What a Weekend

I got some really wonderful news on Thursday.  My first print chapbook, Blue Trajectory, will be published by Dancing Girl Press as part of its 2011-12 series, with the date tentatively slated for this fall.

I am pretty excited about this, so excited in fact that I remained cheerful on Friday even upon learning that our furnace is broken and needs replacement, and that the replacement won't be arriving at our house until Monday.  After looking at the weather forecast, though, I started to get a bit apprehensive about my prospects of not freezing to death...

Well, before long, I was looking up pet-friendly hotels by the beach and was once again high on life until learning that the one with the jacuzzi was booked and the rest tended to be highly insect-infested, based on the consumer reviews.  I guess it wasn't surprising that hotels that allow pets have insects or that the only pet-friendly hotel in town with a jacuzzi was booked, given that there is a new casino complex opening in town this weekend.

However, my mood was restored when my partner exhibited his latent HVAC  prowess and came up with a temporary fix for the furnace that involved a little rigging and him keeping an eye on it for the few minutes that it's running.

So, all in all, things are well in my little world, although I was deeply saddened, not to mention freaked out and angry about the shooting incident in Arizona yesterday... another reminder that the polarizing, incendiary political language is damaging our country.  Sure, the guy is obviously a deranged individual. But it's not enough just to say that.  He is a deranged individual in the context of Arizona circa 2011.  I hope what happened will make people come together to reflect, but in light of recent trends, I'm afraid that's not what will happen.  I really hope I'm wrong.