Mizzou in the winter

Did I mention that I've moved to Columbia, Missouri for four months?

Adam got a contract job here and when the opportunity first came up, we both chuckled. Mid-Missouri, especially in the winter? But the idea grew more appealing over time. I've wanted to go somewhere else, do something different, meet new people and freeze my ass off in the middle of winter. And it looks like I'll get to do all those things.

I really want to write a long blog post about it, about how this all started in early October and spun out until we left at the end of November, but that will come in time, I think. Then again, maybe there's no time like the present. My friend Sophie recently told me that I don't waste words and I like that idea. So maybe this is my long blog post. And maybe it's just majorly stream-of-consciousness.

Leaving Berkeley was -- hard? Adventurous? Both? We sublet our place -- couldn't give up the Farm and wouldn't want to. We bought a huge Chevy Suburban and towed Ringo halfway across the country. And now we're here, in a three-bedroom, two-bath house for $900 a month. Let the adventure commence.

I saved Rufus the dog

It cost $143 and a phone call. He was scheduled to be euthanized on Nov. 10 -- an eight-month-old puppy -- and I just couldn't watch it happen. I cried when I told Adam about it. It means the world to me to be able to pick up a phone and pull out some plastic and save someone's life. If you're anywhere near Pinal County Animal Services, please consider adopting Rufus. This one's on me.

Why I left my writer's group

Wednesdays used to be Homework Club. I'd go hang out in Sean's studio and we'd talk the written word.

Then I left. 

I didn't leave in an honest way. I asked if I could be a "part-time" member. Then I just never came back.

Why?

I often felt as though I didn't fit in. The guys liked to talk about music I didn't know and didn't like, authors who I'd never heard of, and just philosophy in general that I couldn't get behind.

They are not bad people. They just aren't the group for me right now.

ADDENDUM:

This feels like such a sketchy post to me, half-baked and only half-truthful. The fact is that I wanted to give this airspace, but I still am holding back on some of my truer feelings around it all. I will say, though, that by the end I grew to dread group, and I'm sure they could tell. We are probably all better off.

As seen on Facebook

A beheaded flamingo and the prime suspects of the crime.

Peaceful

I don't usually allow myself the luxury of peace. Peace to me is the ability to sit where you are and be okay with it. That means wherever you are. Sometimes it works and sometimes it's a nice idea.

I think peace is coming from getting my mojo back and getting things rolling in the right direction: Forward. Getting into Kimmel Harding again was, I hope, just the beginning.

I'm returning to Kimmel Harding!

I just found out that I'm going back to Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, which honestly has been my favorite retreat thus far. It's perfect for me: A mix of solitude and access to the rest of the world, a cute little town with totally sweet people. I met great folks at KHN and can't wait to go back again!

Family stuff

I have two brothers. I'm close to one, not so close to the other. The not-so-close one is getting married and has decided that he wants to resurrect family relations, starting with our other brother who he's barely spoken to in 19 years.

Excuse me, what?

Just because YOU'RE getting married doesn't mean that everyone else needs to forget all the shit you've pulled in the past and join hands happily. Especially because you're not going to keep it up.

Okay. Rant over, for now.