Saturday, February 16, 2013

It's February?

Where have my resolutions gone? Oh well, it doesn't matter much. The year never starts until after Carnaval.

Carnaval this year was hot, hot, hot. We stayed home again and were surprised by how quickly the days went by. G went to his first bloco, which happened to be the sertanejo, or Brazilian country music, street party, which was kind of fun and not too crazy. We had high hopes of doing a costume for him, but in the end, it was just too sticky and he went out in a diaper and his baby carrier and lots of sunscreen. We inflated a kiddy pool on the patio, swatted at mosquitoes, gave the boy a haircut and I finished my very important goal of finishing Downton Abbey, season 2. Whew!

Now that the year has officially started, I can get on my goals. Professionally, my 2013 goal is to step up the writing even more. The blog has suffered since G was born, but my other work only saw growth. Last year was amazing: the writing group exceeded all expectations and my productivity (and actual finished pieces) saw marked improvement. I did a poetry reading at the end of the year that made me realize I actually do miss being "on stage" and that poetry doesn't have to be a conversation killer. Over Carnaval, I did a printout and discovered that my poetry output for mid-2011 through 2012 came out to about 42 pages. (And I focused on short stories almost all year!) I've been editing for the past few days, scribbling out words here, removing whole pieces of shoddiness, adding in sections. I'm hoping that I'll have at least five literary-ish poems worth shopping around this year, either in competitions or in journal publication, as well as a series or two that I can start collecting for a future chapbook.

I'm abuzz with ideas but, as always, not much time to play with them. Especially when my little man wants me to play with him. I must have missed the memo...why didn't anyone tell me that the best way to relive your childhood is to just have a kid? I have years of just PLAYING ahead of me...which is awesome enough to cancel out some of the less-than-stellar parts of also being a parent. Like tiredness. Irritation. Unshaven-ness.

Things are awfully lonely here, though. Too much rain or too much sun contributes to a lot of isolation (why can't someone invent a toddler carseat that is portable? Please?) Add in a nap schedule that doesn't really play nice with going out and we're struggling with a bit of downerism. Hopefully, that will abate once the temperatures go back to reasonable levels. Or if kiddo would just learn to walk really, really early. Because then I wouldn't have to carry him EVERYWHERE.

Since we don't go out much, I don't have any interesting stories to tell...I'm sure it will change though, so don't abandon the blog ship just yet. We're in the doldrums at the moment, but I'm sure the winds are about to change...


3 comments:

nish gau said...

Awesome content to read. These are very very informative . Hope one day all posts will be as informative as yours. So keep posting and sharing on regular basis. Thanks a lot.
Regards,
how to get free instagram followers

TrCodex said...

One Piece VS Naruto 4.0 As in previous versions, choose your favorite among the characters of One Piece VS Naruto 4.0 (Luffy, Zorro or Sandy) and enter the arena. In One Piece VS Naruto 4.0 you can explore other characters. The important thing is to prepare your team in the best possible way. Choose Naruto, Sasuke, Jiraiya, Minato, Zoro, Luffy, Sanji and others as characters ... Good fun.

Essien said...

This blog consists of remarkable and genuinely excellent stuff for readers. Thank you for sharing. Also visit free waec english past questions pdf