Sunday, October 17, 2010

Ballerina Box


Got my copy of The Bitter Oleander this week. My story "Ballerina Box" appears in the latest issue. I'm thrilled! There's something about seeing my words, my characters, my story in print, something about holding it in my hands that's so richly satisfying, so enjoyable. It never gets old.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Time

It's been a while since I last posted and the reason, I've determined, is time. As in I don't have enough of it. I've been extraordinarily busy these past several months. Just as I begin to get a handle on one thing (or, more precisely, the 5 things I'm juggling at any given moment), another something pops up that needs my attention. I used to think this demand would settle down, smooth out; now I believe it's never ending. I fall into bed each night, exhausted, and dream of things I need to do: appointments to make; bills to pay; baskets of laundry to fold; piles of paperwork to sort. Long gone, it seems, are the nights when I would drift blissfully off to sleep, cushioned by restful images in my dream world.

When was the last time you thought about TIME? It's one of life's givens, like death and taxes. It cannot be bargained with. It's a constant; it marches onward whether I'm ready or not. But here's something funny/peculiar/interesting to consider the next time you're sitting with a warm cup of tea: is it possible that time is speeding up? I've had this thought several times over the years. Always fleeting, yet it persists. And I know it sounds silly, maybe even crazy, surely spawned by my life-on-the-hamster-wheel feelings of late. But it's possible, right? In the grand cosmic realm of things, anything's possible. Right?

By the (time) numbers:

2: HOURS I spend each day thinking about/researching/preparing gluten-free food
2.5: YEARS I've been dealing with a frozen shoulder
3: HOURS I stole last Saturday for a nap
3: DAYS since my last rejection (story)
3.5: MONTHS since I read anything that wasn't a grocery or to-do list
5: HOURS I spend each week driving my son to/from school
7: WEEKS since I've written anything that wasn't a grocery or to-do list
9: HOURS of sleep I got last night
13: HOURS to drive from Racine, WI to Birmingham, AL
14: DAYS since my last batch of stories went out
21: MONTHS since my last oil change
95: DAYS since my last (story) acceptance
175: DAYS we've been waiting for our federal tax refund

I need more time. Or at least the ability to push the "pause" button every now and again.