Monday, July 19, 2010
Home again! But what an incredible week in Portland, Oregon. So many old friends--Dawn and Jen and Margaret and Kristen and Liz and Ken and Henry and Sylvia and Nan. So many writers I admire--Antonya Nelson, Joy Williams, Nick Flynn, Elissa Schappell, Matthew Dickman... an incomplete list on both sides, but suffice it to say that the week was stimulating, loving, fun, intelligent, and overall filled with Portland goodness. My workshop was an amazing group of women who I hope to see again and again, in print and in person.
And I got to see my buddies Hillary and Heather, to eat good Portland food with them and laugh with them about life. They fed me and made sure I had a good supply of Oregon wine, a bouquet of flowers, Stumptown coffee, and (thank you, Heather!) pillows for my bed and a lamp for my night stand.
I cannot ignore how wonderful it was to be in weather that ranged from about 50 degrees to mid seventies. Another reason to consider moving to Portland! I left ninety degree humid weather and returned to ninety degree humid weather. Ugh. But a thunderstorm is passing through as I write this. the smell of summer rain is one of my favorite smells. (I love rain...another Portland benefit!) Lightning streaks the sky here.
Tomorrow, a beach date with my friend Beth, here for a couple weeks from Texas. readers of this blog know that Beth and I were teen models at Jordan Marsh and have traveled life's bumpy path together. As sixteen year olds, we wore matching bikinis to Scarborough Beach every day, ate popsicles side by side, dreamed about our futures. Here we are now in those futures, a little bruised but loved and loving, and lucky. Cannot wait for our day tomorrow!
Wednesday another beach date, another old friend. Jane and I survived junior high math together, marched forward through high school and college and life. We will read magazines and laugh and probably find some beers to drink!
Tonight I am doing a monologue in the brilliant Kevin Broccoli's all women monologue show. No, I didn't get the acting bug from Sam. I'm doing it for a piece for Rhode Island Monthly. the piece is about Kevin, and I'm trying to get insight into his genius. So I'm humiliating myself at 2nd Story theater in the name of my art.
A quiet week of catching up on sleep, trying to heal a sore throat that has plagued me for days, and getting ready for upcoming events. The beach. The rain. Good books. Good friends.
And I got to see my buddies Hillary and Heather, to eat good Portland food with them and laugh with them about life. They fed me and made sure I had a good supply of Oregon wine, a bouquet of flowers, Stumptown coffee, and (thank you, Heather!) pillows for my bed and a lamp for my night stand.
I cannot ignore how wonderful it was to be in weather that ranged from about 50 degrees to mid seventies. Another reason to consider moving to Portland! I left ninety degree humid weather and returned to ninety degree humid weather. Ugh. But a thunderstorm is passing through as I write this. the smell of summer rain is one of my favorite smells. (I love rain...another Portland benefit!) Lightning streaks the sky here.
Tomorrow, a beach date with my friend Beth, here for a couple weeks from Texas. readers of this blog know that Beth and I were teen models at Jordan Marsh and have traveled life's bumpy path together. As sixteen year olds, we wore matching bikinis to Scarborough Beach every day, ate popsicles side by side, dreamed about our futures. Here we are now in those futures, a little bruised but loved and loving, and lucky. Cannot wait for our day tomorrow!
Wednesday another beach date, another old friend. Jane and I survived junior high math together, marched forward through high school and college and life. We will read magazines and laugh and probably find some beers to drink!
Tonight I am doing a monologue in the brilliant Kevin Broccoli's all women monologue show. No, I didn't get the acting bug from Sam. I'm doing it for a piece for Rhode Island Monthly. the piece is about Kevin, and I'm trying to get insight into his genius. So I'm humiliating myself at 2nd Story theater in the name of my art.
A quiet week of catching up on sleep, trying to heal a sore throat that has plagued me for days, and getting ready for upcoming events. The beach. The rain. Good books. Good friends.