"Wha' happen???" Where'd my week off go? Oh, yeah, it went into creating three new syllabi and moving 10 cubic yards of mulch. But hey, my classes are pretty much ready to go, and our yard looks awesome, so no complaints here. And my back doesn't hurt anymore.

As an extra added bonus, I took the ol' Esquart in for an oil change, after paying the whopping $16.54 in tax on that 11-year-old beast, and packed up the new/used laptop and got me a grande latte at the new Port City Java a few doors down from the Amoco station. Good stuff! But the place didn't have but one outlet -- the rest of the walls were glass windows.

So after doing some serious writing and quaffing my large latte, I started making a list of what I'd include in The Perfect Coffee Shop For Writers. It would include:

• lots of outlets
• good music (preferable non-intrusive stuff, played loud enough for a white-noise effect)
• wireless Internet access
• lots of used books in every nook and cranny, games
• a fireplace
• a couple chairs in every corner
• 2-3 couches
• a couple "rooms" created by corners or shelves so the loud-ass yuppies with their little weekly group meetings can yammer on and on and not bother other folks too much
• a special set of coffee blends named after writers
• weekly open mikes
• live music by area singer/songwriters, reading by area authors (and maybe even poets, if they're nice)
• art on the wall by local artists
• an outdoor area for smoker and non-smokers alike
• dog-friendly areas
• laid-back staff

Sort of like Marzi and "Genius Loci," the cafe in Tim's Rangergirl novel. But right there in your city or town, not in Santa Cruz, CA!

Speaking of coffee and writing, I got some work done on my novel!! At last!!! I have the Big Meeting with all my characters mapped out, and thanks to some incredible military and tactical help from Steven Murphy, I know how the near-future National Guard and police in Iowa City would react to two vehicles approaching the supposedly empty mother ship they are guarding against terrorist attack. Very cool.

I may be able to draft out this pesky chapter by the end of the weekend, which would bring me to the end of Act 2 of the novel, with just the final act to complete.

I'm reading Trampoline right now and have enjoyed the three stories I've read by Richard Butner, Maureen McHugh, and Karen Joy Fowler, and I was interested to see that the last 2 seem to read almost like creative non-fiction. I probably liked the Butner story best, with the devil in his faded red union jack outfit.

Speaking of stories -- anyone heard any news on the Phobos contest??? Results were supposed to be posted on Wednesday, October 15th, dammit. I have a couple horses in that race.

And now, with the weekend upon us, I'm outta here. Have a good one, all.

Now Playing:
"Midnight Radio," Big Head Todd & the Monsters

Now Reading:
Trampoline, edited by Kelly Link

Stories out to Publishers:
14

Today's Words:
3,700

Words for '03:
129,000

Today's Quote:
The lower section of the ship was protected by a razor-tipped, chain-link fence over fifteen feet high. A dozen olive-drab tents sat around the wall in fifty-foot intervals. At three different locations on the two roads surrounding the field sat two dark green Humvees next to an electric sedan labeled "ICPD," blocking access to the ship. Soldiers with pulse guns, black helmets, and thick body armor were standing outside of the two Humvees at the bottom of the hill, followed by a pair of police officers in matching black riot gear, while more soldiers approached from the nearest tent. From a snow-covered lean-to almost touching the frozen river, a wide, tank-like vehicle that Skin recognized from the endless Netstream footage from the war on terror as an Enhanced Bradley Fighting Vehicle had begun rolling toward them.

"Oh shit," Ally said. "What's the plan now, fellas?"

"We'd better get moving," Skin said, thinking of his old buddy Matt for the first time in months. "We look really suspicious, just sitting here. They probably think we're suicide cultists."