Monday, June 8, 2009

Conference stuff

So I'm sitting here by myself in a motel room in Provo, thinking about how although I do like Conan, I really resent not having the familiar comfort of Jay Leno doing headlines on a Monday night. I feel like my routine has been seriously messed with. AND I DON'T LIKE IT.

But okay. That's not what I want to blog about. I just wanted to mention that my friend Louise Plummer gave a very useful and entertaining talk in a breakout section this afternoon at the conference. She talked about coping strategies for writers overcome with anxiety (and aren't we all). She made the comment that talent + time + discipline = success. And she's right. I'm fond of telling people that you never reach a place in your life where you have "enough" time to write. We're always busy--with school or with little children or with jobs or with aging parents. Whatever. You have to decide to write. You have to then make time for that writing every day--even if it's just for twenty minutes. The writing doesn't happen unless you plan for it to happen.

On the food front! Friend Valynne showed up with cupcakes for me from So Cupcake! And even though I was trying to swear off cupcakes I practically kissed her in front of my students and proceeded to eat them all in secret during the day so I wouldn't have to share.

2 comments:

Lisa B. said...

Smart girls always hide their cupcakes.

I, too, am still getting used to Conan.

I think I am going to have to swing on down to Utah Valley for the cupcake culture down there. I hear it's great.

Motel room: is there cable? how about magic fingers? what kind of soap? are the towels little or big? in-room movies? Pepsi or Coke in the drink machine? how far are you from the ice machine? Do you have plenty of Cheez-It on hand? I'm worried about you in motel hinterlandia. You better hightail it over to the Sev lickety-split and get you some salty snacks. That way you can be all bloated for your workshop. That's how I'd play it, anyway.

Valynne said...

Glad you enjoyed them! But I think we should really hit Louise up for some of those cupcakes that are 90% butter.