brain clog

Chapter 2 is killing me. If I could only get that put together, I'd be good for the rest of the book.

As it is, I have piles of mildly interesting anecdotes.

Oh why, when I throw the pages of my draft at the wall, does the Right Answer not stick?

Bach, Klein, L'Engle

Today was one of those jangley days--you know,  where you can't get your mind focused, and you find mold on what you thought was a growing draft, and because you're The Mom, and because you're feeling a little out of sorts and tired, everyone around you picks up on it and is a little jangley, too. I think I might be getting a cold, too--I'm tired and my neck is sore. And the weekend is long, and I have lots on my mind.

Luckily, I the boys had Scouts tonight, which means I had organ practice. A whole hour, completely ALONE!! The chapel smelled of fresh cut wood (the pews were recently replaced), and the room was cool and calm. I can't play all the things in my organ book perfectly, but I can play the spirit of many of them for my own enjoyment. (The one I want to play is Bach's Wachet Auf, which is the last one in there.) I remember in one of Madeleine L'Engle's books, the characters find solace in Bach (The Young Unicorns, perhaps?) and Tallis. I agree--Baroque music, esp. organ music, has a way of defragmenting the brain and setting the universe in order again. I used to love wandering into a German cathedral or large church to find the organist practicing, love the way the sound spirals in the building and you are in your own world despite other people who may physically be there. This music was *cough* not anywhere near that level, and the room was a LOT warmer, but there was still a little of that there.

Then I came home and have been reading Cheryl Klein's talks on plotting again. I don't think I'd read her one on what we can learn from Harry Potter--that was a great one (character, voice, plot, and theme). Her talks remind me of a Bach composition--complex, yet ordered--and are just what I needed to read. I'm still frustrated with my draft, and worried about the job market, and realizing I may have jumped in over my head in a few other things--but I'm breathing a little easier. Hopefully soon I can get back into the book and do all the other things I'm supposed to be doing as well.