Friday Feast

AppetizerOn a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you look forward to your birthday? I used to look forward to it immensely, and I still enjoy the idea of remembering the day I was born (all those many years ago!). I just wish I didn't have to keep getting older. As far as a rating - hmmm, I'll say 5, somewhere safely in the middle.

Soup What is one word you don’t like the sound, spelling, or meaning of? Suck. Even when it's used for it's actual meaning, and not in the pejorative sense.

Salad Do you wear sunglasses when you’re outside? If so, what does your current pair look like? I wear sunglasses more often than I used to (its another one of those age things, I guess). I tend to lose sunglasses, so I have about six relatively cheapo pairs scattered around the house and in the cars.

Main Course If you were to write a book, to whom would you dedicate it? I have written one book (unpublished, but still...) and partly because of the subject matter and partly just because she deserves it, I would dedicate it to my mother. The book I'm thinking about writing now, the one that's marinating in my brain in preparation for NaNoWriMo next month, would be dedicated to my husband.

Dessert Name a beverage that you enjoy. Coffee at sunrise, Chardonnay at dusk. for more feasts, go here

Travelin' South-A Free Raleigh, NC Get Away

I get the urge to take a road trip in the fall, to meander down winding country roads, visit small towns along the way, have homemade apple pie in "mom and pop" diners, and, of course, marvel at the palette of crimson and gold painting the landscape. I've hankered to visit North Carolina for some time, and I was doing some cyber research the other night on the official tourism site for the city of Raleigh. I had no idea this was such a "happening" place for the arts lover...North Carolina symphony concerts, the Carolina Ballet, the Carolina Museum of Natural History and Art, Broadway shows, historic walking tours, Branford Marsalis in concert...some of my favorite things to do. All the attractions of city life, with the charm of a Southern small town.

Because I love fall, I was especially attracted to the fall getaway pages, and I eagerly registered for a chance to win a Free Raleigh Getaway that includes accommodations for two at the Courtyard by Marriott, gift certificates to Bloomsbury Bistro, tickets to the theater and to the Impressionist exhibit at the Museum of Art, and even more.

So now I have my heart set on winning this trip. But feel free to register yourselves - just promise to tuck me into your suitcase if you win!

Tagged (Again)-Eight Random Things About Me

Are there eight random things you don't know about me? I think over the past 18 months I've confided many of my most "interesting" secrets, but since Michele asked so nicely, I'll give it a go.

• I can't stand loud, repetitive mechanical noises, like lawn mowers and gas powered edgers. They make me want to scream.
• I'm claustrophobic, and get really edgy in traffic jams or wedged in the middle of the row at the theater.
• I love animals with a passion, and am so tenderhearted I cannot bear to hear or watch anything where animals are hurt. When I was a kid, I couldn't even watch Lassie, because she was always in some kind of danger during the show.
• I drive fast - too fast.
• I'm not nearly the perfectionist that people think I am ;)
• I have no talent whatsoever for art - drawing, crafting, etc. I really don't. Or for any type of needlework.
• As much as I love working as an accompanist at the high school, I do not like teaching, and, not surprisingly, I'm not any good at it. Years ago, when I taught private piano students, I remember feeling an overwhelming urge to push them off the piano bench so I could play the piece the right way.
• I don't like talking on the telephone or making phone calls, and will put off doing it until the last possible moment.

There you have it~I'm not tagging specific people, but feel free to play along if you haven't already done this one.

Write on Wednesday-Addendum

Visit Writing Time to "cyber audit" a class called "Courage and Craft: Writing Your Life Into Story." Author, teacher, and blogger, Barbara Abercrombie teaches this course at the UCLA Extension Writers Program, and she's sharing some of her class lectures and writing exercises with those of us who read her blog. The class is based on her newly published book by the same title, and promises to offer some exciting suggestions and inspiration. So get yourself a new spiral notebook and a pen, and head over to class. Don't be late!

Write on Wednesday-Working Nine to Five

Each Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I work in an office~a real business type office, where I have my own cubicle, complete with plastic desk protector, overhead bin, file folders, an "in-box," and a telephone extension. I spend those three days a week writing medical reports, summarizing medical records, preparing billing statements, and shuffling great lots of paper - bond paper, that is.

If one must work in an office, (and, at this juncture in my life, I must, for the checkbook demands the extra weekly feeding) my particular situation couldn't be better. I work with six other women whom I'm very fond of. They range in age from 27 to 67, they're all bright, personable, funny and easy to get along with. My work hours are flexible, I can do lots of my work remotely, and I have an "alter ego" who can trade off with me when I travel to Florida.

Perfect, yes?

And no. As much as I'm grateful for my job and all its conveniences, I have to admit that it's become awfully boring. Twice lately, I've literally fallen asleep at my desk after lunch! ( Luckily, my cube is in the corner so no one noticed!) Six years ago when I interviewed for my original position as a "medical report writer," the interviewer was concerned that I would become disenchanted with the pedantic nature of the writing required.

"Don't worry," I assured her. "I like writing fact based reports. I'm certainly not a creative writer!"

Hmm. At that time, I was being completely truthful.

But things change, don't they? Nowadays, my head is filled with poems and stories and ideas for stories and blog posts and books and...my oh my.

And somehow, I don't feel as if I could ever explain this compulsion to any of the women I work with. I feel as if I'm harboring a secret life, that when they ask what I did over the weekend and I say, "oh, not much"- leaving out that I wrote three blog posts, or started a new story, or did some research for the novel I'm thinking about writing, or for the one I've already written- I'm denying them the ability to know who I really am.

A while back, I wrote about coming out of the writers closet, and this post is certainly reflective of those feelings. As much as I love and am grateful for the community of bloggers with which to share words and ideas, I'm feeling the need for the kind of interaction you can only have with people in the present.

How about you? Do you have a "day job" and does it hamper or inspire your creativity? Do your real world friends understand and support your writing?