Anyway, I visited her blog again just to see what’s up over there and was saddened to read that some people have responded to her blog in a very negative, hateful way. Can we all just read and let read? Sheesh.

I dig the site and learned a thing or two. One thing that has always embarrassed me on the job is when people assume that I am up on “African American” books, and then I disappoint them. In that moment, it feels personal, and I, generally good at not taking things at work personally. It’s not that I don’t read black authors, it’s just my reading choices are pretty organic. One day I’m reading about Richard Nixon, I find out about some pie that his mom used to make…next thing I know, I’m reading about growing that particular fruit. So there are times when I am reading a lot of black authors, and then on the other hand, there are times I’m not reading any at all.

Funny, the day I set a goal to write 1000 words a day on my novel, I find the time to blog not once, but twice.

Vacations are funny. I have to resist the urge to put so much pressure on the vacation that I stop myself from enjoying myself. I found myself leaning in this direction this morning. Here I was at the table with a magazine, my computer and a cup of hot chocolate…then I wondered whether I was reading the right magazine. It went something like this:

Now, you don’t have unlimited time, so you should make sure that you prioritize….it would be no fun if you just spent all of this time leisurely reading this and leisurely reading that only to discover on the last day of your vacation that you didn’t read the right things at all…maybe you should get up and look at the things you want to read, put them in order or something.

Then I checked my work email for a break.

Uh, there might be something wrong with that.

So, I am going to try to be well-adjusted about this. I do want to work on my semi-abandoned novel every day. If I write 1000 words per day, I could get 14,000 words down which hopefully will be enough to pull me out of this slump, or at least it would pull me away from so much Diner Dash.

I’ve been trying to ignore the fact that I haven’t been writing. But, eventually, I have to come face to face with my own…laziness? lack of inspiration? lack of time? something.

Today, I opened the file for an abandoned novel and discovered, much to my surprise, that I had written over seventy pages. I was pleased until I remembered that I had opened the file before and experienced that same surprise. You know you’re not writing when…

I mentioned to a woman at work that I was going to try to write tonight and I did. Not much, but nothing is better than a whole lot of nothing. I guess that accountability works for me.

I used to go to a writing group on Tuesday evenings, but stopped going when the writing dried up. I think that there is a bounty on my head.

With a few more nights like tonight, I could show my face there again one day.

The hardest thing to me about Michigan is the everlasting cold. Right now I am freezing, and I will be freezing approximately until June. This is the time that I need to really pull out my positive thinking. And that is what the Cranberry Splash Sierra Mist is for. This is me trying really hard to appreciate the little things. My hands are absolutely freezing and there is the really scattered part of me, that seems to think that everything is a good idea, that thinks she should knit up some gauntlets.

I made soup the day before yesterday hoping to take the edge off of the chill. I made Thai Spiced Pumpkin Soup.

Remember soup. It might just be the key to warmth.

It’s hard to focus on fall, when it certainly feels like winter. I think I need to be thinking chestnuts roasting on an open fire or something like that.

I am feeling rather domestic right now and I really like that. This morning I made bagels according to a recipe that I have used a few times now. I also hacked a pumpkin to pieces so that I can make a spicy pumpkin soup. I have pumpkin seeds in the toaster oven right now.

My son had his fifth birthday yesterday. I can’t believe it! As overdone as it is, it does seem like he was a baby just yesterday. He had a happy day. That makes me happy.

I can’t believe that it is actually quiet right now. In fact, the clicking of my keyboard might be the noisiest activity right now. There isn’t any TV on. The young one is playing with his some toys. I can’t believe it. When quiet serendipitously happens, I feel like I should stop whatever I am doing and throw myself into enjoying the quiet with reckless abandon. I want to take down about eighteen books and start reading them all at once. I want to write novels while writing poems and even knock off a grocery list or something. I better enjoy the silence while I have the chance.

I realized today that for the last, say, three years that the ibuprofen that I keep kept in my desk at work has been expired. Unnerving.

I find that every time I hear a reference to “tapping the TARP” on the radio, it seems semi-sexual to me. I imagine it describing some act that I am unfamiliar with, something you might find on a 101 positions guide on some Xeroxed 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper for sale somewhere in New York City. That this is what my mind conjures in the midst of dire communication about a serious financial problem with global implications…unnerving.

That the word “moister” appeared on the paper I was reading… The word moist gives me the willies unless it is referring to cake. The word “moister” always gives me the creeps. It just seems to me like something that shouldn’t be. You guessed it, unnerving.

The alley pictured above. Not unnerving at all, which is perhaps, separately, unnerving.

Thursday evening, I bought the Nike+ sensor thingie to go with my iPod so that I could track any running that I do. I’m glad that I did. I am trying (again) to take up running. Once upon a time, I was thinking about running a 5k, but I just didn’t stick with it. There was another time about a lot of pounds ago when I was running every once in awhile. And now there is now. I took a went out running (very slowly, but running nonetheless) today, even though it was snowing. I am very proud of myself for this. I plan to do some running tomorrow either during lunch or after work. Tuesday and Wednesday, I have other exercise plans, but Thursday, Friday, Saturday I plan to run. A week from today, I plan to rest.

Though I haven’t posted everyday, I am still doing the November, be thankful thing. Yesterday, I had pumpkin pudding with a crumbled gingerbread cupcake sprinkled over it. It was so delicious. Friday, I had a gingersnap latte at Starbucks. I liked it, but the little chunks of ginger at the end of the drink were quite unnerving to me. Today, I stopped at Coldstone, because the young one really wanted to. I got the horrible service that makes me vow never to go there again, and I took home a pumpkin icecream with crushed gingerbread cookies in it.

Friday, I did my Christmas shopping for my niece. I am happy about that. I would have been even happier if I had found wrapping paper and wrapped her little gifties, but hey, now I have something to do this week. I also took care of the young one’s birthday present. He informed me today that he would like to have a race car birthday cake and pizza for dinner. I can manage that.

At the gas station today, (oh yeah, I was all about getting things done today) I saw a sign for Maverick cigarettes. I have to say that I am a bit bitter that the word is just ruined for a while. I hate to see perfectly good words go out like that.

I picked up a copy of Kindred, by Octavia Butler today at the library. I have picked up and checked out her work before, but I think that this is the time that I am going to read it. I felt drawn to it. Generally, I am not a science fiction reader.

I was discussing one of my ideas for a novel with someone from my writing group several months ago. She said that the concept reminded her of Octavia Butler. Now that I am trying to hash trough that novel through NaNoWriMo, I am feeling drawn to Butler. Junot Diaz, whom I really admire, had also mentioned her in an interview I read a few years ago. I think that last time I tried to read her, it was in response to that interview. Speaking of NaNoWriMo, I probably should be working on that novel right now. *sigh*

Today, I got Alex’s school pictures. When I got inside after work and put everything down on the counter, there I saw my son’s picture alongside Barack Obama. I loved the image and felt compelled to record it.

For the fall/Thanksgiving project, today’s theme was sweet potatoes. For dinner, I made Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos from La Dolce Vegan!. I’ve made them before and wasn’t surprised by their tastiness.

In other mundane news, I made arrangements to get my car repaired tomorrow. I’m addressing the internal, not the aesthetic problems with my car. Tonight, I hope to put down some words on my November novel and to do some more work on my website.