Back to School

I'm not even in school (and if I were, I would be excited about going back, I love school) but getting back to "real life" after the holidays has been really tough. It would probably be a little bit easier if I had a job and an office to go to, but alas, I don't. I have to make my own work for the time being, get back into the mind set of "work" so when I do get a job, I'll be ready. Also, I'm getting back the momentum of writing, getting notes from my story partner on a script, starting a rewrite. I went to the bookstore to get new calendars. I found two (one for the kitchen -- sunflowers, one for the office--Paris) and as I was standing in line -- I swear, I didn't mean to buy new books -- two books jumped out at me. (And both were 50% off, so how could I refuse?) The first is Webster's Dictionary of Word Origins. I love word origins and could spend hours looking stuff up. Since I can't afford (money and space) to buy the OED, this will do for the moment. The other book is the Little Black Book of Poker. We love to play poker and this is a handy book for coming up with new games when it is your turn to deal. My husband knows all kinds of games "The name of the game is Touch Football...." and I'm just learning new ones. Now I have a handy reference so I can call up games like "Follow the Cowboys" and "Chicago" and "Have a Heart." I like this game -- very brutal. You play it like 7 card stud and if a player is dealt a heart, face up, he may take a card from any other player. The player whose card was taken does not get a replacement card. Can't wait to try it out. In the mean time, what am I reading? Not much. I have been reading bits and bobs of things. I read a few chapters/essays in the travel book "There and Then" and a few in the book "Rereadings" -- both of which I'm enjoying very much. I can't seem to settle down to start a novel or a new non-fiction. I think once I get back into the swing of the new year I'll be digging back into stuff. I'm also suffering a bit from ANTI-Seasonal Affective Disorder. It is January. It is California. It is 81 degrees today. I hate that. I would like to have some semblance of seasons where I live. I grew up in the tropics and need to live in LA for the work I do, but I wish I could have more seasons. No, I don't need to live in Minnesota, I'm not into that kind of harsh season. Just some cloudy cold weather during winter. Is that too much to ask? I lived in Seattle for a year and that was the perfect amount of seasons. Trees turned color in the fall, there was a little snow in the winter, spring arrived in a riot of colors and styles, summer lasted until late at night. Nice. Merry New Year everyone.