thursday night

and i'm so relaxed after such an intense week that i'm having trouble finding one last ounce of adrenaline left over to write this post.

so great having the little kids back in school.  routines at last.  everyone's happier.

just starting haywire.  soderbergh always has the best music.

here's a rundown on the day:

1) left the house at 6.30 a.m.

2) taught class #1, wearing dress julie gave me.  i always get lots of compliments in that dress, including once in nyc from a woman on the street, which is like two compliments.

3) prepped for next week's classes.

4) read in-class essays from class # 1.  for my own personal reasons, designated writers "E" for emerging (i.e. not ready for college writing yet), "P" for proficient, and "A" for advanced.  don't know why i did that.  just got the urge.

5) taught class #2.

6) went to seminar, discussed habermas, byron, abrams, and the rise of the mass reading public.

7) commuted home.

8) printed out copies of a creative non-fiction piece i've been working on for writer's group.

9) went to walden back to school picnic in southfork.

10) brought warm peach cake to writer's group.  thanks to ingrid for making it.  it was one of the best cakes i've ever eaten.  custardy and peachy.

11) new writer's group!  more on that later.  i'm excited.

12)  watching haywire with c.  so looking forward to several hours of writing time tomorrow.

week 4: instead of reading

i've been seeing movies and hanging out with my family.

tonight was magic mike with my sister.  she was an appreciative companion for this film, and we laughed a lot.  she also found it depressing.  i found it oddly uplifting and redemptive, if you're into that kind of thing.  and that other thing, the soderberghian thing, where you're totally entranced and you don't exactly know why.

actually, i do sort of know why:  he knows how to build a character and how to get a performance from an actor.  for instance, who knew that channing tatum was so much more than just eye candy with great moves?

so, if you think this is just going to be a fun night out with the ladies, hmmm.  . . . there are elements of that in the film, but there's a lot more going on.  depressing?  maybe.  i'm not the one to ask on that question.  i have a super high tolerance for depressing, twisted, and degraded as a normal and acceptable part of the human condition.




last night, c. and i saw safety not guaranteed at the broadway.  i really enjoyed every minute of this low-budget indie flick.  the dialogue was great, and so was aubrey plaza's performance and character.  it was less developed and satisfying than magic mike to me, and i thought the writer bit off more than he could chew with the plot and ultimately left a lot of potentially interesting elements unexplored.  or maybe they just ran out of money.  still, i really liked it and give it a thumbs up.

both films had rounded and complex female characters and both films played with, but transcended, the genres they purported to be.

a good & intense week, overall.  i have no idea what kind of creative break through i'm heading for, or if i'm even heading for such a break through at all, but i'm sticking with the program pretty faithfully.  if faithfulness has anything to do with it, i should experience the promised artist's way breakthrough--if faithfulness to the program is currency with which to purchase your new clarity.

i'm a little scared of what it might be.

like, what if i decide i should really run away and join the circus and become a trapeze artist?