Yeah...I'm Not So Good About Updating My Blog

Other then being mega busy at work. I have been a writing machine. Although apparently not on this blog. I had a piece published last week in The Villager. You can read it at http://www.thevillager.com/villager_337/bookshineslight.html.

I also have a piece that will be coming out in several weeks through InterFaithFamily. I will send that out once it is in print.

I have a weekly writing group I meet with. We read and comment on each others work. I sometimes bring essays but generally I bring chapters from a novel I am working on. I don't talk about my novel writing too much. I started it about four years ago, although it has become something very different from what it started out as. The only reason that I mention it is because I actually finished a workable draft of it this summer, which for me is quite an accomplishment. I bring a chapter every week to my writing group and they give me feedback so I can re-edit. When I have a copy I am happy with I will send it out to literary agents. With books its sort of like being an actor. You have to have an agent so publishers will read your submissions. We'll see what happens, but I'll keep you all posted.

In non work and writing related news, I have had some fun experiences over the past month. I went dress shopping with Esther, Michael, Sandy, and Terry for Esther's dress for her upcoming wedding. I can't believe it will be here in less then a month! I finally found the right accessories for my dress for the event, cause I know you're all really concerned about what I'll be wearing. :)

I went to a really fun birthday party for my friend Tiffany. It was at Dinosaur BBQ in Harlem. It was tasty but I was so full afterword that I walked with my friends Phil and Joe all the way from W125 street to W 57t street. It was pretty fun though. Joe and Phil have artistic backgrounds so they pointed out all of the amazing architecture on Riverside Drive that I had overlooked in the past.

Tiffany, Carrie, and I also went to see Where the Wild Things Are. Pre-movie we had dinner at Patsy's which is an inexpensive Italian chain throughout NYC. Sort of the Big Apple version of Olive Garden. I also had an amazing dinner at Bay Leaf, a midtown Indian restaurant that Esther treated me before I took us to see Coco Before Chanel at the Paris Theater.

I reconnected with my friend Shannon and her brother John. Shannon and I were in school together from 2nd grade through high school. John was two years ahead of us. John is in law school at Columbia. Shannon used to live in NYC but moved to California right about the time I moved here. She just moved back this summer and has started monthly dinners with friends from all her different circles. Last month we went to Becco which is an Italian place on Restaurant Row in the Theater District. Now that her place is no longer infested with Squirrels we are going to have monthly dinners at her apartment in Hoboken.

I also enjoyed Jazz in the Park with Heidi, David, and Yari. Heidi and David just returned from their wedding and honeymoon. I was sad I couldn't go but the photographs looked amazing. They are Ohio natives too and had their wedding at Middle Bass Island on Lake Erie. Heidi and I went to college together so a ton of our Michigan friends were there.

Fall is flying by. I can't believe some of the stores and shopping districts are already decorated for the December Holidays. I have a full end of October and November. It is packed with visits from out of town friends and family, a lot going on at work, and a wedding. I will try to be better about posting though.