how much weight can you carry?

something is in the air in newyorkcity.

do you ever get that sense about where you live? that something is just up? my own writerly mood swings aside, this felt like a week of monumental living. parents went into the hospital for long overdue treatments. people left and shifted jobs. lots more people seemed to up and move out of state. family members were (still are) struggling to be together after years of separation. babies were born. 

i have a friend who got in a fight this week. a fight! half his face looks like the elephant man. i had to close one eye and hold up a hand to block out the damaged side when i spoke to him. worse than the bloated disgustingness and bright red eye was imagining someone wailing on him to create it.

i have a terrible memory. i don't remember song titles or who wrote what, never mind the name of the person i met two minutes ago, but i'll always remember the sage advice that came at the end of Tom Robbin's novel, Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates. the story follows a man who's looking for a yogi who's figured out the meaning of life. it turns out that the yogi is a parrot, but his wisdom?

PEOPLE OF ZEE WORLD RELAX!

that's right. deep breaths everyone. it's friday. also, speaking of words of wisdom, have you seen this article about fiction writing advice from lots of famous authors? no? here t'is:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/20/ten-rules-for-writing-fiction-part-one

this is supposed to be my BEA recap blog. and it is. but it ain't easy seeing big bruised faces. so this will also be my: Ain't Life Also Grand Blog, which will end with a tiny picture of Jacques Torres.

but first, three little letters. BEA.

that's right, BookExpoAmerica came to NYC this week. think the auto show, but with books, famous authors, and lots of little conference tables where people in suits are having important looking conversations. fine. it's nothing like the auto show, but it is held at the same place. and the best distinction? for only the cost of a really expensive ticket, you get to leave with loads of books that haven't been officially published yet. like this one:

get it? he's a jani-TOR. awesome.

now you might be asking, yes, but for the price of a very expensive ticket, exactly how many free books do you get to leave with? well, this many:

even better? some of these books are signed! so this week i met Harlan Coben, who said, HI THERE! in a booming voice, and i said in a teeny voice, hi i'm corrie.

i also met Lauren Oliver, who i can no longer secretly envy and despise. for those of you who aren't YA fanatics. Lauren Oliver wrote a compulsively, must keep reading even though my house is on fire book called Before I Fall. she's part of/creator of a book packaging company in Brooklyn and she's pretty and young and apparently likes shoes, which means she probably has awesome ones. (though not my hot granny green ones, i'll bet ya, so booyah).

now anyone that knows corrie (ugh, there's that 3rd person self-reference again) knows that she can get a little competitive. so when i saw LO signing books, my first thought was, pfft. so what? i'm not waiting in her line. but then the geeky corrie who loves to read and truly admires this author won out, snuck into the line at the last minute, and got the last copy of Delirium.

and you know what? Lauren Oliver, was really, really nice. and after my horrible-my WIP is never going to be published-what does it all mean-WHY AM I HERE-week this is what she wrote:

thanks for being here. i know she meant BEA. but i chose to read it as thanks for being here in NYC. here in the YA world. just here. sigh. isn't Lauren Oliver the greatest?

now that i'm fully coming off as psycho (i mean, who has friends that get in fights?), let me just say that though free books are great, they're also very heavy. what started as BEA wild eyed awe and book grabbing greed turned into two tote bag dragging, why the hell did i wear my hot, granny shoes to this thing? exhaustion.

so my awesome crit parter, um, borrowed us some sandwiches from an exhibitors table:

and then i tottered/trudged the heck out of there.

couldn't be there? don't worry, you didn't miss much. truly. eventually, all these books will be coming to a bookstore or library near you. even the not-yet-copy-edited-ARC i have of Jay Asher's new book. mwahahaha. or i'll hold one of those contests and send you a copy.

and although BEA was great (as was hip hop class that same evening), in some ways, yesterday was better.

i started writing again. with no struggle or breaks. it felt marvelous. in the evening i met my friend at the brooklyn museum for a movie. while i waited for her, i watched a high school marching band practice on the museum steps. i shot a video, which of course didn't come out. but the band was awesome. dressed in sweats and tees, they danced, hopped, and shouted stuff -- we are the tuba section, WHAT! while three teeny little girls got down in front and put my hip hop class to shame.

then it was inside to the movie, Kings of Pastry. which i think is airing on PBS tonight. if so, watch it! it was phenomenal. and only in NYC, where people apparently still get in fights, struggle to reconnect with their family, leave jobs and move out of state on seeming whims, does Jacques Torres come to sit in on a movie screening and answer questions at the end. see? he's the tiny blob on the far right:

so here's to hoping the air clears up this week. here's to healthier living. here's to free books and to people of zee world relax.

also, here's to you, my friends and blog readers. thank you for being here.