1. I'm on two of the Big Three "V" Pharmaceuticals. Vicodin and Valium, yay. Thank you for making the pain less bad. Viagra, I have no need for you.

2. I bought several long-sleeve Nike "Dri Fit" shirts to wear under tshirts as the weather gets cooler. overall, very comfortable. But some of them have tis wierd plastic ribbing design on the sleeves. A friend called it "Aquaman", but what are these plastic-y doo-dads for? Check it out here (just zoom in on the forearm of the sleeve): http://tinyurl.com/57eg2v. I would really love to know what they are and why they're on my nice, comfy shirt.

3. Please tell me that Fringe isn't going to get canceled. Also, that it isn't going to go all weird like the X-FIles and Alias did at the end. I really like the show -- perfectly odd. Also, totally liking Eleventh Hour and Sanctuary. And the Mentalist. Good season for new shows.

4. Why wan't Q in the newest James Bond (Quantum of Solace)? I see now on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_(James_Bond)) that he wasn't in Casino Royale either, but he certainly would have improved Quantum ...

5. My friends, who brought me dinner and rescued my car from the ER parking lot, totally rock. Thanks, guys.

6. At what point should I finally call it and delete the programs I haven't yet watched but that are taking up space on my Tivo? I intend to watch them ... but will I?

7. I'm so so so bummed that David Tennant is only going to do a couple of new Doctor Who specials. Love him as the Doctor. Love re-watching the episodes. And I think "Blink" is one of the best stand-alone scary sci-fi episodes of television ever. Love love love it. Wibbly wobbly timey wimey indeed.

8. I'm getting mentioned in random friends blogs! woo hoo! I might treasure this quote forever (especially since my goalie skills are FAR from Nabokovian) Thanks Carolyn!:

"Nora had some really awesome saves. I definitely saw her do a Nabbyesque scoop to grab the puck mid-air. :-D "
- http://bluepoof.blogs.com/motorcycle/2008/10/team-danger-vs-blue-martinis-1-4.htmll

9. My neck better be better enough to let me go to the Sharks game this Saturday. I ordered a new 3rd jersey (yes, sight unseen - they better look cool), and have a really sweet seat in the lower bowl ...

And that level of interest, engagement, and passion about the process is a new one for me. I was still 17 when Clinton won his second term, so my presidential voting experience has been "vote for the guy I like more ... I guess," and not "vote for the guy I believe in."

But this time was different. Not only do I believe in Obama, he's the one I've been rooting for since he announced his candidacy. I actually donated to his campaign - three times, something I've never even considered before (and a decision I didn't make lightly). So for the first time, I was really invested. Not because I agree with Obama on every issue - that's unrealistic. But I've long wanted to have someone like Andrew Shepard in "The American President" or Jed Bartlett in "The West Wing" - a leader who had a vision for this country that inspired me, someone with the intelligence to make decisions I can't imagine, someone who would surround himself with smart people to help him get the job done, instead of ideaolgues or cronies, and someone who, when he speaks, I can really relate to. I guess that makes Barack Obama my "Aaron Sorkin President."

And all day, I've been having the most amazing conversation with people at work, in the coffee shop, at the gym: Huge "can you believe it?" grin. Arms ecstatically thrown in the air. And an exclamation of "Yes we can!" without sarcasm, or snark, or cynicism. And I'm sharing this belief, this dream, with so many people across the country, around the world.

Speaking of my Aaron Sorkin President (tm), last night had two amazing, wonderful, well written speeches. As a writer, I've long believed inherently in the power of words to inspire, to heal, to drive change and to lead us to imagine something better. And my sorta dream of someday being a speech writer was rekindled.

John McCain completed the redemption in my eyes that he began with his SNL appearance on Saturday night (McCain Fine Gold! The Sad Grandpa!). This was the leader I remember liking in 2000, the one I had hoped would show up for this election. But, as a friend pointed out earlier today, his transformation into That Candidate over the last two months is probably a sign of the compromises Republican candidates are forced to make to appeal to their "base." But I thought he struck the right tone, and hope we get to see him make good and help bring people together across the aisle to solve the very real, very hard problems facing us.

Barack Obama was brilliant. A serious tone, but such an inspirational message. And the idea of trying to help us move toward that unimaginable future 100 years ahead --- yes we can.

I've been overcome by emotion so many times in the last two days. The act of voting yesterday. Watching the states and electoral votes rack up. I was bawling during his acceptance speech. And I teared up countless times today. With joy. With excitement. With hope.

Will everything be rosy for the next four years? Of course not. There will be good times and bad. Mistakes will be made. But we've made a huge step onto the right path. Things will change. We'll be better. We'll DO better.

Yes we did.

Yes we will.

Yes we can.

I'd add more, but that one pretty much sums it up.

I'm gonna get better. I promise. Really! Like, soon. Honest.

Or not. But hope springs eternal.

Slate Magazine. What can I say, I love the Slate:

Blogs Yeah, there are a few I'm always checking:

I know, hardly deep, not so meaningful, but that's what's what ...

I haven't exactly been verbose since returning from sabbatical (yes, yes, I know ... it was 18 months ago ... but I started a new job, and it got busy, and then it had been so long htat I didn't know what to say), but I thought that instead of making a resolution for the new year, and give the blogging thing a try again.

So,what to blog about? The oodles of mashed sweet potatoes I just cooked up and put in the fridge for future eating pleasure (mmm. sweet potatoes.)? My unfortunate realization that I (*gasp*) have too many shoes? That I just discovered that some kind soul uploaded the entire Christmas Episode of Doctor Who (Voyage of the Damned) to YouTube and I got my fix while waiting for the Torchwood premiere (Jan 28, baby).

All interesting, but, well, meh.

But one of the things I've always wondered is how much I actually read in a day/week/month/year. I have a bit of a reputation, and pretty much am always reading, so, I thought, why not track it? It gets me back in the habit of writing pretty frequently (that is, writing non-work-email). So, that's the idea ... maybe I'll learn something about how I spend my free time ... or not :)

BUT, this is totally awesome: The Middle East Buddy List is exactly what I need to keep score of who plays well with others (since, apparently, we can't all just get along) - my History of the Middle East Class didn't really get past the creation of Israel, and, to be honest, I get confused.

I got to Orkney on Friday night, and left Sunday, which only gave me a day and a half to explore the island. But I soon discovered that Neolithic Orkney is a World Heritage Site, and with good reason. I had a fantastic time, and really wished I could have stayed there longer.

Friday, June 30

The ferry to Stromness got me in at 8:30. I'd already eaten dinner, so, since it was so light out, I decided to go for a drive after checking into my hotel. When I saw the signs for the Standing Stones of Stenness, I decided to see if they were still accessible.

Standing Stones of Stenness

They were! The stones are in the middle of a farmer's land, and there were actually sheep grazing around the stones.

The light was fantastic, and as the sun began to set, the sky had fantastic colors. I'm sure the short daylight hours in the winter are pretty harsh, but the long summer evenings should make up for it in spades!

...my five (ish) wonderful readers. I have a lot of stuff to put up about the rest of the Scotland portion of my trip (and some pretty good pictures, if I say so myself).

But with all this writing, something really wierd happened. As the sign says (btw, isn't that the best sign ever? Found it in a village outside Eilean Doonan castle. I think I want to get it blown up really big and framed), my priorities have sorta shifted. A bit.

As I wrote before, the big goal of this sabbatical was to focus on writing, and see if I could stick it through and write my novel. Well, it's been going super well, with the side effect that I've become a wee bit obsessed. As in, I'm not reading any other fiction at all. Yeah. The Crow came out on July 3. I picked up my copy at Waterstone's as soon as I could. And I haven't read it. Haven't even opened it up. Which is really wierd for me, especially for books that I've been craving for months. I track book releases like some movie releases.

As my three readers can attest (have I mentioned how much you guys rock yet? Cuz you do!), this book has taken over my life. But it's a good thing, and it's just what I wanted.

So I have updates and pictures and stuff that will be coming soon. I promise. I have to work on my pitch for the PNWA Conference today, but hope to get some of my other updates out of my head and onto the site.

But here's the thing, when you see it, don't expect it to have a proper ending. It's really more like a tv season-end cliffhanger. You know, like when Picard was captured and had just introduced himself as Locutus of Borg. Riker looks at the screen and says "Mr. Worf, fire," and then we get the music and the cruel cruel cruel "To be continued" appears on the screen. And now you had to spend the entire summer waiting to find out how what happens. That's how Pirates 2 ends.

So go, have fun, but know that you'll pause in the middle of the movie, and have to wait until next year to finish the saga. Of course, I don't think this is any worse than the way The Empire Strikes Back ended. At least this time we know when the conclusion will come out.

Drink up, me hearty's. Yo ho!

Though I still firmly believe that true Northwesterners rarely succumb to the lure of the umbrella. We're rugged like that.

I slept in, and woke up when I was ready. I had a lovely lunch at the Fruitmarket Gallery Cafe (cheap, too), then wandered down to Princes Street.

It was a beautiful day. Clouds rolling through the sky. Warm, but not hot, and with a light breeze. I wandered in a new direction, down George Street. I found an adorable modern jewellry gallery, and got a pair of earrings. And then I found the good Waterstone's.

The Waterstone's on Princes Street was small and didn't have what I was looking for. But this Waterstones, on George Street, had everything. I picked up a big Scotland Road Atlas (for tomorrow's adventure), and found a new Moleskine Large Ruled Reporters Notebook. (Aside on the Moleskine: its the perfect writing notebook. Good quality paper that's thick enough to write on both sides. Because the binding is at the top, my hand doesn't cramp at the edges orf the paper, and no space is wasted. Thick cover, with an elastic band that keeps it from flopping about. Plus, it's small enough to stick in my purse and leave plenty of room for everything else.). This was the fifth store I'd gone in looking for a new notebook, as I'm almost finished with the two I brought with me from home. And this was the first store that had what I needed.

The Good Waterstone's has a cafe inside, where I got what might be the world's largest cappucino. It was a very comfortable cafe, with a good vibe, so I pulled out my notebook and wrote a bit.

When the world's largest cappucino had been drained, I got to do one of my favorite things, wander through a bookstore. The shelves beckoned to me, but I remained relatively restrained. And I had them reserve a copy of The Crow for me, so I wouldn't have to worry about finding it when it comes out on July 3. After the bookstore, I wandered some more, and found a Starbucks with outdoor seating.

And today, Starbucks came through. Like a champ. First, I was finally able to purchase lemonade! For some reason, lemonade appears to be a code word for "Sprite" in Europe. And I love lemonade - not sprite - lemonade. Just lemons, water, and sugar. This lemonade had some lime juice in it as well, but it's as close as I've had in weeks. And it was wonderful. The second way Starbucks came through was that this was my view when I paused in my writing and looked up.

I came home to drop everything off, then headed back to the Grain Store for dinner. When I walked in, they greeted me like an old friend, even though I've only been there once before. I got my "usual" table, and kind of felt like I'd just walked into Cheers. I had a nice leisurely meal, enjoyed the atmosphere of the stone walls, candlelight, and wooden tables, and wrote more. I had soup, and venison (mmm. bambi.), a strawberry ice-cream-like dessert, and coffee. As we were chatting before I left, the owner, Paul, confirmed that Ullapool and Orkney were good choices, which was, of course, a nice confirmation to hear.

This one day was exactly what I'd envisioned when I planned my trip. Relaxed. Writing a lot, but having it flow naturally, and finding that it reads well when I go back through it. Calm. And fun.

So now you know what I was looking for. It was so nice for that ideal to actually come true.

I've rented a car, and leave tomorrow for a fun little adventure (yes, manual transmission on the other side of the road does fall into my definition of fun). Here's the plan:

Day One
Edinburgh to Ullapool. Staying at the Ceilidh Place (apparently, it's pronounced "kay-lee." No, really).

Day Two
Hanging in Ullapool and Wester Ross.

Day Three
Ullapool to Scrabster. Ferry to Stromness, Orkney. Staying at the Orca Hotel (pronounced as it looks).

Day Four
Ruins, ruins, ruins and a cathedral on Orkney.

Day Five
Ferry back to Scrabster. Scrabster to Aberdeen. Long drive. Saying at the Thistle Aberdeen Caledonian.

Day Six
Aberdeen to Edinburgh. Stop at Dunnnottar Castle. One good castle ruin is worth 100 ho-hum ones. The pictures remind me a bit of Dunluce Castle.

Should be fun, no?

I haven't written about my writing yet, in part because it's a little scary to share this journey. But it's been going very well, especially for the past week or so. I feel as though I've found my groove. Plus, I sent an excerpt to a good friend of mine, and she said that it didn't suck! Well, at least the first 350 words don't suck! Hoorah!

One of the more interesting side effects has been that as I've gotten further into the writing process, and as the plot continues to develop, I've become less and less interested in reading fiction myself. I still can't wait for The Crow to be released (July 3rd! Huge benefit of being in the UK, since I don't believe the US release date is even set), and I really want to read it, but I find that I don't want to leave the world I'm creating. I'm actually staying up late thinking about how things should develop, which is fun, though it's been wreaking havoc on my sleep schedule (especially when combined with the clubbers who've found the alley behind my flat).

So, I'm aiming for a minimum of 20 pages (longhand) per day. Some days I make it, others I don't, but I'm trying not to stress either way. I've auditioned a few cafes and several restaurants, and really like writing surrounded by people. If nothing else, I can evesdrop on some very strange conversations when I'm stuck for a way forward.

So, that's that. Wish me luck!