Day 1: Yesterday, I picked up my Daily Bible and started reading where I left off in July a couple of years ago. I decided to go ahead and finish the reading, working on it each day. Some of this stems from my faith, some from my questions and doubts, and some from basic literary and cultural scholarship.
I wanted to submit fiction to a magazine that has published my poetry. It centers on fairy tales and considers three pieces of flash fiction at a time. I found a brief story based on a dream; I'd completely forgotten it, and my readers (Josh and Bruce) say they never read it. It's not fanciful but has a fable-like quality. So I needed two more pieces. My other fairy tales are too long. I stared at the blank screen for a minute, but nothing came. Having given up, I turned to a new page in my journal and wrote a 400-word story called "Berry and Blanket." I was excited--this was my first piece of short fiction in a long time, maybe a year or so.
And today, The Necklace That Does Not Exist (as Josh bought it with money outside space and time) arrived! It's a Betsey Johnson Tzarina jewelry box necklace. It has Betsey Johnson's darling hematite bows, a rhinestone-studded hand mirror, and a little gold and pink glitter jewelry box...that opens.
Inside are a jewel, a gold heart necklace, and a ballerina. I can't wait to wear it.
Day 2: I finished Neverland and finished a journal! Neverland was a biography, but not just of one person. It was primarily about J. M. Barrie, George du Maurier, and Daphne du Maurier. The latter's adolescent journals will not be published until 2039--I'll be on the watch for them. I'll be...54 then. Dang. I've now started the Paperblanks Violet Fairy journal. It sparkles in sunlight.
I've been writing with a Sunburst metallic pen in purple.
Oliver had a meltdown today. It was pretty bad. He didn't hit anyone or break anything, but he did a lot of screaming. After a long time, we got him to the park, and he recovered for the most part. Josh and I will be slower to recover. I found a homework assignment in Oliver's backpack tonight, and figuring that out put me over the edge, especially when we ran out of glue. But! Today, a whole box of pens arrived from Leah! I have enough pens now to last a few months I think.
Day 3: I've felt pretty fried today. I've been trying to reset. Josh and I had a little time together in the morning. I took a twenty-minute nap. I think I needed more than that. I've mostly done a lot of scribbling today. I've been finishing up an Ooly glitter pen in green.
I don't feel like doing much of anything--reading or writing or anything else. I think I just need to put another night of sleep between myself and Oliver's meltdown. I also decided to surrender to the library gods and return all my late books. I've made a list so I can check them out again later. I'll shift my focus to the books that are due in April. Fully catching up isn't possible. I hate to admit defeat, but I do feel a little lighter. I returned Neverland today, and tomorrow, I'll ask Josh to help me return the eleven other late books. Bummer.
But I'm starting Robin McKinley's Shadows. It's YA, so it works for my spring focus. I'm also starting Voracious, a food and literature memoir. These two are due on April 5, so I have some time to finish them. I've also been reading Snow White and Rose Red by Wrede. "SW & RR" is probably my second favorite fairy tale. My top five are probably
- "The Twelve Dancing Princesses"
- "Snow White and Rose Red"
- "The Snow Queen"
- "Cinderella"
- "Beauty and the Beast"
And I'm reading a couple of poems from Dorianne Laux's Facts about the Moon each day. Reading poems is one of my daily habits, and I've been doing pretty well with my daily habits so far this month.
I think I need extra stillness today. I don't have much attention to put to use. Josh is struggling today too. But in a few hours, we should be falling asleep together, and tomorrow will be new.
Day 4: Last night, I still did most of my reading (a little SW&RR, a day of the Bible, and some Laux poems), and I wrote a poem called "Practice." I wasn't very impressed with it, but Josh was!
This morning, I decided to spend some of my not-quite-with-it-enough-to-read-books morning time on a magazine. So I read the current issue of Real Simple. I think I'll start reading magazines in the early morning. Next up, the Bella Grace Cozy issue I've been meaning to read for months. Now that I'm returning my late books, I feel a little more free in my reading.
I sent six poems to a lit mag. I also had my therapy session over the phone, and my therapist decided we should move from once every two weeks to once every four weeks! She was impressed that I haven't had any depressed days in March.
I found myself with a spontaneous, spreading smile because I thought, I can do this writing thing. I can send all my work out. I can write new poems every week. I can (I can) write a short story every week. It'll all take work, but I can do it and take joy in it. I'm not in danger of not reaching my reading goal (I'm almost halfway there after three months), so I can devote more time to writing. This week, I've written poems, written a story, and sent submissions with Oliver right there with me. It's all possible. Maybe I'll burst into light.
Day 5: Yesterday got hard. Occupational therapy makes Oliver's challenges, particularly issues I don't usually worry about, glaring. We're trying to teach him to buckle his seat belt, and his lack of interest and effort is enormously frustrating. But I rallied later in the day and wrote a poem called "Bound," a poem I've needed to write for a while and was suddenly able to write.
Today, I got to spend the morning with Josh. We went grocery shopping and then rested. I always want more time with him. Spring break is coming up; Oliver's will be ten days plus two weeks of virtual learning. Then, we'll just have a a few more weeks of school. Josh and I will have no built-in time alone together. Josh usually wants to go to sleep early and to work out before Oliver gets up. It's going to be a long break (3.5 weeks) and a long summer (3.5 months). I'll just have to make peace with it.
I've read 19 books this month, and I'd like to finish one more. That will probably be Facts about the Moon. I'm in a little bit of a reading slump, not especially interested in anything else I'm reading. But I've been keeping up with my Daily Bible and reading at least a tiny bit of YA lit each day.
Today is World Bipolar Day, and my mood is fragile. Sunday's meltdown and yesterday's OT have left me pretty worn out. I've been taking a lot of bubble baths whenever I can, sometimes early in the morning. If I'm in a reading slump, my mood is not likely to improve. Tomorrow, I'll spend most of the day alone, and I hope to be productive and take good care of myself. Friday, I'll get another morning with Josh (no meetings this week!).
Saturday, I get to go see Oklahoma! at DPAC with Bruce! That should be a renewing experience. I've been looking forward to the show. Bruce and I sing showtunes in the car, which is 20% of the fun. 10% of the fun is soft pretzels and M&Ms before the seating area opens. I remind myself how starstruck my younger self would be to know that I have season tickets to the theatre. I added all the dates for next season to my calendar. Our front-row balcony seats renew automatically, and I have a reasonable monthly payment. I never would have thought I could do such a thing without being rich.
Every day since I finished my dress challenge, I've been wearing jeans. Democracy jeans are the best, and I have a few pair. I thought I might be wearing shorts soon, but the weather has been gloomy and chilly. That probably isn't helping my mood. Still, I've had a lot of joy in the last couple of days, a lot of those spontaneous smiles. That's where I want to focus.
I worked on Twitter a little today (@beckynjames). My tweets are primarily related to books and musicals. I also sent five poems to a lit mag. I currently have 41 pieces out and under consideration. I have 132 pieces listed on duotrope; that's not everything. I want to create master lists of my poems and stories.
Day 6: I started the day with writing work, editing some pieces and making a writing to-do list. I sent five poems to a magazine. I've submitted 45 pieces this month!
Last night, I finished Facts about the Moon (which, as it turns out, was actually book #21 for this month--I'd forgotten a book) and began Voracious. Today, I'm starting Nicole Sealey's poetry collection Ordinary Beast.
I made pasta salad yesterday, and today, I baked garlic and herb chicken. I also made Green Giant's riced broccoli and chickpea pasta (like orzo), and it was very good! I've been scribbling a lot today, and I read a story for the magazine. I'm eager for a bath with a book and then bed. I get tomorrow morning with Josh, so I'm happy about that.
I attended a free seminar this afternoon on publishing work in literary magazines. I didn't learn anything major, but I did get some perspective. The teacher, who is widely published, has about a 7.5% acceptance rate. Mine from the last two years is similar, so that was encouraging. She said that when she's submitting diligently, she gets about 150 rejections and about 20 acceptances per year. That's also encouraging. And she only waits a couple of months to resubmit after a rejection, so I guess I don't need to wait a year for most magazines.
Day 7: I finished Ordinary Beast in the bathtub last night, bringing my March total to 22 books. I read nine books of poetry in March, and I hope to read just as many in April. It's National Poetry Month after all. I started reading Claudia Emerson's Late Wife, a poetry collection that won the Pulitzer Prize. I also went to the library (oh yes) and checked out five books of poetry along with two books of short stories that I requested. Two of the other books I requested are already checked out! Apparently, I wasn't the only one who wanted them.
I did five more purchase requests today, all poetry by Cathy Smith Bowers and Alan Michael Parker. Both were on my thesis committee, and both live in NC, so I hope the library will want to get their books. The poetry section could use some plumping. The library has ordered everything I've requested so far!
I'm writing with a pen from Leah: a Sparkle Pop black with red glitter.
I also wrote a poem last night, "Friday Morning." I sent six poems to a magazine that published two of my poems many years ago. The submission took forever; a lot of the poems were in an old format, and I had to update them. This kind of work is a little cumbersome on my tiny Chromebook, but we don't have a regular laptop at home. Josh uses one from the college.
I've gotten into Voracious; it's really perfect for me. I need to finish it and Shadows in the next four days. I love reading recipes even though I probably could never follow most of them.
I did finish out the month with no depressed days, and I finished month three of NoBuy2022. Depending on our circumstances next year, I think I'll either do another NoBuy or, more likely, do a LowBuy with the following allowances:
- Two books per month (if I can't get them through the library)
- Classes, particularly writing
- Extra theatre tickets (beyond my DPAC season tickets...hopefully some local productions)
- Pens (as long as I have only one or two pens left in that color and style OR I see an outstanding sale--30% off or better)
- Two journals per month
- Two writing magazine subscriptions (if I'm doing better about reading my magazines and submitting my work)
So we'll see.
I did spend the morning with Josh, and I read to him from Reasons to Stay Alive. I ordered a few books for him, which I plan to read to him if he's still in his long reading slump. One is a memoir on running and writing, and the other two are poetry collections about teaching. I love sharing books with him.
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