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

Today was graduation day at the university where Nancy teaches.  Sounds like it was a nice ceremony.  As always, graduation here reminds me of my own college graduation many, many, many years ago.  

I went to Brown, where the procession leading from the University green to the chapel where the graduation service takes place, goes through a complicated and wonderful marching pattern.  Basically the current graduating class is followed in the procession by older classes back for reunions, as well as by the administration and faculty.  They walk through the university gates and then line the road so that they can cheer as the others walk by.  But as each group walks by the last of the spectators, they themselves move to the roadside and become spectators.  In effect, it’s like continuously turning a sock inside out — each end gets pulled through; each group gets to watch every other group walk by.  Hard to describe clearly.  Suffice it to say that I’ve experienced Brown’s graduation as a graduating senior, as a five year alum, and as a twenty year alum, and eachtime it has been an incredibly moving experience that left me feeling that I was part of a much larger community.

So what about you?  What are graduations like at your colleges or high schools?  Any special experiences?

Survived my soon-to-be-a-teenager’s birthday party last night.  We rented out the swimming pool again and served the usual birthday fare (Pizza, carrots, grapes, soda, cupcakes — not the healthiest, but not the worst either).  The kids seemed to have a great time and once again Nancy and I avoided having the party at our house.  Can’t put a price on that.  Two of the girls slept over, but even that went well.  They were quiet by 11:30; asleep by midnight.  Not bad at all.

Was going to blog about some political stuff today — again.  But it’s gorgeous out and my younger daughter wants to have a catch and really what could I say that hasn’t already been said?

Have a great Sunday all. 

Today’s post on the great high school teachers who inspired me to write, can be found at http://www.sfnovelists.com

Check it out and enjoy!

End of the week.  And it was a productive one for me.  Thirty pages on the new book; seven thousand words.  Yay!  I’d love to tell you more.  But a friend is here for dinner and there’s talk of margaritas….

BOW Award tomorrow!

By the way, if one of you can show me how to put a progress bar on a post, so that I can keep track graphically of my word count versus my word goal, I’d be grateful.  (Alex P. the bar from the site you gave me doesn’t seem to translate to other sites.)

Not much to write about today.  I have a panel later this evening with L. E. Modesitt and Steve White at the VA. Festival of the Book.  Not sure yet what our discussion will cover, but I’m sure it will be interesting.  I’m staying with friends here in Charlottesville, enjoying their company and hospitality.  I should be working, but that will have to wait for next week.

In the meantime, I’d urge you all to go over to http://magicalwords.net and check out the discussion we’re having there under the thread titled “Today the Delete Key is My Friend.”  The thread was started by Misty Massey and it has developed into a pretty interesting discussion on writing.  Check it out.

After going on a bit yesterday about how glad I was that I no longer had a dog, I was reminded this morning that dog ownership does have its benefits.  As I mentioned in my previous post, we’re caring for our friends’ dog, Violet, a medium-sized, short-haired mutt. She’s sweet as can be, but because she’s just barely out of puppyhood she has A LOT of energy.  So this morning, instead of going to the gym for my usual workout, I put Violet in the car, drove out to a trailhead at the edge of the plateau, and took her on a hike.

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Jim Hines, one of my cyber-buddies from sfnovelists.com, has a new book, Goblin War, coming out on March 4th.  Today I post an interview Jim recently did as a way of introducing him to you and, I hope, getting some of you interested in his work.  Readers have dubbed Jim the Goblin King.  Goblin War is his third book.  His goblins are also showing up in France, Germany, Russia, and several other nations.  The books have earned praise from the likes of Julie Czerneda, Ed Greenwood, and even Wil Wheaton, who called Goblin Quest “too f***ing cool for words!”

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How many times have you wished for an extra day?  How many times have you thought that if you just had one day without obligations you could catch up on chores long neglected, or take the time to write a letter to that friend you’ve been missing, or spend extra time with your kids or spouse or partner without feeling that you were shirking professional responsibilities?  How many times have you thought that it would be great just to slip away unnoticed and give yourself a day to do whatever you wanted to do — maybe go for a walk in the woods, or a drive in the country, or maybe just sit around and read a book, or pretend to read a book and actually take a nap?

That’s what Leap Day should be.  February 29th should be a national holiday.  It’s a freebie, an extra day.  It’s like found money.  We shouldn’t use it for business as usual, nor should it be commercialized into a Giant Sale Day, or a day for giving senseless greeting cards and chocolate.  (Though, if you have chocolate lying around and want to have some, by all means, go ahead.  It’s Leap Day.  Knock yourself out.)  Leap Day should be each of ours to do with what we want.  

So have a happy Leap Day.  Or not.  It’s really up to you.

Today’s music:  Lowell George (Thanks, I’ll Eat It Here)

First, a birthday shout out to my friend Stephen Leigh!  Hope it’s a great one!

Things here remain as they have been, with a snow day for my younger daughter thrown in for good measure.  My older kid and I go back to the doctor today to see if the injection of antibiotics she got yesterday did any good.  If the doctor isn’t satisfied with her progress, the next step is admission to the local hospital.  We’d all like to avoid that, thank you very much.

On the professional front, I learned the other day that of the 5,500 hardcover copies printed of THE SORCERERS’ PLAGUE, fewer than 120 remain in Tor’s warehouses.  There will be returns, of course, but that’s a pretty good sell-through.  Maybe they’ll even go back to press with it.  Fingers crossed.

I also seem to have sold the first of the two short stories I’ve written in the last few months.  There are still a few editing details to be worked out, but barring something unforeseen, I’ve got my first sale of 2008.  The second story is out, but I’ve yet to hear anything back.

And that’s all the news that I’m fit to print…..

Today’s music:  Unidentified classical piece on NPR

My local newspaper ticked me off this morning.  At least half of it did.  For those of you who don’t know, the Chattanooga Times-Free Press used to be two papers, one progressive, the other conservative.  The papers merged and since neither editorial board was willing to cede control of content or opinions to the other, they both maintained (and continue to maintain) editorial pages.  Anyway, the conservative side of the paper was attacking Barack Obama today for saying that he thought the United States should use foreign aid funds to combat world poverty.  According to the paper, Obama’s proposal would cost up to $865 billion over 13 years.  Nevermind that the war in Iraq, which this side of the paper supports wholeheartedly, would cost more than twice that amount over the same period.  Wouldn’t combatting poverty be a better use of our treasure and power?  Isn’t it possible that we’d be thought of better throughout the world if we were as generous with food and medicine as we are aggressive with guns and bombs?

My daughter (the older one) is reading the Constitution and Bill of Rights for homework.  And because it’s densely written, and because Dad has a Ph.D. in history, we’ve been going through it together whenever she has trouble deciphering a section.  Reading it through once more, explaining to her what the clauses mean and why they’re important, I’m struck repeatedly by the genius of the Founders.  In particular I was struck by the following clause in Article I, Section 8, which gave Congress the power “To promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.”  My daughter thought it very cool that the copyright I enjoy on my books is provided for in the Constitution.  I thought it was cool that our Founders so prominently recognized the importance of the arts and sciences, even if our current leaders do not.

One of my dearest friends from college, Carla Wise, a brilliant, wonderful woman who has studied science and ecology for years and years, is now making a go of writing professionally.  Her focus is on sustainable agriculture and the local foods movement.  Here’s a link to her latest blog post, which is well worth reading:  http://eatdrinkbetter.com/