Things and Stuff

I couldn't help myself. That just cracked me up. What with all the things going on already today, I felt something more pleasant was in order. So, I'm going with it. Today, I'll be writing about positive things.

First--because it's fresh in my memory--my nephew came over for dinner last night and gave me a wonderful unbirthday present. It's a copy of This Bridge Called My Back: Writings By Radical Women Of Color. The best thing about it is, not only did he give it to me to help out with my current project, he's read it, AND he wrote a paper on it. (He's in college.) How amazingly cool is that? Best nephew ever. We then watched the newest Jumanji because it's great.

Instead of sitting around, waiting for notes from my editor, I've been working on short stories and for the first time I feel I'm making real progress on several fronts. Short stories are hard to write--particularly if your natural length for stories is Novel. (All writers have a natural story length. Few can write short stories AND novels well.) Short stories are tricky. Every word must count. Every word has to do double and even triple duty. It's a study in verbal efficiency. How much power can one pack into each sentence? It's a totally different set of literary muscles. Novelists have to practice on a larger canvas. It's like the difference between miniature painting and mural painting. At the same time, I think you can guess as to why short story writing is good for novelists. That said, I see progress on this front as a sign that I'm getting better as a writer. Improvement is always good.

ZOMG, Murphy Brown is coming back.

For those unfamiliar with the show--it did go off the air in the '90s, after all, here's a sample.

Murphy has long been one of my heroes. And the following demonstrates how much times have changed. People are laughing at Congressman Best as if this shit would never be taken seriously.

Not all the episodes are as well thought out as those. It's an older series and times have, in fact changed--not all for the worse. Repeat after me: it's okay to like problematic things as long as we're aware they're problematic.

​Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful weekend.