Savory Oatmeal

In theory, I like oatmeal. I like it sweet, and for a while I was eating oatmeal sweetened with spices and a banana.

Only I don't crave sweet foods in the morning. I want savory foods, like eggs, cheese, potatoes. That sort of thing. Of course, these foods aren't healthy to eat every single morning, so I usually settle for cereal or maybe some rice.

But today I tried savory oatmeal and I'm pleased to report the results were good. I put a little cheese in the oatmeal and topped it with one sunny side up egg and a little salt. I cribbed the recipe from here (even though I didn't really follow it), but I don't have the "high quality" ingredients the recipe calls for. Just regular grocery store ingredients. Still, I liked the results. Problem solved, I think. Now to try new recipes.

Progress

Tonight I went to my first training session to register voters. Had to drive an hour to get there, but I don't mind. Can't wait to get out there and start talking to people.

New York Foundation for the Arts Source

Writing? Creating art? Check out the New York Foundation for the Arts free source for grants, residencies, etc.

Are You Awesome?

Just came across this no-strings-attached grant that awards $1000 to awesome projects. The "micro-committee" doesn't necessarily stop at the awesome projects, however. If you can convince them you're awesome yourself, you can still have a shot.

Feeling Decidedly Eeyorish This Evening

Took all day to get ONE online application completed. It was a long application, and I turned it in without one piece of documentation——which I probably won't get by the deadline. Ah well. But I'm still hoping it wasn't a waste of time.

So I'm not making a permanent move right now. Where my folks are is just too economically depressed, and the only way I could make it work is if I were fantastically wealthy ... which I'm not. Too close to the edge. Right now I'm staying where I can be available onsite for work. I just don't think I'd be much use to my folks if I'm having to borrow money off of them because I can't find any work for what I do in their area. I wish I could move; Mom's in the hospital again because her blood's too thin. We don't know yet if she was bleeding internally for a while or what. *shakes head* And this time I can't even make it home.

I'm just thankful I have SOME kind of work right now. I feel like one of those ringwraiths in LOTR that are constantly sniffing out Frodo and the Ring——only it's more work I'm sniffing out. Not depressed, exactly. But I'm definitely feeling a little discouraged. I turned down a bunch of jobs because I thought I was moving. I'm still getting lots of leads, and I'm working, but I need something full-time. Ah well. At least right now I have time to work on my Great American Novel.

Not to mention, Orson has turned into something of a triple threat, if you get my meaning. Doesn't seem to remember what the litter box is for anymore. He's on two units of insulin, which has helped cut down on the frequency of his er, deeds. We're trying a bigger litter box because his arthritis makes it hard for him to aim (did you really want to read about this?). So far, it's ... not working, really. We're getting to our wit's end, but hey. At least we have some Anti-Icky Poo to clean it all up.

Signed,

Eeyore

Reading

How are folks doing on their reading this year? My goal was to get 75 books in this year, but so far I've only read 27. Probably I could read more instead of watching Lord of the Rings for the eighty-sixth time ...

Very Cool

Craig Ferguson's Lost Dr. Who Cold Open

LOL!!

What Helps You?

A lot of people knock self-help books——and in many cases, they're not wrong. So many self-help books suck. Personally, though, I've found several that have helped me a lot. Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, Kenneth Christian's Your Own Worst Enemy, and Stephen Pressfield's The War of Art are just a few of the self-help books I go back to again and again when I need a tweak of inspiration.

What about you? Do you read self-help books? If so, which ones have helped you? How have they helped you? For me, the biggest benefit I've gotten from self-help books is that they have helped me to train myself to think differently. They've helped me to think more positively, which in turn helps me to actually do positive things instead of sitting around complaining about my life. (I'm not totally cured of this, but I've come a long way.)

Aside from The Secret,—which is BS, IMHO—what helps you?

Instant Creative Solutions!

Out of ideas? Check out this site for instant creative solutions. (Cribbed from Janet Reid's blog.)

Your Artist Statement

Applying for a grant? Getting that writing website up? Need an artistic statement that will impress? Try this arty bollocks generator. For when you need to BS. Fast.

Should You Work For Free?

This handy flowchart should help you decide. There's a non-f-bomb version available, so look for the link if a few curse words offend you. Hilarious and enlightening.

The Dark Stuff

I finally read the WSJ article that criticizes the YA publishing market. The article makes me a little angry, but mostly it makes me sad. Once again an industry is getting beaten up by clueless parents.

In case you missed it, the article opens with a woman, Amy Freedman, searching for a YA book in the bookstore as a "welcome home" gift for her 13-year-old daughter. Revolted by all the "vampires and suicide and self-mutilation, this dark, dark stuff," she left the store empty-handed. The article went on to criticize the state of the YA market and questioned the validity of an industry that exposes just too much of the dark stuff to teenagers.

But really, I think what the article reveals is that some people are just not involved parents. How is it that this woman missed her daughter's reading habits for 13 years? If you're a parent involved in your kids' reading habits, trends in the YA market shouldn't come as a surprise. Also. I suppose Freeman has never heard of Amazon, where you can search for books to your taste. Big market out there, you know. And then there are the classics, such as Little Women (one of the most innocent books ever written) and the Laura Ingalls Wilder series, and Jane Austen, and . . . well, you get the point. Plenty of stuff out there from which to choose. If one stop off at a Barnes & Noble was enough for her to start railing about the publishing industry, I'd hate to know what she gets out of the evening news. Or maybe she doesn't watch that, because it's just too much real world.

That's to say nothing of the article's author, Megan Cox Gurdon, who was equally clueless.

YA books about abuse, vampires, and self-mutilation may get published because that's what sells. But those books probably sell because—at least in the cases of abuse and self-mutilation—that's what is. (I'm not so sure about the vampires.) There are kids out there with very real, gut-wrenching problems, problems too big for them to deal with but they're dealing with them, anyway—and guess what? YA literature, just like all literature, can help them make sense of the senseless things that happen to them. That's what story does. I think what Gurdon would like is to pretend that the dark stuff doesn't exist, or even if it does, it should be swept into the sewage system as easily as what we flush down the toilet. And maybe for her life, she's right.

But for many kids and teenagers, that's not the way it goes. Even kids raised in a safe environment have problems. Kids raised in the foster care system or by unstable parents get knocked around by life far too soon. Should we ignore them? Teenagers get ignored enough. By the time a kid gets to middle school, all that creative research that goes into childhood education drops off a cliff, leaving many kids to wander in an educational no man's land until they graduate. Fiction—yes, even YA fiction—can help them make sense of the senseless things that happen to them. That's what story does. Even the dark stuff. I know because I have a teenaged niece who told me so.

Kyle Cassidy weighs in here.

Changes

Lots of changes this month. Orson has diabetes. He's been losing weight and has been drinking a ton of water, yet he's still dehydrated. We finally got him to the vet and she diagnosed Orson with diabetes. He's on insulin now, though only D has injected it. According to D, Orson "took his first shot like a champ," and injecting the insulin is a cinch. When I get back to Chicago, I'll have him show me how to do it.

I'm out of town because I'm in the Fort (aka Fort Wayne). My mom had congestive heart failure the Monday before Memorial Day and had a pacemaker put in. She's still in the hospital, but we expect her to be released today. I've been here helping my dad get through the week. I'm pretty sure I'll be moving back here by July. It's not 100% certain, but I'm looking at apartments here and eventually a house.

As much as I love Chicago, I just can't see myself staying there now that it's pretty clear my parents won't get back to a level of independence they used to enjoy. Mom's still pretty weak and her recovery is going to be long, and she's going to need someone to help her with grocery shopping and laundry. Right now she can't lift more than two pounds (doctor's orders).

Besides, I've been pining for a life in the country, and that is something I could never afford in Illinois. I can afford it in Indiana, I think, at least eventually. I have to admit I have no idea whether I'd like living in the country. The only time I've ever been in the country was at my grandparents' on their farm, where we would climb trees and hang out in the treehouse my grandfather built for us and race motorbikes and gokarts around his "track," but that hardly counts as living there. I could very well be romanticizing the idea of living in the country. But I want a house. I want a garden. I want a library and a fireplace. I could have all that in a house in the suburbs, but then I would have to have neighbors. I was raised in a suburb, a creepy suburb, and I don't think I could go back to that. Neighbors scare me. I don't want them unless I'm in an apartment where most people keep to themselves. I mean, I like people. Honest. I just don't want them as neighbors. And I'm willing to put up with almost anything not to have neighbors.

So I'll start in an apartment and work from there. I'm slightly worried about the job thing. Fort Wayne is rather economically depressed, and the only jobs available are restaurant jobs and medical jobs. But this could be an opportunity for me to finally start the copywriting business I've been talking about doing. Lots of work in that area, it seems, if I can break in, and it's something I can do from home and still have time to work on my fiction. Copywriting is something I sense I could be really good at and enjoy at least enough to keep doing it until I publish will undoubtedly be my hit novel. ; ) At any rate, I'm 97% sure I couldn't go back to being employed by someone else—especially with the kinds of jobs that are available in the Fort. Being self-employed in grad school and beyond, I got used to making my own decisions and I don't think I could go back to being bossed around. If I need to meet with clients in Indy or Chicago, I can still do that. I've got a pretty big list of businesses to start cold calling and cold writing.

In some ways, I'm really looking forward to the (possible-probable) move. Fort Wayne does have an excellent library (especially the main branch downtown) that is really freaking fun to visit. It also has some great bookshops (though some have closed down, sadly) and a couple of good coffeeshops.

It only has one artsy movie theatre, so I'm going to miss the freedom I had in Chicago to see whatever artsy independent film I wanted. And the thai food. I'm going to miss the great thai food. And Bikram yoga. Oh my God will I miss Bikram yoga and the cutie who taught there.

But this appears to be my new lot in life.

So that's the plan. Wish me luck.

This May Help

Ever forget the title to a book you're trying to find? This hilarious site may help you. Renames the titles of many classics so you don't have to.