what's been going on?

i feel like i'm finally slowing down to the point where i don't have to catch my breath at the end of each week, and that is nice. so not much has been going on, but at the same time, it's been extremely rewarding to have the time to read books and liesurely hang out with friends or write or play my guitar. it's a dangerous place for me, though, too, because these moments of restfulness are seductive and will lull me into full hibernation mode if i don't watch it.

there was a kissing contest. i was not in it. none of us were. but we all contemplated it. kiss the longest and you got a free night in a nice hotel in shell beach. the winning couple kissed for well over six hours. and that my friends is just not worth it. i'm all for the long kiss, but at some point i wonder if six hours of lip lock can't just suck the love from the both of you. you might end up saying, i never need to kiss you again.

that's not very romantic of me. but you know it is true.

plus there is the lip numbing and the tongue tiring, not to mention the sore feet from standing in one place for six hours. i can see doing this for a car. but a night in a hotel? i don't think so.

this weekend i read a book called dry by augusten burroughs. i love this guy's writing style. he is obviously one of those nonchallant geniuses who make things look easy. he is so talented that i bet he couldn't help but be a superstar in this lifetime. he also wrote running with scissors and i hope to pick it up sometime soon.

this is the second recovering-alcoholic book that i have read and also the second that i have loved.i take this either as a trend or a happy coincidence. the other book was drinking, a love story by caroline knapp. the difference between these two books? it is obvious that knapp's experience was still new and all-consuming. her story was more of an explanation of why this had to work for her. and it did work for her. borroughs meanwhile, waited a decade to tell his story and his version is more even, less persuasive. knapp maybe needed you to believe along with her. borroughs just tells you the facts and he is living proof that it works.

i once had a boyfriend who was in a.a. one of my favorite things to do with him was go to meetings. i'm not an alcoholic but i loved those meetings. i would happily agree to go or suggest going. i got a lot out of them.

he lived far away, so for me it was a truly anonymous experience. i've told many people about how much i loved those meetings and they've said, why don't you go here? and my answer is, shaking head, there's no such thing as anonymous in san luis obispo. you enter the county and check your anonymity at the door. it's just the law of the land. and that is okay with me.

however, recently another friend who lives locally is now attending these meetings and i'm dying to accompany him. what is my fascination? i don't know. i love the honesty and the rawness and the realness. there is something strange about an a.a. meeting — people just drop their guard before they walk in and sit down. i imagine there is an invisible spiritual coatroom before you enter filled with egos and boundaries and hidden agendas.

i think of writing burroughs a fan email. i went to his site today and checked his speaking arrangements. so disappointing — he read in l.a. today and will be in s.f. for three beginning on tuesday. that means he has a travel day tomorrow and if i had only read his book last week i could have seen about booking him in slo town — we are directly between these two cities. a great midstate rest stop. i was only a week away from making this happen. i hate those missed opportunities.