It could happen

I read today when I got home. It was too hot to go for a run anyway. I am realizing now that I am constantly going to have to be choosing between my three ongoing projects: fitness (running), writing, and social (the ongoing search for Prince Charming and just general merriment). It will be interesting to see which project wins.

The book I am currently reading is Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards. It was the winner of the Giller prize in 2000 and Sarah Slean made it her pick in Canada Reads 2009. I had no knowledge of any of this when I grabbed it off the library shelf on Saturday.

I finished a chapter and found myself feeling very sleepy when it was only 6 o'clock. Ignoring my suggestion about going for a run, but still feeling anxious and bored, I decided I should try to write something. I didn't have any writing thoughts in my head. I sorted through some bills, moved some laundry out of the dryer, moved other laundry into the dryer, bopped around the house, sat down for a moment and then found an idea forming in my head. It came from absolutely nowhere. One minute I was thinking about laundry, the next minute I had this scene in my head, this feel for a character that I had never met before. I took Mac outside and got acquainted with this person.

Lately I've been talking a lot about moments and feeling either like I am in the right place for that moment, or feeling frustrated and like I am in the wrong place for that moment. I think I will explore those ideas with this character and another one I sketched out and see what happens when I bring them together.

Last week I started working on another story that for now I am calling Socks. It's going to be a story about responsibility and will look at feeling responsible for something, taking on responsibility and denying one's responsibility.

I'm excited about these two stories. I don't know if they will work out, but it's just really cool to have something to work on again, to be using this part of my brain again. If I like them, I'll share them with you. Maybe. That's the hardest part for me. Honestly, I'd rather give a speech, naked, from the top of the tallest Ferris Wheel, than share something creative I have written with people I know and respect. I have to get over that, which is another good reason to keep up with this get published goal of mine.

After putting my writing aside I walked to the park to meet my mom and Elmo for some walking and eventually some ice cream. I got to our meeting spot first--the park side of the pedestrian bridge. I leaned against a railing to wait and watch. In the field behind the pavilion I saw a group of cheerleaders practicing basket tosses. A guy who was maybe in his early 20s with a black notebook headed for a spot under a tree to do some sketching. That possibly interesting guy from the bus who spoke to me out of the blue once, wheeled by on his bike, gave me a look, a smile, a nod, and a hello. (It definitely wasn't him who I saw on Saturday.) I slapped a few mosquitoes while working on my stories and this blog in my head and then I had the best ice cream treat ever. Delightful.

And then, moments ago while typing here, sitting outside on my front step, I got an email from my cousin Patrick in London, ON. I had mentioned to him in a note yesterday that I almost booked a trip out there because I saw that Kings of Leon were playing there and completely skipping over Winnipeg during their Canadian tour. However, the flights to London were too much for my wine-in-a-box budget so I passed on the idea.

"Noooo way you know who KoL is. You’re too young. You’re like supposed to be all lady gaga and shit. I’m sitting on two for that show," he says. Then he tells me that if I can get myself out there, one of those tickets is mine. Um, hello, Dream Opportunity? Meet Palm of My Hand. The concert is on Sunday, September 20. Now all I need is to have $500 show up in my mailbox. Hm, the government did surprise me with a cheque for $16.32 last week. It could happen.

So yeah, did some reading, writing, walking, boy-checking-out, and may just make a concert dream come true. I guess maybe I can multi task on my life projects.