Obama nominates Hilary Clinton as Secretary of State

Just like the title says--Hilary Clinton has been nominated to be our Secretary of State. I am really pleased with this choice.

I remarked to one of my colleagues yesterday that this is the "honeymoon" period with Obama, but I honestly hope that the honeymoon doesn't end!

Well, back to grading my FINAL set of in-class essays for the semester! As often happens, my English 1B course is made up of nearly all my students from 1A! It's really fun to spend a whole year with many of the same students.

As for writing, I have started two essays, and am awaiting word from two agents. I have been savoring a bit the fact that my book is being considered by two of the top agencies in New York (one is in the top ten, the other is in the top three). I am at peace with whatever happens with this.

I do know that I feel I am coming to another point in my emotional healing from a time when I lost five deeply beloved people in a short time span. I am moving from frantic activity, trying to get everything done because of my acute awareness of limited time, back to choosing projects that give me a sense of satisfaction, with a better sense of focus.

Well, back to grading.

Choosing Gratitude

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my loved ones in Santa Cruz, very easygoing, which is good, because I am at the hectic end of my semester and also feeling the losses in my family very acutely during this holiday season. However, some part of normalcy kicked in tonight, and I felt I wanted to knit again--knitting is a huge part of my life and a tool for serenity, as it is calming and focusing. Starting to work on a project tonight that I started shortly before my sister's death was a major thing for me. My writing is also beginning to drift back after so many months of feeling like I'd been knocked on the head with a steel mallet.

Around this time of year, I like to reflect on some of the things in life for which I am grateful, and I keep coming back to the fact that I am alive, that I have a home, clean water to drink, good food, and many people in my life who love me. Though I have lost many loved ones this past few years, my faith that there is a life beyond this one gives me enormous comfort in the middle of sadness. I guess that being centered and grateful is a good insurance policy, in some ways, for whatever comes, good and bad.

I suppose that's all for tonight.

A Haiku For My Students From Previous Courses Who Have Not Picked Up Their Papers

Essays cry sadly,
Abandoned by their authors,
Orphans on my desk.

In Case You Missed the Celebration

I didn't get a chance to post what downtown Santa Cruz looked like on Obama victory night, but here's a recap. I didn't get a chance to see it, either, as I was at a dress rehearsal for a bellydance performance that weekend:



I am pretty sure that some of those drummers were from my African dance class, as I saw one or two downtown later, still drumming.

Good Thoughts, Y'All

Under the advice of The Soul of Patience (a screenwriter who wrote a major feature film recently and is extremely active in the industry, and who has been interested in developing a movie from the book), I have begun to query agents again this week. We were originally going to try to use his agent, who works mainly with screenplays, and also on a small scale with books, but we don't feel at this point that the book might be up his alley simply in the capacity of a literary agent. Film rights and acquisitions are a different thing entirely; if the book does well, I am positive we can go back and try to woo the Soul's agent on the film level. If nothing else, I got from the Soul of Patience the incentive to create a polished, finished, and revised manuscript and--without bragging, because I put a lot of effort into it and wrote it just a day or two after my sister died--a really dynamite query. My first query was marginal at best and the Soul helped direct me to write a better one--after all, he has to boil down his film ideas into one freaking line, so he was a great help. I was not disheartened in the least about the redirection, because it wasn't a "no," just "what can be done now?"

I have not queried agents for this book since about 2005/2006, and only queried four or five at that. I have happily found that email queries make the process so much more streamlined, though the rejections come quicker--but also the good stuff. A major New York agent--and I mean major, with one of the top literary agencies in the country--asked for the entire manuscript, not even a partial, and told me to contact her immediately "before signing with anyone else." Now, I know that is the business end of things, but it was still a good thing to hear, like finding a cactus flower in the middle of the Mojave. Okay, maybe not THAT dramatic--like the times Mr. Strega brings me flowers unexpectedly, not knowing I've had a challenging day.

BTW, I nearly deleted her initial reply without reading it simply because a few rejections had come my way that day, and it seemed like that particular agency was very much out of my reach--so don't do dumb things like I almost did! I apparently sent to the right person, though, one who has a history of wanting to find new writers. It's hard to submit a memoir in a lousy economy, knowing that houses are being more than selective right now, but I have lots of hope. That I have in abundance!

It may be another rejection, ultimately, but there are really no rejections and no failures, just stepping stones and detours--I always have a conviction that if you really are meant to have something, it does happen. Plus, I do find it astounding that little old me got something good, even if it turns out to be only an encouraging nod. I think encouragement is the lifeblood of being a writer and has to be cherished deeply every time it comes.

Good thoughts, y'all. It means a lot. I will let you know how this process goes.

WE DID IT!

I don't mean to be a week after the fact, but I was working on a very complicated bellydance costume which presented all sorts of quirks and megrims at the last minute for a performance last Saturday. It was worth it, though--Mr. Strega had never seen me in it before and when I walked upstairs to show him the finished product, his eyes practically fell out of his head. I do think it was one of the most flattering costumes I've ever worn--basically a royal blue lace bodystocking with a full skirt (finished in points all around) and gauntlet sleeves, very low-cut, a bellydance bra, and the usual petticoat, bloomers, sandals, and an elaborate fringed and beaded tassel belt. I may look for a wedding gown similar to this style, (though without the tassel belt and in different fabrics), as the A-line cut is very flattering.

BUT--on to important things. Obama is our president! He's already started working, and he isn't even in office. I have to say that I adore and admire Michelle Obama--she seems like such a terrific person, and their girls seem like wonderful kids. I feel a new sense of hope, renewal, and happiness. It's truly a new day.

AND YET--I am so overwhelmingly sad that Prop 8 passed. I hope and pray it will be overturned, and that one day, this prejudice against gay people will be a thing of the distant past.

So, those are my thoughts for today.

Visualize Blue

You can check each state's results by running your cursor over the map.


...and remember to vote NO on Prop 8 if you live in California!

Shamans for Obama!

A group of Peruvian shamans gathered recently to send good energy to Barack Obama, and I've got the video to prove it.

I have to say, the fellow with the red skull expresses my sentiments exactly about a McCain-Palin administration.