De-Tex-afying

Well, I'm back from four days in Austin, Texas. Trying to get the ya'lls and howdys out of my system. Had a great time (even if it was work related). The big place to go in Austin (apparently) is Sixth Street. Of course, the one night I was able to get out was a Monday. Not a whole lot going on in the area on Mondays. But a Monday in Austin is pretty much like Mardi Gras in Greeley, so I still had a good time.

Had lunch with my good friend Eric who is writing up a storm these days and attending baseball games in Arizona when he makes excuses to get down there (much better than Austin on a Monday night). He has been able to write all over the place on his laptop, and he was nice enough to give me the excuse of having younger kids (his are teens) to explain why I haven't been writing much lately. But that's crap. I know it. I keep letting everything else be a priority. And the problem is everything is a priority ... kids, family, job, money, soccer, baseball, community service, volunteering, being a husband, being a dad, being a columnist, being a teacher (yeah, I'm doing that, too) ...

So, if those are all priorities, where does "WRITE" come in? I feel guilty bumping almost anything else off that list (yeah, I could do baseball, but I really like baseball) ...

Of course, if I had a laptop, would I actually use it to write? That's the question. Would I, like Eric, drop my kids off at a practice and go to the library to write? I would love to say yes to that. And I would have every expectation to do that. But would I?

Not sure where I'm going with this rant. Just brain dumping. I'm writing ... at least.

Loving it

For the first time since 1991, I am happy about the Best Picture winner at the Oscars!

Ever since I saw Crash, every other movie this year has paled in comparison. I am just tickled it won.

In case you are wondering what 1991 was, well it was "Silence of the Lambs." I remember sitting in my little house in New Mexico yelling at the top of my lungs when it swept. I probably wasn't as invested in Crash as that, but I still whooped it up pretty good.

The other thing I loved was Larry McMurtry's acceptance speech about the culture of the book and how we can't lose it. I couldn't agree more and I plan on seeing my novels on the big screen someday, too!

Now, I just have to finish the latest one.