Thursday, March 27, 2008
Update:
I have much better news to report today on the S.O. While he scared all of us that love him damn near to death, his problem was actually a lot less awful than it looked. The doctors at the hospital here have been able to stabilize him, and he should be able to be home in a couple days, at most three more days. Odds are he will feel better than before.
In some ways positive things came my way. I knew I was in the kind of mood where I can go from thinking realistically and realizing a situation is serious over to the negative thinking area. Staying home when I am like that is NEVER good for me, so I went out and visited my Baščaršija friends, B, and D, and the landlord's brother was there too. All of them are very nice people and we have become quite good friends in my time here. The landlord's brother, S. gave me some good practical advice on getting some sort of tutoring jobs here, the original one I hoped for might not pan out. Anyway, it will be fine, God willing, and in fact I may end up being able to be here longer as a result and be doing something useful. Not that wandering around looking at stuff isn't fun, not that writing isn't fun, I am at work on another short book, and in fact worked on it yesterday. A big dream of mine may come to realization, and that is that S. liked what he saw of my NaNo, and is reading it seriously, I printed it out for him, I told him it probably stilll needs editing, that some research questions I had could not be answered so I had to change stuff all over the place in that book, but I am very flexible on editorial questions for that reason. I am not dead set on how it is now.
The other one I am working on, I will compromise less on, but it is a different kind of story.
He said, 'Your English is better than average for an American!' He learned his English from English people, he loves the English. He said, ćYou probably could teach, or lecture about America and seriously a lot of Americans I know have problems with their English' I explained that both my parents were pretty well educated, and both wrote at different times in their lives, and even my grandfather, before becoming a bootlegger was a journalist. He praised what he h as seen of my manuscript and I sort of blurted out, 'You think that was good? Now my mother there was a WRITER!' He asked me 'Was she published?' and I explained what happens if a writer in the States hasn't got an agent and dies, which is that getting that kind of manuscript into print in the U.S. is EXTREMELY rare and very difficult. He wants to see some of her work, so now I have to research having a couple manuscripts sent so he can have a look.
I have never regretted coming here, and I am begining to see, sometimes a change of location is a change in luck.
But to end all this I want to thank all the people who read this and either prayed for my S.O. or sent him good vibes, because he probably needed them, and it helped!
The people I know here have been really super to me.
Like I said earlier, just being here instead of half a world away helped me bear up in a better way. I mean even if God forbid this had been worse, I think being here being where I can know what is going on sooner makes a difference. I still may not always be able to do anything, but somehow I feel less helpless!
Tody there was a little tiny bit of rain, but the sun has come out. The magpies came and tapped at the window, they wanted rinds from some slanina I got myself as an Easter treat. They were all over the place. Then they left and the pigeon came back. It is funny how one bird will look different from another and you know it is the same bird. Don't worry I am not going to go all Tesla on you folks, the birds are only welcome on the window sill, they will not repeat not be invited in for tea and cakes!
In some ways positive things came my way. I knew I was in the kind of mood where I can go from thinking realistically and realizing a situation is serious over to the negative thinking area. Staying home when I am like that is NEVER good for me, so I went out and visited my Baščaršija friends, B, and D, and the landlord's brother was there too. All of them are very nice people and we have become quite good friends in my time here. The landlord's brother, S. gave me some good practical advice on getting some sort of tutoring jobs here, the original one I hoped for might not pan out. Anyway, it will be fine, God willing, and in fact I may end up being able to be here longer as a result and be doing something useful. Not that wandering around looking at stuff isn't fun, not that writing isn't fun, I am at work on another short book, and in fact worked on it yesterday. A big dream of mine may come to realization, and that is that S. liked what he saw of my NaNo, and is reading it seriously, I printed it out for him, I told him it probably stilll needs editing, that some research questions I had could not be answered so I had to change stuff all over the place in that book, but I am very flexible on editorial questions for that reason. I am not dead set on how it is now.
The other one I am working on, I will compromise less on, but it is a different kind of story.
He said, 'Your English is better than average for an American!' He learned his English from English people, he loves the English. He said, ćYou probably could teach, or lecture about America and seriously a lot of Americans I know have problems with their English' I explained that both my parents were pretty well educated, and both wrote at different times in their lives, and even my grandfather, before becoming a bootlegger was a journalist. He praised what he h as seen of my manuscript and I sort of blurted out, 'You think that was good? Now my mother there was a WRITER!' He asked me 'Was she published?' and I explained what happens if a writer in the States hasn't got an agent and dies, which is that getting that kind of manuscript into print in the U.S. is EXTREMELY rare and very difficult. He wants to see some of her work, so now I have to research having a couple manuscripts sent so he can have a look.
I have never regretted coming here, and I am begining to see, sometimes a change of location is a change in luck.
But to end all this I want to thank all the people who read this and either prayed for my S.O. or sent him good vibes, because he probably needed them, and it helped!
The people I know here have been really super to me.
Like I said earlier, just being here instead of half a world away helped me bear up in a better way. I mean even if God forbid this had been worse, I think being here being where I can know what is going on sooner makes a difference. I still may not always be able to do anything, but somehow I feel less helpless!
Tody there was a little tiny bit of rain, but the sun has come out. The magpies came and tapped at the window, they wanted rinds from some slanina I got myself as an Easter treat. They were all over the place. Then they left and the pigeon came back. It is funny how one bird will look different from another and you know it is the same bird. Don't worry I am not going to go all Tesla on you folks, the birds are only welcome on the window sill, they will not repeat not be invited in for tea and cakes!
# posted by Katja R. @ 5:07 AM 
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Glad to hear the better news. It makes a big difference to be close at hand even when there's nothing you can do.
I'm always amazed that people are so critical about American English. Most of the Americans I have met are a lot less sloppy in their use of English than I and many of my English friends are.
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I'm always amazed that people are so critical about American English. Most of the Americans I have met are a lot less sloppy in their use of English than I and many of my English friends are.
# posted by 
: 3:12 AM
: 3:12 AM << Home
