Tuesday, November 11, 2003

I finished part 8 of my novel yesterday--the first draft, anyway. As it looks like the novel shall end up being in nine parts, I guess this means I'm in the home stretch. A home stretch that's likely to take five months, at least.

Dashing all about yesterday, influenced maybe by the dashing about of my main character in my novel (or perhaps the other way around? Naw).

Went to Parkway Plaza first, after pressing record on the VCR to nab A Streetcar Named Desire and Notorious. Spent hours at the mall just writing, and looking for my aunt's birthday present, which I never found. But even if I had found something, I suppose I really dinna have the money . . .

I had eighteen dollars yesterday. Pretty pathetic, really, as I was trying to save money to pay Trisa. But as Trisa was unavailable yesterday I figured, hell, I can just go and spend it, whoo-hoo.

Spend it I did, on coffee, and lots of it. So it was that in the cool of the evening I was sweating through me sweater as I realised that I needed to be at Grossmont Centre to buy groceries from Trader Joe's (this was at 6pm I realised this). I promptly left the Rubio's I was waiting in line at and took off for Grossmont Centre mall.

Now, I know what you're thinking; Sets! Don't you have school at 7pm on Mondays!

Well, at about noon yesterday it came to me that Juliana Cardenas (teacher) had informed ze class that Monday was to be a Veteran's Day and there was thusly no school. I thought it was too bad I had not remembered this Sunday night, when I had stayed up 'til 3am typing up a story for subission to the Acorn Review.

But fuck it! I thought. No one liked my last story, "Gregg's Mermaid"--a fact which has led me to believe there is a prejudice against sci-fi/fantasy around these parts as the complaints for the story were vague and a couple people even said it was well written. Stories have been accepted for less--and yet this story of mine got only two votes; mine, and this cool girl named Sarah (or possibly Sara, or even Sera--I once knew a Sairah) who told me it wasn't the sort of story she liked but that she was voting for it on principle. Hurrah! Someone in the class has ethics.

Right--Monday.

So I get back to my grandmother's house at 7:19 and my grandmother mentions she'd been to the bank to-day.

"I'm surprised the bank was open on Veteran's Day!" says I.

"To-morrow's Veteran's Day, not to-day!" says she.

"Oh fuck," thinks I, outwardly keeping my cool because I got some moves on me, or so I was told by a flying saucer salesman at Parkway Plaza (I was carrying my copy of Caitlin R. Kiernan's Threshold and when he jovially launched his inflatable saucer at me as I rounded a corner, I reflexively batted at the saucer with Threshold, causing the thing to fly off at an angle to where it hit a partition, rebounded, and landed in the salesman's hand. Smooth, yes, I know).

So.

I grabs me story and a card thingie, drive as fast as I dare to Grossmont College, park off campus (because I am too cheap for parking permit) and march up the dark night hill towards school whilst trying to fill out the submission card.

There were no cars in the school parking lot.

There was no one at the school.

I walked across the campus and, apart from a rabbit dashing across the quad, mine was the only soul present.

Sigh!

The day ended as I left Tim's with his extra packets of hot sauce from Del Taco. I took something home last night.

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