writer
Was hoping for more out of the day. But, you get what you get.
Most eventful moment of the last twelve hours was opening my gym bag only to discover I'd packed no shorts. Hmmmm. Thus spoke God.
Roasting some chicken bones now in the hope of making a stock. Need to check the oven.
Big doings yesterday. Work. DMV. Workout. Dinner guests.
Girl at driver's bureau, looking at my old license while transferring information to my new one: "Would you still like your hair color to be brown?" Me (sighing): "Yes. Although that ship appears to have sailed."
Great company last night. The beef Wellington was cooked to perfection, and yet it lacked. Or maybe it was just me. I hate it the food Nazis have absconded with my salt shaker. Anyway, splendid time with wonderful people.
Up later than usual after a night of wine and revelry, but up nonetheless. Spent the early part of the day around the house, looking after little things, the off to the office to catch up on correspondence, etc.
Looking forward to a quiet evening at home. A quiet rest-of-week if I can manage.
My contributor copies of "Missing" arrived late this afternoon. Lovely looking issue of Willard & Marple. Need to order more!
Lots of sun today, warm temps. Would lay odds we're snowless come Christmas, especially with the forecast calling for moderate weather.
Up early, owing to the cold...or sinus infection...or whatever. Pull down some good revisions on "Dancing with the Devil." Haven't looked at the story in a while, and the distance did me good. First two thirds are strong. Need to work on the close.
Warmed up to ten or twelve today. Supposed to be even nicer tomorrow. Roads are going to turn to slush, ice by late evening. Not sure what the rest of the week will bring.
Managed some grocery shopping in advance of tomorrow night's dinner party. A lot of work/cooking ahead between then and now. Beef Wellington...sides...desserts. Aperitifs. Good thing Christmas only comes once a year, right?
Tired, as usual. Too much congestion, too little light, zero motivation. Need to work my way out of this paper bag even if it is made of gift wrap.
Woke to three...four...five inches of snow. What a beautiful day! Just beautiful.
More crazy doings. Woke to the strangest email, a note from an old acquaintance. A client. Lost, now found. Haven't had a chance to write back yet, but was pleased she looked me up. Been wondering about her for years.
Send off my three B&T critiques late this morning, then took over domestic responsibilities. Comings, goings, all day. Didn't even make it to the office things were so back and forth. Can't believe it's Friday already.
Carpenters show up tomorrow morning to begin framing. Wondering how far they'll get before they throw up their hands in frustration over the power shortage in the garage. Takes nothing to trip the breaker. We'll see how they fare. Should be a day, day and a half job, tops. But it's supposed to be cold as hell tomorrow, so we'll see.
Tree isn't completely dressed out in ornaments yet, but given the amount of running around that's been going on it isn't surprising. Tomorrow's gotta see the end of it.
Wouldn't want to bust up a surreal week with predictable doings, would we? Up early--earlier than usual, though I can't remember why--and from there the day became a blur. Client Christmas lunch, editing. Great weariness of body and spirit. They all figured in. Not a shot in hell I was making it to the gym after that glass of wine at lunch, but so go the holidays. Feel like a down and out gambler. Or fish bum. One more roll of the dice...one more cast. The next one's sure to hit. Yeah. Right.
How did it get to be Wednesday? Seems as if the week just started. Slow going with the B&T mss. Two critiques written, one to go. Thought maybe I'd have a draft in place by this evening, but it looks now as if I've been a little too ambitious. Schedule's a moving target. Just have to take what I can and stay focused.
Haven't written a lick of fiction for two days. But not for lack of trying. Holiday backlog, I guess. Lots of comings and goings. Lots of appointments, etc.
Gotta remember to renew my driver's license, speaking of obligations to keep. Promised myself I'd wear a jacket and tie this time around. Try and look respectable. But I know already it's a lie. Who dresses up to go to the MVD?
Needed a fortune teller to figure this day out. A little of everything came this way.
Sad to hear of the passing of a friend's father. Know all too well how that feels.
Worn out earlier than expected. Did manage a partial critique of the B&T mss. Two down, one to go.
Up early to gym. Felt good to get back in a routine. Home after, and a brief stint at the keyboard.
Spend most of the day trying to Christmas-up the joint, and of course, suffering the usual setbacks, most of which fall to faulty lights. Anyway, tree is up and it's time to move forward. Lights and ornaments tomorrow!
A batch of new stories in from N. No rest for the wicked, I guess. Could use a breather, but it's not in the cards. Soon, maybe. Meanwhile, gotta keep forging ahead.
That's it for tonight.
Many comings and goings. Window shop, office, gym, home, office, tech repair center....
Home to kitties on my lap. Somehow have the feeing my time at the keyboard is through.
Au revoir!
Another wild one.
Into the office early, and hard at the keyboard. Three--check, four--N reviews written and out the door. One package to the P.O., a quick read-through and edit of "Te Quiero Con Todo Mi Corazon." Home by 1:00 to look after little things.
Wanted to get to the gym, but the cold/sinus stuff has been kicking my ass. Begged off tonight in the hope of recovery.
We'll see if it makes a difference.
A chill winter bastard today, as Anthony Burgess would have said. But only a dusting of snow.
A day of surprises.
Must have gotten a little bit of work done, but hardly remember what it was. Except for the trip to the dump, which is always entertaining.
Weather cooled off quite a bit. Supposed to get down in the low teens tonight. Fingers crossed the sprinkler system doesn't rupture.
Finished the latest round of N mss. Need to jump all over the critiques tomorrow. Then on to the B&T stories. Looking forward, as always.
Four more days of antibiotics. Not sure they're doing the trick. Still feel hammered. Gonna pound down some zinc tomorrow, too. See if that helps.
Good god. How did this day sneak up? Much craziness with workmen, meetings, work...more work...and not a cup of Starbucks to salvage a bit of it.
Seems like days since I've been able to work on a ms of my own. Longer. Hope the break does me some good.
Miss my quiet time.
Off to dinner with family in few minutes. Best to sign off now.
It's coming on six, and I don't know where the day went. Spent most of it reading, writing critiques, sending off personal correspondence. Soon as I finished, five new pieces came in from N. Gonna have to buckle down to survive the week.
Got some Christmas decorations up, but didn't quite manage the tree. That'll have to come tomorrow when it warms up a bit. Otherwise I'll be busy chiseling block ice off the trunk.
Trip to Lowes later this afternoon, pricing doors, sheet rock, etc. Steve the carpenter comes out tomorrow to bid on the framing. Tim the electrician after that. Project looks as if it's taking off. Nothing left now but to hemorrhage money and kill ourselves with artificial deadlines.
Sinus infection still here. Damn. Hope the antibiotics start kicking in soon. Would like to get a good night's sleep for a change. If I'm up early tomorrow, might just strike out for the gym in the cold.
Where did the day go?
Spent a bit of the morning reading, revising, then went out to face the garage. Demo went more smoothly than expected, but took a long time nonetheless. Made one trip to the dump, but have a second in the making. Monday, maybe.
Tired. Eyes smarting. Finished for the day.
Will figure out the wisdom of the floorplan tomorrow.
Rough going again today. Antibiotics not doing much for the sinus infection. Oh, well. Still early in the regimen. Fingers crossed I won't have to contend with a secondary infection, too.
Enough complaining. Got some beautiful birthday wishes today. A lot of smiles. Week turned out all right, despite being under the weather. Not sleeping. The crazy dreams I had when I did sleep.
Got my ms. off to the B&T group. Also worked another N story, and started my critique. Nice piece. Gonna promote it.
Cold today. Hope it warms a little tomorrow. Plan on undertaking some demo in the garage, and would prefer to do it with marginally functional hands.
Calling it quits for the night. Beat.
Been knocked around by this stinking sinus infection. But still on my feet. Crazy morning. Back and forth. Home, office, office home. Even so, managed to get some project work out of the way.
Gotta tweak "Man of Letters" and get it off to B&T. Tried this afternoon, but needed one last pass to see it through. Didn't happen. Too many distractions. Will ship it off tomorrow, hell or high water. Still feel good about the piece, but interested to know what anyone else thinks.
Cold again today. Not bitter, but enough to wear gloves. Expect I'll be repeating those words for the next few months. Would like to get out for a long walk. Haven't done that in a while. A hike in the mountains would be nice.
Started A.B. Guthrie's Big Sky this morning. Didn't get far, but liked what I read. Didn't realize he helped adapt the screenplay for Shane. Pretty cool, pretty cool.
Tired. Gonna hang it up for the evening. Dream about castles and wizards and things.
Well. Hardly got anywhere today. Made it into the office at a respectable hour, but kept getting pulled away from my work. Got some revisions in place, but not a whole lot more before having to leave and look after things at home. Lot of back and forth.
Wrote two critiques and read a new story this afternoon. Made a pot of minestrone soup while I worked. Something to be happy about, I guess.
Didn't make it to the gym today. Maybe its for the best, given the sinus infection. Don't want to make things worse. Especially after getting a start on the antibiotics. Tomorrow's supposed to be a hairpin road, from what I'm told. May as well enjoy the breather while I've got it.
Gonna try and kick back tonight, get a little reading in. We'll see how that goes. Like to close in on these last 60 or so pages of The Searchers.
Found out late last night my short story "Riverbound" was named a finalist in the Sequestrum New Writer Awards. Nice to hear. Made for a good night's sleep.
Yeah. Still here, banging.
Up early after a worthless night's sleep. Worked some quick revisions, looked after the new N stories, read a couple of chapters, then ran off to the doc's office. Sinus infection, confirmed. Antibiotics for the next couple of weeks.
Full afternoon of billing, letter writing, project work, trips to post office, Arc, etc. Hardly know where the time went. Maybe just as well.
Gotta jump all over tomorrow. This time of year, always working at a deficit. Falling behind no matter how much you get ahead.
Calling it quits.
A perfectly lovely morning. Lots of this and that. A bit of the other. All good.
Big week ahead. Gotta rest up for it. Try and rid myself of this--what? Sinus infection? Allergies? Cold?
Made turkey stock from the Thanksgiving bird. Making turkey soup tonight.
Tired, but in a good way. Peaceful way. Keeping this short.
