powder is reality

Funny story to relate here: a friend of mine, who has worked in the wilderness therapy industry, began to date someone who had no experience in this industry. Her partner had Grateful Dead stickers on his truck, is a skier, works in a totally unrelated field, etc. etc. Oftentimes we get judged by our covers, no? Anyway, my friend had to take her partner's truck to work for a variety of reasons, and asked him if she could remove the Dead stickers so the students wouldn't see them, because that really is inappropriate and unprofessional in this profession. He didn't understand why at all and thought today's teens really would have no idea what those stickers stand for, but, being the loving man he is (yes, my friend has a good 'un!), he allowed her to remove said offensive stickers.

So there my friend is in the field, riot-inciting stickers gone, and two students are near the truck. They peruse some of the other stickers and start to chuckle a bit. There was, unfortunately, one sticker there from a ski resort, which read, Powder Is Reality.

These two students were cocaine addicts.

My friend declared her day done and drove away.

I am not telling this story nearly as well as my friend did, and if you are not in any segment of this industry you may not get it, but trust me. There is a certain existential humor in it. Sometimes, you just can't win!

Onward.

Found this inspiring comment about writing on a PW blog from yesterday. Okay, I perhaps wax a bit sarcastic. Writing is necessary for writers, however, rather like oxygen is necessary for mammalian life. I must, and do write. But this blogger correctly paints the very challenging picture of getting published, and making a living off it, in this mad, mad world! However, I will keep trying. My work has been rejected more times than I care to count (and I may not be able to count them again, if my files holding that information are not retrieved--maybe that would be a good thing?), yet I do keep plugging away, although perhaps not as regularly as I might. Rejection does get very tough. I need to post, sometime, some of the crazier rejection letters I've received in the past. The one from Gordon Lish was almost longer than whatever it was I'd submitted.

Anyway. Future project! Happy day, all. And remember to COMMENT! If you want. :)

powder is reality