Schmoozing and working

I was included in a delightful supper party tonight, at the home of acquaintances who have a fantastic collection of American artifacts--everything from Texas art to items from South and Latin America to an arrowhead collection which the host re-assembled himself (and labeled) after it arrived in pieces. Their home is full of interesting pieces, but they also own a small museum in Weatherford (about 30 miles from Fort Worth). The Museum of the Americas presents, for instance, an annual Dia de los Muertos exhibition that is beyond compare. And has great opening parties.
I was pleased to be included on the guest list tonight, knowing there would be people I knew and some I didn't. But even in casual conversation with people I'd just met, we discovered degrees of connection--there are not even two degrees of separation in Fort Worth. One woman livesin a house my brother once lived in and seemed to know that about me. I was surprised to see a few people I knew that I didn't know had any connection to the Lawrences. Pleasant crowd in which it was easy to drift from conversation to conversation.
But I also did sosme business--for myself and for TCU Press. Talked to a hoticulturist who wants to write a small book on places to see native plants, an author whose manuscript is late and giving her difficulty, an editor I'd like to free lance for. And maybe found a location for this year's Books and Music in the Garden. All the talk was not only helpful for business, it was interesting. And the horticulturist who knows Greg, who now takes care of my yard. A really nice evening. Social networking at its best--and not on the computer.
Today was still cold, but I put Scooby in his bed and ran a couple of errands. I'm still on my kick of getting things done, loose ends tied up. So I went to a Sprint store, deleted my old e-mail, but have to wait for the TCU help desk to install the new password and server. Then I went to the jewelry store and had a new clasp put on the lovely bracelet Maddie chose for me for Christmas. Wore it proudly tonight, along with the bracelet she made earlier, and got raves.
Came home, proofread the index I'd done last night, and started on the list of cookbooks cited. Also called TIAA-CREF and straightened out confusion (in my mind,not their records) about my annuity and my IRAs. And made the gentleest tiny start toward organizing my tax info. I feel like I'm sailing into the New Year. Still need to finish the cookbook list, but I allowed myself to start reading a new novel.

That first sentence . . .

I've mentioned before--probably tiresome times--that a chapter I promised to contribute to the 40-year history of the Texas College of Osteopatic Medicine has been weighing on my conscience. The editors want it in October, which is now getting perilously close. As with many writing projects, if I can get the first sentence, I'm off and going. Today, thanks to a phone conversation with an old acquaintance, I got my first line--in fact about five lines. Now I'm itching to get back to it, because I know at least where the rough draft is going. For a week I'm giving up my work on the Google Book Settlement so I can write this chapter, although today I finally, with help, navigated the Google Book Settlement web page to get an updated list of TCU Press titles which have been scanned--a lot more than I originally thought. In fact, the total is 124. I'll have to dig in and see how many of those authors have responded to my query about having the press reprsent them or representing themselves. But I also did some acquisitions work today--felt so overburdened with Google and manuscripts piling up that I emailed those who submitted and told them it might be three months before I answered. But now, I feel a little silly, because I'm ready to answer two of the queries. Next week, I plan to keep my seat glued to my computer chair and clear up a lot of these projects.
Tonight it's too late to do any of those things. I have been to a lovely dinner party, something I don't often do because I'm not good at night driving and always a bit uncomfortable about going places alone, especially places that I don't know and might have stairs without railings or some other barrier for me. This time I was smart--drove by this morning and checked it out--easy access from the parking area by the garage and, since the house faces a really busy street, I emailed and asked where to park. The hostess, my friend Mary, said to park by the garage and came out to offer me an elbow but I didn't need it. Even left my stick in the car. Piece of cake.
Lovely evening--two other couples (three of the four people from the TCU English Dept.), and we had a lively discussion. In this household, Harry is the cook, though Mary does super-service at serving, clearing, etc. Harry made pork roast with tonnato sauce (tuna and capers) and asparagus. Then they blew my diet with ice cream, but it was good. And pirogues which I love and rarely eat. I was reluctant to break up the party but by 9:30, it was time for me to head home.
Harry has a tremendous collection of cookbooks--I always think I'm over-run by books but he has as many cookbooks as I do total books. He doesn't use them to check recipes as much as he simply reads them, like many people read a novel. I told him about the book I'm reading currently--Jam Today by Tod Davies, a sort of conversational memoir about cooking without recipes, but more about that later in a future blog. I'll go to Central Market tomorrow and probably run into Harry--we often meet there on Saturday mornings.