writer
What's the opposite of Gestalt? Where the sum of something's part equals less than the whole? That's what today was.
High point: MB's memoir draft. Low point? Why play favorites?
Looking ahead, I've gotta wonder whether it's me or the rest of the world. Given the odds, I suspect it's me.
Heading off to the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo in a few. Haven't been for a while, but will never forget my first all those years ago. A lot of fun.
Talked to Mom tonight. Sounded well. She's just coming off a visit from my Uncle J. Think they had a good time together. Wish I had a little more flexibility this week so I could take him fishing, but don't see it in the cards.
Made some good revisions today. Looked after small stuff most of the morning, then headed for the gym. Got a nice rain this afternoon. Grass looks like hell, but the trees were grateful.
Dropped a stitch in the narrative. K popped in yesterday for dinner, and by the time the show was over I was too tired to make an entry. Steaks on the grill, blueberry cobbler. Evening crept up fast and went down even faster. Sat out on the back patio a while, but the air wasn't moving and it was too warm to have a fire.
Sorted through some mss this morning, looking to see what sort of anthology material might be available. Was disappointed to find at least two mss I'd considered finished that needed serious revision. Don't know what the hell I was thinking when I sent them out. But at least I caught them in time to withdraw.
Don't know why, but I've caught that bug again. The one that makes me feel like I'm going nowhere, fast. Been punching back, hard, but it's there. Can't seem to write fast enough to outrun it. Seeing windows and doors slamming shut all around me, and getting the feeling there's nothing I can do about it. Screw it. Just put another foot forward, right?
The Russians have gone missing. Tolstoy and Dostoevsky anyway. Turgenev's still there, on his shelf in the library, but the other's have disappeared. So has my clothbound edition of Thom Jones second short story collection, Cold Snap. Gotta make a trip to the storage unit and open some of the boxes in there. Take a hard look around. Don't know where else those books might have wandered off to.
Weather people said monsoon season's come. They were right for a change. Rained off and on all day. But nice rain. Cooled everything down.
Sloughed off a trip to the habitat store in favor of a quick run to Costco to pick up allergy drugs and a couple of bottles of wine. Looking to stuff some mushrooms tonight and take it easy. Maybe make a fire out back if the kindling isn't too wet.
Finished what felt like the last of the edits on "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" this morning. Looking to send it off tomorrow and move along to a new story. Got high hopes. We'll see if they're worth anything.
Hands on day.
Walked early, wrote a little, took care of a v.o., retrieved the shop vac, read a little, then off to the gym. Posted an email or two between gigs.
Ran across a nicely written essay by a man named Robert Stothart in the new edition of the Florida Review, titled "Nighthawks."
Need to clean up "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" tomorrow. Get it out the door and move on to something new.
Progress!
Took a walk early this morning, then came home and sent "Love Triangle" out into the world. Felt good to get something new in the mail.
Took care of a few small revisions on some commercial work, then spent the rest of the morning looking after little things. Another trip to the Biedleman Center. Big fun. Ladybugs, water skeeters, a stray dog, and a robin whisking worms to her brand new hatchlings from up and down river. Took a few unexpected spills, a nick or two on the shins, but all turned out as it should. Grand time all around.
Hit the gym later in the afternoon. Walked past the lawn like we'd never met, and drove away thinking I can't wait to dig you up!
Hot today. Hot, hot, hot. Hope to get some sleep tonight.
Well, it went by kinda quick, and I'm not sure I accomplished much, but the workday's over and here I am. Minutes away from a chili dog.
Sent off some belated correspondence, finished a paying gig, and took care of the two N reviews I've had in my submission queue for a week. Found my way to the gym, too.
Been tracking the info on the big eclipse coming this August, trying to settle on the best spot to watch it. My granddad's ranch is directly in the path, but it looks like the cabin in the Bighorns is too. An embarrassment of riches as they say.
Thinking about the grass, it looks like maybe the whole lot of it ought to be peeled up and replaced. Can't stand another summer of it looking the way it does. Sounds brave now, but we'll see how that attitude holds up once the work's for real.
On a positive note, "Love Triangle" goes out tomorrow. Hell or high water.
Up early to the kid's parade on Wood Avenue. Lot's of folks showed up this year. Quite the spectacle. Bicycles, wagons, scooters, walkers. Even spectators sitting on their lawns, drinking mimosas. Had a lot of fun with the boys.
Worked on a commercial project when I got home, hoping to get a jump on tomorrow. Still have the critiques for the N stories, which I figure to push out the door tomorrow. Need to take care of some overdue correspondence, too.
Woke up this morning, looked out the window, and decided I need to rent a sod cutter and go to work on the front lawn. Grass looks like hell, and there's no making it better under the current system. Most of it's shade grass left over from the days when we had those great old silver maples, and it's struggling to stay alive even though I've seeded it with full sun fescue twice. I used a sod cutter once. Years ago. I was young and it was awful, and I swore I'd never touch one again. But I can't allow the current tragedy to go on.
Volunteered to babysit this evening. That, too, a decision of questionable judgement. Worn out from a "walking adventure" followed by fuss budgeting, creeching, back sassing and other sundry atrocities. Too tired to fix dinner. Expect to sleep through the fireworks, which should be starting shortly. Signing off.
A day devoted to plumbing. More interesting than it sounds. Story material, for sure.
Sudafed. Well, that's one way to get some sleep. Made it nearly till dawn before the cold woke me, and from there the morning turned into a blur. Made some good final edits on "Love Triangle," and "If Wishes Were Horses," which I've now renamed "Sweetheart of the Rodeo." Gonna look to get both out the door before week's end. We'll see what happens in the meantime.
Cooked up a pot of navy bean soup instead of doing any honest work this afternoon. Cut the lawn, too. Read the N submissions, and as always, find the critique-ing of them a challenge, though each for reasons of its own. Both interesting stories. Both from schooled writers. But not sure either will get a pass to the next round. We'll see. Good to sleep on things sometimes.
Big day ahead tomorrow. Commercial work. Always happy with that. Want to stay ahead of the mid-week holiday, since the aftermath is always, well, tragic.
Kinda hoped this weekend would last a little longer. But it didn't, so that's that. On to the next one, I guess.
Just back from dinner out. Chicago dogs! In the rain!
Quiet day, start to finish. Put final revisions on two of the new pieces, talked to my old friend Bob, then off to a movie that should have been better. Short workout and a little bit of reading afterward.
Christ but this new cold has hold of me. Energy level fully at two thirds--and sinking.
Might start a fire tonight. We'll see if the rain lets up.
Thought I'd get more done today. Good morning. Got in some solid edits. But was sidetracked not long after and things slowed, considerably. Don't feel well, either. Another GD cold, I think, though allergies might be playing into it. Smoke from the fires another possibility. Anyway, some good final edits on "If Wishes Were Horses." Haven't been in any hurry to get the new stories out the door, but should probably amp it up just for the sake of moving forward.
Surprise text from D this morning. Haven't had one of those in a while. Pic too. He's down in Hot Springs, Arkansas, on a road trip to Iowa. He'd been fishing. Tied into some "pumpkinseed" bluegill. Never seen anything like them. Streaked with orange and a florescent ice blue. Pretty fish.
Grabbed a latte at Starbucks around 1:00 then dragged my tired ass off to the gym. Changed up my routine a week ago. A quick rotation. Skip rope, work the heavy bag, hit the weight machines. Rinse and repeat.
Got a decent night's sleep, but tired nonetheless. Old habits die hard. Some harder than others. Grateful for what I have, but hungry for more.
Wild day, in a tame sort of day. Early coffee with G, who seems happy and adjusting well to his new life. I have the feeling it's going to be a good year for him--better than he expects--and I'm happy for him. He's a talented man, and he's always made his own breaks.
Spent the better part of the morning over at the Biedleman Center with young J. Had a splendid time all around. Hiked, sloshed in the stream, and fended off armies of Blue Meanies, Apple Bonkers, and Snapping Turks with little more than sticks and stones.
Got a brief look at a ms., but not enough to do any good. So retreated into research in prep for my afternoon meeting at the Broadmoor. If all goes well, should translate into a video script celebrating the hotel's 100th anniversary.
Allergies been knocking me down for the past two days. Sore throat, congestion, the whole nine yards. Think it's the smoke from all the fires. Doesn't really matter, I suppose. Just wish it would go away.
No gym today. No time. Will get back on it tomorrow.
Guess I'll be saying this for the rest of my life, but the west is on fire again. Big burns in Utah and Arizona. Small ones in Colorado. Hope we fare a little better this year than we have in the past. Air quality's not off-the-charts bad, but there's smoke in the air and you can taste it.
Got mom off to Albuquerque sometime around 10:00 this morning. Had a nice visit. She still looked a little tired from her time on the Bighorns, but was happy, as usual, and good company for as long as she was here.
Put in a little bit of time at the keyboard--research mostly--but don't figure to make much progress until the weekend. Two meetings tomorrow, one early, one mid-afternoon. Between them don't expect to get a whole lot done.
Halfway through A.B. Guthrie's The Way West, and enjoying the heck out of it. Gotta go on a search for some hardcover copies of his books and add them to the permanent collection. A reprint of Italo Calvino's "The Adventure of a Skier" in the new New Yorker. Haven't read it yet, but look forward to doing so.
Tired. Gotta stop thinking so hard.
Caught up with some of the fiction stuff today. Made some good revisions on the newest (untltled) story. More than I'd hoped for, actually. Who knows, press hard I might have a reader draft by week's end.
Two commercial projects to crack on tomorrow. Figure to get one, if not both, out the door.
Mom coming back from her Wyoming adventure tomorrow. Invited my bro and his kids for dinner, too, but haven't heard back. We'll see how it goes.
New N story in the queue. Gonna have to jump on that in the next day or so as well. Looks like it's going to be a busy week.
Garage sale now in the rearview. Made a couple of bucks, lost a couple of marbles, went away with a few new aches and pains.
Glad it's over.
Past seven, and I don't know where the day went. Little things this morning, commercial projects this afternoon, then off collecting stuff from storage for the ONEN yard sale.
Too beat to write more.
Calling it a day.
Another hot but lovely day. Blue skies, reefs of hight white clouds, a gentle breeze to keep the air moving. Spent most of the day in the cottage working on a new project. Got the go ahead to proceed on the Hayden Homes project too. Took a couple of hours off mid-day to visit with the little ones, then went off to the gym.
Heard some joker from Travel & Leisure talk about how poor Americans are at taking time off. Reminded me of a conversation I had years ago with a friend who worked in the college marketing department. He had it down to a science. First week off was to decompress. Second, learn to relax. The third week, he said, was where the only restorative value actually took place. Imagine. Three weeks off. I told him the most I'd ever accrued was two, and that management strongly discouraged taking all of it at once. Not if you wanted your job back when you got home.
Put in some quick edits on the new story. Think I made headway. Itching to crack a book tonight.
Here we are, another Monday evening. Where did the day go?
Up for an early morning walk, then to keyboard. Surprise visit late morning (including a bit with dog!) then back to work until mid-afternoon and a trip to the gym. How can that possibly add up to an entire day?
Still in a bit of a daze, I guess, from all the sun I took while walking the river yesterday. Arms are burned to the elbows, but the rest of me managed to come out from under the sun unscathed. Go figure, right?
Looking into a practice fly rod for one of the boys. Like to get young J out for a lesson or two.
Mom arrived late last night, held up by business in Albuquerque. Picked her up around 10:00 pm., and fed her a late night sandwich before sending her off to bed. She left this morning around 9:00, and will get as far as Casper, I think, before calling it a day. Good seeing my bro, his son and daughter-in-law. Hope they have a great time in the Bighorns.
Picked up my f&g license on the way back from the motel, and spent the day in Elevenmile canyon, fishing. Haven't been skunked in a while, and not sure what it bodes for the rest of the season, but was happy to get in the mountains, on a river, whatever it took. Water was lower than I expected, given the big runoff we've had, but the mountain was green and the wildflowers were in bloom--woods rose, potentilla, current, willow--even ran across a few uneaten wild raspberries.
Spent most of the day on the upper two miles of the river where it's all catch and release. Hardly anyone up that high, so had the place to myself almost all afternoon. Have some pretty salmon fillets in the fridge, so it's best I didn't bring anything home. Looking forward to firing up the grill tonight. Couldn't ask for a nicer Father's Day unless it was to talk to my own father again. Here's thinking of you, Pop.
