dude_the‘s leaving today. His plane departs late this afternoon. 
Time for everyone to return to their regularly scheduled routines. Pook.
We went to the Shakespeare Tavern last night to see a non-Shakespeare play: Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot. About the martyrdom of Thomas Becket, I didn’t realize it was going to be a musical. *Blink* It was, however, much better as a musical than it would have been as a straight reading of T.S. Eliot. The first act was a little slow, but the second act made up for it. And I liked the dancing.
Next week, I believe, we’re going to see their production of Salome which will also have dancing in it, I assume. Not a Shakespeare play again. And the Tavern has been branching out with the whole song and dance thing of late. Coolness.
When we got home, we pulled out a bunch of DVDs to watch. I only made it through My Man Godfrey, a movie I’ve always loved, but forget that I’ve seen until I watch the opening again. Hmm. My brain is strange. Matthew and dude_the may have also watched The Man Who Knew Too Little and Support Your Local Sheriff. Actually, I’m certain they watched the former as I was still awakeish for some of Too Little but am not so sure ’bout the latter.
Going to wake them both up in a couple hours. Early for them (I’m surrounded by night critters), but dude_the needs to get back into a diurnal routine for work next week. Maybe we’ll go out to The Flying Biscuit for breakfast. Scrambled Tofu, yum.
Writing Stuff:
Very little progress on the writing front. I have a hard time writing when we have company. Just can’t find the time to do it. I suppose I could do it during these mornings when everyone’s asleep, but I don’t. So I’ve had something of an extended hiatus.
But I’ve got an idea for a story pinging around in my head. Perhaps I’ll get a start on that this week.
Rejections recently from:
Polyphony 3 (WAH!), Alchemy, ELP, and Flesh & Blood. Both say-nothing forms and personal notes in the mix.
I’m jonsing for another sale. A lot. I’d feel pretty dejected overall, except that I’m in correspondence with a fellow Critter and he’s doing an informal poll to see how many rejects published writers he knows have gotten before their first sale. I told him my number (twenty-two) and asked to see his results when they were all compiled. He misunderstood my request and thought I was asking how many he, personally, has accumulated so far. He estimates his rejects are piling in the 130 to 140ish numbers with no sale yet. So, on that scale, my rejection pains aren’t so agonizing. It’s all about the perspective I suppose. But I’m still champing at the bit for another “yes” to take the sting out of all the “no”s. Sigh.
Sing little stories! Sing your little hearts out!
So sorry about Polyphony 3. I’ve made it to the final round, but I highly doubt I’m making it into the book. The competition’s just too stiff at this point, and I’m too new at this game to really have a chance.
I’m jonsing for another sale. A lot.
Me too. I’ve made a whopping two sales: one in November, one in January. It’s looking like April’s going to be another dry month 🙁
I think it’s wonderful that you’ve made it to the final rounds of Polyphony. I’ve got my fingers crossed that you’ll be in the TOC! Think positive!
Actually, I’m one of those defensive pessimists for whom it’s healthier to think negatively than it is to think positively. When I think positively, I can be debilitatingly crushed if positive things don’t come to pass. But if I think negatively and the negative happens, well, I expected it, but if something positive happens, woo hoo! Who saw that coming? 😉
The Positive Power of Negative Thinking is a great book on that syndrome.
The Flying Biscuit is a long way to drive for breakfast, isn’t it? Still, it’s probably a good choice. I’ve only been there once, and that was almost a decade ago. Did you all check out Cafe Sunflower last week, too?
I’m sorry to hear about your recent rejections, but keep in mind that in spite of that, you are doing very, very well with your writing. Think about that every time you watch that TV. What’s Polyphony 3, BTW?
Yeah, having company makes it hard to write. It just shatters the routine, so even when the guests are out or asleep, it’s hard to get grounded. At least for me.
“The Flying Biscuit is a long way to drive for breakfast, isn’t it?“
Yes, yes it is. After everyone got showered and had packed all his stuff up, we really didn’t have enough time before his flight. So we went to J. Christopher’s instead. Something of a step down in coolness, but the breakfast burrito was yummy enough.
And no, actually we didn’t hit Cafe Sunflower last week either. Pook. I guess we didn’t eat out as much as we often do. Matthew did a lot of cooking instead.
“What’s Polyphony 3, BTW?“
A new small press serial anthology focusing on slipstream, magic realism, and other “genre-jumping” tales. They’ve gotten very good reviews and they pay well. Here’s their website. I really thought I had a good fit here, but I should have braced myself when I read in the Wheatland Press SFF.Net newsgroup that they’d gotten a lot of submissions with a cancer theme. Sigh.
at my last rough count:
41
of course, then the sale was with BRUCE.
*sigh*