Artistic Dreams

Steve Buchheit posts this from Kameron Hurley. And...it makes wheels turn.

The last thing I needed was another blog post to distract me from catching up. Thank you very much, Steve...

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Maybe I can fold this sucker into a post about our retreat. Yeah. I'll do that. First of all, from May 29 until June 4 I was at or in transit to/from a writing retreat in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. This is the third retreat I've done organized by roughly the same group of people, although I would say there's some turnover in attendees every year. Miranda Suri has an excellent post on the retreat here, and most of this I agree with. I honestly don't know if I'm going back or not next year, but the retreat was very good. It's that I'm limiting myself to one next year. Mama's gotta start making some home repairs to sell her house and move to Florida in a few years. Ten years can, in fact, get away from you like you wouldn't believe, and I want to make sure that dream happens.

Anyway, here's the lot of us in a formal picture from the retreat. I'd best put a cut in here, yes?

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Mirrored from Writer Tamago.

48

Another post I need to sneak in today is that today is my 48th birthday. I try to do a State of the Me address every year. Today is a normal work day, with a night devoted to packing for the upcoming trip to Vietnam, some exercise, and some writing. Tomorrow we'll actually go out for a nice dinner and celebrate the occasion.

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What's it like to be 48?

Physically: When all things are said and done, my weight remains mostly constant. The lowest I've been this year is 211, and the highest (returning from the Writer's Retreat, which fattened me up nicely) is 220. I am currently 218ish. That puts me at 70 pounds overweight, which is not good because of the below health issues.

Lots of small things are wrong with me: arthritic right knee, dust allergy, acid reflux disease, slight depression, slight anxiety, and thyroid issues. All of these are kept in check with minor meds, except the reflux, which requires a more potent med. Diet and exercise, remarkably almost exactly the same diet and exercise, are recommended for all these problems, except the dust allergy.

This year I plan to walk more (good for the knee), do more yoga and tai chi (good for the knee), and eat less more frequently (good for the knee and the stomach.Probably good for everything else.)

Now, what about physical appearance? Well, normally, I'm not thrilled looking at photos of myself these days, but you know, I can still clean up pretty well if I have to. I'm getting used to what I look like at this age, weight and wrinkles and all. It begins to seem foolish to me to lament the loss of a more youthful appearance, because there's no hope of things improving. In fact, quite the reverse, so I'd best get over my vanity. I continue to dress in unusual clothes and dye my hair red, both of which are working for me at this time.

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Mentally: The brain remains sharp. While my memory isn't what it used to be, human beings don't have memories like that. I'm talking about my formerly uncanny ability to remember lists and lists and dump them out on tests, or floor people with quick memorization. Now my memory approaches something more akin to "normal" and I'm fine. There is one place where I'm finding a little bit of a scramble. I read a word occasionally and guess what the word is incorrectly, and misinterpret the message. That usually doesn't make sense, and I have to take a second look.

But I'm not forgetful, I still have a strong sense of memorization and remembrance, and I can still read and process a great deal. Probably pretty usual for 48.

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Mirrored from Writer Tamago.

Viable Paradise: The Deadline Looms

I've got just enough time at the end of my day to tell you, yes you, about Viable Paradise.

First of all, you must understand that Viable Paradise is when I understood that the world took my writing seriously. Secondly, it's when I met an awesome group of people who came together during the week in a way that would cement life time bonds. Thirdly, it was my only chance ever to see glow in the dark jellyfish.

Listen, I plugged Taos Toolbox, and that was great, but first, before you climb the mountain, you need to ride the ferry. Go to Martha's Vineyard and find out that there are people who think you can tell a story.

Trust me. You'll be mates with the students on twitter forever. Also, you'll get to witness the ongoing battle between two of the volunteers who support you on sugar versus health food. These people not only feed you, they've been you, man!

So, is this for you?
Go look and see.

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.