Posts on vegetarianism

I spent this weekend in Racine for the SCBWI Wisconsin's annual retreat (really more of a whirlwind conference/sleepover). It was my first big writer-type event and totally worth it. Highlights:

• The usual assortment of inspiration, information, and encouragement you would expect from the presenters. OK, also some nausea-inducing assessments of the "toughness" of the market these days, especially now what with "economic downturn." And a nothing-to-fear manuscript critique from the gracious and funny Holly Black.
• Meeting my agent Steven Chudney and his Wisconsin clients Julie Bowe and Deborah Lynn Jacobs in person for the first time.
• Meeting many other (mostly Wisconsin) writers and illustrators, all of whom were incredibly friendly and supportive and reassuring and welcoming to this Illinois interloper. A special shout-out to Pat Schmatz and Jennifer Motl, who, in addition to the above folks, were my main buddies for the weekend.
• Getting only one hour of sleep the first night because I was so keyed up. Silver linings: finishing The Hunger Games (so now I know why everyone's talking about it), raiding the abundant snack table at 3 AM, and being up in plenty of time for...
• Walking the labyrinth as the stars faded and then going down to the beach to watch the sun rise and skip rocks. I got a few five-skippers! (i.e., Really good for me.)

  (Aside: it was funny, being as close to Lake Michigan as we were, because my apartment is only slightly farther from the shore. I could have dog-paddled 75 miles up the coast to get there if I'd wanted. It made me feel cozily at home. Of course, how often do I go to the beach to watch the sun rise? Um...never? Accursed writing time!)

• Cafeteria food that reminded me of (a) summer camp and (b) being a vegetarian at summer camp. No, I'm afraid there were no vegan biscuits and gravy waiting for me this morning, nor veggie and tofu stir-fry last night. I'm looking forward to ingesting protein that doesn't come in the form of cottage cheese!
• Not thinking about the presidential election for nearly 48 hours.

  (Aside: You know you're not in Chicago when you see as many McCain as Obama signs on people's lawns. I mean, my building's on the edge of an historic neighborhood of freakin' multi-million dollar homes, and they've all got Obama signs! Come on, Wisconsin... Gobama!)

Again, all in all, a really terrific time. Some people asked me, will I go again next year? If I had to decide right this second, I'd say yes! I'll just have see how life and finances stand when registration rolls around next summer...

I've fallen behind in the Kidlitosphere lately, both reading and posting-wise. I chalk it up to the season, in large part; I've been trying really hard to be nice to myself and not stress out about things like, say, keeping up with the blog. Here are some things I've been enjoying that have nothing to do with the Internet:

• Vegan cooking - I'm enjoying Isa Chandra Moskowitz's cookbook Vegan with a Vengeance: Over 150 Delicious, Cheap, Animal-Free Recipes That Rock. So far, so good! We've been using her seitan recipe for some time now, and over the past few weeks we've also tried the scrambled tofu, biscuits with sausage gravy (one of my favorite foods ever, from my meat-eating days), and onion miso soup. I'm planning to make the chocolate raspberry cake for my dad's birthday. If you've ever thought about reducing your dairy/egg/meat intake, take a look. Vegan with a Vengeance is a far cry from scary nut-and-twig vegan recipes from days of yore.
• Watching Doctor Who - When I put the "complete first series" of Doctor Who on hold at the library, I was expecting an assortment of kitschy episodes from 40 years ago. Somehow I completely missed that the BBC revived the series in 2005, and HOO BABY is it good! It's well-written, with terrific acting and quite respectable special effects. If you were a fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation or The X-Files, you'll probably enjoy it. And maybe even fall a little bit in love with Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor. Like maybe I did. Hypothetically speaking.
• Listening to New (To Me) Music - Iron & Wine and Calexico's joint effort In the Reins is seep-into-the-consciousness-and-take-up-residence music. It's so very mellow and pretty, it pretty much perfectly mirrors these snowy February mornings. I'll be using it as mood music for one of my writing projects I plan to return to once I finish this revision of another (slog, slog, slog). Some other new-to-me albums getting a lot of play: the New Pornographers' Challengers, the Finches' Human Like a House, and the Magnetic Fields' I.

And I'll be back soon with that post about unusual character names. Pinky swear.