Category Archives: doing it wrong

Current state of the pumpkins in the backyard.

This is my final write-a-thon update. I’m turning in my draft to beta readers on Thursday and then taking a much needed break from screen time so there will be no week #6 update.

I am behind and I have a super busy day today where it will be tough to get revising done. And I’m sitting here cropping a pumpkin photo. Not a good sign.

Thanks again to all my donors. The fundraising is going great. In the most recent report, the funds raised for the write-a-thon are up to $15,514.

Donations are still happily accepted.

Manuscript currently stands at:

I was aiming for something a little more clever with this, but I am fried on screen time and need to get a break from the computer.

I am still write-a-thoning but since I’m revising it’s harder to quantify the work I’ve done this week. I’m over a quarter of the way through this revision which is probably less than I’d like but not as bad as it sounds. At this point I’m smoothing out continuity and fixing the most dreadful prose passages and re-writing various bits that aren’t quite working yet.

I think I am on target to make my goals but I have two early soccer home games between now and my deadline of July 28. (I know, poor me.) We kick-off at Noon tomorrow which means I need to be having my match day pizza and beer at around 10:30am. This is the only time I drink before Noon because I am too old for day drinking.

I’m also having insomnia issues on and off which isn’t unusual for me but the timing could be better.

Thanks again to all my donors. The fundraising is going great. In the most recent report, the funds raised for the whole shebang are up to $14,033.

You can still donate. Even a few bucks is appreciated.

Manuscript currently stands at:

First draft is done. Or maybe better to call it draft .75

There are huge sections where it isn’t pretty. If I drop dead suddenly don’t try to read it!

I thought I did the same thing last time. Finished in the 60’s somewhere and built up to 75 when I prepared it for the beta readers.

I looked at my website for last August and it doesn’t look like that.

I should keep better notes about my process since it changes so much.

Now I’m going to go back and fix it up and fill in the skinny parts and hopefully have it readable by the end of the month.

Tifo from our rivalry game against Vancouver Whitecaps.

We won and I think this is the first match this season that I watched again on TV when I got home. We’re having a rough start.

I’m in Chicago this weekend for a wedding.

Sturgeon hatchery in Bonners Ferry, Id. More info on the project here.

I went to see Captain America on Friday. I had planned to go with colleague but then colleague had to travel out of town. I looked at the calendar and figured if I didn’t see it Friday, I might not get to it for a couple of weeks so I went by myself.

There is a fancy movie theater at the mall where I have a gift card. But you couldn’t buy the tickets in advance with the gift card so I took something to read and went to the mall early to see what they had available.

I wanted to watch in the Movie Parlor which is a small theater with lounge chairs. All they had left was the front row cuddle couches. At first I wasn’t going to do it but then I didn’t want to hang out at the mall all morning waiting for another show so I bought a ticket.

When I bought it, I was the only person in the front row.

I remember when I was a teenager and there was a new mall built and that was the best thing you could imagine was getting to go to the mall. I wished my Mom would take me and my friends and leave us there all day.

Now the mall is completely depressing and there is hardly anything there you would ever buy. Thanks Internet. But there were a lot of people there.

The cuddle couch turned out to be like a love seat with a pile of pillows and a place to put your feet up so it’s as if you’re in bed with this giant screen at your feet. The seat itself gets an A++ and my highest recommendation.

Funny though, they sold out the theater so I got to sit like this in the dark next to a complete stranger for almost 3 hours. Luckily he was normal and chatted just enough to dispel the awkwardness but not so much that he seemed like he was making friends. He also smelled like he smoked a bowl for breakfast.

The front row was also less than wonderful. During the trailers Stonerboy shared my mocking response to the Independence Day sequel but after The Xmen he said, “I plan to get a better seat for that one.”

I could count all the character’s nose hairs and there was a long action sequence in the beginning where I was worried I should have taken a Dramamine. It wasn’t terrible. I would probably see a movie in that seat again, but with someone I know and not as a first choice.

The movie is super fun and worth it.

Mom’s basket weaving materials soaking.

I’ve been having bad luck with shoes.

I’m not much of a shoe person to begin with. My favorite pair of brown shoes was falling apart and before I could take them in I noticed my other most worn black shoes had a tear in the leather.

I took them both in and the shoe guy said the brown ones were not fixable. They are really old and have already been repaired once. He kept the black ones to fix. That left me with two pairs of closed-toe work shoes. One I don’t like very much.

I had an old pair of back-up shoes in the back of the closet that I brought out and wore to work and they fell apart during the middle of the day. They have also been discarded.

I picked up the ones at repair and ordered replacements for the brown ones — and just in time because I should probably break out the open toed shoes about now.

My trip was great. We had a lot of rain but mostly at night and we had good weather, too. Everything was green and lovely and there were flowers. I got to visit with all of my favorite people.

The podcasts worked perfectly. I listened to all of Serial Season 2 and then about 4 other random ones. I should have realized I wouldn’t get through them all and prioritized by what I wanted to hear most. I ended up listening to 2 I didn’t care for much and I still have a few on there and who knows when I’ll get around to listening to them.

I got an email from someone offering to proofread my website. She found 2 errors from 2008 — both not actually words — and said it would be hard to get anyone to take me seriously with spelling errors.

Good to know. I find typos in every post I re-read. I’m always posting in a hurry when I’m tired like right now. Please take me seriously.