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Monday, 20 July 2009 (before we start) 5:53pm It was not inexpensive in terms of paper (I had to buy a new ream), toner (I pretty much burned through the cartridge the printer came with) or postage (sending a two pound eleven ounce Monster to New York via Priority Mail costs a bit more than, say, mailing a letter), but the freshly edited manuscript is on its way to Seven Stories. I have a good feeling about this one. I also feel good—great, really, and excited—about the fact that Marta is on her way back to California right now, and I'll get to see her tomorrow. | ||
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Sunday, 19 July 2009 (turning the page) 10:51am It's gotta be love when you both exceed your monthly text message limits becuase you text each other so much, and you both decide to upgrade your plans rather than, say, not texting each other so much. 11:52pm No food pantry today—I was focused on editing the manuscript. It still needs work, but I think I have a shot in hell of actually getting it into tomorrow's mail. The local girl did finally call, however. She apologized for dropping off the face of the earth, and said she'd actually be available this week to help with my Victory Garden. (Which, thus far, isn't doing much of anything.) It was also a terrific evening at Bad Movie Night, and enough people came out to see Top Gun (can I pick 'em or can I pick 'em?) (The answer, by the way, is "I can pick 'em") that I have a few extra shekels to get me through this next week. | ||
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Saturday, 18 July 2009 (the price of solitude) 9:08pm I was in the dressing room at Target this afternoon, marveling at the fact that I'd found a pair of decent jeans which actually fit me, when I heard the distinctive "bloop!" sound of my iPhone telling me had I new mail. I've always been rather compulsive about these things—that's why I have it set to make the "bloop!" sound, after all—so I had to check it right then and there. And especially these days, because, you never know, it could be one of the publishers or agents that I've queried lately. Not that I would expect to hear from them on a Saturday afternoon, of course. So I was more than a little suprised to see that it was Seven Stories Press, to whom I mailed a submission on Wednesday (a query letter and two sample chapters, as specificied in their guidelines), saying they're interested in Bottomfeeder and would like to see the entire Monster. Wow. And they contacted me at just shy of five o'clock on Saturday afternoon, New York time. That's gotta be a good sign. I've spent most of this evening typing up hand-written edits on the first half of the manuscript, and tomorrow will be all about editing the second half. I intend to get it in the mail to them by this Wednesday. Sure, it's presentable enough right now—it has fewer typos than some published books I've read—but since I'm on an editing roll, I want it to be as polished as possible. | ||
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Friday, 17 July 2009 (giving in to infamy) 1:31pm I never did get called for an interview, so I guess they decided against me. So it goes. Back at The Dark Room. It seemed like as good a place as any to go after working with Raphaela this morning, especially since I'm going to Midnites for Maniacs at The Castro tonight with Kristen and KrOB. | ||
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Thursday, 16 July 2009 (learning to fly) 8:26am To the gym, then. 4:34pm No, really. Napping is the most productive thing I could have possibly done with these past two hours. 7:46pm I'm working the door at the theater tonight. I've already had to be told to be nice to the stinky hippies who are comprising most of the audience. Don't wanna. 9:51pm Seriously. A lot of them really need to bathe. Ew. Personally, I'm a big fan of hygiene. 10:45pm Seems you have to tell a group of hippies "The show's over, the theater's closed, please leave" at least four times before they'll budge. | ||
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Wednesday, 15 July 2009 (late for the sky) 3:11pm Fail Garden: the cucumber plant has died, and the oca isn't growing. (As they say, you can't make an omelet without breaking a few cucumbers.) I went to Sloat Garden Center last night and got a larger tomato plant and a strawberry starter, both of which the highly disinterested employee told me should grow out here. I think the probably would have said anything to get me out of their hair, though. c0g has said he's more than willing to come down from Bolinas to help me out, provided he can find the time (which isn't looking like it'll happenin the nearish future), and the local girl's disappeared again. So it goes. Just gotta keep working at til I figure it out myself. 11:38pm At KrOB's suggestion, I saw Monsters vs. Aliens with him at The Castro tonight. I'm not a huge fan of animation to begin with, but wow, Pixar has spoiled me. On my way out there, I swung by the post office and mailed off a submission to Seven Stories Press, Kurt Vonnegut's former home. And why not? If I'm going to get rejected, I wanna get rejected from the best. | ||
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Tuesday, 14 July 2009 (the stars my destination) 1:17pm Back to the gym this morning. Twice this week so far! The job lead fell through—the automated system rejected me, as they are wont to do. Moving on. 5:01pm Or not: thanks to my employment counselor with TEEI pulling some strings, it looks like I still have a shot at the job. At an interview, anyway. He says they should be calling me very soon. | ||
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Monday, 13 July 2009 (a voice so strong) 9:30pm First thing I did this morning was send off a proposal to a literary agency. I'm told that the fact that I've already made inroads with publishers should make me more attractive to agents, so here's to hoping. Then I eventually made it to the gym, for the first time since...ye gods, since the Friday before Pride. So, like two and a half weeks. I have a partial excuse in that the gym was closed the week of the Fourth, and Raphaela's been out of town since we didn't have our usual session this past Friday. Ultimately, though, I've been slacking. There's definitely been exercise—Marta and I have done a fair amount of hiking, whether up and down Corona Heights or in the Marin Headlands, and then there was bike-riding in Bolinas, not to mention the whole sex thing and our general inability to sit still around each other—but I kinda need the steady routine of actually going to the gym on a regular basis and getting on the hamster wheel. So, I'm back on track from here on out, damnit. After that I went to The Sea Biscuit for the first time in at least a year to work. I've been there for other reasons, most recently a few times with Marta for coffe and/or breakfast, but to actually sit down and get stuff done, it's been a while. I'm hand-editing the latest draft of Bottomfeeder. The one that's in the hands of a couple different publishers right now is presentable, but it's still a few drafts away from printable. Meanwhile, I'm not holding my breath about the job lead from Friday. I did everything I was supposed to do, and I was told they were hoping to interview people today and tomorrow, but I haven't heard a peep since then. They'll contact me, or they won't. | ||
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Sunday, 12 July 2009 (miss blonde your papa is failing) 4:37am Went back to the regular Sunday pantry a bit. Hung out with the local girl beforehand, and I my freezer is now filled with enough bread to last me for the next couple months. It's the little things that add up. | ||
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Saturday, 11 July 2009 (derailments in a place of our own) 11:20am This is my Monster. It does not have a Box. sometime after midnight Went to the Bastille Day Waltz Ball with Kristen tonight. It was exhausting and nerve-wracking and literally dizzying and confirmed what I've always known (that I lack natural rhythm), but it was also a lot of fun. And considering that I've never waltzed before, my first Congress of Vienna went well. | ||
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