HOW could a whole week have gone by already??

I have even less context telling me WHERE I'm at (BR or Nola) than usual lately. Which has kind of kept me spinning, kept me from blogging and from writing much. Not much to confess for last week's 'Fess Up Friday. I'm working, but not so much in terms of word count. Thinking, editing and adding slowly but surely (only about 185 new words last night, but BOY are they brilliant).

Via After the MFA, a great quote from thank-goodness-for Junot Diaz:

What I learned was that to write a book you have to first become the person you need to be to write that book. I had to, like, literally change. I had to become a new person. I had to grow the f— up.

Here's something I like. My most recent fortune cookie: Your present plans are going to succeed within the year. Since the only plan I currently have is to finish the novel (and I hope to finish it by the end of the year), I'm taking this as an EXTREMELY good sign. We'll have words if you don't take it that way too (and maybe we can count them and I can add them to my 'Fess Up Friday tally...).

Today's horoscope (from Tarot.com): Wednesday, Oct 8th, 2008 -- Your key planet Saturn is locked in a tense dance with healer Chiron today and it's up to you to figure out how to take this uncomfortable energy and turn it into a positive expression. You have the potential for grace in your life now, but you must be able to forgive someone or even yourself. The realization that no one is to blame can free you to process an old wound and move on with your life. (This one, I'm thinking might not have so much to do with my writing as my personal life, though since my writing is personal and a part of me, I'm sure it relates, also).

The Louisiana Book Festival this past weekend was awesome. WORLDS more organized and slick than it was during the first one, which I volunteered for (they were actually pretty organized for that one too, which just goes to show how far they've come). It was nice to catch up with a lot of my BR writing peeps at the author party I attended with Toni the night before, mostly former teachers and always mentors. Toni was kick-ass during her talk and it was a VERY pretty day, so perfect for an outdoor festival in Southern Louisiana.

The best part, though? (Sorry Toni...) ZYDEPUNKS!!! Whoooooo hoooo!! I missed their cd release party cause I went to GA after Gustav and then I missed the show they had the night before, Friday, cause I was in BR for the author party (DAMN you, Nick Fox for that little snippet you sampled for me over the cell phone. LOL). So, I got to catch their action for the first time in a long while AND snap up the new cd Finisterre, which is only available in Louisiana at the moment, until the 21st. I linked to cdbaby.com, though Finisterre isn't available there yet simply because it's the BEST cd-buying experience one can have online. Anyways, as soon as I had the new cd in my hot little hands, I ripped open the shrink wrap on my way to the car and shoved the sucker in immediately, listening to it all the way back home to Nola. Sooooooo good, so perfect for my long-deprived ears. How can you not like a band that's a little bit punk and a lot zydeco and every bit delicious?

I got another cd at the festival, too. My good friend, Randolph, was kind enough to give me his band Flatbed Honeymoon's cd (self-titled). I listened to it the same day and was very, very pleased and proud. I forgot several times that I know 2/3 the band from my English Dept. days and just felt like I was luxuriating in some classic, tried-and-true tunes I'd loved forever. Especially "Constantly Insecure," "The Electrician," and "The Moon is Blue." You can listen to "The Electrician" and some of the other songs from the cd on their MySpace page.

So I had a glut of amazing music, all in one day and I've been compulsively re-listening ever since. Also been listening to Kerli's Love is Dead pretty intensely. And got wowed by Linda Ronstadt's "We Will Rock You," which is short but delightfully sweet and creepy.

Caught the first episode of The Ex-List online yesterday and very thoroughly enjoyed it. It was funny and I hope the show's given a decent chance cause I'd like to see where it goes. Elizabeth Reaser is hysterical, but I like that they're making it more of an ensemble with her sister and friends/housemates (DO they all live together in that house? Seems like it.) Kinda reminded me a bit of my soft spot show Quarterlife, which I believe can only be found online now (SUCH a good show, hope a DVD comes out soon). And also kinda reminds me of Friends and How I Met Your Mother a bit - in the sense of a group of young friends living together (or near each other) and trying to figure life out. That's a really sappy description, but you get my drift, I hope.

Speaking of How I Met Your Mother, it's been VERY good so far this season.

I think that's pretty much all I have to say at the moment. Till next time...