Wednesday, June 30th, 1999

Toby Buckell, a man who understands insomnia, lent me two Pepsis so that I could stay up long enough to finish my humor story. Well, I finished it at five o'clock this morning. Is it funny? I have no idea. Does it make sense? I have no idea. All I know is that it's done and I can turn it in this morning. And tomorrow I will listen to everybody else's critiques of it and hug my stuffed elephant.

I was thinking of holding back on it and turning it in on Thursday morning, but I heard that only one other person had a story ready to turn in. I was wrong. There were five of us with finished stories, and it looks like there will be five more tomorrow. We're all trying to make up for our missed day.

In my befuddled, sleep-deprived state, I've come to a startling realization: even though Clarion is a pressure cooker, it's easier than real life. In real life, I would be trying to write, and do my real job, and help Andy get the house ready for our new baby. Here all I have to do is write and critique and learn. Once I leave here, I will probably look on Clarion as my salad days, when the living was easy.

God, that's a scary thought.

Must get sleep.

Hmm