Alcala Reading

The city was vast with possibilities, voracious for new blood to spill on top of old, relentless in its consumption of power and labor. People jostled for a place near the top, and those in the know stayed at the Hotel Iturbide. It was the only lodging of which Estela had ever heard, and so upon arriving, she hired a carriage and asked to be taken there.
-- Kathleen Alcala, Treasures in Heaven

Tuesday, July 2, 2002
Two years ago: Successful Mission
Three years ago: Creative Variation
Four years ago: Journal TV
Five years ago: No Friend Like a Sister

Jack has set the alarm this morning, to be sure that he'd be up in time to get to juvenile court for his daughter's hearing. A---- is eighteen now, but she's still facing charges for an incident with her dad from early this year when she was seventeen. She'd wanted him to come to her place in Kent and give her a ride, but he insisted she could take a bus.

I'd intended to take the bus over to Capitol Hill, but Jack and A---- came by just as I was getting ready to go. Jack had forgotten to bring A---- her mail, so they needed to come to our place before driving south to Kent. Jack was very put out -- he'd gotten a ticket for parking in a spot reserved for registered carpools. The sign ws partially obscured by leaves. So he offered to give me a ride to my old place, returning to the juvenile court building on the way so he could take a picture of the sign. Is it really worth contesting this? It depends on the time and aggravation factor.

The sign was a bit hard to see, but the ticket is only twenty eight bucks. We'll see what Jack decides to do.

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So I got dropped off at the Wilana, the co-op building where my old apartment is. I'm keeping the place because it's all paid for, and the monthly fee and utilities aren't high. The building is swathed in scaffolding and plastic right now, because they've just had all the windows replaced, along with redoing the siding on the upper floors. This last has been needed for about twenty five years! I'm glad they decided to replace the funky (in a bad way) shingle/fake brick with stucco, not with nasty vinyl siding. The Wilana is a nice old place and shouldn't be remuddled. I admit I didn't volunteer for any committees or come to any meetings, so I wouldn't have had room to complain, no matter what had been settled on.

The only downside to the work was that I had to give up my Vent-Axia window fan in the kitchen. The old window had been single pane, and my fan was cut through the top sash. Better than the fake-o range hood that's not vented to the outside, just filtered. But the board didn't see its way clear to letting me alter the new window to reinstall the fan. Rats!

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I worked on writing yesterday's journal entry. This took a while; I'm not in the habit these days!

I took the bus downtown to the second Clarion West reading of the summer, by Kathleen Acala who is this week's instructor. Once again, the readings are being held at Elliot Bay Books. On the way I walked by the Pergola reconstruction in Pioneer Square. They've got some very cool signage and a place where you can get close and watch them putting the pieces together like a puzzle. Next week I'd like to get to that neighborhood earlier and read the signs carefully.

I didn't score any books at Elliot Bay this week, but I did have time to scope out some craft and art books -- Japanese Country Style, I Do: 100 Years of Wedding Fashion (phooey, too much modern wedding dresses, not enough vintage wedding stuff), and a book on constructing things with cardboard (I should request this one at the library).

There was a reasonable crowd downstairs in the part of the basement where readings are held. There were Clarion West students there (I giggled when they were asked to stand up and be recognized), but my friend Blunt didn't make it; he must have been working on his assignment for this week. I sat next to Brenda Cooper and we chatted. Two women behind us asked what Clarion West was, exactly -- they'd just turned up because they saw the listing on the Elliot Bay Bookstore calendar. I explained how Clarion West was a bootcamp for aspiring SF or fantasy writers.

I liked what Kathleen Alcala read: a selection from her novel Treasures In Heaven (but not the excerpt linked here), and a new short story. I know I've heard her before, but this time it made more of an impression on me! Strange and interesting stuff.

After the reading I touched base with Kate. She's going to create my wedding dress, and we need to get started! I wanted her to know that I wasn't ignoring her email, though I hadn't replied to it. I also told Jane about the various problems we've been having (teeth, money, etc.), which reminded me of when I used to speak to her and Luke in my first few years in Seattle, also at Clarion West readings. They would politely ask how I was doing, and I'd dump all this stuff about my recently deceased parents, or a strike I was involved with. They were always very nice, but I'm sure it was a bit startling for them!