Coughing Mayhem…ahem…

In September 2008, I visited the subject of how to attend classical music concerts.  During recent internet research surfing, I ran across a fun essay at Theatlantic.com by Erik Tarloff entitled A Few words about Coughing.  Tarloff describes a concert of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony he attended at Lincoln Center and the uncanny focus of audience coughing during the quiet passages of music.  I’ve noticed this phenomenon, also.  Of course, louder passages would drown out the coughing. 

What is the reason for the coughing?  Here in Minnesota, the usual reason is the common cold or flu.  Tarloff, however, posits a theory concerning audience engagement with the music that also makes sense to me.  The amount of coughing correlates to the level of lack of interest in the audience member. 

Do you cough regularly at classical concerts?  If so, and you’re not sick, check your level of engagement in the music, how closely you’re listening to the music and watching the musicians.  I find it interesting that Tarloff noted people don’t usually cough during movies (no, they talk or text message on cell phones).  I attend plays at the Guthrie Theater on a regular basis and don’t ever recall hearing disruptive coughing during a performance.  Not like the hacking that Tarloff describes and I’ve heard during concerts at Orchestra Hall.  (I’ve also heard loud snoring in Orchestra Hall, but that’s another issue….)

With flu season almost upon us, and certainly novel H1N1 flu has been upon us since last March, I hereby review how to muffle a coughing fit until you can exit the concert hall.  Please, please, cover your mouth!  Please use a real cloth handkerchief (if possible) because the cloth absorbs the sound better than tissue.  Or, if no handkerchief is handy, do what public health nurses and other officials have been encouraging: cough into your elbow.  Easy.  And please, if you’re sick with the flu, whether seasonal, H1N1 or the notorious “flu-like illness,” please stay home, rest, drink lots of fluids and protect the rest of us from the illness you have.

Thank you for your consideration!

Contest Submissions

This week, I’ve worked hard to prepare the standalone novel excerpt, The Shadow, to submit to contests.  Success!  I submitted it to the Black Warrior Review Fiction Contest on Wednesday via Manuscripthub.com (as directed), making that deadline.  Today, I mail it out to two other contests, one at the Indiana Review and the other at Dogwood at Fairfield University in Connecticut, making those deadlines. 

Back to work on essays and short stories — more new ideas for essays this week…..

Two Years and Counting

Two years ago at this time, I had chosen which blogging site I wanted to use for my blog and I was working on a title, on what I wanted on the blog and how I wanted to organize it.  Two years!  I had not imagined that the blog would turn out to be a solid, strong endeavor, and include my other writing projects as well as the Perceval novels.  So where am I, as a writer, today?  What are my priorities?  What are my plans for the next two years?

The Blog Itself: Two years is a long time with one blog theme/layout, eh?  I’ve been looking at other themes in the last few weeks and trying to figure out what I want to do to tousle this blog’s hair, pump up the volume, and burnish its personality.  If all goes well, you’ll see some changes at some point in the next month or so.

The Perceval Novels: In March 2008, I put my work on the third novel in the series, Perceval in Love, on hold until I’d resolved some issues of everyday life that had intruded on my writing.  Those issues have been resolved, but a new one has arisen thanks to the tanked economy.  For the last two months, I’ve been looking for a job, and the search continues.  I think that I’ll probably not return to Book 3 until at least 6 months after I begin a job and have settled into a new routine and daily structure.  Any writer who also works a fulltime job knows the challenges of finding the time to write.  For me, the challenge is especially to find uninterrupted, quiet, solitary time for creative thinking.  I continue to write notes as ideas come to me, which they continue to do, thank god.

Marketing Perceval: I plan to continue my marketing efforts for Book 1, i.e. the search for a literary agent and/or publisher.  I recently received a rejection from the publisher I’d queried at the end of July.   I’ll mail another in the next week or two.

Short Stories: I’ve completed the first draft of a short story that had been banging around in my mind for the last year or so.  I have another short story in development.  So far, only these two stories cooking on the stove but I’d welcome more.  Shorter projects are easier to complete when time is limited.  I have revised The Shadow, the excerpt from Perceval, and will submit it to two contests, deadlines in October.

Essays: I submitted two different essays last month to two different publications.  The first draft of another essay is done.  I have ideas for at least two more essays, one longer than usual.  I will continue to work on this shorter form.

Other Nonfiction: I recently bought an accordion file in which to collect my notes for a memoir about money.  I’ve sketched out an outline, basically a Table of Contents, from which to work for now.  I’m sure once I begin writing notes, the rise of memories will gain momentum, and everything will change!

eHow.com: I have begun submitting articles to this website under the nom de plume “Fascinated.”

The last two years have been fun, and especially fun to meet other writers and readers here.  Thanks for visiting and come back again soon!  I’ll be here….

Another Update

WRITING:

• Reworked and resubmitted the essay that was rejected so quickly last week.  This time, no response yet.  I’m hoping the editor isn’t on vacation.
• Almost finished with the essay that’s due on or before 8/15/09.  I will make this deadline, thanks to e-mail.  This essay began with one idea that led to another that led to the idea the essay ended up being about.  Interesting how that works.
• Joined Facebook.  I’m also on LinkedIn for professional networking.  I’m hoping to build interest for my writing with Facebook (and connect with people like a long-lost cousin who found me there this week).

JOB SEARCH

• Nothing new with the medical coder jobs I’ve applied to.  One was through a recruiter, another through a temp agency, and the third directly to a clinic.  What I continue to hear in the coding world in this market is that being certified is crucial to landing a job, even if it’s at the apprentice level.  I’ve assembled study guides to prepare for the certification exam, and I continue to practice coding.
• I found an open job at a local publishing company and sent them my resume.  I would love to work for a publishing company and this one publishes non-fiction. 
• I continue to slog over the job postings for new possibilities and opportunities….