Last week there was the hurricane, then yesterday was cutback day at work, and then last night it was Michael Swanwick. Whew.

It seems weird that just last week at this time I was feeling much the same way I feel now -- distracted -- waiting for Isabel to tear the roof from our house and blow in our windows. Today, I'm just hanging out at work waiting for the axe to fall. But hey, at least I got to go to a Michael Swanwick reading and drink wine with him and John Kessel and a bunch of other writers! Until about midnight, too.

Actually, I'm not too stressed about the changes coming up at the Day Job. If I get laid off, I know I can round up more work, even if it might be short, 6-month projects here and there. Elizabeth has a good job lined up, and while we aren't anywhere near being out of debt, we're not gonna starve or lose our house. There are people much worse off than us. We just need to cut down on our spending, which we were planning on doing anyway. And like I said, if I do get laid off, I can rustle up work pretty fast.

But as Lizzie said last night, this has been a sucky month. With the craziness with her job and trying to get her boards results and a new job lined up after her original job fell through on her, it's been stressful.

I try to stay zen-like about all of these things -- shit happens, you know? Control what's within your ability to control. Don't stress about the rest, if you can. Life's too damn short, y'know? It's just a job. We all have to have one. :)

And finally, last night was really fun, going to the Swanwick reading at NC State. Saw Jason, Andreas, and Luna, and chatted with some other writers and students (from John Kessel's classes) after the reading. Then we got to chat with Michael Swanwick, and I ended up staying until almost midnight. I knew I had to hit the road when Kessel and Swanwick started discussing the finer points of the Australian ballot of the Nebula awards (is it REALLY all that important, guys?). But I also was urged to read Jack Dann's The Man Who Melted and a related story collection by Dann, as well as some Dashiell Hammett. It's always educational, talking to writers who've been doing this stuff for years. I had a good time, though I was dragging this morning.

Today, the goal is to give Jay some feedback on our collab's ending, and then finish up the last bits of edits and revisions to the middle section of the Wannoshay novel, so I've got the whole weekend to jam out new stuff for the final act. If I can stay focused long enough... ;)