Opera in Tinytown

Today's Tinytown Gazette contains a piece I wrote about an opera audition I sang this year, and what I took away from the experience. It's on page 11 of the PDF.

Suzette Martinez Standring's column is at the top of the same page. I'm thrilled to be page-mates; if it weren't for Suzette, I wouldn't be writing!

The backstory: I had enjoyed Suzette's columns in the Milton Times for some time, when I saw that she was offering a writing course through Milton Adult Ed last spring. I wanted to take the class, but then couldn't make it to the first one. She telephoned my house to encourage me to come to the next class, anyway. So I did.

And it was her help and encouragement in that course that set things in motion for me, writing-wise. Suzette is a terrific writer, and a wonderful teacher and a generous soul. I hope you enjoy her piece about the highlights of her 2007, on page 11 of the Tinytown Gazette.

An unlikely article

Click here to read my debut as a fashion writer, in the Womyn Zone section of today's Patriot Ledger. It's a story about holiday fashions, and I'm very grateful to the women in the article for their thoughts and expertise!

Something that works; something that doesn't

It's too late to wax poetic, but I did want to tell everyone about the new man in my life: Mr. Clean. That magic eraser thing that Sharon suggested really, really works. The blue graffiti on my walls is no longer, and it took off quite a few scratches and scuffs, too, with very little elbow grease.

Of course, this means I have no excuse whatsoever for scuffed walls anymore. What have I done?

In other news, the weight thing is not good. Up 2.5 pounds this past week. The combination of looming deadlines and cookie-and-fudge-making is deadly for me. I suppose there are worse substances to self-medicate with, but chocolate as my drug of choice isn't good for staying on the the weight-loss path.

I guess my self-control muscle just needs a better strengthening program.

Blue and white

'Twas two weeks before Christmas, really 'leven days
and most things were cranking along at the Fays'.
The tree was all shiny with tinsel and lights;
It stood in the corner and lit up the nights.

I started my baking today, it is true.
I'm tired already. It's quarter past two.
The snow that piled up in the yard overnight
Got Brian's bus stuck. It was quite a sight

To see the white van on the corner, all still.
It couldn't find traction to get up the hill.
I unbuckled Brian and got him inside,
and marveled that he hadn't sat there and cried.

When what to my wondering eyes should appear
But my two-year old, Timmy, a grin ear-to-ear.
With a dry-erase marker, so lively and quick
He'd colored my hallway. I thought I'd be sick.

Blue marker on doorjambs, on floors and on walls.
On steps and on carpets, and in my front hall.
With several choice words, to myself and to Tim,
I voiced my displeasure, with this and with him.

On Softscrub! On sponges! On 409 too!
But nothing, no, nothing would take out the blue!
The floors are OK now, the window and stairs.
But the walls are a mess, and I can't move the chairs

To cover them up, 'cause it's in my front hall.
And the passage too narrow, the spaces too small.
Perhaps this will have to be covered with paint.
'Twill be Earl's next project, because Julie's it ain't.

And now I'm recovered, from anger and wrath
and fatigue that came over me; the aftermath
of being so angry o'er nothing at all.
Someday I'll miss having my kids be so small.

Pride smackdown!

Well, Mother Nature is putting a snowy blanket on my exuberance. Earl caught the morning weather report, came back into the bedroom and said "You're not going to Scituate tonight." That's where Fr. Martin's talk is -- you know, Mr. America? I'm so disappointed, but Earl is right. Unless the promised storm takes a detour, it would be foolish for me to be out on the roads. Driving in snow is one thing; driving in an intense storm packing 2-3 inches an hour is another.

I will wait to see exactly how things look this afternoon, but it seems unlikely that I'll be hearing Fr. Martin speak tonight. Maybe he will reschedule.

Perhaps this is God's little humility reminder for the day. I was getting pretty full of myself after talking with Fr. Martin (and before), thinking all kinds of thoughts about how great it is that I get to write about such a high-profile person.

Or maybe it's just the writing gods, telling me never to blog about an upcoming story again.

Blog? What blog?

I haven't been writing much in this space, but it doesn't mean I haven't been writing! I guess one of the things I'm cutting down on, in my effort to simplify things this month, is blogging.

First, the weight update. I'm holding steady this week -- no gain, no loss. And I'm fine with that. If I can stay at this weight through New Year's, I can blast through the few remaining pounds in January.

The big story is writing. Things keep happening that lead me to believe I'm on the right path with this. I'm getting assignments, pieces are being published, and I have pretty steady work (from a part-time freelancer perspective.) This thing that started out as a creative outlet, and as a means to get to Houston to visit Kathleen (paying for the trip with my earnings), seems to be really taking off as a (gasp!) career. And I'm almost afraid to write that, for fear that I'll jinx it.

I'm having so much fun. I was working on a story yesterday morning, and editing what I had written the night before. I figured out a way to say something succinctly, and as I was making the change, this joy bubbled up inside me, with the thought: "I love the English language." Seriously.

I've described the writing situation like heading down a busy road and hitting all green lights. Or like God opening a door and saying, "Come on in, this is all yours. Have fun with it." It is a little strange, and wonderful, how quickly things are happening, and how much I'm enjoying it.

And although I generally don't blog about upcoming assignments, I am so tremendously excited about something I'm covering this week that I have to share. The Ledger asked if I were interested in going to a talk tomorrow night, given by a Jesuit priest. It's a busy week, and it took some juggling, but it sounded interesting, so I said yes.

Well. I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't know who he was, but the priest giving the talk is the Rev. James Martin, author of the book My Life with the Saints, a Publishers Weekly best book of 2006. He's a well-known writer, speaker, retreat leader, and the associate editor of America magazine, the Catholic weekly. And I have an interview with him today.

I'm feeling a little star-struck, like when I met my college friend Stephanie Blythe backstage at Symphony Hall last year after she sang with the BSO. But I knew Stephanie from years ago, and I've never met Fr. Martin. He was very nice on the phone yesterday, and willingly accommodated my request for a little more time to get my thoughts together before we talked. I'm sure the interview will be fine, and I've got a decent list of questions ready to go, but still.

So I'll be on the phone with Mr. America at 10:00 today, and meeting him tomorrow. Gosh, I love my job.

Ledger article

Here's my story about Samantha Hamel, a Quincy girl suffering from Rasmussen's syndrome. A brother and sister from Plymouth, Jennifer and Michael Ahern, are helping Samantha's family with Christmas this year because of the financial toll Samantha's illness has taken on her family.

It's on page one (!) of today's Patriot Ledger.