Tomorrow is Juneteenth. I’m off for it for the first time since it was added as a Federal holiday. I’m excited to be off, but I also feel guilty about it. I suppose that’s the general idea. We’re meant to reflect on what this country did and continues to do to Black people. I’m going to spend the day reading and writing, and Luis and I will go have a nice dinner at a nearby Tex Mex place. I think more businesses need to give it as a holiday so it receives its full respect. I’ve noticed it’s optional a lot of the time, hence this being my first year having it off. If Luis didn’t have to work, I would’ve suggested going to a local Black-owned business for dinner, but he has to work.
The Metro has been a nightmare this week. Every day has had some kind of signal problem, some kind of track work. This morning, I was half an hour late to work because there was a track issue two stops away from the office. They made everyone get out of my train and wait for the next one. Thankfully, my coworkers were nice about it. But I was so frustrated and worried about how long it was going to take, because it was stop-and-go all morning.
It’s been pretty calm at work, though. Which isn’t the norm for Wednesday, so something crazy is probably going to happen.
Next weekend, we’re going to celebrate Luis’s mom’s birthday with yet another party. (She’s had like three parties now.) We’re going to a brewery that, for once!, has coffee and pizza instead of just having beer. I’m excited about that. Also, my parents are going to be there, which I didn’t know about until they told us on Father’s Day. We’ll see them again on the 4th of July and then again on the 22nd when we go to see Weird Al. July is going to be pretty packed.
Then there’s nothing on the schedule for August. We need to make August plans STAT. Luis’s birthday is in August, so that’ll of course be something. But a few years ago we literally went to Paris and London. This year, ehh…. we can’t do that. But I’m sure it’ll still be nice.
I’ve been doing a lot of beta reading. I currently have three I’m getting through. Some writers are definitely more patient than others. I’m a slow reader, but I also give the stories more attention than I bet a lot of other readers do. Case in point, I got some early feedback on my novel from one of them that was like, “I like the corporate rivalry.” I feel like you can say that without even reading my story; it’s in the brief description. But I don’t want to be mean. Some people are more comfortable giving feedback than others, and some people don’t want to be negative or whatever. It’s fine. I do my best to read like I’m helping the writer, because I am. I’ve volunteered my time to help them make their story better.
With that in mind, I better go keep reading.
Sara Mazariegos 