Today's resolution: contest that book

OK. It's time to start pushing my book-length manuscript. I've let Valley/Ridge just hang out, congealing slowly online. It's really time to make a concerted push for it. And the best/easiest way to do it is to enter contests. Now, I am not a fan of poetry contests. I'm highly suspicious of them. On the other hand, they are one of the few opportunities to simultaneously submit a manuscript, and I don't have the time to sit around waiting to get rejected before sending it on to someone else. Finally, some people I really respect had their first books published in contests. So now the only thing for it is to print up a bunch of copies of the poems and put them out into the world. I know Adam will hate it if I use up so much toner, so maybe I'll do a bunch of copies at the cheap copy place on Grand Ave. I know that if I had six or seven copies of the manuscript stacked up in my alcove I'd be a lot more likely to mail them out when deadlines come around.

Coincidence?

So yesterday I did tell Adam about the Softball Incident, and today I'm driving the 11-year-old VW Golf -- back again from rehab and swearing this time will be different.

Flying balls

Being part of a couple means being part of a team. You work together, you share possessions, you look out for each other. So when my car got stolen a year and a half ago -- and Adam had just bought a second car -- it made sense not to get another car right away. I was grad school poor and didn't do much driving as it was. When I started working in San Ramon, I agreed to pay for the insurance and some maintenance on the VW Golf in exchange for being able to drive it out to the office. It was a good system until about a month ago, when the Golf started having problems, all sorts of problems, cascading. Since Adam's been working from home, I've been taking the Audi TT to the office and he's had to do without.

All of which has worked out really great for me. The TT is so much fun to drive, and I know how cute I must look behind the wheel of the little roadster. But I'm very worried about something going wrong while I'm driving it -- an accident, or a sudden malfunction. I take extra care parking it at the office, too. I've found a great parking spot around the side of the building, where no one ever parks. It's shady, but the tree doesn't drop too many leaves and twigs, and I can see it from my window. And when I glanced out the window about half an hour ago, I saw the company softball practice in full swing (or throw, rather), in the empty parking lot right next to the TT. Not good. I went right out and moved the car.

Now I just don't know if I should tell Adam.

New month, new post

We finally finished our apartment renovations -- the painting we started back before Thanksgiving. We just had the bedroom to finish up, and now it's a lovely green, a Loretta green. And in the process we threw out a whole bunch of stuff -- eight bags to Goodwill, mostly clothes but also all sorts of other things we didn't need and couldn't keep.

Then we threw a party.

Now our attic truly is a home, and it pleases me to be in it. And I'm starting to think we might not live here that much longer. Ironic, I know. But Adam has started looking for a job, and it might take us to the City or the South Bay or somewhere else. I just hope we can enjoy this newly ordered place for as long as possible.