Terrific Tuesday
After teaching I made two stops downtown, 1) at the MAC store 2) at Borders. I was probably the only one in the whole city walking around with a bag containing makeup and the 16th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style. But if I'm going for the girl-with-glasses-with-style look, I might as well take it all the way.
After that I spent two hours with the Ab-Fab TAB (Teen Advisory Board), partaking in some silliness, being inspired by the three or four of them who are participating in NaNoWriMo, and sharing another section of StT. This is one I was a bit nervous about, because it is a key scene and I had tried my very very best to write it true, but wasn't completely sure if I had succeeded. But aside from some excellent advice on a place I could add some humor--humor that would be very much in character, at that--those who spoke up said that it felt true to them. So I am reassured. This is a great group of readers, and some of them are, for very personal reasons, interested in gender and gender expression, and they are honest and outspoken and will tell me if I get things wrong. This afternoon left me feeling good about this project, and more confident in my ability to accomplish it. But I'm not going to get cocky. It's early days yet.
After I unloaded a day's worth of stuff, BD's BFF and I got in and drove to the town polls to cast our vote. This must be the 10th time I've gone to this particular polling place. It feels a bit like Cheers, "where everybody knows your name." It's also interesting how the farther down the ballot I get, the more likely I am to cross party lines (although I am not a member of either party and never have been). I vote for candidates who is have demonstrated by their service, either with community organizations or as volunteers, that they are a person who listens, shows up, and knows how to negotiated. If both candidates are my neighbors, it's the only way I can make a decision.
BD's BFF said, "If I vote, then I get to complain."
Whatever your reason, I hope you voted, too.