October 8, 2005
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This week has not been rosy. In fact, aside from chatting with my grandpa on the phone to help them plan a highly anticipated trip to Chi-town this month and getting to show my friend Squee around the Dan Flavin exhibition that is up at my museum (see it through October 30 at the MCA, ladies and gents!), I’ve stepped onto quite a few landmines this week. Most of them I can’t blog about (but that make my blood BOIL and have prompted me to wage WAR on a particularly thieving, selfish mammal that I’ve had the displeasure of knowing), but the rebellion of my sinuses has been more than enough to contend with. As with anyone having a crap-ass week, sometimes the littlest things keep me going. This week, it was an idea that was helped along, in large part, by my Xanga peeps. For this, I bring you…
Thank You for Being a Friend (down the road and back again…)
© The Author, 2005Okay. So I promised myself that I would just work work work on my story today, but I’ve simply got to share the long awaited answer to a question that I’ve been chewing over for some time now (okay, so I might be procrastinating just a little bit here…). You may remember a few posts ago, I wrote about my desire to think of an obsession for my main character. This was particularly difficult for me because the obsessions that I have—campy things, justice, and a new addition: a fear of misspelling words at work—were too close to home for me to see them as any thing more than elements of my personality. But the responses of incredibly helpful “strangers”—that’s you—really got me thinking about how our obsessions can facilitate really great plot points. The responses revealed that some of you are obsessed with self-improvement. Many of you are obsessed with various fears. Both types of obsession are smacking with opportunity to further plot.
Anyhow, I just wanted to give a hearty thank-you to everyone who helped me out with that. I’m happy to share that my early draft is being overhauled and beefed up to include my main character’s playful obsession with Chef Giada De Laurentiis from the show Every Day Italian on Food Network, and his quiet, but sincere obsession with cooking.
And how, you may ask, do these things further the plot-line of a man who kidnaps his own child and takes her on a never-ending road trip? I guess you’ll all have to wait until it’s in print to find out…
::smile::
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What happy little golden nugget kept you going the last time you had a suckey week?
Comments (10)
Stepping outside into the cool night air from my hole in the library for a cup of hot coffee and a cigarette (yay for midterms!), only to find my boyfriend bringing me some dinner. Simple, but probably the best thing in the world after 12 hours at a computer.
Friday nights when my dear hubby brings me home a double tall vanilla latte from Starbucks. That usually helps, and the caffiene keeps me up long enough to watch something I like.
The Marlee Matlin movie you commenting on a ways back is on Starz On Demand on my cable. I plan on watching it before I forget!
Oh, man, I had the suckiest weekend of the suckiest. That, PLUS my continuing sinus infection. I guess I have to call the doc tomorrow and ask for another round of antibiotics. So, you and I are in the same space, my e-friend.
I also had the extreme displeasure of driving into town to pick up my son and getting caught in the traffic for the Chicago Marathon. Traffic jams when your head is exploding are just the pits.
Anyway, I have an obsession about Egypt and I’m about to start on a short story about a priestess in the ancient civilization. Women in Egypt were freer than at any other point in history except now, so it’s a fascinating topic. Glad you got over your block.
At least the White Sox won. Even for this Cubs fan, it’s something.
Lynn
I am so looking forward to reading that story. This will sound strange as a happy nugget but every two weeks I give my children their allowance and take them to the toy store. I enjoy them calmly inspecting the things they’re interested in. I used to get annoyed at the time they took but now I like to watch how they weigh the pros and cons of toys and determining if it fits into their budget and age range. I just stand back and watch and smile at their evolution.
is there a screenplay version….?!?
may your week be a crescendo of better happenings of health and events.
last time i had a suckey week i think i just trucked through to the next good week. it’s a lot like surfing i think, but i’m not sure cause i’ve never surfed. but it definitely has something to do with reading the waves.. and not getting pulled under.
It will sound cheesy or cliche, but sometimes just a few kind and supportive words from the right person can be the nugget that shines through all the crap. Knowing that somewhere a great human being thinks highly of you can be one of the greatest highs in existence.
My happy little golden nugget arrived in the form of a mix CD from a certain chicagoartgirl23! Thank you so much! It’s on heavy rotation at the mo, as they say in the timshead-o-sphere, in fact, it’s on current rotation right now. A great mix. (Also my very first piece of Portland mail—how exciting!) Rock on! Thanks for the nugget!
You just let the inner writer take you where you need to go. Salon magazine had a great interview with Neil Gaiman and Susanna Clarke and they both talke a little about “who” is actually writing those words on the page. I know the feeling.
RYC: I was in my own world as a kid and had no idea that Barbie was supposed to be something to be Lived Up To. I think that’s the flaw a lot of these writers make. I mean, my sister and I put one Barbie in the oven to see what would happen to her hair at high tempertures. It melted into what only can be described as a burnt marshmallow. The clothes were fun, but Ken was a dork. The fact that her feet didn’t bend really bugged, me but then I never thought of her as some kind of attainable body type. I was just a nerd, I guess. I thought playing with Barbie was fun. I also liked playing with trolls. I saw no difference whatsoever.
Lynn
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