If we were having coffee…
Thanks for meeting me here. SmartWorld Coffee is the first coffeeshop I discovered here in New Jersey. It’s my default location because it’s close to temporary housing and it’s the warmest coffee shop I’ve ever been in.
Both coffees here are good. I prefer the medium roast Magic City, but the Smart “Mudd” is smooth for a dark roast. Sometimes I get it just for the name. It’s cool to drink tasty mud.
This is my usual table. I know, two weeks and already a regular. The staff doesn’t know me just yet, but I know here. This table is far enough from both doors and from the condiment counter. Sun doesn’t hit my horizon until about 5pm, which gives me a good day to write. And this table is perfect for setting up my writing pad, tablet and for-here mug.
Can you believe it’s 3 weeks to the day that I arrived back in New Jersey? It feels like forever in a blink of the eye. So much running around looking at houses and now paperwork for a house we are interested in. I keep looking at listings because, well, I feel skittish for some reason. Maybe all the legalese is getting me down-doobie-doo-down down.
How’s your writing coming along? Me, I’m mostly writing blogposts these days. On Monday, I attended The Montclair Write Group’s free write workshop. One Monday morning a month, anyone meets at The Fine Grind over in Little Falls–have you been?–and writes bits and smooches from writing prompts the moderator brings. I got there late and participated in only two of the three prompts. No one critiques these pieces. It’s a time to get together with other writers and play with words. Very casual.
What scared me was everyone reads their piece aloud. Oh my gosh, it’s been forever since I did that. I read my short fiction and my poem aloud, and it felt so weird. In my old critique group, we had the option to have our piece read aloud, and then we had the option to have someone else read it. I always chose someone else, because he or she didn’t know what my inflections are, and that was an eye-opener–or an ear-opener–for approaching my revisions.
Anyway, this group is active in all sorts of writing workshops and meetings. They have a memoir critique group *pause for a deep sigh* and I’m looking forward to getting involved with them. Someday.
I’m not done with Michigan yet. I registered for Mega Meet in May. My best scrapbooking friend and I have decided that I am coming back every year for this event. Scrapbooking, card making, shopping for crafting stuff I have too much of already and hanging with my friend. We got all our classes, and we have 3 or 4 classes together. The only downside is that 10-hour drive, but that’s what hotels are made for. Besides, this year, I need to bring Tree and Sprout and my other plants back with me.
That’s been the excitement of my life this week. I snatched a few minutes here and there to catch some new Pokémon GO critters, including the super-duper rare Togetic. In fact, I caught it right here in Denville. From SmartWorld coffee, right here at this table, I can spin the PokeStops at bothe the Starbucks across the street and the Denville Clock Tower. I’m Mayor of both of those, too.
Have you had a fun week? I’ve been doing all the talking. Tell me all about it.
