I was up at 7 writing a little and organizing my thoughts around writing projects and upcoming school. The plan: to go write at the cafe until the badass mamas showed up. Hang out with them -- joy! then home again to work on more translation.
email suddenly from Z.M. to stop work on project F and get cracking for Sunday deadline on project Winter, another poem cycle I said I'd do for her. She has a journal that wants some of them. But by sunday. eep! can I do it? I looked at them this morning and don't understand them yet. (good, yet bad as I wanted to finish project F.)
The day did not start out quite right as I forgot Moomin's lunch and had to drive back with it, wasting half an hour. But on the good side, I wrote a humonguous check to the preschool for all of next year, earning a hefty discount on the tuition and I think winning me brownie points from the school director, who took the check gently in both hands, as if it might break. She usually doesn't give me such a heartfelt smile. I think they have been in financial difficulties this summer.
And my window wouldn't roll up or down. Ack! I drove to the Saf-t-glass place where they fixed it last time for some fairly low fee-- 50 bucks?
"Do you know what you did to make it do this?" said the dour looking Saf-t guy.
"Um. No. Not really. I remember I brought it here last time and... something was wrong with it... Um... there was some sort of rod that was bent..."
"Oh yeah!" the guy shot me a weird evaluative look. "I remember perfectly. It was six months ago. The frammulator rod was bent and we hammered it back into shape. And I _TOLD_ you: BE CAREFUL HOW YOU SLAM THE DOOR WHEN THE WINDOW'S DOWN."
"Oh, hahaha. Yeah that's right!"
"Were you careful? Were you careful how you slammed the door with the window down?" He waggles his big bushy eyebrows at me.
"No I sure wasn't! I completely forgot." I'm ditzy! I turn on the charm! Dour mechanic! Love me! Fix my car for free!
"Well come back in half an hour."
"Do I need to fill out some forms or something?"
"Naaaaah."
I walked to the cafe realizing that yes -- it was very likely he was gonna fix my window for free... yay!
And he did! And he mock scolded me yet again. Thanks, universe!
At the cafe the music seemed oddly good and toe-tapping. "Hey! You're playing the cd I made you!" It was great to be in my hang-out spot with my favorite carribean oldies going full blast!
And some orange-and-red-spiked haired middle aged marketing or PR company guy liked my "other" mag sticker on my laptop and asked me some questions about the magazine. He is some kind of trend-tracker and reads all the time and wants to see it. I directed him to the web site... It could have felt like a cafe-hitting-onnish-thing, but it didn't. Plus he was with his obvious wife and kids so it really didn't feel like it.
Then K. the editor dude called my cell phone. In yet another bad yet good moment, he wants one of my poems, but it is a poem i just kind of gave him to read because I thought he might like to read it. But it's my favorite poem and possibly my best one and I've actually submitted it somewhere else where I'd rather have it published. And I sent him a whole different batch of poems for his journal thing. I explained this to him and he seemed to understand, but he said he still wanted it and then he went on praising it and saying it was rad and disturbing and weird and good on multiple levels and how he was dying to publish it. How could I resist that? I just hope the other place doesn't want it as I'd be embarrassed to have them think that I multiply-submitted, because I totally didn't.
The day is yet young! All sorts of things can happen!
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