the big cat has settled next to me on the couch where i moved over because the computer was about to die & i had to recharge it. this cat is snoring gentle snores but nevertheless keeps me good company; i could fall asleep too. but i don't; i've been a little stirred up by life events. my wife, leafing through the aarp bulletin as she is wont to do, ran across an ad asking for memoirs and offering a five-k reward. i could use five k, of course, and wouldn't mind the publicity - the contest is cosponsored by huff post, and one would be a star in both places. my memoir is mostly written, on this very blog, and is really a page turner if i say so myself though it's not finished and life adds layers as i go along. i could, quick, wrap up my esl career, music, etc. and send it all in, i've considered finishing it anyway, since moving to texas is such a dramatic new chapter. yet other dramatic new chapters are opening up even as i write.

a strong cold spell let up a bit around here and we went out a little, drove around, began to recover from a long semester. but alas, we went to a movie, got to the mall about ten minutes before it started, then blew about thirty minutes, in the mall parking lot, trying to get over by the theater. there wasn't a parking spot in miles. finally, traffic still stalled, i veered around back and parked out in left field. we watched a later movie; we got a taste of jam-packed mall. it's depressing to me, because i haven't even started my shopping, yet i know that most stuff is gone. the trees are gone. the decorations are gone. people are almost done with it, ready for valentine's. yet we haven't even started.

ao this memoir contest, i probably couldn't join it, because my memoirs are essentially already published, that's right, here...this is a complex site, not much in the way of sharp snazzy pictures, or ads, but it does have my life story, and it'll probably stay that way. then again, i could put it all together, package it, put it forward, and nobody would ever know, things being what they are. but why would i want to sell my life story for five k? i'm sure many people would have no trouble with that. some free publicity in the process. but i got kind of stuck on it, finally, and i thought, nah, it's not for sale. i'll hang onto my own life story, bizarre as it is, it's what i've got.