I'm Home! (if not for long)

So, I know this post is rather late, but I'm finally getting around to it. The workshop was incredible! I loved every minute of it -- okay, so I didn't care so much for the map thingy, but that's beside the point. It was only one day. My roomates and I would stay up at least until midnight, which was probably why I got a cold two days before leaving, but was worth it. There were people from all over the country. My roomates alone were from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and California. We wrote for about 6 hours every day for two weeks, except for a couple of field trips into Chicago on the weekend we had stuck in the middle.

We visited the CIA (chicago institute of art), went to an R&B concert in Millenium Park where I got soaked after playing in the faces fountain, and went to 'Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind' which is comprised of 30 plays in 60 minutes. Wonderful, without a doubt. Especially when they started throwing bacon at the chalkboard for one of the skits. I wrote a ton of poems and short stories and essays, not to mention collected a ton of material for future work. There was a sunrise workshop on the shores of Lake Michigan one morning, which I adored because I'm a sucker for anything having the slightest thing to do with the Great Lakes, and everyone else hated because we had to wake up at 4:00 am. We also listened to a ghost story told by my workshop leader, a great guy who is easily distracted.

I also was very happy after one of our trips into town because I got myself the High Kings' 'Memory Lane', their latest album. Then I proceeded to annoy my roomates by playing it several times over, since my family wasn't there. Not that I wouldn't have done it if they had been, they're just used to it. I hope you liked the pattern i published earlier, though I've actually been thinking it works better as a scarf if you don't have something to pin it in front with. Speaking of crafting, I got myself a heavely skein of black baby alpaca yarn in Chicago! No idea what I'll use it for yet, but at the moment I'm content simply to pet it.

I'm hoping I can post a link to the online magazine the workshop leaders will be putting together. It will include a couple of pieces by each of the participants, and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else sent in. It was definitly one of those experiences I will never forget and always want to do again. It won't be the only trip I'm taking this summer, though. My whole family will be attending LEYM (Lake Erie Yearly Meeting) at the end of July, so I'll be seeing a whole lot of Quakers.

As an added bonus, it looks as if I might not be coming back right away with the rest of them. I'm currently working on an evil scheme -- er -- plan to allow a visit with my friends in Ohio! Carrie, Katelin? Tell them to batten down the hatches, I'm coming back. And Katelin knows how much chaos that caused last time. ;)

So anyway, I hope you're all doing well out there in cyberspace.

Wishing that you may never have Writer's Block,
~mari, emma, snow white, emmaline, marta, and whatever other psuedenoms i've collected over the years.

Yay!

     I finally finished editing Tales of a Lady Pirate! I've even created a cover for it, something I've discovered is extremly fun. Unfourtunatly, I'm beginning to think I might just have to do a thorough rewrite. There's a lot more I could add about the main character's life, and a cousin I came up with only after writing the book who I think will be really close to her. Besides, I've drawn a family tree of the family, and gave the main characters two more kids, who really should be mentioned later on. ;)
     In the real -- read off page -- world, spring is certainly in the air. There was a thunderstorm last night, and this afternoon it's been sunny and balmy. Lovely. As a bonus, I found out that my dad's old seminary is having a writing workshop in November, and we'll be going! So tell Katelin the good news, Carrie. I'm coming back to plauge you some more.
     Now that I've finished Tales of a Lady Pirate for a while, I should work on Lady of the Moon. Lady is the book that really got me started with my writing, and took me a year and a half to finish. I would love to get it published, but have to do some major editing first. That ought to keep me busy for a while, as will trying to get a pattern and make myself a civil war-era dress to go over my new hoopskirt! Then I can dress up as Nora for real. ;)

Never. Again.

So, I told you about the 3 hours a day thing? It was a total nightmare. I did not get sufficient sleep or reading time for the entire week. Two hours, I can do. Three, no. I would end up almost falling asleep at the keys with an hour left on the timer. I hated that hour! I didn't "have enough time" to finish the second day's quota. I figured, "no problem, I'll just finish it tomorrow." Obviously a bad idea from the beginning. That same hour was left over every day until the last day when I ended up doing five straight hours of writing, due to a crammed day before that. Ugh. But at least I got a lot of decent writing done. That was the only good thing that came out of it, since I was sleep deprived and on the verge of a breakdown the entire time. By the fifth day, mom was in more of a hurry for me to finish than I was. According to her, the house fell apart. Personally, I couldn't see why it would, since she just complained this afternoon because I forgot to do the dishes. Contradiction, anyone? Anyway, glad it's over. And now I know better than to try for three hours when I have anything alse going on.