pause

I'm in New York on business; haven't touched the novel in days. I knew this project would happen, and I knew it would mean a lengthy pause in my writing, but it came faster and harder than I expected. So now Dan is totally kicking my ass at Concentration Vacation. He's got a sweet setup in one of the bedrooms, the one that Grandma furnished especially for my brother and I when we were kids. Anytime we get home, whether it's from grocery shopping or a Tim Brickley and the Bleeding Hearts show, Dan immediately disappears in there for hours. He is IN the ZONE. I'm stoked for him, if a bit jealous.


But I will say, it feels nice to be challenged by Actual Work, or maybe just by something outside of my own brain. And to be bringin' home some juicy bacon. And New York! I had a few hours this afternoon to be free in the city, and it made me really jones to live here again in a non-student state of mind. This city is so much better when you're not penniless and stressed and living on 130th.

I know we're falling behind update-wise, but Pat just got me a new camera as a belated barfday present, so stay tuned. Indianapolis has been really really fun and relaxing and we have soooo much space and peace and I'll tell you all about it soon, or maybe Dan will get bored out there without me and decide to contribute to the blog hmmm? Unrelated: my hotel has janky wifi so I have to sit in the lobby to write this, and sitting next to me is a very tired-looking businessman in nice slacks and loafers, half-napping, listening to a blaring iPod, audible even over the lobby's smoove jazz, and I just caught the chorus coming from his earbuds: Oh Mandy / You came and you gave without taking. !!?? Not lying! Manilow! Divorce, maybe? *only-in-new-york headshake*