Pigs and Houses

In my neighborhood, bushes are shaped like pigs.

As you may have noticed, things have been rather quiet around HDS lately. That's not to say I'm giving up on my blog - far from it - I've just been, well, extremely busy.

So here's a quick update.

Work is work. I'm editing A LOT for the magazine, and writing even more. The creative part of my brain has been dying for a vacation. On a fun note, aside from the magazines, at work we're putting together a book. A bit ago, two friends of my boss pulled together a bunch of resources about a significant Florida event. After realizing the depth of their idea, he agreed to have us work on it. Since then, my editor and I have been writing the book, set around all of the collaborated materials. I've never worked on something so intense - let's just say my office is full of old newspaper clippings, audio recordings (on cassette!), and mounds and mounds of content. It's great fun, and extremely interesting (to the point that I kind of wish I worked on it full time). As of yesterday, we finished the main content; I'm so proud of it! This week we're shopping around for publishers, so we'll see where it goes. I'll keep you all posted, of course. Even though it's not MY book, I put so much work into (we've been doing it since December - seriously), it feels like my baby.

In recreation writing news, I'm working on a paper that may go into a library journal. I sure hope it does. I also finally (FINALLY) updated my freelance writing website.

Grad school is going really well. I'm still holding my 4.0, which is ridiculous considering I haven't had a 4.0 since middle school. Just for fun, I'm still volunteering at the library once a month, teaching adult information literacy classes in areas such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. It's...interesting! (To say the least). Currently, I'm leading a four week writing class for tweens and teens. The kids are adorable, and I kind of wish the workshop went longer than four weeks!

Also, I've been dancing. Yes, dancing. Back in college, my roommate Abel was the president of FSU's salsa club. At home, he'd practice moves on me and within the two years of us living together, I somewhat learned how to dance. Since then, I kind of missed it, so two of my friends and I have been taking salsa lessons. It's a great release at the end of the day, and so much fun. I missed doing something fun for myself. Aside from work, aside from school, aside from volunteering. I wanted to do something that was active, that reminded me of good times. I've always been performing, from band to chorus to drama to circus - so this is just another stage, another story to tell.

And now, a picture.

The other day, Samir and I went to a local yard sale. Now, this may sound normal and somewhat unnecessary to mention, but here's why we went: It took place at Jack Kerouac's house. Being the major lit dork I am, of course I had to go. I've always known where the house stands, but I never actually went over there, so clearly this was a good excuse. As if it were expected, poets were reading their latest works outside and the items for sale represented years gone by. We didn't end up buying anything, but I did get to explore the house. And that was enough for me.