Hard Work and Pride

I attended the NLU Writer's Week workshop series of four sessions last week. I received very valuable feedback, as did all the other participants, on the work samples we submitted in relation to the workshop leader's expertise or topic. I sadly had to miss the afternoon session on Saturday, as I opted to spend some quality time with my significant-other unit at the Taste of Chicago. We had had little time due to work and my school commitments in the prior week, and so we decided to play hookie and hang out together at the Taste. We had a great time. The weather was spectacular summer hot.

The best part of all, however, turned up Tuesday evening, when the workshop leader (Tim Kazurinsky, a.k.a., Sweetchuck, of Police Academy fame) for the Saturday afternoon sent me an email letting me know that everyone at the workshop, and he included, enjoyed the submission I had provided. He also provided detailed suggestions for its improvement. Which I will work on and save the file for future reference.

Since the submission was a post in this blog, back in February, I've opted to save his commentary/feedback as a comment to that post.

I'm just really happy that I received all around positive feedback on my work during the workshop, because the session leaders are esteemed and successful writers on their own, and their appreciation and encouragement comes at a really good time for me, as I'm just starting to figure out some long-term paths that I may be interested in.

Last night was my first Women in Literature class for the term, which I'm very much looking forward to. Never mind the one hour commute to and fro ;o)

I was a little set back by the type of interaction the women (and one guy!) in the class engaged in. Why is it people's behavior sometimes make me feel like a martian in their mist? I notice a difference between downtown/near downtown individuals' attitudes from individuals in the suburbs. The downtown individuals particular to my class, last night, were a little self righteous and bitter. I hope that this amalgamous attitude doesn't rub off, I fear it may alter my creativity in a negative way. The professor, who is also my advisor and the program chair, is awonderful person who has a lot to share about the excellent writers we're studying during this course. I'm especially fond of one of the writers' (Sylvia Plath) personal life which I discovered through a quiz in Facebook (!) and look forward to expanding my knowledge of her life, times, and works.

Here's to good reading!

Quote of the Day

Any addictive relationship begins when a person repeatedly seeks the illusion of relief to avoid unpleasant feelings or situations. This is nurturing through avoidance -- an unnatural way of taking care of one's emotional needs. At this point, addicts start to give up natural relationships and the relief they offer. They replace these relationships with the addictive relationship.

From: Boredom Can Be a Door To New Growth, by Therese J. Borchard

Continued Lesson in How Cool Chicago Is

I am still so happy and excited about the events of this last weekend. Very rarely do I get in such a good mood about the events of my weekends ^_^; The serendipity of the events and the "good" busyness was action-packed, and, just what the doctor ordered!

Saturday morning I got to go on a train ride to downtown Chicago, albeit exceptionally early... to hear this energetic Pulitzer-winning journalist talk about what makes a writer and good writing. I met two new friends at the luncheon, whom I truly hope to run into again, although it's unlikely. Then I blew off the afternoon session (yes I certainly did) to spend some quality summer time w/ the significant other unit. We both have been very busy lately and haven't had much relaxed time together. So after a glorious, sun-induced respite in Millenium Park, we both wealked out to and hung out at the Taste of Chicago...for 4 hours! It rocked. I was exhausted. That's the best sleep I had in about a month!

Sunday, we started the the pancake house around the corner from our house. Days always rock when we start them that way! Awesome locally-owned shop, good for the local economy and lots of smiles to boot.

We then bought a car trunk bike rack from Wal-Mart and took our bicycles to a bike shop to get looked over. Without the bike rack, there was no way we could even fit one bike alone in our car trunk. I was sure it was going to cost a bomb to get the bikes rehabbed because...we haven't used them in approximately 5 years, and they're oxidized and in just not that great a condition. Amazingly, after a kinda long wait, the shop guy got our bikes a *free* chain greasing and refilled the air on the flat tires with some suggestions for removing some of that unsightly oxidation (particularly on the brake handles). I told him he was awesome, as we were walking out bikes out of the shop. The oxidation I can take care of with the Brasso and steel wool (and eblow grease) we bought yesterday, an done at the tail end of this week when I have two days off for the Independence Day Holiday.

We took a walk downtown Naperville and decided to go paddle boating. That was so awesome! The artificial lake is absolutely gorgeous, completely surrounded by trees and greenery. And the day was absolutely perfect for it too. On the way back to the car, I spotted an Aston Martin Vantage, and of course, had to take some pix.

Absolutely awesome weekend. Too bad it had to come to a close ;)

Word of the Day

Sculduggery -

: underhanded or unscrupulous behavior ; also : a devious device or trick