Sophia and I return for another Authors Luncheon

Ronnie DeNota paints his wife Lucy
Madame Butterfly
Monday January, 22, 2007

Well it is snowy landscape out my window. It looks like a Christmas card. I never thought I would see this sight in Tucson. And all native Tucsonans are thrilled, because it is only the 2nd or 3rd time in their lives they have had this sight at home. They can travel to snow but snow does not come to them. O there is Lulu in the yard. I wonder if she knows what snow is. I never thought I would see Lulu in the snow. She is just sitting there looking totally confused. I wonder if Beanie is going to go out and play in the snow. It is a white world. The tree branches are all white with snow, the ground is all white with snow. My sun couch has an inch of snow on it, so does my outside table. O there is Beanie. He is walking around.

Sophia and I went to the Southwest Authors Buffet Luncheon yesterday and we both had a great time. She picked me up. It didn’t matter that she was late. I had been ready at time she said she would come, and when she said she was running late, I just got under the covers (house was so cold) in my outfit and my high heels, and made my mind peaceful. I don’t mind having extra time if I can lounge and try to be close to my Higher Self.

Then I got up, got my stuff, and went into front yard to wait for her. Bill was with dogs at front door. Bill was happy he didn’t have to drive me because of big football game. And we arranged he would pick me up at 1:30 and we’d go swimming.

I wore same white blouse I had worn to writers’ meeting 3 days before, and black corduroy ruffled long skirt, because of the cold. I didn’t wear the pretty pink sling-backs this time, I wore black suede heels. I found them at top of closet. I hadn’t worn them in years. They weren’t pristine looking, I must have actually worn them the first summer I bought them. It was the first time I had been in Old Pueblo Traders. They had been on a fabulous sale because there was only one pair left, and it was two sizes smaller than my size. But they were designer from Italy, and I had never had suede shoes before, and they are elegant. They seemed perfect to wear to an authors luncheon, they are so dressy.

Most people there were not dressed up, but Sophia pointed out DewAnne, and she was dressed to kill. She looked like a Hollywood movie star. Her yellow hair was up in a French braid, she looked stunning. And she was wearing a black suit and she looked good in black. She looked totally elegant. No one else looked like DewAnne. The rest of us just looked like ourselves. Altho Sophia too had taken effort with her outfit. She wore a fancy red hat to arrive with. And the barrette to hold her chignon in place was huge and stunning. And she wore a fancy top.

They had moved the luncheon to the Knights of Columbus on Tucson Boulevard for the last two luncheons, because they were told the Plaza hotel was going to be torn down and a new one constructed to replace it. But apparently the luncheons at the Knights of Columbus were a disaster. The food was terrible, they were next door to the bingo parlor, so the bingo numbers were called in, they were next door to a bowling alley and heard all the bowling. It was noisy uncomfortable and bad food.

They were relieved when University said the Plaza can’t tear down the hotel because it goes over the power line to the University, all they can do is remodel. So the authors luncheon is back in the conference room until the time comes when they remodel the conference room.

So for me and Sophia we returned to a familiar place.

DewAnne had told us not to sit at the same table every time, there is no way we will network if we sit at the same table. Hahaha the theory about going to the authors luncheon is still “this is where we will network, and this will help us get published, or in Sophia’s case help her find a producer who wants her screenplay.”

But between me and the bedpost, I don’t think the Southwest Authors Luncheon has anything to do with networking, everyone there is in the same boat as me and Sophia. What the Southwest Authors Buffet Luncheon offers is a good time is had by all. This is secretly why everyone goes. Altho I can see how it helps to think, I am doing this for my writing. Otherwise you would have to say “it is a party and I am going to the party.” But it is a party.

The one single thing I learned there was from a man on line for food. Everyone asks each other “what do you write?” which makes starting a conversation easier. But it is just about conversation at a party I think. So I asked the man ahead of me, “what do you write?”

And he said he writes everything but he thinks his essays are the best. And he tried to get published but had no luck. But he wasn’t “courageous” enough to be persistent and keep trying. So he went down to Wheat Mark, which is a self-publishing company here in Tucson, to pay to have his book published.

I said “You did the right thing because I did what you wouldn’t do, I kept trying and trying and trying and it didn’t work anyway. How much does it cost to be self-published I am very interested.”

He said “675 dollars.”

I said “that’s all! I thought it cost $10,000, anyone can come up with 675 dollars.”

And another woman on line said “well that’s not quite true, it’s $675 to start but it wound up being $770.”

I thought “$770 is very affordable” and I began to think of ways I could come up with $770. I thought I could put it on Credit Card and pay a little at a time.

So in terms of networking, that was the most helpful thing which happened to me. I found out there is a press in Tucson which will publish you if you pay for it, and it is affordable.

Sophia and I looked for a table to sit at where we didn’t know anyone, per DewAnne’s instructions, and we found a table with two empty seats together. Sophia began talking to the woman on the other side of her, and I started to talk to the man on the other side of me.

“So what do you write?” I asked him.

He said he writes travel books. He was sitting with his wife, her name was Sidney, and it turned out they had just moved to Tucson 4 years ago, they had been living in Washington DC.

Altho he grew up in New Jersey. Because when I said how much I enjoyed that book about the Pine Barrens, he said his high school teacher used to read the essays of a student 20 years ago, and that was John McPhee. John McPhee is the author of the Pine Barrens and grew up in New Jersey.

He said he and his wife have lived all over the tropics. And when I asked “where?” he said a lot of names of places I had heard about, but really knew nothing about. He said that is what his book is, it is about exotic places people have heard about but know nothing about. He said the problem is now they can go to Wikipedia on the internet to learn about them.

“But that is not the same as lying in bed reading a book” I said. That was when I said how much I enjoyed the book about the Pine Barrens.

It turned out his wife had started off as a kindergarten teacher like me, we had both done it for year and a half. Altho she had done it in California and I had done it in lower Manhattan. I tried to include his wife in all the conversation, but he was very talkative and she was not talkative, so mainly I talked to him.

He didn’t seem Tucson, I am not surprised now he moved here from DC 4 years ago. When the meeting started he said “now we have to sit thru an hour of announcements.”

Tucsonans don’t have an edge to them, and they are not sarcastic.

And then he said “I want to hear the gossip. What took place when they switched to the other place? I heard it was awful. I want to hear all the details.”

I’ve never heard a Tucsonan say “I want to hear the gossip.” So I asked at the table “did anyone go to the other place?” And one man did. And he told us about the bowling alley, the bingo parlor, and the lousy food.

It’s odd that I wasn’t more interested in hearing the "gossip”. I mean I was interested in hearing the report but that excitement about gossip isn’t really in my mind anymore. My mind has turned much dreamier since I’ve been in Tucson.

I said “if you just moved here 4 years ago from DC, then you probably are not finding this winter unbearably cold.” I meant compared to DC this is not a cold winter but of course I am longing to have our beautiful warmth back. But he thought I meant compared to other Tucson winters and he said “we always travel in the winter so I have nothing to compare it to, this is our first winter in Tucson.”

I got to talk to one other woman at the table before they announced we can get on line to get our lunch. Her name was Elizabeth and she said she makes jewelry. We began to talk because she loved the bracelets Sally made for me. She is a very nice woman and I wish I had gotten to ask her what she writes, I am curious. But we got to talking about jewelry instead. I said “I love it, I look down at my hand and see Sally’s bracelets and my eyes light up with joy.” And she said she bought 3 pearl bracelets at the Gem Show last year and her eyes light up with joy when she looks at her wrist. And she sells her jewelry on Saturdays at Serrano’s farm on Houghton Road and I can come by.

Lining up for food has a great drama for me because I am strategizing how to slip the roast beef into plastic bag in my purse to bring home for Lulu and Beanie. I had asked Sophia if she was going to do it for her dog Seema, and she said no, and I said “I am going to do it for Lulu and Beanie.”

So the first thing I did was help myself to a very nice portion of roast beef. And then the other things I put on top of it to hide it. The vegetable lasagna and the mashed potatoes. I only took small portion of salad, but it turned out to be good with delicious dressing. And I took nice portion of the steamed vegetables, but they turned out to be hard, I didn’t eat them. And I took a roll. And almost everyone chose the delicious carrot cake but I chose the delicious chocolate cake. When the woman said, “do you want big piece or small piece?” I said “big.” Everyone else chose small piece.

And the food was scrumptious. That was really the happiest part of the meeting. There is nothing like sitting at a big round table, with very nice people, in a warm convivial atmosphere filled with friendship, and eating delicious food. And a nice glass of iced tea already poured for you. Wonderful cloth napkins. And waiter coming around with hot coffee. It is a banquet.

I managed to slip the roast beef into my purse. And when Sophia changed her mind, there were two slices of roast beef left over on her plate and she said “do you have extra plastic,” and I said “no,” and she tried to figure out how to use one of the flyers on the table to put the roast beef in but they were too small.

I said “why don’t you let me go get you two rolls, if you fold it into the rolls it will keep it dry.” And at first she said “no,” but when the flyers didn’t work, she said “OK, please get me a roll.” So I went back to get more lasagna and mashed potatoes for myself, and another portion of roast beef because last time when I gave it to the dogs it turned out Bill wanted it, and two rolls for Sophia.

And this time there was a woman there, one of the women who worked preparing the meal. It was just her and me. And I said “I want two rolls for my friend.” She thought I wanted a whole meal for my friend, she was so happy to help me. She put the two rolls on my plate.

And when I said “the lasagna is delicious,” she said “yes, it melts in your mouth.”

I said “the mashed potatoes is great too.”

She said “Is it? I haven’t tried it.”

I said “it is delicious.”

She said “do you want the vegetables?”

I said “they are too hard.”

And she said “for me too.” She said she loves cauliflower and broccoli, but cooked with butter and delicious, but everyone insists they make it steamed, and then it is hard as if it just came from the garden.

And she said “would you like a slice of cake?”

And I said “I already have chocolate cake.”

And she said “would you like butter for the rolls?”

And I said “I don’t think so.” I couldn’t make up my mind. The rolls were just to bring the roast beef home to Seema.

She said “let me put butter on the side for you.” She was such a sweet angel. It’s funny how much I related to all the people working the food. The chef was standing there when I was on line the first time with all the people. And I was standing back because there were so many people. And he was there in his white chef’s jacket. And I looked down at my white long sleeved blouse, and I giggled, “we are wearing the same blouse” I said. I just loved all the servers, the men and women who came around with the coffee, the sweet woman who helped me, the chef in his jacket which looked like my white blouse. They were warm wonderful and outgoing. You just felt connected in an instant, it felt so natural to talk to them.

I had another nice portion of roast beef on my plate now, this one was for Bill. And when it turned out I was too full to eat the second portion of mashed potatoes and lasagna, I took the plate back to serving area, to try to find plastic box to put it in or paper to wrap it in. But there was no plastic or paper. I was going to bring this home for Bill. I was very reluctant to do this, but only thing there was a cloth napkin stretched out, so I put it in that and wrapped it up and put it in my purse. When I go back I will bring the cloth napkin. I have to admit it made it more appetizing than the roast beef slopped into plastic bag for dogs. It made it like a nice meal when I unwrapped the cloth napkin at night for Bill to heat up while watching the game. There was even a dinner roll in there. And Sophia was happy with the solution of putting the roast beef for Seema in the dinner rolls I had brought to her.

I was too full to eat the chocolate cake so I put that in another cloth napkin at the table. Of course I got the chocolate all over my white blouse. Stealing one cloth napkin was huge, stealing the second one I didn’t even think about. But I want to return them, and I will.

Then the guest speakers began and they were entertaining, but I began to ask the travel writer what time it was. Bill was picking me up at 1:30, and about 5 minutes after that I gathered up my stuff to find him.

He was in the hotel lobby watching the football game on their huge screen TV. So I said “I will go back and stay till end.” But when I went back I realized I was finished. So I sat next to Bill on couch while he watched the game. There was a man with bag of Fritos watching the game too.

Then we went to Catalina Pool, the only one open. And even tho it was cold and cloudy and pool is not hot and showers are not hot, the lifeguard there knows me so well-- I said “I guess the pool is not hot, the showers are not hot,” she said “your favorite lane is open, rush right now and you can get it.” And the water was just warm enough to have perfectly lovely swim, and showers just warm enough to have perfectly lovely shower. I was totally refreshed and in great mood, and so was Bill, it all worked.

And we were both excited about returning home with roasty beef treat for pups. Which of course they loved. I served it to them instant I entered house. It had started to rain on way home, but neither of us really cared. There has been so much relentless bad weather, there’s no point in protesting anymore. As I was leaving I heard the lifeguards say, “they are forecasting real cold for tomorrow, it will be down in the 40s.”

Bill went in with the pups to watch the game, we turned the heat on in the house, and I sat down at computer to answer email. Alice had been working on her video at Access TV Studio late at night two nights before Christmas, and truckdriver had totaled her car.

She is fine, but the upshot is she’s not doing TV anymore, she is going back to her art. Also she wants money-making ideas to help pay for the brand new car. So she emailed me “let’s do a book together.” She has never even looked at my blog where I put up all her paintings. But I emailed back “Helen and Jan love your work.”

“Where did they see it?” she emailed.

“On my blog.”

She still didn’t get it. “Which painting did they like?” she emailed back.

I said “I put up a lot of your work.”

And she emailed back, “Thank you very much Anne.”

I haven’t pressed Alice to look at the blog because of all the stories about her on it, and I don’t know if she will like those stories. It’s one thing for her to tell me all this stuff in swimming pool, it’s another to read it on my blog. And she never read my stories, “Afternoon at Alice’s House,” or what happened down at Access TV when Dorfay and I did the video for her.

So the way it is now, Alice thinks we will put out a children’s book together, my stories about my dogs and her art work. And I think I will put out a book of my stories featuring Alice et al with her artwork. And I have my heart set on all of Alice’s beautiful color paintings in there and I know that will cost a fortune. I guess I can try one small press, before I figure out how to afford WheatMark. But the biggest unknown is when will Alice find out what my stories contain, and they are about her.

So the way we left it on email last night, is Alice thinks it will be children’s book about dogs, and in fact it will be a book about Alice and me. And at some point she will have to find out.