Archive for previous entries this month
May 1, 2006
Sleepy baby
That's me today.... sleepy. I can't seem to get going on anything in particular. I've written about 500 words on a new short story. I know where I want it to go and I can't seem to get it moving that way. It's not a particularly great story, but it is helping me loosen up those short-story abilities that have been dormant for a while.
If I could just say awake long enough to get something done. I know I've gotten a few things done today, but I really can't even tell you what. I made dinner. I remember that part. I know I was still awake about 6 am trying to get things sorted out for Vision and the site.
I need to go rest. Or something.
Thunk.
May 2, 2006
Lovely clouds
We had some nice weather tonight. A bit of a thunderstorm, but nothing serious. And lovely clouds. I adore taking cloud shots.
The babies escaped their box today for the first time. We're going to have to come up with something better now.
I am in the midst of putting together several pdf versions of Vision to get caught up on them. I finally got the program onto my computer, but I didn't have time to work with it. I still don't, but if I don't get caught up, it's just going to get worse. In fact, I'm going to go ahead and do the current issue as well, and hope that no one comes up with any major mistakes in it and I don't have to redo the PDF.
I'm probably a paragraph or two from being done with my short story. I hope to get it later tonight, too. But first, back to the pdf stuff.
May 3, 2006
More pretty clouds
So I decided to take part in this year's Story A Day challenge, though not at the full Story A Day level -- maybe ten or so. I'd like to have ten new short stories. I'm just about finished with the first one. In fact, I've been just about finished with it for two days now. I think I might have a paragraph or two left to do, and I cannot get back to it.
I'm going to go to it in a couple minutes. I might even get it finished tonight.
Other than that, the kittens are doing well. I have made a playpen for them in my office and we'll try it out tomorrow -- if I can keep the other cats out of it. Kwi has it at the moment. I'm not sure how the older cats are going to take this. I suspect Pip will be very upset, but I'm not going to let them encroach on his spot on the desk, so he might get over it. With the proper treats, he may at least ignore them most of the time. I'm not sure about Wind. He's a bit unsettled just hearing them.
And now, off to do some work. I want to write things. I've spent all day working on Vision things -- all the PDFs are up, finally, and I fixed some problems with back issues and a couple things with the current issue as well. So I did good work. Just need to find work that will pay me.
Which, really, means I need to get back to work on stories and such!
May 4, 2006
Three weeks old
The two turn three weeks old on today (Friday). They have a playpen in the office now, and the other cats just mostly ignore them. Wind is the only one who seems really unsettled, poor guy. He'll get over it.
I am nearly done with my second SAD story, which went far better than the first one. I like it. It's not great, but it at least shows some more imagination, and it fell together pretty well. I should have it done within the hour.
Other than that... Russ and I think there might be a sleepy flu going around. We've both been dragging for days when we didn't even have a reason to -- though Russ says I'm still recovering from the two weeks of two hour feedings. I wonder if I can use this excuse for very long.
Okay, back to the story. I'm actually having fun.
Of course, it always helps to upload these things when you're done with them....Did write another few hundred words, though!
May 5, 2006
Marvin and Zaphod
That's the first in what's likely to be a series of names. Zaphod fits, but Marvin isn't nearly paranoid enough. He could be Dent Arthur Dent, but... not quite. We shall probably go farther a field.
I wrote my third story today. It's wonderful to get back into short pieces for a while again. I've also been slowly adding pictures to my Daz/Bryce blog and a couple in my photography blog but I pretty much dropped out of the photography challenges for several weeks. I'm starting to work my way back into them.
So apparently creativity is on an upswing, which is good. I'm always in a better mood when I'm doing better with stories, pictures and the new graphics stuff. Challenges, obviously, work well for me.
So that's it. It's now past midnight (though I started this at 11:30 or so) and I need to get it uploaded and move on!
May 6, 2006
Ack. No t on night
Ah well. Nice picture anyway.
I finished my fourth story today. It got away from me, but I enjoyed it anyway.
The kittens appear to be Zaphod and Edmond Blackadder today. It's hard to say if that will stay.
Beyond that.... just got the 2YN stuff done and now I'm getting caught up on email.
It's late and I'm tired. I'm going to post this little thing and go take a nice long warm bath to relax.
May 7, 2006
Lilacs
I hate days where I feel as though I haven't gotten anything done for hours, and I can't really say where the time went. Just floated away somewhere....
I have started my next story and I need to work on it tonight. Something short, I think. The prompt actually made me think of another character I've written -- one from Vita's Vengeance in fact -- and so I'm going to write a little story about him and another character from the book. Just a short little 'character sketch' I think. Should be fun.
But I haven't gotten to it yet.
In fact, right now, all I want to do is go sleep for a while. I really can't be that tired.
But I am.
May 8, 2006
Edmond Black Kitty and Zaphod's Just a Cat on their third week home day
Well, except for setting up that picture (with Russ's help to hold the kittens down between shots), I can't say that I've really gotten much done today at all. I've added to the story, and I've worked a little on Vita's Vengeance, but not much on that either. I'll be going back to work on both of them soon. It was just one of those days (again) where focus didn't come to me. I did other things. I fed kittens, several times. I worked on some site stuff. I've been doing a lot of odd things, and not really getting anything much done, although I did make up a list of every story and novel I've written since 1998 to see what I have on hand to work on and what I should try to sell.
It worries me, though, when I see so many titles I don't recognize. They're all in the shorter works, at least, but it's still bothersome.
And the number of them that have sold is really kind of amazing.
So, back to work.
I will get something done, eventually!
May 9, 2006
Spring
I should have interesting things to say tonight. I really don't. I'm tired and I have some work for the county to get done, so I'm going to keep this short. I need to get some writing done, too. No, I haven't had a chance to finish the other story yet. Sigh. I really hoped to do better in this year's dare.
The kittens have become quite sweet suddenly, but also a bit dangerous since they've figured out how to climb out of things. Right now they're asleep, though, so I'm safe and can get some of this work done before it's time to feed them again in a few hours!
Russ will be in Omaha for tomorrow and the next day, I think. With luck there will be a check this Friday.
Beyond that, not much to say. Wish I wasn't tired (again). Wish I could get all the work done so I could play with writing instead. But talking about it won't get me there... so off to work I go!
May 10, 2006
Work
Well, that pretty much wasted most of a day.
A back up I did of pictures between about April 15 and April 28 didn't turn out. Normally I wouldn't worry. I usually do more than one back up. Not this time, of course.
The only real loss is the first few kitten pictures. I found a couple of them still online and copied the smaller versions back off -- but that's all that's left. About ten days of work gone -- including anything I did in Daz/Bryce at the time, and other odd things. The loss of the pictures really bothers me, though. It was the one thing I feared most about going from my trusty old CD1000 that permanently recorded pictures immediately, to a card where I had to copy and copy again.
I spent most of the day trying to find a second copy. I'm sure I did one. But if I did, it plainly didn't turn out either.
I'm going to have to come up with a new plan here so that this doesn't happen again. Back ups every week, overlapping stuff. I just have to be able to afford the DVDs.
AH!
Just had a good plan -- went next door and used Russ's laptop -- and sure enough, some of the files showed up that wouldn't for me. I can't do anything about it tonight, but this weekend I'll copy stuff back to my computer and save again. It looks like at least most of the pictures were there!
Well, fine, then. I guess I better go get some stuff done!
May 11, 2006
Silly guys
I want to know where the time is going. I'm just not getting nearly enough done each day, and I think this has just got to stop. I need that time.
So, as you can probably guess, I didn't get much of anything done today. Fed the guys. Did the dishes. Fed the guys, worked on some site stuff, fed the guys. Russ didn't get home until late and we didn't eat until ten. And now it's coming up on time to feed the guys.
I think I see a pattern here. Lucky for me, it won't go on much longer. We get to start introducing them to the 'you can eat it yourself' food in a couple days.
Oh, and they're four weeks old today. That was a fast month, in many ways.
I need to get some stuff done! So off I go...
May 12, 2006
Four weeks old
Cute guys. It's a good thing, because not much else has gone right lately! But they are fun. I have to put them into the bathtub now because they can climb out of everything else. They still have playpen in my office, though, and as long as I'm there, they don't get loose.
Russ should have been paid today but he wasn't. Now it looks like Wednesday, which is going to make a long weekend. Ah well, we're getting used to it. I was going to start the babies on hard food this weekend, but they'll stick with the bottle for a few more days. Not a big deal, except for my hands. Those claws are sharp!
I haven't finished the short story. I haven't, in fact, done much of anything -- a sign that I need a break. I'm reading, mostly. I think I'm on the last chapter of amphibians, and then it's on to the book or reptiles. Fascinating stuff!
I also had a realization that I need a major book done and printed by the end of this month. I don't know if I'll be able to do it, though. The work shouldn't be that bad -- the book is edited and re-edited. But I don't think I can afford to print it.
(Pounds head on desk for a while.)
Yes, I'm sure that helped. (grin)
May 13, 2006
A Daz piece from a few days ago
So there I as, not doing anything particularly difficult on the computer -- a small Daz pic, only one person and a bit of a background -- and suddenly it tells me I don't have enough room left to do it.
So, I spent most of today cleaning up the hard drive again. Copy, delete, move, copy, move. I have a small hard drive by modern standards -- 30 gig -- and if I weren't taking so many pictures and doing some of the Daz stuff it would be fine. I could work just about forever if I stuck to writing.
So, of course, I haven't gotten hardly anything done today. I am going to finish that story!
Oh, and I recovered about 2 gig of space. That won't last long.
May 14, 2006
Resting
I did get my story done today, and I've started a second one -- something short, I think. Just a scene or two. I'd like to have one come in around 1k or less. Just a quick little bit and move on.
I have a head cold -- the kind that's mostly in the ears, throat and chest. I can feel fine for a little while, and then I stand up... or sometimes, just sitting here and it gets worse. I've mostly been throwing myself into my work, as much as I can, and hoping for the best. It's spring -- these kinds of colds always hit about this time of year.
Anyway, I hope to feel better by tomorrow. I found some stuff to take, and I think it's kicking in a little. I need to get work done! So I'm going to take advantage of two things -- the little monsters... ummm, sweet little furry creatures from hell... ah... the kittens are asleep for the moment. I'm feeling a little better. I'm going to go write!
May 15, 2006
Anemone
So, I woke up early and realized the power was out. Odd, but not unheard of. I wandered around for a couple minutes, then thought to check the other house. Other house still had power. Now it started to get worrisome.
I spent most of the day at the powerless house with the cats, mostly doing reading and taking a few notes on my pocket comp. I did finish the volume on Fishes and Amphibians and most of a book on Queen Victoria.
Russ didn't get home until after ten. Tried to figure out what was wrong because he had paid the bill. No luck. He went to bed and the baby kittens and I are held up by the electric heater in the other house. It's a cold night. And we have no idea what might be wrong. Russ fears we may have to replace the entire electric box.
Gah.
May 16, 2006
Nice Moon
So, I wake up to power and heat and everything.
Got an email from Russ who had called the city (he was out of town again today). They'd missed the payment and just assumed we'd moved into the other house. (The joy of a small town where everyone knows just enough to make the wrong assumption.) They got the power back on, at least.
Not a whole lot of help for me. I went back to bed with a horrible sore throat and so tired that I barely woke up a couple times to feed the little guys.
Speaking of the little guys... they climbed out of their playpen and are running all over the office now. I had to close off the other doors, which didn't please the big cats, but I don't want these guys wandering farther than I can see them.
They, at least, are happy.
Russ said that he can't see anyway we can go to ConQuesT this year. I have to agree. The cost of gas alone would probably be more than we could get together, let alone rooms. I hate to not go -- it's the only convention I attend anymore, and I'm on the list of guests. Not that I'll be missed, though.
Well, maybe next year will be better.
May 17, 2006
Nice little fish....
Today is a better day. I've gotten some work done, and now I have two kittens running around my office acting goofy. (Or maybe that's me acting goofy. I keep arranging barriers so they can't get on my side with the rolling chair and the cords, but they keep finding a way through. It's pretty funny. And distracting, of course.
Had a good, relaxing sort of day. I haven't done much writing yet, but I am getting there. I need to answer a ton of email that's piled up over the last three days. I don't look forward to that part.
I should also go write another story.
And do some Daz art, maybe. Do some fun stuff. (grin)
May 18, 2006
Cute
Trying to get some work done, get some problems at FM worked out, and generally not get farther behind. I don't think that last is possible, the FM stuff is more of a problem than it should be, and I have barely gotten any writing done today.
But I have a few hours here, so it's not all that bad. I think I can get a good clip of Vita's Vengeance done if I can just concentrate on it, which seems kind of unlikely since I haven't been able to focus on anything all day. (grin)
A bath might be the answer. Relax, rest, come back and get some more work done.
I like this idea!
May 19, 2006
Five Weeks old
The babies are a five weeks old today. That was taken a couple days ago, when they stretched out in my lap to sleep while I worked. It wasn't easy to get anything done, but they're so cute!
They've started to eat real food, though they still get a bottle several times a day. And they figured out the litter box right away, smart little guys that they are. (grin)
They're really very sweet little guys.
I'm still sorting things out at FM -- moving boards, fixing stuff, trying to get people to understand that a compromise is a good thing since it means that I am agreeing to what they say, just with a little added piece for what I want out of it.
People can drive you nuts, you know.
I need to get some more work done on my writing. The new short story is closer to finished, at least!
May 20, 2006
Safe at Home
I'm stopping my work only long enough to do a quick report here. I'm working away on Vita's Vengeance tonight, and it's going very well. I want to get it done, and so far... it looks good.
I spent most of the last two days trying to work out a good compromise for people doing classes at FM. I think I managed to do pretty well, but the truth is that some people just won't like it. I've come to realize that's going to happen no matter how much I try to change things around and suit others. In fact, the realization finally hit me hard enough that I felt better for it. I can do what I think is best, and that's all. After that, maybe it's up to others to bend a little and work with me, if they can. If they can't... well, that's the way it is.
And you know, for a while I'm not even going to devote so much time to FM. I'll make certain everything is going along fine, and I'll fix what needs fixed -- but for a little while I'm going to turn my attention back to my own career again.
I feel better already.
May 21, 2006
Zoo picture
I think I'm going to the zoo tomorrow!
It all depends on a couple things. The first timing and weather. If I go I'll have to wait outside the zoo for about an hour and a half until they open. I figure a nice book to read will take care of that time, though. I'm just not really comfortable with the idea.
But, you know... go to the zoo. I love going to the zoo!
The other thing is the kittens. They're finally eating their own food and using the literbox, though, so I think they'll be fine. And how old do they have to be before I can leave the house for a few hours?
I think I'm going to opt for going. It looks like a great day for it, and God knows I need the exercise again. I've hardly left the house for the last month. I had intended to do a lot more walking this year, and it just hasn't happened, for one reason for another. (Yes, laziness is right up there in that list, too.)
So... zoo tomorrow. I better make certain all my batteries are charged up and the card is clear of all pictures. I'll have to drop down to the 3 megapixel level again since I won't be able to clear the pictures and keep going.
I think I'm starting to get excited about this now. Zoo tomorrow! (Actually today -- it's after midnight already!)
May 22, 2006
American Kestrel
Yes, I went to the zoo!
It was a lovely day for it, too. It wasn't too busy, even though there were several bus loads of those kidlet things. Most of them were politer than usual, so that was good.
I came home, fed the poor abandoned kittens (this was the longest they'd been alone in their lives!), and then promptly fell into bed fully clothed and slept for about four hours. I hadn't slept at all last night, so it was about 30 hours without sleep at that point. Haven't slept that well in a long time!
Anyway, now I have a bunch more zoo pictures to go with the other two sets that I haven't done anything with yet. I think I might drop out of the story dare and just work on this. I have about 230 pictures to sort through right now.
May 23, 2006
Springhaas
I have spent most of today getting caught up on stuff from yesterday. And falling behind on other stuff. And answering emails and getting caught up, and not....
I'm a little farther on Vita's Vengeance. I did a quick sort of the zoo pictures, pulling out the really bad ones. I don't think I got much else done at all, except to partially scrub floors in the living room.
It got hot today. And then it got stormy, though nothing serious. But that was about the most fun. It's stuffy in here tonight and I'm uncomfortable, but at least we finally had the chance to turn off the heat in the house!
May 24, 2006
Zoo picture
I have taken a 'sick day' today. I worked on as little real work as possible and played around with the zoo pictures instead. It helped in some ways, but I still have had to fight a horrible blinding headache for much of the evening. I'm at the 'please just cut off my head' stage, which is several steps up from where it was an hour ago.
The photos are better than I expected. And I finally have a plan for how to organize the last few trips, so I'm looking forward to getting the sets done and up.
And with that in mind... back to work on them. And relaxing.
May 25, 2006
Flowers from the zoo
I may be going to the zoo again tomorrow. It depends on how I feel when I wake up. Since I've not had a good couple days, I'm not entirely sure this is going to work out. We'll see.
Tonight I sorted through the last of the pictures from previous trips. I even started some web pages for them, but I got so frustrated with it that I deleted the entire set. That tells you the kind of headache I have.
But some of the pictures are good. I'm pleased with them. I just have to figure out a good way to get them on a site. This shouldn't really be a problem for me, but this may not be the best night for me to mess with something like this.
May 26, 2006
Fox
I went to the zoo again. It turned out to be a nice day for it, though it looked so packed at first that Russ offered to bring me back at some other day. Once past the gate, though, the crowds spread out, and it wasn't too bad.
I'm sorting through the pictures. I hope to have them done tonight or early tomorrow.
May 27, 2006
Frog from De Soto Refuge
Russ surprised me with a drive down to De Soto this afternoon. It was a nice day out. Besides the frog above, I saw a lot of tadpoles, some turkey and one deer. Usually there are a lot more deer, but I think the first really hot day of the year did them in.
It nearly did me in. Russ and I walked one trail -- not nearly as much walking as I did at the zoo the day before. But the humidity and heat made it much worse. Ack. I hope I get used to it soon, or else I won't be going to the zoo often until next fall!
The kittens went to the vet this morning for their six week check up. He said they're very healthy little guys, and very good tempered.
I have sorted through all the zoo pictures. I hope to have a simple set of web pages up for it soon, too.
Ah. Just stopped and did the 2YN classes before I forgot. It's one of those nights where I could just crawl off to bed and completely forget that I needed to do it.
May 28, 2006
A Daz Picture
I haven't been doing too much Daz stuff lately, and I'd like to get back to it. I find it oddly relaxing, and I'm not certain why.
I have all the zoo pictures sorted and about 1/3rd of them moved into a new website that I hope to have up before the end of the month. It's not hard work at this point, but I do have other things to get done as well. Really. I'm just not doing them.
May 29, 2006
De Soto Refuge Geese
Today we moved my computer from my office to the dining room. It was a major undertaking that included figuring out the damned cable modem and getting it to work again. But here I am.
Why the move?
Because I needed a change. Because I've set every day in that back office and worked for years, and as much as I loved it, I just needed to see something different for a little while. This room is huge. The window looks out into the grassy area between the two houses. The air conditioner is here, so we won't have to put a second one in my office -- saving a little energy and money.
It seems to be working better already. I'm very nearly done with Vita's Vengeance. I will have this draft completed before the night is out. Then it's going out the door before the month is out. Yes, I'm starting to move again. I feel like I've been on hold for the last couple months, but that certainly hasn't helped anything.
May 30, 2006
Zoo pic
Ugh.
That's about the extent of everything I have to say tonight.
I'm tired. I might go to the zoo tomorrow... but I'm thinking not right at the moment. I hurt my leg a couple days ago and the swelling has finally gone down. I hurt my eye and though it doesn't hurt it bothers me a bit -- I think just knowing it has a scratch and looks odd makes me more aware of it.
And I'm tired. I think I'll go to bed and see how everything looks after a few hours of sleep.
As you can tell, there's not much going on....
May 31, 2006
Zoo pic again
Went to the zoo again today. All in all a good day until we got an email from the service provider for this site who are screwing things up -- and giving everyone two days to change their sites.
I'm not happy about it.
But I am really, really tired right now and I'm heading off to bed. Much to do tomorrow. But sleep now!