>Workshop winding down

>Cloudy and a little cooler this afternoon in Tepoztlan, and the week is almost over. Today my second story was workshopped. The reaction was better than to the first, and it doesn’t feel like it needs much work to be finished. (Ah, well, of course I thought it was already finished, but that’s a different issue.) Grace liked it.

Last night we had a wonderful party at the home of July Charlot. Google Juli and see what you find. She performed with the Marx Brothers and Xavier Cougat and, when she retired from show biz at the age of 23, became a dress designer. She invented the Poodle Skirt, whatever that is. Anyway, she has a fabulous house, filled with the memorabilia of a fascinating life, and also meticulously maintained gardens. The main event for the evening was a reading by Bob Nichols, Grace Paley’s husband of 35 years, who writes some very interesting fiction. A new writer for me, although he’s been around awhile obviously. We also heard poetry recited in Nahuatl, an Indian language spoken by more than 4 million people in Mexico, by Roberto Palacio. After he read in Nahuatl, he read in Spanish, which was translated into English. Then we walked home, with a stop at the barrio’s festival of their patron saint, Santo Domingo. Lots of fireworks. Nice ending to the day.