The day started with a plethora of Contra dancing at Folklife Festival and checking out the sights. Then a quick cat nap followed by a Mariners baseball game. It was a very close game. The Mariners were winning until the top of the ninth. Then the Angels scored three runs…pssh, game over, but the game had good moments. There was a Mariners home run, the Mariner moose entertained our section, there were double waves circling the audience, and the loud drunk chicks behind me certainly livened things up a bit. The weather has been absolutely delightful.

Tomorrow, on to a visit to Pike Place Market and then to Victoria, B.C. for a little romp across the border and a day of outdoor walking.

Okay. Shower, sleep, dream.

Yes, it’s very good to be Mr. Gaiman. Now he’s gone and won the Ray Bradbury award for his Dr. Who episode. The man lives a charmed life, but his talent as a writer is transcendent. I’m glad he’s getting the recognition he so justly deserves.

It is a great writing day here in the PNW. Gray overcast skies, occasional showers, yes, perfect. The sun isn’t shining, the warm wind isn’t blowing, and there is nothing beckoning me to the great outdoors, which in the Pacific Northwest, is indeed pretty great. Instead I’m as content as a rabbit in its warren. Writing, organizing, getting ideas, revising… the recursive process that is writing. Some days are fruitful, and some days I may as well be taking my muse for a walk.

Yesterday was dim sum with a group, and it was pretty terrific for restaurant food. Next weekend is my annual May road trip to Seattle’s Folklife Festival. This usually includes a trip to Pike Place Market, a Mariner’s Game, and dancing/enjoying the events at Folklife which includes my annual strawberry shortcake. This year I’m also including a trip to Victoria, B.C. as it is about time that I go instead of continuing to say that I want to go someday. Someday is here. There will be pictures to follow and a journal of this adventure.

I am reading The War of Art by Steven Pressfield as an eBook. I have bookmarked and highlighted something on just about every page! Writers…it is a must read, seriously, just do it! It was recommended to me, and I continue to be thankful for this book. It knocks down barriers that you’re not even aware of until you read this. Very personal, insightful, informative book on what it means to be a writer and how to keep writing.

I have blogged.

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And then I woke up this morning not sore at all despite a very rigorous work out. That’s awesome.

So now it’s Friday and very early at that. The workday ahead will be filled with mostly happy children. Getting outside this weekend is at the top of the list along with breathing, writing, and dancing. Have a great weekend!

What else is new? A writer friend recommended a book to me today, which is really hard to do considering my exhaustive library. It’s The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. She said it really kicks butt, so I bought it like right now. It’s on my iPad as a Kindle waiting to be consumed digit by digit. If it’s good, I’ll get the paperback, too. I’ve read just a tiny bit and will continue reading once this magnificent blog post is done.It looks a lot like this.

After doing some reading, I’ll post the most salient points of it here to feed your writerly interest. Another friend, a teacher, called me today to pick up her educational books as she’s retiring. I think I’m about ready for another book case.

If you are in the Portland, OR area, the fall conference for Willamette Writers just opened up. I think I will go on Friday to the writing workshops on topics that interest me and, of course, hob nob a bit.I always benefit from these and come home completely jazzed. So how can I pass this up? It’s in my backyard…so to speak. Five minutes away is backyard in the Pacific Northwest. Cross the bridge and hello, Portland.

I have learned that my best writing tool/friend is now an iPad. I took a chance in thinking this could be useful but had no idea just how much. If you like to write and want the portability of writing anywhere anytime, iPad and the awesome apps available to writers. The battery life is well incredible. One charge lasts me an entire day. So light, so portable, and so easy to use. It’s lighter than a book and even easier to carry. Bless Apple for this one. It is the perfect writing tool. I’ve used it for instruction, too, by designing Keynote presentations for students,hooking it up to the classroom LCD project, and rock and roll! The hardware doesn’t impede creativity either but enhances it. It makes creating presentations so much fun! Is it okay to love yet another Apple product? I think I ask this every time I purchase one. Consistent quality and meeting the precise needs of people like me is what does it. If you’re on the bubble, and you write or present, just do it. So much to love. Until later. My book, that irresistible siren song, is calling my name.

The splendiferous urban garden of magnificent green growy things is mostly in with some dill and cherry peppers on the way. I love pickled cherry peppers. So they are going with the jalapeño peppers when they arrive. They are amazing with toasted ham and cheese and also with beans. The dill is for the pickles I will make. Dill, bread and butter (a great recipe that I received long ago), and dill relish are all on the list of things to be canned. I am just now finishing the last of a jar of pumpkin butter that I made from last fall’s pumpkin. It was the best! I will be making a lot more of this in the fall. It’s like pumpkin pie apple sauce for your toasted things. English muffins have never been so good. Add chai tea, and it’s perfection. Other growing things of urban epic proportions are zucchini, blue lake pole beans, green onions, peppers, herbs, tomatoes, and potatoes. I’ll plant more soon, but that’s a good start. Next are broccoli, lettuce, carrots, and anything else I can think of. Maybe some eggplant, squash, or whatever else strikes my fancy. The growing season and organic home grown, that’s what. So, yes, I have been preoccupied with planting. I have always loved gardening and have had gardens as long as I can remember. Before that, I learned about gardening from gran and mom who both had amazing green thumbs. There’s nothing quite like backyard harvesting in the summer.

This will be a writing weekend for me. I’ve arrived at a few new ideas for my novel and will be taking this story to new places that I never would have expected when I initially began the work of it. I’ll keep the energy in the idea for now, but I think it’s going to be epic!

My last road trip last weekend was to Silver Falls, Oregon for the first spring outing of the season. I slathered on the sunblock, SPF 9 million, for my emergent beyond-white wintry translucent skin, donned some shorts and comfy walking shoes, and camera at the ready. It was warm, pleasant, and delightful to ride the back roads, explore the countryside, walk in the forest, and enjoy some Thai on the way home. That was April’s outing. May brings an overnight road trip to Seattle to enjoy a few favorite places and activities: Pike Place Market, Folklife Festival, a Mariner’s game, and dining at a favorite place or two. Spring, for me, is all about doing some traveling, getting outside, and enjoying the outdoors. It’s waving so long to winter and enjoying spring’s arrival. I guess you could say I celebrate the change from winter to spring.

Okay. Into the kitchen. I’m baking vegan thumbprint cookies. I tried these at Whole Foods and really liked them. They’re a healthy cookie. After a quick search, I discovered their recipe is online. This will be my first batch with this recipe. I’m using sugar-free jam, too. It has oats, almonds, and canola oil in them, very health-friendly alternative cookie that doesn’t compromise on quality and delivers on deliciousness.

Happy birthday George Takei. Seventy-five looks good on you. He posted this yesterday on his birthday, and is good for a giggle.

He is now 75 years young, is a survivor of the internment of Japanese-Americans, and was the famous Mr. Sulu in the original Star Trek. He is incredibly funny and has a great history of funny Star Trek moments. I was a huge fan as a child and am discovering a whole new world of Star Trek hijinx through his generosity. He is a Facebook must follow.

We here in the Portland/Vancouver area are in for a warm, beautiful weekend. I’m heading outdoors on an adventure to explore and photograph. I’m celebrating the return of warm weather and time outdoors on this first spring outing.

So here is a cover of Gotye’s “Somebody that I used to know” that I posted yesterday for its creativity: music as visual art, and this cover is well done, too. Enjoy.  It’s a little sad, but it is a reflection of the human condition at times. I haven’t been there for a very long time/hope to never again. Communicate. Love. Compassion. Yeah. Be good to yourself and others.

I passed the time this evening finishing Star Wars Episode 1 in Blu-ray, which is really pretty awesome, and watching Gotye’s YouTube video of his new song “Somebody that I used to know,” which is the first thing from him in a very long time.

There’s an interview where he talks about when he was writing it and ran out of ideas for what he was saying. Then he introduced the other half of the relationship into the lyrics to address the other point of view. He says he was not thinking of the charts, sales, or any of the business aspects of music when he wrote this. Just making art. The concept of the video was his, too. A real creative endeavor here. This song reminds me of the works of early Sting. So here is an interview with NPR that reveals much of his creative process. For creative folks, this is worth a listen, I think.

I’m reading a stack of books too long to list that is spread across many multiple genres. There is never a shortage of what to read especially when I live this close to Powell’s bookstore. Say yes to books and keep buying bookcases, that’s my battle cry. Speaking of which, I’m going to return to my reading now.

I completely tossed my plans (even dancing!) last night and worked on my nest, inside and out, all day long. So much was accomplished that it feels like it was an excellent use of my time. Yesterday was an incredibly beautiful day here. Warm, sunny, and light breeze. Mentally, I was four running naked in the yard…giggling, joyous, and alive. Maybe there was a lawn sprinkler, a dog, other kids. But only mentally. Blue skies and high billowing clouds. All my concerns about life were momentarily swept away. Days like this are truly a gift. It’s too early to nod and say yes, it’s another beautiful day. Right now, it’s hallelujah, it’s a beautiful day! And what can I do to enjoy it? Put a bow on this one. It was an incredible gift.

So I tackled the patio, which was more joy than tackling. Everything is spit spot and back in place for summer.  Hanging plants are hanging, wind chimes are chiming, leaf debris and cob webs are but a memory now. I trimmed back the herbs, and found my hands smelling delightfully of rosemary, sage, and thyme essential oils for hours afterwards.To smell herbs, even this brought me joy. But for me, the best moments in life have always been the little things. A smile, a touch, a sweet, soft spoken thoughtful word or phrase, a gentle breeze, a bird song…things that define the moment as special and heart-felt take my breath away.

Then indoors to prepare three loaves of banana nut bread, two batches of raspberry and blueberry scones, and two loaves of carrot cake bread for sunrise breakfast and service tomorrow morning. They are sliced, plated, and wrapped to go. I could go on for days about how much I love this church, but what makes my literary heart sing and swoon is how the works of Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and yes, Star Wars are part of the message to connect ancient scripture to current works with the same story or theme.  Best. Shepherd. Ever!! I have taught these works with an overarching theme of good vs. evil to teach about life as well as story. I believe deeply in a literature-based English language arts program and learning vicariously through story and characters that introduce students to deeper truths about the world we live in.

On the writing front, the Pacific Northwest Writers Association has author interviews as podcasts on their web site. Nice! The concept is the interviewer asks three questions of the author, and then the author asks three questions of the interviewer. This is the format of the interviews except when it isn’t. I couldn’t stop listening to them. It was ear candy. Authors talked about the spirit of writing and its nuances. It is very liberating to writers who may be struggling with something like, I don’t know, outlining. I know what outlining is, have taught it, but do I faithfully do it in detail? *Cough* Look, a squirrel! Let’s just say only if I am forced to with a gun, a knife, or a ticking bomb…in close proximity. Two authors on PNWA web site said that it is important to feel your way through your story.  I almost said “amen.” A general idea of the path you intend to pursue before writing is good, like a key word or key idea outline, but in detail ad nauseum is hardly necessary. Feel your way through your story. I think I probably said “thank you” in a small, quiet voice as I listened to the podcast voice say “feel your way through your story.” I will be sashaying along now, just so you know, unencumbered by or intimidated by the lack of a fully proper outline, thank you very much, as it is a bit of okay and a whole lot of alright. What seems to work best for me anyway is working out a plot graph, deciding on chapters, naming them, and writing chapter summaries that may change. This process is working right now, which isn’t to say that it will work next time. Sometimes, it’s color pencils and blank paper to which I sketch out ideas as images and caption with text creating a visual representation, a storyboard,  of the plot. And listening to the direction that the story wants to go in is just as important as listening the process that seems to say how it wants you to work on developing the story. Writing is a funny thing. The more logical I try to make it, the more spiritual it becomes to me, which is really freeing. Sweet thing, writing.