Blue mood

I had the best cup of coffee I've ever tasted this morning. Fresh-ground Starbucks coffee beans, brewed in a coffee-maker that looks like a glass jar with a strainer. The pastor's wife poured the coffee into four non-matching mugs. I took one and stirred in a drop of Half and Half. So so good, accompanied by cranberry bread made with fresh cranberries. It was the most satisfying breakfast I've had in awhile.

Anyway, I've made a promise to myself to keep the moping to a minimum on here. But I'm just in this emotional mood, the kind of mood where you stay up until 3 AM writing in your journal and listening to jazz. I've been reflecting on things, particularly the past two and a half years, grad school and why it became the mess it turned out to be. I think it's something I need to deal with in order to put it behind me and to move on to the next phase of my life. So I've been dealing with it, writing about it with the intent to eventually post something about it.

I've been reading Mockingbird by Charles J. Shields, a portrait (biography?) of Nelle Harper Lee. I don't know why I'm so fascinated by this woman, she just seems so unusual, a true writer. Write one of the most brilliant novels of the 20th century, retire to Monroeville, Alabama, never publish another novel, and refuse all interviews. It seems very romantic and brave and the true definition of living life on one's own terms. She recently published a letter in O, the Oprah Magazine, about books, which was lovely to read, after I got over the shock.

My apologies for the all-over-the-map post, but there it is just to give you an idea of where my mind is at right now. Blue moods, people, gotta love them.