Things I learned this weekend

1. That if I force myself to, I can squeeze out 2,000 good thesis words in one day (Friday)
2. That I have 7 stories for the ‘Good Window’ cycle, and have started more than a few of them
3. That compiling all of the random notes I’d written by hand and putting them on the computer meant that I actually had 4 other stories started, and nearly 6,000 words written
4. That I know what the first few chapters of my novel will look like, and that the first one is practically written
5. That, after watching a few episodes of the British comedy ‘Peep Show’, I don’t actually hate all embarrassing humour, just most of the American stuff
6. That Chad and I can make 4 different Persian dishes (more Chad than me, to be honest), especially if a generous and lovely Persian friend leads us through the recipes step-by-step for 7 hours
7. That Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is an incredibly sad book
8. That about 35 years ago, Rutger Hauer was an exceptionally gorgeous man:

(Particularly in the 1970s movie Turkish Delight —which was an…interesting…film, made slightly less weird by Rutger’s staggering good looks and confident young man’s swagger)