Jacarandas, Creamfields, Creative Class and More in Buenos Aires

I love this time of year. November is when the jacaranda trees here in Buenos Aires bloom in bursts of purple. These trees are spectacular, and I'm lucky that there are so many of them planted in Belgrano area so I can drink in their incredible beauty.

The weather could be better. It's actually quite cold today, but at least it isn't raining. Tonight and tomorrow, our youngest daughter and two friends are going to Creamfields, which is this gigantic outdoor electronica concert. All night. Yeah. It is a greatly anticipated event among the young here in BA, and those who don't go have to go on a trip or something so they can say, "Well, I didnt' go to Creamfields but I DID do this...."

This week, I had a really fun conversation with Victoria, a delightful German woman who is living here in BA and working as a free-lance journalist for radio stations back in Germany. She was interviewing me about being an expat here, but we had a great conversation about her experience as an exchange student to the US when she was in high school, her year spent as a nanny in France, her time in Spain, Mexico, and Chile, and her decision to come to BA. So, that was cool.

Also, I was contacted by Neil Takemoto in Washington, DC who has an interesting blog at http://www.cooltownstudios.com/ and included some of my comments on his post about the creative culture in BA. Neil is coming down to BA in the next couple of weeks and I am looking forward to meeting with him to talk about creativity, culture, city life, and all that other Richard Florida-type stuff.

Anyone want to join us? Let me know! It would be great to have a lively discussion with a lot of input.

Also, my agent presented my book proposal to a major publisher in New York who asked for an exclusive look through Thanksgiving weekend. We'll see what kind of offer they present, and then we'll send it out to a group of big publishers to see if we can top that. At least, that's the way it sounds like it's supposed to work. We'll see. Right now, I'm writing a meaty chapter for the book to add to the second proposal to make it even juicier.

Thank God I have a great agent. It's not always easy to have your work sliced and diced (I had to delete an entire chapter that she felt was just not going to hit publishers over the head with enough power...and I have to admit, she was right...) but it's so important to have that perspective. Steph is really savvy and will tell me exactly what I need to do, add, tear out, or revise. This is very good practice for the actual book writing, during which I will be working with an editor from the publishing company. The important thing for me right now is to be very easy to work with--nobody wants to sign an author who refuses to make changes or argues about why their ideas are better. You really have to be ready and willing to trust the editors.

It's probably good that I have not been slaving over this book for months or years--just came up with the idea three months ago. I feel sorry for novelists who toil for years only to have publishers and agents say, naw, not really into it, don't really see it as marketable. At least with nonfiction, you hear that BEFORE you write the damn thing.

In other news, my back is alot better now--thanks for the many kind comments.

My mom is moving today from her home on a hill on the Oregon coast to a small cottage on the grounds of a retirement community in the same city. She is so excited and I am so happy for her. She has lots of people helping her, and I am delighted that she will be all settled in by the holidays so she can enjoy the activities--Christmas tree, etc.--offered at the main center. She is 78, and since her husband died a year and a half ago, it's been very hard to stay in the house alone and impossible to keep up with the yard and home maintenance. This will be a great move.

Lots going on over at my education blog. I interviewed Bob Compton, the entrepreneur/venture capitalist who produced the new documentary, Two Million Minutes. I also interviewed Chad Heeter, the film's director.

The film follows six high school seniors--a guy and a girl in India, China, and the US--to show how they spend their time. Bob's been screening the film (it's out in a week or so) and had an interesting experience when he showed it to a group of Harvard graduate students.

And I've been delighted to be corresponding with Neil, the young American student featured in the film. Bob has taken Neil under his wing (lucky Neil!) and I plan to keep in touch with both of them as the film is released, reviewed, and begins to stir up some very important conversations regarding what we as Americans consider to be the best way to educate our kids.

Our third daughter, who is at college up in Nova Scotia, is back in school after a three week strike by faculty members at her university. Thank God that's over. She's spent her time plotting her way to an early graduation, and is thrilled that she may be able to graduate in December of next year at the age of 19. I love hearing that.

We have guests coming in the next few months--we've had a few so far, but this will be a flurry--and that will be interesting, especially since I think I will have a pretty tight deadline for this book. I have no idea what to expect in terms of the writing schedule. We'll see how it goes.

Anyway. That's this week's news. Sorry my posts are becoming so much like reports instead of thoughtful musings regarding life here in BA. It's just the nature of blogging that sometimes you have time to muse, and sometimes you just say what you're up to. I'm trying to be okay with whatever since the alternative is really pointless. It would be silly to get stressed out by the fact that I am ignoring two of my blogs in order to focus on the third.

So, there you have it. This week I'll be writing that chapter for the proposal so that the following week I can enjoy a visitor, Thanksgiving, our youngest daughter's 17th birthday, an asado we are hosting, and whatever else pops up. If I don't pop up HERE for a while, that's why. ;-)