Tulips
Met with the florist this afternoon. She's a nice, if slightly wacky, woman. Obsessed with the Mariners (who were playing against the Yankees on the radio in the background). Her shop is new in Ballard, a small flower shop called The Plaid Dahlia, that has a small wedding chapel in the back. The chapel has two backgrounds to choose from--a Las Vegas scene or a tropical scene. My coworker Sam actually got married there a few months ago; he and his wife chose the Las Vegas background. Sam recommends her highly. We went through a whole thing about what Adam and I are envisioning, and really, I have no idea. She kept throwing out flower names, and I wasn't sure what most of them are. In talking about the bridal bouquet and the bridesmaids' bouquets, she asked what I thought. I shrugged and said, "Make them just like mine, but littler." Adam said, "And Melissa's should be littlest one of all." She is the littlest Brown, after all. We came up with a few options, nothing too elaborate. Trying to keep the flowers really on the simple side. When she sends the bid, we'll have a better idea of what we spoke about, because at this point, I really don't remember.

Amos Oz
We went to hear Amos Oz lecture tonight at a local synagogue. He's an amazing speaker. First, he spoke about his new book, The Same Sea, and then he spoke about what he calls the root of all the world problem's today: fanaticism. He was both humorous and serious, and one of his main points was warning Americans not to become fanatical about being anti-fanatical. I heard him speak a couple of years ago at the Seattle Arts & Lectures program, but this time, I believe, the talk was geared more toward a Jewish audience, or perhaps not so much that as there's so much more going on now than the last time he spoke. When I heard him last, there was almost peace in the Middle East. He did tell one story then that he repeated tonight. He tells how his grandmother always told him the only difference between the Jews and the Christians was the Christians believed the Messiah had already come and the Jews believe that he has yet to come. She told him, "Look, we should just let things be. One day, the Messiah will come, and he'll settle the issue for himself. If he says, 'Hello, it's good to see you again,' then the Jews will have to admit the Christians were right and apologize. If he says, 'Hello, it's nice to meet you,' then the Christians will have to admit the Jews were right and apologize to us. Until then, there's nothing to be done about it." After the reading, I asked him to sign my copy of My Michael, which is one of my favorite books of all time. He laughed when he saw it and said, "I wrote this when I was 24. When I was 24, I thought I knew how to write from a women's voice. Today, I wouldn't have the chuzpah."

Plot Ideas
Still thinking about my novel. Here are some of my ideas:
--My six months on the kibbutz. There's a definite story in there: my going, breaking up with Matt, my experiences there. I could create conflict in there, with a romance, with the decision on whether or not to come back.
--Chronicle life at an Internet company. Again, somewhat autobiographical. Contrast work life with training for the STP, and have the conflict be the various work conflicts and the challenges of the road. Of course at the end of that one, I wouldn't go back to the job.
--Still like the idea of a high-tech bodice ripper.
Not too crazy about any of those. I've got just over a week to come up with something solid.