News and Notes

The Job Search
Unfortunately, Wendy didn't get the job she interviewed for. We're both disappointed. She was incredibly well qualified, and the interview went really well, but they decided to hire someone from within the department. Something else will come along, though, so we'll keep our eyes open.

New Orleans
Let me say first of all that I'm very glad that supplies have finally made their way to New Orleans. I'm extremely appalled, though, that it took ALMOST 5 DAYS for them to get there!! It's very, very wrong for that to happen.

The Weather
Wendy heard recently that this has been the 3rd driest summer ever for this part of Illinois. It certainly appears that way: I've been driving by acres of brown and withered crops on my way to and from work.

College Football
I'm still struggling with how sports fits into the national scene right now, but the fact is that the college football season has started. These are the games we're looking forward to this weekend:
* OU vs TCU: What will our offense look like? More importantly, how good is our defense?
* Notre Dame vs Pitt: Charlie Weis vs Dave Wannstedt. Whose coaching skills will reign supreme?
* Miami vs FSU: Usually a good contest, but why make this the first game of the season? It would probably be a better game if both teams had a few weeks of experience first.

The Local Sports Team
The Chicago Bears' preseason has been a trainwreck to say the least. Their starting QB got injured and is out for the season; their backup QB turned out to be so bad he's fallen off the depth chart; so their only option now is give the helm to Kyle Orton, a rookie QB. Not an auspicious start. At least we get to watch former Sooners Mark Bradley and Tommie Harris play.

On Instant Replay
I have to say I'm not a big fan of instant replay, and I'm a little sad to see it appearing at the college level. It slows down the game and seems to change the way that referees officiate.

Sometimes, we're a little lame
The light in our loft hasn't been working the past few weeks, and we were really stumped as to why. There are 3 lights in the light fixture, and they had all stopped working at the same time. It didn't seem likely that they'd all burned out together, and they didn't even look burned out. All the other electrical outlets in the loft worked, so we didn't think it was circuit-related (but we're not electricians, either). Finally, today, Wendy solved the mystery. There's a second switch for that light in the loft that we'd totally forgotten about, and it was neither on nor off, but stuck right in the middle. Wendy flipped the switch and presto! The lights now work. I think we're both a little embarrassed that it took us several weeks to figure it out.

50,112!

I have over 50,000 words on my novel! It's nice, of course, but it honestly feels a little anti-climactic - probably because my story isn't finished yet. I guessed before I started that it would end up being about 75,000 words, and I still think somewhere around there is correct. It's anyone's guess what the length will be once I'm done editing, though.

I think my interview yesterday went well, and I have my fingers crossed that they want to hire me. They're planning to make a decision within two weeks, so we'll see...

Four score and seven years ago...

George has finished his novel! That's right, he's done; a week ahead of schedule and 200 words over the minimum. He called this afternoon and we talked briefly about it - he's already making plans for the next novel...

And my novel? It's still coming along. I broke 40,000 words today, so I have a week left to write and 10,000 words to go. I don't think that 50,000 words will finish my story, though, as I'm only a little more than halfway through my plot. I started to worry a few days ago that I was writing the world's most boring novel, but today I wrote a fun scene between mortal enemies that restored some of my faith. I guess if I really start to struggle, I can always follow my dad's writing advice: "And now," said the heroine, "I will recite the Gettysburg Address." Or maybe she could turn to Shakespeare, or the dictionary, for comfort. Not that those would necessarily make my novel more exciting, but they would help me reach 50,000 words.

In other exciting news: I found out yesterday that I was selected to interview for a position that I really want and think I would be really good at. The interview is next Monday, so if you could all send good thoughts my way, I would definitely appreciate it!

Randy and I saw Broken Flowers this past weekend and enjoyed it, although we both got the impression that some of the people in the theater were there expecting a Bill Murray film rather than a Jim Jarmusch film. At one point, the man seated next to Randy muttered, "What the hell is going on?" That pretty much sums up every Jim Jarmusch film I've seen, but in a good way.

And I think that's probably enough from my rather scattered brain today.

We're (Almost!) Famous

We're in the paper today! Yesterday, a columnist from the paper called and interviewed me as well, so there's the original article about newcomers to McHenry County as well as a column about blogs. You can read them online here and here. Let us know if you want a clipping and we'll mail you a hard copy.

Also, my interview was yesterday. I think it went pretty well, but it's hard to tell sometimes. I've thought other interviews that didn't get me the job went well, too. The only one I was ever sure about was the interview at Naropa - I remember being almost certain that I had the job after I left the interview. (Luckily, I was right!) I guess I'll just have to wait and see...

Exciting Things Are Afoot

So here's the scoop: Tuesday was quite a good day for us. The fun started when we got tickets to see Steven Wright perform tomorrow night in Crystal Lake. If you're not familiar with him, he's a comedian with a monotone voice and a very dry sense of humor (not to mention some wacky hair). He's absolutely hilarious. A quick google search will pull up plenty of his one-liners.

Later that day, we were contacted by a reporter from the local newspaper who was doing a story on people settling down in McHenry County (see the comment on our previous blog post). She was very nice and wound up interviewing Wendy about why we moved here, what our impressions are, and what we've been up to. So, if it makes it through the editing phase, Wendy will be quoted in the newspaper! We're not sure when the story will run; possibly not until next week. We'll let you know when we see it.

Finally, that afternoon, Wendy got a job interview! It's for a part-time job, which is what she's looking for so that she can continue her writing. The interview is early next week, so please be sure to send good thoughts her way.