14 January 2009

broken vow renewed

I vowed not to let it affect me this way, but the theft of my laptop and the attendant writings that were lost has thrown me into (choose your cliche: black pit of despair, tizzy fit, deep mourning, etc.).

Among other things I lost the final draft of my poetry mss., the first draft of my latest poetry mss., and the latest draft (about 50,000 words) of my novel, in other words, most of the work of August '08 to January '09, six precious months I had free of teaching duties. I also lost a many-sectioned post I was working on about our Seattle trip last week, which was fabulous except for the robbery part. So before I devolve into an even deeper and less appealing whine, let me just say that this is the part of the movie where I stand up and say "I WILL not let this stop me!" or maybe "I will NOT let this stop me!" or perhaps even "I will not let THIS stop me!"

As soon as I can think straight, I'll be posting about dinners out at Lark, Lola, and an anonymous Pho house in Seattle's Lake City neighborhood, right across the LEGS strip club (did I get the name right, Seattleites?)

I'm off to C's gig at the Penny Royal Cafe (what's up with that name?)

6 comments:

mirjam said...

i am so sad for you. it actually makes me sick. i hope to see you soon with an unbroken spirit and all.

Mark A. said...

Lara, that's just crappy! Seriously, you lost a lot of your novel? Where did you lose the laptop, or do you not want to even dwell on details?

Marni C. said...

Soooooooo soooooorrrrrryyyy. I'm channeling Mrs. Which fr. A Wrinkle in Time. Wish you were here!!

shaunita said...

My laptop was stolen (out of my home, grrrr) two years ago, and I still get a little mad when I think about it. it's getting better, though. pray for a miraculous recovery of lost files. we got some documentation of E's first year of life back that way.

BTW, did you happen to listen to "talk of the nation" today on NPR? the whole show was about people who lost "everything."

Annetastic said...

Lara, say it ain't so. Even the coach part of me doesn't have an adequate response to your loss...

Bing said...

Aww, I'm so sorry. Have you ever seen the Duplex? Don't do it. It's one of those movies that's based upon the principal that cringing and laughing are practically the same thing, and that hitting your forhead with your palm is as good as slapping your thingh.
What I will say is this: You never know what kind of weird, awful circumstances will breed a really great novel. This very event might be a little footnote read by hundreds of excited college students digging into your Great Work. Think of this event as a favor you're doing on behalf of literature and those excited college students.