horseback riding, badly

It seemed so simple. Get on a horse and ride for an hour up a hill to get to where the zipline starts. Yow! I had some vague idea that you have to hold on to a horse with your thighs. I tried, lord I tried. But my thighs were weak and my horse was bouncy. Sure, other people had horses that just plodded along, happily following some other plodding horse. Mine was annoyed that he (she?) wasn't at the front and he kept trying to push past the others to GET to the front. When we came to a more open area, he veered off the path and took off running. Well, probably just a canter or something but it felt like a full gallop to me. I bounced all over the place, desperately trying to squeeze his sides with my thighs, and hold on to the horn on the saddle, while pulling back on the reins with my other hand. He did not like me trying to stop him. I could tell he was very annoyed to have me on his back. I wish someone had a video camera because I KNOW I bounced all over the place like a rag doll and looked absolutely ridiculous! Brianna was the same - at first the two of us laughed so hard we couldn't hold on, but then it just went on forever, so the humor was over. Others went past us, in perfect horsemanship form: Jenna, Claudia, Ian, Katie, Alex. Damn them!

After the zipline, we were to ride the horses back down the hill. I opted for a ride in the trailer pulled by a tractor. While I wasn't falling off a horse any longer, I was bounced JUST as much as this trailer hopped and skipped over a very rocky dirt path that wasn't actually appropriate for a trailer. No relief until it was all over and we got back on the bus. The best part was that the bus took us into La Fortuna and we had hamburgers! Then there was a terrific rainfall, the only rain of our 8-day stay, and after that we went on to the hot springs.

rollin' on the river

white water river rafting has the longest name of a sport that goes by really fast. i love it! it's like a roller-coaster in the water. the best part is when the boat turns sideways in the rapids and a huge wave comes splashing over me. nothing like getting wet and bouncing up and down at the same time!

at one point, we got stuck on rocks (the river is low - not enough rain) and Manuel (the guide) had to get out and stand on a rock to try to pull the boat off. mind you, this was in the middle of a rapids, so water was whooshing past him. Daniel wasn't paying attention for some reason and all of a sudden he just leaned backward and fell off the boat. but it was funny, because there was only about a foot of water where he fell. he landed on a rock and he could just stand up and get back in again. if the water had been deeper, where it was supposed to be, he would have rushed away down stream.

our boat had Katie, who loved to splash people in the other boats; Santiago, who rowed to his own rhythm and no one else's; Alfred, who couldn't sit still and vocalized about his love for rafting every chance he got - except when he and Santiago started discussing what food they wish they could be eating at that moment ("shrimp, god, i want some shrimp!"); and Brianna, who was trepidatious (is that a word? I don't know if it is, but i like it anyway) about the whole thing but LOVED it as soon as we hit the first rapids.

and me, who whooped and hollered and had a huge smile plastered on my face the entire two hours!

Costa Rica!

The first three days we stayed with families in a small town (very small) about 2 hours from San Jose. The houses, for the most part, are not entirely enclosed. The walls go up and stop. The tin roof hovers over the walls about 12 inches or so. This allows for air to move through the house (that and the always open doors!). At first I had trepidation about it (the bugs!) but i got used to it and appreciated the moving air. I even got so i didn't mind the geckos that ran in and out, although i worried that the one in my bedroom would explore my bed at night.

So much to tell, but let's start with the animals and birds: howler monkeys jumping in the trees overhead as we soaked in the hot springs of the Arenal volcano; brilliantly colored birds in the trees next to our eating platform at the rainforest campground; a giant toad leaping away from me as i stepped out of my tent at the same campground; toucans and toucanettes! and a plethora of bugs that students kept finding and bringing around to show everyone. Also, in town, the dogs that are all allowed to run free - vastly different personalities from our babied and indulged house pets!

(in the picture above, that is me on the far left, in the black and white dress.)

la pura vida

going to costa rica, baby! soft silky air, sunshine, friendly people and the jungle! i'll be back just after april fool's day with a report about ziplining, volcanos, white water river rafting and everything.

the upside of being sick

yes there is an upside. i'm too tired to do anything so i read and i've read five books in as many days. this is what i love best! i think that's what i did when i was a child, more than anything else. always reading.

i didn't read anything earth-shatteringly good, but lots of fun stuff and books that are helpful for me. i know that my novel that is ALMOST perfect would BE perfect if i can just adjust the plot problems. reading these books has helped me rethink the novel and i am thinking that one chapter that comes in the middle of the book needs to be moved closer to the end. that one change (plus rewriting other things to catch the fallout) might be the thing that makes the book right.

now if only i had two more weeks of winter break, healthy and willing and able to spend time writing - that would be heaven!

the haze of a flu

damn i'm sick. i haven't had a flu this bad in a long time - full on headache and body ache and cough and all that goes with it. so it puts me in this hazy dreamy state that would be GREAT for writing if only i had the energy to write.

last night, as i did not sleep, i created. if only i could have created on a computer instead of inside my head. i had been reading a biography of C.S. Lewis (creator of the Narnia stories) and i thought about writing a novel about a man who is all manly-man, a regular guy, but who at the privacy of his computer creates a fantasy world starring a little girl. i imagine scenes such as him playing pick-up basketball with friends, then getting an inspiration about his story and, in doing so, missing a crucial shot. but he can't tell the guys because he has told no one about this story. and there it sits. i would like to do something with it rather than have it be the result of a fever dream, and left to wither away....

outside of my head, LA is really cold (for LA - this would be wonderfully comfortable and welcome weather to our relatives in Chicago!). i love that trees are changing color and there are some streets we can drive that feel like New England (as i imagine it might be) with all these golden and red and orange trees and leaves all over the street. beautiful especially with the blue sky and crisp, cold sunlight.

we are driving some of these streets because we are teaching rylan to drive. except there is not much teaching involved. as is usual for him, he studied us and other people intently for the last six months. he got his permit a week ago, and we began letting him drive and he is very cautious but does very well. he's aware of things around him and he's confident without getting cocky. of course, this is on quiet streets. eventually he will have to get on busier streets and deal with traffic.

okay, so there is some hazy babbling! i should have music on and i don't even have the energy to do that! if i did have the energy i would play the new John Legend cd that ry gave me for christmas. maybe tomorrow.

the sisters

my big goal: to smoosh three partly or fully written novels together into one. to make the five women in the three novels either sisters (3) or cousins (2). to create more tension with the interwoven narratives. to kill off one of the characters even though that is too too painful to contemplate. but it must be done.

started. and wow is it hard to take separate work and put it together as one. however, it is also a great deal of fun and challenge and takes wonderful creative energy which, after all, is the best part of being a writer.

on itunes repeat while i work: my mixtape of "heartbreaking songs."

Victory! and the let-down

Yaay we won!! Obama is our next president!

bittersweet victory however, since Prop 8 passed in california and now there will have to be all kinds of legal challenges to allow gays to marry. so all happiness for Obama is tempered with sadness and annoyance at Prop 8.

And now - what do i do with my time? no more obsessive poll tracking. No more trying to second guess what will happen. i am interested in Obama's cabinet choices, but not as much as i was in the election overall. and if i never hear another word about Sarah it would be too soon.

so.....back to writing. got several ideas for stories and i need to channel my obsessive internet reading into word-processing fiction writing. really.

high anxiety

it's saturday. the election is tuesday. i can't stop reading blogs: huffington post, the daily kos, talking points memo, politico and a new one to my list, filled with incomprehensible statistics, called fivethirtyeight.

so this is too much information and i keep trying to read the future in them like they are tea leaves, or the guts of some sacrificed animal. and of course i can't read the future, so i find myself agitated and worried.

there should be a name for this.

democrat-anxiety-syndrome.

pre-election traumatic disorder.

obsessive-polltracker disorder.

or not

okay, no serialized story for me. i tried to start one, but the pressure was immediately too much. the only way i can do a serial story is to just write the whole thing, then break it into pieces and post it. only after it's all done. so, okay, i chickened out.

it's beautiful and cold (for LA) today with clear skies and winds and lots of sun. this is when i feel lucky to live in LA.

and on itunes right now, Birdland by Weather Report because Rylan is getting into some jazz with his music lessons and so i am geting a lesson in jazz from him. i like it. just wish it had words.......