Sunday, February 22, 2009

Friends in the City

February 22, 2009



Andy and I went out last night with our good friends from Booklyn and the Berkshires, Harvey and Adrianne Robins (seen below with Joel at graduation). We haven't seen them in a year and a half--usually get together at least once in the summer when we're at the lake and they're in Otis, or meet in the city or somewhere, so it was a great pleasure to see them. We asked Harvey how he's been, and he said, "Great-- since November 4." He is a lifetime public servant, having been part of the Koch and Dinkins administrations and now working wtih nonprofits, and Adrianne is a retired principal of a high school for the deaf-- now doing consulting work. Anyhow, we go back to Brooklyn, and it was a lovely evening, just being with them and catching up-- we ate at North Square, New American cooking, Zagat approved. They let you visit, and it has actually become a kind of favorite restaurant of mine in New York: I'd had lunch there once with Ingrid, then took Andy and Joel when we couldn't get into the place we were looking for, then the Mom's group. A sign of maturity I guess, to have an actually dependable restaurant?

Friday, February 20, 2009

Busy Weeks ahead

I'm heading into an overbooked condition, as we say-- Newark Museum on Monday, new class at NYU on Tuesday (at the dread Norman Thomas Center in midtown....) followed by continuing class at NYU. then more teaching, including a new little-kid school and, I think a Jump Start Your Novel on Saturday followed by a run to and from WV to take my mom home. She's been doing any
chores I can give her-- went through the plants watering and trimming, and now she's working on my wrapping paper closet, organizing it pretty well, something it would have taken me months even to get to, especially now. Now meaning with the onset of heavy teaching.

Yesterday I finished a draft of Ten Strategies and got it in to Ed at Montemayor Press for first reactions. A pleasure to dash it off, and even these lesson plans from the Arts Catalyst Program at the Museum are fun, but they don't take me to the deep place that the writing of stories and novels does.

The deep place is something unnamable that we call the sources of creativity, or the unconscious or the muse or maybe even meditation. The nonfiction, especially this nonfiction about how to do something, is sunnier and closer to being with other people-- some of fiction writing is like that too, but it's a second or third stage, revision, not the Deep Place. I'm feeling good and productive, but I miss the deep place.

On the other hand-- during this productive gregarious period, I've been remembering more dreams at night....

Friday, February 13, 2009

Friday night

Lots going on, bloodwork today for my doctor check up, electricty off for an hour and a half following the high winds yesterday, but my Acer Aspire came through and I kept working on my 10 Strategies to Write a Novel book. Also deaths of people I know, and my mother returning on Sunday. Rogan Josh (from a Tasty Bite Simmer Sauce ) for dinner. Reading Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson's first. She has a touching blog entry on her website about the death of her father just after Christmas,