Happy Halloween!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love the way you can be anyone or anything you want. Part of writing about great characters is transforming into them for a little while, walking around in their shoes, and doing all the things they do. While that’s a little bit of escapism that writers do every day, Halloween lets you put yourself out there in person, not just on paper, so you can walk among a thousand other people who have also changed. Sometimes you’re dressed up as your best side, your ideal self, and other times you’re wicked and that has its own sweetness. Everything shimmers with a touch of mystery, magic.

This year I’ll be dressed up as a photographer, celebrating the wedding of one of my dear friends. She moved in with her fiance shortly after I moved in with Ian, so we had an instant bond. Plus she’s an animal and nature lover. I’m excited to share the day with her as she marries her long time love. I’m a little sad I won’t be around for trick-or-treaters, but I think the payoff is well worth it. Have a candy bar for me.

The bookstore has hooked me again

This weekend when I should have been studying for midterms, I made a trip to the bookstore so I could indulge in the guilty pleasure of reading what I want to read and not what I’m told to read. There are some tempting new releases out there, but I am woefully on a student budget so I had to steer clear of the hardcovers. (I know, I know. Go to the library you say. And while I do like libraries, I love bookstores. The biggest difference, aside from current selection and of course price, is marketing. I love the way bookstores show off crisp covers, uncracked spines, allow quick access to books, have bright lights, a warm bustle…I could go on. But I digress.)

So I picked up a copy of E. Lockhart’s The Boyfriend List, which I have been eager to read for some time. The book follows Ruby Oliver, who has lost her boyfriend and her best friend in the past ten days. The events cause her to have panic attacks, so per her therapist’s instructions Ruby writes a list of all the guys who have been significant to her. The list is unfortunately copied and distributed to her classmates. Each chapter in the book is devoted to a different guy on the list, and as the story unfolds Ruby explores how she got from there to here and learns how to get where she wants to go next. I thought the story was quirky and easy to relate with (shh – I’ve written my own boyfriend list in the past). I was excited to learn there’s another book about Ruby, with two more slated. Guess I’m going to have to buy those too, so I can spend some more time with a great character. Once again, I’ve been hooked.

Blame genetics

When I was growing up, I got teased a lot because I was always the shortest one in my class. My mom is 4′11″ and my dad is 5′6″ on a good day, so my failsafe reply was “blame genetics.” It seems my genetics are once again making me the butt of an ugly joke.

A couple of weeks ago, my doctor told me the disheartening news that my triglycerides are high, most likely due to heredity. For those of you unschooled in all things medical, this means I need to lower my cholesterol. My doctor looked me in the eye and told me I should achieve this by lowering my carbs. I eat pretty healthy, but I do love my sugary baked goods. Almost all the good things in life are carbs. It was a very sad day.

After a weekend of decadent chocolate cake and fresh baked tortillas at Paco’s Tacos (how could I turn them down? I couldn’t make the tortilla lady cry!) I buckled down and started the regimen my doctor prescribed: fish oil pills and niacin.

Promptly after taking the niacin, which is a vitamin, I turned scarlet from head to toe. My skin itched and tingled, got hot and tight. This of course made me nervous, so my heart raced and my head pounded. It also happened to be my doctor’s one day off.

The nurse on duty was kind enough to inform me that this reaction was common, though not for a duration of over twenty minutes. Guess who walked around red-faced for thirty minutes? “Maybe,” the nurse said, “You might want to stop taking that for a while.” You think?

Heredity is having a good laugh.

If I were a Disney character…

If I were a Disney character, I would be Captain Hook. I know it’s not a traditional choice, but then, I am not a traditional person. Captain Hook might be the villain, but he gets a bad rap. There are actually a lot of positive characteristics that get overlooked.

For example, Captain Hook is a natural leader. He has committed himself to a life of freedom and the pursuit of adventure. Hook also has a distrust of time, mad sword fighting skills, and a love of the ocean. All and all, not a bad guy. And did I mention the swashbuckling sense of style?

What character would you be?

My car is being a prissy brat

Before you think I’m completely crazy, let me explain that I operate under the assumption that different vehicles have different personalities. For example, my first car was an ‘89 Toyota Camry named Mathilda. She was a stubborn old dame, prone to stalling and broken tail lights. The Jolly Green Giant, aka Bertha, was a Chevy van with sticky doors and a rumbling aversion to the uphill drive.

My current car, Sugarplum, is cousin to my first car, and is another Camry. Sugarplum is mostly dependable in drive mode, save her internal leaking, though the car is fickle when it come to accessories. A year or two ago, my door ajar light came on when I drove around tight curves, therefore turning on my internal lights.

This week, however, Sugarplum has been protesting my stereo. I will be able to play music when I start my car, but then all of the buttons will simply stop working, leaving me blasting music through residential neighborhoods far too late at night. Today I was able to turn on my CD player, eject an old CD and insert a new one, but then the stereo went black and wouldn’t turn on again.

I know that when you buy a used car you inherit other people’s problems. But still, is it too much to ask that my CD player actually play music?

When jet lag is totally worth it

This weekend, Ian and I made a quick trip to Philadelphia to surprise my mom for her 50th birthday. When we arrived, we found my step dad had blindfolded my mom and driven her to the airport for the first reveal (and tears) of the weekend. The look on her face totally made the six hour flight worth it. That evening, we had a nice homemade meal before Ian’s family rolled into town.

The next morning, my mom and I took a nice walk before brunch. Fall is absolutely my favorite season, in part because it has the perfect ratio of crisp to cool to woodsmoke to golden sunshine to falling leaves. It was the perfect day for a walk, especially since fall works the biggest miracles in states with actual trees.

Afterwards, my sister, my brother’s girlfriend, and I stole my mom downtown for lunch at the Continental and mani-pedi’s at Thread Beauty Bar. We arrived back home to a sign announcing “Karen’s Turning 50,” a houseful of friends and family, and of course more tears. The party was a blast, and I have all the incriminating photos and videos for proof.

Sadly, the next morning it was time to catch a flight back to LA. I know most people hate travel, and it’s not always the most fun (don’t get me started on how US Air charges you for a glass of water on a six hour flight) but I usually enjoy the act of just sitting still for awhile. It really forces you to slow down, which is often a welcome relief. Unfortunately, due to studying for an upcoming law exam, I wasn’t able to partake in my airplane tradition of voracious reading for pleasure. When I got home I rebelled, diving into one of my favorite books on writing, Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott. It’s a delightful book filled with funny, wise, and honest advice, and its short chapters make it easy to pick up at any time. It was the perfect way to round out my very hectic weekend. All in all, the trip was a success.

So little time, so much to do

When I attended Emerson College my RA, Crystal, functioned on four hours of sleep a night. She actually thrived on a combination of caffeine and minimal shut-eye – if Crystal slept more than four hours she was cranky in the morning. This ability worked well for her hectic schedule – as a broadcast journalism major, Crystal was continually (sometimes gratingly) perky. I was in awe of Crystal then and I envy her now. There is not enough time in the day.

Why I didn’t expect to spend $500 today, but did anyway

This morning, after walking two blocks to where I parked my car last night, I discovered my front tire had a massive flat. We’re talking a down-to-the-rims flat, baby you ain’t going nowhere. With not too much remorse I scrapped my plans for school and focused on the larger issue at hand: how to move my car ASAP because, oh yes, I was going to get ticketed by the street cleaners if I wasn’t out of there by 12.

Luckily for me, I renewed my Triple A membership just a month or so ago. Triple A has gotten me out of more scrapes than I can say (see Road Trip Adventures below.) So I called the service and they promised me I’d be rescued within forty minutes. Less than ten minutes later, a tow truck driver showed up. His name was Eric, which happens to be the name of one of the love interests in my current YA manuscript. I took this as a fortuitous sign.

Eric quickly discovered that I had a good-looking spare tire but, oh wait, that one’s flat too. After telling me I needed to replace at least two tires, Eric pumped up the spare enough to get me two more blocks to a local auto body shop. The owner of the shop was super nice but also agreed with Eric’s assessment: you need new tires. Ian concurred, pointing out that winter is coming (which in LA means rain and oil-slicked roads.) The odds were against me. I bought four new tires. I am now $500 poorer. On the plus side, if this had to happen any day of the week, this was the best day. On the down side, I am still $500 poorer.

Real men wear pink

A little while ago, one of my friends was dog sitting my pooch Riley and she bought him a brand new collar. The collar is great, but it’s pink and Riley is decidedly a male. This mostly poses a problem when Ian or I take Riley for a walk and people go, “Oh, she’s such a cute puppy. What’s her name?”

We got tired of getting the question three times a day, so Ian took his Sharpies to the collar and added a row of skulls. This now became a social experiment – when inferring Riley’s gender, would they use the color or the skulls?

Today I was out with Riley and we were stopped by a well-meaning woman with a King Charles Spaniel. “Oh, she’s such a sweet dog, isn’t she?” the woman asked.

The verdict: Pink still trumps skulls.

Road Trip Adventures

This weekend Ian and I are off to the wedding of two of our very best friends. They did the video for our wedding a few months ago, and we’re repaying the favor by shooting some photos for them. Laura and Dan are getting married up north of Sacramento, at a summer camp in Nevada City. Not only will the wedding be awesome (barefoot bride! rock climbing wall! ropes course! wood-fired hot tub!) but the getting there should prove interesting.

Ian and I have a history of failed road trip adventures, from the birthday weekend getaway Ian planned for me that led to getting stranded in the desert and catching a ride with a tow truck driver and his aggressive dog Scrappers, to the Fourth of July trip where the drunks driving in front of us got in a swerve-all-over-the-road we’re-all-going-to-die fistfight. Fortunately, we didn’t die. Wish us luck today!