Dirty Laundry

What am I…?

What am I doing?
Moving, packing, sorting, counting down to book launch day, writing the new book.

What am I reading?
Cheever: A Life by Blake Bailey
The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever

What am I listening to?
70s & 80s music � tons of it � Duran, Duran, Big Star, The Who, Toto, Steve Winwood, Survivor, Corey Hart, Asia, .38 Special, Journey, Julian Lennon, Jellyfish, Chicago, The Police, etc.

Why?
To get me in the writing mood.

What am I excited about?
The Stanley Cup Playoffs � Canucks, Penguins, Capitals � all in the playoffs starting April, the New York Islanders finishing in last place (with a 48.2% chance of scoring the number one overall pick � John Tavares), The 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, To be done moving, and my book coming out, of course.

Posted by Don Calame on 3.31.09 at 07:01 am in Prattlings. (3) Comments

Counting Down

Just three weeks (yesterday) from book launch day. I have to admit, as the time gets closer, I am getting very excited. I expect large parades here in Vancouver once the book hits the shelves. A nice fireworks display. Acrobats. Bundles of Balloons (biodegradable, please) wafting through the air. People in cars honking their horns at me in celebration (at least, that’s how I’ll interpret it). In short, once that book is released my life will be one big cacophony of New Year’s Eve horns and streamers and cake and candy and trumpeting trumpets and…

All right, so there probably won’t be a parade. At least, nothing strictly planned. But at least I’ll be all packed up from my move and nicely settled in temporary housing until the renovation on the new place is completed. So there’ll be plenty of time to visit the stores and stare at the shelves where my book (hopefully) sits, with a big grin on my face.

Much like the grin on Scooter’s face in the following picture (sans the hat, of course)

Posted by Don Calame on 3.25.09 at 06:22 am in Prattlings. (0) Comments

Beyond Busy

I won’t go into just how busy things are these days (moving, renovating, writing a new book, preparing for the first book to come out, flying to visit family, taxes) but suffice it to say my calendar is pretty full. I should probably be trying to blog more often but when the traffic jam of life gets this backed up you have to learn to prioritize. And compromise. And get over your “I can’ts”

I’m thinking specifically of one of mine. The “I can’t write on planes” mantra I have told myself for who-knows-how long now. The seats are too cramped. People push their chairs back and you’re all scrunched up. Too much noise. And on and on.

Well, guess what. I can write on planes. I had no choice this past weekend. And when you have no choice, things that were once hard get easier. Was it loads of fun? No. Did I get some pages done? Yes. Was the girl in front of me leaning her seat back so my computer screen could barely open? You bet. Are the pages any good? I can’t tell you right now but I’m pretty sure they are workable. At the very least, I kept my head in my story which is of utmost importance when you are far out at sea in your book with no land in sight.

Anyway, that’s the lesson here. For me at least. Sometimes out of difficult times you learn you are more resilient, more adaptable than you had realized.

Posted by Don Calame on 3.18.09 at 07:36 pm in Prattlings. (0) Comments