Assorted, Discombobulated Things

Frolicking in the waves at West Neck the other day.
We are way farther from shore than we appear.

It's been a good, busy few weeks.

The water at West Neck has warmed up so much that, after our last swim this past Monday, Carole and I stripped off our wetsuits, booties, gloves and caps before we got out and enjoyed a little Scandanavian ice bath. ;) It was so warm -- I'm guessing close to 60 degrees -- that we got out, looked at each other, and raced back in to frolic once again in just our bathing suits. It was a brief frolic, but still. A sure sign that the regular, daily swim season is just around the corner.

I cannot wait.

On the writing front, some of you might remember this blog post from my YA blog, That Wee Bit Heap, in which I compared my publishing life to a game of Chutes & Ladders. I was about to go out on submission again, for the first time with my new (and fabulous!) agent, Jim McCarthy of Dystel & Goderich, and was feeling kinda hopeful again.

Then months passed, out on submission, with no good news.

I spent the winter slipping down lots of seriously long and ego-crushing chutes.

But, guess what?

Yep. I made it here.

That's all I'm saying right now, because I'm not really at liberty to discuss more. Or, probably not even that, for that matter. But no one reads this blog anyway, right? ;)

Plus, I've known for like two weeks, and I'm missing enjoying the fanfare with you, although, I've decided it's good to learn to not  always need the fanfare. At least, I think it's good for me.

I should work harder on that. Let 48 be the year of no fanfare.

(Um, who am I kidding? I love fanfare. ;))

Anyway, I'm writer-happy. And, well, that's all I'm going to say for now.

More soon. I promise.

In other news, I am totally obsessed with this Goyte song.

I mean, OBSESSED.

In fact, I had to stop and listen to it again before I kept working on this post. Which is now twice in the last hour, because I also put it up on my Wee Bit Heap blog post and listened to it then.

I don't know what it is about it *coughs* but it just strikes a chord.

So, I'm sharing.

And, speaking of sharing, I need to share this one last thing.

It's a brilliant reduction of a complex truth to a very simple understanding.

I'm convinced if everyone could hold on to this, the world would be a gentler, happier place. I know, for me it would be.


I'm trying to hold on to this. I'm trying. I'm trying.

- gae