For Writers

This, fellow writers. This.

The Royal Wedding

Okay, I was never one to plan my wedding as a little girl or a teenager, (one former boyfriend was disappointed to learn I've never had an "ideal wedding" in mind) but I still think the royal wedding is pretty neat.

1000 Awesome Things

Because we all need to remember the little awesome things in our lives, here's the blog 1000 Awesome Things. It was started by Neil Pasricha at a time when his best friend had taken his own life and his marriage was falling apart. It was a great idea and now the blog is not one book, but two.

I can think of four things off the top of my head that are awesome:

1. Used bookstores.

2. The first cup of coffee out of the pot.

3. Animals that like your piano playing.

4. Friends that say, "She NEVER does this" when her dog is going spastic with excitement when you visit.

What are YOUR awesome things?

Party Time

If you're a writer looking to get published, you could do a lot worse than stray across Evil Editor's blog. He provides query critiques, critiques of the first 150 words of your novel or short story (or even a chapter), and most importantly, a lot of laughs. His minions also throw in their two cents, and reserve the right to make fun of you if you get defensive about your writing.

Some minions have put together a party honoring his fifth year anniversary, so if you've been wandering around the Internet, looking for an interesting, fun place to go, you've found it. Don't be shy. We don't bite.

Well, not too hard, anyway.

It Was . . .

one of Those Days.

I did something to piss of Chicago, because Chicago pretty much ate up my state tax refund today.

Meeting Neil Gaiman

He did a great reading and I could even hear him from where I was. And he's as personable and kind as his reputation. Really glad I got the opportunity to meet him, and I hope I get to again soon.

Also . . .

I have been promised by Management that I will get out of work in time tonight to see Neil Gaiman at the University of Chicago. Which means I should figure out where I'm going. Right.

Too Deep Thoughts for 6:30 In the Morning

Sex Scenes at Starbucks post got me thinking about religion.

For the most part, I don't believe in God. It's not that I'm terribly scientific or that I believe science has disproved the existence of God. (Though I love Neil DeGrasse Tyson's quote (and I'm paraphrasing here), "The great thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.") It's more that I can't reconcile all the suffering that goes on in the world with any all-knowing, all-loving God who would allow it. Yet, supposedly, we are made in His image, and we allow it. (I'm speaking of the Christian God—the only God I was raised to believe in and the only way my puny mind can conceive the existence of God.)

But that doesn't disprove God's existence, either. It's possible God is a lot more hands-off. And I acknowledge that faith can be a good thing. It's what got my mom through three open heart surgeries. It can be a balm for much of the pain in people's lives, much as a creative life is a balm in mine.

But if there is one, my guess is that the Eastern religions have it more correct. God is in everything, in all of us, a concept by which we choose to do right. In other words, God is our conscience. I think maybe I could believe in God as long as I don't have to put a face on the concept.

Better

Orson, dog eared.

A bad pic of the sick cat. His ear has been drained twice, and the hematoma came back a third time, but today it seems to be receding. He'll always have that floppy ear now, and I think he actually looks cuter for it. The arthritis supplement is helping him move, but he still needs to lose weight.

I'm still crazy with this yoga thing. Even got up at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning to make the 7:30 a.m. class because I had to work. I'm not sure I can describe the ways in which my life, my mindset, has changed. It's not just that work seems to be going better, or that I have more energy, or that I'm writing and making art again. It's like I'm coming unstuck and I actually feel like I'm living again, instead of just existing, which feels strange and new, almost like I've been given a magic elixir with unknown properties. I didn't expect changes this quickly. I just . . . I have goals again.

Ah, I'm gushing. Tell me what you do to get unstuck.