A limbo time

"How strange all this time off is," my husband said over a dinner of fried eggs and bacon. "It's like a vacation."

No, a vacation means fun and relaxation. This has not been a vacation. Oh, I've relaxed. I've relaxed my brains out. I've taken 14 billion hot baths with lavender and orange essential oils and soaked my tired old ass in Tired Old Ass Soak. I've slept the sleep of an innocent newborn, with morning, afternoon and evening naps. I've watched movies and gobbled books like bon bons: Caucasia by Danzy Senna, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (do I have to say who it's by?) and Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. All of which I recommend.

Still, all this time snowed in the house (with periodic shoveling breaks) isn't a vacation. This is some weird limbo. Weekdays are no different than weekends. I sleep at all hours of the day and night. I feel heavier and lighter at the same time. I feel more like someone who's in recovery from something, an illness, a broken heart (sugar addiction?) than someone on a vacation. Like being on a retreat instead of at a resort. Not fun, but not un-fun either.

But maybe I feel in limbo because this is a limbo time. During the holidays normal life ceases, but the parties, shopping and feasting are only temporary. And now we're betwixt and between the passing of one year and the beginning of another.

Or maybe this is just what it feels like to do the limbo in snow boots....

Beautiful snow

Beauty before me, I walk with. Beauty behind me, I walk with. Beauty above me, I walk with. Beauty below me, I walk with. Beauty all around me, I walk with. Navajo Night Chant

Okay, so I've adjusted my attitude. My friend Diane said it reminded her of the Stephen King story "Storm of the Century" in which (I think she said) the storm demanded the sacrifice of someone to satan before it would leave. I'm not planning on throwing anyone to the devil, but I realized I can let go of my negativity and just enjoy another day off. We'll hope again that the power stays on (this snow is heavier and they're worried about branches breaking on power lines). But we've got plenty of food and sterno and long undies, so either way we're good.

Fun day, shmun day

I took today off from work as a "fun day" that I had to use or lose. How did I spend it so far? Buying snow boots, cat litter and snacks, and going to the bank. Because another @!#$% storm is hitting us today and is supposed to last through the weekend. Oy vey Maria.

Funk soul Christmas

We had chicken and waffles for Christmas. It was pretty good. Not as sublime as the chicken and waffles I had a few years ago in L.A. (not Roscoe's, some other place I don't remember the name of). But still pretty good. It's our tradition to have something nontraditional for Christmas dinner. Last year we had appetizers. The year before we had green chili. This year it was soul food.

Speaking of soul, let's take a moment of silence for the Godfather. When I was about 7 years old I got into an argument with a group of kids because they had the bad taste to say that The Jackson 5 was better than James Brown. No way. If you don't believe me, listen to "James Brown Live at the Apollo" sometime. It's fierce.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Comfort me with apples (blizzard pt 4)

My bestest friend Diane sent us these apples (and oranges and grapefruits) for Christmas. They arrived yesterday when the post office was still open. Our mail carrier Barbara was up to her knees, but she came. This fruit sure is coming in handy for a snowed-in person who's supposed to avoid sugar (a topic for a future post).

It has finally stopped snowing (after more than 2 feet of snow), but Lord help us they're calling for 3-6 more inches on Saturday! Typically you can tell folks from Colorado by their reaction to the snow. All together now Coloradans: "we needed the moisture." Yep, it's awful now (though right now the sun is shining), but come spring....

Blizzard pt 3

A Denver Water crew worked through part of the night and fixed the broken water main. Good on them!! We have running water, and what a luxury it is!

This is the view outside our front door. The snow hanging off the roof almost meets the snow on the sidewalk. 9News says Denver has 22 inches so far with maybe 5 more to go. You can't tell in this picture but it's STILL snowing!

Blizzard pt 2

So far, we still have power. But a water main broke on our street. Denver Water guys are outside to shut off the water (go Denver Water guys coming out in a blizzard!!). Another crew will come to fix it. In the meantime, I've filled buckets and pots and pails.

And yay hubby for going through 4-foot snow drifts to get to the crawl space to make sure a pipe hadn't busted inside our house!!

Blizzard!

They say it's 6 inches so far (looks like more from here), maybe 1-1 1/2 feet more before this is over tomorrow afternoon. My office in the Western foothills closed down today, so thankfully I didn't have a commute. Hubby walked home in this because his car is stuck! He didn't want me to try to pick him up because I'd probably just end up stuck too. Greeted him with cocoa and sympathy.
Let's just hope the power holds....

Welcoming the ancestors

I bought 2 dozen long-stemmed red roses for a holiday brunch. They were beautiful (though like most store-bought flowers, they have no scent). Even though they were starting to wilt, the color was still amazing, so last week I sprinkled the petals around the sidewalk and porch near our front door. Stephanie Rose Bird says in Four Seasons of Mojo that strewing flowers on the path to your door “welcomes the ancestors and with them good luck.”

Yesterday, I received a very unexpected royalty check. Coincidence? Well, yeah, probably. But the petals look lovely and I hope the ancestors feel welcomed.

Can your library do this?

I just discovered a cool feature on the Denver Public Library's website called Fiction Connection. Bowker (Books in Print) runs it. It allows you to search for fiction by interesting topics (family secrets, poor neighborhood, and color blindness were a few that jumped out at me), genre, settings, and characters. You also can enter the titles and authors of books you like and find ones in a similar vein.

You have to have a Denver library card to use it on their site. If you're not in Denver, see if your library offers Fiction Connection.

New website

www.carleenbrice.com is up and running!

Crazy or brave? You decide.

Crown is going to published an unauthorized biography of Oprah Winfrey. The book is written by Kitty Kelley and it took a whole slew of folks to make the deal. Bet I know why! POD-dy Mouth has the story.

Have a Bootzilla Christmas

I love Christmas music, and I'm always in the mood for some Bootsy. So imagine my delight when my husband brought home Christmas is 4 Ever, Bootsy's new Christmas album. Go get it. It'll put a smile on your face and a shake in your booty.

Stranger Than Fiction

I saw Stranger Than Fiction last night. LOVED it! It's about facing mortality, about how embracing the fact of death actually enriches life. I left the theater thinking holy shit I'm going to die! You're going to die. We're all going to die. Better have some fun, take some chances, love somebody. Better make it count.

But I do have one bone to pick with the movie. Queen Latifah plays an assistant sent to a writer by her publishers because she's having writer's block. An assistant who moves in and dedicates her life 24/7 to helping the writer complete her book. Yeah right.

Unless the screenwriters know something I don't know? Is it possible that other writers have such angels? Makes me feel like one of the little boys in the Head Start where I volunteer. I asked the kids how many of them go to the library (it's a library program I volunteer for). And almost all of them raised their hands and spoke about how their mothers take them. This three-year-old who looked like the Buddha with cornrows looked around at all the raised hands and said, "Hey! My mama don't take me to no library!"

"Hey! My publisher don't send me no assistants!"

Former coworkers, still good friends

Happy holidays to some of the world's greatest women!

Photo credit: Madeline Nelson.

Something new under the sun?

Every now and then I will hear a sentence that seems likely that it may not have ever been said by another person in the history of the world. Usually, it is spoken by my husband. Today's entry: "That mint is in your head."

He said it in relation to some dried orange mint I keep in a drawer in the kitchen. It gets on his nerves because we don't have room for a big bag of dried leaves. But I want to keep it because at some point I'm going to start testing recipes with orange mint and what if I want to do that in winter?

Anyway, the mild argument went something like this:

Him: But we never use it.
Me: But I might need it. Besides, that's the mint that bought your electric guitar. That's the mint that bought me diamond earrings. (meaning it's the mint that inspired my first novel)
Him: No, that mint is in your head.

Just one of the many reasons I love the man.

This picture is what orange mint looks like in my yard. Funnily enough, it's the stuff with the purple blossoms, not the orange ones.

Season of light

We put up Christmas lights yesterday. Oakie is dressed in pink. Big Piney is in purple and Little Piney is in chartreuse. (Yes, we are that geeky. We named our trees. And our rocks.) Though the hedge is still just the hedge. Hmm. It's lighted in "imperial"--red, chartreuse, gold & purple.

It's our way of bringing some light to our little corner of the hood. We haven't put up lights in a few years. Last time we did, our next door neighbor also decorated. Crossing fingers for more light on our block this year. Actually, I'll say a prayer for more light in the world in general.

Sleaze sells, but so does quality

Newsweek takes on the much-debated issue of urban lit (called groupie lit in their story) vs. "real" lit. I'm pleased that the article points out that it's not just black audiences who seem to be tilting more toward sex & violence in books. Though it's a strange kind of pleasure to note that across the board America's tastes seem to be low, especially when I'm writing and publishing books that cater to a difference audience.

But I know the audience for my books exists because I know too many people who still read Bebe Moore Campbell (and Zadie Smith, Tayari Jones, Kim McClarin, ZZ Packer, Elyse Singleton and Martha Southgate to name just a few). In fact, every time I read something like this it reminds me to put my money where my mouth is. Maybe it's time to go out and buy some books.

Jan, thanks for the Newsweek link.