The Ten Year Meme

I got this from Razored Zen.

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Back in 1998 I was living in San Francisco near the Haight in a tiny little house in someone's back yard. I had an orange tabby named Kiko. The computer I had at the time was a "pizza box" Mac and I had AOL dial up. I was doing yoga. I had a garden. To get to work each morning I took a bus downtown and then a BART over into Oakland. The job was steady and not bad, but it kind of felt soul leaching at the time as it was all to do with numbers and I wanted words. I wanted to be surrounded by creative people.

Re-reading my journal (which I do on occasion to see if I've learned anything at all over the years), I found that I was brooding over guys I had brooded over from years before and kept brooding on for years after. Silly me. Like brooding does anything. On June 24 I woke up with a headache that wouldn't quit and called in sick to work, then felt like a louse for doing it, but I was caught up with invoices and bored and my headache wouldn't stop. I finally got out of the house in the afternoon to lug my laundry over to the laundromat over on Hayes to do laundry. I liked doing laundry, even though I hated hauling it (I used a luggage carrier and bungee cords to get my laundry bags down the hill and over a couple of blocks. The worst was bringing it back home again up the hill).

I'd had a dream where a former roommate of mine sobbed and wouldn't be comforted. I was living in a place from childhood, in Wenatchee. I didn't know what to do for her but found my violin case. It had no violin in it but had money instead. In my journal I pondered if I had sold out my creativity for money. Had I given up on my dream to be a writer just to have more money (yeah, now, I might not mind that job because it was mindless, like Lisa said, but at the time, it felt like a soul-sucker). My sister and a friend of hers were going to come over for dinner and hang out.

Five things on your to-do list for today
1. Rewriting Chapter 3
2.Check through my favorite blogs to read.
3. Vacuum, dammit! I really need to vacuum. I've been sweeping (too hot to run engines), but that doesn't cut it.
4. Work on a proofing and editing some short stories for a client.
5. Cross my fingers for work another client has promised will come through sometime soon (like today).

What would you do if you were a billionaire?
I’d set up a charity foundation. Not sure what it would focus on, or if it would just accept grant proposals from any in need who seemed worthy. Or maybe it would help pay medical costs for artists and writers without insurance. I don't know. But I would have a charity foundation. I'd also have a family fund set up - or set up accounts for my mom, my dad, my sister, other family members and friends. Other than that, I'd write, putter in the garden, play with my kitty, travel, maybe set up my own production company that worked on different kinds of creative projects from writing to film to art to music. I'd have a beachhouse, a cabin in the mountains, and a penthouse in the city and a jet that flew easily between each.

What are three of your bad habits?
1. Procrastination
2. Moodiness - typically from feeling as if I'd pissed off the world and it was taking it out on me, feeling like my friends are ignoring me and that I'll never, ever, ever, ever be good enough. Nobody likes me. Yeah, it can get bad.
3. Not thinking before I open my mouth or hit reply, or thinking but doing it anyway.

What are some snacks you enjoy?
1. toast
2. chocolate chip cookies
3. M&Ms

What were the last five books you read?

The Riddlemaster of Hed trilogy by Patricia A. McKillip. The prince of Hed, who recently returned from the Riddle Master College due to the death of his parents, falls in love with a harp and gets talked into following a riddle, just wants to answer one more riddle, and a harpmaster who seems to really understand him. Things happen, adventures occur, hi-jinks ensue, there's betrayal, love, loss, war, magic, and really good word magery.

The Sorceress and the Cygnet and The Cygnet and the Firebird, also by Patricia A. McKillip. In the first book, a young wayfarer boy is the only one in his clan to have corn silk hair. He tells good stories, but one day he falls into one and it sets him on a journey that could destroy the world as he knows it, but it's the only way to get back his true love. He meets up with the sorceress, Nyx Ro, and it's all mirrors, hidden rooms, and magic after that. In the second book, a firebird flies into Ro Holding one day spouting fire and turning everything it spouts on into jewels and precious gems. Everything turns back at moonrise when the firebird changes back into a man. Nyx Ro, ever curious, tries to help the lost firebird/man. In the meantime, Maguet Vervaine, her cousin, protector of Ro Holding, is abducted by a mage who wants a book that Nyx has but doesn't know how to use--yet. It's full of dragons and desserts and magic and love and loyalty and betrayal, and again, really good word magery.

So - that's five (3 + 2).

What are five jobs you have had?
1. Barista at Starbucks.
2. Receptionist/kennel cleaner at Fountain Veterinary Hospital.
3. Invoice clerk for a Chemical Company.
4. Keyholder at Waldenbooks.
5. Shelver, helper, proofer, etc at Wilson Library.

What are five places where you have lived?

1. Wenatchee, Washington
2. Bellingham, Washington
3. Seattle, Washington
4. San Francisco, California
5. Los Angeles, California