Structure

Hi everyone,
I started this entry perched on the top level of a Megabus returning to New York from Philadelphia, where I spent less than 24 hours this weekend (a good whirlwind trip). For those of you who aren't familiar with their $12 fares and unpredictable routes, Megabus is a cheap, mostly reliable way to travel between cities in the Northeast. My favorite feature, other than the free wi-fi, is the double decker buses. So, I sat up there, and started to write this, before I fell asleep and almost dropped my iPad.
So, as I mentioned before, I've been reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, which my mother recommended to me. It's written by a woman who lives in New York with her husband and two young daughters, who, though her life is comfortable and relatively charmed, decided to spend a year trying to become happier through truths and resolutions she set for herself at the beginning. What sets this apart from Eat, Pray, Love and other, more superficial entries in the genre is the fact that Gretchen goes about her year in a smart, organized, and academically informed way. A former clerk for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, she feels comfortable with lots of lists, research, and rational pursuits, and that really hit home for me - especially with all the resolutions I've made for myself in the past month.
I finished the book on Saturday, while my friend got her hair cut at a Philadelphia salon, and reading 200 pages of it in one sitting made things all the more clear. If I wanted to be successful in the goals I've set for myself, I need to set some guidelines and introduce real structure. Keeping the resolutions vaguely in mind throughout the days and weeks works for some people, but I'm someone who responds really well to boundaries. I was so busy being pleased with myself for making the resolutions in the first place that I didn't realize I was swimming in some ambiguity as far as how the hell I was going to get this stuff done. So, for some of the bigger and more isolated resolutions I've made, I'm going to attempt to devote one month to each of them, as Gretchen does in the book.
So, in February, which conveniently starts tomorrow, I am going to attempt something kind of huge and crazy. I'm going to write a novel. In one month. Typically, November is National Novel Writing Month, where people write a novel (about 50,000 words - the length of The Great Gatsby or The Catcher in the Rye) in one month - about 750 words, or 7 pages, each day. It's supposed to be a high velocity, low stress approach - not a ton of editing, just lots of writing each day for a month. One of my resolutions is to write every day, which this will certainly help me do, but the thought of finishing something this big (even if it's totally horrible) would be such a great way to knock that one out of the park. So, we'll see how I do!
As a fringe benefit, I'm trying to save lots of money for my Paris trip, so hopefully this new undertaking will keep me in the apartment working, instead of out doing the fun and expensive stuff.
More updates soon!

Vinography

Yes, I'm pretty sure I just made up the title of this post, but it's kind of in the spirit of how I'm feeling today.
So, in case any of you were wondering, the wine dream (that is, me learning more about and possibly getting a job out of wine) has not died. In fact, it rose from the Veuve Clicquot-tinged ashes of the New Year stronger than ever.
At the height of my Christmas shopping frenzy, I went to the wine store at Eataly, which is excruciatingly close to where I work (this is both blessing and curse). I bought my Dad a bottle of Barolo, and, upon check-out, realized the girl working there was younger than me. This made me feel like an underachiever, so I proceeded to pick her brain about how she got the job, how she learned so much about wine, etc - just generally being nosy and probably a little obnoxious, as it was the middle of Christmas shopping season and the store was pretty packed. Despite all this, she was very nice and gave me lots of good advice - most notably buying a book called the Wine Bible. It's essentially a definitive, and also readable, guide to all the regions in the world that make wine, what their characteristics are, what good vintages have been, etc etc. Armed with that and my new Moleskine Wine Journal, I'm going to start recording and reading and generally becoming a more informed person. Knowledge is power, after all. Instead of buying the same Georges Duboeuf Vin Rouge du Table (I love it! It's so good and so cheap!), I'm going to tread into the unknown, and hopefully come out the other side wiser and more sophisticated. There will be disasters (there already have been - NEVER drink this), but I'm committed. It's a resolution! I am a slave to my resolutions - so what if they involve drinking wine on a regular basis?


In other news, I decided to try to ride the trend and paint my nails gray. The jury is still out on whether it looks cool or not.


More this (long) weekend!

Catch Up

So, I have not been great about posting lately. This past week/weekend was a bit of a blur. Lots of work and play - so I've been distracted.
Life in Publishing has been great, busy, and made the past month and a half fly by (I can't believe I've had my job this long). It has also, peripherally, been stirring a bit of jealousy within me. I think it's the good, motivating kind of jealousy, though. Seeing young debut novelists get good reviews and exposure makes the whole game of getting published less mysterious and also more tangible...as in, why aren't you doing this?
As a result, I've been reading and writing a lot lately. As Faulkner said, "Read, read, read everything." Very wise words - nothing inspires me more. When I attended the Young Fiction Awards at the New York Public Library a while ago, I swiped copies of all 5 nominated books (a feat for someone in a pocket-less cocktail dress and a handbag barely big enough to hold my wallet). I've been blazing through them, the first being All The Living by C.E Morgan - a gorgeous and unique book for many reasons. The novel takes place on a dusty, lifeless tobacco farm in Kentucky and very little happens, but I can't remember the last time I was so engaged by such a seemingly simple narrative. The author, who went to Harvard Divinity School, weaves in religion in an unexpected and fascinating way. I love being able to see how clearly the ways in which our experiences can shape the way we express ourselves creatively. It makes me thirsty to do more and varied things.
Now, I'm on to Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower, which could not be more different. I was initially excited to read it, beyond the great reviews and the fact that it actually won the Young Fiction Award, because I think the title is badass. It also resonates with every story, which range from chronicling a man building an eclectic aquarium in a trailer park to hilariously following a group of vikings as they, yes, ravage and burn things.
This post has somehow turned into a book review. This is not surprising, as a large portion of my days now are devoted to me reading, scanning, and trying to get book reviews for our titles. Oh well. Tomorrow I'll cover the writing part of this rant and post one of the things I've been working on - which is narrated by a child, an exercise I love.
Also, there will be more tomorrow on the second job search...my work is never done! Plus, the wine-related aspects of my life haven't had enough airtime lately.
So, I exist. I am still writing this thing, and I will be back tomorrow.