I just spent two hours wrestling with a giant bougainvillea. I think I won; the
plant is now mostly short sticks. It was beautiful, but we have to get to the
sprinkler head behind it, and I don't think bougainvilleas particularly mind
periodic reduction to their bare essentials. It just gives them a chance to grow
lots more little stems with big thorns.
I didn't even haul the
cuttings, a full pickup-load's worth, off to the dump, because by then it was
starting to get hot and I had to wear gloves, boots, long pants and long sleeves
to protect myself. Bougainvilleas have BIG SHARP thorns all over. Maybe I'll do
the dump trip tomorrow, early. Then I can get Rudder to help load up the truck
(ulterior motive showing here).
I was also going to vacuum the pool,
which for me is an experience in risk-taking. Last time I tried to do it, I got
some air in the hose and we had to replace the pool motor. Ouch. This being
August, though, I figured I could get all the air out of the hose fairly easily by
being in the pool with it. It turned out, though, that Rudder had forgotten he'd
broken the vacuum head, so I have to go buy a new one before I can do
anything.
And some big news -- I would have put it at the top of this
entry, but I think itŐs a tad equivocal. I've mentioned to a few people that I had
an idea for a book. One of them told me it's best to keep it secret -- she's a
writer and has had an idea stolen -- so I won't go into details here. But
yesterday I finally got my query written and sent it to my first agent.
Because the idea is Internet-related, I sent it to an agency that has a web site,
and I sent it through e-mail, as their site that that was OK. Today, I got the
following email back:
Dear Dichroic:
Please check
our Web site, and use the proposal book
to do a proposal. I long to see how
you're going to outline the book.
Cheers,
Mr.
Agent
Obviously, I've changed the names. I interpret this as a go-
ahead to do a full proposal, along with a pitch for his own book. What a gimmick
for an agent: write a book, then require all aspiring writers who apply to you to
read it. If I can find it in the library, I will read it, of course. Anyway, I've
seen other agents recommend his book, too, so it can't just be a vanity
thing.
But the point is, he asked for a
proposal!!!!!!!!!!!