Regular readers of this blog (if you’re still out there, since it’s not exactly regular these days) know that I tend to get sort of fixated on things. And TV shows. And people. What can I say, it’s a sickness. Anyway, this weekend I discovered TWO things I am currently thinking about way too much. The first: my Roomba.

I saw this robot vacuum cleaner at Sam’s Club a couple of weeks back, but was discouraged from my buying it by my husband. (And by discouraged, I mean he laughed at me. Loudly.) I could NOT stop thinking about it, however (that’s the obsession part) so I went back later and bought it. Why? I can’t even tell you. Maybe it’s the Jetsons thing, with robots cleaning for you. Maybe it’s my hatred of vacuuming. But honestly I think I just wanted to see how it worked. So we brought it home, charged it up and set it loose. First thing it did was go UNDER the playroom couch and disappear for, like, a long time. I was worried and about to go in search of it when it EMERGED, triumphant, covered in dust bunnies AND pushing a mini plastic beach ball I last saw over the summer. Wow! It went on to clean our entire house over the weekend, zipping over the hardwoods, going under the couches, trying to mate with our water crock (at least, that’s what it looked like). Is it as good as our standup Electrolux? No. Is it good enough? You bet. Plus, there is the entertainment factor. I mean, you can’t NOT watch it.

The other thing I discovered this weekend was DEMI LOVATO:STAY STRONG, an MTV documentary about the singer’s battle with cutting, eating disorders and other things that led her into treatment. Confession: before, I was always confusing Demi Lovato with Selena Gomez. I’m sorry! I think it was a Disney thing or something. Anyway, I got this on the DVR after reading about it and watched it while I was working out and OH my god it’s so inspiring. Where was a girl/MTV show like this when I was in high school? I was just really touched by her honesty about her problems, her body issues…everything. It reminded me that it is just SO hard to be a teenage girl, whether you are rich and famous or just someone in a small town trying to figure it all out. She’s my new role model, seriously:

Okay, speaking of obsessions, I have to go watch a Princess DVD with my daughter. But BEFORE I do will post THIS link to something I put on my Tumblr today with which I am also obsessed. I give you: My Open Letter to Taylor Kitsch.

Have a good night, everyone!

I have been SO off of blogging I wasn’t even sure how to begin this entry. Which is CRAZY, considering how often I used to do it. What, you may ask, HAVE you been doing with all your time? Well, there’s been this little matter of raising my kid. Also a first draft of the next book to try and finish. Plus: husband’s business things, brawling with NC Dept of Revenue (don’t ask, will just say do NOT recommend it) coddling my chickens, helping my parents get ready to move for the first time in over thirty years. Also, a lot of Real Housewives to watch.

Somehow, however, I have managed to join Pinterest AND resurrect my Tumblr. So clearly I am still into social networking/procrastination, if not blogging. Look no further than my Twitter (@sarahdessen) which I am on constantly. I’m thinking I may cross post from now on here AND Tumblr, with shorter entries. If I can pull myself away from my chickens and the Housewives.

I am also reading: I swear! Although this week I faced that dilemma of having started a REALLY well reviewed, Literary, Important Book that I just…couldn’t get into. It was nonfiction, a bestseller, with a serious but crucial subject. The kind of book you feel like a moron if you don’t like, because you MUST be shallow. (That’s my internal voice talking: it’s nice, right? Yeah, I don’t really think so either.) Anyway, thanks to support of my Twitter folks, I decided to set it aside, even if it was a failing on my part. It was not the book, it was me. But as my mom is fond of saying, “Life is too short to read books you don’t enjoy.”

And you know what? I am SO GLAD I did, because I finally had a chance to pick up John Green’s latest, THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. Disclaimer: I bought this book back on the day it was published (no joke) but I don’t read YA that much, and not at ALL when I am working on a draft of my own. Too distracting. However, I was finally at a place where I could dive in and I am LOVING it so much. (Please, no spoilers! Please?) I really don’t want to work on my own book at ALL since it is so good (which is kind of unfortunate, as I really do need to knuckle down). Seriously, though, I’d been trudging through this serious book, berating myself for not being more into it. Then I picked up TFIOS, read one page, and was sucked under. Night and Day, people. Related: YA rocks. Yeah, I said it.

(Also: my daughter just ate an entire uncured turkey hot dog wrapped in a piece of whole wheat bread. If you would have told me when I was pregnant this would be cause for celebration—YAY!—I never would have believed it. What a difference four and a half years makes.)

Well, that’s the news from here, what there is of it. Hope YOU are all well.

Have a good night, everyone!

1. Okay, I know. I’ve been seriously gone from this blog for…well, a long time. The truth is, I’ve been in serious writing mode for the first time in, like, a year. Which is GREAT, except if you happen to be this blog, in which case you are hopelessly and totally neglected. I think I have said here before how I’ve never been able to write well WHILE promoting a book. It’s like my brain just can’t handle both at the same time. So once I was done with The Book Tour That Never Ends (But Finally Did) back in late November, I was terrified I’d never be able to pick up the draft I had going and get back to work. I always think I’ve forgotten how to write if I don’t do it constantly. But, after gathering strength through chocolate and fingernail biting, I slowly got back to it and so far, so good. Do I have any idea when the world at large will see this novel? Nope. And that’s just how I like it. No offense, but when I’m writing, I like to keep it one big secret, all mine. When I’m ready, though, I promise I’ll tell.

2. In other news, I spent this morning running around town trying to replace my husband’s busted iPhone. He dropped it and cracked the screen MONTHS ago, but was using it anyway, tapping out texts around the shards of glass that were falling out. Finally I started to worry about bleeding and took action. I went to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store, where a real live genius basically told me they could sell me a replacement at a reduced price. Now, I know you CAN order kits online and try to repair them yourself. And I have faith in some of my abilities. But using a tiny little screwdriver to delicately remove phone parts WHILE watching a ten minute YouTube tutorial? Not really one of them. While I was doing all this, we switched phones, which tickled me to no end, because it meant he was going to be stuck with my Josh Elliott/GMA screensaver, howling Neko Case “Twist the Knife” custom ringtone AND a pink Kate Spade case I knew he’d be mocked for at the jobsite. In the end, I took pity and changed the case and ringtone. But NOT the GMA shot. Let the plumbers and HVAC guys think he has a thing for Josh Elliott. Don’t we all?

3. The Oscars are this weekend (I think?) (edit: They are NOT! Thanks, everyone, for the clarification. Just shows how truly out of it I really am.) It’s just so depressing to me how little I am invested in the ceremony or movies in general. I used to be SUCH an Oscar person I ran a contest with my students at UNC, making them guess at the major categories and then giving prizes to whoever got the most right. These days, I’m lucky to have seen maybe ONE of the movies nominated (The Help). Now, if we were giving awards for Princess movies or Fresh Beat Band episodes, I’d be golden. Clooney and Streep don’t tend to do those, though. But I will be tuning in, because honestly, basketball, chocolate and awards shows are all that get me through February. And that is one thing that I think will never change.

4. It’s indicative of my issues with blogging that it is now 7:05 and I started this post back at about 11am. Where does the time GO? How did I once blog seven, then five, then three days a week when I can’t even get ONE Five done in a single day? These are the questions I can’t answer right now, as my kid is watching Pinky Dinky Doo and I try to finish this. I either used to be MUCH more productive or….well, I can’t even go there. Maybe I’ll do better next week.

5. Finally, everyone I know is now into Pinterest, from my Twitter friends to my babysitters and everyone in between. They keep telling me I MUST try it, but I am hesitant. I mean, I can’t even get a blog entry done these days (see above). Do I really need something ELSE siphoning off my time? It’s hard enough to get off Twitter long enough to have a life. But I do like the idea of, well, idea boards. Pictures to inspire and organize, as well as give me a sense of control over the chaos of my life. Oh, man. See? I’m already sucked in and I haven’t even GONE there yet! I think I just need more hours in my day. Or a clone. Maybe they have a Pinterest board for that? Please, God, help me NOT to go see as soon as I finish this.

*sigh*

Have a great weekend, everyone!

1. I am writing this in a coffee shop. Which is just so writer-y, right? I’ve said here before I can’t actually WRITE in coffee shops, because I am too easily distracted. I do best facing a wall or at least a dull view (usually, just some deer wandering by, eating my flowers, that sort of thing). But this has been One Of Those Mornings. You know the drill: up early, crazy chaos trying to get out the door to preschool, dogs barking, no time to breathe. And I have somehow lost my favorite sweater. I have a sinking feeling I threw it in the laundry by accident, which means it is probably now my daughter’s size. Whoops. So I am here, regrouping, with a cup of coffee. Which is the closest thing to the reset button I know. One, two, three…starting again!

2. Also this morning, my mind was kind of blown by this piece I saw on GMA about pregnant women doing extreme sports. They had this woman who was eight months along and scaling a rock face in Joshua Tree. EIGHT MONTHS! Holy pajamas. When I about six months along, I was in Asheville and walked to Malaprops, my favorite indie bookstore there, from our hotel, a distance of about four blocks. I was so tired once I got there I seriously considered calling a cab for the ride back. True story! And now, my kid is four and I STILL couldn’t climb a rock face because I am too tired. Watching that piece, I had the same feeling I do when I see celebs drop their baby weight in, like, ten minutes. Or say they love “EVERYTHING” about being a parent (I’m looking at you, Tori Spelling!). It just makes it hard to, you  know, eat your weight in potato chips after your kid throws a massive tantrum or think how much just ONCE you’d love to take a leisurely shower without little hands banging on the door. Bottom line: we all are doing the best we can. And it is enough. It has to be. Right?

3. If you are into YA fiction, this is a GREAT time to be hitting your local bookstores. John Green’s latest, THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, is a number one New York Times Bestseller (woot!) and he’s on tour. Also out and about: Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler, doing appearances for THE FUTURE OF US. I’m always happy to see YA getting great attention, but I am particularly thrilled to see books do well that are NOT about the undead. No offense to all the vampires and zombies out there. It’s just been a bit lonely over here in the realistic fiction realm. It’s a big pond, there’s room for everyone. But I am so happy to have good company!

4. My husband just called me. When I told him I was at a coffee shop, he said, “Being a writer? Are you wearing a beret?” This is another reason I could not work out in public. He would be merciless. (Disclaimer: I do not have  a beret. Although I have been known to wear a black turtleneck and look tortured, usually while on deadline.)

5. Finally, I got to do one of my FAVORITE things this week: a foreign edition book drop. Whenever a book of mine is translated into another language, I am given copies. Usually anywhere from two to ten. I only need one for my own collection, so I often find myself with a big stack of books in languages I don’t read that need homes. So I’ve come up with this system. Once I amass a few, I take them down to Dey Hall, on the UNC campus, where the foreign language department is housed. I leave them with a sign that says FREE BOOKS, TAKE! and then tweet about it, hoping they find homes. This time, I brought my daughter. We snuck in as classes were changing, put up our sign, then snapped a pic:

Personally, I think the princess stickers were a nice touch. Anyway, before I even LEFT I had someone stop and start rifling through them. YAY! And I heard via Twitter from two girls who took copies. It’s a small thrill, but such a fun one. I love to find my books good homes. And getting to do it at UNC makes it even better. Plus, as a reward for our good deeds, we hit Sugarland for cupcakes:

And yes, they DID taste as good as they look. And now I’m hungry. I wonder if they sell cupcakes here?

Have a good weekend, everyone!

…and I will have to keep this entry short, as we are indulging in my new favorite family tradition: Disney movies before dinner. Tonight, it is Tarzan, which I never saw. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t remember Disney movies being QUITE so traumatic. I mean, even in the lighter ones there is always a dead parent and a scary villan. Luckily my kid is easily distracted and keeps wandering off during the really worrisome parts. She did, however, just asked me what happened to Tarzan’s parents. I said, “Oh, they went away.” Which is sort of scary too, I guess, but not QUITE so much as being killed, you know, by a jungle cat.

Anyway. Once I am finished with Tarzan and she’s in bed, I get to watch one of my FAVORITE guilty pleasures, The Golden Globe Awards. There’s glamour! Fashion! Tipsy speeches! Does it matter that I have not seen hardly ANY movies this year? No, because they also do TV at the Globes. I WILL watch in my pajamas, pretending I am in an evening gown. As I say every entry lately: you do what you have to, in January.

Finally, today we visited my parents again, and again were sent home with a variety of items. My parents are moving from the house I grew up in this spring, so every trip over is like a fire sale/game show: I leave with parting gifts. The other day, it was this totally antiquated juicer that was passed down by my grandmother. Forget modern day appliances. LOOK at this thing:

Breakfast expediter or implement of torture? You decide.

Today, though, I left with something a bit less painful. At least in some ways. Among his papers, my father found a bound copy of my Creative Writing Honors Thesis from my senior year at UNC. Also known as the first novel I ever attempted to write. It is, in a word, terrible. I think I eventually finished it (note it says “novel in progress”) but I have no idea how it ended. It currently resides with all my OTHER books that didn’t work, in my closet and on backups. Oh, well. It’s still kind of fun to see. Not sure if I can bring myself to read it, however. Maybe after I make some juice.

Have a good night, everyone!

1. I am having one of those days where my brain just has WAY too much to process, and so is processing nothing. I keep calling things the wrong names and losing my keys, that sort of thing. Plus, today I was the Friday Speaker at my daughter’s preschool, which is a Big Deal (at least around those parts). I was feeling the pressure. Other parents have done presentations about various cultures, or talked about their exciting jobs as doctors or fireman. I do think my job is exciting…just not to watch. Especially if you are four. So I brought one of my books to show them my picture on the back and said that I write books for bigger kids, then read three of our favorite picture books. (Which were, incidentally: SAY HELLO TO ZORRO! by Carter Goodrich, LLAMA LLAMA HOME WITH MAMA by Anna Dewdney and HIPPOS GO BERSERK by Sandra Boynton. Tough to pick just three!) Go figure that I can speak at BEA and in front of hundreds at book signings and still be nervous doing it before my kid’s classmates and teachers. But I think it went okay. Still, relieved to be done. WHEW!

2. Finally, FINALLY, new shows are coming back. I know it makes me sound shallow but I need something, anything to get me through these dreary winter months. (I have also been looking at beach house rentals, which is my other way of coping. If I can’t have summer, I can plan for it.) Last night was a new 30 Rock, which I didn’t even  REALIZE how much I’d missed. I love, love Tina Fey. I just want to, like, be her BFF and talk about parenting with her. Also there was a new Office, which is always a great thing. Now I just need ABC to finally bring back Cougar Town—the great show with the awful name—and I’ll be relatively sure I can make it to March. I know, I know, it’s TV. But you do what you have to do in January.

3. The other thing I’m doing to hang in there is reading, and lots of it. Right now I am LOVING Elissa Schappell’s BLUEPRINTS FOR BUILDING BETTER GIRLS, and I have on deck both John Green and Megan McCafferty’s newest. On my iPad,  I’m looking forward to FAITH by Jennifer Haigh (recommended by the fab Jennifer Weiner, who always picks great reads, I keep a list) and re-reading Sara Zarr’s STORY OF A GIRL, which I loved the first time around, years ago. Then, on audio, I just finished Mindy Kaling’s IS EVERYONE HANGING OUT WITHOUT ME (AND OTHER CONCERNS) which was great and honestly, JUST what I needed after eight hours about the Jonestown Massacre, which I’d listened to before it. Now I’m listening to Stephanie Madoff Mack’s book, THE END OF NORMAL. I know, my audiobook selections in particular are, to say the least, diverse. But at least never dull.

4. I am writing this from a shopping center parking lot, which MIGHT seem odd but is actually sort of nice. These days, now that I’m back to writing (yay!) I’ve had less and less time for blogging and all the other social networking stuff, so I cram it in when I can, where I can. Which is often in parking lots, for some reason. I have to say, though, one of my best investments EVER was this little T-Mobile mobile hotspot thingy (that’s not the technical term) I bought a few months back. It’s the size of a small cell phone and I pay something like $25/month for more than enough internet time than I need. I bring my laptop, pull out my hotspot, boot both up and have a secure online connection ANYWHERE. This is not a paid endorsement. I’m just saying because you, too, might want to have a mobile office right outside of CVS or preschool. We have the technology!

5. Finally, I’ve been pretty much MIA from everything other than writing and reading lately, but when I was lucky enough recently to be asked to do an interview by Claire Zulkey to be featured on the WBEZ website (which makes me think of Ira Glass and This American Life, two things I LOVE LOVE LOVE) I jumped at the chance. It’s up today, and you can read it here. And yes, I do talk about television. Not that you’d be surprised, but you have been warned. Thanks, Claire!

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Yes, I know I’m a bit late. Eight days to be exact. But one of my new year’s resolutions was to try to relax and not run so hard, so much of the time, and enjoy my life a bit more. Hence: less blogging. More princess games. You know the drill.

Still, I AM excited about 2012. I am back to writing (early stages, can’t talk about it, terribly superstitious/worried about jinxing myself) which makes me REALLY happy. Mostly because by the end of the book tour I was so tired I was convinced I could never write again. Amazing what some sleep can do. Like Mariah Carey said, back during HER breakdown, “Sleep deprivation is real, people!” Indeed.

I will say that January is not my favorite month. Nor is February. But at least new shows are coming back—30 Rock returns this Thursday!!!—and we’ve had some lovely not-winter like weather to spoil us. All good.

In my spare time—what’s that, again?—I opened a Twitter account for my rooster, Foghorn, simply because he is SO glorious. I mean, look:

It was really just a silly, stupid thing to do. But now he has over 700 followers! He already has WAY too much attitude. I think I will have to limit his Tweets so it doesn’t all go to his already large head. (He’s at @FoghornNC if you are on Twitter and are so inclined.)

Finally, I am still trying to find the balance with blogging and the rest of my life. I don’t like doing regular entries, because it becomes work, not fun. But I miss doing entries at all. I’m thinking this blog will become quick, little entries, when they strike me, with the pressure off for longer ones. It’s either that or go back to Tumblr, which, if I am honest, I don’t really understand. Sound good? I mean, I like to disappear and just be, you know, Snow White with my kid. But I also want to be able to tell you totally cool stuff like my rooster being on Twitter, or John Green’s new book—THE FAULT IN OUR STARS—-going on sale this Tuesday. Balance, people. Even as a clumsy person, or maybe because of that, I’m always hoping for it.

Have a good night, everyone!

1. Okay, so it’s the last blog entry of 2011. What to say? It’s been a crazy, busy year. I saw my tenth book come out and went all over the place to promote it, including a tour stop in Canada for the first time (but definitely not the last). I got to be on GMA holding a YA sign. I spoke at the BEA Breakfast, which was the scariest AND most awesome thing I’ve done professionally, AND had a Whoopie Pie food truck with my name on it. Whew! I also learned how to make balloon animals, sponsored a race car team and marched in a parade. Quite the 365 days. I can only hope 2012 will be half as exciting. Here’s hoping!

2. What this new year WILL be about, for me, is writing. Stephen King has a great quote about writing with the door closed and editing with the door open. I think being on book tour and doing events is also like leaving that door WIDELY ajar, for weeks at a time. It’s fun and social and giddy and exhausting, but not exactly conducive to getting any novels written. To do that, I need to be home, have quiet and dependable childcare. There were times, during this last year, that I kept thinking that ten books might be enough for awhile, that maybe I didn’t want to write any more for a bit, take a breather, see what happened. But that has passed. Now I am not only working but WANTING to work, both great things. I will shut the door gently (no slamming, promise!) and emerge when I am done. Although I might dart out now and again for chocolate and coffee.

3. I really am not a fan of New Year’s Eve. Maybe it’s all my years as the designated driver, when I had to corral and drag my friends out of parties to make curfew. Or the fact that my kid, who wakes up at 6am, will not CARE if I have stayed up late to greet the new year, still expecting me to be ready to play before the sun is up. But it’s also one of those holidays where you always feel like you need to be doing something fabulous, and I am not good at fabulous. I live far out in the country, I like to go to bed early, and fancy shoes make my feet hurt. Hence, I will be here tomorrow night, making chili and cornbread, in my Uggs. Which is fabulous in its own way. At least, it is to me.

4. I wrote in this blog last week about the CD Swap we did with our close friends this year instead of gifts. It was just SO awesome I think we are going to make it a holiday tradition. I should know this already, via Owen Armstrong, but you really know someone SO much better when you get a glimpse of the music they love. Also, I am now feeling semi-hip in that I’ve been introduced to all these hip bands I never would be listening to otherwise, like Neutral Milk Hotel and Sleigh Bells and The Magnetic Fields. I would almost feel cool…if I was not also blasting The Laurie Berkner Band and The Best of Sesame Street from the same car stereo. Oh, well.

5. Finally,a new year’s wish for all of you: I hope you have a SAFE New Year’s Eve (get a designated driver to corral and drag you out of parties!) and a wonderful 2012 filled with hope and good cheer and great things. I hope you have black-eyed peas and collard greens on Jan 1st (Southern tradition, the greens are for money, the peas for luck) and good chocolate, coffee and (if it’s age appropriate) adult beverages all year round. Here’s to a year of good writing, good reading, and just plain good. I’ll wrap up this entry with a list I made on the return flight of my LAST trip of this year, where I decided to write out all the places I’d been on book tour since May. I look at it and know that next year, I’ll be sticking closer to home. Although it sure was fun:

Yep, that bottom line says 7 month, 12 trips, 18 cities. Whew! No wonder I’m still tired.

Happy New Year, everyone! See you on the other side.