The last couple of days I have been spring cleaning. I know it's late summer but I just have a need to clear out the clutter. No, I'm not procrastinating on the writing. I actually need to make some space on my desk to actually do it. Anyway, I've set a pile of books to give away and leave in random places so folks can pick them up. Hopefully I won't get a ticket for littering. I have another pile of books to ship out to friends, returning things that I've held on for a long while...hmmm. And I know there is more to get rid of. Desk drawers and file cabinets full of random wires and old electronic equipment and past magazines that need to be read or thrown out.
Earlier today I read the following Joss Whedon article on Wired (May 2012): http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/05/joss-whedon/
For crying out loud, Whedon quotes Roland Barthes... this is the point when the literary geek girl in me swoons. Loved the article, completely inspired me and I enjoyed even reading about those moments of insecurity when he works on his projects. He talks about his success, his misfires and about his writing craft. LOVED IT!!
On the train ride home, I was reading Patricia Highsmith's The Price of Salt. I'm midway through this novel and I wish I had known about this writer sooner in my life. The way she handles the internal dialogue of the protagonist is doing my head in (in a good way). There is so much internal strife and she handles it delicately between a handful of lines. Beautifully done. Can't wait to read more. Altho' my eyes feel like they might pop out of my head from too much computer/reading/writing today.
Lastly, tonight I spent the night working on my novel. I wrote for three hours (1,500 words) and I feel good, decent and productive. While I was on the train reading Highsmith...something about my novel clicked for me. I realized how to introduce the betrayal that I've been struggling with almost from the beginning. It wasn't even what I was reading instead...my brain is constantly working on this story in the background somewhere...looking at the problems...trying to figure out the next solution. Working on this story makes sense again. I'm also rethinking the title. Just don't know yet what it needs to be. I'll keep calling it Indigo until the new title comes...until then...I keep writing.
Peace,
Lily~
All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2012 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Itchy Palms
As much as I’ve tried staying away from writing a blog entry, I find myself gravitating towards Blogger. It’s become such a habit that too many days without an entry makes my palms itchy. Strange but true.
I’ve had a productive weekend, I managed a nice chunk of writing time on Saturday and worked for about 4.5 hours before I called it a day. Sunday, I worked on some much needed chores but have yet to finish cleaning my room. Ergh! It’s a bit of a wreck. If I look at it too long, I get dismayed and just leave it for another day. Last night, I managed to clear away the stacks of books that I had piled on my desk. My desk is a magnet for every piece of paper, index card and half-read book that I’m currently “working” with. I cleared some of it away but still managed to keep a teetering pile of pages on top of my printer. I think they secretly split off and multiply at night. That’s just my working theory.
Last night I had dinner with a friend and we were talking writing careers versus day jobs. Ergh. He’s a brilliant writer, the kind that as soon as he’s picked up will be highly visible and marketable. His writing is the next wave of up and coming work. Of course, we were talking about making a living as a writer and neither one of us felt very....secure in the idea of being able to make a living from it. *sad sigh *. He works as an adjunct professor teaching composition to undergraduates. These days you have to hustle for those adjunct posts.
Anyway, I read an early draft of one of his short stories and then the revision of it...I have to tell you that the way he uses language gives me goosebumps. His work is truly amazing and I wish I had half his talent...hehehe. Anyway, he’s going back to school to finish a second Masters in a professional field. Frankly, he wants to be able make a living and still write on the side. another sad sigh. We keep relegating our actual work/writing/creative life as secondary, an afterthought. We have to squeeze out a living and then find time to write. He knows he will always write but for the next two and a half years as he begins school in the fall, he will put the creative work away. The notion makes me sad because he is just so good.
As we talked he was advising me to find something more in line with the type of work I’ve done before because I have skills that will translate into any setting. I admit the panic started to rise at the idea of getting locked down into a “job”. To be fair, he was talking about getting involved with companies and non-profits, doing work that I would feel good about. Ergh. Which would be what exactly? I’m having a hard time thinking outside of the box at the moment. Frankly, this job is fine for my purposes. At the end of the day I leave it behind, don’t give it a second thought once I go home at 5 and I have enough head space to work on my creative work. But I’ve been feeling a terrible pressure to try to find a better job. It’s all anyone asks me about these days. Makes me want to stick my head in the sand. Ostrich maneuver.
I will say this, I know the anxiety that rises stems from the overachiever in me. The one who is unsatisfied with a job that is barely scraping at my creative curiosity. I get that! But that’s what I have the rest of my life for, no? I use that time outside of work to go see live music, or go to the theater, or read books, or walk all over the city, or work on my novel, or study shamanism, or go swim in the ocean. That’s really what I have time for. That’s what this job affords me to be able to do at the moment. The only drawback that I see is that I don’t have more money to really travel outside of the states. Will have to see what I can adjust in my financial picture to make that possible. I have a cousin in Maui I can visit, and my aunt and uncle in Puerto Rico, a good friend in San Francisco who’s couch I can crash on...just need to figure that one out. Other than that, I have all I need at the moment. Okay, I’ve gone on long enough.
Peace,
Lily~
[UPDATE] Another one bites the dust.
Another mercury retrograde victim...ergh! My Nook died early Sunday morning. After a soft reset and a hard reset...nothing. It’s been frozen in start-up mode ever since. *sigh * I think I talked up its early death. You see I was just telling someone the other day how I wanted to go back to books. I miss having a paperback in hand. And here is one of the moments when the universe listened. LOL! Really?! That’s what it heard. Anyway, I’ve called in for an updated version...a trade-in if you will but then I realized I should have waited until AFTER mercury retrograde was over. *rolling my eyes *. So when the new one dies an early death, remind me that I was sufficiently warned.
All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2012 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.
I’ve had a productive weekend, I managed a nice chunk of writing time on Saturday and worked for about 4.5 hours before I called it a day. Sunday, I worked on some much needed chores but have yet to finish cleaning my room. Ergh! It’s a bit of a wreck. If I look at it too long, I get dismayed and just leave it for another day. Last night, I managed to clear away the stacks of books that I had piled on my desk. My desk is a magnet for every piece of paper, index card and half-read book that I’m currently “working” with. I cleared some of it away but still managed to keep a teetering pile of pages on top of my printer. I think they secretly split off and multiply at night. That’s just my working theory.
Last night I had dinner with a friend and we were talking writing careers versus day jobs. Ergh. He’s a brilliant writer, the kind that as soon as he’s picked up will be highly visible and marketable. His writing is the next wave of up and coming work. Of course, we were talking about making a living as a writer and neither one of us felt very....secure in the idea of being able to make a living from it. *sad sigh *. He works as an adjunct professor teaching composition to undergraduates. These days you have to hustle for those adjunct posts.
Anyway, I read an early draft of one of his short stories and then the revision of it...I have to tell you that the way he uses language gives me goosebumps. His work is truly amazing and I wish I had half his talent...hehehe. Anyway, he’s going back to school to finish a second Masters in a professional field. Frankly, he wants to be able make a living and still write on the side. another sad sigh. We keep relegating our actual work/writing/creative life as secondary, an afterthought. We have to squeeze out a living and then find time to write. He knows he will always write but for the next two and a half years as he begins school in the fall, he will put the creative work away. The notion makes me sad because he is just so good.
As we talked he was advising me to find something more in line with the type of work I’ve done before because I have skills that will translate into any setting. I admit the panic started to rise at the idea of getting locked down into a “job”. To be fair, he was talking about getting involved with companies and non-profits, doing work that I would feel good about. Ergh. Which would be what exactly? I’m having a hard time thinking outside of the box at the moment. Frankly, this job is fine for my purposes. At the end of the day I leave it behind, don’t give it a second thought once I go home at 5 and I have enough head space to work on my creative work. But I’ve been feeling a terrible pressure to try to find a better job. It’s all anyone asks me about these days. Makes me want to stick my head in the sand. Ostrich maneuver.
I will say this, I know the anxiety that rises stems from the overachiever in me. The one who is unsatisfied with a job that is barely scraping at my creative curiosity. I get that! But that’s what I have the rest of my life for, no? I use that time outside of work to go see live music, or go to the theater, or read books, or walk all over the city, or work on my novel, or study shamanism, or go swim in the ocean. That’s really what I have time for. That’s what this job affords me to be able to do at the moment. The only drawback that I see is that I don’t have more money to really travel outside of the states. Will have to see what I can adjust in my financial picture to make that possible. I have a cousin in Maui I can visit, and my aunt and uncle in Puerto Rico, a good friend in San Francisco who’s couch I can crash on...just need to figure that one out. Other than that, I have all I need at the moment. Okay, I’ve gone on long enough.
Peace,
Lily~
[UPDATE] Another one bites the dust.
Another mercury retrograde victim...ergh! My Nook died early Sunday morning. After a soft reset and a hard reset...nothing. It’s been frozen in start-up mode ever since. *sigh * I think I talked up its early death. You see I was just telling someone the other day how I wanted to go back to books. I miss having a paperback in hand. And here is one of the moments when the universe listened. LOL! Really?! That’s what it heard. Anyway, I’ve called in for an updated version...a trade-in if you will but then I realized I should have waited until AFTER mercury retrograde was over. *rolling my eyes *. So when the new one dies an early death, remind me that I was sufficiently warned.
All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2012 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Jack White playing Radio Music Hall
Rock on people rock on!!
L~
All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2012 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
