Random busy two weeks
Busy two weeks...watched much of the primetime Olympics, very happy for the skiers and skaters and bobsledders...and admire the biathletes and the long track skaters and cross country skiers for their dedication. Kim Yu-Na and Evan Lysacek are personal favorites of mine - for humility and hard work, for doing what we always advocate at Synchronized Chaos, getting the craft down first, then integrating publicity, heart, and flair.
Launched each of our three local writers' groups, three different cities, three different cultures and atmospheres. In Castro Valley everyone showed up precisely on time and greeted me from their seats as I wandered in at 7:02 - and there were many Christians with praise poetry, as well as folks seeking day-jobs.
San Jose's meeting was smaller, with folks wandering in off and on throughout the night, dropping by after tech jobs or academic research. Got into long conversations with each person...some new people came by, including finally a SJSU student (the campus is technically our parent organization, or at least was, before Synchronized Chaos stepped up.)
San Francisco's Mission District group brought a smaller, younger crowd than I expected - mostly college students. People were very serious and dedicated to writing though, brought long-ish pieces of sci fi and short stories, and we emailed them to each other. The young son of Cafe La Boheme's owner befriended us and helped refill drinks, move chairs, for us.
Everyone's welcome to join any or all of our groups, please comment and I'll send you the dates and times. We're meeting again next week.
In other exciting news - Mom and I are finally planning the trip I received as a gift for college graduation! It's been years since then but we're finally in a place in our lives when we're both healthy and able to take off a few weeks at a time, so we're planning to visit London, York/Bronte county (the parsonage where Charlotte, Anne, and Emily stayed, the school inspiring Lowood in Jane Eyre and the ruins of the place inspiring Heathcliff's home in Wuthering Heights.) Then on to Paris, the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, etc.
To practice we're taking a conversational French class - and I accidentally made a rather telling slip of the tongue this week...said je voudrais le cafe au lait rather than je voudrais du cafe au lait...requested all the coffee in the world to be brought to me rather than asking for a cup. Our whole family laughed when I told them ;) Sarah's taking a Rosetta Stone course in Russian and is quite good, and a woman on BART wrote out the Arabic alphabet for me to practice.
In the midst of a unique and interesting library book, which I had better finish before getting swamped with books to review for Synchronized Chaos...called Buddha's Wife, by Gabriel Constans, about the life and family of the Buddha, after he left them to become enlightened. About the balance of work, family, and spirituality. Has a self-published, second or third draft feel to it, but I'm glad in principle that it exists and that her voice gets to be heard, even through fiction.
Launched each of our three local writers' groups, three different cities, three different cultures and atmospheres. In Castro Valley everyone showed up precisely on time and greeted me from their seats as I wandered in at 7:02 - and there were many Christians with praise poetry, as well as folks seeking day-jobs.
San Jose's meeting was smaller, with folks wandering in off and on throughout the night, dropping by after tech jobs or academic research. Got into long conversations with each person...some new people came by, including finally a SJSU student (the campus is technically our parent organization, or at least was, before Synchronized Chaos stepped up.)
San Francisco's Mission District group brought a smaller, younger crowd than I expected - mostly college students. People were very serious and dedicated to writing though, brought long-ish pieces of sci fi and short stories, and we emailed them to each other. The young son of Cafe La Boheme's owner befriended us and helped refill drinks, move chairs, for us.
Everyone's welcome to join any or all of our groups, please comment and I'll send you the dates and times. We're meeting again next week.
In other exciting news - Mom and I are finally planning the trip I received as a gift for college graduation! It's been years since then but we're finally in a place in our lives when we're both healthy and able to take off a few weeks at a time, so we're planning to visit London, York/Bronte county (the parsonage where Charlotte, Anne, and Emily stayed, the school inspiring Lowood in Jane Eyre and the ruins of the place inspiring Heathcliff's home in Wuthering Heights.) Then on to Paris, the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, etc.
To practice we're taking a conversational French class - and I accidentally made a rather telling slip of the tongue this week...said je voudrais le cafe au lait rather than je voudrais du cafe au lait...requested all the coffee in the world to be brought to me rather than asking for a cup. Our whole family laughed when I told them ;) Sarah's taking a Rosetta Stone course in Russian and is quite good, and a woman on BART wrote out the Arabic alphabet for me to practice.
In the midst of a unique and interesting library book, which I had better finish before getting swamped with books to review for Synchronized Chaos...called Buddha's Wife, by Gabriel Constans, about the life and family of the Buddha, after he left them to become enlightened. About the balance of work, family, and spirituality. Has a self-published, second or third draft feel to it, but I'm glad in principle that it exists and that her voice gets to be heard, even through fiction.