It's Been a Long Time, I Shouldn't Have Left You

...without a dope beat to step to.

Name the song and the artist. Winner gets... the opportunity to visit me in Albuquerque (airfare not included). Sorry, I don't have much to offer.

Also I just wrote a whole blog and my stupid crappy internet disappeared it and I don't feel like writing it again. Maybe later. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe two weeks from now. It involved the fact that I have been writing for other purposes and therefore not writing on here.

And how I might have a new job.

And how I am considering attempting the write one page a day, in a year you'll have a book feat. What do you think?

I'm Back (and Alive!)

Hello there blogfriends. Have you missed me? I returned to Albuquerque yesterday after a peaceful two weeks without the internet (mostly), TV, or really any electricity at all. I have not recovered completely; my body is a bit out of whack. I fell asleep at 8:30 last night and woke up around 5:30. I can't really eat like a normal person. I left work at 1pm to work at home this afternoon because I thought I might pass out.

While I was gone, my husband wrecked his knee, there was a rent check catastrophe, and I got a $200 check in the mail for an essay that took me about 20 minutes to write. Pluses and minuses.

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Two days later, I have yet to finish my blog. I worked from home yesterday and today, as my digestive system is oddly, though mildly, messed up. I bet y'all wanted to know that, huh? I am contemplating a trip to urgent care tomorrow if I'm not fixed, as I sure don't want this to turn into chronic giardia or something awful. I really have nothing else to say.

The rest of my pictures will be available on Picasa: http://picasaweb.google.com/Bailliams/Ecuador

Writer's Strike

As I'm sure most of the world knows, the Hollywood writers are on strike. And it is for good reason. They get no money for virtually any web content. So every time someone downloads an episode instead of buying a DVD, everyone involved except the studio itself is out of luck. And many of these people don't make all that much money. Especially when you consider they are often not permanently employed and may go through months without work when the payment from DVD sales gets them by.

The last writer's strike was in 1988 and lasted 22 weeks. Yikes!

The Office only has two finished shows left. So two weeks from now could possibly be the last Office of the season. This show is apparently one of the first ones that shut down production and will be going off the air. Why? Steve Carrell won't cross the picket lines. He is, after all, a writer himself. As are the characters Toby, Ryan, and Mindy. And Cousin Mose. So even though there are some more completed scripts, they can't be filmed.

What does this mean for you, the viewer?

Apparently more reality TV. The kind that only needs editors, not writers. Now I confess to watching Dancing with the Stars and The Bachelor on a fairly regular basis (will someone please kill my TV?), but they are nothing compared to The Office. And as much as I was complaining about how it isn't that good this season, this week's was really good. And I watched it on the internet. Along with the Target ads that I'd already seen at work several times. So probably someone should get some of that ad money besides the studio. Like maybe the writers and actors.

The show's writers recommend you write a letter to Jeff Zuckerman in support of the writers and the show. I probably won't do it, just because really, I would probably be better off without TV. And I am lazy.

But I just thought I could throw some blog support the writers' way. We gotta stick together. Not that I consider myself a writer or anything.

This Weekend is Me Weekend

Matt is gone, in the Valles, hopefully getting a lot of field work done. Hopefully enjoying fall, or maybe winter at that elevation, and hopefully not getting shot by hunters. Surely enjoying his dinner at Los Ojos.

I am here.

I like to get up in the mornings, after Matt leaves, so I can have some me time. Taking the bus makes this kind of hard because I only get up early enough to eat, shower, and walk down the street. So this weekend I am catching up.

I am reading - I'm in the middle of two books. One I am reviewing - Managing Water: Avoiding Crisis in California by Dorothy Green. One I am enjoying - Plenty by Smith and Mackinnon. I will be sure to post about Plenty when I am done with it - I am sure I will recommend it to everyone, even if you don't have pipedreams like I do to someday follow a 100-mile diet.

Actually I'm also in the middle of Monkey Wrench Gang, an Umberto Eco book, and Milagro Bean Field War. Maybe more. I tend to get distracted when books don't immediately grab my attention. Sometimes I go through periods where I hardly read anything, and then I stumble upon a book I love and I remember that I love reading. I'm just very specific about what I want to read.

Reading has motivated me again to be more faithful in pursuing my writing. My first front page article came out this week - granted it was on The Independent, but I guess it still counts. The editor even managed to spell my name right this time. (Oh and I finally got paid by LAT.)

I also pitched a story to HCN, submitted to Writers on the Range, and sent an old essay into a literary magazine - something a professor suggested I do years ago.

And I have another job possibility - actually in my field this time. And since I'm taking some me time, I've decided that I don't have to feel bad if I leave my current job. I have to do what's best for me. Maybe the other possibility won't come through. Maybe I will decide I like my job. Maybe I will learn to be happy in the present rather than always searching for better things for the future. Maybe I will enjoy this moment.