Pretty day...

Okay. So, made it this far.

Tired today. Even so, up at five, off to the gym at five thirty. Mowed the lawns, sat with the boys a while, critiquing stories, then mosyied home to put in some work.

Wrote a couple of letters this afternoon. Tried to catch up. The crud made a comeback, slowing things down, but figured it would. Just need a little more rest.

Read Philip Roth died. Haven't been plunged so deep for a while. Guy was a giant. I'll miss him.

On a happier note, glad to hear good news about R.

Too tired to think...

Yeah. Out the door at 5:40 am to the gym. Couldn't sleep. Still amazed people are willing to get up at the crack of dawn to work out. But man, they're there. 

Had a few cups of coffee, then put in some work at the keyboard. Revisions, mostly. Pushed some material out the door, then looked after the small stuff. Trying not to think at the moment. Just work. Got a lot on my mind and trying not to get mired.

Day started out cool and overcast, ended up sunny and breezy. Spring is here. 

Good news in the places it counts most.

Gonna chalk the day up as a win.

 

More comings and goings...

Off the radar a while. Sent Mom off to Albuquerque late this morning after four-night stay. Kept busy the whole time, and had a nice visit.

Policed the back patio while she was here, trimming, planting, weeding, etc. Tasked Mom with teak-oiling the patio furniture, and she did a damned good job for a blind eighty-eight year old. Place is looking good again, and should be entirely livable by the end of Memorial Day weekend.

Didn't get much accomplished at the keyboard the past four days, but sometimes that happens. Haven't been to the gym in the same amount of time, and am champing at the bit to find my old routine again.

Pushed a new version of The Outskirts of Nowhere out the door this afternoon. U of G is sponsoring a contest that looked interesting, and though I wouldn't bet against the house over my odds of winning, it felt good to get something off the desk. I'll worry about the outcome later.

Sending out warm thoughts to my sweet neighbor. It's all cake after tomorrow.

Headway...

Up early after another sleepless night. Bad dreams, and the like. Made the gym well before six and got in a pretty good workout. The place was quiet compared to the way it's been the past few months. Nice to have some space.

Spent the rest of the day between revisions on the new story and house chores in anticipation of Mom's visit. Accomplished quite a lot, given I'm still not feeling too well. Cut both my lawns late this afternoon. What a beautiful day it turned out to be. Temps were supposed to be near eighty, but I'm not sure it got that warm. Anyway, the sky was blue the sun was shining, and there was a nice cool breeze stirring the air most of the day.

Fingers crossed the next few days go well. Have three new mss to read and critique and need to stay ahead of them. 

The Wolfe, Dead at 88...

Took the dare and got out of bed early. Left the house at first light and got over to the gym for an early workout. Managed pretty well considering the layoff. No asthma attacks, and only a small amount of trouble breathing. Worst part was the crowd of people already there. Jesus. Where do they find the commitment?

Tired kind of early, but expected to. Put in as much time at the keyboard as possible, then spent the rest of the afternoon taking care of small stuff. Not the most productive day in the world, but not the least, either. Happy with the quality. That's the important thing.

Can already tell this virus is the kind to come and go. Can't go to sleep on it. Thought maybe I'd turned a corner yesterday--and I had--but I can tell by the way I feel today that it's not ready to let go. Gonna have to find a way to take it easy. Ride those burst of energy at a trot instead of a gallop.

On a more important note, saw that Tom Wolfe died. Major downer. 

Clouds sailed in, low and dark, a while ago. Hail mussed up the trees and flowers a bit, but the yard didn't take any major casualties for a change. Hope that's the last we see of that business for a while.

Off the ropes and slugging again...

On the mend. Slept through the night and woke half-way clear headed. Still tired, but much improved. Forewent the gym for the--what?--fifth day running, figuring it's best not to tempt fate. Back at it tomorrow, I think.

Did some good revising today. The new story's almost reader-ready. Meanwhile, restocked and rearranged the library bookcase, and the same with the reference bookcase in the cottage. Nice to see all the titles in their right place again.

One N critique out the door, three new pieces coming in. Good to be busy, as always. Good to get back some of the old energy. 

Yard's looking fine, no thanks to me. Everything's blossomed or come out in the past seven days and the place is beginning to feel right again. Green and shady and easy on the eyes. 

More of the same...

Long day, most of it spent in bed. Was hoping for a rally, but what I got instead was a bigger dose of what I already have. Downed some cough medicine. A couple of pills. Not sure which is worse, the disease or the cure.

Gotta re-group and hope tomorrow's better. Talked to mom this afternoon, sounded like she was doing fine. Cheerful as all get out. How does she do that? Only a few days before she comes out now. Says don't plan anything special. No worries. I told her we were going to clean the garage and she lit up like a Christmas tree.

Miss the gym. Haven't been for three straight days now. Don't want to infect anyone else, but the layoff is driving me crazy. 

 

Laid low...

The cold I'm lugging around is a nasty one. Don't remember being this under the weather for a long time--which, of late, adds up to about a week and a half. Developed a cough last night, too. Attractive.  

Nearly got some work done today, but then the cement kid came to lay the slab for the fountain on the side yard and everything started to slip. Boys came over later and put their prints in the finished product. M lent the soles of his feet and young J his hands. Should be set enough by tomorrow to remove the form, install the fountain five or six days after that. All's right with the world! 

Mom to arrive by week's end. Hoped to get a lot done in advance of her coming, but don't feel like it, frankly, and pretty sure my attitude's not going to change by tomorrow.

Putting together a new collection. Got some good pieces to work with, and who knows? Maybe it'll fly. 

Cold comfort...

Knocked down a by new cold yesterday. Went straight to the head. By the middle of the night I was wondering if I'd come down with strep. Waited for the fever to come, but happily it never arrived. Had M all day, and young J for a sleepover. Lots of goings on, but all of them good, if exhausting. Wish I'd gotten some sleep in the process--might've helped--but it wasn't in the cards. Downed a couple of Sudafed and still managed to punch out some halfway decent work at the keyboard. At least I think it was decent. A sober read tomorrow morning will tell.

Funny, got a rejection slip early on (only a ten month wait for this one!) for a story that was accepted by another pub about an hour later. "Love Triangle" has now found a home in Descant, a first rate operation and a journal I've long admired. In the midst of the comings and goings, I also knocked off a rough draft of my newest piece of short fiction, a story I'm calling "Astray." Didn't make any headway on the longer piece, but with a head full of goop it didn't seem the day to try. 

Moving further into the C. Alexander translation of the Iliad, and loving it. 

Hope to see a turn in health tomorrow. Mom coming at the end of the week, and don't want to infect her. 

Missing Theatreworks presentation of Amadeus tonight owing to the cold. Bummer. Would love to have seen what they did with it. On the other hand, didn't want to be the clown coughing and sneezing throughout the performance.

 

 

 

How extravagant...

Went to bed at a reasonable hour, but kept getting startled out my sleep. Dogs barking. Cats hightailing it through the house, doing god-knows-what. Neighbor to the west shouting obscenities in the middle of the night. Jesus. Wasn't any winning that war. Finally got tired of it and set off for the gym. Not a bad workout, under the circumstances.

Set the long piece aside for a bit of aesthetic distance and concentrated on the new short. Hoped to have a reader's draft and got damned close...but no cigar. Had to give up out of fatigue and finish my critique of the new N story instead. That, and write a mother's day note to my mom. And cut and fertilize my lawns. And run a couple of errands.

Gotta hope to get a good night's sleep tonight. Young M comes early tomorrow, and his brother J stays for a sleepover tomorrow night. Something tells me the weekend's still a long way away.

Skies were overcast most of the day. But still, the weather was nice. A little warm at 61, but nice. Birds are still singing outside my window.

Late entry...

Another early one. Out the door to the gym before six. Home to look after little things. Spent the morning in the park. Afternoon at the house. The Peak's still carrying the last of the spring snow. Quite the sight. Didn't get much writing time today, but took advantage of what came along. I'll look to catch up tomorrow.

Living the dream...

Up earlier than usual (5:30) after a restless night's sleep. Decided to make the most of the early rise by going to the gym. Not exactly the energetic workout I was hoping for, but made it through to the end all the same.

Wrote, made a trip to the landfill, took a late afternoon nap. All in all a pretty sweet day.

Neglected to mention a pair of milestones last week. The end of April was also the end of one of the best people I've ever known. Irene L. Dreamed about her last night. Always a nice thing. The 30th was also Kit-Cat (Christopher Marlowe) McG's birthday. Since he came to me as a stray, I'll call him ageless. Like his namesake.

 

Age appropriate...

Blew the early morning call. Grandfather clock chimed, but I slept right through it. Not sure if that's a first, but damned close. Couldn't get to sleep until well after three so maybe it's no surprise.

Held off going to the gym until this afternoon. Wrote all morning instead. Made some good edits to the long piece, then spent a little time with a new short I'm calling "Stray." A three thousand word joint that's got a mildly experimental narrative with a forward-leaning voice.

Went for a walk late in the day. Just a slow ramble around the neighborhood. Not sure why, but I'm all beat up of late and struggling to find any energy. Still have six or seven days left on antibiotics. After that, we'll see.

Grass is looking great. Funny being outside so much. Complexion of the neighborhood's changing. Lots of little ones running around. Seven kids under ten, next door and across the street. Makes things interesting, that's for sure. Brings back memories.

Made it this far...

Yup. Just as expected. Long day tangled in small stuff. Hit the gym early after a restless night's sleep, then straight to it. 

Did get a chance to read the front matter of the new Iliad translation, and even work my way into the first book. Good stuff!

Light rain this afternoon, and cool temps. Got a nice note from my buddy G whose looking at a staff job in LA on a new pilot. Fingers crossed for him.

Already looking at tomorrow.

Mid-week update...

Rough night last night. Didn't sleep much. Cats were tear-assing around, upstairs and down. Bad dreams. The whole nine yards. 

Made it to the gym a little after six. Maybe should have gone in sooner, given I'd been awake for a couple of hours. Anyway, there and back. Made good progress at the keyboard. Quit early afternoon to weed the neighbor's parkway, then came home and read a while. 

Got some rain. Not much, but some. A pretty mild day, all in all.

Beat now. Calling it a day.

 

All in a day's doings...

Yow. Early to the gym, and the rest of the day looking after small stuff. Everybody sick again! Yahoo! 

Supposed to be an ugly afternoon, but the weather held and except for a stiff breeze every now and then not a bad day. Rain tomorrow, I think. Good thing. Summer's already shaping up into a hot dry mess, and with Manitou committed to watering restrictions, I figure we're not far behind.

Looking forward to getting back to the keyboard tomorrow.

Really looking forward to it.

 

Not bad for a Monday...

Serious progress all around. Up early to the gym, the keyboard, all the rest. Broke from the manuscripts mid-afternoon and dismantled the teak deck on the side of the house with the help of the neighbor. Didn't actually need the help, but it was nice to have. Pickup's loaded and ready for the dump. Side yard's ready for a concrete slab. Be nice to have the fountain permanently in place, and a little more maneuvering room for the mower, wheel barrow and everything else that comes and goes through the gate.

Pushed a new story out the door. Happy about that. Picked up a rejection, too. One in, one out.