After the creative washout that this week proved to be, I've been in need of a little pick-me-up. I got it today when my Writers of the Future winnings arrived in the mail: a nice fat check for one grand. Shu-weet!

In February, after I found out I'd won, my friend Amy asked me what I was going to do with all that money. Not sure, I told her, because, while I'd made this promise in 2005 that when I sold my first story I was going to treat myself to a Tod's bag, when it actually came down to spending that much money, I balked. I think this reaction can partly be attributed to deeply ingrained tightwadery on my end but also to the current world situation, which makes me feel the pinch of rich, American guilt every time I read the paper or watch the news. It just doesn't seem appropriate these days to spend so much money on something as frivolous as a handbag without making a matching donation to, say, Amnesty International or Oxfam. And since I don't have an extra grand just lying around, I guess Tod's is off the menu.

But, hey, now that I'm flush with cash...No, just kidding. I won't do it. There's nothing I want so much that I'm willing spend double to get it.

And there's always that red patent-leather Furla I saw at Lord and Taylor for considerably less... :)

Labels: charity, handbags, winnings