1. Lots of YA writers whose blogs I read like to do the Friday Five, where they just write about five random unconnected things, but I usually don’t, but I’m doing it today because I wrote a whole post about California and then Quicktime crashed Firefox and I lost it. Cry for yourselves, Argentina. You get this instead!

2. So, about California: I picked up Slouching Towards Bethlehem last night because I know I love it and for some reason I cannot get deep enough into the two books I’ve been reading lately (My Sweet Audrina–my first V.C. Andrews! or it will be if I ever finish it–and Richard Price’s Lush Life) to finish either of them. I read “Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream” and was reminded of how much All Unquiet Things owes to that essay, for instance a character name.

3. Slouching Towards Bethlehem–or, really, anything Joan Didion ever writes–always makes me homesick for California. Recently, I’ve been very homesick for California, so you can see how reading STB was not the best plan. I actually contemplated moving to LA in the future this morning. LA! Clearly I need some sunshine and an orange, because LA has always been my least favorite city in California after Stockton (no offense, people who live in LA; I’ve had a lot of fun in LA; as for people in Stockton, well, I think you know what I mean). I’m just sayin’, you know you’re at a strange point in your life when a forty-year-old essay about a murder makes you yearn for home.

4. On Joanna’s suggestion, I watched the pilot of Being Human, which was AWESOME by the way, one of those ideas I wish I’d come up with. A vampire, a werewolf and a ghost live in an apartment together–it’s so simple! I also watched Dollhouse last night on Hulu, and I have to say I am not so intensely committed to this series. Firefly had me from pretty much the first moment I saw it, but I’m skeptical about Dollhouse. Something seems…off about it. I know Joss Whedon said that the show really picks up midway through, which, it’s lucky he’s not a first-time author looking for an agent, because I’m pretty sure “It starts slow but really picks up halfway through” in a query letter is not something that will get you a partial request. I’m having a hard time figuring out how we’re going to invest in the Eliza Dushku character, Echo, if she doesn’t have an actual, consistent personality we can sympathize with. Shrug. I guess only time will tell.

5. I’m heading over to Random House today to pick up my final round of line edits from my editor. I’m looking forward to it because I’m thinking I might hear about how things went at the in-house sales conference next week, as well as maybe get permission to post the cover on the Internet? I know they were going to have another cover meeting (final cover meeting? Okay, now I’m just saying whatever I want and putting question marks after it so as to excuse myself of any rumor mongering if it comes out that I’m wrong, just ignore me) soon, but I don’t know if that happened this week. Anyway, I always get excited when I or Joanna talk to my editor, because interesting news always comes out of it.

So…yeah. Friday Five. How’d I do?