#WeekendCoffeeShare: “Empty” weekend!

Weekend Coffee Share is a time for us to take a break out of our lives and enjoy some time catching up with friends (old and new)!

Grab a cup of coffee and share with us! What’s been going on in your life? What are your weekend plans? Is there a topic you’ve just been ruminating on that you want to talk about?

All are welcome! Just add your link to the Linky-List, and be sure to visit others and join in their conversations! The link will be open from January 26h at 7am (Pacific Time) until Monday January 29th at 7pm (Pacific Time) to give us a good range of “weekend”!

If we were having coffee this weekend I’d tell you that I am going to enjoy a weekend of relaxation. I do have a few errands to run on Saturday, but otherwise will be relaxing in my room, doing some cleaning, lots of reading and a fair amount of writing and editing. And crocheting.

The first clue for the Mystery Crochet for the Rose City Yarn Crawl came out this week, and the second will come out next week so I have to get these sections done before we get to that! I don’t want to fall behind. Each Wednesday, after the clues drop, I meet up with my “Stitch-and-Bitch” group to work on the project (though some are working on other projects). We have crocheters and knitters in the group, and it’s a fun time.

I LOVE the way these colors are working.  I’ve already messed it up a bit – so have to alter things a little to get back on track (because I was NOT about to undo all those rows) so it’s got a little personality added in!

 

I’m sure by now you’ve heard that Ursula LeGuin passed away this past week. I have to confess that I haven’t actually read the books she’s best known for – they’ve been on my “to read” list for quite a long while. I hope to fix that this year.

I have, however, read her book on writing, Steering the Craft, a number of times. I received a copy of it as a present from my supervisor when I had an internship at Borders Books in the late 90’s. A signed copy.

Because I got to meet Ursula LeGuin when I was working there – she was coming to the store to meet with some group or another and it was part of our job to greet her and escort her to the group. She and I chatted a little bit. I don’t remember much of what was said, but I do remember that we talked a little about writing. The thing that most stands out though was her energy, how lively and real she was, and the story she told about how she desperately needed to do laundry.

She was funny. And inspiring. She raised her family here in Portland, and I always considered her to be part of the creative fabric of this area. There are a number or writers, musicians, and artists of all sorts who have called this area their home for some chunk of their lives, and I like to sometimes think about how the culture of Portland – and the amazing scenery – has influenced their works. (This all led me to check in on some of the “local” authors who I suddenly found myself wondering “are they still alive?” Cool discovery of the day – Beverly Cleary is still alive, and will turn 102 in April!)

Time for me to get back to it. This chapter I want to knock out this weekend isn’t going to edit itself… sadly.

How was your week?  How does your weekend look?  Thanks for joining me for coffee – I really enjoy the time we get to check in with one another – even if I’m not able to make it to everyone’s place every week!

Hard times are coming, when we’ll be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies to other ways of being, and even imagine real grounds for hope. We’ll need writers who can remember freedom – poets, visionaries – realists of a larger reality.
–From LeGuin’s National Book Awards Acceptance Speech.
November 2014.