Archive for previous entries this month
January 1, 2008
Pretty snow
Okay, here we are into 2008. I have to tell you that I am not in the least bit prepared for this year. I'm scrambling to get things done at FM. I got Vision up. I started a new sf novel called The Dark Places, and no -- I really don't know where it is going to go.
All in all, it looks like an interesting way to start the year. If it goes like this for the whole year, I won't have a chance to rest.
Russ is back in New York. He left this morning and I got an email from him a little while ago, saying he safely made it. I'm not certain when he'll be back the next time. It was good to have him here for three days. We even had time to watch some shows together and just relax a bit. Not much, but some at least!
I don't know if I should have hopes for this year or not, to be honest. The uncertainty of how things are going to go over the next few months is troubling. It's hard to really sit down and focus on what to do next some days.
But I'll do whatever needs to be done.
So Happy New Year from the kitties and me. And now -- off to get something else done!
Oh, and I just barely reached my 1,000,000 words for last year! 1,005,063 for the year -- but I would say that's probably more than enough! (grin)
January 2, 2008
Pretty view
I'm just adding a quick note here for the moment. I have a horrid headache and I'm heading to bed in hopes that it will clear up by tomorrow. I have a ton of things to get done, but it is not going to happen tonight.
It's supposed to be warmer tomorrow, too, which will help. It was far too cold here today, and I think that hasn't helped.
Tomorrow will be better, especially if I can just get some sleep tonight.
January 3, 2008
Edmond curled up in my shirt while I work
Edmond is silly. And very sweet. That was a couple weeks ago, but he would gladly come back and curl up again if I let him. It's just hard to get any work done that way.
And trust me, I've been trying to get a lot of work done today. I think I'm getting closer to caught up. Tomorrow, I should have the 2YN class all ready to go for the new people. After that, I need to get the next DAZ newsletter done. I just have some questions that need to be answered before I can go on with it.
And once again, I'm just very tired tonight. So maybe tomorrow I'll get this all set up properly. And maybe I'll get more than a thousand words or so written on the new book, too!
January 4, 2008
Winter Tree (Painter)
Yes, I'm being lazy yet again tonight and not getting this journal sorted out. I spent six hours setting up the 2YN class stuff, and I'm brain dead. Really. I played a little with Painter (the picture above -- it looks better if you click on the full version), and now I just want to go sleep for a day or two.
What else? I can't seem to get caught up. I kind of hope to be closer by the end of this weekend, but right now -- doesn't look good. Maybe I should give up sleeping?
Doesn't sound like a good idea. So tomorrow I'll work on the DAZ newsletter and see if I can get it done. And maybe by Sunday I'll feel as though I'm a bit less overwhelmed by work.
Time to go sleep!
January 5, 2008
Zaphod
Newsletter. Must get DAZ newsletter done.
I was ill today -- very ill for most of the day. I don't know how much longer I can stay up, either. But I have a good amount of the newsletter done, and I'll have it finished tomorrow. Since part of what I need I can't get until then, I think it's okay. Would have liked to have all of it done already, but that's okay. I can get it.
Writing is not going well. Maybe after I get caught up.
Yeah, right. Caught up. (Laughs)
January 6, 2008
DAZ Work
Okay, so not today -- I'll get this straightened out soon, but not today. it's only a little after midnight, and I'm dead tired again. I don't know why, but it seems to me that maybe going to bed and sleeping might be the answer. I'm willing to give it a try, anyway.
So I'm getting the last of my work done, and then I'm off to bed.
Looks like we're going to have some freezing rain tomorrow. That's bound to be fun. I better be ready for it, right?
Thunk.
January 7,2008
Willow
I very nearly forgot to even write this. I was busy tonight -- a nice bit of writing, read a book, and worked on a picture. I'm happy with all three. But it is now 4:35 am and I am going to bed.
And I will sleep late and not get much done at all tomorrow (today). I don't care.
Off to rest!
January 8,2008
The Injured Bird
I slipped on the ice today. Yes, I'm very sore. Starting to hobble around tonight, though it's not as bad as I feared it would be. Unfortunately, both hands hurt. So this is short, and I hope for better tomorrow.
Maybe the next day.
January 9, 2008
Janey
Yes, I do ache today. My right arm, wrist and hand and my left hip are the worst, but it's not as bad as I feared it would be. Not great, but not terrible. I've gotten a little work done, even on this journal, finally. I haven't gotten as much writing as I would like to do -- and as much as I would love to blame it on my fall yesterday, I don't think I can. It's been that kind of month.
I'm reaching the 'I don't care' point -- which is actually very good. It gets me over the stupid stress part where I go crazy because I'm not writing thousands and thousands of words a day. Hello? We don't really need to write that much, do we? No, I didn't think so.
I have been reading more than usual. That's even better.
I'm going to upload this -- wow, not even 4 am! -- and then I think I'll work on some notes for an upcoming novel. Or maybe I'll find another book and go read it, instead. Both sound reasonable tonight.
January 10, 2008
Winter
Just a quick note tonight. I've been feeling ill for the last few hours -- Tumms are my friend -- and just want to go crawl off to bed again. I was even going to skip this, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.
Things are okay. Not getting a lot done, but I'll get there.
Time to go get some rest and read!
January 11, 2008
Cute Cat
I went to upset this last night and the site was down. By the time it was back up, I was down. I've been curled up in bed for most of the day and that's where I'm going back to in a few minutes. I feel better than I did, but not great.
So another night of rest. I hope to do better tomorrow.
January 12, 2008
Snow Waves
I was feeling better earlier today, but I feel lousy tonight. So this will be another short note. I did get some work done, but not nearly enough. And now, all I want to do is go crawl up in bed again.
Maybe tomorrow will be better.
January 13, 2008
An Old Picture
That picture was taken in San Fernando, looking north on Maclay toward Foothill Blvd. I was there on a visit -- the last time I was in that area, though I was back to LA once since then. I used to live a few blocks from where this picture was taken. Do you see the Taco Bell there to the left? That was my Taco Bell.
I think I'm starting to feel a little trapped, and I can't say looking at pictures like this have helped. The farthest I've been since November is the grocery store, and even before that I hadn't gone even to Omaha since early October, I think. And it's going to be a long time before I have a chance to go anywhere again. Sigh.
I am not feeling all that much better tonight. My back is killing me now, and I fear to go to bed because last night it hurt so much, I couldn't even turn to my side. Ah well, I survived it and I will again.
So right now, I'm going to get this posted, finish up a couple things, and then sleep for hours and hours again. I've been very tired -- that's actually not all bad. I feel like eventually I'll get caught up!
January 14, 2008
Is that cute or what?
That's Zaphod with a bear on his shoulders. He sat like that for about ten minutes while I took about twenty pictures. He's such a good guy and puts up with an awful lot!
It's cold here tonight. My hand hurts, which I think is a bad sign, so I'll ignore it and try to get a bit more work done before I crawl off to bed. The only thing is that the bedroom is far warmer than my office, so there's a real appeal to skip everything else, take the Nero Wolfe book I'm reading, (Plot It Yourself -- great fun for a writer), and curl up in bed. And you know, if there was a good light in that room, I probably would.
It's going to warm up tomorrow, I think. That would be good. But right now -- cold and tired and my back still hurts. Bed time!
January 15, 2008
Cute Bears
I actually got some writing done tonight. I'm not certain how that happened, but it was fun and I'm going to try and get a lot done again tomorrow. This month has been dismal for writing. It's been dismal for just about everything, so that's not a surprise. I hope that the second half of the month is better. I need to get things moving.
I am, I think over the flu finally. My back still hurts, however, which is making it hard to get to sleep. Then I sleep late, which I really don't mind. I'm not on any kind of time schedule, after all.
Pip was ill this afternoon. I think he's feeling better now. I have medication for him and I hope that it helps. I think it's been too cold for him -- and the rest of the guys. And me, for that matter.
I have decided that I need something fun to happen, but I don't know what that is. I'm actually thinking of buying one of the Alphasmarts -- I'm tending toward the Dana, I think -- so that I can easily write away from this desk. I spend far too much time here. I need any kind of break that I can make, and I think having something that is only for writing and that I could do away from this spot might be a good plan. If I could find a place that sells them via PayPal, I would have one already, I think. Or at least have ordered it.
I've read four books so far this year and I am now reading the plays of Aechylus, translated into verse by G.M. Cookson. Lovely stuff, once I got the feel for it. I read The Suppliant Maidens and now I'm reading The Persians. This is part of a long term project, and I don't read the work very quickly. I don't think it would be possible to do so.
On the other hand, I've only watched one movie and nothing else, except for some moments with the Weather Channel and a few desultory flips through the channels looking for anything interesting. I haven't found it yet. The last thing I enjoyed watching was Tin Man. It'll be out on DVD in March.
And that's it. That's my report for the half-month mark.
January 16, 2008
Winter
We had a bit of snow today, and I think we're supposed to get some more tomorrow. Not a lot of it, I'm glad to say, and it does look a bit better with some clean white over the grey snow that had been around for a bit too long.
I am a few days short of finishing the Devlin novel from last year. This is good. If I can get last years work done, I'll feel like I'm maybe making some progress after all. Not a lot of it, but something.
I have a submission about to go out as well. See, I am getting things done.
But beyond that, I have to admit that I feel like I'm in a rut here. I need to start doing more writing and more art because creativity can take me away from the day-to-day world. A few hours on either a story or a piece of art would be fine with me. I just need to focus again!
I think I've discovered that about two weeks is as long as I can stand of my own company and not getting out. I'm going to have to learn to stretch that longer, but right now about day 15 or 16, I start getting annoyed. Realizing why now will help.
And that's it. I'm heading off to get some other stuff done, and then on to bed!
January 17, 2008
Some Carrara work
I don't get a chance to work with this particular program often enough. This really wasn't a hard picture to do, but it took about two days to get everything posed just where and how I wanted it. I did the work between a lot of other work, so I can't say how long it really took.
Carrara is an interesting program. I had fun with it.
Beyond that, it's cold here tonight. I'm up much later than I intended to be. I am going to go crawl under a ton of blankets and I'll think about coming back out tomorrow.
Ugh. Looks like we have more snow coming our way. Yeah, I think I'll just say in bed for a week or two.
January 18, 2008
Work done with Apophysis
Did a lot of work today on various sites. It's been very busy! I haven't gotten much done in writing itself, but at least I got all the things I needed done cleared up for a change.
It's VERY cold here tonight and not supposed to get any better over the next few days. I really, really hate the cold weather. 30's is okay. 20's and I'm starting to get annoyed. It's -1 right now and supposed to drop even more.
I have, for the most part, a nice warm house. (Now that the furnace is working!). However, the walls are very thin with not very much insulation -- something we hope to fix when we re-side the place. Right now, though, that means when you sit near an outside wall you get very cold, including here at my desk.
Normally, I love to do my writing late at night. These days, though, when it's so cold, I really can't stand to stay here for long. So I'll be working on my little HP Pocket Computer tonight. I don't type nearly as quickly on it, but I'll be able to work with it somewhere warm. Like bed. Or maybe the bath tub. (With the HP wrapped in a ziplock bag so it can't get wet.)
I even have an idea for a little short story -- very short -- that I'd like to do, so I think that's going to be what I spend the rest of my night working on.
January 19, 2008
Storm back in August
I have had one of those days where things just keep going wrong. I had trouble with the phone while trying to call Russ. It turned out to be partly a problem on Russ's end, but I think I still have trouble on my end, too. And when I couldn't reach him for hours, I started getting worried. We finally got in touch via email -- which is iffy for him, but he got through. I was very relieved and started dinner in the microwave and went to the front room to check out the weather channel. We're supposed to get a storm tomorrow, along with very cold weather. I'm not looking forward to it.
And while I'm watching the power goes out on the entire front of the house -- all the way to half the kitchen, including the microwave and the fridge.
Yes, yes. Blown fuse. But guess what? No fuse in the house. Extremely cold weather, so I won't be going out tomorrow -- the the storm -- to get any. And I don't know if I would trust myself with it anyway. The way things are going, I'd take the power out in the rest of the house, too. Right now I at least still have the furnace and power to my office and part of the kitchen. If I can't get a cord strung from the fridge to the library, I'll put the frozen food out on the porch. It's cold enough, after all. And I think the only other stuff right now is some soda in the rest of the fridge. Oh, and some eggs. I'll hard boil them tomorrow.
I'm thinking I should just go crawl off to bed (in my dark, powerless bedroom), and hope for some answer tomorrow from Russ. Maybe he knows where there are fuses. Maybe he has some next door. If not, he'll be home in a couple weeks, and I'm really only losing the TV. I don't watch enough to make that a real problem.
But it is all starting to be more of an annoyance again, and I don't need that.
January 20, 2008
The Driver
Things are better. With Russ's directions, I was able to steal a fuse from the other house and get this one up and running again. Good thing. It's snowing like mad tonight, and I get the feeling it would have been harder to get a fuse. I think a friend is going to deliver some on Tuesday (along with bread, milk and my blood pressure pills).
I had other odd things happen all day, including Edmond climbing up into the drop-down ceiling in the library, which looked like it was seriously going to drop down at any moment. I finally got him out and I think I've blocked the spot where he climbed in.
I also had a problem with my graphics program, and then couldn't find the disk to reload it -- and when I finally did, I realized the problem was actually something stupid I had done, but at least it was easy to correct.
There were other things. It was a long day.
But now I'm going to upload this, upload the newsletter, send the url off to the proper people to look it over, and then do a little bit of writing before I go to bed. I'm tired. I think I would like to have a nice, long sleep. With the newsletter done, and the fuse in, I don't think there's anything in particular hanging over me at the moment. Maybe I'll even get caught up on my writing!
January 21, 2008
Yes, more snow
And this is pretty much how my day went:
That's it. That was my day, as long as we skip the part where I twisted my ankle and fell in the snow.
I am looking forward to spring!
January 22, 2008
Wind
I don't think it is ever going to get warm again. The cats pretty much agree. Should I be excited that it's going to get all the way up to 20f on Thursday? Maybe 30's on Friday -- but snow.
I could stand 30f right now.
I'm working on the outline and notes to Draw the Line. This is probably one of the most ambitious projects I've ever started. There's going to be a lot of worldbuilding with this one, and I think I'm going to devote most of February just to doing the background work, in hopes that I can start it on my birthday in March. We'll see. I might get frustrated and put it aside if I don't feel that I have the ability to do what I want with it. Doesn't seem likely though -- I've never given up on a story.
But it's cold and I'm going to bed.
January 23, 2008
Lots of snow
It looks like a cake with white frosting. A very cold white cake with white frosting.
I do not work well in cold weather. I've finally figured that out and I'm 'working' my way around it -- writing in bed with the HP, taking notes in a nice warm bath -- stuff like that. It will not be a good word count month, but I did get the novel from last year finished, so I'm good anyway. I'm not going to get all worried about any of it.
But it does make for sort of dull days with nothing much really to write about.
Let's all hope for spring soon!
January 24, 2008
Okay, so it's cold!
That's Pip with his tail over his nose, trying to keep warm. I don't think any of the guys are thrilled with this weather.
I was so cold, I forgot to upload yesterday's entry. It's below. It's mostly the same as today and likely what I've been saying for several days. We're cold. It's cold here. I think of little except that it's too damned cold!
The good thing is that it will go past and life will be good for a while.
Then it will be too damned hot.
There's no pleasing some people, you know.
January 25, 2008
Tonight's Sunset
It warmed up enough today that I didn't spend the entire day thinking about how cold I was and what I could do to warm up. (Hot bath and bed with lots of blankets played heavily in those thoughts!) I got some writing done, even. This is not going to be my best month, but I don't care. I am making progress.
Most of my work right now is on the background work for Draw the Line, which I don't plan to start until March. I have lots of material, and it all points to more material, and I'm having fun with it.
And that's good. Something should be fun.
Right now though, it's starting to get cold again and I'm going to go crawl off into bed early tonight. The temp is supposed to be up in the 30's tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it!
January 26, 2008
Kitty in shadow
It got much warmer today -- about 38f -- and the guys and I really appreciated it. A good amount of the snow melted, and I think most, if not all, will be gone by midweek. That's going to leave things looking brown and ugly -- but if it doesn't get too cold again, I really don't care.
I've been working away all day and I'm tired tonight. I just about have the DAZ newsletter done, and I added some more notes to the new novel background work. Tomorrow I finish the newsletter.
Now, though, I head to bed!
January 27, 2008
Frost on window
Weather was fairly nice today. It's supposed to be up to 45 and rain tomorrow.
And then a high of 10 the next day. Gah. I want it to stay warm. It gets too cold here in the office when it gets that cold.
Russ was going to come home next weekend, but it looks like he might hold off until the weekend afterwards, when he might be able to get an extra day out of it. I'm still doing okay on supplies, though it will be low by the time he does get here. And extra day is good, though.
I'm tired. I'm going to finish up some work and get to bed!
January 28, 2008
Silly Pip
A quick entry because it's very late and I almost forgot, and I'm working on some other stuff with DAZ and I don't want to take too much time.
Besides, I don't really have much to say.
I did start a new short story today for no good reason. But so far it's fun. Actually, I was working on the picture in DAZ Studio and the story came to go with it. Or at least part of the story.
The picture is huge, resource intensive, and I can't do more than work with it. I'm lucky I can type this.
So, off this goes. I'll archive this and yesterday's stuff tomorrow!
January 29, 2008
Yes, it's cold
Ugh. What a horribly cold, miserable day this was! I sure hope it starts getting warmer soon, because the cats and I have had it with this weather. So there.
On the other hand, I did finally get some stuff done tonight. I think my brain just finally decided I was not going to get warmer and I might as well do something anyway. Or the panic that it is so close to the end of the month clicked in. Either way, it worked.
But I must have warmer weather soon. Really.
I wish I could say that I had something even more interesting to say, but it's not going to happen tonight!
January 30, 2008
Hoping for warm again
Russ might be home this weekend -- well, at least for Saturday. He'd fly in late Friday and leave early Sunday. We had hoped for the next weekend and two whole days, but it looks as though he can't get the time.
It's been a month since he was last home, so we really do need to go get supplies again. It's going to be a quick trip, and very busy. I wish he could be here longer and we could have some time together. I could use a little relaxing and talking time with him, and the feeling that things will get better. Right now, even though I know we are out of the financial troubles we were in, it looks worse on my end for all the other reasons. I never planned on living alone.
But I still have it easy, really. I don't have to go out into that cold weather. If I can get past being out of sorts and depressed with everything, I can sit and write and do whatever I really want to. It's not like I'm suffering for this, except that I miss the only person I really like to be with.
It's been two months now. I still have hopes that things will get better. Neither of us are really happy with this situation, after all.
The weather here is cold, but it's going to warm up tomorrow -- at least up to 20f, which after what we've had is warm enough. I think 30 on Saturday, too, which would be very nice. I have a cold. I'm not happy -- I want it to be warm enough in this house that I feel like crawling out of bed and doing something.
Hey, that warm front must be coming through right now. It's gone from 2f to 4f in the last hour. This is good news. It might be warm (relatively speaking, of course) by the time I get up tomorrow.
January 31, 2008
Messing with the Wrong Girls
It took me days to get that picture done. I probably should have been doing other things some of the time, but I wanted it done by the end of the month. It came out pretty well, really.
I have been working on FM updates and trying to get other things lined up for February. Not doing as well as I should, but it's cold again. I have discovered that I not only don't work well when the temp outside drops below about 15f (and it gets colder in the house), but I also get in a very bad mood. I've been taking my HP to bed and writing there, though I can't get as much done that way.
I think I'll survive it.
But the temp is down to 8f tonight, and that has not made me feel any better. So I'm taking myself off to bed where I will do a little work and hope that tomorrow looks warmer!