Here I thought I was doing good at the end of last month, updating a little more often. Now look--it's already the 10th! How can it be June 10 already?

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Rejections recently from F&SF (alas) and Realms Of Fantasy.

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Ximena and I have decided we like the practica on Thursday nights compared to the milongas on the weekends. The milongas at the Tango Center are fine and we'll still go, but there's a different feel to the practica at the dance studio. It's much more relaxed and a little more social, or friendlier, if you will.

A practica is just a place to practice tango and perhaps ask a number of experienced dancers for guidance. But you don't have to. You can just dance. The dance floor is in one small room with mirrors on most of the walls and unlike the Tango Center the mirrors are closer to the dance floor and unobstructed, so you can see your form.

We've gone two weeks in a row and enjoyed it. Last Thursday I even danced with two other partners besides Ximena. However, they asked me before I had a chance to ask them. It wouldn't be so hard for me to ask them to dance next time.

What's interesting about the mirrors is that seeing is believing. Ximena can tell me I'm a fabulous tango dancer, but then I tell myself tango is just walking and that I don't know too many steps and turns. When I see myself dancing with someone in the mirror I see my smooth walk and there's some grace to the turns and steps I do know, and I'm even getting the hang of listening and moving to the music instead of thinking what my feet are doing while ignoring the music.

That's just like me, with the mirrors. Not in a vain way, but this necissity to see reality outside my head can be found in other areas of my life. Inside my head I can convince myself of all sorts of things I cannot do.

Writing fiction for instance. I've had moments where I didn't think I could write a story quickly, I've had moments when I didn't think the words would ever flow. But when I look at the graphs I've made of my word output, I see that I can write at a pretty good clip if I write on a regular basis (and then the words will flow), and as well as, yes, I can write a complete story in a evening--can I do it again?

So those graphs work as mirrors. They get me outside my head where doubts linger and I see reality right before my eyes.

I shouldn't forget about looking into those mirrors.