Refilling the Cup

We had folks in town from Oregon in the last week, and I don't think I realized how much I needed to be away from writing, surfing the Internet, dealing with technical issues with Blackboard and, generally, sitting in front of a computer.

It was great to meet some new students (I'm teaching three face-to-face sessions this term) and get back into the swing of things at school. And it was also very nice to go out and break bread and spend some time in the sunshine with some of our support group from Oregon.

We walked miles and miles and saw some amazing golf at The Players Championship. I was sad to see David Toms lose the championship, but I was happy that K.J. Choi took home the hardware. It sounds like a contradiction, but both are such good guys that it works for me. Toms was humble and sincere in losing the playoff, and Choi was kind and supportive in victory.

I followed Paul Goydos, Alvaro Quiros and Sean O'Hair for eighteen holes yesterday and saw some of the most amazing ball striking I've ever seen. Goydos is a great golfer and a really interesting guy. He interacted with the gallery and was very personable. A former substitute teacher, he won a Nationwide event in 1992 and never looked back. It's gratifying to see good people get to the places they want in life, and his story is a good example of that.

We cooked out almost every night. We hit the beach, played some golf and had a lot of laughs. The computer stayed off, for the most part, and now I feel pretty excited to get back to the writing. I think these are the weeks that keep things fresh.

I love books and I love writing and I enjoy all of the hard work that goes with writing fiction. But sometimes it adds up and it's good to periodically remind myself that life is the stuff that happens in the physical world.

In other good news, I've got a story coming out soon in an anthology of Lovecraftian fiction called Dead But Dreaming 2. I'm excited for the book, because of the talent of the writers in the TOC and the passion and energy that the publisher and editor have put into things behind the scenes.

And I'd like to conclude by congratulating Jennifer P. on placing her poem. She's a student and a talented poet, and this is just the start of really good things to come...