A wintery Friday…

1. Tomorrow night I’m going to go see Paul van Dyk.

Y’all, I’m super freaking excited. I haven’t been dancing in forever. FOOOOREEEEVEEEER. It’s been years since I’ve seen a good DJ perform. I’ve been downloading mixes from live events, but not actually being there is a bummer. So, I’m more than ready to get my dancing-on! Can’t wait. Like seriously. Can’t wait!

2. Saying goodbye is hard. Forever goodbyes, when someone dies, are much harder. But the see-you-when-I-see-you kind are also hard. What brings this up? I’ve made a friend here who is leaving London on Wednesday, and I’m SUPER BUMMED, y’all. SUPER BUMMED. It’s funny when you make a new friend and things just click. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, I’m grateful. I’m so happy to have gotten to know her better. We went to the same MFA program. I had maybe had a couple of convos with her before, but never really hung out. I’m so glad she was here in London with me these past few months, and I’m going to miss her. There are so many people who I hold dear in my heart that are far away right now. Even if I wish she were able to stay, it’s nice to have one more.

3. Someone posted this video on Facebook yesterday. It made me laugh. And not because this kind of thing is funny, but because I’ve been getting a lot of these kinds of questions lately.

Yes, my name is Irish. My maiden name even has an apostrophe in it, but that’s only part of me. My mother is Latina. So yeah, I’m mixed. You might notice when my books come out that I have a heavy Latino influence in them. It’s because I don’t really see a lot of Latino characters in novels. Not unless they’re gangbangers or car mechanics or both. But I didn’t realize how different I was from other kids until I hit high school. I know, that’s kind of late, but I figured it wasn’t that odd that my parents spoke Spanish in the house. Or that when I had nightmares, my mother would call the curandero to come get the evil spirits away from me. Everyone doesn’t have an old man come wave an egg at them when they’re having bad dreams? What do you mean that’s weird?

When I was single and going out to bars and clubs, guys would come up to me and ask me where I was from or if I was Latina/Hispanic/Mexican/etc. Most of the time it was other Latinos asking me. But every once in a while someone else would or a girl would ask. That’s stopped and I haven’t been asked in years. But since I moved to London, I feel like EVERYONE is asking. It’s so weird!

I feel like people in the video above mind when people ask. They seem annoyed. I get that. It can be annoying. But I don’t mind at all. I’m cool with it. If you’re curious, just ask. I’m proud of my heritage. Both sides! Just tell me to shut up when you’ve heard enough. 😉

4. Since I’ve just given away my past with curanderos, I have a horror book I want to write…I’ve written the first chapter, and have the second one in my mind, but I can’t do it. After I wrote that first chapter, I couldn’t sleep for a week! Whoops! I think I drove LH crazy when I kept turning on the lights in the middle of the night.  Every once in a while, I think of that book and those characters, but seriously, this stuff is freaking scary.

Anyhow, I will write it. The characters’ voices scream in my head, wanting out. (Yes, I know this sounds crazy to anyone who isn’t a writer, but it’s the truth!) One day, I’ll put on some big girl panties and I’ll write a story about a girl who fights demons in our world, exercising them from unwilling hosts. Creepy! Until then, I’m letting it sit.

5. Winter is killing me.

Okay, so I know it’s only just begun, but seriously, SUNSET AT THREE-THIRTY in the afternoon?! WTF! Y’all, it’s 2:25PM as I write this, and the horizon is already yellowing. Granted, I’ve never lived in any place this far north, (I’m from Houston, went to college in Austin, and then moved to LA post-college until now.) but I wasn’t expecting this. It gets dark way too early. I keep forgetting this fact, and panicking at 4PM, thinking that’s 8PM, and freaking out that I didn’t get everything done that I needed to do. “WHERE DID THE DAY GO?!” I scream to myself. Alas, the day is still here. It’s just the sun that’s gone. I miss you, dear sun. Come back soon!