Chuck's writing advice

Seth sent this link. I'm not the biggest Chuck fan, but he has some good advice: http://chuckpalahniuk.net/features/essays/chuck-palahniuk

Going and coming

Doug Huff's play--"Emil's Enemies"--the reasons my friends and I went to Sante Fe in the first place--was nothing short of spectacular. It's the story of Diettrich Bonhoeffer's involvement in a plot to assassinate Hitler, and it's all based in the facts of Bonhoeffer's life. In the play, he struggles with the morality of killing--which, of course, is murder and wrong--in order to do the greater good and stop Hitler and the SS's maniacal slaughter of 1200 Jews a day.

I went to the Georgia O'Keeffe museum two times. I can never get enough of looking at her work. The two videos playing about her and her life made me want to do nothing but write. I understand how this Midwesterner woman fell entirely in love with the New Mexico landscape. I did, too.

I also went to a HUGE farmer's market--and it's winter, so nobody's growing much. But there was a plethora of homemade goat cheese and salsa and jam. I bought goat cheese. So now my dream would be to raise goats and write. I think I could do it. If I had any money. Ha.

Leaving a beautiful and relaxing place like Sante Fe is tough. However, coming home to a dog who is beyond ecstatic to see me is a delight. She circled me and each leg a few dozen times before she resorted to licking my face.

Now, she won't leave me alone. I have to get a few things done before school today--am brainstorming ways to promote Chasing AllieCat as well as trying to do school work. So I gave her a new rawhide. She promptly ran outside with it and plopped down on the -2 degree snow, chewing contentedly. We'll go for a longer walk in a bit.

Field trip today!! Yippeee!!

Field trip TODAY! (After we survive in-service).

Books on T-shirts. Shirts with a cause.

Out-of-Print Books on t-shirts. How cool is this?
http://www.outofprintclothing.com/ShopWomens_a/179.html
Books for Africa.

Tuesday: inservice all day (gag), but THEN, Amy and I are taking 18 students and guests to St. Cloud State for a play--a version of Don Juan/Don Quixote...it'll be a blast.

No Leadville for me

So, I did not get into the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race. I didn't make the lottery cut. Maybe, somewhere inside, I'm relieved because any mountain bike race, even a non-technical one, scares me a little due to terrain.

THEREFORE, I need a new physical goal for the year. Gotta write my ass off, but need a cycling goal, too. Ride and Write; ride and write.

Maybe the Minnesota mountain bike races. Maybe. But I'm old to break a bone on one of those switchbacks.
Pondering.
Maybe Sadie and Allie, my characters could still do Leadville if I went and volunteered.
Pondering.
Maybe do a 24-Hr road race again. Maybe a team, as Matt Busch suggests, for the 24-hrs of Afton.
Pondering.

Nothing original in talking about snow

I love snow. I may be the only Minnesotan left who still feels this way after all the piles we've gotten. But I just got back from an hour walk with Freya in the woods, and who couldn't love that? Crystal white piles on gray trees, a bouncing black Newfy with floppy paws, fur, jowls, ears, and even eyes.

Then there's plowing the driveway. With my trusty garden tractor, I love that. For about the first hour. Then it gets really old and tiresome, but I don't want to complain 'cause I love snow, right? However, I have an awesome neighbor who saves me when the going gets tough. Greg bailed me out yesterday--my garden tractor wouldn't even start. I took out the battery (rather proud of myself for that) and am gettin' it checked out.

Let it snow!
Oh, wait. Snow is to blame for the fact that in five weeks of class, I've only seen my Monday night class TWO TIMES. Good lord. Maybe it's not so great. But what can do? Might as well enjoy it while we've got it.

The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination | Harvard Magazine

JK Rowling talks to Harvard grads about Failure. Her words are astute.
The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination Harvard Magazine: "You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default."

Another movie to recommend

Just watched "After the Wedding." It didn't sound all that intriguing, but it sort of blew me away. Great story, great characters. Love, death, parenting, sadness, honesty. Set in India and Denmark. Highly recommend it.