Lagging behind with my reporting, here

Did a spate of sewing last week; this:

is the latest grocery tote project. Only two more to go and I'll have replaced all my venerable old (1985!) grocery sacks with these new, pretty ones. I'm finding that sometimes grocery clerks are hesitant to assume they're for my groceries, even though I plunk them on the conveyor belt ahead of my groceries. It's no surprise that female clerks commenting outnumber male clerks commenting by about 5:1.  I have to say, I haven't seen any prettier grocery totes than mine in any store I've been to. LOL this retirement gives one lots of time...

In the book-reading realm: Still none read for the Challenge (see right column and a few posts ago) but I have been working on my giant, teetering TBR pile steadily. I've re-read: Louise Penny's A Trick of the Light (for the library mystery club), and Alan Bradley's Speaking from Among the Bones, just because I love Flavia.* Well, and Inspector Gamache. I dearly wish we could get the Canadian Gamache TV specials series here on Netflix, sigh. I suppose it'll come around eventually, but really,  Nathaniel Parker as Gamache??? swoon

      

I've also partially read a non-fiction book that kind of disappointed me. I did get about 3/4 through before I realized I was Slogging, and quit.  Now, I loves me some biogeography - deeply, madly, truly I love it. So The Monkey's Voyage by Alan De Queiroz was totally my cup of tea. 

He discusses the ongoing controversy raging between the "far-flung species totally coulda rode accidental natural rafts to remote island sites" camp, and the "species on remote island sites got there when Gondawandaland (or was it Pangaea?) split up WAY before then" camp. It held my interest as long as it stuck with the bio- and the geo- - but it seemed to devolve into a certain amount of axe-grinding and personality conflicts (which engender so many of those delightfully entertaining shitstorms in Letters to the Editor columns in scientific journals) ego-stroking and petty bickering.  Ho-hum. Life's too short.

Yesterday, I finished The Geographer's Library by Jon Fasman.  

       

I really enjoyed reading this thing. It reminds me more of The Club Dumas than what it's been compared to, or rather slotted in next to, which is Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code. It interleaves descriptions of fifteen ancient objects that were stolen from the library of (an actual, historical) Muslim polymath, adventurer and traveler in the early 12th century in northern Europe. Latvia, I think, and/or Estonia. It gets confusing. Anyway, Those are alternated with a Today story of a young, kind of aimless small town reporter who haplessly crosses paths with the seriously dangerous people who are trying to find all these things, when he takes on the writing of an obituary of an old college professor at his alma mater. Naturally the flaky old guy turns out to be something other than what he seemed. Whoa Nelly, WAY Something Other. A mysterious and alluring woman a few years older than he, one of his own former professors, a likeable oafish but really brilliant cop, and of course the aforementioned Bad Guys make this a real page-turner. However ... after finishing it, some questions came to mind that made me realize that it could have been a lot *better*. It doesn't really fulfill its promise and potential, and that's all I say about that. I loved it while I read it, and maybe I'll entertain myself by imagining what *could* have happened. 

Last night, I finished Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer.  

It's the first in a trilogy, the other two volumes will be published later this year. It's a science fiction mystery/horror kind of thing, and I have to say, the first couple chapters were seriously creepy. Readers have complained because it's so obviously the first in a series, but I don't care as long as they get those other books out here SOON! Fascinating, horrifying premise and if the thing is what it seems, it's a gratifyingly original take on what "aliens" could be like - nothing like any I've seen or read about before. Nothing like anything I EVER want to meet in person thank you very much.

So that catches me up on the reading front. And the sewing front. 

ETA: the pretty book cover pictures, and the note, below. 

* Please note, I'm putting live links to these books' amazon.com pages not because I'm an affiliate (I'm not) but because for the most part, I find amazon.com the most useful site for good images of the covers (and any interior images they may post in their Look Inside dealie-bobber) and because there are usually a good mix of reviews pro & con each book.

Ahem, well, yeah. About that

reading challenge. Haven't read a single book for it yet. But, I have plenty of time, right? Until the end or middle of May, isn't it? Yeah. No worries. Heh.

More immediately, Saturday is International Table Top Game Day, which I and my little band of brave ladies, will be observing. Observing, but not really "participating" in because the people running the web site with the big map, with the pins for all the locations all over the world that are participating? That web site is set up for people with 1s and 0s in their very DNA. It is damned awkward and confusing to access, for me, a humble individual who was NOT nurtured by the soil of Silicon Valley since conception. Also, the web site assumes you are a business who wants ALL THE PEOPLE TO COME TO YOUR PLACE and play games Saturday - so they REQUIRE your address. I'm not putting my address on there. I did leave a query to their help desk, saying "I'm a private individual hosting a private game day for some friends and I don't want my address on the WWW, but we'd love to have a little flag in the general vicinity of the place so we feel like we're being included and counted. And we'd post a picture or two of the revelry. JUST LIKE THE PROMOTERS CLAIM YOU CAN DO, by the way."  What did I get? An email signed by someone with only a first name, saying "No worries, just sign up and we'll take care of all that."

?

Is s/he fucking KIDDING ME???

So we won't have our little flag or be able to post a picture but we're going to play the hell out of some game/s Saturday and eat good food and have a blast and I'm even going to print off the little Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day standup cartoons, and a copy of their ITTGD trophy, and put them all on cardboard and have them around (and our winner will take the trophy home. She will not be given a choice. Get it out of here.)  And I'll continue to enjoy Wil Wheaton's Table Top Games web program. But I am disappointed in the annual event's web site. They should do better by the private folks they claim to welcome. You shouldn't have to have been on the internet before you were born to understand how to sign up, and there should be a "private party" option that doesn't require your address. Oh well.

I'm not usually much of a joiner, but

for some reason, this time Carl Anderson's Once Upon a Time reading challenge really appeals to me this year. The link is through the beautiful image on the right side-bar. Join in! It's all about reading/viewing fun!

Quoting a bit from Carl's intro:

Friday, March 21st begins the eigth annual Once Upon a Time Challenge. This is a reading and viewing event that encompasses four broad categories: Fairy Tale, Folklore, Fantasy and Mythology, including the seemingly countless sub-genres and blending of genres that fall within this spectrum. The challenge continues through June 21st and allows for very minor (1 book only) participation as well as more immersion depending on your reading/viewing whims.Don’t like the word “challenge”? We have something special just for you.

I'm hoping to exceed the minimum requirements to complete Quest the Second, Quest the Third, and the Short Story Quest - viewing films and TV shows on the weekends for the latter, and I want to go back and re-read the original Shakespeare play for the Midsummer Night's Dream challenge.  This starts tomorrow! Eek! Well, I have several to choose from right here at home - that I haven't read (and I've got the complete Shakespeare handy, too) so I can get started on the dot. I hope to post reviews of everything I read or watch.

This could get interesting...

Game day!

Around here, that has zero to do with oversized glandular mutants running into each other on plastic grass. It's all about playing table top games!

Today it was 7 Wonders. There were five of us, and we had a ball.

It's vastly more complicated than any game we've tried out so far, and I'm pretty sure we bent some rules and made some up just to keep the thing moving, but we'll learn all the ins and outs eventually. 

We decided on a name for our group: "Eat. Talk. Play."  And our motto is, "Eh, we don't care." So we're not overly competitive, although I'm thinking that when we get proficient at some of these games, the competition is going to warm up. I am not very competitive myself so I just play for the social fun. And the food. 

We've got dates lined up for April and May, and I think we're hoping to make it a monthly thing. 

An added benefit is that it causes me to clean house really well at least once a month!

I dood it!

The map wall is done. Took about two hours. No glitches, no worries. The adhesive hook & loop and the removable mounting putty worked fine - so far. I anticipate that some of them will fail. If too many do, I may have to decide whether to bite the bullet and do the Real Wallpaper Paste schtick. Oh I do so hope I don't have to do that. This was a breeze - as can be seen in the photo, I didn't worry my pretty little head about making any pattern or regimen, just slapped 'em up there - though I did make sure they were square with ceiling and adjacent walls.

The Before picture:

with the obligatory cat, shows the awful crappy silver wallpaper I've put up with for over twenty years (really, what is wrong with me???).

Here's the After picture:

I've got rid of the two little table/cupboard thingies, replaced them with that neat old floor globe (that lights up!).  Hmmm...you can tell some time has passed between the first picture and the second - the shelves have filled up. LOL as they do.

So, I'm chuffed. Another long-desired project done. On to the next! No, wait - on to cookies and milk. Next can wait until tomorrow.

Why do I do this?

I have been slowly working on changing the "decor" in my bedroom. It has been pretty much boring, no coherency, functional, though, with lots of books and knicknacks and mementoes, photos, art work. But no "theme." Frankly, I'm tired of it. But it took me several years to come up with a "theme" I'd enjoy. I'm not one to decorate out of showrooms or catalogue layouts. I'm not talking about paint, wallpaper (er, quite), carpeting, curtains, yada yada all brand new and coordinated at the factory.  Several months ago, though, the idea dropped from nowhere into my head: Adventurer. Anybody who knows me probably LOLs at that, since I'm the world's worst Homebody.  I do love steampunk but I don't have enough interest to go that direction. What I LOVE is scientific adventuring. I have a BA and MA in biology, and I've had the good fortune of a career job that required I spend some time outside tromping around in wetlands, forests, sandhills, river banks...and I love a good biology/adventure yarn. So I thought, why not? 

I started hunting on the internet for ideas. What I learned is that if you Google "adventurer bedroom" you get a bunch of kids' bedrooms. Heh. It's hard to find the right search phrase. I did finally find a few with some ideas I can use. I started putting the pieces together in my head.

Maps as wallpaper. *Perfect!* [Have maps, and decided instead of using wallpaper paste and going the whole wallpapering route, I'm using hook & loop dots and that sticky-tacky stuff to hold them on the hideous silver wall; then if I need to take them down it will require minimum work.]

Railroad and hotel stickers from around the world; airline tickets, luggage tags, post cards, postage stamps - displayed wherever looks good. [I have lots of the last five; the first two are available all over the internet for downloading and printing. There are also vintage posters you can get images of but my wall space is limited.]

Reproductions of botanical prints on the walls. [Have a bunch from old calendars, or I know how to make real ones myself.] [Edited to correct: I know how to make museum-quality herbarium specimen sheets. Those would be cool, too. I do NOT have the talent to paint botanical prints!]

Throw Pillows with prints of butterflies and birds, and map/travel designs. [Have the fabric already.]

Old iron headboard. [I've seen perfect ones on Craigslist but my budget's really limited so I'm going to have to just troll the thrift shops until I luck out.]

Bare wood floor (I'll have to yank out the ugly brown carpet that was old when we moved in 20 years ago, boo hoo NOT) plus (maybe) grass mats, or something that looks like them. (It is too cold in the winter to go without some kind of floor covering to walk on.) [This is the step that's going to be the most work. I think. Maybe it'll be easy.]

Whitewashed wooden shutters on the bottom half of the windows. Tropical vibe (to my Nebraska mind, anyway). [Shutters installed; painting to be done in the spring.]

An old, beat-up, travel trunk. I need one anyway to store blankets and a rather large stash of sewing fabric that's currently in an unsatisfactory place. [Turns out, I have one in my garage already! It's my late husband's grandfather's saw & sander trunk. All I need to do is scrub it and get it upstairs - the size is perfect. Gramps put a galvanized steel covering over the lid so I'm going to make a padded top to cover that - the cats will love it.]

A camp chair. [Really one of my old Director's chairs with a plain Natural-color canvas seat & back replacement.] 

A big old floor globe.  [Found one! Bought it from a nearby thrift shop. It even lights from inside!]

So a lot of the stuff, I've already got. I'm just really slow in getting it all put together. In fact, except for the shutters installed, and the globe, none of it is actually done. I have it on today's To Do list to put up the Map Wall. Yet, I feel this internal reluctance. Why? (So yes, there was a point to the title of this post.) I don't know! Am I scared it'll turn out crappy? I'm making it easy to take the maps down! Whence cometh this interior quailing? Now - NO one but me (and my two cats) ever sees this room. It can't be because I'm afraid some unknown somebody is going to look down on me for having a "kids' bedroom" (mine's going to be SO much cooler than that!) 

My brain is so weird and obstructive sometimes.

So I just have to frakking Do It. Put up the maps.  Take that next step. DO IT TERRY!

Self-imposed recupe stretch

Mostly arbitrarily, but also due to some comments by the doctors and my own instinct, I set Feb. 1st as the day I'll return to full activity (which isn't all that much, so don't be impressed). I've been gradually picking up the amount of little chores I'm doing around the house, and it *does* so help with better sleeping!

The house is littered with To Do lists and Plans. When I have too much idle time, I get into trouble like that. Most of them will get tossed. And I just deleted all those recurring chores reminders from my calendar on my PDA (yes, I still use a Palm Tungsten T3), to simplify the look of my monthly calendar (see? too much idle time!) I *think* the urge to create a big, elaborate garden has passed. I need to decide if two tomato plants is pushing my luck, in much the same way I have to evaluate every thought of a glass of wine as to its threat to my sobriety (28 years now, thank you).

I had already decided before Christmas that what I need most nowadays is to get off my butt and keep working/playing at things as much as possible every day. So Feb. 1st, that's the drill. I have SO many things I want to do and there's no reason I can't do them all. (I'm hoping this also translates into more, and more interesting, blog posts. Even if I am the only one who reads them.)

And so this isn't totally boring, here's a picture of a cat.

Adams. Isn't it difficult not to attribute to cats a sense of humor, sometimes?

ETA (8:15 pm) I sat at the sewing machine for like, 6 hours today. My back hurts now. But I've made great progress on certain Sekrit Projecks! They're gifts so I can't show them off until the recipients actually, you know, receive them, and then OK my showing them off. 

It is necessary for me to go to a fabric/crafts store tomorrow. Fear is flowing through my bank accounts in waves...

Stamping and snorting in the starting gate

Yesterday I finished the last of the antibiotics. I'm hoping that means the painful heartburn will soon be totally in the past. It's not manifested today. Yet.

But I feel great! It is SO NICE not feeling cruddy, or in pain, or feverish. All this enforced inactivity has my bod wanting to boogy, though, and my mind obsessively creating To Do lists. I know my stamina isn't even at the relatively low level it was before I got sick, though, so I'm sharply limiting what I put on my daily list.

Last year, or maybe the year before that, I set up weekly chore reminders on my PDA. Rather like the old tea-towel embroidery mantras: Monday is Laundry Day, Tuesday is Ironing Day, etc. etc (except I rarely iron anything unless it's something I'm sewing nowadays) - one chore per day (Sundays off).

Which, honestly, I largely ignored. I did stuff when I felt like it.

While I've been sick I just deleted those day by day. I think I'm ready to pick up that schedule again, and ease back into a "normal" routine.

But it is so good to feel so good!

AND the past few nights, the moon has been shining directly in on me around 3, 4 a.m. (I generally am up for about two minutes in that time span. I leave the reason to your common sense.) I like the moon, and moonlight.

And I'm getting hungry for some socializing too. There may be two events in February when I get to hang out with some of my favorite people - I hope they pan out!

Good news

It wasn't MRSA. I'm on the mend now, after a scary event that found me in the ER and then in isolation for 24 hours. But they've chased all the bugs away (one more day of antibiotics) and I've been home for 9 days and feeling better every day. It's knocked my stamina for a loop, though. I'm getting very impatient, wanting to tidy and clean, but about 15 minutes of that and I'm all worn out, so I will remain inert.

I figure, I'll be up & slugging in February.

Brought more home from CA than I'd meant to

I've contracted what my doctor thinks is MRSA. So far while the few boils I've got haven't been really ghastly, they've been incredibly painful - I'd never experienced those before, and I don't want to. I was damn-near crippled yesterday. But, the antibiotic seems to be working, and I'm following his instructions - and I don't have anyone else here to pass the crap back & forth with, so maybe I'll weather this, get rid of it, and it will be just an unpleasant memory.

After I try to sanitize every square inch of the frakking house. God, I hate germs. And not in an OCD way. In the way you hate them when they've robbed you of years of living with the love of your life.

Post-Christmas (mimimalist) report

Had a great time in CA with my son and his wife & my grand-daughter! Ate wonderful food but still lost 3 pounds! So, yay! Now to keep up the momentum. We went to the Grand-daughter's kindergarten for their holiday program (very cute! with cookies!), we went to a ballet, a symphony, and what I'm guessing is one of the most expensive shopping areas in California to see "The Hobbit," and we had a delightful and delicious Christmas night dinner at their house with two other couples and their kids. Oddly, the weather out there wasn't much different from Omaha's.

I got lovely gifts, and the ones I gave seemed to be well-received.

I was fortunate in my flights - they were all on time, even early, and smooth and uneventful. Just the way I like my airplane rides.

Now I'm home again (I did miss my kitties! And they must have missed me, because now they're little pests! Constant nagging for pettins!) and getting ready for the new year. Lots of hopes, plans, and ideas - nothing thrilling, just life stuff. It was a good trip, very rejuvenating!

As hard as I've tried to avoid it,

I'm afraid Reality is just too close to ignore any more. (This isn't as ominous as it sounds.)

Between still being in the healing-from-loss process and the life-after-retirement-adjustment, it has taken me a long damn time to get here. After losing Bob, I spent about 5 years continuing in my profession but it took a harder and harder toll on me. It's only in recent months now two years later that I have begun to realize just how used-up and strung-out I was by that last day at work.  I am so, so lucky to be able to retire young and have enough money to live on. I suppose many people would not consider my post-retirement income to *be* an income, but I have pretty low wants and needs. I'm pretty healthy (get to that in a bit) and therefore, so terrifically lucky in that regard, also. I've planned carefully and should be OK barring further shenanigans from the 1%ers and their pet lawmakers.

But in terms of day-to-day life after retirement, it's been pretty pants. I mean, living by the seat of my pants. My bedtime has drifted ever-later. My arising time is all over the map. Some days I do nothing, some days I do lots of different stuff, some days I go gangbusters (which are then followed by several Doing Nothing days). No rhyme, reason, schedule - BECAUSE I'M RETIRED. That's been my mantra so far. I *have* achieved a few larger projects around the house and yard. There is SO much more to do (my vague aim being, not having any extra Stuff lying around anywhere that I don't use).  I've been kind of a hermit. I'm an introvert and it's been heaven just holing up by myself for days at a time. I get out, socialize, when I want to, but it's been predominantly solitude I've sought.

But looked at overall, it's been kind of chaotic - for a very VERY low-energy, snail's-pace version of chaos.  I'm having a hard time figuring out whether that's good or bad, or even either. I'm feeling dissatisfied with how I'm moving through life now.

One source of dissatisfaction is my health. Given disgustingly good health, I have, it seems done everything in my power to undercut that. Inertia, inactivity, over-eating. Just saw my doctor yesterday and gee, those health goals I've been working so diligently toward? Looks like I'm almost there. My glucose and bad cholesterol are elevated. The dread words "statins" and "pre-diabetic" were uttered. And I've known bad news was creeping up because my knees have been hurting (obesity - and inactivity) and my sleep has been pretty chaotic, too. So now I'm waiting for the blood work results so we know the actual numbers. And I'm thinking, I can still save this. Or at least, I want to give myself the chance. I do NOT want to go on statins. And I most certainly, heartily and dreadfully do not want to dance on the edge of diabetes any longer.

So it looks like today is when I finally have to get serious about what I've known for a long time. From here on out, if I want to have a *good* old age, my daily mantra must be "The most important thing I do today is exercise."  Simply getting out and walking, or going downstairs and getting on the Tunturi, and using the weight apparatus downstairs, for 30 - 60 minutes a day, has got to be my A-1 priority every single day. That, and cutting down on the bad foods I eat, and not eating after 8 p.m. But I have been reading for years that simple regular aerobic exercise will improve almost every one of my problems: excess weight, lack of stamina, lack of energy, lack of strength, deteriorating hips and knees, high glucose, high bad cholesterol (and especially low *good* chol.), poor posture, poor breathing. It also helps me feel more capable which I have found is HUGE in my general feeling of self-worth. Another way to say that is, regular exercise drives depression and inertia right down into the ground. And stomps on it.

With all those benefits, what the HELL has been holding me back? I guess, depression - though mine takes the form of inertia, not emotional anguish. No suicidal thoughts here, no worries. I LOVE just sitting in one place. I also LOVE getting stuff done. And I would much prefer to not have to deal with all the health shit that I've been putting out the welcome mat for all these years. My life needs shaking up, my routine has to change. This might involve even moving furniture around. I don't know. But it has to change, and today is when it has to start.

What a pain in the ass.

Edited to add: I'm amazed - the doctor's office already has my blood work results. They called me to give them to me. It turns out, he must have been mostly concerned about the blood glucose because he only ordered the A1C test and fasting glucose, and some organ function indices (no cholesterol analyses). My A1C is still within normal range, YAY!!!! A mite high, but still normal. My fasting glucose is a bit elevated, but is the same as when I had it measured back in May. It's still under the usual benchmark for diabetes.

So I look on this as  reprieve, an opportunity to get the ol' system working better again. No change in direction, then. This is encouraging.

Alas, no victory

this time in NaNoWriMo, for me. Although really they are right saying getting ANY writing done is a victory. I got about 34,000 words in. They're all going to have to be scrapped because yesterday morning I woke up knowing (a little LATE) why my own novel failed to capture my enthusiasm. I know what it's going to take for me to throw myself into it whole-heartedly. This effort will commence after the first of the new year.

Not depressed, I don't feel like a failure. It's always good to be reminded how writing is recursive: the more you do, the more you can do.

Ah well, reality bites.

I have to say, I'm not going to hit 50,000 words by midnight tomorrow night. However, in the past couple of days, a new spin on what I've already got occurred to me, so I've gained wordage by going back and larding the past chapters with things to make that new insight all come together. And it's pleasing enough that I think I will finish it and work on it and edit it until I'm actually happy with it.  Then I'll leave it for my heirs to figure out what to do with. Nyah-ah-ah, let them think about novel-hawking. I'm retired.  :)

Forgot to mention...

A couple of weeks ago, I posted another "Uh-oh, lookout" post? With this picture:

Well, I got that little project done the other day. It looks like this (I apologize for the crappy quality; I used my MacBook camera):

Shutters! They, however, are just one part of an overall project I'm plotting for my bedroom. It may not get finished until Spring. I'll do a big reveal when it's done. Because I know all the internet is waiting to see what kind of oddball thing I come up with for my bedroom. 

More words; just not enough.

Sat down and hacked out about 2200 more words tonight. That's about the maximum I seem capable of in a single day.  I did have one nifty idea come to me as I typed, and that generated another one, so that was good. I may not finish this (reach 50K words) by November 30th at midnight (then again, I MAY) but I think it'll at least be worth working on.

Trudge trudge trudge.

Do not go see the film "Nebraska"

directed by Alexander Payne, if

1)  You "just can't watch" black and white movies (I am paralyzed with incredulity that I even have to say that, but apparently there are people like that) - because you don't deserve to see this movie.

2) You must have car chases, sex, gore, loud music, or Mafia thugs to keep your interest.*

3) You can't believe that old people, fat people, not-beautiful people, can love and be loved, have sorrows in their pasts, have dreams, disappointments, failures, fears and hopes.

4) You are shocked into insensibility that actual people use "naughty" language.  There's not much in it but it's there.

This film moved me like no other I can remember. It's like a jewel, carved by a man who loves these people, and who loves the world they live in and knows it's fading away, and wants to record it so all posterity will know what it was like. I've been in that world. I spent my professional life driving those roads, visiting those farmers and farm houses, eating in those cafes and bars, listening to those conversations - dear lord sitting on Thanksgiving Day in those somnolent living rooms with those half-asleep old men having single-syllable conversations over the roar of the football game.

I feel like sending Alexander Payne a thank-you note. He's reminded me what film can be.




*Actually, there are some realistic fisticuffs, and one hilarious heist scene. So there's that.

Pretty low word count tonight

BUT instead I made MAJOR progress figuring out what the heck is going on in my story! So I'm hoping to have several fast, high-count sessions over the next couple of days. This is encouraging enough that even if I don't get to 50,000 words by midnight, Nov. 30, I feel like I will keep working on it until it's actually, you know, a novel.

Inch...ing...Ever...Closer...

Doing a few hundred extra words per night, I'm slowly catching up so I'll be done with this thing by Nov. 30. I'm going to win this one!

Still not quite caught up, but

up to 28,000 words, which reduces the required word count per day to 2,001 and I can whittle away at that easily. And, things are kind of coming together finally. So, yay!

Got caught up a little bit tonight

I powered through 3,345 words tonight. Dividing the rest by 11 days, I'll need to write at least 2,035 a day to win NaNo (or reach 50,000 words by midnight Nov. 30th). Piece. Of. Cake.

Big discovery in tonight's writing, camouflaged under a really big happy ending for one situation. Nyah-ah-ah...

Back at it tonight

I needed about 8,000 words to catch up. Didn't get that, but I did get well over 1700, and some more ideas. They kind of seem to pop up like chicory plants by the side of the road as I go zooming past...funny that.  More headway tomorrow! This is catch up week!

Goofed off yesterday, but atoned tonight

20,532 words so far! And tonight's progress has encouraged me that this isn't like, the worst dreck ever to disgrace a computer screen. It's just starting to get more interesting...

NaNo word count MET

I hope not to take TWO days off in a row again. That's scary enough NOW when I'm still having fun with this thing; later on it might be fatal. Well, for the novel I mean.

NaNo Saturday is here!

And I'm doing much better today. It's 3 pm DST (or is it CST. I can never remember.) and I've got almost 2,000 words so far. I'm aiming to reach a total of 15,000 yet today, but we'll see.

WTA: YAHOO I DID IT! I broke 15,000 words. That brings me right up to date with the necessary daily word average. I had fun doing it, too. I got some more of the setting sketched out and firmer in my imagination, and added a bunch of characters to my list who will come into it later. At this point, it's still fun.  :^)

NaNo Saturday!

Been in the doldrums the past couple of days. No work on the NaNo novel, no progress on the Secret Project.

Today I am devoting to racking up lots of words in my NaNo novel. I'll report back later.

Uh-oh. Again.

+

=

?

I'm hoping to replace that question mark with the answer by tonight. 

4:30 p.m. The question remains unanswered.

I don't want to talk about it.

:(

NaNo Day 6 Goal Reached!

I did a few less than the 1667 per day average, but for Day 6, I'm still ahead of the game. It's still going pretty well.

Letting go, little by little

I've had an industrial metal and particle board shelving unit in the garage full of stuff I'd either tried to sell online, and failed, or just pushed into boxes and sacks to wait until I felt like doing a yard sale - for at least two years now. Not long ago I finally admitted to myself that I will never, EVER "feel like doing a yard sale," and decided it's time to take that stuff to Goodwill. I told myself, I haven't had to look in those boxes for two years for anything, so there's nothing there I need, so I should just toss it all in the car and deliver it all to Goodwill without even looking at what's inside. That's sensible.

Ha, ha, you think you know where this is going, don't you.

Well, I did crap out on the resolve. I did look inside the bags and boxes to see what I'd put out there. I'll give you your point for that. And I did retrieve something from them. But don't get too excited. You want to know what it was?

A box of staples. As in, office stapler staples.

Everything else went. All of it. As soon as the shelves were empty, I moved all the hand yard tools over onto them, instead of on top of an ancient metal trunk that is full of ancient rusting woodworking tools. And several electric sanders whose guts have probably rusted into solid masses by now. So I can dig into that chest and figure out what to do with all the stuff in *there*.

I am very, very slow, but I do make progress. Eventually.

My reward is that I made apple crisp.  :^)

NaNo Day 5 Goal Reached!

It's like they say - the First Week is a *breeze*.  Ima gonna enjoy it while I can.

Day 4 NaNo Goal Reached!

I spent ten minutes before my writing session, trying to figure out why Scrivener wouldn't show me the 1667 words per day target in its Session Targets panel. It was only after fruitlessly searching the Scriv for Dummies book AND my class notes from the online course I took on Scriv, that I realized, Scriv was doing exactly what it's supposed to do: it's dividing the number of words left to the novels' goal (50,000) by the number of days until midnight, November 30! So of course, since I've been writing a bit more than 1667 per night, it's going to tell me my *session* goal is less than 1667.

DUH!

At least I got that little burr out from under my saddle.

I don't know about this novel. It's not bending to my will much, even though I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Maybe it'll end up being something entirely different than I'd imagined. I guess I'll find out.

Day 3 NaNo Goal reached!

My seat got really sore sitting here this time. Have to find a different place...

ETA: So, that's good, but I'm not very impressed with the new blog look. Considering it was free and took me about ten minutes, I guess I can't complain that much. I guess it'll do.

Day 2 NaNo Goal Reached!

So far, so good...

Day 1 NaNo goal reached!

So, it's started. 2090 words this time, not bad.  I've introduced the five main characters and part of the main setting. I feel good!

It's that time of year again!

I just signed on for National Novel Writing Month 2013!  I finally succeeded in 2011 after several failures, and I didn't have anything in mind to write last year, but a story's been simmering in the back of my brain for a long time and I think it's time to take the plunge again.

They've gone with what I think is called "8-bit"-style logos this year, which leave me pretty cold, but I'll post one anyhow just to participate. I have my own ideas as to how to stimulate interest in a potential pep-squad of my local friends, to keep me flogging the keyboard. I think the secret to my 2011 success was my fun kit of stuff I sent them, which included chocolate.  ... Maybe the chocolate was the secret to my success, now that I think on't.

Anyway, here we go again!

Well, crud.

(Not Omaha, just the mood.)

(Found with public domain google search; if this is proprietary let me know and I'll take it down.)

The temps have taken a nose-dive here in Omaha recently, and if Weatherspark is to be believed, and in my experience they get it right about 80% of the time, they're not passing the 50s for at least the next week. This irks me because 1) I had hoped to get the damned shed painted this week, and 2) I had hoped to NOT have to turn on the furnace until November. Well - #2 was more of a vain hope, but still, it would have been nice.

I guess I'll have to settle for being grateful for the mostly glorious and season-appropriate weather we've enjoyed all year so far. OK, I can do that. Mood: lightened.

Some science, and some science fiction

In honor of this story, I'm posting a little short story of my own that no one ever wanted to buy. I've always liked this little story, and I'm happy to present it here now. Be sure and go visit that TRUE SCIENCE story about the lonely sunless planet first. The link should open it in a separate window.

========
COURSES

by

Terry Hickman

"Hey, watch it!" Chad, the shorter by a head, grabbed Jake's string-bean arm.

"What?"  Jake squinted in the warmth of one of those sunny mid-June days that stifle when the
breeze dies but preview Heaven when it plays.

Chad's head was down.  "Lookattem!" he breathed.

Jake squatted, all knees and elbows, and peered at the sidewalk. A house finch in a crab-apple
branch above bombed the pavement. "Gross," Jake muttered.

"There's dozens of 'em!"

"What?" Jake asked again.

"Centipedes!  Man, they must've just hatched." Chad scowled, pushing his glasses up on his nose.
"If centipedes hatch," he added doubtfully.

Jake surveyed the scores of inch-long, midnight-copper creatures criss-crossing the sidewalk.
Each had all its feathery feet rowing like mad, propelling it steadily over the concrete. They
seemed so purposeful that he felt relieved that they were all going in different directions.  If they'd
been heading for some common point, it would've been spooky. "Neat," Jake said.

Chad held one up on a grimy fingertip.  "They're *dispersing*," he pronounced, as it curled into a
shiny spiral.  "They're getting out of the old home place as fast as their foots can carry them.
Bye, Mom."

"'March of the Teen-Age Centipedes'," Jake said.

Chad replaced the creature delicately on the sidewalk, and stood up grinning.  "'Nothing Could
Stop Them'," he added, gleefully reverting to the ongoing Cheesy Movie Poster game.

The two boys resumed strolling, now watching their steps.  Jake: "'Challenging the World'."

"'With Only Their Raging Hormones to Guide Them'," from Chad, but he glanced uncertainly at
his buddy, who'd had a bad argument with the Acne Gremlins right after Christmas.  The
dermatologist swore it wasn't stress, but Chad figured Jake's parent's divorce hadn't helped. He
changed the subject. "So have you decided which college?"

"Cal State." Jake sounded glum, though his only reason for preferring U.SoCal, Wendy, had
dumped him *after* getting her Christmas present from him.

Chad reflected that Jake's winter and spring weren't much fun. "That's cool, though," he
encouraged.  "Bernie and Greg are there.  Remember over Spring Break?  They said it rocks."

Jake grunted.  "It rocks 'cause *they* rock...Where you going?"

"Metro.  Can't afford a U, yet.  That's okay, though--once I get a few 4.0's under my belt, it'll be
easier to get scholarships."

Jake smiled like his mind wasn't on the topic. "'Dispersal'," he whispered.

Chad shot another sharp look at him, then double-timed a few steps to catch up.  "Yeah, that's
what they call it.  I don't think it really applies to centipedes.  Mammals, reptiles   frogs,
salamanders.  In mammals it's usually the immature males that have to get out before the Old Man
bites big hunks outta their hides."  He thought about his dad and nodded.  "I 'spect it applies to
people, too.  Except I don't think college counts 'cause you're not really earning your 'own way in
the world.' According to my dad."

"Yeah, well, it seems to be the opposite with me, huh?" Jake said ruefully.  "My old man couldn't
wait to disperse, himself."

"Shit, Jake--you know it wasn't you."  Chad winced again, wishing he'd quit opening his mouth
and jamming his Size 13's in it.

"I should be glad," Jake said.  "He ain't around to give me crap about what to study."

"Your Mom care you want to go into Astronomy?"

"Naw.  She's still numb.  I could take Meth Distribution 101 and she wouldn't even notice."  The
light turned green and Jake strode on.  Chad stared after him for three beats, wondering if
now was the time to ask his best friend about those drug rumors. He twitched awake and trotted
after him.

The opportunity passed.  Jake tilted his head in that way he had, and asked Chad about Suzanne.

"Ah, you know," Chad waffled. He felt guilty talking about Suze because things were so good,
when Jake's love life had turned so sour.

"You going to marry her?"

It felt like a light punch to the solar plexus.  "Shit, man."

The tall boy's mouth bent in an a-ha smile.  "You are! C'mon, Bud, that's great!  Don't look like
you swallowed a pickle.  I'm happy for you.  She's great."

The rims of Chad's eyelids stung.  "Jeez, Jake, thanks.  We haven't told our folks yet--and I didn't
want to bum you."

"Naw, I think it's great.  Wendy--she wasn't ever--it couldn't have gone anywhere.  I'm over her,
long time.  So when are you tying the old knot?"

Chad stopped in the middle of the block and gazed at Jake. "Real soon," he said sounding odd
even to himself.

Jake's face changed.  "Oh, crap, she's not--"

"No."  Chad went on, slowly, his voice unaccustomed to such seriousness. "But I want you to be
my best man.  So we want to do it before we..." It hit him then, in the gut, and his view of
Jake's face went swimming.  He tried to gulp down the alarming knot in his throat. "Before we..."

Jake smiled and cuffed him on the shoulder.  "Before we. . .disperse?" he asked gently.

Chad only nodded.

"...to make our own way in the world."  Jake turned and resumed walking.

***  ***   ***   ***   ***  ***  ***   ***   ***   ***   ***
SUZANNE MILENKE AND CHAD STORZC WED

...
                                                                CAL STATE SOPHOMORE BOUNCED - 3RD DUI

BIOLOGY SCHOLARSHIPS TO STORZC, SMITH

...
                                                                         REHAB POETRY: ART OR THERAPY? NEW
                                                                                           CHAPBOOK PROBES QUESTION

MAGNA CUM LAUDE STORZC ADDRESSES FELLOW GRADS

...
                                                                                          TWO CONVICTED IN BURGLARY


STORZC WINS HIGH SCHOOL TEACHING, RESEARCH POST

...
                                                       CLASSES IN PRISON U: FAIR TO THE LAW-ABIDING?

STORZC FAMILY CHRISTMAS VISIT: SURPRISE! IT'S TWINS!

...
                                            MECHANIC BY DAY, ASTRONOMER AT NIGHT; HUSBAND,
                                                                        FATHER, POET, FELON: A SUCCESS STORY


RESEARCH GRANT LARGEST EVER TO PRIVATE HIGH SCHOOL

...
                                                                                AMATEUR ASTRONOMER DISCOVERS
                                                                                            FIRST ROVING BROWN DWARF

CRASH CLAIMS MOTHER, SON; FATHER & DAUGHTER IN STABLE CONDITION

...
LOCAL FAVORITE RETURNS TO TEACH IN HOMETOWN SCHOOL

...
RETIRING EDUCATOR VOTED GENERATION'S FAVORITE

...

***  ***   ***   ***   ***  ***  ***   ***   ***   ***   ***

Chad Storcz, thick in the middle and nearly bald, trod across the Gas'n'Belch asphalt, enjoying one
of those mild Nebraska nights whose distant crickets made you feel like running away and
joining the circus.

He set his coffee and candy bar on the counter, digging for his coin purse with the other hand.

"Chad?"

He brought his gaze up to stare at the counter attendant.  His lower jaw eased toward the floor.
"Jake?  Jake Pender?"

"Good Lord, it is you!"  The scrawny, seedy old man leaning on the cash register laughed
disbelievingly.  "By God, I'd know you anywhere!  How the hell are you?"

Chad unaccountably felt a lump grow in his larynx.  "It's been so long..."

"Sure has--what, forty years?  More!  So what brings you through the Sandhills?"

Chad cleared his throat and got past his surprise.  "Ah, just me and the wife," he gestured toward
his car outside. "Heading out to California to see my daughter's new baby.  My second wife," he
added, awkwardly.

Jake's wrinkled face softened.  "Oh, yeah," he said.  "Jeez, Chad, you know it wasn't til years after
it happened that I heard. . .I'm sorry, man.  That was terrible."

Chad nodded.  "Well, it happens." He nodded toward outdoors again.  "I've been lucky twice
now."  He turned back to Jake. "How 'bout you, buddy?  How you doing?"

Jake waved a dismissive hand.  "Aw, shit, you know me.  I screwed myself up back then, took me
awhile to get it right."  He grinned.  "I got lucky too, though.  Found the only woman on earth
who'd put up with me.  Two great kids, well, they're not kids any more, 'course."  He jerked his
head indicating the convenience store.  "This is ours. We'll never be rich, but we're okay."

Chad thought something special lurked behind his old friend's smile, as though he was wanting
Chad to ask him something in particular.  He wished he knew what it was.

Jake took a business card out of the cash register tray and handed it across the counter.  "Now
you know where I am, keep in touch, why don't you?  Look, there, we even have e-mail!"

His delight was infectious.  Chad gathered up his snack and the card, and promised Jake he'd be
hearing from the Storcz's real soon.  He was halfway across the lot, still grinning, when the
light bulb finally went on.  He u-turned and went back inside. Jake looked up at the jangle of the
door, his face puzzled when he saw Chad again.

"By the way, Jake.  Thought you might be interested. . .my daughter Angela?"  Jake's smile
spread, Chad thought he was touchingly pleased that he had returned just to share a bit of
his life.  He finished: "She grew up and became an astronomer."

When he realized Jake was too overcome to answer, he just nodded and pushed the door open
with his butt, ready to leave.

Just as the panel swung shut behind him, he heard Jake call: "Watch out for them centipedes!"

=== the end ===

Achievement locked!

(I think the cool kids say that.)

Remember the Yard Tools Project? I finished it today.

Before:

And now:

That's the design I came up with after several tries - the cheapest (about $3 for the hooks & eyebolts) and simplest. By far. LOL I don't know WHAT my brain is doing sometimes. Anyway, it's ugly, but it's mine.

If anyone reading this has any kind of traditionally male skills, and a daughter or daughters - or traditionally female skills, and a son or sons - TEACH THEM WHAT YOU KNOW! DON'T WAIT DO IT NOW!

My dad was a carpenter. He built houses - from scratch. He was also a car engine mechanic. If I had been a boy, I would have HAD to learn all he know, he would have made sure of it. But I was a girl, so Somebody Else would take care of all these things for me, so he wasn't interested in teaching me anything.

They did/do, all right. They're so helpful, they'll fix things that aren't broken. They'll add all the bells & whistles to make sure the bill is as high as possible. Or else I do things myself, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. (When it doesn't, the bills get even higher.) But now I'm 63, and I intend to do things for myself when I can - like this stupid little garage project. It's ugly, but it works. And it didn't cost me anything (not even a skinned knuckle - this time!) So I don't care if a "real" wood shop guy would laugh at this - screw him. I just hope he's teaching HIS daughter what he knows.

There's a story there, I'm sure of it

Note that tiny white and gray thing on the far left:  a little mousey toy. It vibrates when you pull its string, but that, it turned out, is kind of a dumb cat toy. 1) Cats can't pull the string. DUH. 2) Even when you pull the string, the vibrating only lasts about 3 seconds, then it lies there, inert.  The scenario goes: Cat: HOLY CRAP WHAT IS THA-- Oh, nothing.  HOWEVER, when it is left out of sight, say under the sofa, or behind the bookshelf, long enough, then when it is accidentally happened upon, it is a source of great joy and much batting and racing and rolling and dashing about in random directions. 

Note the sun - spot: Adams haz it, AND the mousey.

Note the cardboard claw-sharpening/catnip-scented box on the right: O'Keefe haz it. 

I feel quite sure that a few minutes before I glanced over and saw this seemingly peaceful tableau, some extremely complicated bit of diplomacy/warfare had been negotiated.  It is clearly diplomacy, despite the visible tuft of gray fur behind and between them, because the catnip-scented cardboard box is Adams's favorite thing EVAR DOODS, while sun - spots are O'Keefe's domain. They've both been playing, on and off, with the mousey since it resurfaced yesterday. Since neither cat has ALL THE THINGS, I deduce that this event *was* diplomatic, perhaps (probably) backed up with demonstrations of military might.

Now see the next photo, which I took trying to get a better version of the first one:

I AM O'KEEFE, DESTROYER OF PHOTOGRAPHS.

She does this Every. Damn. Time. The first flash goes off and gets their attention, and by the time my camera's ready for the second picture, she's on the way toward me to see what I'm doing.

That is all.

Looks like we'll have some cool weather for awhile, anyway

and I have so god-awful many yard and garage and shed projects I need to do, I am going to try to get out there and work every single day on them. If I take it in little bits, my theory goes, I won't get so worn out or so sore that I'll dread going back.

Today, I used my saw!

My first target area was next to the rollup garage door where I keep the yard tools:

Tidying up this scene will, I hope, also encourage me to keep my tools in better repair.  

After moving all the tools out of the way - and sorting which ones will go to the back yard shed - I used a broom to sweep away (most of) the cobwebs and leaf bits.  Then I yanked out all those old, bent, rusty nails someone had pounded into random locations.  This looked much more promising:

I wanted to wedge another board between the front wall of the garage and that brick pillar on the right, on top of the in-place board. These won't have to hold much weight so they don't really need to be nailed extensively. A tight wedge of the upper board should be sufficient. The length should have been 51 1/2 inches.

And it fit perfectly, first time! (I measured twice, cut once. Somewhere, my dad's doing a slow clap.)

That really *is* a tight fit - I had to hammer really hard, a lot. It's not coming out.

That was when I discovered I lack hooks to finish the job. So, I turned my attention to the plus one for the day:

That workbench-top space was NOT there before. The far end looks jumbled? Well, it's quite organized, really and each item will have its own place when I ultimately get done organizing. When I went out there this afternoon, there was stuff piled up level with that middle screwdriver shelf across the whole bench-top! And now I have more working space! I'm chuffed!

Getting Ready for All Hallow's Read!

(one of last year's posters. Come ON, you guys, it's time to be getting this year's out to the world!)

=======

The Friends of Omaha's Public Library has a sale the first Saturday of every month. I went over there today to see if I could find any good kids' books (age-appropriately scary, preferably) for All Hallow's Read. LOL - I really made a HAUL!!!

That's THIRTY books.  Grand total bill:  $9.00.  Woohoo I'm in business, friends! So now I just need to clean them all up a bit. Peel off the OPL and other stickers, wipe the covers down, and go through to make sure there's nothing untoward written in any of them. I saw that one has a workbook-like format, and one of the blank boxes had been filled in, so I'll figure out some way to cover that up. Stuff like that. Then I'll sort them into Little Kids - Grade school - YA piles.

I was astounded at how excited the kids last year were to get books! So I'm doubling down this year. I'm *ready*!

Give a scary book for Hallowe'en! See details by going to All Hallow's Read.

Where angels fear to tread...

I have a habit of plunging into the deep end of the pool. I won't beat around the bush here (am I collecting cliches today? Oh well): This past week I bought enough eggplant, zucchini, butternut squash, tomatoes, onions, and green peppers to make several gallons of ratatouille.  Up until the movie "Ratatouille" came out a few years ago, I'd never heard of the stuff. I went online to find a recipe, and discovered hundreds! So I made one. Loved it. Made another. Loved it. Etc etc etc. I am a ratatouille convert. I love it more than spaghetti sauce (and that's saying something). I love how I can freeze it and later pile it on top of noodles, potatoes, or rice, or have it with salad and a baguette or even pile it warm on crackers. Or pita and goat cheese...mmmmm.

And we have the wonderful Wenninghoff's here in Omaha for all of your fresh produce needs. So this week I went there and bought all that stuff, and today I'm going to make ratatouille by the vat-full.

Yesterday I went back and bought 25 pounds of Missouri peaches. I hadn't realized quite how many peaches that is until I got them home. *gulp* I'm going to freeze those, too. I have about half the volume in my chest freezer available for all this stuff.

And today I'm freezing peaches. (I'm using the lazy way; washing off the fuzz, slicing them and laying the slices on cookie sheets and freezing them then putting them into freezer zip-style bags.)

This is a LOT of work. But I'm going to love myself this winter. And I'm very glad I have Netflix to keep me company during today's labors.

3 hrs later: Well, 21 of the peaches are halved and sitting in the freezer, freezing. The two giant pots of ratatouille are cooking. There is about a half-gallon of tomatoes left over, which I don't know what I'll do with, but they'll get used.

And my feet hurt and I'm tired, and I still have to bag up all this stuff for the freezer.  *groan* but here I am groaning about having too much food? in THIS world? Really, Terry? Shame on me. So instead, I shall be grateful down to my sore arches.

2 1/2 hrs later:  Got about 2/3 done with all this. Will finish tomorrow. Too pooped to keep going tonight!

ETA photos:

Freezing peaches!  The butter tubs are to hold the next tray above the peaches.

Next: my two batches of ratatouille. It turned out really really good.  :^)

And, because there aren't enough pictures of cats on the internet, here are my cats:

They both HAD been lying on the floor, one right behind the other, so I thought it'd make a cool floor-level picture. Of course, as soon as I put the camera down O'Keefe had to come investigate it, so you can only admire her toes here. As if she'd never seen it before. That's her more nonchalant brother Adams being cool about the whole thing.

Poor, poor, pitiful wee

O'Keefe.

This is a cat who has:

1.  a clean litter box

2.  had her morning 5-minute brushing complete with murmured admirations

3.  a full food dish

4.  a full, fresh, water dispenser

5.  several episodes of pettins.

Yet she has the audacity to sit there and try to guilt me into...what? More pettins? 

Yes. If I would do it, she would have me pet her 24/7 until I had petted her into non-existence. She's a Pettins Addict. I keep telling her she needs to find a 12-step program (for cats, would that be a 3-step or a 48-step program instead?) and get into recovery.  Her response?

You're looking at it.