That Blog in Northern Virginia

Last night, I added a lot more blog links and my 2005 National Novel Writing Month sticker. Gee, this is actually starting to look like a serious blog!

From the links you can see a lot of my random interests, a very mixed bag. Now that I have finally linked to the academic blogs that I lurk at often, I’m starting to feel slightly self-conscious about my writing. I hope the professors among them don’t take offense at my horrid prose. I am a work in progress and I am trying to get better at my writing . . . thus the reason for the blog.

In my real life, people think I am a very good editor/proofreader – I am constantly asked at work to edit other departments’ documents, and at home, all of my friends send me their cover letters and resumes to look at with a critical eye. I love making things sound better or more readable. I try to make people get to the point of what they are actually trying to say, and then have them put that down on the page. Since I have been teaching ESL, I have become so much more aware of the importance of clear, readable writing and I try to encourage within our organization to be mindful of literacy levels when they create information for the public.

As for MY writing . . . well, do as I say, not as I do. Besides, this blog is supposed to hold my random thoughts . . . if I took the time to actually edit it for clarity and grammar, you’d never see a word from me . . .

For my Trump Apprentice impressions, check out today’s Gypsy Thoughts for my comments on last night’s show . . .

This morning I found another interesting blog – A Photojournalist’s Story (http://danielpepper.com/blog/) . It seems that he just started it this month, and he is a photographer based in Lebanon at the moment. It is so interesting to hear from someone actually on the ground in the Middle East . . . I look forward to following more of his writings . . .

A local baker has a show on the Food Network! I haven’t seen it yet, but it seems that on the DCist Website at least, people aren’t quite feeling the love for Cakelove bakery or the baker himself. Has anyone seen the show or eaten at Cakelove?
(http://www.dcist.com/archives/2005/10/27/sugar_rush_needs_more_time_in_the_oven.php#comments) . . .

Also in food-related news, the Del Ray Dreamery is changing its name! Nasty corporate overseers of some other ice cream company were suing the tiny local shop for using the name "Dreamery," so from now on the shop will be known as "That Custard Shop in Del Ray." (http://www.delraydreamery.com/default.asp) I'm guessing that the Website name will change soon, but take a gander at the "Custard Cam" . . . I love that place and so you might see the back of my head there some weekend if you look carefully . . . If you are ever in Del Ray, do visit the shop - their frozen treats are scrumptious!

I’m getting very excited about doing National Novel Writing Month. My longer blog posts are over 500 words, and those posts are assembled over the course of a day. I think that if I devote an hour or two in the evening on weeknights to writing, I should be well on my way to 50,000 words over the course of the month . . . of course, I could be totally wrong about that, but I’m certainly going to try . . .

I’m looking forward to the weekend . . . I’m going to be out during the day on Saturday with my friend, J, and then I have a Halloween party that night. I think I’m going as a soccer player . . . basically just wearing Mr. Random’s soccer gear – cheap costume! Sunday is the Marine Corps Marathon, so I am going to be at the finish line to cheer Mr. Random on . . . he is still wavering, but he seems psyched about doing it, so I think he is going to go through with it. He picked up his shirt and bib this morning – this year, the shirts are purple. Everyone, please send happy vibes his way on Sunday!

The poem that I am going to leave you with this weekend just screams “FALL!” . . . and it should since it has “autumn” in the title.

Song for Autumn
Mary Oliver

In the deep fall
don't you imagine the leaves think how
comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of air and the endless
freshets of wind? And don't you think
the trees themselves, especially those with mossy,
warm caves, begin to think

of the birds that will come — six, a dozen — to sleep
inside their bodies? And don't you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond
vanishes, and the white field over which
the fox runs so quickly brings out
its blue shadows. And the wind pumps its
bellows. And at evening especially,
the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.