(Un)Lucky Numbers, October (Projects), & Columns

I've always felt really bad for the numbers that get picked on, discarded, and left out because people consider them unlucky. Next Friday is Friday the 13th, and shucks, I just feel bad for him! People think he's all about black cats crossing your path, ladders with those fearful spaces underneath, salt tossed over shoulders. Really, though, 13 -- he's one of my lucky numbers! I mean, I always root for the underdogs. Make that undernumbers. Stand up for yourself, 666! [Side note: I feel bad for black cats, too. I make sure to always let them cross my path. You are cuties and deserve to not be judged by the color of your fur!]

And what a month this is. I just love October. (If there's anything better than the smell of burning leaves, please let me know.) The air is crisp, and there's this crackling energy everywhere. Autumn is my favorite season, and the weather is that nice in-between right now, some sun and rain, some chilly spots and warm spots mixed. Just perfect.

Aaron, Stephenie, and B visited a couple weeks ago. Aaron's life is a touch more complete because we went to Astoria, and did the Goonies tour. How fun that was! To take pictures in front of the Goonies house. And, next door, I re-enacted "I want my bike! I want my bike!" for the camera. A part of me TOTALLY identifies with that little girl in that pink coat stomping her feet. We all climbed up the Astoria column, too, and gazed out over the lush city. I think Astoria is officially my favorite coastal village....Oh, and we went to Lunar Boy Gallery (www.lunarboygallery.com), where I spent too much money on Christmas presents. What fantastic, strange stuff they have there! And what nice people working there!

Mom, Karin, and I had one of the best nights of my life last Friday. We went and saw Rosie Thomas in concert. (I surprised Karin with a ticket and had the honor of covering her eyes and then uncovering them with Rosie standing right there.)The concert was held in the Doug Fir here in Portland (a very, very cool venue with a Twin Peaks-y vibe).....And Rosie and her brother Brian remembered Mom and Karin from Madison, and we all ended up hanging out! Rosie bought us a round of drinks, and we chatted about writing, Tori Amos, basement apartments, stitched handbags, and Rosie's song "Farewell" (which she played for me....and she also thanked the three of us onstage for coming to the show). Rosie and Brian are just lovely individuals who exude kindness, talent, raw beauty, and magnetism. I was honored to share such a lovely evening with them, and I hope to hang out with them again soon.

All in all, life is good. I am reading two books right now, which I recommend highly to you. One is a collection of short stories -- Karen Russell's St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, and you MUST make sure to read the first story especially: Ava Wrestles the Alligator. It gave me shivery goose bumps, in all the right ways. The other book is Neal Shusterman's Everlost, which is like Hansel & Gretel on YA acid. I won't do it any justice by even trying to describe it further; let's just say it involves car wrecks, ghost children in the woods, and the possibility of sinking through the ground, anywhere you stand, all the way down to the center of the earth.

Happy Autumn, everybody (and tonight or tomorrow night is the Harvest Moon--here's to reaping). Dive into a few leaf piles for me and play hide-and-seek. And while you're there, tucked under a blanket of crisp orange and red and brown, put your headphones on and listen to Tori's box set, A Piano: The Collection, particularly Little Earthquakes-Extended. "Flying Dutchman" is my life song of the moment. I've loved this song for years, but I've entered a new wave where it's taking me by the throat and exposing me to its undercurrents.