Quick Blog, October

Above: salmon (kokanee, to be specific), spawning, in a Sierra stream. Kokanee salmon turn a brilliant red when it comes time to spawn. I could have watched them for hours.

Read/Reading:
I read Nova’s debut YA novel, Dani Noir and felt myself bursting with pride. My friend. Wrote. An. Awesome YA Novel.

I read The History of Love by Nicole Krauss, and I have been aimless since, looking for a book with which to fall in love.

I just started reading Dan Chaon’s Await Your Reply, and am finding its structure very interesting: three separate stories–and will they ever collide?

I read Julie and Julia. I read it with great hope, but ended up skimming through the last half of the book. As a good friend of mine said to me, “it’s a book for people who don’t read.” In my words, I call it a “blog quilt” (for those of you who don’t know, the book is inspired by her novel, and reads like blog posts slapped together). I am starting to sound like Michiko Kakutani–I must stop.

(Oh, and I read a few book reviews in the nytimes. They convinced me to NEVER read book reviews, at least while I’m writing my novel).

Wrote/Writing:
The novel. I am refusing to write short stories until I finish a draft of this novel. I am bushwhacking my way through the gorgeous middle. Every once in awhile, I find myself surprised while writing–my character meeting someone new, a new, unplanned plot development. I love feeling surprised while writing my novel.

Viewed:
OMG. It’s Television Season Premiere time. Help me, Jeebus. The only thing I can do is NOT get hooked on new shows.

Memorable eats:
Persimmons. The other day, on my usual expedition for persimmons, the dude at our small neighborhood grocery store pointed at my bag of persimmons. (The store has been around since before the Great Depression, when the owner gave out store credit to everyone in the neighborhood because he realized that people couldn’t afford to pay for groceries–and it was, and still is, a beloved store–plus if you hang out enough, you can spot MIchael Chabon who lives in the hood). The bag was so full of persimmons, that when I picked it up, the plastic strained against the spherical fruit. He asked, “What are you going to do with all the persimmons?”

“Eat them!” I said, sounding very much like a six year old with a bag of candy.

“Oh!” he said, surprised that a thirtysomething woman would sound like a six year old with a bag of candy.

I am eating persimmons like a mad woman. The season ends soon, I have to get my entire year’s worth of persimmons in my belly NOW.

Ate Out:
Afternoon tea with an old family friend (and beforehand, gallery hopping, where I fell in love with a painting).

Cooked:
I ate spaghetti squash using a recipe from Kalyn’s Kitchen for the first time. And I LIKED IT.

Happenings:

• Keeping up my exercise regimen. I’m up to 2.0-3.0 miles running nonstop. It feels GOOD. But I get bored sometimes, while running. What do runners do to keep themselves entertained while running? Other than the iPod?
• Set a new goal with Foodie McBody: we’re going to lose inches in our waist. Our goal is to get below a certain circumference…she has 1-2 inches to lose, I have 3.
• To that end, I stopped eating chocolate. That in and of itself, has made me lose three pounds. I’m also trying to eat more protein (even though I am still the carb monster, and have no intention of low-carbing it).
• More litmag rejections.
• Planted the winter crops for my veggie garden. Brussel sprouts! Oh. And I started getting ripe tomatoes in October.
• Fall is here–crisp air, breezes, crunchy leaves!
• I’m having an amazing semester teaching college composition classes. It has been psychically rewarding and fun. Time consuming, but fulfilling.
• Opened the door last night to let the dogs out, and heard a commotion in the sky. And then, I heard a honk. Honk. Honk. Geese! Flying south for the winter. Have a good time in Los Angeles, geese.
• Celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. A prime rib dinner (I hate hunks of meat except for…prime rib!). And then a hike in an aspen grove in the Sierras.
• My husband read my novel-thus-far and he LIKED IT. 🙂
• Watched salmon spawning in a Sierra stream.
• Smiled from ear to ear walking in golden aspen groves.