Technically this quote is about Aruba, but I think it’s pretty applicable to anyone with a dream.

I came to this place in 1995. I pulled over, looked at the beach and surrounding area. I thought, “I could live here.” It was a goal that took me a long time to accomplish. But all that hard work was worth it. The good things in life are worth waiting for. (You’ve heard that one before, I know, but it is true.) Don’t rush it. Don’t get discouraged. Stay the course, weather the storm, and get where you want to go and take the ones you love with you.

Courtesy of Daniel Putkowski and his blog The Bent Page.

In honor of the new month, I created a new masthead, just like I do… every month. :P

I also decided to archive all the previous mastheads, because I like them, and who knows, maybe someone else will too.

This month’s tagline (”let the poverty begin”) is in honor of my new part-time schedule, which starts in two weeks and means I’ll be earning 40% of my current salary (hence POVERTY) but writing a lot, lot more (read: MORE POVERTY). I’m really excited, but scared sh*tless at the same time.

On a related note, I’m sending my short story The Eraser out to a contest today. Wish me luck?

PS: That was not me being wishy washy or moody. That was me getting over one bad night. It happens, you know? Then you move on.

Glad to know I’m not the only one:

Yeah, the people-pleaser in me wants to give, give, give all the time in an attempt to make others happy, and I fail to realize the burden I place on the other person to guess what I may want. I naively believe that constantly giving in to others is a positive thing. I also naively believe that expressing my preference is selfish and bad. So now it’s time to abandon the black and white thinking and start swimming in the gray area…joy.

Diane, let’s learn to navigate the gray together. :)

Best way to drive your puppy nuts: discover an adorable baby bunny who lives outside your front door and is willing to let you come within 3 feet of him. Guaranteed to make your dog pull so hard on his leash that he will nearly choke himself.

Also guaranteed to make you gush for 3 days straight, so that your boyfriend finally gives in and says, “Do you want to try and feed him?”

To which you will respond, “I already got the carrots.”

Good: Cookie dough in the company fridge — that we’re allowed to eat!

Bad: People who call to tell you that they can’t read your email until later in the day. Then call back to say they’re on their way home to read your email. Then call back again to say they’ve read the email, and ask if you would like them to reply now, or via email.

(SERIOUSLY?)

Ugly: (As if the Bad weren’t ugly enough…) 10 pieces of cookie dough in 2 days. That’s almost a baker’s dozen in my belly!

Today at lunch I heard “Stacy’s Mom” on the radio. I remember when it came out and every boy on New House 5 would belt it out at random and unfailingly inappropriate times. In line at Si Señor. On the way to calculus. During Alias. In the middle of a late-night, serious heart-to-heart conversation! And I remember how much I used to hate it. Not just the poor timing, but the song itself. I mean, seriously, it’s one thing to say someone’s a MILF, but it’s a whole other thing to write a song about it. And what about poor Stacy, huh? HUH?

Well, before I could remember any of my past indignation, I turned up the volume and began to sing along.

From A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf:

For masterpieces are not single and solitary births; they are the outcome of many years of thinking in common, of thinking by the body of the people, so that the experience of the mass is behind one single voice.

(Thanks to Mengfei for giving me this book. Woolf is hard to read, but given the number of Post-It flags sticking out from the pages, I’d say this is worth it.)

Dear Universe,

Is there some kind of rule, like, we’re not allowed to have all our sh*t together at one time? Because sometimes it seems like you are monitoring everyone and going, “Oh, you fixed that part of your life? Here, then let me mess this part up for you. You need more to do. More challenges! They build character.”

Frankly, Universe, I’m a little tired of building character right now. Couldn’t we do it, like, a few times a year, instead of continuously? Or could you at least cut me some slack for a couple weeks? Because I’d really like to get up after sleeping for eight hours and feel rested. And I’d like to look forward to my day, instead of wishing it were the evening already so I could just go home and curl up with my dog and a good book. And it might be nice not to worry about whether or not everyone can see the tears I’m desperately trying to hold back. Yeah, that’d be lovely.

So, Universe, if you could work on that, I’d really appreciate it. Let me know what you’d like in return, and I’ll do my best.

Thanks so much,
Kristan

Wow, this kid is crazy. In a good way.