargic, though - I should have just gotten up. When I finally got out of bed, I stared at the manuscript for just a little bit, but then I ate a snack, showered, etc. instead of facing the page.

But I made it to brunch with Shedletsky and Tina at Hong Kong Flower Lounge - we hadn't been there in ages, and it was good to have dim sum even if I can now only eat a small fraction of all my old favorites. This turned out to make it super cheap, though, since we didn't overorder; I think the total for the three of us was less than $30, which is crazy cheap for San Francisco (and especially crazy cheap given how many shrimp died to fuel our gluttony). They recently went to Italy and France, which sounded delightful, and so we exchanged notes on their Tuscan adventures vs. my spinster honeymoon, as well as discussing online marketing, ridiculous life updates, etc.

After we parted ways, I came home and took the shortest post-dim sum nap I've probably ever taken (combo of not overordering + not eating gluten makes these dim sum excursions far less challenging for my body than they used to be). Then I went a little too far down one of my fear spirals (an expected part of the transition from corporate slave to independent creative type, but even though it's expected, it's not easy to get out of once within it).

But I rallied and went to the gym, where I did a pretty heavy kettlebell workout (I'm up to swinging 24kg, so I guess that's a yay?), and so between the workout itself and the fact that I walked to the gym and back, I had almost two hours to clear my head and tire myself out, which was a good thing. Then I came home, showered again, took care of some tings, and ended up meeting Priyanka for a girls' night out at Lers Ros. And by 'girls' night out' I mean we ate curry and talked about shopping + the latest pics of Prince George; Adit is out of town, so we were able to indulge in girl talk to our hearts' content.

But all good things, even good things related to Parisian shopping (she and Adit were in Iceland/Paris for the last two weeks), must come to an end. So Priyanka dropped me off (with a v. brief stop to see the place, since she hadn't been over since I moved in), and then I spent some quality time buying plane tickets for my NYC trip next month. And now I must go to bed - I really really am going to get up early and write tomorrow. Goodnight!

ministry of love

Today was the first time in many days where I didn't have any plans at all, and while it was a little weird to be so hermity (it felt like today lasted for a week), I also managed to get 2000 words, which is better than any day I've had recently. So, I'm glad that the day shook out the way it did. I didn't get up particularly early, but I eventually went to a cafe and wrote for a couple of hours, where I got my first thousand words. Then I grabbed a late lunch, came home, took a nap, messed around in my notebook, and eventually went to Philz, where I wrote another thousand words.

I perhaps should have tried for another stint tonight, but I cut myself some slack and prepped some salad stuff again (the salad I ate tonight + hard boiled eggs and bacon and chicken for more salads the next three days). Then I curled up on the couch with a book, which was a delightful way to end my day. And now that the fog has rolled in, I'm going to go to sleep - I do have plans tomorrow, but I want to get another two thousand words at some point, so I think getting up early is a requirement. Goodnight!

i guess that i, i just thought, maybe we could find new ways to fall apart

My headache persisted when I woke up this morning, which threw a shadow over my day...but I think I've sufficiently rallied, so I have very high hopes, grand plans, huge aspirations, etc., etc. for the weekend. I want to make a lot of progress in the next four days so that I can leave for Texas feeling like things are coming together, so it's time to make it happen.

Today wasn't all bad, though. I laid in bed for awhile willing the headache to subside, and I eventually dragged myself out of bed and into some clothes so that I could go to Another Cafe to work. I was there too late to check up on my possibly infidelious lovebirds, but I wrote a couple of pages in my notebook while drinking an iced latte, so that I was good. Then I came home and enjoyed a very long, very lovely hangout date with Ritu (aka riturani) - we hadn't talked in a few months, and we had a lot to catch up on since I left my job/went on vacation and she went to Nepal to help with disaster relief there, among other things going on in her life. So we talked for approximately ninety minutes, which is never enough but was a great way to spend my early afternoon.

After Ritu and I parted ways, I ate the rest of my leftover salad from last night (happily, Past Sara didn't pick all the bacon and chicken out of the salad like she usually does, so the leftover half of the salad was actually pretty tasty) while engaging in some desultory gchatting with Terry. And then I spent the late afternoon at Philz on Golden Gate, where I messed around in my notebook some more while caffeinating myself in hopes that caffeine would help the headache (verdict: no).

But I ended the evening at Lauren and Nathan's, where I shamelessly ate their soup and drank their wine while catching up with Lauren. It was our only chance to get together before she goes to Tahoe this weekend and I go to Texas next week, so I leapt at the opportunity even though I probably should have let her go to bed instead. And now that I'm home and my headache seems to be subsiding (fingers crossed), I need to sleep so that I can get up tomorrow and hit the writing hard - goodnight!