Yesterday, I managed to foist off Easter dinner on another family member. Easter dinner is traditionally my meal. Why was I so happy, even eager, to see the thing go off to Massachusetts?
Because I don't want to take time off from work to get ready for it!!!
The shopping, the cooking, the cleaning...I most definitely would have had to take Good Friday off to get it all done. It can take me two or three days to get ready for a holiday gathering, easily.
I kind of hate myself, but not all that much.
Down on yourself about work? Feeling inept? Incompetent? Maybe a little humiliated?
I've got two words for you--endorphin rush.
I've been moping around for a couple of days, boring my family to death, because it appears that I misread a book that I then blogged about. At length. You can read about this situation in the comments section of this post. Spoiler alert! That's why I'm not writing about it here (the risk of spoilage). Besides, I'm actually writing about something else here.
Anyway, I was feeling very distressed about this because I am supposed to be able to comprehend a mystery novel, for crying out loud. (Unless it's something like this. I will admit, I have only the vaguest idea what was going on with that one.) I was feeling inadequate. Stupid.
Yeah, that's right. I don't have anything bigger to worry about.
So, today was taekwondo day, and I'm at my class this morning. The instructor asked me to work with another student on joong bong defense. I've been working on joong bong defense for, maybe, five years. It takes a while, but I find it doable because it's orderly and involves memorizing an attack and a defense. Ten of them, so far. It's not like sparring, which I am terrible at, because you have to respond to random attacks--you have to process what your opponent is doing and come up with a response, within seconds, and then keep moving.
However, when you are trying to teach a skill to someone, especially someone who is having trouble with it (and these things aren't easy), randomness comes into play again. The student makes mistakes. The student gets confused. I get confused. I make mistakes.
We didn't get very far, and I had to let the instructor know that I was...ah, how was I putting it earlier? Oh, yes. Inept, incompetent, and inadequate. He's a lovely young man and said he'd take over. I should go put my gear on because we were sparring this week.
In case you don't recall, I mentioned earlier that I am terrible at sparring. So I'm walking across the dojang to my gear bag thinking, I can't read. I can't do joong bong defense. Now I've got to spar. I'm going to be crawling home on my stomach.
Au contraire!
Sparring went fantastically! I had a great training partner who doesn't usually train in the morning class, though I'd seen her around before. We were perfectly matched! Which is awful to say because she was six ranks below me. In my defense, though, she was taller than I am. But it was as if we were both at a level where we could each challenge the other without overwhelming her.
I came out of there with a buzz on like I haven't had after class in years.
And on the way home I said, You're going to the library, Gail! And you're getting books. You're getting hard books. And you know what else? You read that father/child storyline into that book, right? Okay, do something with it! This spring, after you finish your big project and are working on small ones, you're going to write that weird father story you've been thinking about for eight years! And then you're going to write that message-from-my-forefathers essay. And it's going to be brilliant! And you're going to submit it somewhere!
Yeah! Yeah!
I'm telling you, just remembering it is bringing the rush back.
Think of this post as your Shaker and curling post. Without the Shakers or the curling.
Today's Training Report: I revised about four pages of the last chapter of the never-ending story. I'm within paragraphs of being done. This denouement is very different from the last one. I'm focusing very much on theme. I never used to think about theme much at all when I was writing. This is new for me.
I'm having quite a stimulating week here at Chez Gauthier. I've done school presentations, I've started getting ready for next month's on-line chat with a library in Maine, and I've been fielding inquiries for more author visits. And then today I celebrate (well, let's say I notice) the sixth anniversary of Original Content.
This blog is one of the few techie things that I grasped before my computer guy did. When I asked him to take a look at Blogger to see how I'd go about starting a blog, he didn't know why I wanted to bother when he had already made me a website. Blogs weren't anywhere near as common as they are now. In fact, before I started mine, I googled "children's literature" and "weblog" and found somewhere between four and six sites. TodayJacketFlap's main page says it includes more than 650 children's book-related blogs. I guess a lot can happen in six years. Still, I find that number staggering.
This blog has changed over time. I didn't post every day for several years, but had a goal of generating new material two or three times a week. (I didn't always meet it.) I didn't have a method for readers to comment for many years. I didn't have my covers up here for a long time. I didn't know what a blog roll was until I started noticing them on other kidlit blogs.
I cannot recall at what point I started noticing that there were other kidlit blogs. Maybe in 2005? Though I have found a link to Kids Lit from back in 2004. Also, I was obsessed with Jane Yolen's On-line Journal (like a blog but different) from the end of July, 2004 until the beginning of April, 2007.
In spite of the changes, I remain amazingly consistent. Or, perhaps, I am not capable of evolving and changing. My purpose for blogging remains the same as it was the day of my first post--to bring original content to my website on a frequent basis. I am still intrigued by the line between YA and A literature, just as I was in my third post. And I was writing about Beowulf back in March, 2002 just as I was last fall.
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
Browsing a local used book shop, I came across this gem: Guide to Natural Bowling by Victor Kalman, the Bowling Editor of Sports Illustrated (circa 1961). As opposed, I suppose, to a guide to UNnatural bowling, as practiced by vampires and werebowlers.
Kalman's opus features advice from "a board of 55 famous bowling experts," all of whom are listed on four pages at the beginning of the book, along with their credits. A highlight:
Olga Gloor, Chicago, Illinois. 1959 World's Invitational Match Game Champion. Member of 1954 WIBC Team Champions. "Queen of Chicago Bowlers," 1956.
The front cover promises a money-back guarantee, and inside we learn, "The publishers of this book guarantee results! After thoroughly practicing the methods in this book for three months, if you do not raise your average score by 20 pins, we will return your purchase price." An address is listed, and then we're told, "On receipt we'll return your 35c. NO QUESTIONS ASKED."
Come on - a thirty-five cent investment, with the promise of your money back if you don't raise
your average by 20 pins!? I had to buy this book. Of course, it cost me a dollar, not 35 cents, so I'm not sure I'll get the full return on my investment if the methods don't work for me. I'm also going to have to find a bowling alley in these parts. Seeing as there's still a roller rink, you'd think that would be easy - but I haven't seen an alley in my travels.
The line illustrations inside this book are really what sold me. Unfortunately I can't scan those in, as laying the book on the scanner would break the spine of this little beauty, and I'm not about to do that. You'll just have to look for a copy of your own...
Read the rest of this post
Woot! Shakers and curling AND endorphins! Go, you!
I'm seriously a little hyped to go back to my revisions. Much luck to you in the Never Ending Story Ending.