Ch1 music

Largetto, Chopin second piano concerto, which means a pretty slow piece w piano and orchestra, it’s heartbreaking but it has to keep going, you have to maintain the beat. 

And it’s not just romantic. Now I remember that there is danger, mystery, something really ominous actually and yet…above it all is romance. It’s love and it ends, it has to end and it has to feel concluded, in this case w piece.

I’ve never understood the third movt of things. I mean, piano concertos, Beethoven sonatas. They call come in three movements. The first sets the scene, it’s the tempest or it’s the pathetic, the second is heartbreaking or, and the third is almost jovial and trivial and fun. Why this third one? It has no depth. It takes away almost 

Day 11

Of being thirty. 

R not home yet. At 12:30am. This has never happened before. Poor guy.

Art slept before 10. Dinner fussili and ground meat. Played outside w kids, park, mosquitos, home, skype mom, shower, won’t sleep, back downstairs.

Having kid means life doesn’t start at 5pm. It starts at 10pm.

5.31

Accomplished nothing today. Dictated on way to daycare.

Wasted 2.5 hrs at night, furniture on west elm, mid century couches, rugs, sales, clothes.

Tomorrow: must start Draft 3 in third person.

Ch 1, 2

Return to beginning, second draft, goal is to make it good enough for a stranger. Now it’s fine for family and friends, but I need objectivity. I need to be my own worst critique right now, and I already have a lot of feedback from writing workshops, peers, and teachers.

I need to make her more well-rounded, Spencer less evil, more activities for them to do, conversations to have (see ch2 sent before to KF), a real relationship w fun and jokes in Philly, LA, NY, involve the brother. The mother, everyone goes to see a Broadway musical winning the lottery, lucky, a good sign. Immediately fight afterwards. A bad sign. She still goes.

Summer 2015

Ch. 8 in progress. For the last two months.

Was averaging 1 chapter per month, before this. And then slowed down, dramatically. With summer class (helpful, very helpful for the comments and supportive letter in the end).

Just keep going. Make it short. Doesn’t have to be long or “deep” or I don’t know. Whatever it is you’re going for, or stuck in, now.

Just has to be done. And interesting. Short and interesting is even better.

So get cracking. Get. It. Done.

Chapter 8. Show R. tonight. Or no fun this weekend, and it could be a beautiful weekend!

Summer 2014

–family: brief reunion in June, Philly, Kv’s graduation ceremony at St. Joe’s Univ. BB also there. Talked about selling house, moving, but in the end, no decision.

–books: summer playwriting class with JVD (organized staged reading with Huntington actors), to crystallize action/dialogues. Replied to agent KF, a connection through CT (whose class I took again in the spring; extremely helpful). September 2014: will see CT again, should have full manuscript finished. November 7 is deadline, life-changer.

-work/community service: will start working for JK in addition to IM. No community service. 

-romance/travel: no major travel this summer. (Family are in China, sad news.) Went to Martha’s Vineyard day-trip with BB/N for 7/4 weekend. Hope to go to Lake Wnpsk before November. G’s bday in two weeks.  

-fashion, etc.: big, fluffy clothes. Will need to get more — big, fluffy clothes, before Nov. 🙂

-art/music: playing Schubert, Chopin, some Mozart for “it”. May take “art and education” class in the fall. 

 

Third post

Near year’s end:
Another six months later…

-Family: reunion at Christmas, with dad, brother, mom. Hoping the best news possible for Monday and K.

-Books: fall classes on nonfiction and fiction helped, but limited. Other women’s feedback, interest, legitimacy for the subject in Part III, and teacher AV’s encouragement – “don’t stop writing” – was helpful. Fiction was less so, but keep in mind the flow, the beginning middle and end of the structure and suspense.

-Work: still working almost twice as much; thinking often of the future; the possibility of working always on *this*; and in the meantime, some very informative books. No community service except more charities as R starts working.

-Romance/Travel: Morocco was superb. Now Panama for a day and Costa Rica for six days. Will be wonderful I hope.

-Fashion: it is too cold to consider fashion.

-Art/Music: Have books on Chinese art, must continue on own with architecture, art history.

Thank you!

Second post

Eight months later…

-Family: reunion in France in June. Now the family is spread in China, France, US again.

-Books: spring class on nonfiction was infinitely helpful. Now have outline, three parts, just finished Part I, draft I.

-Work/Community Service: work going as always. Still enjoying it, and working twice as much. Community service — have not started anything. Need to work on this.

-Romance/Travel: wonderful 🙂  Upcoming trips are Morocco in September, Central or South America in December.

-Fashion, etc:  not sure what I meant by this. Still not ‘fashionable,’ but now wearing skirts, dresses to work.

-Art/Music: Japanese Art class the summer.  See Art blog.

First post

Here’s a list of things I want before I turn 30. Hopefully, this blog helps me keep track of them.

-family
-books
-work/community service
-romance/travel
-fashion, etc.
-art/music

Hugs,
JM