I am that person who buys a pretty new calendar/planner every year.  I take a long time at the bookstore picking out said calendar, examining all the options (page a day, page a week, monthly view, are the boxes big enough to write in, all that jazz).  I get really excited about it, use it for about a week and then I don’t touch it again until I’m sifting through junk eight months later and it’s time to throw it out.  We just did a major purge of household items last weekend, in which I threw out not one, but three very cute 2011 planners that were empty.  And I’m fairly certain I’ve done this for the last eight or nine years.  I’m sorry, trees.  I’m sorry you had to die in vain.

Clearly, I needed an intervention.  So, even though I’d resisted online calendars in the past (Too much technology! No one uses paper anymore!  I like my cool pens!), I gave it a shot (my husband helped with some light encouragement — perhaps he felt bad for the trees, too) and it’s working!  I can color code various tasks and I can get reminders on my phone, which were a little annoying at first, but now, I enjoy those tiny bells.  They keep me going.  We all need something to yell at us every now and then.  At least I do.

I remember the first time I heard the song — Electric Boogie by Marcia Griffiths.  I was in seventh grade, attending a student council field trip at another junior high, where we were forced to participate in awkward ice breakers and discussions about how to make our schools better.

The Electric Slide hadn’t hit our school yet, so we felt like pioneers.  We couldn’t wait to come home and show everyone what we’d learned.

I have two manuscripts in progress — a novel first draft that’s about halfway done, and a memoir that is complete in theory, but is about to undergo another major revision pending some feedback that should be coming soon.  The last two weeks I’ve applied for many teaching jobs, fellowships, conferences — lots of prepping of documents and writing of cover letters and filling out of applications.  That kind of administrative stuff can be a nice break from creating things.  It feels good to put myself out there, but now it’s time to retreat inward and focus on the work.

So, I have my second cup of coffee nearby and Bright Eyes singing in my ears and I’m going to open that Word document and jump in.

I have a piece in the latest issue of The Bellingham Review.

Their Fall 2011 edition is their first online issue, and it features short forms, including my flash nonfiction piece Bodies.

I’m getting two manuscripts ready for submission.

I’m wrapping up the teaching semester.

I’m bracing myself for the cold — digging out the gloves and scarves and sending coats to the cleaners.

Fascinating, I know!

I’m also spending a lot of time walking around with a one pound kitten perched on my shoulder.

We rescued a tiny stray kitten from our neighborhood.  His name is Alex and I’m afraid that if I post pictures of him on this blog, I will (a) continue to post pictures of him every day until forever or (b) make my readers’ eyes explode from his extreme adorableness.

So I will save myself and you…for now.

In other news, I’m leaning into the changing of the season and the changing of the clocks with a bit more ease these days.

And the holiday drinks at the coffee shops help tremendously.

I’m looking at you, peppermint mocha.

In general, I don’t enjoy seasonal transitions, and moving between summer and fall can be especially distressing.  You’re going about your business and all at once you realize that the light looks different in the evening and everything is getting darker earlier and changing color and gardens are being dug up left and right.  There’s a sadness to it, that’s for sure, but there’s also happiness in wearing sweaters and digging quilts out of storage.

I’m an all-or-nothing creature.  It must be the height of summer or the dead of winter.  You’re either with us or you’re against us.  There is no in between.

Many thanks to the wonderful Lori Jakiela for the invite!  And while you’re at it, you should read Lori’s piece in the latest issue of Brevity.

The start of the new teaching semester has me planning and grading and getting used to my new schedule, which is actually pretty boss, if I do say so myself.  And yes, I just used the word “boss” as an adjective.  I like my schedule so much I’m willing to use an out-of-date buzz word to describe it.

I’m also working on a new book project (a novel).  This new project is giving me something to focus on while I eagerly await news on the two manuscripts I currently have circulating in the world at the moment.  That’s all I can do, right?  Keep writing the next story, the next book, the next poem.

Library books on my nightstand right now –

The Long Goodbye by Meghan O’Rourke

The Pale King by David Foster Wallace.

I’ve already started The Long Goodbye.  It’s beautifully written, and I love the language of it (O’Rourke is also a poet).  I’m just not sure I’m buying into the story as much as I should.  I’m aware that this may be because of some biases I have concerning the subject matter.  Reading The Pale King is a bit of a pipe dream, but I’m going to take a stab at it anyway.

Click your little mousie pointer HERE to check it out!

I will be keeping this blog, but now there’ s a handy dandy link to it on the new site.

So…you can continue to find me through my WordPress address or you can just follow the link on the new website to stay up to date with what’s going on in my head.

There’s actually lots of happy going on around here right now.  I will tell you more very soon.