Gabriel Garcia Marquez- Of Caterpillars and Kings
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WHAT I'M READING
My copies of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's works are tattered and dog-earned from reading them over and over. His lyrical style, stark portrayal of humanity in all its beauty and baseness has always struck a chord in me that makes my bones feel like they have been fired to glass. After hearing the news of his death, I decided to read them all over again as a tribute. I'm starting with LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA because it's my personal favorite.
"Let me stay here," he said. "There was soap."
You can rest. There was soap.
WHAT I'M WRITING
Cleaning up my latest draft of ISIS to send to CP's of Awesome. It's amazing that no matter how many times you go through an MS, you always find something that needs fixing. At some point, I just need to call it and hit 'send'.
Also, why is it that when I finally get to this stage, i.e. Practically Done, that I feel I've progressed as a writer since I started said project and whatever I've finished just doesn't seem up to scratch compared to what I'm working on?!? This is a double edged sword. On the one hand, I might be improving, but on the other hand, I now feel embarrassed for whatever I've written and I find it hard to send it out. Gah! Am I the only one who feels this way?
Metamorphosis might be glorious, but it also might be painful. *grin*
Also, why is it that when I finally get to this stage, i.e. Practically Done, that I feel I've progressed as a writer since I started said project and whatever I've finished just doesn't seem up to scratch compared to what I'm working on?!? This is a double edged sword. On the one hand, I might be improving, but on the other hand, I now feel embarrassed for whatever I've written and I find it hard to send it out. Gah! Am I the only one who feels this way?
Metamorphosis might be glorious, but it also might be painful. *grin*
WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO/ WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW
The first of my new monarchs emerged this week. I've been raising monarchs since I was in kindergarten. My very first ever poem was written about a monarch chrysalis. (What can I say, some things run deep.)
My greenhouse is now filled with fluttering wings. I like dipping my fingers in nectar and watching a delicate proboscis take droplets off my fingerprint.
Monarchs are in trouble. Their populations are dwindling. Pesticides, reduced habitat, genetically modified corn are all taking their toll. Incidence of OE, a terrible parasitic condition, are on the rise. I've had a couple of my monarchs emerge with crumpled wings because of it. I spent the better part of the morning yesterday, trying to fix and splint a badly damaged wing. The surgery was somewhat successful. My patient can now fly far enough to gather nectar, which was better than not being able to fly at all.
This people, is what I get up to when I should be writing. Butterfly wing surgery. (good grief)
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| My Monarch Patient- Post Surgery |
Posts
That last photo of the healing monarch is lovely. I want to visit your greenhouse! Best of luck finishing up those revisions, Kris, and no, you definitely are not alone in feeling torn about your writerly growth and past projects. :-)
ReplyDeleteGlad I'm not alone. (I've been having a tiny freak out over that one) :)
DeleteAnd you and yours and welcome to visit my greenhouse any time. I picture this going something like a Mad Hatter tea party but with butterflies everywhere *grin*
Butterfly wing surgery! Kris, you never fail to impress me. Seriously. I think you might be the coolest person living on the internet. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteOkay, that comment just made my day. Seriously, Day meet Made. :)
DeleteYou are such a friend of nature :) You remind me of my cousin, who is also a Florida girl - must be the state where all the cool kids gather!
ReplyDeleteHah! I never thought of Florida that way until we moved here. I pictured old folks and golf carts. I had no idea the woods and wilds would be so amazing. Goes to show what happens when I make snap judgments about things.
DeleteHope your week is brilliant!
Okay, I can't even begin to tell you how impressed I am that you took the time to splint a butterfly's wing. If only everyone noticed tiny details like that and did something about them. Not that I would know how to fix a butterfly wing, but still. I had no idea monarch populations were struggling so much (although I pretty much assume that everything is endangered these days). That's awful.
ReplyDeleteAs for improving and then feeling embarrassed about what you've written before, you're definitely not the only one. I'm not sure I'll ever write anything that I won't want to up and rewrite again at some point. And I doubt I'll ever feel wholly confident about any of my writing projects. Maybe that will keep us humble and genuine when we write? And maybe that's a good thing? Not sure, but you're right, metamorphosis is painful.
Have a lovely week, Kris! :)
Actually, fixing most butterfly wing breaks is pretty easy. If you're ever interested, I can point you to a great YouTube how to.
DeleteAnd I'm so glad I'm not the only writer who feels that way about projects. But I love your take- "humble and genuine"- that is a fantastic way to look at it.
Hope your week is sunny and bright! :)
On revisions - I'm working on one for an editor right now. A lovely kind editor who *likes* my manuscript, and I'm still cringing at some of the things in the version she initially read. Yikes.
ReplyDeleteAt least I get a chance to fix it!
Yes, I need to remember that there will be even *more* edits in the future. Hopefully, I will be as lucky as you and find an editor who gets my writing, even if it needs a little tweaking.
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