archives
categories
story collection
tags
- 12 Days of Christmas
- balls flying in my face
- Beg-A-Thon
- Bob
- book pile
- cats
- clip art
- dahlias
- digestive system
- enough about the roof already
- eternal overachiever
- everyone is stupid
- fukoladola
- getting stuff done
- Have you got a bad back?
- how to
- I hate shopping
- I made this
- leave me alone
- movies
- Ndns
- neighbors
- New Yorker
- nostalgia
- not writing
- other people's kids
- Percy
- pie
- plogic
- Priscilla Recipes
- pumpkins
- recipes
- revisiting old things
- soccer
- squirrels
- Star Wars
- things I hate
- things that aren't really free
- tomatoes
- tragedy
- travel
- wildlife
- wildlife cam
- World Cup
- writing
Category Archives: doing it wrong
Happy New Year
We made it to 2017. Hooray.
I made some ambitious writing goals so you can expect much more of the half-assed content you’ve grown accustomed to. (Or would that be much less?) I keep finding notes for posts stashed everywhere — on Mac stickies, in Evernote, on my phone, on regular paper. I don’t know why I fail between that step and pasting it in right here.
I’ve had a good winter break. I always wish it were a little longer but I’m well-rested and more or less on top of my list. Less, actually. Perhaps one of my 2017 goals will be to let more things slide. Don’t tell Bob.
This time of year I clean off my bookshelves. The idea is to take books away to make room for the new books. I give the old books away or sell them back. Very rarely, I will throw a book away. A number of years ago I read a book that was beautifully written, wonderful characters and the worst story. This poor lady was a good, decent person trying to do something and everyone was against her and in the end she had nothing and was run out of town.
WHY EVEN WRITE THAT BOOK?
One less copy exists now. You’re welcome.
In the process of going through my shelves I always come across books that I forgot I had or that I still want to read. I found one such book and opened it and the purchase receipt from 2004 fell out. I still think I’m going to read it.
Keep your feet warm.
Posted in doing it wrong
Tagged eternal overachiever, getting stuff done, writing
Comments Off on Happy New Year
Merry Christmas
I had this really cool clipart but I couldn’t make it do what I wanted it to do so you get this floating Santa over the Columbia River instead.
I’m going to be spending some time offline.
Happy Holidays everyone.
Posted in doing it wrong
Comments Off on Merry Christmas
Little Big Snow
My super big news, is that pen name received a *Recommended Read* review from Dear Author (prominent romance review site).
I knew there was a reason I still hadn’t worked on my best of list for this year and this book is it. Yep, it’s going on it for a number of reasons but I’ll cut to the chase and say it’s one of the best overall books I’ve read this year.
–Jayne at Dear Author.
This is a review site that I am a big fan of, however I’ve backed off romance reviews lately because I was buying 3 books for every 1 I read and I resolved (unsuccessfully, so far!) to catch up on reading what I have before I bought anything new.
I am now more motivated than ever to work on Book 2.
I’m trying to learn to use textures in my endless quest to be better at Photoshop. I don’t think these are excellent examples, but you gotta learn somehow.
We had just enough snow with a lovely coating of ice to make life interesting around here for a few days. It’s supposed to warm up tomorrow and stay above freezing so fingers crossed we’re in good shape for the holidays.
One last thing, the salsa update: I had this weird accumulating liquid issue in the fridge that I kept wiping up without realizing there was a problem. I vaguely remember dropping the salsa container. Must have been enough to crack the container. All that’s left in there now is salsa paste (still tastes good!).
Duct Work
Shadow ran away to live on a farm back in October. He was my sister’s loyal pal and had a great life with a warm bed and lots of treats and long walks and people to scratch his belly. People who love dogs don’t last long without them and there is a new energetic bundle of destruction in the family. I will have photos after xmas.
This summer we had to replace our air conditioner and as part of the process we had some sort of efficiency evaluation. It was one thing I didn’t have to be in charge of, so to be honest, I didn’t pay much attention.
Since we’ve lived in this house I have complained about how whatever temperature air is being pumped into my writing room, the flow is so forceful that it makes the room uncomfortable. In the winter, I don’t mind being overheated but I would need to keep the door open or turn the thermostat way down so it didn’t blast me while I was exercising. In the summer I would have to wear sweatpants if I wanted to work in there while the air was going.
I don’t know what sort of dark magic went on but I guess there are some air flow gadgets on the ducts in the basement. Someone switched something somewhere and now it is completely reasonable in here even when the heat is blasting. Meanwhile, the vents on the far side of the house have air flow out of them. It is a Christmas miracle!
I am about 90% done with my outlining process for book 2. Hopefully I can get a hunk done over the holidays. We’ll call it the project of early 2017:
Posted in doing it wrong
Comments Off on Duct Work
Priorities
A couple of years ago crows began hanging out downtown after dark. They are very loud and they poop in spectacular quantities. When I get off the bus in the morning, I walk very quickly and keep my fingers crossed that I can avoid getting pooped on. I took this photo while I was waiting for the bus the other day. They were coming in for the night.
I had a lovely weekend last weekend and then I didn’t sleep through the night all week. I think everyone can related to periods of sleeplessness and the number it does on your head. Last week felt like a total wash. All I did was stagger around and do whatever my three operational brain cells could handle.
I have slept the past 2 nights and I’ve been trying to get back in the groove. Plus get into the holiday groove which is, so far, modestly successful.
After last weekend I decided I need to prioritize more reading time. I’m not sure how to accomplish this but I have all these great books sitting here that I’ve been dying to read and I never seem to get to them. I have books from last Christmas that I haven’t even taken off the shelf. Reading on the commute isn’t cutting it. I need more quality reading time.
I’ll let you know when I figure it out.
Posted in doing it wrong
Comments Off on Priorities
Setlist, Cathouse, 1989
Actual setlist from video shoot for It’s So Easy.
In the morning when I start my list I always have grand plans for what I’m going to write about here.
Then I spend all day working on my publishing empire. Then I have a half a glass of wine and I sit here and can’t form a coherent thought.
There was a problem with the proof of my short story book. I’m still learning how to do the paperback versions and I miscalculated something. It’s not a tragedy but doesn’t meet my standards. I need to do another version and then resubmit for approval and once approved, buy another proof. If you were planning on gifting paperbacks of my short story collection for Christmas, we will not be ready. I apologize.
Meanwhile I’m doing a couple of promotions for my romance because it’s like shouting into a storm trying to get anyone to notice your book.
Honestly, my advice to people who want to be writers is: do something else.
Onto other news. It’s only taken me about 10 years but I finally pulled off Thanksgiving dinner by myself, with very minimal stress and everything came out great.
My tips are: do the stuffing in the slow cooker. You can do it several hours in advance and let it sit there on the counter without your attention. Do the gravy the day before and scrape the pan drippings day of, once the turkey is cooked.
This year I used this pumpkin pie recipe and I can report, it was completely delicious. I want to do a side-by-side taste test with canned pumpkin and mine just to see if it’s that different. Except I will devastated if you can’t tell or the canned is better.
My only note for next year is that I over-knead the rolls (photo from last year of how I shape them). I usually bake breads that need a heavier hand but these don’t need it. They’re Parker House rolls. This isn’t the exact recipe I used but pretty close.
I processed the last of the pumpkin yesterday and there are at least 3 more pints for the freezer. I ended up with more than I thought. More pies and some pumpkin chili for us in the next few months.
