under a midnight storm

Note to self: do not drink hot chocolate with Mr. Strega late at night, then expect to fall asleep.
I gave up caffeinated coffee about two years ago (yes, for those of my readers who knew me as an undergrad, hear it again: I GAVE UP CAFFEINATED COFFEE), and now the tiniest bit of caffeine (or whatever it is that chocolate has) will keep me wide awake. I occasionally have what I call a "Harvey Birenbaum Special," in memory of my beloved Harvey. This is decaf with a shot of caffeinated coffee, which I used to have the barista make just before Harve's class--for the class was at four in the afternoon, and Harvey's voice was so soft and gentle, and he would read and tell of myths and stories like a nice uncle or grandpa, and Ms. Strega would find herself falling asleep. However, this type of coffee is for extreme emergencies, as it will keep me awake for a very long time.

It is raining buckets here; there are trees down on Highway Nine and I am just wondering when the power will go out. Still, Mr. Strega and I are cozy after long hours of working on our respective stuff--Mr. Strega on his resume and webpage, Ms. Strega on her long-neglected book of poems; I have two publishers I am querying and sending to this month for this. Thank God one doesn't need an agent to send poems to a publisher, but the trick is being aware of legitimate poetry publishers out there. That business is worse, I think, than dishonest agents, and one has to be extremely careful. I am amazed to find that writing prose almost exclusively these last few years has made me a much better editor of my own poetry, and I am tightening a lot of the poems. For yes, dear readers, Ms. Strega was first a poet long before prose reared its head in her life.

I also did something silly today to jumpstart my creativity--I bought a pack of 96 crayons and a pack of Play-doh (and yes, I admit both things freely to the World Wide Web). I had heard that squishing Play-doh was really good for carpal tunnel syndrome (it's been giving me a twinge since the rain started), so I got a pack of "cool colors" (including black and fuschia). It is actually a good destressor to just sit and squish Playdoh for a couple of minutes (though I did make a very nice teacup and a bowl). I was such a weird, princessy child; I didn't ever want to mix my Playdoh colors and had a hissy fit if someone did (probably because, if I allowed my many siblings to do so, my Playdoh would end up being various shades of gray eventually). I remember that I once got a BUCKET of Playdoh as a kid (it was red). There's also a scene in my book which begins with me (as a kid) coercing my younger sister into eating Playdoh.

The 96 Crayolas are very cool; the smell of new crayons is almost an instant jumpstart to creativity for me. Plus, there are so many new colors--"timber wolf," "asparagus," "tumbleweed," "macaroni and cheese," wisteria," and "purple mountain's majesty." My favorite color as a kid was "carnation pink." In looking at the crayons, Mr. Strega pointed out that I had TWO "navy blue" crayons in the box! :( Oh, well--at least it wasn't two "green yellow" crayons--I never liked that color when I was a kid. Actually, there's a reason I did go out and get crayons--often, I sit and draw before I write, just to clear my mind, and crayons are an inexpensive, colorful medium

Well, maybe it's because I've been inhaling crayon-fragrance for the last few minutes, but it's time for Ms. Strega to go to Dreamland. Buona sera!