Tidying Up

Three days. Four garbage bags. One clean room.

Ah. There's nothing like having a tidy nest. Picking up after myself was supposed to be a priority this summer, but I actually ended up making more of a mess by forgetting to dust and dragging my reference books for my thesis all over the house - and leaving them in stacks all over the floor. Of course, there's nothing like watching an episode of Hoarders to send a shiver a guilt down your spine. Arming myself with a steely resolve and an open windows media player, I tackled every single part of my room in an effort of a huge clean out. The secret recesses of my closet (where the racks and shelves are designed so badly that I can't reach all the way into the back molars of the space, hehe), the drawers packed with wrinkly clothing, and my ever-shifting bookcases. On the last day of cleaning, I sneezed so much from the dust that I had to carry a tissue at all times.

Of course, my room really isn't that messy. It just got sorely neglected during my strict writing schedule this summer.

A friend of mine suggested that I blog about some of the items I rediscovered during my clean out (like video games, paper-bag puppets, and IKEA plushies), so I'll try to make some smaller posts this month and do that. In the meantime, I thought I'd give you an update on what's been going on lately.


Thesis 

Narwhals, swing jazz, lighthouses - oh my!

IT IS DONE! I finished my first draft on July 31st, fulfilling my goal of being done with it before August. I just barely made that goal, but I'm glad it worked out that way. School starts up again at the end of August, and I've got orientation and planning to do before I head back (the logical reason behind my thesis goal).

After reading through my draft again for typos, I'm going to print it and have it ready for my director to read. I'm looking forward to working with her on the future revisions.


Tumblr 

Okay, okay, okay, okay, I'm really excited to say this: I have a fan club on tumblr!

*excited scream*

I discovered fans-of-kimberly completely by accident while tending to my personal blog. When I scrolled through my main feed, I saw a familiar sight: a grouping of the covers I've used for my Figment stories. It took me a minute to realize that they were, in fact, the very same covers... and the post originated from fans-of-kimberly. WHUT. That's SO COOL.

I don't know who started the tumblr club or how many people are following it, but I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. I felt like crying when I saw it - so so amazing.


Future Projects

As I promised in my last post, I'm working on the final chapters on Diamond's story, "Becoming a Butler." However, I have been delightfully distracted by a book that's been giving me some ideas: a nonfiction book called A Butler's Life: Scenes from the Other Side of the Silver Salver by Kimberly Allen and Christopher Allen (the butler in question). While Allen is certainly a modern day butler, the story of how he stumbled into the profession is humorous, insightful, and wondrous to read about. I'm usually speedy when it comes to reading, but nonfiction books, for whatever reason, slow me down. So when I finish this beauty... yep. You can expect "Becoming a Butler" to be complete.

I had hoped to get a break after finishing my thesis draft, but classically, a lot of other projects have made their presences known.

In the next few weeks, I'll be working on a few overdue short stories; one of them is expanding my short story "Lookout" (that had appeared briefly on Figment). A brand new lit mag, founded by one of my MFA fellows, Alan, is called Tripod Cat. The neat thing about this mag is that all the stories are published as audio files. If you've got some free time, have listen of Issue 1's poetry and prose - they're so good! After "Lookout" is polished and ready to roll, I'll be recording it - hopefully overcoming my dislike of hearing my recorded voice. I'll do my best, haha.

Wishing

My heart has been set on wishing. There's something I want very much, and it really doesn't have much to do with patience of perseverance. It's a shot in the dark, a hope to long for. And I'll find out if it comes true soon. I cleaned my room yesterday in an effort to distract myself; there's something relaxing about being in the mood to clean, sort, and explore the treasures lying hidden in your space. I have three book shelves in my room, with the middle one being a tad bit shorter than the other two. On it I have my Apollo bust and a bunch of very tiny books that can't fit on a normal shelf. There, while dusting, I rediscovered the tiny book called Wishing: Shooting Stars, Four-Leaf Clovers, and Other Wonders to Wish Upon compiled by Gloria T. Delamar.

I'm not surprised to find this little book again. While, at the ripe age of twenty-two (almost twenty-three!), I still feel adventuresome when I try a new flavor of potato chips or go on a new theme park ride. However, there are things I love that I think I'll always continue to love. I guess wishing has always fascinated me. Who hasn't wished? Like any other kid, I used to think of what I would wish for if I stumbled upon Genie's lamp. But lamps are rare treasures to find. They're buried in caves or under the land at the bottom of the sea. Genies don't want to be found; they're rather lazy and quite content to spend eternity lounging on plush pillows and watching the travel channel. So how do normal people wish? Well, my book tells me that you can just about wish on anything - but there are rules. And they're rather intriguing. So for this post, I'd thought I'd share some of my favorites from the book:

Acorn

"If an acorn falls while you're standing under an oak tree, pick it up, turn it around three times, and make a wish. To make the acorn's magic stronger, place it in a windowsill for three days."

Lightning Bug

"If you catch a lightning bug (also called a firefly or glowworm), place it on the back of your ring finger, as though it were a ring, and wish for a jewel. If the bug glows, you'll get your wish; if it flies away before glowing, you won't."

White Rabbit Night

"'White rabbit night' - the last night of a month - happens twelve times a year. If you say 'white rabbit' three times - sometime after midnight, and before you speak to anyone - you may make a wish for good luck for that month."

Train

"If you're passing under a trestle just as a train goes overhead, make a wish."

Interesting, eh? There's quite a bit of them in this book and it's nice to see that every culture has some kind of wishing tip or trick. But I'm always wondering: why is that we feel the need to wish on something? Perhaps it is because we really do believe that inanimate objects or concepts have power of their own. Maybe a fallen leaf can carry our wishes higher than the words that echo in our heads. What do you think?

The rest of my afternoon will be full of busy work, a lot of thinking, and indulging in some sweets. I confess I haven't made a wish on anything yet. I can't decide if I want to, even if such little folk tales and tips are fun to read about. I might keep my wish inside myself and keep it warm. Maybe, each time I realize it, it'll burn hotter than the summer air.

Photo from Tumblr