Okay,  so I'm trying to forget that another birthday is looming (end of this week).   My sister says age is just a number.   Yes,  younger sister.   But life has been finding ways to remind me that time is marching on.

1)  Sunday,  a friend invited me to a baseball game.   Angels vs. Red Sox.   Although I've been a baseball fan most of my life,  I've never really had a favorite team.   I did have a few favorite players,  but once they were gone,  so was my loyalty.   I discovered that it's the game itself I love,  not so much the major league aspect.   I now prefer to watch minor league and even Little League games in small,  fan-friendly parks where I can actually see the action.  

My friend,  however,  has been Ms. Angel Fan since birth.   She's so loyal,  she didn't mind sitting in the hot sun,  way up in the right field pavilion.   She doesn't mind going to a huge,  generic-looking stadium,  because *her* team plays there (they swept Boston on Sunday,  which was impressive).      

She asked me when I'd last gone to a game with her,  and I realized that it was 1992!   She and her ex-husband were dating then.   Another friend who went with us Sunday,  along with her 15-year-old son,  was a newlywed (son arrived a year later).   

2)  "Mamma Mia" is now a hit at the theater,  too late for me.   I went through my ABBA phase from 2000-2002,  a bit self-consciously.   I almost wore out my greatest hits tape (yes,  audio tape).   Still know all the words to the songs.   Can even sing "Chiquitita" and "Voulez-Vous" in Spanish,  courtesy of Menudo (one of their producers must've had a thing for ABBA too).   So now that I'm over it,  the show comes out and is a big hit.   And I wouldn't have to feel self-conscious anymore.   *Sigh.*   I always was ahead of my time.

3)  The ARC-reading has confirmed what I suspected:  my novel manuscript is actually MG,  not YA as advertised.   *Oops.*   At least reading YA makes me feel young (or maybe immature),  because I still don't like dark,  edgy,  sexually-explicit material.   

4)  Just toured the house where my grandmother and aunt used to live,  now newly renovated (my cousins spent almost $50,000 fixing it up to sell).   It was like an episode of "Extreme Makeover."   The living room carpet was replaced by wood flooring;  new carpeting in the bedrooms;  new sinks,  counters,  appliances,  garage door,  landscaping,  etc.   Grandma and Aunt Kay were major pack rats,  so I'd never seen the house completely empty.   All that space,  and now there's no reason to go over there again....

Time marches on.               

•      Saturday,  my cousin had a first birthday party for her twins at a small park in Ocean Beach (San Diego,  not far from Sea World).   An indoor party might've been a better idea.   The strong ocean breeze kept blowing things off the table.   It was cold in the shade and hot in the sun.   Planes taking off from the nearby international airport roared by overhead.   And by the time everyone gathered around to sing "Happy Birthday,"  the little guys were tired and cranky.  
• Their names are Jonathan and Zander,  but--apologies to my cousin--I don't think they look like Jonathan or Zander.   As writers know,  finding a name that fits isn't easy.
• The twins' cousin,  one-year-old Sophie,  does look like a Sophie.   She's a little charmer.   I'd forgotten how squirmy and busy they are at that age.
• After the party,  my sister and I went to the Cabrillo National Monument,  in nearby Point Loma.   We saw the statue of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo,  the Spanish explorer who was the first European,  in 1542,  to set foot on the west coast of the United States.   Behind the statue,  to the west,  there's a pretty view of the San Diego Bay.   The Pacific Ocean is on the eastern side.
• We then walked up a hill to see the Old Point Loma Lighthouse.   Built in 1854,  it stands 422 feet above sea level.   For 36 years,  eleven keepers and 22 assistants (including two women) tended the light.   But,  ironically,  fog and low clouds often obscured it,  so it was closed in 1891.   A new light station at the bottom of the hill went into use.
• We saw the parlor,  kitchen,  and two bedrooms.   It looked cozy,  but having to climb that narrow spiral staircase every day wouldn't be much fun.
• Sunday,  I did the grocery shopping,  then went to the homeless shelter for my volunteer duty.   Since we were a little shorthanded,  business was booming.   We ended up serving dinner to 111 people.
• Gloria,  the kind lady in charge,  always wants to know how my writing's going.   She was thrilled to hear about my latest Highlights sale,  in April.   I gave her a copy of the story to read.  
• What I've read lately:  Kiss My Book,  a YA by Jamie Michaels.   It was a clever story ("ripped from the headlines") about a teen who makes a big splash with a book deal,  only to be called out for plagiarizing.   I noticed a couple of little errors,  though.   Maybe I should be a copy editor?

Kind of a weird week around here.   
 
1.)   Monday,  there was a freak accident at my sister's apartment house.   Luckily,  she wasn't home yet.   Unluckily,  her neighbor had the day off.   A teen driver came screeching around the corner after school,  lost control of his car,  jumped the curb,  and hit the back of neighbor's car--in the driveway.   My sister said the bumper will have to be replaced,  and the trunk fixed.   The driver was apprehended and there were several witnesses.   It was amazing that nobody got hurt.

2.)   Tuesday,  my favorite baseball player,  Mike Piazza,  announced his retirement....   I was an obsessed a highly devoted fan in the late '90s and early naughties.   How could I resist?   He was hunky,  witty,  and a great hitter (as well as a catcher.   I've always had a thing for catchers).  
 
3.)   Thursday,  just a few days after a heat wave,  SoCal had a thunderstorm with hail.   And not one,  but two tornadoes in nearby Moreno Valley!   They cut across the 215 freeway,  knocking over a big rig and nine freight cars sitting on a railroad track.   Again,  amazingly,  only the truck driver was hurt.

4.)   What I'm reading right now (new library book)--Golden Legacy:  How Golden Books Won Children's Hearts,  Changed Publishing Forever,  and Became An American Icon Along the Way by Leonard S. Marcus.   The history is really interesting,  and it has beautiful color illustrations.   I've seen some book covers that I'd forgotten about (we had quite a few in our house).

5.)   Just got an e-mail announcing the grand opening of a new Borders in Mira Loma (closer to my home).   The only book signing invitee whose name I recognized is Ed Begley Jr.,  the actor turned environmentalist.   A new Barnes and Noble is about to open in Chino Hills.   Always glad to see more bookstores,  but I still prefer the independents.    

Happy Memorial Day Weekend,  everyone! 

I can't think of a better cure for the common cold than good news,  which came in the mail this afternoon.   There,  cleverly concealed in my SASE,  was an acceptance letter from Highlights for my boy quilter story,  "Sew What?"   (I had the title long before the story.)

This is the (gasp!) fifth story I've sold them.   Hard to believe.   My very first sales were to small magazines my friends and family had never heard of.   In fact,  I'd never heard of three of them--I found them in the market listings.   The strangest thing is,  I haven't been able to break into other big magazines.   I'd love to be published in Pockets someday.   Maybe Cricket.   

For now,  though,  I'll go back to happy-dancing.

I've been hibernating lately,  but now that spring is around the corner,  I've started venturing out of my cave again (most of my favorite activities are in the spring and summer).

Saturday,  it was the Norco Western Art Show.   Each year it gets bigger and better,  and I envy really admire all those creative types.   One painting was called "God Creates the Horse",  with a pair of hands cradling a black foal,  about to set it down in a canyon with the rest of a galloping herd.

Then I went over to Vroman's bookstore in Pasadena to look for a book about my hometown (Pasadena is closer to L.A. County,  but they didn't have it either...).   While there,  I discovered that YA author Marilyn Reynolds was upstairs,  giving a talk.   I admit,  I haven't read any of her books,  but I've seen them.   She likes to write problem novels with controversial subjects.   Her latest WIP,  tentatively titled Shut Up,  is about child molestation.

I'm still reading a lot,  and finally have a few potential writing ideas.   Fiction I've read lately includes Spelldown by Karon Luddy,  and Eleven and Twelve by Lauren Myracle (I also peeked at the newly released Thirteen.    For some reason,  the MCs in these books talked about peeing a lot.   ?).   And I had to buy the new MG novel by Linda Sue Park,  Keeping Score,  because I knew I'd like it.   It's about a girl in 1951 who's a big baseball fan,  and her friendship with a local firefighter who goes off to war in Korea.   So good. 

A good nonfiction book I picked up is Humble Pie:  Musings on what lies beneath the crust by Anne Dimock,  a series of essays on that American institution.   (I still have the urge to write a pie-related scene or story,  even though I don't like it much myself.   Funny how the muse leads us.)   

Yeah,  I'm still here.   Nothing much has changed since last year....I haven't done much writing lately,  but I have been reading a lot,  soaking up information.   I figure if I read enough interesting books,  maybe I'll get inspired to keep writing my own.

YA books I've read:  Beige and The Queen of Cool by Cecil Castellucci.   (Beige was my favorite--so funny.   Ms.Cecil captures the teen voice stunningly well,  and her characterizations are great,  too.)

I also rifled through Head Case by Sarah Aronson,  and Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer,  at the library.   Both very intense,  and a tad disturbing.

I reread Kimchi and Calamari by Rose Kent,  and Sweet Fifteen by Diane Gonzales Bertrand.

Adult nonfiction I've read:  Longaberger,  An American Success Story by the late Dave Longaberger.   (A "rags to riches" story.   You can see the company's 7-story basket-shaped office building at www.longaberger.com .)      

Watch it Made in the U.S.A.,  A Visitor's Guide to the Best Factory Tours and Company Museums by Karen Axelrod and Bruce Brumberg. 

Apple Pie:  an American Story by John T. Edge.    (Hmm,  I notice a patriotic title theme here....)      

I've also been forcing myself to get up early (ack!) to watch reruns of a Mexican telenovela (soap opera) that I watched in 2005.   Why?   Well,  there's an actor I like on there.   And,  more importantly,  it's like taking a Spanish class (I turn on the closed captioning,  because I can read Spanish pretty well).   I'm getting a refresher course in Mexican slang,  too.   Which came in handy last week when my sister and I visited our old hometown,  Huntington Park (in L.A. County).   It's more of a barrio now than the melting pot it was back in the 70's.   At my old school,  we had Cuban,  Vietnamese,  and Cambodian students.   A girl from Scotland (Morag),  a boy from Hong Kong,  and a boy with a Mexican mother and Japanese father (Francisco something-or-other).   Probably where I got my interest in other cultures.