I'm back
Had a few days holiday in San Francisco which was very relaxing and refreshing. I got to see many of my good friends: Gretchen, Liz, Andrea, Wendy, and Glenn. I got to eat at Mai's (Vietnamese on Clement). Oh, and I had a San Francisco celebrity sighting: I saw Craig Newmark (www.craigslist.org) at a cafe. Not a big deal, really, because in San Francisco, you see him everywhere.
And I got to buy like a thousand books for very little money. We went to Green Apple Books, where the selection is amazing and the books are dirt cheap. Then we went to Community Thrift in the Mission. OMG. We're talking hardback first editions for $2. Time to buy another bookcase.
I also got to see the Hearst Castle for the first time. If you haven't been, you must go. It was so gorgeous and inspiring. George Hearst (William Randolph's dad) didn't make his fortune until he was almost 40. He spent 10 years mining for gold, and ultimately found silver instead. He took the money he made from that and invested in real estate.
What really inspired me is that he was such a dreamer. He found the silver, but he didn't know it was silver -- he had to have it smelted to find out. But in order to have it smelted, he had to trek across the mountains to San Francisco -- a grueling journey. And he had no way of knowing whether it was worth anything or not. Most people would have given up after 10 years of fruitless panning for gold. But he believed in himself. I think that is the key to success.
Anyway, you know how travel reinvigorates you? I'm feeling ready to finish this novel now. I figured out how I'm going to end it. I was in the shower and it just came to me. Looking forward to getting it out the door so I can start on the next one.
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
ammichaels) wrote,
inspired
