Basil in Danger

I bought a basil plant yesterday. I've wanted one for several months, but it wasn't until Trader Joe's had plants all but lining their store yesterday, for the happy happy price of $2.99, that I finally got to bring a plant home.

My history with living plants is...checkered. As a kid I brought potted violets back from my grandma's. I'd kill them, then she'd bring them back to life. My grandmother is a plant whisperer. That particular gene skipped my generation.

In college I had a little potted palm tree. It stayed alive for almost two years. Might have lasted longer if it were nearer to a.) a water source and b.) a waterer. When I left to housesit, it was never quite the same.

I want things to be different this time. To ensure the basil's survival, I also bought a small potted gerbera daisy. The daisy is the canary, the rose plant at the end of the grapevine. If it dies, it serves as a warning. I hope it doesn't come to that. It's cute and the blooms are red.

One of my favorite things to do with basil is to stack it with a roma tomato, fresh mozzarella, and a baguette slice. Basil goes on top - drizzle with olive oil. Perfect for a summer day.

...at least, as long as the basil plant is still alive...

Way on Up

If you haven't yet, go see Pixar's Up. Whatever you're doing now can wait. Seriously.

To be honest, I was a little worried from the trailer. Pixar trailers do that to me. The one for Up makes you believe that it's a film about a cranky old man, a precocious boy scout, and their aimless journey through jungles via floating house.

Would you think from the trailer that it's a film about a man who's fighting to give his dead wife the one thing he thought she wanted? About a boy desperate for his father's affection? About the simple adventure of life? And yet it's all that and more, and I haven't gotten to the talking dogs.

I love the talking dogs.

The film opens with a newsreel, and the introduction of Carl and his future wife, Ellie. Ellie as a girl is all static hair, spunk, imagination, and adventure. She's Anne of Green Gables, the next generation. The characterization is so strong that when the movie proceeds through a silent sequence chronicling Carl and Ellie's adult life together, we have a firm sense of who this woman is and how completely she loves Carl.

Even after she passes away, she's still very much a part of the film's essence.

Carl is getting old. He has no interest in Shady Oaks retirement home. So little interest that the male aids who come to pick him up (one with an excellently animated mullet and scrub tag sticking up) get a little surprise from the AARP member whom they underestimated.

Thing is, Carl's got a stowaway in the form of a "Junior Wilderness Explorer" who's missing his Assisting the Elderly badge. Together, they make their way to Venezuela to fulfill what Carl believes to be Ellie's lifelong wish.

In the jungle Carl and Russel discover Charles Muntz, Carl and Ellie's childhood hero. Think of a mix of Indiana Jones, Charles Lindbergh, and Captain Ahab - that's Charles, floating around in his dirigible, hunting his very own white whale.

Charles keeps company with the talking dogs. Did I mention that? Yeah, I know it's the collars that talk, but whatever. The dogs are communicating in English (although there is potential for Japanese). And sure they can cook and perform tasks that would conflict the average family canine, but under it all, they're still dogs. Ever wonder what a joke would be like if a dog told it? You'll find out.

What goes down in that jungle is the meat of the movie. Two old men, fighting for their pasts, one of them ready to make the sacrifices to have a future. Loss. Destruction. Change. Hope.

And squirrels. Seriously, what more could you ask for in a movie?

New Beginnings

I broke down and started Simply Sara yesterday, partly out of a fit of boredom. Have to say, though, starting another novel at the moment feels like getting a positive pregnancy test six weeks after delivery.

Not that I've had that experience, but I'm currently under the impression that novels are like babies. The gestation process, at the moment, takes about the same length of time. There's a similar amount of commitment involved. Now that I'm starting another book, a part of me is shouting inside, "Not yet! I'm not ready for another one!"

The trick is that I hate valuing my life depending on my word count for the day, but if I haven't been writing, I really don't know what to do. I feel like I'm floating around without accomplishing anything concrete. For better or for worse, there's no arguing with the concreteness of the word count, even if it is just a number on my computer screen.

Enough complaining. I started it. This book is funny because I kind of wanted to kick it off right where the last one left off, except that it's from Sara's perspective. I'm not a fan of having to restate who and what everyone is, but it is one of those necessary fiction evils because readers are legally allowed to read the second book first.

I'm waiting for the delight of the beginning of the book to set in. This is usually my favorite part; the options are nearly unlimited, the characters unexplored. And I really like some of the characters in this one, so the beginning euphoria should set in shortly.

Hm. I'm hungry.

(Note: over the next five minutes I contemplated the reality of my emptyish cupboards and the sadness over being out of oatmeal, before I realized that I wasn't entirely out of oatmeal and had just enough for a petit yet satisfying serving. Made the oatmeal, ate, and moved on.)

I'm reading Diane Abu-Jaber's "Crescent" at the moment and really enjoying it. Hoping for better luck with it than "The Last Dickens," which I could not get through with anything resembling speed. I began to think I just didn't read as fast as I used to, then I polished off Sandra Byrd's "Bon Appetit" in two days. "Crescent" is about a chef in a Lebanese restaurant in LA, so I have high hopes for completion, mainly because it involves food. I like food. I love reading about food.

Oh! Happy news! I'm teaching a class for the February OCW day-conference. Registration isn't open yet, but I'll post when it is. The best part about the whole thing is that Plain Jayne should be very much in print by then, so I'll have books available to sell while I'm teaching about creating ensemble casts for novels.

Still waiting for the book euphoria. Any minute now...

Catching Up

I haven't been very good about blogging lately. At all. And that's really sad, because I had all these beautiful ideas about how I would do things differently this month and blog about the experiences, and now the month's a third over.

So.

First, and most importlantly, I turned in Plain Jayne. The bolt of fabric has been wound up and handed off.

Second, my editor likes it. She laughed. And she laughed at jokes I thought I might be asked to omit. So that's all very, very happy.

Third, without a book, I don't know what to do with myself, and throwing myself into tidying the apartment doesn't have the appeal you might think. Amazingly enough.

I have started strategizing about Simply Sara. Not quite writing yet, but I'm alright with that. I am enjoying not sharing my head with anyone else at the moment.

Here are some of the NEW and/or DIFFERENT things I've tried in the last month -

1. To celebrate the turning-in of the book, Danny and I went to Mazzi's on a date. It's kind of a Eugene classic, but I hadn't gone in my sentient adult life. We really enjoyed it, and especially our table next to the (fake) fireplace.

2. We've watched In Bruges, Rachel Getting Married, and Star Trek. We're also a disk and an episode away from watching all five seasons of House, M.D., which I'm quite addicted to. Sarcasm? Cynicism? Guitar kidnapping? So there.

3. I'm learning new piano music. I realized a few months ago I've been playing the same pieces since school, mainly because I haven't had time or piano access to learn anything new. Now I'm working on a few songs and really enjoying it.

4. While I haven't tried any new recipes (kinda ran out after last month), I did try a new technique. I knew the traditional Italian Ragu method called for cooking the meat with milk after it's browned. I tried it with sausage before I added the prepackaged sauce - wow! The milk tenderizes the meat, creating a really yummy sauce. I did get a really yummy-sounding new recipe from my friend Aimee today, so more on that later.

5. I'm drinking more water. Hydration is a happy thing.

So far, haven't found any fabric I've liked for throw pillows. But I'm hopeful that I'll find something in the coming months. With Sara (my character, not a real person) being a seamstress, I'm really looking forward to improving my almost-nonexistant sewing skills.

And let's hope I write another blog by the end of the month!

The Now

Editing a full-length manuscript is like having a bolt of hemmed fabric unwound around the block. At some point you realize you should tweak the hem at a certain point, but that point is, like, on the other side of the block. And it's by that house with the barky dog and you're just so fed up with that dog that you'd rather not walk all the way over there to change that little bit.

I'm kind of overwhelmed at the moment. I don't remember being this overwhelmed with Divine Discontent, but that may be because 1.) DD didn't have a deadline, and 2.) I procrastinated for quite a while before digging into DD.

There's an outstanding family conversation about who's genetically responsible for the procrastination tendencies, and so far no one's been willing to incriminate, whoops, I mean, "suggest," a parent. But I digress.

I had these really pretty ideas about how I would painstakingly go through the manuscript and make all sorts of changes. But you know what? I've been staring at this thing for nine months straight. I can't help but think of the character of E from The Incredibles - "I never look back, darling, it distracts from the now."

While I certainly wouldn't ignore the things to be tweaked, the Now is calling, and it looks like fun. Inspired by my friend Michelle, I'm planning on spending May challenging myself to shake things up and do things differently. For me, that will translate into trying new restaurants, new recipes, new routines, new crafts AND a new book.

Looking forward to that, and some new blogging material. According to the powers that be, true bloggers aren't supposed to post less than twice a week. Twice a week? Unless you want my laundry stats, I don't necessarily have much to say twice a week.

Excessive blogging distracts from the Now.

Glad Tidings

I've started this blog a few times and not gotten past the title. I finished Plain Jayne last Tuesday, after a marathon writing day that involved almost 3,000 words written in a single day.
Wednesday and Thursday I took my agent's advice and spent a couple days away from the book. Read Girls in Trucks, which made my brain melt a little. Friday I formatted the book into a single document (which is more time-consuming than it sounds) and learned that the official title for the next book is............

Simply Sara! Which I predicted, and is why when I requested information on the Art Institute of Portland, I listed Sara's name. At the time, I listed that I only wished to be reached by mail or email. So imagine my surprise when I get a call asking if I'm Sara Burke.

I had an entire conversation as Sara, and asked lots of questions that will prove useful in the next book.

Looking forward to doing the research for Simply Sara. After researching Plain Jayne, I made the decision as a writer that I wanted to learn something new for every book. For Plain Jayne, that meant learning to ride a motorcycle. For Simply Sara, I want to learn to sew. I tried last spring, with mixed results. Mixed, largely because I tend to get ambitious when it comes to textiles. When I knit, I can rip things out when they don't work. Sewing - it's a bit more complicated.

So - for the rest of the month, I have a LOT of editing to do! So far I'm on Chapter 4 of 38. Oh - I also have my first interview scheduled. In November I'll be interviewed over the phone by Christian Book Distributors, so that should be exciting.

Enough procrastinating - need to get back to the manuscript. Will update more later!