Fame or Infamy?

Not sure which, but I'm definitely heading for one of those. I'm not doing it on purpose, but it seems to be part of the job description.

Since you've been so loyal I thought I'd come clean and let you know about my recent internet fame. I'm still getting used to the idea of it which is why I didn't mention this sooner.

Let's start with Party in Your Mouth. I love Jess Hulett's show and was thrilled to be a part of it. For those of you who might have missed it, you can watch me share my arepa recipe on this video.

Something else that was fun was this. I walked into this shoot wanting to help my friend Agatha and not knowing exactly what it was. Though it was fun participating, finding out the feature was up and that they had chosen my pictures from an email from an unrelated friend was startling.

And then there's that award that was named after me. It's the Majo Tinoco "that was my eye award" for best injury for the 2008-2009 winter broomball season. It's not news, but it's one that tends to linger the way things do in these google days.

Today, Party in your Mouth. Tomorrow, the world!

Fashion Unconscious

Sometimes it's hard to come back from a weekend. It's Tuesday evening and I'm just now landing. Because it was such a good one, Monday loomed particularly dreary and I felt I needed a little color in my day.

First I grabbed the red jacket. Then I went for the most colorful scarf I have which looks like a patchwork of Tibetan prayer flags. I was running late for work, so I grabbed the bag I've been carrying lately instead of trying to switch things around. The only problem is that it's purple. Since it's getting cold out I needed a hat. I paused to try to figure out what went with all that and made a grab for the fuzzy white hat because since it's neutral it would go well with all this color, right?

Except that the fuzzies threw the whole thing over the edge straight into a different territory: this was the outfit of someone who didn't give a hoot and the color combination was one rarely seen outside retirement homes in Florida.

Well, I didn't give a hoot. I went out wearing all that, enjoyed it, and didn't even get fined.

Alone in the kitchen with an egg

This one falls under the WTF is Majo eating category. Since I was focusing on working on writing stuff yesterday I didn't want to bike over to the coop for groceries. Besides, lunch with whatever is at home is my specialty.

Give me an empty fridge, a raided pantry and I'll give you a meal. Tell me there's no food at home and I'll prove you a liar. Some days what will come out is normal looking - like a Spanish tortilla. Other days you might end up with the above pictured.

Let's start with capellini. Always keep some in hand -it's delicious and it cooks quickly. While the pasta is cooking, fry an egg and break it up with a spatula. Crumble some feta and toss it with the pasta and the egg. The feta will add some salty tangy goodness to your day. For texture (or if you happen to still have some left over from Thanksgiving) top with some homemade breadcrumbs. Toss with soy sauce and extra-virgin olive oil. Lunch for one is ready and it will knock your socks off. That was the first time I tried that particular combination but I know I'll make it again.

For most of my life I hated eating alone. Now I love it. I don't think I'd be able to come up with meals like this if I were trying to feed others. I'd be too weird-conscious. In the words of Mrs. Dalloway "It is the privilege of loneliness; in privacy one may do as one chooses."

It's in that privilege of loneliness that I write.

But not today. A peek at my day: people running, people playing, people eating, people making music. It started yesterday with some people acting (You're a good man Charlie Brown - I'm in love with Snoopy!) and people reading (Jonathan Lethem's marathon reading at Bookcourt). I might tell you about all this soon.

If you're nice.

Leaning tower

Meet my reading pile. These are all books I've either read or am trying to read as part of my quest to find an agent and it looks messy. It's all over the place and in need of dusting.

Besides, I've pretty much maxed out both of my public library cards. Time to slow down and speed up. Stop reading and write more. Be more efficient.

On the list for today is sorting through this pile and figuring out which books I want to keep for a while longer and which ones need to go back to the library. Next, I'll be trimming my agent spreadsheet, querying, and working on another piece I'm writing.

Wish me luck!

Rejection: it works!

Last night I got my first real rejection email. It was a lovely one and though I know it might have been a copy paste job I don't care. The email let me down gently and was so encouraging I didn't really mind (much) that it was a rejection.

This was from the more surprising of the partial requests which might be why I'm not upset. It had been an agency submission where I had filled out a form online hoping to reach Agent B, but it was Agent A who wrote to me and asked for more. I got excited - of course I did - I've heard great things about Agent A and he seems great, but he's not my dream agent. And I'm ok with that.

Or maybe it's just all that running. Not just the running helps you cope with anxiety thing but something else that I've found out through running races: being on the receiving end of cheering makes a difference to me.

Random strangers cheer for you when you're running a race:
"You look great!"
"Good job"
"Keep it up!"
"Looking good!"

The first time I found it strange. How do they know I look great? What if I usually look better and this is terrible for me? Turns out it doesn't matter because I don't care. It feels good to have others cheer for you even if they're strangers.

I know these are anonymous cheers but it's still good will being sent my way and I soak it up, just like I'm soaking up Agent A's encouragement. Sure, he might not have written that email just for me but that doesn't mean he didn't mean it and now that I don't have the hope of his acceptance dangling like a carrot, I need to majo up and get more queries out there.

(Note on the picture: that's not the rejection email but a visual of my working style.)

Alarmed and dangerous

At least until I get some coffee in me. Broomball was a lot of fun last night but the struggle with the snooze button this morning wasn't pretty.

The alarm clock and I, we go way back. We've had an on and off again relationship for the past seventeen years. Once, on trip to San Francisco he threatened to abandon me and stay behind but in the end he realized what we have is special and he came back to me a few days later via FedEx.

For a while the alarm clock was in cahoots (don't you love that word?) with a cat but now the cat is gone and it's back to just the two of us. When the cat was around this is what things were like in the morning:

Ice

Hello, winter!

A balmy Thanksgiving weekend gave way to a gray and rainy Monday which brought us to this: Winter! It's definitely in the air. A dry cold blast in the face when you step out door and it's here just in time.

For years I fought it. Though snow is pretty, long dark cold days can get to me. I started dreading it as soon as summer left, and by mid-winter I was a miserable shivering mess. Enter Pavlov. Instead of fighting winter I decided to make winter a season of good things, so now when it's cold I get excited.

A few years ago I joined the New York City Social Sports Club and now I have something to look forward to every Tuesday of the winter season.

And it starts tonight, with the opening game of the broomball season.

Broomball. Think hockey, but without skates. On ice. Hence the need for a helmet with a cage.

My team, Too Fat for Porn will be facing Secret Agents tonight. We all know who the favorite is: doesn't everyone root for Porn? Go Pornies!