10/11/4

We had a great weekend in Vermont.  It was great to see Andy and Celia and Naomi.  Evy and I took on a bunch of responsibility at Naomi's seventh birthday party, planning a scavenger hunt and a puppet show for Naomi and all her little friends.  It was great to work with Evy that way;  we were a team, brother and sister.  I really enjoyed spending the time with her.

Myla and Evy and Wendy and I drove there together Friday night, and on the way we listened to the second presidential debate in the car.  We laughed at a lot of the things Bush said, like "I did the right decision!" and "Why didn't you vote for it, if you're so much for it?"  Evy liked the song mix I had made for her, and it was a pleasant ride.

While we were at Andy and Celia's, we looked through some photo albums, including one that had a bunch of Nat's old stuff in it:  a certificate for having completed army training, Nat and Ev's wedding invitation.  That was cool, especially because I had recently asked Myla what became of Nat's personal things.

On Friday afternoon, before we left for Vermont, I spent a little time with Les and we did some work developing the story for PIERRE.  That was very satisfying;  we figured out some stuff that I think will be crucial to the plot.

And then today was Columbus Day.  I went to Jamie's house, and Kelly met us there;  we recorded the new episode of the Eat Wood Radio Hour!  Kelly had met with Les on Saturday afternoon and recorded a song for the Bees album.  We were laughing and joking the whole time we were making the show;  there was a very festive feeling to it.  Afterward the three of us went out for pizza and talked about a bunch of personal things:  memories from high school, etc.  I felt very close to the two of them and it gave me a good feeling.

I haven't had a chance to write in my journal for days;  not since Friday.  I'm hoping I'll do some writing tomorrow, after my meeting at P.S. 101 but before therapy.  I've been doing important work there and I want to stay consistent in it.  Before long I'll have to start working on Claire's song for PIERRE...

10/7/4

Life rumbles on.  Therapy and BMI on Tuesday the 5th;  yesterday I had a good rehearsal in Manhattan with Carlise and Suzen.  And I did a bunch of journal writing afterward.

And then, tomorrow night, we're headed to Vermont for the weekend.  For Naomi's birthday party.

10/4/4

Today's session of "Songs on Stage" was really, really good.  I was lucky enough to have an assistant today, a woman named Sarah who is friends with Paul and Rebecca.  It really helped to have another adult in the room, someone who could talk to the kids who were acting out and not participating.

Unfortunately, when one or two kids are doing cartwheels when they're supposed to be sitting in a circle, I can't take the time to pull them back into the circle.  Or, rather, I can -- but that requires all my attention, and I end up neglecting the kids who ARE doing what they're supposed to do.  So it helps immeasurably to have a partner who can do crowd control while I'm leading an activity.

It was a great session.  For the first half, after doing some warm-up games, we made stage pictures based on the story that Julia and Sylvie wrote last time.  I took notes on the pictures, and later we'll develop them into scenes and songs;  the horse story will become a musical play.  In the second half, they rehearsed their Food song (and performed it for Sarah, and Rebecca);  and then we played Down-Up for the rest of the time.

During Down-Up, Anna and Emily got in a little spat and Emily ended up upset.  I felt partly responsible, because I've sometimes joked that Anna is my favorite, and I think that was part of the reason Emily was upset.  But Sarah talked to Emily for a while, and then at the end of class I talked to Emily too.  We all ended up feeling better.

After class, I hung out with the kids and the teaching artists in the dining hall for a while.  I spoke with a teaching artist named Jen, who is really cool.  All these Wingspan people are so great!  I also found out that Paul and Rebecca used to be in THE DONKEY SHOW!  (So was Sarah, and she may have been in it when I saw it.)  I love this group of people.

It's been a good day overall.  I had been worried for several days, because the answering machine at the Queens office didn't seem to be working.  I was afraid I'd miss all my calls, and we wouldn't end up getting bookings for the fall.  But when I went to the office this morning, it turned out the machine wasn't working because it was FULL.  So we had plenty of messages, and I started calling people back today.

Les wasn't available today so I ate lunch alone, and did some writing in my journal.  Then I drove into Manhattan for Wingspan.

Yesterday was nice too.  I met up with Jamie and Rachel and their friends at the veggie dim sum place in Chinatown for Jamie's birthday.  I don't always enjoy being in a crowd of Jamie and Rachel's friends, when I don't know half the people, but this time it was actually very nice.  Afterward we went to see the movie I [HEART] HUCKABEES, directed by David O. Russell.  I enjoyed it a lot.  I've continued to think about it since yesterday;  it was funny and also kind of thought-provoking.

In a strange way, that movie made me think about E.S. PIERRE.  I really need to figure out what the plot for that show is going to look like.  I have a sense of who the characters are, and what I want the arc of the show to feel like, but the plot needs a LOT of fleshing out.  That may have hurt our presentation of the first song, and it will continue to hurt our process for as long as we're unclear about it.  I don't just want to get through our assignments:  I want to put together a solid twenty minutes to get into the advanced workshop, and eventually I want to end up with a good finished show.

John Gregor's thesis project is receiving another reading this week and I want to go if I can.  I liked his show, and I enjoy supporting other people's projects (if I like them).

10/2/4

Well, I was very pleased with Thursday night's debate.  Kerry did well, which was very necessary if he wanted to have a chance in this race.  Now, for the first time in a while, the commentators are talking about it as an actual race, rather than a countdown to an inevitable Bush victory.

Yesterday I went to the Kids Project office in Manhattan, finished my paperwork and turned in my monthly report for September.  When I was done, I stayed in Manhattan to meet up with Wendy after her Friday afternoon class.  I bought some CDs (Rolling Stones, Brian Wilson's SMILE, original soundtrack from MEAN GIRLS);  went to Barnes and Noble, listened to music while I wrote in my journal.

Wendy met me at Barnes and Noble and we checked the shelves for the latest issue of MAIN STREET RAG.  It was there!  The fall issue contains a review of Wendy's book, so this marked our first chance to read a review of her work.  It was a very positive review, so we were pretty happy about it.  (I was a little indignant about the criticism in the review, but at least the review was favorable overall.)

We had a nice relaxing evening, watched Bill Maher's show on HBO.  And now it's the weekend.  I wrote in my journal at the Verb Cafe this morning, picked up some groceries, and now I'm home.  Tonight is the season premiere of SNL.  And then tomorrow is Jamie's birthday...

9/30/4

Yesterday I saw the production of Tim Huang's thesis musical at Primary Stages, part of some festival.  I've always admired that show.  It's sort of uneven and manic-depressive, but also emotional and strong and really talented.  (Like Tim.)  I saw Robert Lee at the show, and we caught up a little.  I also saw Olivia, the girl who was in the workshop of Suzen Murakoshi's play last year.  I introduced myself and she was very nice.

I spoke to Robin Glazer, and confirmed that I'll be teaching a songwriting class for the Creative Center this spring.  Just a five-week seminar, Wednesday evenings in March.  She also offered me an in-school residency on the Upper West Side, which was really tempting, and I spent most of the day in a quandary over whether I should take it.  But, between Kids Project and Making Books Sing, I'm really just too busy.  I ended up posting a message to various lists (the people from Making Books Sing, BMI, and Tisch), trying to help her find someone.

Then I saw David Wise, and we spent a long time walking around Manhattan together.  It's great to talk to him.  I feel like I can be very free, talk about any subject I want and not be too self-conscious.  We had dinner at a Mexican place near Union Square, and I stopped into Barnes and Noble to see if the new Main Street Rag was out yet.  (It wasn't.)

Today I saw David again, at the mock presidential debate in Times Square sponsored by AVENUE Q.  We stood in the rain and watched puppets debate and sing.  Lots of fun.  A girl named Molly came up to me and asked, "Were you at Posh last night?"  I had to ask what Posh was;  it's a nightclub.  She definitely seemed like she was hitting on me, but she was nice enough and she hung out with us the rest of the time.  Sooner or later she must have seen my wedding ring, or something, because she didn't try to give me her number or anything like that.

I saw Kristen Anderson at the performance.  The last time I saw her was probably about four years ago, when I was in her first-year class at BMI.  Now she's married (to Bobby Lopez!), and pregnant!  It was exciting to see her again.  Of course, there was an extra excitement because I was at an AVENUE Q event, and I had a connection to the co-author.  But, quasi-celebrity status aside, Kristen is always an exciting and cool person to talk to.  I was also curious to see if Harris would be there, but I didn't see him.  (I now know the partners of BOTH authors...)

Of course, tonight will be the ACTUAL presidential debate.  I'm nervous about it.  I'm looking forward to watching (I think), but I think there's a very real chance that it will turn out to be a nightmare.  We shall see...

9/28/4

Les and I presented our first E.S. PIERRE song at BMI this evening!  I sang the song, and a classmate named Scott played the accompaniment.  It felt good to be presenting something again.  The song got a bunch of criticism, but overall I thought people responded very positively to the concept behind it.  People seemed to understand the sensibility of the show, and they said they found themselves interested in the main character.

Our next presentation is in four weeks, and we're supposed to present an "I Am" or "I Want" song for a main character.  Which is sort of what we already did.  So, this time, we're going to write something for one of the secondary characters;  probably Claire.  Les is sending me a piece of music that could work for Claire, and I'm going to listen to it over the next few days.

Therapy was really good today.  I'm making lots of connections, understanding more and more about what's going on with me.  The details are a little too personal to go through in this space, but I always come out of there feeling inspired and renewed.

Wendy is starting an online journal at livejournal.com.  She's been reading the blogs of some other poets, and becoming more interested in poets' online community.  So she registered at livejournal.com and she has even submitted her first journal entry.  I registered too.  At some point I may move this log from my own website onto there...

Yesterday I had my second session of "Songs on Stage" and it was pretty rough.  Those girls can be pretty rowdy, and I don't feel like they really respect my authority.  Which is understandable, since I don't present myself as an authority figure.  But then I pay the price.  They don't listen, they won't get in a circle when I ask them to, and I end up spending all my time trying to get them to listen.  The time would be better spent, and less exasperating for all of us, if they'd just do what they're supposed to do.

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed lately.  My sleeping isn't great;  I end up tired, and then I get less done, and then I blame myself for it and feel depressed.  I still accomplish so much, I try to remind myself, but it's little consolation when I know how much more I could be writing.

I was listening to Britney Spears in the car, and thinking again about my idea for a mini-musical.  I'd rewrite the songs from "Oops, I Did It Again" (the album) to tell the story of George W. Bush's career.  Not sure if I'll ever take the time to do it, but I think it would be funny.

Speaking of the president, I'm looking forward to the first debate on Thursday night.  I don't know whether I should be looking forward to it -- it may end up a train wreck -- but I'm anxious to see what will happen.

9/26/4

It's been a really relaxing weekend.  Wendy and I have just been taking it easy.  Yesterday, after spending some time on my memoir at the Verb Cafe, I did little more than just to back up the contents of my computer and Wendy's on a couple of CDs.  We made a pizza together for dinner, watched a video. 

Actually, I had rented HOUSESITTER, the movie I saw with Jamie and Valerie in the spring of 1992.  Wendy had never seen it before.  We really enjoyed it (as I had enjoyed it twelve years ago);  and it was interesting to see it again, especially because I've been writing so much about when I was fourteen.  I really feel like I'm learning more and more about myself in that period, every day.

I've been e-mailing back and forth with Lauri, which is really nice.  And, actually, it has inspired me to get back in touch with a few other people too.  So the e-mails have been coming back from various friends.  It feels good to be in touch.

After we watched the movie, Wendy and I went back into Williamsburg to return it.  We had some ice cream, came home and got into bed early.  We ended up watching a little bit of the Brady Bunch marathon on TV (complete with pop-up commentary).  Neither of us had ever really watched the Brady Bunch -- I've always felt a little left out whenever people talk knowingly about that show -- but it was actually kind of cute.  We even got to see the famous episode where Jan says "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia."

I slept well last night, better than in a long time.  Today I took a day off from my memoir-writing, and Wendy and I relaxed some more.  I'm about to do some house cleaning, and then tonight we're going out to Long Island because Sam is in town.

Tomorrow is back to work.  Teaching another session of "Songs on Stage," getting ready for my presentation at BMI on Tuesday, plus the usual daily stuff.  I don't feel too stressed out, though.  At least, not at the moment.  I'm feeling rested, balanced.  And glad that I'm able to manage all the different things in my life.  Skipping a day of journal writing makes me a little nervous -- I'm always afraid that, if I take a break, I'll lose steam -- but it's been going well, and I'm confident it will still be there when I come back.

9/24/4

Wendy and I just saw the movie THE FORGOTTEN this evening.  It was exciting!  Ultimately I thought the supernatural elements were too corny, but it was really absorbing and I had a great time.

I had a good day today, including some good journal writing.  I hope I'm easing back into the more relaxed part of the cycle.  It seems like I always have periods of writing almost effortlessly, and then long dry periods.  In the past I've been too easily discouraged by my dry periods:  when the writing doesn't happen automatically, I tend to give up trying.  But when I make the effort every day, something starts to happen.

Yesterday I took a chance and sent an e-mail to Lauri;  I had found her address on the internet.  We hadn't been in touch for about five years.  But she e-mailed me back today, sent a very warm response.  That made me feel good:  it always makes me nervous when there are people I'm not in touch with.

I guess that's part of the reason I connected with that movie, THE FORGOTTEN;  that was the reason I responded to the trailer and wanted to see the movie in the first place.  I always feel like it's so important to stay connected to the past, not to let anything go.  When people forget, it always seems strange to me.  I need my whole self, all of me, past and present.  I can't just let things drift away and be erased.

9/23/4

Yesterday I got the newest Lemony Snicket book, and I couldn't stop myself from reading the whole thing.  Those books are so fascinating!  I love the writing, and the story only gets more exciting as he draws nearer to the conclusion.  It will be awful waiting for the next book to come out...

Also, I met with Barbara Zinn Krieger yesterday.  We had a conference where we began developing a new musical theatre curriculum for Making Books Sing.  I thought the session was very successful, and I was glad to be able to contribute to the process.  Since I'll be one of the people delivering this program in the winter and spring, I have strong feelings about what the program should consist of!

Before the conference, Barbara and I had a moment to discuss the possibility of my writing a show for Making Books Sing in the future.  I still need to find a picture book with a disabled main character, but I think there's a good chance of my getting onto her schedule sometime in the next few seasons.  She asked me if I knew any composers I could work with, and I mentioned Les as a possibility.

Jamie and I have postponed the next radio episode until October.  But that means we may have a better chance of having Kelly on as a guest...

And the Pierre lyric is coming along.  I'm rehearsing with Les on Sunday and Monday nights, and then we present on Tuesday.  I'm actually glad that the radio show is postponed, because it means I can really concentrate on my presentation over the course of the next week.  I want to make a good impression on the class and its moderators, especially for my very first presentation.

9/20/4

Today was the first day of my "Songs on Stage" class at Wingspan!  It was a very, very successful session.  I have nine students in my class:  six second graders, three third graders;  all girls.  There was some silly stuff, but for the most part they responded to the exercises we did.  And they actually made up a song on the first day!

I went to the Kids Project office in Queens during the school day;  while I was in the office I tried to do some journal writing, but it hasn't been flowing as easily lately.  It's partly that I'm more distracted these days, with the school year and BMI and all my other commitments.  But I think, also, the material is tough for me to write about.  Well, it's a cycle.  I often come to an impasse like this, and sooner or later I get to a point where the writing comes more easily.

At lunch I met Les at the diner, as usual.  We had a good meeting about the Pierre lyric!  I had done an important rewrite this weekend, and we reviewed it.  He had some suggestions, and I hope I'll be able to implement them in time for next Tuesday, but in the meantime we have something presentable.  The meter fits, and the ideas are more or less on target, so it's a fine draft.

I also posted a version of the Pierre synopsis to the listserv for my new class at BMI.  That way people will be familiar with the idea before they hear the song, and they'll have a better sense of what they're listening to.

I like this second year group!  There's a woman in it, Nina, who by chance happened to be in the first year with me (1999-2000) and took exactly the same hiatus I did!  And the new people seem great too.  When I posted my blurb to the listserv, I also included the address for my website.  And at least one person has visited it:  one lyricist, who wrote to me and asked me to sing something in an upcoming presentation, submitted her message to me through the form on the website!

Also this weekend, I wrote a comedy sketch for me and Jamie to perform on our 9/26 episode of the radio show.  I'm feeling good about this upcoming "season" of the show.  Since I've been spending so much time in 1992, whenever I do my journal writing, I feel like it's a good time to be bonding with Jamie and remembering what that old collaboration feels like.  We're talking about doing some reminiscing in the upcoming episode.  Maybe sharing some of the older things we've written together.  And I told him I'll read something from my memoir on the show.  I don't know which piece I'll read, though.

Having written that sketch, and an updated draft of the Pierre lyric, I feel like I'm basically on top of things.  Especially now that I had such a successful first session at Wingspan.  I still want to find some picture book titles to mention to Barbara at our meeting on Wednesday, and I have to do more work on the Pierre lyric, but I don't feel like there are any scary deadlines coming up.  I just hope I'll feel more able to work on my memoir soon.

9/18/4

I'm continuing to have a little trouble sleeping.  I think it's always worse in the early fall, when the school year starts and things start getting more stressful.  The deadline for my BMI presentation is getting closer, and this Monday is the first session of my songwriting class at Wingspan.  And all I want to do is keep working on my memoir.

Dinner was nice in Great Neck last night;  everyone seemed pretty relaxed.  Next time I'm in Great Neck, I definitely want to go through the old photos and find pictures with Lauren in them, so I can show her next time I see her.

I've been e-mailing a little bit with a few of my colleagues from Wingspan.  It's nice to feel that I belong to a little community of teaching artists.  We can share experiences, learn more about one another's work.

I hope I can get the Pierre lyric done tomorrow;  but I'm so enjoying the journal writing, I kind of feel like using every available moment to do that.

9/16/4

Writing in this log is a good thing for me to do at night, when Wendy goes to bed and I'm not ready to sleep yet.  I don't have the focus to write in my book at this time, but I always feel fine about getting on the computer and writing a log entry.  I do wish I could get to sleep a little earlier, though.  I stayed up too late last night, slept in this morning, and got a late start writing at the cafe.

I spent the whole afternoon at the cafe, writing in my book.  I didn't get any work done on my Pierre lyric, but I made some progress in my memoir.  I want to keep working on the memoir tomorrow;  I'll get to the song if I can, but otherwise I still have the whole weekend to do it.

9/15/4

The Wingspan after-school program was tough again today.  On Monday I'll be starting my actual curriculum;  the past few days have just been "wild card" days at Wingspan, which means trying to lead an activity for a bunch of kids who haven't signed up for anything in particular.  I found it pretty stressful trying to get them to focus.  The last group, though, got into a pretty good game of Down-Up and I think I could have accomplished more with them if we'd had more time.

In my spare moments, I worked on trying to improve that Pierre lyric.  The BMI session last night made me very aware that my presentation is coming up soon!

School is out for the next two days, for Rosh Hashanah, so I'm going to try and get a bunch of writing done.  I want to finish the second draft of my Pierre lyric, and also put in some hours working on my memoir.  Tomorrow I'm hoping to get started early and do some writing at the Verb Cafe.

My plans with Kelly were canceled this evening, so Wendy and I just took it easy.  We had a really nice evening together.  First we just hung out at home, and then we made a last-minute decision to go and see NAPOLEON DYNAMITE at a movie theater in Park Slope.  It was very funny and sweet!

I heard from Les that Shawna wants to get a bunch of us cousins together for dinner tomorrow night, but I have too much going on;  I've been out constantly, and I need a little quiet time.  On Friday we're going to Great Neck for a Rosh Hashanah dinner, so I'd rather not have a dinner thing tomorrow night too.  I hope to see Shawna sometime soon, though.  Every time we see each other, we always say how much we want to spend more time together;  and we always mean it, but somehow it doesn't really happen.

Oh, and Kelly can't make it on 9/26, when Jamie and I are planning to record our next radio episode.  But maybe we can get her to come in and record her stuff on a different date, or we can just have her on the show a different time.

9/14/4

This evening I had my first session back in the BMI workshop!  I felt a little intimidated;  I haven't received serious critique in a very long time, and the environment seems very friendly but some of the moderators' comments were also slightly tough. 

It's really cool to be back, though.  The last time I was in the workshop, I was in a completely different time of life.  Right out of college, not sure what to do next.  And I'm glad to be in a place where I need to produce work consistently.  I think the workshop environment will help me develop this PIERRE piece over the next year.

I also had therapy today, which was good, and got to do some writing.  Tomorrow I have to go to the Kids Project's main office in Manhattan, and turn in my time sheet.  And in the afternoon I'll be back at Wingspan.  I still need to find a picture book to share with Barbara Zinn Krieger;  we're doing our musical theatre curriculum development on Wednesday, a week from today.

I'm also supposed to see Kelly again tomorrow night.  I don't know yet what we're doing, though.  The Sarah Silverman show was sold out, so we don't have a plan.  I was thinking of seeing Jamie, maybe, but he'll be upstate with the Kranson crew for the holiday.  Maybe a movie?

9/13/4

Long, tiring day.  In the morning I met with Carlise at our Queens office.  We discussed the calendar for the fall season, put about eighty outreach letters in the mail.

At lunch time I met Les at our usual diner for lunch.  He told me about the weekend's recording sessions at the farm.  It sounds like the HAPPY BEES album will come out well!  I'm looking forward to hearing it.

In the afternoon I drove from Queens into the city, where I would have my first teaching session at NEST for Wingspan Arts.  I found a parking spot, and had some extra time.  So I visited the nearby branch of the Queens Public Library, browsed the children's section.  I'm still looking for a good picture book with a disabled main character;  no luck so far.

I was at NEST when Paul and Rebecca showed up, and I helped them set up for the first day of the Wingspan after-school program.  Put all the staff name tags into their laminants, etc.  (I noticed it was the second time I was doing intern type stuff:  first stuffing envelopes for the Kids Project mailing, then assembling name tags.)

I met some more of the Wingspan teaching staff, including a woman named Nina who is teaching an outer space themed arts curriculum!  They'll do arts and crafts and drama exercises, all organized around the theme of exploring Mars.  And the group that developed the curriculum is actually affiliated with NASA!  It sounded really cool, and Nina seemed great too.

My first day teaching at Wingspan was pretty tiring.  The classes haven't officially started yet, so I didn't get to meet the group I'll actually be teaching.  Basically I just played theatre games and guessing games with a few groups of kids, mostly first graders.  They were very bouncy and wild, and it was pretty exhausting.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow.  It will be my first day back at BMI, after a four-year hiatus!  I can hardly believe I'm going back.  BMI was so great for me, that first year out of college.  I'm so happy to be rejoining the workshop, and I know it will help me feel motivated to work on my next big writing project.

9/12/4

I had a nice time with Evy last night.  It was very laid back:  we just brought in some food, watched a movie at Les's, did some homework together.  It seems like she's really doing fine in middle school.  Of course she'll have plenty of challenges in the months and years ahead, but in the meantime she isn't feeling the sense of inadequacy and social isolation that I felt when I was in sixth grade.

It took forever for my laundry to be done, though, and I ended up staying in Great Neck until pretty late at night, just waiting for the clothes to dry.  While I was waiting, I spent a little time online.  Lauren had mentioned to me, she heard that Anthony Brooks had died.  I researched it by searching for him on Google, and it's true.

Anthony died a year and a half ago, in Ohio;  he was apparently there to visit his girlfriend, and someone shot him in his car.  He was found the next morning and brought to the hospital, where he died.  He was 26.

Today I spent the afternoon writing at the Verb Cafe.  It's the first day in a long time that I haven't had any obligations in the world, to family or friends or work.  So Wendy and I are just taking it easy.

Sometime in the next week or so I've got to get back on track with the Pierre song, especially if I'm doing a radio show with Jamie the same week that I'm presenting at BMI.  But at least it's just one song, so the revision shouldn't take more than a couple of days.

9/11/4

Last night Wendy and I drove out to Great Neck and saw Kelly.  We had dinner at the Scobee and then drove out to Steppingstone Park, where we sat and talked.  I went through some high school history with Kelly, tried to find out what happened when.

Of course the elementary school stuff, the stuff I was going over with Lauren, feels more ancient and buried;  but there's an excitement I get, even just remembering all those forgotten events of high school.  The most trivial things (who dated whom, in what month of what year) help me recall the whole ambience of the time.  I just want to swallow up all the information, I want to know it all with perfect clarity.

We met Kelly's boyfriend Evan, who seems like a great guy.  We all talked about trying to see a Sarah Silverman concert together next week.  And Kelly showed us this crazy video of her performing these songs and improvised monologues for the camera.  It was really funny and bizarre.  The kind of thing you do when you're a kid, or do when you're an adult but never show anyone.

This morning I'm headed to the Verb Cafe, where I'll do some writing in my journal.  I may have to write about some of the things I talked about with Lauren, older stuff, before I can get back to the main narrative of my memoir (which right now dwells in April 1992).

And then later I'm headed back to Great Neck again, to spend some time with Evy.

9/10/4

Today, after the final session of the Kids Project conference, I spent several hours with Lauren and her two kids.  Laila has gotten so much bigger, and Xavier is still incredibly cute.

It was really really nice spending time with Lauren.  We went through our elementary school careers, tried to piece together ancient memories.  We were only in the same class for first grade (Ms. Stern) and third grade (Ms. Shapiro);  but it feels like we spent so much more time together than that.

At some point soon, I want to try and record these old memories in my journal.  I did my best to put together an account of elementary school, when I was writing those sections of my memoir, but it feels like there are still so many details for me to rediscover.

One of the good things about keeping this log, I hope, will be that I'll have a separate place to document the events of my daily life.  That way, it won't feel as necessary to write those things in my journal;  I can use my journal-writing time for exploring memories and dreams, and thoughts that are too private to be posted in this log.

Last night I returned Les's car to him, and got back mine.  He's spending the weekend at the farm, working on recording the HAPPY BEES album.  That project is really gearing up.  The book-and-CD package won't be released by Abrams until April, but it looks like they'll be releasing the CD separately before the end of this year.  Les mentioned that some tracks will be cut from the version of the CD that is packaged with the book.  I hope my song will be on both versions of the album.

Tonight I'm going out to the island with Wendy, and seeing Kelly.  I'm looking forward to seeing her again.  Also, while I'm with Kelly, I'll mention the idea of her making an appearance on the radio show sometime this fall.

The jury verdict in the Gidone Busch case was overturned, which means the family will have another chance to hold the city accountable for the shooting.  I really hope they get some justice in this case.  I want to contact Norman and Lynn, let them know I've been following the case and that I care.

9/9/4

I am not happy with Verizon right now.  First of all, this DSL service is very inconsistent, and half the time I can’t connect to the Internet.  I just wrote an entry for this log, which was unfortunately lost because I composed it online and then I got knocked off before I could post it on this site;  I’ll have to start over again.

I’ll eventually have to call some customer support number, but I know they’re all going to give me the run-around:  Verizon Online will say it’s the modem’s fault, the modem guys will say it’s the router’s fault, the router folks will tell me it’s a problem with my service.  It will take forever, and even if they solve the problem today, I know I’ll have the same problem tomorrow.

To top it off, I just got a bill from Verizon that seems too high.  So, sooner or later, I’ll have to spend hours on the phone talking to all these Verizon people.

Today was the second day of the NYC Kids Project conference. I told all my fellow educators that I’m looking for a good picture book with a main character who has a disability;  with all the combined knowledge of my colleagues at the Kids Project, I think I’ll get some good suggestions.

I called Lauren O’Neill today, and I’m going to visit her tomorrow, after the third and final session of the conference.  I’m looking forward to seeing her again (and, of course, her two beautiful children!).

Also, this afternoon I got a call from Daniela, Capital B’s number-one assistant.  She wanted some advice on managing the database in FileMaker.  I learned how to use FileMaker when I was working at Alphagram, almost five years ago, and for a couple of years I managed the database for B&A.  Now I’m the unofficial go-to guy when they need help using the program.

9/8/4

Today was the first day of the NYC Kids Project's three-day conference.   I like the new educator for the Bronx team, Roosevelt (“Roo”).  Then, in the evening, I had the orientation meeting for the fall semester at Wingspan Arts Center.  The people seemed great and I'm looking forward to teaching my songwriting course.

I met Rachel Schroeder, a teaching artist who is also working at the Creative Center this spring.  I told her about Wendy's upcoming poetry workshop there.  Rachel seemed like an interesting artist.

And I also saw Jessica Bashline at the orientation meeting!  She's the site director for one of Wingspan's after-school programs.  I had hardly seen her since high school so it was fun to see her again.

I've been e-mailing with Les and Arthur about "Honey is Sweet," the bee song I co-wrote with Les.  It looks like the song will make it onto the HAPPY BEES album, which is really exciting.  This could be an opportunity for one of my lyrics to be professionally published and distributed.

And the BMI workshop is starting up next week, so I need to finish revising the lyric I wrote for the E.S. PIERRE musical.

On top of it all, Jamie and I are talking about doing more episodes of our internet radio show, the Eat Wood Radio Hour!  We're planning a show for 9/26, and starting to bounce around ideas for the upcoming episode.

All in all, I'm feeling really vibrant these days:  with all these creative projects, the ongoing project of writing my memoir, plus the possibility of writing a show for Making Books Sing in the future, I am doing so much.

It feels good to have a regular practice of teaching and writing, helps me feel like myself.