Nothin' much

I have a new favorite Dorothy Parker poem courtesy Jim Lee who recited it for me--in particularly meaningful circumstances. I have now committed it to memory.

If you be innocent,
Never trouble to deny.
But if you be guilty,
Weep and storm and swear they lie!

And I have a new Winston Churchill story, courtesy of Steve Munday. Seems a lady sailed up to Churchill and said, "If I were married to you, I'd poison you." Churchill replied, "Madam, if you were my wife, I'd drink it."

That I'm reciting poetry and jokes may reflect the fact that I haven't had much to post on my blog, although I've been acutely aware all week that if you have a blog and want people to read it regularly, you need to post regularly. Melinda, my web guru in the office, remarked that I haven't posted in over a week, and I said, "I haven't had much to say." And it's the truth.

My week has seen a good trip to Abilene to appear on a panel about our colalborative novel, Noah's Ride, and attend a luncheon honoring my friend, novelist Jane Roberts Wood, for lifetime achievement--Jane is one of the nicest people I know, and I was glad to be there to honor her. But it was a long day.

I've had business lunches--to discuss a series of books on ranching in Texas, another to talk about the history of Fort Worth women's contribution to the city, tomorrow one to talk about a possible book on the artist as Christian. Today, though, a wonderful lazy lunch with Jordan, Jacob and Jean Walbridge, who hadn't seen Jacob since the day he was born. He screamed--and then he smiled charmingly--and then . . . . well, you know how three-month-olds do. But his grin is irresistible--he grins with his eyes as well as his mouth.

My novel has languished for two weeks, put on a back burner by the rejection of the cookbook. I'm adding a little to the cookbook, proofing--since one accusation was sloppy editing--and getting it ready to submit. Another publisher has agreed to look at it but stresses that everything they do has to have a historical aspect. Okay, I'm old enough that some of my recipes are historical!

And that's it, no deep thoughts--unless I talked about things about President Clinton's marvelous performance on Fox TV and politics and the state of the world, which Charles tells me is really in awful shape. I reminded him it has gone through periods like that for centuries. And he said, "Yes, and something wonderful usually comes out of it." Keep your fingers crossed.

It's Wednesday. I notice that on Mondays my motor really runs fast--I go to work with a long list of things to be done, and I work like mad. By Wednesday, much of it is done, and I'm more mellow. Looking forward to a lazy dinner on the porch with Jeannie Chaffee. Life is still good.