Thanks to everyone who wrote or send mental messages of support while I was in Sacramento yesterday to lobby for Assembly Bill 2165. My meetings seemed to go very well. On paper, the language is dry and the bill might otherwise get lost in the hundreds of other pieces of legislation being considered by the Senate right now. But I know with a certainty that when I meet with legislators/staff members, open my laptop to show them the digital video of the brutal attack, and then describe the stonewalling and otherwise unconscionable reactions of those who should have been accountable in its aftermath … well, there’s perhaps nothing so compelling (and, I hope, convincing) as a vivid picture like that. 

The Education Committee’s vote is next Wednesday, so please keep the positive vibes flowing. If it passes out of committee with an up vote, I’ve been told it may not face any opposition at all. Wouldn’t that be great?

And on another positive note, my revised and polished nonfiction proposal should be ready for submissions to potential agents by the end of the week!

For the past week, I’ve been on the East Coast, visiting family and friends in Connecticut and New York. Instead of an essay on all the things I did (and avoided doing) on my trip, here’s a random list of six:

1. Ambled down country roads lined with Victorian-style homes, horse pastures, and wildflowers on the days spent in Sharon; bustled down crowded, cracked sidewalks and into tiny consignment shops in NYC.

2. Fell asleep to the deliciously unfamilar sound of silence in Sharon — and to the blaring horns of taxicabs and wailing ambulance sirens in New York City.

3. Ate split pea soup at a cottage diner in Stockbridge, Massachusettes with my family, and met Robbiewriter for lunch at Balthazar, a famous French bistro in New York City.

4. Visited the Random House building and met Robyn Schneider’s editor, Jodi, and tried not to look too awestruck as the two of them discussed edits, galleys and author photos for her upcoming YA novel, Better Than Yesterday. 

5. Nursed blisters I got while running for subways, traipsing through the Columbia and Barnard campuses, diving in and out of boutiques, and jaywalking across SoHo streets. (How it is that Carrie Bradshaw could do all that while wearing Manolos, while I couldn’t manage it in flats?)

6. Finished first-draft revisions of my own nonfiction work in progress, which I hope to polish up over the next several days and send out to potential agents by the end of this week. 

The Connecticut branch of my family lives on almost 60 acres in the hills abutting the Berkshires. Here’s what their property looks like before the sun burns off the morning mist:

Seems like everyone’s been posting overtime in my absence, so it’ll take me a while to catch up with all y’all. Meantime, please let me know if there’s something going on that I shouldn’t miss!

“…do an awful lot of talking.”  — Scarecrow, The Wizard of Oz

Just heard word that King Bloviator Rush Limbaugh has a new report available online. Read all about it, men and women: THE WAR ON MANLINESS threatens the “feminization of the American Male!”

The litany of wars grows ever longer: The War on Terror; the War on Conservative Values; the War on Christmas, Easter, and Christianity itself. And yet, the battlefields in question are always so nebulous, the descriptions of so-called warriors and their strategies so, well, weird.

I’ve grown war weary; how about you? I’m tired of straw-man logic set up by scarecrow political wonks– whose own brains have apparently been replaced by straw.

Today, I’m updating my nonfiction book proposal by adding a bit of backstory to my discussion of the trophy wife phenomenon. My goal is to show how perceptions of her have evolved across continents and over time. 

On a coffee break, I picked up the newspaper and read this:

“When he first got into the business 31 years ago, Bush tied himself to his monkey every night for three weeks. His wife would say goodnight and shut him in the family room and turn up the volume on the television.

“Look, this is the real McCoy here, pal, just me and you,” Bush would say to the monkey, a white-faced capuchin named George.

Then the monkey would holler at Bush and Bush would holler at the monkey until they were both so exhausted that they passed out. After three weeks, they started to develop a mutual understanding.

The wife left him, and Bush and George performed together for 15 years. When George died, Bush did not want to pay top dollar for taxidermy, so he had George freeze-dried, and set him on a shelf in the study, where he still sits today, paws extended in mid-air. That, as Bush would say, is another story.”

Oops! I somehow missed the first paragraph of the story, which certainly affected my reactions overall! 

My mistake reinforces an editor’s suggestion that I put my interview subjects into a cultural/historical context. I’m grateful to her for sharing this idea; I can already see the difference it makes.

This email query from an online (and unknown) suitor just showed up in my Inbox. “Destiny” or desperation? You tell me.

Yo M.shore!!!

At first I should tell you about my appear, so I got E-mail from one DATING AGENCY but really that was VERY STRANGE for me because I closed all my accounts at DATING SITES, because I don’t like people who are interested just in non SERIOUS RELATIONS, I have much FRIENDS from that sites but really I did not find someone special for me….

But I got your E-mail address and thought “MAYBE THAT IS MY DESTINY” to find someone special? So I don’t know where you did get MY E-MAIL ADDRESS but I hope that is NOT JUST MISTAKE.

If you decide to answer me I promise to SEND YOU big LETTER and MY BEST PHOTOS !!! I’d like to learn more about you. PLEASE, WRITE ME some lines about your personality, your hobbies, your way of life. I’m really interested to know!

As for me, I’m an easy-going and open-hearted person. I take life as it comes and have optimistic views. It doesn’t mean that nothing makes me sad, but I consider all the difficulties in my life to be useful for me. I’m very communicative and like to spend time in a good company. I enjoy outdoors activities and sport. What about you? Do you go in for sports?

Hope to hear from you soon, please use (Lee @ invalid email address) to answer me ! I wit your letter with large impatience . Please do it for me.

Katya (Hmm…This name doesn’t correspond with email address of origin. And the gender of this sender? Not a good match.)

Would you mind a short brag session from a mother who’s so, so proud of her younger son?

David’s graduating from SDSU this weekend! That alone is worth bragging about, since taking just four years to complete a Bachelor’s degree is a statistical long shot these days. But considering all he’s gone through in those years, my son’s accomplishment is even more remarkable than that.

Just one month into his sophomore year, he was the victim of a brutal, unprovoked assault. Despite the seriousness of his injuries (which would have sidelined most people for a long while), he kept right on going. He bravely faced his classes, the criminals, the courts. And he won — a diploma for himself and felony convictions for four of the thugs! 

It’s for him that I’m promoting AB 2165 legislation: as salve for what he went through, and to keep others from facing the same fate.

Over the past few years, I’ve seen my son face giant-sized problems with dignity, courage, and grace. And like the David who defeated Goliath, my son has lived up to his name.  

He’d probably kill me if he knew I’d posted this, but you know how we mothers are…

I know the SCBWI LA conference is targeted to children’s book writers and illustrators, but do you think it would be beneficial for nonfiction writers of grown-up books (like me), as well? 

I’m leaning toward going (at least for a day or two), but I haven’t decided yet. If I do register, I’d love to meet some LJ friends there!