time, writing, thinking aloud...

I'm just killing time before meeting a friend for dinner.Just dropped my husband at the airport and am on my own for a couple of weeks. I'm hoping to use this time wisely.

Some goals for the next two weeks include being religious about my cardio and gym time, cleaning up my act with the food {always the toughest thing for me....I LOVE food}, riding everyday.....and resurrecting a novel that I periodically visit!

I've always been a writer of sorts without ever intending to make a profession of it. I used to write short stories in the back of high school algebra class, made up plays when I was even younger, wrote for the school paper. I confess to a love of the long essay and research papers in college. I've started a dozen books over the course of my adult life.

Last summer I started working on a book project that involved horses, dressage, a little romance, a good look at the East Coast show world. My thought was that if I write about what I know, I should have a better shot at making a believable, and hopefully, enjoyable book. Previously I started and put down an attempt at fantasy. I may go back to it eventually, but my ideas for that one began both to spin out of control as well as wander into areas already covered by better writers. That one sits in a drawer, benignly neglected, until my next inspiration for its direction.

But my horse book is calling me again. I jotted ideas just the other night. Just now I need to give myself permission to work tapestry style rather than via an outline or chapters. I get so involved with layout that I fear I miss out writing down scraps of inspiration, description or dialogues floating about my mind.

Does this count as writer's block? Can one have writer's block when one hasn't finished anything yet????

Book Piles

I'm not a hoarder but I do have a real weakness for acquiring books. I favor hardcovers, which would explain why I has thus far resisted the lure of a Kindle. I like turning pages!

But the NY Times Book Review on Sundays, Amazon.com, Facebook, Twitter, what the guy next to me in Starbucks is reading...these are all catalysts and temptations to buy some more. And my piles of unread stuff are growing at an alarming rate! I noticed it today when I had to clear all the surfaces of my desk and nightstands so that I could pay some bills. I've only another month here in Florida before the horses and I pack up and return home to NY for the summer. These piles are the reading I wanted to get done during my show season. Along with my fitness goals, I like getting through my reading expectations! But I have tons to go and have trouble resisting adding to the list! Consequently, all the tables in my house have a pile of books atop them.

Part of the problem? If I really like something, I will promptly re-read it. This definitely slows down the shelving of my new treasures. I won't put a book away until I've read it. And I read very fast. But I just read Deborah Harkness' "A Discovery of Witches" three times in a row. In between, a re-run of "Twilight" on cable prompted me to read that again. I like interior design books, so Charlotte Moss and Carolyne Roehm lie open to the last rooms I was salivating over on the family room coffee table.

Which means I will be perusing one or both over tea tomorrow morning at breakfast.

"The Art of Racing with The Rain" has been guilting me since my birthday in January. It was gift from a like minded dog loving friend. It sits on the night table begging like a Lab puppy to be opened. The newest Sookie Stackhouse is under it. Except that prompted me to go back to the first one and reread the series. I'm about a third of the way through "Living Dead in Dallas." I put that down when I bought the Harkness. Nora Ephron's latest book is under Sookie. You see where I'm going with this?

Today my latest order from Amazon arrived. Ongoing arguments with a conservative Tea Party friend {how did I get a Tea Party friend????} about revisionist history, the US Constitution, and the current right wing in America {please do not let me go there on this blog!!!} has re-awakened  my interest in the 18th century and the Enlightenment. This dovetailed with reading Deborah Harkness and her incorporation of alchemy and the history of Science in "ADOW." So joining Sookie, the dog book, "The Best of Charles de Lint," and  the last Nora Ephron book are "The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution " by the aforementioned Ms. Harkness, and Jessica Riskin's "Science in the Age of Sensibility: The Sentimental Empiricists of the French Enlightenment." Rounding out this pile on my right hand nightstand is "Something Most Deadly" by Ann Self. I bought that because it's a mystery novel about characters who ride Dressage.

And this afternoon, while I was supposed to be paying bills and filing paper piles, I was surrepticiously reading Jillian Michael's latest. And I never read self help stuff!

I'm hopeless! But I love my books. Today I was good and shelved my finished reads. I resisted the temptation to order three more books mentioned in the Sunday Times but I did tear the reviews out before pitching the paper.

We'll see how long I can hold out from ordering them...

wandering around the site

Question of the day? As I learn to maneuver and try to read other people's blogs, I find there are two themes that show up EVERYWHERE. Christianity and kids.

Now I have nothing against either. However, as I go looking for other blogs to read and potentially follow, I feel bombarded. Is anyone writing about OTHER stuff? If so, how do I find you? I keep hitting next blog, but it's either God or someone's children staring me down. Very frustating.

So I am going to label this little ramble with ALL the things I'm interested in and maybe someone will comment and lead me to new blogs about very interesting topics that require neither prayer or diapering...

Anyone out there? I will talk about all sorts of stuff...

First rambling...

I'm not sure why I have started another blog. I have a dressage blog on WordPress that I like although I haven't posted much there recently. I will return to it. But I think I'd like that one to stay Dressage and horse related with the odd visit to related topics. Have another blog here that I started in 2008. Only posted there once....really, I ought to take it down!

This one? I think I'd like to branch off into all the other interests I have. No defined material. Recipes, wine tried, political rants, design thoughts, books read, music that I love, stuff about my dogs, and of course the horses will be mentioned. But really technical dressage stuff will stay on my other blog.

Tonight we made pizza on the grill. Anyone gotten one of these great stones that turn your grill into an oven? I am wowed by how good the pizza comes out. I've been picking up dough from a local Italian specialty store, making my own sauce and experimenting. Tonight I did a rather traditional pepperoni pizza for my hubby. But my friend Kassie and I really enjoyed a Pizza Bianca that I infused with chopped garlic, basil, rosemary and thyme. The cheese were fresh mozzarella, goat cheese, parmegiano rggiano and locatelli. We topped it with baby arugula, baby portobellas, and dribbled white truffle oil over the top. A few twists of fresh black pepper and into the grill it went.

Ambrosia! Drank a great bottle of chianti , Chianti Classico Reserva Ducale by Ruffino, tossed a spring greens sald with a vinaigrette of balsamic and lemon infused olive oil....

I'm never gonna get thin at this rate!!!

Ran about 2 miles this morning and put an hour in at the gym!!! Good thing! Didn't get to ride today. Rafi is up in Ocala getting a standing MRI to see if we can get a diagnosis on a mysterious lameness. Jen, the assistant trainer at our barn, is showing Callista this weekend, so I'm letting her have the ride all week. Arie is in the midst of being sold, so I am divorcing myself from him...

Just finished Elizabeth Bard's fabulous "Lunch in Paris." Totally adored it and am shelving it with my cookbooks so I can try some of her recipes.

Just reread Deborah Harkess' "A Discovery of Witches." Super, super, SUPER! Can't wait for the sequel.

The photo at the top is the courtyard garden at out Florida farm....roses, lavender, and a French Fountain...makes me happy