An Exchange of Words: David B. Coe’s Weblog

Woke up to a spring snow this morning.  Just a dusting, but still everything looked beautiful.  There’s something about seeing snow and forsythia together.  Funny thing is, the local schools were open.  Had the same amount of snow fallen in February, school would have been cancelled.  But the state’s standardized tests are right around the corner, so it’s all testing all the time in the classrooms right now.  They can’t afford a snow day now.  Gotta teach to that test!  It’s really quite infuriating….

As a loyal Democrat I never thought I’d say this, but could someone please — PLEASE! — put a muzzle on Bill Clinton?  Make it a big, strong one.  Because he doesn’t seem to have any trouble speaking around the foot that’s already lodged in his mouth.

Have to finish revising book II of Blood of the Southlands this week, and then I have to start writing the third book of the series.  I also have the opening reception for my photo exhibit on Wednesday.  On Thursday I drive to Virginia for the Virginia Festival of the Book.  I’ll be doing a panel there on Friday with L. E. Modesitt, Jr. and Steve White.  Busy week.  Time to work.

First of all, a Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all.  I don’t have any Irish ancestry, but my wife does, and we named our second daughter Erin.  And as they say, on this day we’re all a bit Irish.

After having one child or the other (or both) home with me every day for the past month (snow days, pneumonia, school breaks) I finally am back to a normal work environment.  And none too soon.  I have a book to revise, and then I need to begin writing the next one in the trilogy, which also happens to be the series finale.

So, I’m off to work.  

May the roads rise to meet you. May the wind be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall soft upon your fields.

Today’s music:  Russ Barenberg

One of those days:  errands to take care of, an order to submit for the local coop (which I run), pictures to frame for an upcoming photography exhibit (more on that in a future post), a short story to revise (more on that in a future post).  And so a short blog post.  Just a couple of items:

Saw a pair of wood ducks on the pond near our house yesterday — a sure sign that spring is nearly here.  Beautiful birds — look them up in a book or on the web.  It’s worth the time.  The male is one of the most stunningly colorful ducks we have in North America, but the female, whose plumage is far less showy, is lovely as well. 

Eliot Spitzer.  I like him.  Had I still lived in New York, I would have voted for him in 2006.  But what an idiot.  Why is it that men in power (or out of power, for that matter) have so much trouble keeping their pants zipped?  Should he resign?  I don’t know.  But I have noticed that the same commentators on the right who said that Senator David Vitter (R-Louisiana) should be forgiven for his dalliances with a prostitute, are now saying that Spitzer has to go.  They say hypocrisy is the issue, because Spitzer was such a determined — some would say self-righteous — prosecutor.  To which I respond, Yes, but David Vitter has made a career of claiming to support “family values.”  Who’s the greater hypocrite?

All right; gotta go.

Today’s music:  Johnny A.

I can see it coming together.  I had to cut large chunks out of the book and now I’m splicing sections of them back into the text that remains, smoothing out the seams, making certain that in fixing the book I don’t lose the narrative flow.  It’s difficult, but it’s also fun.  And as much as I’d love to stay here and tell you more, I really need to get back to it.

Later….

Today’s music:  Larry Carlton (On Solid Ground)