High Desert


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Originally uploaded by murphy_h2001.

So, this is a picture of the east side of the mountains on highway 15.

Highway 15 is best known as the route to Las Vegas. Los Angelinos and other Southern Cal residents zoom up 15 to let what happens in Vegas happen.

I was not on a Vegas trip when I took this picture. I was going to Victorville for work. The scenery was really impressive to me, so I took some photos.

Chris and I will be going ‘up 15’ this weekend if all goes as planned. There is a puppy breeder who lives out there, though not as far as even Victorville, let alone Vegas.

The time has come to secure the family dog. The breed of choice is airedale. And since Chris is made out of marshmallow, he must have a puppy.

Puppies are cute.

Provided this puppy comes from a well-mannered and well-kept home, we’ll be bringing one home in January.

The desired puppies are still in their airedale-mama’s tummy.

But that’s okay, because we need to puppy-proof the home and begin to prepare the cat.

We just put Skellig’s food up on a table. If we left it on the floor where it has been, the puppy might eat it. That would not be good for inter-species relations.

So I assembled a table and put his food on it. I put him up there, so he knows where it is.

But he’s been lying on the floor near where it used to be, and wapping his tail thumpingly on the ground to show that he knows we are up to something and he doesn’t approve.

This will take time.

Rejection letters

I am very very proud of my book. I published it this year, and it took a lot of hard work.

Recently I was listening to an interview of Janet Fitch, author of White Oleander. She talked about the party she had after her book was published.

She wallpapered the room with her rejection letters.

I should accumulate rejection letters, I suppose. I feel slightly averse to it. I mean, they are rejection letters, after all.

But, it also seems the path many successful people take.

I wonder.