The typical To-Do list on a Saturday morning (not...)

1. Have second cup of coffee (done).

2. Check Amazon numbers (done; not too bad).

3. Clean out catboxes and feed the outdoor cats (done).

4. Take out trash (done).

5. Balance chequebook (done...sigh).

6. Figure out what I want to read as my excerpt from Truth, in the Middle, my essay in Victoria Zackheim's wonderful For Keeps anthology. Get a stopwatch and time it, since there are several of us reading at different events and the time limit is strictly enforced (can't really do until Nic's out of bed; no clue where the stopwatch is).

7. Write at least half a chapter (1800 or so words) on Dark in the Park, my YA narrated by the homeless cat in Golden Gate Park. It seems to have some interesting threads of magic realism, beyond Dark herself, woven through it. Huh. I did NOT expect that (not done).

8. Start short story, possibly for Victor Infante at the November 3 Journal, about poverty in America. This one's been bubbling round in my head for a couple of days, slowly percolating: I've been listening to a wonderful live duet between Richard Thompson and Shawn Colvin on a Thompson song called "Oh I Swear", about a couple in the UK who don't like each other anymore, but who are too screwed by the economy to split up. It fits for the US right now, and fits well (not done, obviously).

9. Do laundry (not done).

In other news, relating to #7, I'm guest-blogging at Clea Simon's wonderful blog today. But it doesn't seem to be up yet...