Ahoy and season's greetings.

Ho, ho, ahem. Sorry for the radio silence, but you were busy, too. Don't deny it.

Christmas was very nice. Saw lots of family and had a pretty good time—and then one of the many illnesses that our family and friends had been offering caught up with my husband. We had to stay at my sister's house an extra day and night to let him get over it. In the mean time, we missed lots of traffic and bad weather and I got to spend more time with my nieces. So it all worked out. Except for the vomiting.

He's fine now.

We're on vacation until after the first of the year. My only goal is to read some books.

How is my 2009 Reading List coming along, you ask?

73. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive- Alexander McCall Smith
This guy probably saved my reading year. These books are not going to change the world, but they are light and funny and charming without being ridiculous and/or vampire-laden. This one was a little meh. There are very few mysteries in these mysteries, but there ARE cases to solve, and this one was solved (in my head) too soon for my liking.

74. On Writing- Stephen King
A re-read. This is a good book. It's part autobiography, part Strunk & White, part writing workshop instruction. Also? Just really fun to read. I feel like Stephen King is a longtime friend; his voice is very strong, say what you may about his style and topics, and I read all his books up until I was about sixteen or so. So to have that voice again, talking about a thing we both enjoy...it's nice. Felt like a visit. You could do much worse if you're looking for a writing book (see number 79 below).

75. The Shipping News- Annie Proulx
A re-read. Oh, god, I love this book. This is either the fourth or fifth time I've read it, and I was worried. Would all the writing and MFA-ing I've been doing over the last few years ruin my opinion of this book? But no, I get to keep this book, for which I am grateful. It's one of my favorites. It's charming and odd, and the characters like people I know but will never meet. The novel takes place in Newfoundland in the dead of winter, but it's somehow really warming. I went to see Proulx read from one of her newer books a few years ago. Someone in the audience stood up to ask if she'd ever write a sequel to this novel. And while that's a question she had a clear answer for (NO WAY), I get why the guy asked it. You fall in love with these lumpy characters; you want them to be happy. So when the book ends, you really keep wanting to know more. If I could write a book that people felt that way about, I would be very happy indeed.

76. Best Friends Forever- Jennifer Weiner
Jennifer Weiner is about the only "chick-lit" (what the hell does it mean? I don't even know) author I can read. She's a smart woman, and it shows up in her better books (in my opinion, her better books are the mystery-esque ones). This one was fun and engaging, the characters complicated enough, the situation interesting. Fast read, and funny.

77. The Miracle at Speedy Motors- Alexander McCall Smith
This was a good one. Light, funny, charming, and also well-constructed (better than number 73, in other words).

78. Tea Time for the Traditionally Built- Alexander McCall Smith
"Traditionally Built" being euphemism for "fat" and the term the protagonist uses for her own girth. These are funny little books. This is the 10th book of this series, and the most current. I'm sure McCall Smith is busy printing the money for the 11th book right now, but for now I'm caught up. Will be looking into his other series to see if any of them hit the right level of charming/funny/enjoyable/well-written.

79. The Year You Write Your Novel- Walter Mosley
I read an excerpt of this book somewhere back when it was published and liked it. The excerpt. But it seems that the excerpt may have covered the only interesting bits from the book. This is not a good bet for a writing book purchase. I think it might be skating by on that whole "a year! a novel in a year!" concept, but Mosley doesn't spend all that much time telling you how to write a book in a year. He spends half the very slim book giving you writing tips that you can get in lots of other places (better done—seriously, his section on point of view made me CRINGE). The last half, where he talks about first drafts (and how they suck, but that's their job) and how to revise a novel, is much more useful. The whole thing has a bit of a slapdash feel to it. As though he wrote it in a year, perhaps?

One more book to meet my reading list from last year, and two days to finish it. I think I can.

Dear Santa,

I was whining (more whining!) about not having anything to write about and my friend Yvonne said, "Ursa."

So this goes out to Yvonne and fans of Ursa everywhere:

A holiday card from Ursa Minor (Pup) Rader-Day

"What fresh hell is this?"

(Ursa has a new holiday collar. The only one enjoying it is me. It has a bell.)

"Seriously? I'd better get a cookie for this. Two cookies."

"Oh, Santa, I hope and hope for two cookies. And a new chew bone.
And a new honker for the toy goose I gutted. And for the cat
to stop bossing me around. And for Best!Friend!Chloe! to come and play every day."

"I'll just be here, Santa, being good until you grant all my wishes.
Love, Ursa Minor"

Catch up.

Whoa, what happened there? Sorry. I've been busy. Doing stuff. Stuff I can't write about and don't really want to write about. But also stuff I should be writing about. So! An Update.

I finished a round of edits and rewrites on the novel. I started writing over my lunch hours and sometimes before work. Very fun. Very productive. The only hard part was coming back out of that world I was reading/editing in to go back to work. Once I sink in, an hour is no time at all. The good news is that I'm training myself to sink in at a moment's notice. Progress, since I don't have the luxury of time anymore. No whining, just writing.

I've been reading. I think. Let me check my list. OK, not a lot of progress there. Only one book finished since we last met here, and it's not a life-changer.

72. Remember Me?- Sophie Kinsella
Unadulterated chick lit. Was...OK. Had an interesting set up, a nice character with an interesting dilemma and then...something just didn't come together for me. Am passing along my copy to a friend to see what she thinks.

I've also been trying to get through The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, but that is a rather thick and slow-going enterprise. Wilkie is slowing down my reading progress. Also have another writing book in progress, but since I've been writing during my lunch hours, I've been reading less.

Went to a reading for Roosevelt's MFA program last night. The first one in a long time, alas, that I didn't plan and/or read in. Lots of good stuff, and a couple of pieces I thought were really fantastic. (Watch out, world, for Heather Cox and Emily Humphreys.) I'm really happy to see the program building up like it is, to see so many students participating and so many people out to support them. I like to think I had a small part in the sense of community they seem to have now, but maybe they would have had it anyway. They're a good bunch.

One of the students asked me if I was nostalgic, and I said no. Not for some of it. But I guess I am, for some other parts. Having all the time in the world to write, and all the time in the world to spend with people who understand that inclination. Yeah, I miss that.

Reading List 2009 check-in

70. Cowboys Are My Weakness- Pam Houston
This was a recommendation by my writing friend, Kelly Hunt. I really liked these stories. They're very outdoorsy and tough, even while the women in them are weak indeed. The women usually let men treat them pretty badly, which gets a bit old---it almost seems to date the stories, though, sadly such behavior seems to be timeless. I saved a long story for last (I was reading these over my lunch hour, and this long story seemed daunting) and then found it to be one of my favorites. "Dall." Of course one of the reasons I loved this book was because a lot of the stories occur in Alaska or in other hardscrabble places, where these hardscrabble lives seem to fit.

71. Blue Shoes and Happiness- Alexander McCall Smith
I got a little bogged down in this one, although I ended up liking it just as well as any of the others. McCall Smith seems to like to throw a lot of extra story into his story. I guess that's the voice of the narrator, Mma Ramotswe, doing the extra telling, the extra yarn. Once in a while, they just feel unnecessary, though.

When I was writing this last title down into the little journal where I keep my reading list (GEEK!) I suddenly noticed that I might even read more books this year than I did last year. Surprising. That was never the goal. The goal, if anyone is tracking this at home, was to read classics. You see how off my goal is from reality, right? I'd still like to get a few of those in before Jan. 1, but it's more likely that I'll keep turning to light fare to keep my brain from exploding until the first of the year. I have a book of my own to finish, for one thing.

But as far as not meeting my New Year's resolutions, this one is a failure I can live with.

Thankful

The only thing I hate about days off is that no one updates their blog. So here I am, fighting the trend.

Spent a lovely Thanksgiving in other people's houses, trading a pie I didn't have to bake myself for a full meal. One of these days I'm going to have to do more than just show up. Although I did make some deviled eggs at my in-laws' house. Someone else boiled them.

I've spent today, my only real day off, editing/revising the book. It's been rather nice to have the time to focus. (I keep thinking that all I want for Christmas is some time off. I think I may get it.) Maybe this will make sense to the other writers out there, but there's a special kind of attention for revising that, when I can get to that level of focus, I can really cut through the garbage and make things right. It doesn't always happen, or I would be much more published than I am now. I had that kind of focus this morning, working on chapters one and two, part of three. And then... loss of powers.

So I went to the grocery, the pharmacy, and dropped books at the library. Now that I'm back, I hope to get back to it. I'm through chapter five (the chapters that used to be the short story, the chapters I'm very very tired of, but which are pretty sharp). There is much work ahead. I promised someone a copy of my novel draft for Christmas as my "homemade" gift, so now I have to pony up.

My only obstacle: My husband is currently playing video games, online, with two of his buds. I'm glad he has them, but WOW do I hate the video games where there's a lot of talking. I'd rather try to write through (gaming) explosions. In this case, the talking is actually the three of them figuring out the game. Not helpful.

To the earbuds and some Swell Season. Hope you had a swell season, too.

And here's some cute

My nieces, who are awesome. I bought them these tutus, and that was money well-spent.

The joy of strange, left-field titles

I've been busy, if you couldn't tell. (If you're even still coming here---why would you?) Busy at work, plus sick. Which is not a good combo, frankly. I walked through last week with as much energy as could be mustered, and it wasn't much. But that week (the busy one) and that sickness (medication-related, in case you're worried about cooties) are both over.

So what do I do with all this energy and health?

I am cleaning my house. Not well, but a little. There are a couple of things, grime-wise, that I cannot ignore. Dog hair on the hardwood floors. Dirty shower. Dust I can see from where I sit on the couch. Because, you know, if I can see the dust, I can't ignore it. I can ignore the dust I can't see from here. La, la.

Went to the dentist yesterday. Was getting all sorts of good news about how I had no plaque build-up, etc, (Hurrah for flossing!) and then the hygienist turns me over to my new dentist, who is also my old dentist. I'd been going to a different dentist for three years because of my insurance restrictions, otherwise I never would have left this guy. But this guy is the one who gets to tell me that the dentist I've been going to is, basically, a charlatan, and has ruined my fillings and, oh by the way you need a root canal in that tooth back there. Because of bad dentistry. It's been a long time since I've been this mad. Letter to the Better Business Bureau? Don't mind if I do. That dude is going DOWN. And as a matter of fact, I'll name his dumb ass, since I hope he never gets another new patient ever.

People of Chicago, DO NOT go to a dentist named Marcin (or Martin) Karwowski at Edgebrook Dental---or, after I put him out of business, any other location. He is a piece of crap dentist and is about to cause me pain, misery and expense that didn't need to be caused.

Marcin Karwowski, DDS? You'd better start looking for another line of work.

Yeah, so I'm mad. I'm now the kind of person who has to get a root canal. I don't like that. And I especially don't like it since it seems I wouldn't have had to get one if I'd just kept the fillings I had before I met Karwowski, fillings I had replaced because I believed this guy when he said I should. Should, apparently only to line his pockets and pay his expensive Edgebrook rent.

So, argh. Like I need one more thing, you know?

Today I'm going to see my friend Mary Anne and her new wee bairn and her daughter Kavi, who says my name in such a cute way. I saw Mary Anne a few weeks ago for lunch, but besides that, it's been about 10 weeks since we saw each other. Ten weeks. Since about, hmm, since I started working.

Work, you are good to have and you pay the bills in such a lovely way, but I would like some of my life back. I will be taking some of that life back, whether you like it or not. Just a head's up. Thank you.

So are you wondering about the title of this post? I haven't been reading much, but what I'm reading is mostly from the collection of No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. They were starting to wear a little thin, but they're getting charming again. They make me want to sit down and hammer out a charming mystery (a different one than the one I'm supposed to be making a second draft of). How great would it feel to just write, no matter what it was?

Anyway, these No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books have titles that sometimes don't explain themselves. Part of their charm, I guess.

66. The Kalahari Typing School for Men- Alexander McCall Smith
67. The Kids Are All Right- the Welches
68. The Full Cupboard of Life- Alexander McCall Smith
69. In the Company of Cheerful Ladies- Alexander McCall Smith

Reviews of all the McCall Smith books: Charming. But wait, what's that at 67?! She read something other than a charming mystery? I had read about this book in a couple of places and was able to get the Welch book from the library. It was...OK. I feel like it got talked about a lot because it was written by four siblings who, yes, lived a very hard life. They lost both of their parents within a year, and the oldest two siblings had to try to save themselves and their younger siblings, all very hard stuff. But it's also interesting that the family started out wealthy and the kids always had a foundation of money to rely on. They mention it a couple of times, and it's clear (to me, anyway) that their path was cleared by their having their own financial support. If they'd lost both parents and had no money, I think their story would have been harder and their survival a little more impressive. The writing is fine, and I like the back and forth the siblings give to the story, how their memories don't always match up. The short and sometimes brashly honest additions by the brother break up some of the "serious writer" sections one of the sister feels like she has to add. In fact, I like the sections written by the two non-writer siblings than I do the sections from at least one of the writer siblings. What does that mean?