Writing Is Hard

Today is a “writing is hard” day. Some days are “writing is easy” days. I learned this concept from an insightful friend regarding running, but I find that it applies to many things. A “writing is hard day” usually involves staring blankly at the computer screen. It can involve skimming through manuscripts and assuring yourself there’s nothing you can do to make them better. It often involves getting up to walk around and then sitting back down with determination. Or it could involve online shopping for Christmas presents. And blogging, ironically, frequently occurs on “writing is hard” days. Between having some “writing is hard” days and being sick, I haven’t written a lot in the last few weeks.

I do not recommend getting up at 5 a.m. and driving from Oakland to Long Beach on Thanksgiving Day while sick. It sucks. Especially when the weather goes from lovely Bay Area fall temperatures in the 60s to 90 degrees during the course of the drive. I actually had to change into shorts in the car. So gross. But the excellent food and company did kind of make up for it. By the way, if you’ve never had turkey AND beef for Thanksgiving, I highly encourage you to try it. This meat combo caused me to sing that Meghan Trainor song with some substitutions: “Because you know I’m all about that beef, ‘bout that beef, no turkey”. The humor was lost on my boyfriend, who had never heard the song before. No one appreciates me around here.

After living in Pasadena last year when it just didn’t rain, I’ve been delighted with the amount of precipitation in Oakland. I’ve been putting my rain boots and umbrella to good use and thinking that rain is glorious. However, while it was dumping rain yesterday morning, I happened to look out at our balcony. It looked like a swimming pool. The water level kept rising until it was almost level with the sliding glass door. I realized that the balcony must have a drain and I wondered if it was clogged. So I put on my rain boots and stepped into the pool. The water was almost ankle deep. And I discovered that the drain was indeed clogged with leaves. I cleared the leaves with my hands and watched the pool get sucked down the drain, gurgling as it went. I felt super-heroic. It’s a good thing I didn’t sub yesterday or our apartment would have flooded.

What I’m reading: I finished How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. It was OK, but kind of frustrating mostly because it ended suddenly. I read Bossy Pants by Tina Fey. It was interesting and entertaining, but I was disappointed that it wasn’t funnier. I started reading non-fiction book called Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff. It’s about a US military plane that crashes in New Guinea during WWII. It’s pretty good so far. And I’m still reading Call the Midwife.