Friday, May 30, 2008

Coherence Is So Totally Overrated

The party is less than 48 hours away, my refrigerator is stuffed with food, the platters, cakes, and bagels have been ordered, the great whitefish crisis of 2008 has been resolved, all but five of the party favor bags have been assembled, there are two red balloons with yellow 75ths on them hanging off a dining room chair, and I've been given a key to the clubhouse room so I can move stuff over Saturday evening, which will make Sunday morning a lot easier.

My friend Christy sent flowers (she is a sweetie pie), my friends Beth and Al sent a box of chocolates (they are sweetie pies) and Harcourt sent an assortment of chocolates (they are also sweetie pies). Did you know that there is such a thing as chocolate covered Cheerios? News to me too.

I woke up at five this morning, gave myself thirty seconds to fall back asleep, and then began working on The World We Live In. I worked out why and how Will dies. So far that section of the book is one half Wuthering Heights and one half White Cargo, by Don Jordan and Michael Walsh. I also decided this morning that Eden was too mean, so I making her more naive and less exploitative.

Speaking of White Cargo (which I'm still only midway through the seventeeth century in), my new favorite fact from it is a law that said if an indentured servant had a baby, she had to add two years to her time of service, even if her master was the father of the child.

I never approve of any era that doesn't have indoor plumbing, but the seventeenth century seems particularly unappealing.

I've been given an Elluminate Private Online Meeting Room by a very nice librarian in British Columbia, who is going to explain to me just what it is Monday morning 10 AM my time. Tomorrow, when I'm feeling a tad less crazed, I'll go there and explore. If it's like a chat room, then maybe someday we could all go there and chat. I've never been in a chat room, but I'm a friendly sort and it might be something interesting to do. Let me know if you think it's a good idea.

Decades ago, when Todd Strasser was a young whippersnapper, he moved to Middletown, NY, and was told to call me (we had never met). At the time I was having problems with a crank caller, so when he called I hung up on him, but he persisted and we became good friends.

Somehow when he tells the story, it's funnier.

Anyway, our lives changed (he got to be more successful than me) and we lost touch, but thanks to the miracle of bloghood, he e-mailed me, and we've resumed our friendship, which makes me very happy. I guess he's happy too, because he's coming to my party, and he's started a blog, http://toddstrasser.blogspot.com/. Todd's so new at it he's turning to me for technical assistance, but I'm sure he'll come to his senses soon enough.

Which is more than I'm sure about myself these days!


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

hello,

my name is Analie, *do i really have to give my last name?* i loved the book Life as we Knew It!!! it's one of my favorites!i have never read any of the other books you've writen, but i plan to. i want one of the book plates *if you have any*, but i was wondering if you ship it, and do i have to pay for s&h? *i have to ask my mom first, so it may be a while for my email to show up* i might not be regular bloger *i just found the site*, but please answer!

Ciao!

analie

Anonymous said...

Re White Cargo...

Do you think a lot of Masters deliberately tried to get their female servants pregnant to add more time? I'm assuming the servants couldn't turn the Masters away. It'd be a good way of getting more time for nothing, wouldn't it?

Re the party, hope all goes well. Have a great time.

Anonymous said...

I came to My Senses, looked around and thought, "How totally boring! No way am I hanging around here." So I left and haven't looked back. Thanks, Susan.

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Hi Analie and Wild-Force71 and Todd Strasser-

Welcome to Analie and to Todd.

Analie, bookplate is really just a fancy word for book sticker, so there's no cost for you. But I would need an address to send it to, so ask your mother or have her e-mail me. And I'm very glad to learn you liked Life As We Knew It. I hope you'll read the dead & the gone and like that as well.

As far as the indentured servants go, Wild-Force71, I'm still just halfway through the book (I would have read more yesterday except for the great whitefish crisis of 2008). I think there's going to be more written about the specific exploitation of women, but I'll know better when I have more a chance to read (I'm determined to finish the book by Wednesday).

Apparently some women were swooped up from England to go to Virginia as brides, which I suppose is better than being an indentured servant, but probably not by much.

And thanks for your good wishes for my party. The great whitefish crisis of 2008 may have been resolved, but my refrigerator is starting to smell like whitefish, so it's for the best the party is tomorrow.

You're welcome Todd. See you tomorrow (just follow the whitefish smell!).

Anonymous said...

Susan,

thanks, i'll give you my adress soon. i was wondering, do you/have you done a book signing to Denver/Boulder? i'd love to go to one if you did one soon!

ciao!

analie

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Hi Analie-

I've never been to Colorado, except once when I changed planes on my way to Wyoming, which doesn't really count.

I hear it's just beautiful there and hope someday to see it.

So no, I haven't done any book signings in Boulder or Denver, and, alas, I have no plans to do any.