lazy

I'm totally feeling lazy about blogging. I have things to talk about, adventures that I've had, fun activities, etc. But I don't feel like making a long post still.

Today it happened. I worked for hours on my book and I got so into it that my stomach was all quivery and when M came upstairs to ask me something, I jumped about a mile high.

But praise me with great praise. Today I went to UWI in the morning and I *drum roll* went running!!! This is the first time I've run in several months and my muscles are feeling it tonight ouch ouch ouch.

Secret Beach

I have such an adventure to post about! I don't have time right now and probably won't until some time tomorrow, but here is a tantalizing picture of...*drum roll* the secret beach we experienced yesterday (we being Hayley, her daughter, me, Hayley's friend Abbi - argh, don't know how his name is spelled) Poor M actually had to work yesterday and could not join us...

Vomit

Sorry, I've been bad about updating lately. I've been super busy. Here is the thing. I had my one-on-one writing session with Elizabeth yesterday and in the days before that I was scrambling to finish a rewrite that ended up being about 8 pages long. So I was way too busy to blog. In theory. Of course there was all that time that I fooled around on the internetz doing nothing, but that's another story...ha.

I don't understand how time goes by so fast when I am not working at a real job. In fact it seems like there are fewer hours in the day, if that's possible. The rewrite was a success at least, albeit still with more revision to do. I need to write some "vomit" today. Vomit is defined as just writing what comes to your mind.

Imagine, you non-writers, that you are daydreaming about something. All of us do it at some point. You're bored at the airport or in a class or at work or in a long Hi-Lo line (hehe), and your mind starts drifting. It could be some wild scenario. I know what occupied my mind for years when I lived in the cold Midwest years ago. I used to think non-stop about living on a tropical island (wow, daydreams work, n'est pa?). Anyway, your mind drifts further. A tall, dark stranger comes along. He says something (what? lost treasure? long lost love? i-know-what-you-did-last-summer?). You are the heroine of your story. Things happen. Before you know it, you're next in line and everyone is staring at you like you're mad. So you go home and harness this daydream. You start to write down what you see, as if you are watching a movie. You see the scenery as if you are behind the rolling film of a camera. You hear the voices (part of writing is being stark raving mad and hearing lots and lots of voices *nods*), the background noises. You write it all down, only you're not concerned so much with quality of writing. Maybe a six-year-old could express language better than you in this moment. Doesn't matter. The goal is to get it all down so that you don't forget the movie in your head. As Elizabeth described it, we call it vomit because it smells foul, there's a lot to clean up, and it's a big mess from the jumble of senses that you have taken in throughout your life.

The key is to not get involved in language or structure or thinking about writing rules or techniques. The goal is simply story. Another thing I read recently. About tension and story. Try to think of the worst thing that could happen to your character. And then write it.

All that rambling to describe vomit.

In other more mundane news, I had terrible insomnia last night. Didn't get to bed until about 3 and then woke up to the alarm at 6:30. I tried to sleep on and off until 7:30. I am WIDE awake though now. No sign of only getting 3 1/2 hours of sleep.

niiiiiiice day

Congrats to my sister, Liz!!

I am going to be an aunt thereabouts in October! Whee!

In other news, had a really nice, fulfilling, fun day!

Elspeth and I decided to take the maxi to our writing workshop class since it's actually faster because the maxis get to use a priority bus route which is way less trafficky than the usual car routes. Anyway, it was a cooooool maxi. Sharks and sea scapes decorated the inside. Loud soca music blasted and a nice breeze swept through the window. Heh. Ambiance! Anyway, we got there a little early and after some drama about getting to our classroom (because of Easter weekend, nobody but the guard was there and they had forgotten that we were coming).

Elizabeth Nunez knows so much about the business and what sells a commercial novel. So she tells us the tricks and rules, but then always gives us a disclaimer that says that we need to listen to ourselves and break whatever rules we need to. I read the three pages that I had brought, and it was an invigorating experience. First of all, I was more nervous than I expected.

I got a lot of good feedback and criticisms but what was great about it is that not one criticism had anything to do with the culture (and believe me, nobody would be shy about saying that in this class, lol). The criticisms were purely writing-based! So I was all gleeful about that. And the best compliment I got was that my character was very vivid as a person. And the criticisms? I can totally see 99% of them and so I have food for thought!

When I got home, I got the news from my sister and was floating on an "auntie" high. Hayley came by with her daughter. We went to Port of Spain to the Long Circular Mall. There we went to the curry stand and I got to try salt fish acarra (sp.?), sort of like breaded salt fish. Yummy! I got a huge chicken roti (chickpeas, potato, chicken pieces, curry, pepper sauce inside paratha (sp.?) bread) which I could only finish about 1/4 of. I took it home and M finished it off. Hee. Anyway, we went so that Hayley's daughter could get a Build-a-Bear and then off to a bookstore! There I got a few books that I wanted, including a much needed thesaurus! AND some real maps of Trinidad, Tobago, and Port of Spain! And I got the Rough Guide to Trinidad and Tobago. Why I didn't attempt to find these things when I first arrived, I don't know...Anyways, we wandered around some more, and then we got some VERY EVIL FUDGE. Yep, there is this homemade fudge that comes in a variety of flavors - coconut, guava, chocolate, chocolate-mint, chocolate-coffee, etc. SOOO evil. We got like one of each and about ate it all before leaving the mall.

We drove up Lady Young Road, this road that winds up behind Port of Spain. We stopped at Lady Young Look-Out Point. There you have a breath-taking view of Port of Spain, the mountains behind it, the sea, etc. There is a dorky pic of me pretending to fall off the cliff which I may post when I get it from Hayley (naturally I didn't have my camera) unless I look truly heinous. We then got some preserves from a stand there -- pineapple, cherry, mango -- and some souse (pickled pork omg...I'm not a pork fan, but this was not bad at all). We went back to my place and started to plan for the next two weeks. Hayley's off work and so we're thinking of going to the beach, Tobago, Asa Wright Center (rainforest). Naturally Stardust tried to steal food from everyone...

And she spams again...

I just saw a flock of parrots!!! Just outside my window! Eeeeee! I knew it was possible, from Hayley's descriptions but I hadn't seen it yet. They were orange-winged parrots that look like this:

creativity and all..

I'm scared. Trying to get the courage to go deal with my driver's license. If I don't do it before April 10, it could be more of a pain. I've heard it's a frightening place, just like the driver's license places in the States. *shudders*

In other news, my writing is going VERY well. I am officially immersed. Once I get the first few chapters finished, I will talk more about it and the changes things have gone through over the years. Elspeth, maybe we should get together some time this week (if you have time) to read/talk through what we have before Saturday! :-)

I discovered a very tiny used book store yesterday! Okay, it's tiny and about 50 of them could fit into Chamblain's (the used book store in Jax that was so awesome that words cannot describe -- a book lover's heaven). But still -- books! Mostly fiction books! Plus my mom has sent me two big boxes of my things and it's going to be exciting because I can't remember the specifics that were in them!

why

oh dear God save me from the evil that is Cadbury crunchie. Why why why did I pick one up at the store today?

Okay, off to get some more work done!

weekend

Nothing much to say today.

Yesterday had the writer's workshop and again, it left me with much food for thought. I'm not quite ready to go into everything right now (still). Sorry -- I keep giving all these little hints, but until I pull myself together and the plane takes off, I don't feel comfortable talking about it in too much detail. :-)

Then I was walking to Singer to try to purchase a new coffee maker (our old one went kaput from overuse), Hayley intercepted me (yay!). She took me to another place in a strip mall. Whee! What fun! Not only did I get a new coffee maker, but I got some more kitchen supplies, like more mixing bowls, a glass pan (like for baked dishes like lasagna -- if I were the kind of person who made lasagna), and my favorite thing -- a huge back rest with arm rests to put on my bed for when I'm brainstorming/reading/watching t.v. shows on my computer upstairs. *loves*

week 2

Soon will be going to my writer's workshop, week 2! I am very eager about it since last week sort of made me think in ways that I hadn't yet thought of with my writing. I wrote this character sketch yesterday that we have to share (I think) and now I'm rereading it and it looks lame. Ah, well. Think of it this way. Everything I write, there will be people who are worse and better.

Last night our neighborhood had a mini block party. It was a very international affair since most people who live on my street are associated with UWI. We had ice-cream and this British guy taught us how to play cricket. I wasn't too bad at it! Perhaps I'm more athletic than my teen years of gym class hell would have me believe. I also chatted with some Indian women about curry and learned a few Hindi words. Nice people! Also realized that if I want to get my driver's license here that I better do it soon because apparently it gets way harder after the three-month mark. eep.

Good Saturday morning, all!

A Room of My Own

Here below is the view outside my writing room window.


Yes, I've made myself a writing room. It's pretty bare bones. That is, no fancy decorating, nothing on the walls but the view outside the window (which is quite spectacular if you avert your eyes away from the vacant lot just under the window), nothing but a bed (which takes up about 2/3 of the room) and a white bedside table and a kitchen chair. One reason I like to use the bedside table as a computer desk for my laptop (with it pulled slightly skewed to the side so that my legs can comfortably hug the sides of the table instead of my knees bumping the front), is because I'm only 5'2" and sometimes normal computer desks are just a wee wee bit too tall so that I have to sit up stick straight and still my elbows feel a bit strained. This way it's a little on the low side and would be probably too low for anyone er...taller than 5'2". But it's shockingly comfortable even though it looks dorky. Comfortable is vital. It means the difference between saying "screw this" after only 15 minutes and getting distracted by sudoku puzzles or the internetz.

1500 words a day. That's the goal and so far there's been 3 days of stickin' to that. I'm also in extreme upheaval about my novel and goals as a writer, so much so that I'm not even sure I can talk about it...yet. This writing workshop is going to help me think through that, I suspect.

Caroni Bird Sanctuary and writer's workshops!

What a fulfilling and wonderful weekend! First, on Saturday I went to the first writer's workshop. I think I'm really going to love it. We have homework! :-) Heh. But anyway, I went away from it feeling utterly inspired...and turned upside down in a way. It made me really stop and think about a lot of things. But all throughout the writing workshop, I had this awesome feeling of wow, I belong here. These are my people, other writer folk. They understand.

Then today, Hayley and I went to the Caroni Bird Sanctuary. We were rewarded by an absolutely breathtaking view of the scarlet ibis. As you can see (and my photographs were mediocre at best), these are just jewels of birds. Their coloring looked almost florescent!



Here is part of the mangrove forest (with a blue heron if you squint).


Look carefully, you can see two snakes in the tree...

eh...

Don't have too much exciting to report right now.

My writing has been going very well, thus I've been a bit cloistered.

Today people were overly friendly. Perhaps I am sending off strange eccentric-artist vibes hehehehe. I'm used to mumbling a few "good mornings" on the way to HiLo or wherever but today it seemed like everyone had something to say to me. It was nice, albeit a little jarring. Almost like being back in Florida where strangers will talk to you anywhere, any time, lol!

Hope everyone who reads this is doing well today!

hiya

Sorry, oops, it's been a few days.

Writing front: had a very intense brainstorming session. I was completely stuck on the next scene and didn't at all like what was there already, so I spent THREE HOURS just banging my head against the table trying to force my brain into the right path. Finally was rewarded in the last 45 minutes or so and although I didn't actually WRITE a word (aside from scribbled notes), I actually got a lot done ultimately.

I have a question for local peeps. I heard that in the US the clocks spring forward. Do we do daylight saving's time here? I have no clue...do we move the clocks forward or does it stay the same all year? /clueless

Weekend was nice: Saturday M had the last day of his conference and after he got home, Hayley came and we got pizza and limed at her place while her daughter and friends played with those evol bratz dolls and sprayed hoses at each other outside (and at the poor ice-cream man). Good times! :D I held more snakes, but these were babies, not nearly as impressive as that big ole boa constrictor! Yesterday I just relaxed and made some rolls (I'm getting WAY better...stupid Hi Lo for not having any baker's flour in a smaller bag than 10 kilo this morning).