I was busy with the boys all day yesterday, took them to the Museum of Science and Industry (MSI), which they loved. I have to credit the MSI on expanding itself and remodeling itself over the years. It's a far greater place than it was in the 90s. The boys had a blast.
I didn't get to finish my transcription, as I was busy with the kids. I'll try to do that this week, as i want to have it done before the weekend. Although I'm not entirely sure if I'll have ironed out the whole structure by then, on revision. We'll see.
Exene placed first in her division on a 5K she ran, and was exceptionally proud of that, repeatedly recounting at length the minutiae of the race. While I think running is a certainly valid form of fitness, hearing about it at length could be used to torture inmates at a secret prison. Just play that on a continuous loop and they'll break. Okay. You ran. You won in your division. Yay. Good job. I look forward to not having to hear about running again -- one of the bonus fruits of having my own place soon enough. Cure for cancer found? Great artwork created? Masterpiece written? Music composed? No? No? No? No? Look me up when you've done that -- and even then, don't explain the process -- just let me see the handiwork, the accomplishment, the achievement -- and let it create something that wasn't there before, let it in some way make the world a more interesting place. Pretty please? It's all I ask.
When I finish a book, I don't do a play-by-play on it; I just finish it, and move onto the next project. There is satisfaction in the creation of something new, but I don't cluck over it. And even with something that I've won, it's incidental to the process for me. I can imagine me winning the Nobel Prize for Literature (hey, I said IMAGINE) and Exene saying "I won a medal, too -- first place for my age division in a 5K!" with no-doubt superior fervor. Maybe I'm just not enough of a diva. Maybe I need to climb a rampart and toot my own horn, for all to hear?
If I'm able to write fiction full-time, I'll be happy with that. If I'm able to create something beautiful and wonderful, I'll be very pleased with that -- but I won't rest on my laurels, won't pat myself on the back. I'm more process-driven than that. "Look what I did!" is not my style. With me, it's more "Did you enjoy what I created?"
