Sometimes my computer--or some coffee shop wi-fi set-up--gives me a little grief. Sometimes I know which. Sometimes I let it bug me. Sometimes I've got the que sera sera c'est la vie thing down. As now. Eventually I may check with my computer guy to see if there's something about my system that's funky, but for now I'll just check my email when I can, blog when I can, not worry about it when I can't. So here's the next installment from the sporadically-available Laurel Winter:
Today I've had breakfast at Sunny Point, walked in the Arboretum, straightened up a bit at home, put laundry into & taken it out of the washer & put it into the dryer, meditated, napped, talked on the phone to people who were there & answering, not talked on the phone to people who weren't, worked on my new screenplay, played a bit of guitar ("Friend, I will remember you, think of you, pray for you, & when another day is through, I'll still be friends with you" from my John Denver songbook) & met the next-door neighbor's cute pit bull puppy Alexis (she tried to eat my shirt, which I dissuaded her from doing).
Later? More straightening, possibly. Laundry out of the dryer & put away, almost surely. Some painting & writing & more guitar picking. The eating of fried chicken from Ingall's. Possibly the drinking of wine--a nice Snoqualmie Chardonnay.
Ooh! I forgot to tell you about Friday night, the Harry Potter release party at Malaprops! Billions of persons, possibly; I didn't count. A panel of 5 celebrity judges, including moi, judged the costume contest. Before that I walked to a coffee shop in my black evening gown with jet beads sewed on it & an asymmetric sheer black skirt & a sheer snakeskin print duster. Although it wasn't exactly a Harry Potter costume, I felt it could hold its own in a school for wizards. The other judges were all actually dressed as characters from the book, including a Hagrid, so it was quite fun. We wanted to give more awards than were available.
For me, though, the funnest part of the evening was meeting a 4th-grader named Gabe whose mom works part-time at Malaprop's. He was as excited to meet me as I was to meet him, as Growing Wings is his favorite book so far! We're going to get together for tea sometime, he & his mom & I, so I can sign his copy. I autographed a piece of paper for him, & he framed it & took a picture of it & emailed me a .jpg of my own signature. How cool is that?
Okay, I'm going to make a copy of this & then try to send it--no promises! if it doesn't work you'll get an even longer blog from some future date.
Blog alternative:
69. Take a look at your closet. If there are too many things in it, set aside a few (3? 5?) to go to the trash or a consignment store or a thrift shop. Then plan one thing to buy.
(For me, it's a new pair of shorts. Currently I have one pair, hand-me-ups from Zach when he was about 12 or something, and if they're in the laundry--which they were this morning, which inspired this--I have to wear skirts or long pants. Now I don't mind skirts or long pants, but sometimes--as when I'm about to walk in the Arboretum on a summer sunday--I want shorts. Turned out it was cool enough today that long pants were fine, but the principle still applies. I could just buy some more, but I told myself I had enough clothes, or more than, & would not acquire more until I got rid of a few.)
