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Allison Larkin

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You are here: Home / crabbypants / It’s bad when public restrooms feel like the lap of luxury.

It’s bad when public restrooms feel like the lap of luxury.

December 18, 2009 Filed Under: crabbypants

Last week, Mickey called me out on the fact that I had back to back Wordless Wednesday posts. I meant to post Tuesday, so I could put up a photo on Wednesday without going for three in a row, but, I didn’t get to it, so I didn’t post at all. How do you like me now, Mickey? :)

Here’s a rundown of things that have happened since I last used actual sentences in a blog post.

  • Argo had another bump, and I had to take him for a needle biopsy. It turned out to be benign, thank goodness, and our vet is so incredibly awesome about calling the very second the results come in.
  • I’ve been working on a project with brand new characters and it’s occupying my brain to the point where I feel like I can’t communicate, beyond a tweet here and a Facebook comment there, for whole chunks of my day. That’s not a complaint. I love being absorbed like that. I love loving a story and characters so much that I can’t stop thinking about them. I just feel bad for ignoring phone calls or forgetting to answer e-mail, and worry that I qualify for the crappy friend award this month. This too shall pass (I promise!), once I get a little further in to the project, and our home life quiets down a bit.
  • I got my character playlist right.
  • We had a fire in our microwave.
  • I ordered holiday cards that I think are hysterical, but once I got them I started worrying that everyone else might think they’re mean. They aren’t mean. They’re funny, okay? Of course this is all a moot point if I never get them in the mail . . .
  • Stella has been out of sorts since we had a house full of guests at Thanksgiving. She’s decided she won’t eat unless I sit next to her while she eats and don’t attempt to do anything other than sit there and watch her eat. She has me well trained. At least I don’t have to squat with her while she pees anymore. And I have to admit that it’s actually kind of nice to have a small span of time that cannot be occupied with anything other than hanging out with my dog.
  • J and I watched all the MI-5 episodes there are to watch, and to sublimate my withdrawal, I’ve developed a mean Mythbusters addiction.
  • We still don’t have a bathroom. We hired a contractor, because neither of us have the time or ability to finish the bathroom ourselves. At first, it seemed like we would actually have a bathroom by Christmas, but now it’s seeming like the idea of having a bathroom by Christmas was utterly absurd to begin with. Not only, that, but since Christmas and New Years fall right into the mix of things, we’ll have lots of days when no one will be working, but we still won’t have a bathroom. They are doing great work and are super nice, but it really sucked to get my hopes up and then have them smashed. Living here right now is a lot like camping, except I still have to vacuum, there’s no good hiking, The Crap Garden doesn’t exactly qualify as a scenic view, and the coin-op showers at the last campground I visited were far nicer than the shower in our basement.
  • I can’t seem to get my crabbypants off. It’s like they’re stuck on my freakishly large calves or something.

10 Comments

Comments

  1. GirlWithCurls says

    December 18, 2009 at 10:19 pm

    Hehe… “crabbypants”…. But seriously, I tell Tim all the time that there are REASONS I was born in this century. One of them happens to be showers. Hang in there!

    Reply
  2. Dingo says

    December 19, 2009 at 12:31 am

    No bathroom, no ponies, what kind of two-bit establishment are you running over there?

    Reply
  3. courtney says

    December 19, 2009 at 2:24 pm

    You had a fire in your microwave?! How did that happen? Did you try to microwave something shiny?

    Reply
  4. equa yona(Big Bear) says

    December 19, 2009 at 11:39 pm

    I didn’t know you had freakishly large calves. How about a picture comparing them to, oh, a turkey drumstick or something.

    Reply
  5. equa yona(Big Bear) says

    December 19, 2009 at 11:40 pm

    ps. Sorry to hear about your crapper.

    Reply
  6. Reluctant Blogger says

    December 20, 2009 at 4:03 pm

    Oh wow, so you are into your next novel already. Amazing.

    I did chuckle re the Christmas cards. A few years ago my eldest son annotated all his before he gave them – they were very very funny. Except of course some people did not get the joke at all (mostly thick people) and one person complained to me about them saying they were poor taste! I didn’t know what to say so I just smiled inanely.

    Hope you get your bathroom fixed soon.

    Reply
  7. Kyla Roma says

    December 20, 2009 at 4:50 pm

    LOL Your point about crabby pants made me burst out laughing, it sounds like we’re very similar. =)

    I really want to see your Christmas cards, they sound intreguing! And I’m currently downloading the podcast you recommended- thank you! I’m excited to hear what he has to say.

    Reply
  8. Corinne Bowen says

    December 20, 2009 at 7:30 pm

    Just sending you a big hug. The crabby pants will come off, but sometimes they stick like a comfortable pair of pj’s, especially when you work at home! xo

    Reply
  9. The Modern Gal says

    December 22, 2009 at 7:17 pm

    I’ve had permacrappypants this week. Too much stress in what shouldn’t be a stressful time. I imagine the bathroom isn’t helping you in that regard.

    I do love that Stella forces you to take some time, even just for a minute or two, while she eats. Leave it to a dog to teach us how to be more serene :)

    Merry Christmas!

    Reply
  10. Allie says

    December 30, 2009 at 8:14 pm

    GWC – Showers are magical, magical things, aren’t they?

    EY – How about no? :) But they are seriously on the big side. Knee high boots are not my friends.

    MG – It’s so true – I learn so much from my dogs. I hope your crabbypants fall off (but not in public, because that would be embarrassing).

    Reply

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Allison Larkin

allielarkinwrites

Internationally bestselling author of three novels as Allie Larkin and THE PEOPLE WE KEEP. Look for HOME OF THE AMERICAN CIRCUS @gallerybooks May 2025

“Larkin abandons the typical story arc in favor “Larkin abandons the typical story arc in favor of a more naturally flowing up-and-down journey that basks in beautiful moments like a slice-of-life story. Whether it’s banter at the bar Freya’s working or a leaking roof that is simply one more thing than she can possibly handle right now, the characters and their experiences are so real and pure that their joys and sorrows are amplified tenfold.” 

So honored by this AP review of Home of the American Circus! 

https://apnews.com/article/home-american-circus-allison-larkin-book-review-79ea3d1fdb69ef16232a8dfb7d148ad6

#homeoftheamericancircus #booksbooksbooks
I’ve seen a bunch of references to Home of the A I’ve seen a bunch of references to Home of the American Circus as my second novel. It’s actually my 5th! Before The People We Keep, under the name Allie Larkin, I wrote three books: Stay, Why Can’t I Be You, and Swimming for Sunlight. Here they are in their various editions with some of their translations! (And @justjuliawhelan also narrated Stay and Why Can’t I Be You, if you’d like to listen!)

Fun fact: That gorgeous dog on the hardcover of Stay was actually our dog Argo, and I took that photo of him when @duttonbooks couldn’t find the perfect photo of a black German Shepherd. #booksbooksbooks #bookstagram
Pub Day Part One. The thing is, it’s really hard Pub Day Part One. The thing is, it’s really hard to be a creative person in the world, and the blessing, the salvation, the joy of it is the community around art: the writers who will call an emergency novel Zoom meeting when you’re stuck on a draft, the ones who roll up their sleeves and make sure your words are saying what you intend to say, the one who writes an interview to promote your book in the local paper, the reader who captures pictures of the event and makes a reel, the bookstore saints who plan a meal based on the story and serve blue and yellow cupcakes and sing happy birthday to your book on launch day, the readers who show up and get books signed and ask great questions and tell stories about their lives. That’s book magic. And thanks to @townecenterbks (especially Judy and Stacey although I know there are bookstore saints behind the scenes too) and @reneewritesnovels and @woolfmania and @cassandra.a.dunn and @lindalattelessons @aneedleinmybookstack and everyone who showed up to Read it and Eat, I will never ever forget the pub day for Home of the American Circus. You all made it so special. Thank you! I love you. I’m so grateful to be part of the community of writers and readers. ❤️🐘
@deborahblakeauthor RIGHT BACK AT YOU! ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I will be back on Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I will be back on the grid tomorrow! I love you all so much and I’m so grateful for your support! 😘😘😘 #homeoftheamericancircus
Well, here we are on the eve of Pub Day for Home o Well, here we are on the eve of Pub Day for Home of the American Circus! 

You know that classic bit of writing advice about how you’re supposed to write the book that scares you? Well, for a long time the thought of actually writing and sharing Home of the American Circus scared the heck out of me. I spent many many years collecting ideas for this book, terrified by the thought of how deep I’d have to dig to tell this story the right way. The book is firmly fiction, and the characters are all my imaginary friends, but the setting and themes are literally and figuratively close to home for me. Freya’s story isn’t mine, we have different life events and demographics, but I understand her sense of grief and loss and floundering and hope on a cellular level. And of all the characters I’ve ever written, the way her mind works is the closest to how I think and feel. It takes place in the town where I grew up. And I think when you read this book, you won’t know my life story, but you will know the tenor of my heart. I grew up as a kid with undiagnosed ADHD in a place where I didn’t fit, frantically trying to look normal, believing it was the only way anyone would love me. Always falling short, terrified of failure. And then in my early twenties, I dropped out of college and worked at a biker bar and made such a huge mess of my life that I was forced to build myself up again brick by brick—this time knowing that failure isn’t the worst thing that can happen to a person. That as long as you can find the strength to try again in one way or another, falling flat on your face is not the end of the world. And I learned that the only way to truly feel loved is to be yourself and see who’s up for loving you in your natural form. The people I keep taught me that. And even though it scared me, this was a book I needed to write, it’s the work I’m most proud of, with characters I love the most. So sharing it doesn’t feel like the end of the world at all. Just the end of the world where I have not shared this novel set in ny hometown with a character who has a heart like mine. #misheardlyrics #rem #homeoftheamericancircus #awkwardguitar #itstheendoftheworldasweknowitandifeelfine
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