I was supposed to make the communal meal last night, and I'd planned on doing New Orlean's style red beans & rice. But unfortunately the package from my folks with the red beans & rice mix did not arrive yesterday as it was supposed to. So here I was with two pounds of beans that I'd been soaking all night, and nothing to put in them. Luckily Karen saw that I was not having a good day and told me she'd take over the beans. She ended up throwing in all sorts of onions and tomatoes, and it actually turned out pretty good. I made the rice, which actually came out perfect (a shock to me since I always use a rice cooker.)

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In the packet of materials we received before Clarion, we were discouraged to bring trunk stories; it was better to come up with fresh stories here. We realized yesterday that it would be impossible to submit a trunk story now. Everyone would know instantly that it was. The stories have improved that much. It's really incredible how good some of the stuff is getting, all across the board.

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Yes, I do not feel very articulate today.

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I finally finished that damn story. I've been fighting that stupid thing for nearly a week. It's totally grim, completely un-sellable, but it was an experiment in plot structure. Daniel said, "Just turn it in, and then hug the toad." In other words, let go of it, and then take my licks in critique. Oh, this should be fun.