Vivoli Cafe, SMA

Wow, here comes another year.  That means I get to start a whole new journal. I’m kind of weird about them… they’re based on Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages, but I do them on the computer (which is verboten.) I use Word, change fonts and colors a lot, and password them. Each year has a theme or quote @ the beginning (which sometimes changes mid-year.) When the document opens, it’s always at the top, so I see the quote before I start typing.

Last year was a doozie, so there were several quote/themes. “Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down” was the longest running. But I added the 4 Agreements near the end of the yr, when CH gave me the book. They’ve proven very helpful, especially “Don’t take things personally.”

Anyway, I ended up w/over 81K words, so I guess I had a lot to say. And nothing that can bear the light of day- I’m no May Sarton. Mostly kvetching, stream-of-consciousness crap.

So far I don’t have a theme for 2010, but it may have to do w/re-evaluating things that I’ve considered givens. I’m finding myself doing a lot of that. “Is that true?”

If you’d like to start a journal, here are some questions to get you thinking.

Now, for Friday fun!

• Honestly, I couldn’t stop laughing at this!
• If Lewis Carroll had written Twilight
• How to Ride a Pony
• Doing good by buying shoes! (Even those red vegan boots???)
• Note to techie job seekers
• Wouldn’t this be great?
• Fantasy character generator Is this the year you write that book?

Dinner is served

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.”  Martin Buber

For as long as people have been asking me why I wanted to go to San Miguel, I’ve been giving unsatisfactory answers. For the food, for the climate, to practice my Spanish. All of those are true of course.

But the answer that is the most true is also the least satisfactory to the people who care about me: I don’t know. I just know that I’m supposed to be here, and I’m going on instinct.

I have a feeling that it will be important to my future to have been here, and to be able to speak Spanish. But I think the real reason(s) will unfold as I’m down here, if I put one foot in front of the other.

Today I got a taste of that. I was waiting in the library’s gift shop to speak w/Michel, who coordinates volunteers for the Biblioteca here, and noticed a whole section of Barbara Kingsolver’s books (one of my favorite authors.)

I recalled an article in the paper about her latest book, The Lacuna, & asked the shop’s director about it. “Oh, yes,” she said (she speaks better English than I do Spanish.) “Here it is. You know she’s coming here?” No, I didn’t.

So then she pulled out a “San Miguel Writers’ Conference” form. Barbara Kingsolver will be the keynote speaker, 2 wks before I leave. Hmmm….

Can you say “synchronicity”? I knew you could.

PV just sent me the coolest link! Why didn’t anyone think of this before? It’s called “Write or Die” by Dr Wicked. There’s a free online version, or a desktop version for $10.

This is totally what I need- someone to crack the whip, even if it’s a virtual someone & I’m setting my own goals and consequences. Having tried it online, I have to say- when that screen starts blinking pink, you TYPE. Yep, it’s garbage. But the first draft is always compost, isn’t it?

Ran into a quote the other day, to the effect that “No one ever says “I’m not ever going to write a symphony.” They say “I’m going to write a symphony- tomorrow.”

So thanks, Dr Wicked, and PV… but I’ve gotta get busy.

PS- Kalua Pork update… I cooked it for 20 hrs, shredded it. It tastes like… shredded pork. Good shredded pork, but still. I expected something more. It will be very good w/some bbq sauce, though.

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