Nice breeze blowing...

It's finally fall over at Mose's place today. So we're hanging out on the porch. You should stop by!!!

Far more important...

Far more important than the Random House deal (and I really do mean this, truly)... is another "milestone" we've had this week. It's the biggest deal of all!


What is it?


We think Mose said his first word!!!


It's hard to tell though, because he keeps saying it over and over, and his ennunciation is not perfect, so it could be a "sound" and not a "word."


(The only difference between the two is whether you know what other people think you mean...) We think we know what he means.


And what's the word? WHAT's THE WORD???


DAVE!


My son's first word is (perhaps) Dave.


Well, so what was yours, smartypants?


(Mine was "uh-oh". For real.)


**


In other, non-Mose-related news, Amy Guth CRACKS ME UP! She should write for the teevee.


**


In still other news, the Baltimore City Paper has things to say... about me.

Clarifying the cat...

Becasue people are emailing to ask me what exactly has happened... I will clarify...


In plain speak:


I sold my kiddie book, my middle-grade novel!!! I sold it for actual American dollars, to Random House. It will be out (I think) in 2009.


I know almost nothing else about how this works, or what happens next. There will be some picture, I think.


But here is what I do know...


I know that I worked on it for like, four years. I know that it taught me a lot. I know that I revised it three times. I know that I got very frustrated at several points, but that now I'm proud and happy. I know that many many people told me this book was unmarketable. So I know that I love my agent (my agent??!!), Tina, who "gets it".


(Hi Tina! I love you.)


And my editor (my editor??!!), Lisa, who pulled my unmarketable baby from the slush.


(Hey, Lisa! I love you too.)


(Incidentally, the images above are from the children's books I would like most to have written. Also the illustrations I love BEST. Hilary Knight, N.M. Bodecker, Pat Marriott, these are the illustrators who constructed my world visually, when I was but a wee lass)

The last cat...

Is OUT of the bag!


And he's a BIG one.


We are calling him, "Random House."

The last cat...

You may recall that I had a bag full of cats.


Slowly, the cats wriggled...


Out of the bag.


(One was called "baby" and another was called "picture book.")


But there was one BIG cat left alone inside the bag.


And he is about to spring loose.

L' Shana Tova!!!

Happy New Year, everybody!!!


Today, at services, Rabbi Hillel Norry gave a wonderful talk at Shearith Israel, the synagogue we are thinking about joining.


About how, when we are confronted with hypocrisy/lies/faults, we have an instinct to turn AWAY. (rebellion)


Or we have an instinct to ignore/become blind to all hypocrisy/faults, so that we are not confronted with hard questions. (fundamentalism)


He offered the idea that maturity is the process of loving/participating in something once you've been made aware of hypocrisy. He suggested that all things are flawed, all people are hypocritical/false at one time or another.


He talked about this with regard to parents/the bible.


But I think we would all do well to think about this... about maturity. Not because it is RIGHT, which it is, but also becasue it is good for us, helps us grow, allows us to move with intelligence through the world.


Poetry. Politics. Citizenship. Work. Family. Publishing. Marriage. All of it. All of it good. All of it flawed. Good and flawed.


**


In other news, a HUGE HUZZAH!!!!!! for my husband, who just found out he got into Emory for grad school. Mose and I are super proud of him. Another reason to like Atlanta. Another reason to stay put.


It's shaping up to be a sweet one.


Get you some apples. Get you some honey.


May you be inscribed for an interesting (and good, of course) year!!!


May you pass through the upcoming year with eyes open, mind sharp, and heart full. May you be healthy in all ways, thoughtful in all ways. May you appreciate what is before you. May you be honest about what you need most.

Hear hear!!!

JEWSCHOOL is totally on the mark. These guys kick total ass!


Like me need to give the world reasons to call us money grubbing.


And at the holidays, no less.

Linky link...

Especially with the holidays right around the corner, I thought it might be a good time to offer up some links for the Jewishy Irishy set.


Interfaith Family has a new blog!


And JOI is always an amazing resource! (I've just joined their advisory board, and am honored to have been asked)


It's been a dynamic time for the intermarried set, an odd and incredible year or two. There are all kinds of new books, not just mine, and agencies and initiatives focused on inclusivity, on broadening definitions.


And now, at the new year, it's really special for me to consider this community in place, this network I didn't have a few years ago. And to thank the people who work tirelessly to prop up this giant tent. These two agencies, more than anyone else, are the tentpoles.


I'll post again about the holidays, at greater length, but for now... I'll wish a sweet new year to JOI and Interfaith Family. Full of fearless and innovative thoughts, and constant new beginnings.

Let the words...

Speak for themselves...


That's why we built them.

Me and poetry...

You know what? I'm taking down this post. It was misunderstood.


Truth be told, I'm not concerned about the mistakes other people did/didn't make. I just wanted to tell you all that I'm writing kids' books lately, and loving it.


I was just thinking about poetry, and how poetry can be complicated for me, and I got tangled up the (poetry) news. Such as it is.


I don't have time to be mad at people, unless I'm REALLY mad, or they've been torturing babies or something.

The race...

I am home. I am catching up.


I am grading papers, finishing a book I have to read for review, doing dishes, making chicken soup ( I have a cold). Sweeping. Calling the roofers (again!) Also processing the week in Baltimore/DC.


Mose is chewing on a purple alligator.


But I'm not overly concerned about that. Here is what concerns me:


A few days ago, I read in DC, at the JCC downtown, near Dupont Circle. There, in our nation's capitol, a lively crowd gathered to talk about interfaith marriage. There were many good questions, many wonderful voices. But there was one man...


Who wanted to ask me about the Jewish race.


About the Jewish "race". Which seemed odd, but so do lots of things, so I explained as best I could that while there are genetic factors in the Jewish equation (hence Tay Sachs) the two more common ways of talking about Judaism (which themselves represent diverse populations) are cultural/traditional, and religious/faith-based.


But I admitted to him that the bloodlines are something people do think about, consider. There is, as much as we want to disregard it, a racial piece to this puzzle. Which means there is sometimes a racism.


I answered the man as best I could, and moved on.


Then, after the reading, a woman came up to me. "That man is a Nazi." She said.


A Nazi!?


She explained to me, firmly, that I should never admit that we are a race/ethnicity. She said we are a "peoplehood" and that I need to diffuse men like that, undercut what they say by explaining we are NOT a race.


Hmm.....


Of course, if that man was/is a Nazi, I'm horrified to think that I might have given him any kind of ammo. Sent him back to his Nazi-play-group with the idea that the Jews are just as concerned about racial pollution as the Germans ever were, or some such nonsense. Of course, that isn't true. Because we're smarter than that, better than that.


And it's true... we are not a race. We are a complicated hybrid. We are the result of a race/tribe (Hebraic/Semitic) which has taken on a faith (Judaism) intermarried, moved, spread, evolved. Maybe it makes sense to call it a "peoplehood." I don't know... I'm not sure what that means.


What are we?


We were once a race, and have now become something else. We are Ethiopian, Yemenite, German, Moroccan, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Chinese. We are adopted, converted, and yes... we are Sammy Davis Jr. We are stronger for all of that, and we know it. We celebrate it. A lot.


So that woman was right, in that we are not "a race." But we are not just a religion either, because there are racial/cultural factors. We *are* concerned about intermarriage. We are concerned about the loss of our heritage, in a way that other religions seem not to be, because there is a racial factor. In that we are more like Italians or Irish, afraid of losing our recipes, our literature, our songs... In fact, it wasn't so long ago that Sephardic Jewish families and Ashkenazic Jewish families didn't want their kids to intermarry. So maybe it isn't "a" race. But it's not entirely true to say we don't concern ourselves with race.


And yes, many of us do share genetic material, however far back you have to go to find the source.


So I'm mulling over this now. I'm considering that the "race" piece of this puzzle is rooted in ignorance, in the voices of those who don't realize how diverse a culture we have become. That I should-- as suggested by the nice woman-- address the topic head-on, when I'm asked a question about "race."


But there's something more to it. Because when the nice woman ran up to me, and said, "We are NOT a race. We are a peoplehood..."


She finished the sentence like this:


"Our race is caucasion. Our religion is Judaism."


Which shows that she doesn't really see the picture clearly either. She is reaching for a way to avoid talking about race, but she is reaching the wrong direction I think. And I wonder, if her son were to marry an african-American girl from an AME church, what she would think of that...


So in the end... I am left only with the sense that we are all so clueless when it comes to these matters. We all have some amount of predjudice in us, which is NOT to say hate or aggression, but we all see the lines. Most of us are not Nazis (thank god) or stupid enough to think that our baser instincts are legititmate.


Most of us know, as that woman did the minute the word "caucasian" flew from her lips... that we are flawed and imperfect creatures. And we seek to better ourselves. Most of us, when we catch ourselves sinking into the mire of irrelevent racial distinctions, pull ourselves back up, apologize sheepishly... and try harder next time.


Because we know our job is TIKKUN OLAM. Our job is to repair the world.


And that, everyone... is what it is to be Jewish. Race, religion, culture aside. That's what it's all about. Tikkun Olam. So get started!


(But I'll be ready next time, Mr. Nazi. I'll be waiting for that word. And I want to say thank you to the woman at the JCC. She wasn't perfect, but she was right nonetheless. She spotted the wicked intentions across the aisle, which I did not see, and she helped me learn something. So now I know what I'll say if it comes up again.


But let's all take a minute to think about this.)

"Charming" City...

I'm in Baltimore right now, with the incomparable Thisbe Nissen, and her supferfly beau, Jay Nicorvo!


We've been tooling around (with Mose) this weekend, and tonight we're reading at the JCC in DC, at 7:30.


Be there!


***


In other news, I have a cold. Mose gave it to me. He got it at the Atlanta JCC.


That's my life. One JCC after another.

A reminder...

THIS is what I do all day. Just in case you forgot.


Another reminder:


I'm reading (with Thisbe Nissen) in DC on Tuesday, at the DCJCC, as part of the Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival! Mose too.

Choosey mothers...

When was the last time you had a real choice to make? An actual "two roads diverged in a yellow wood" kind of decision?


My father once said to me, "Laurel, a lot of the suffering in this country comes from people fretting over decisions that aren't really theirs to make."


Or something like that. Which is true. Much anxiety in our privileged world stems from overthinking... in advance of our problems, and in retrospect...


But while my dad is generally right/smart... sometimes we really do have a choice, two (or more) distinct options. And when we do... it's best to listen to the rumblings in our bellies, I think, and take a leap of faith.


It's best to commit to our decisions, best to blindfold ourselves to all the other paths we think might have stemmed from the paths we didn't take, when standing in the yellow wood.


Because the what-ifs will make us insane. INSANE!


So here I am, making a choice, taking a leap of faith. In a way I haven't done since I made a choice 5 years ago (the right one) and signed on for a partner, a family, a future.


Yep, here I am again, signing on for another kind of partner, a second kind of future.


Could it actually be possible? Could I really be so lucky as to get it right the first time...


Twice?

More on the DBF...

I want to take a second to mention this, because I think it's an important lesson. For me and for you too.


This festival, the Decatur Book Festival, was a complete success... But it was also a total invention, a house of cards, shadow and mirror tricks...


Until recently....


But then, because Tom and Daren believed in it, so firmly.... it became real. Like the Velveteen rabbit, Pinochio. There really is something to believing, an alchemy of stubbornness.


As the myth goes (and I'm sorry if I get this wrong guys), about a year and a half back, Daren went to a book festival in another southern city.


Was Tom there at the time? I'm unsure.


And he looked around at the "festival" and realized it was really just (as all things are) a composite of some smaller stuff. Some readings, some book sales, some food, some wine, tables and posters. And driving home, he said to his traveling buddy (the brilliant Marc Fitten), "I could do that!"


So he did. He and Tom talked to some presses, and publicists and sent out emails, and found readers. They talked to local colleges and businesses, and scrounged up a few in-kind donations, and the money for a keynote speaker. Which was remarkable to watch... to witness the event beginning to come together...


And that was really all they needed...


BUT THEN...


Because they had so many amazing ideas, and because ideas are infectious and energy is too, other things, magical things, began to happen. Doors flew open, because the air was magnetized. Sponsors came on board.


When larger companies saw who was sponsoring the event, THEY climbed on board.


When authors saw who was reading, they clambered to participate.


And so, an event took place. An event that will change the town, and make jobs for the inventors (I presume) and expose the country, as years roll by, to regional authors, and to our wonderful community.


And it is really just because Tom and Daren were willing to work tirelessly, without pay, for a year and a half, to construct a house of cards.


Which is a lesson. I want to remember it.


Everything since creation (or evolution gave us thumbs) has been a trick, an invention, somebody's good (or bad) idea. And it is only the energy of the alchemist that brings it into the world.


Along with a little luck, and maybe good timing.


So there are no excuses for your own lack of invention. There is no reason for you to feel stuck. Because anyone can invent a house of cards, and make it real.


Take this to heart! Daren and Tom began with no money, no help. Just a good idea, the willingness to work, and an email account.


And we all owe them a big thank you (especially me, since I sold a bunch of books after my reading on Sunday).


So, yeah! THANK YOU!


Thanks to To and Daren (and Jamie and Terra and Waquas, and all the other people who were willing to help build the house of cards, or the people who were willing to walk into the house of cards before the alchemy happened. Before it became real.


Which now, of course, it is.


You can tell, because there were firecworks. FIREWORKS!

Fever pitch...

This is "that month."


What month?


Not quite sure... or how to describe it. I just know that it's singular. And feverish.


I just know that for the rest of my life, I will rememember September of 2006. Can't explain yet, but there's a lot going on.


Too much.


**


But there are things I can say.


This week: Mose had his first fever. It was pretty awful.


No sleep.


**


The Decatur Book Festival was a smash hit. Due to the aforementioned fever, I missed most of it, but Tom Bell and Daren Wang are powerful fucking men and deserving of great praise. When they run for office, I want to play in the marching band. Make bunting.


**


The Duck & Herring-sponsored CLMP festival was so FUN! And getting to meet and panel with Tayari Jones and Amy Guth was the best fun of all. What amazing women.


**


Sonya Naumann and Sharone Levy, my very good friends, came to town.


So GOOD! SO DAMN GOOD to spend a few hours in PJs, sipping coffee. To drink too much beer and play dress up with the girls, with lipstick and tiaras, and cameras and lighting.


Love to the ladies!!! Fever and extreme tiredness could not squelch the vibes of absolute fabulousity.


**


Love. There is much.


Obvious conclusions are not so.