I'm in New York for a few days, and I've been taking notes. What I realize from reading them is that I don't travel well.

At all...


Notes from 7/12
Packed last night. We're only gone for a few days, but we've spent tons of money just getting ready.

Over the course of my writing life, I've spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on writing advice. Books, magazines, seminars, conferences - I've listened to it all, and the one thing I've found to be consistently true is that the formula for teaching is this: First they tell you what to do, then they tell you what it looks like when you do it. Sometimes you get a sentence or two of "before" writing, followed by a gleaming, polished bit of "after."

Our week has been stressful, so I took advantage of half a day off to do something I love: cook! The Pirate and I love the Moroccan version of tagine (a sort of "stewed stuff served over couscous" thing), but don't own a tagine (a large, flat clay dish with a high conical lid that captures the cooking steam and sends it to the outside of the dish, keeping the contents moist). Instead, we use a Dutch oven whose lid is studded with little nubs that serve much the same function, directing the steam and juices back down into the food.

It's been a stressful week for me. There were some pretty big events at my office, and I had a couple of pretty long days. I have to say that by the end of the week, I was completely ready for a vacation. The last day of school for the kids was Thursday, so their vacation officially started Friday morning.

The Pirate and I carpooled on Friday, so we stopped off and did a little shopping, then got home and turned off the power. Burritos ensued, and then one of the most satisfying nights of work I've had in a long time.

If there's one thing you can count on, it's that the gang at the Co-Prosperity Sphere is always spinning off ideas. No matter the economy, the climate, whether these ideas make our butts look big, we're throwing off ideas like a Van de Graaff generator throws off static!

While we're still working on other things, a certain mania has hit the CPS. Brain mania. This is the project I mentioned in the last post, and although I first had the idea several months ago, the wheels are finally turning.

The Inception

The Pirate and I sat down to watch a movie last night, and here's what happened in the first ten minutes:

1. The very pregnant wife of the school music teacher tells him that the baby she's carrying isn't his.


2. The wife and child disappear and the music teacher is now a carpenter making furniture and lacking in personality.


3. The politician is asked whether, if the syndicate financially backs him for office, he can guarantee that he's “clean.” He lies and says yes.


4. The music teacher goes to the down antique store to buy a gold coin.

The Pirate and I headed over to the Maker Faire last weekend, and had our brains recharged and inspired. I bought a pair of sunglasses from the very talented and self-effacing Stuart Breidenstein and the Pirate and I walked out with a Minty Boost kit and a few other odds and ends.

Today, we ended up at a party at a friend's house. She said in her email that, in honor of the combined Celtic/Latino heritage of more than one of the attendees, she wanted to have a sort of Cinco de Mayo/Beltaine party. A Cinco de Beltaine party, if you will.

The Pirate and I decided to extend the theme to the dinner and make our contribution a vegan haggis mole.

The Pirate described haggis to me as a sheep covered in oats and turned inside out. So...how does that translate to something not only vegan but also something that would go well with mole?

Yesterday's day without electricity was a day of getting stuff done. The Pirate had vowed to have plants in the ground by end of day yesterday, and true to his word, he's got kale, chard, lettuce, beans, and something that ends in "choy" that isn't bok choy.

I've been having some subversive thoughts. And when I say "subversive," I mean "cool, but could get you arrested."