HEY SISTER, GO SISTER...
I may never say this again: deadlines saved my sanity.
The Frommer's Italian phrasebook wrapped this weekend, so I was frantically copy-editing – thanks to the sub-contractor's late delivery – until bolting out the door for the dread Snow Bath.
No time for, ahem, cold feet, then. I plait my hair into cutsey alpine-braids in the lobby. Helen and Lynn consult on the sash; we decide on a trailing Isadora-Duncan-style scarf configuration, though hopefully with less deadly effect.
The morning's a blur. I gaze at the ice palace of Bonhomme, the cheerful, high-kicking snowman who serves as the Carnaval Ambassador (he's not, organizers stress, merely a mute mascot). I wander past snow sculptures and carnie booths. Nothing sinks in. Except cold.
We watch horse-sledders skid around a racetrack, which momentarily punches through my self-absorbed anxiety. "Hey sister, go sister," Lady Marmalade warbles over the loudspeaker. "Soul sister, go sister ... You are the one gotta represent."
As the All Saints hit the less-relevant chorus – Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir? – I'm back in the now. The sun's crisp, the crowd delighted, adventure is on hand.
And as my friend Edward says: "Half an hour of pain, lifetime of stories."
Go sister, go.
Hello! I'm just loving reading your blog-- your stories are so interesting and your "voice" as an author comes across very well. I found your blog while researching the travel writing industry, and your first post had me hooked! I really admire your courage and honesty in the way you tackle the world and your life (and relate it in the blog). Any chance you might enable RSS so people can read your blog through Bloglines or other RSS subscription services? All you have to do in Blogger is go under Settings, Site Feed, and change Publish Site Feed to "Yes." It's so much easier for readers to keep up with their favorite sites that way! Best of luck--that snow bath is my idea of torture!
ReplyDeleteHi Janefan,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the props and the RSS tips. I'm just creeping up to speed with the technology here.
I thought I'd just try it out – before debuting the thing – but the blog's gained a life of its own. I'm stuck, I reckon.
Nice to know folks enjoy it, though. Cheers, A.