Messing with things...

Switched things up today. Got up early and went directly to the keyboard. Saved the gym till later in the afternoon. 

Working on a passage that's been difficult and unwieldy. Made it better today, but it's a long way from where it needs to be. Think I've figured out what's causing the difficulty and how to fix it, but can already see it isn't going to be easy. Look forward to taking it on. If I can slap it into shape, the effort will bode well for the rest of the piece.

Pretty day. Snow flurries off and on. No real moisture to speak of but what did come was welcomed. 

Little guys were fun today. Had a nice time with them.

Sun's out, Guns out...

Woke around four, but took it to be a lot later. Sun's up by the time I get to the gym anymore. Makes me wonder if I should get out of bed a little sooner, although I'm not sure what that would mean come the back end of the day. By 7:00 I'm dragging. 8:30 I'm beat.

Put in what felt like a lot of good work today. Hope so. Each pass seems to get closer to what I'm after. Nothing to do but forge ahead and find out. Been a slow open to the new year with regard to the short fiction, and I'm not sure why. Don't remember having this many pieces in the mail before. Presumably I'm writing better stories than I did five years ago, but the acceptances seem to be slower in coming. Nothing to do but keep writing.

Weather was nice again today. Temps are supposed to drop again tomorrow, but it looks like we're staring 80 in the eye come Thursday in New Mexico. 

Gonna hang back and take it easy tonight. Eat an early dinner and relax with the kitties.

Almost there...

Beautiful day. A little cool early on, but bright and sunny and clear.

Worked at the keyboard until late morning when a couple of little visitors dropped by. Goofed off for a while, then helped the neighbor dig up his lawn. Tried to get back into the writing, but by then the timing was lost so went on an errand run instead. 

Yard's looking pretty good for April. Best in a long time. Gonna have to break down and give it a cut here soon.

Need to make reservations for the road trip to Albuquerque.

In memoriam...

Gone two years, but not forgotten.

Rest easy old man.

Bits and pieces...

Well, can't say much for this one. All over the page today, but serious doubts whether anything was accomplished. Gym early. Small stuff. More small stuff. Brief walk around the block, wagon in tow. Phone call to the lawyers in Cheyenne. Some market research. A couple of errands. Man, oh, man. What I wouldn't have given for a trip to Starbuck's today.

Weather's getting cool again, but no complaints. At least the wind died off. Supposed to rain tomorrow, and with any luck the meteorologists will get it right for a change. Lord knows we need the moisture.

Came across an old Joyce Carol Oats story today. "Affliction." Best part of the afternoon.

Just trying to maintain an even strain...

Last night's concert extraordinary. Branford Marsalis everything I'd hoped, and then some.

Forewent the gym this morning, knowing I'd be up to my eyes in yard work later. Wrote early, then went to the sod farm. Lawn finally in place. All of it. Nothing to do now but water, fertilize, cut and repeat. Christ, what an odyssey.

Finished the day at K's. Moved furniture, hung paintings, etc. 

Hoped to get a haircut today, but didn't make it. Tomorrow, please!

Notes from the underground...

Ugly-ass winds all day. Drove me crazy. Woke up at 3:00am and never really got back to sleep. Surprised I made it to the gym this morning.

Another rejection after a year's wait.

Quote: "Thank you very much for sending your story to REDACTED for consideration (such a long time ago). We read it many times over and unfortunately are going to pass. It's not quite right for us. It's an intriguing piece and you're a fine writer. I hope that you'll consider submitting to us again in the future. Thank you again for your great patience and support."

This is the writer's life. A year...waiting for the rejection of a short story. I can't do the math anymore, I really can't. At my age, it's too frightening. At least these guys were nice about it. I'll give them that. The other clowns, they deserve whatever Dantean end eventually comes to them. 

Out to a concert tonight. Branford Marsalis. Wish I weren't so tired. 

 If the winds calm down tomorrow, I'll install the new sod.

A breath of fresh air...

Rolled out of bed with a bit of reluctance this morning. For some reason a 6am appointment with the gym didn't look as rosey as it usually does. Fought through it and went anyway, and as is often the case, it wasn't near as bad as imagined. Had a good workout, then came home and hit the keyboard. Worked until one, then drove the pickup load of yesterday's sod out to Rocky Top and unloaded it. Hope to put in the new sod before the end of the week so I can take advantage of the alleged snow and rain that's coming. Worked a little more when I got back, took care of some correspondence, and went for a walk. The new round of prednisone and amoxicillin is doing its stuff. Feel like I'm getting my breath back.

Remains of the day...

Long day at hard labor.

Up a little later than usual, but managed the final revisions on "Woke!" and turned it out the door. After, helped K move some furniture around in anticipation of the carpet layers. When we finished there, came home and dug up the grass on the west and southern sides of the house. Gonna lay down new sod sometime in the next couple of weeks and start the whole yard fresh. With luck it'll be the last major work on the lawn I ever do.

Tired now. Looking to clean up and relax for a while.

Blowing in the wind...

Up early, straight to the keyboard. Got in some good writing, including a near-finished draft of a new short, "Woke!"

Did a little shopping (grocery and otherwise) this afternoon. Gonna help K move some furniture around tomorrow, so picked up dolly at Lowes to save some wear and tear on the back. Winds were high again today, otherwise might have been tempted to get some work done on the yard. Weather people say things will die down later tonight. Hope so.

Hit the gym late, but found a sudden burst of energy I didn't expect. That was nice. Went out shopping again afterward but couldn't find a chive to save my soul. Defaulted to Chinese, instead. Kung pau chicken, California style. 

Quick Friday post...

Thought it was joke yesterday when the DJ said eastern Colorado was looking at a blizzard warning. The temps were in the mid-to-high seventies when he made his announcement. Tonight I'm looking out the window at snow flurries and a big-ass wind.

Got some good work in today. Around the house as well as at the keyboard. Didn't make it to the gym, but will try and remedy that tomorrow. Gotta get at that garage, too. God, what a disaster!

Found myself slowing down in the reading of the Denis Johnson book. Don't want it to end.

Still here, still punching...

Raucous day. Started early with a trip to the gym, then back home playing tag-team looking after the little guy. Managed some decent writing on a couple of pieces, and while I didn't quite get as far as I wanted, I think I may have a reader draft of a new story tomorrow. Have to wait and see.

Nice morning until the wind kicked up. Not sure what tomorrow's supposed to bring but it'll be Friday, and that in and of itself is the great equalizer.

Boys stayed for dinner tonight. What a zoo. Young J comes back tomorrow morning for an adventure to Canon City. Theres a new dinosaur exhibit he's hot on seeing. Don't know much about it, but figure to learn.

Down to the last story in the Johnson book. Have enjoyed the whole collection so much I feel like starting all over again and I'm not even finished. Still can't believe he's gone. What a writer.

Smooth, even at the corners...

All right, all right. At last. A nice long uninterrupted day. Progress on all fronts. Even the gym was light a few regulars this morning, translating into a nice quiet workout for a change.

A stiff wind blew in during the afternoon, but the sky stayed blue and the air was warm and everything was okay. Starting the new regimen of pills tomorrow. Should be a good day to test them out.

Been drifting through a lot of pages wondering why I can't find more wrong with them. I know from experience they can't be as passable as my mind is currently making them out to be, but what's the cause of the lazy eye? Am I tired? Distracted? I don't feel like I am.

And what's up the rest of the literary world? Are there no rejections to send out? I must have ten pieces in the mail, some of them months and even years in the works, and haven't heard a word about any of them.

Busy day tomorrow. Best to leave things as they are.

Medication time, again...

Up early. To the gym and back by 7:30. 

Spread the day thin looking after small stuff and finishing the last of the N reviews. Not much else. Seemed like a nice spring day from what I saw of it, and maybe the last for this week. Pretty sure there's rain in the future.

Asthma seemed to back off today. That was nice. Starting on a new round of antibiotics and steroids tomorrow. Three weeks worth.

Hey, it's monday!

Back at it.

Gym. Work. Doc. 

Polyps galore. Need surgery, or so I'm told. Could use a winning lotto ticket, too, when you get right down to it. Stuff to think about, for sure.

Sunday...

So, yeah. I was looking for more. Today. But you get what you get.

Tomorrow, the ENT specialist. Expectations? I expect not to get fixed, but hope to get out of the clinic before my whole day goes down the drain.

J's birthday party today a revelation. 

Small doings...

Young J's birthday tomorrow. Got him a fly vest and had his name embroidered over the breast pocket. Hope he likes it.

No gym today. Up late and at the keyboard late. Just tired, I guess. Did some good things revising a couple of older pieces, then went off to see a movie. The Death of Stalin. Which took me completely unexpected. What a hoot.

Started raining lightly on the way home. Looks as if it might keep on into the night. Hope so, anyway.

Second thoughts...

Man, oh man. Where did the day go?

Up early to the gym, home in time for a cup of coffee, then the rest. Out the door, up the stairs, in the shower, at the keyboard. 

Wrote and edited into the afternoon. Took a late break and went to Starbucks, downtown. Came home and wrote critiques for my N stories. Some near misses this time around. Finished sending them off and found three new ones in my inbox.

Hoped to get more reading in, but didn't have time. Tonight maybe. Still have another story or two in the Sea Maiden collection.

All that hope I was feeling at the beginning of the week is starting to wane. Why is that?  

Out and about...

Out the door early to the gym. Been crowded there for the past few weeks. Didn't know that many people could talk themselves out of bed at 6:00 am. Gotta do the alter-ego drill sergeant routine to rout myself out of the sack. 

Little guy came early. Barely had one cup behind me when the front door popped open. Spent most of the day going back and forth between the cottage office and the house, but managed some decent revisions before hanging things up. Went for a nice walk late in the afternoon with M in tow. Wagoned around the neighborhood for about an hour. Weather was crisp when the wind came up, but not bad for early spring.

Grass is beginning to green up. All looks good except the patch I begged off replacing last fall. Don't know what I was thinking, but it's gonna take some serious elbow grease to bring it up to par with the rest of the lawn.

Penance.

Mixed bag...

Got run down by allergies today. They decided to ride the coattails of my chronic sinus infection, so I've been hiding behind the keyboard (and a generous dose of Sudafed) most the day.

Managed to finish the draft of another new story. That's two in less than two weeks, and both pretty solid efforts for early efforts. Hope the final revisions come as quickly and neatly.

The long haul projects are coming along, too, but it's still too early to guess whether they have any merit. Important thing is to keep plugging.

Cold weather expected tomorrow. Not sure what the rest of the week is supposed to hold. Whatever it is, as long as it isn't hail I'm okay with it. Like to get the sprinkler system up and running before the weekend. Maybe get some yard work in.