writer
Coming to this tired.
Was up early looking at manuscripts, then sidelined with the arrival of the painting crew who made enough noise to drive us off to Starbucks.
Good return to the gym.
Good walk around the neighborhood.
Good day getting a lot of housekeeping matters behind us.
Spent the morning revising the long piece, and the afternoon working around the yard. Painters due early tomorrow, aeration and sprinkler crews later in the week. Everything should look shipshape by next weekend. Be glad to have the painting behind us. Been waiting all winter for the weather to clear.
Jack’s birthday today. Hard to believe, but he’s officially nine. He and Matt called this morning while we were out caulking the porch rail. Didn’t talk for as long as we’d have liked, but long enough to see they’d found home again after their week-long vacation to Colorado.
Figure it to be a busy few days with all the work crews coming and going. Just hope I can carve out some good writing time. That and some uninterrupted time at the gym.
Woke early with some help from the carpenter who came banging on the front door before anyone was up.
Managed to get in some edits on the long piece, but not as many as I’d have liked. Abandoned the keyboard a little after twelve and went to the movies.
Weather went gray by late afternoon, but the temps have come up and we managed a nice walk when we got home.
Strange not having the boys around. Never quite get used to their leaving.
Boys back home to Pittsburgh this morning. Spent the afternoon policing the yard in anticipation of the painting crew. Come Monday, house is looking at a new coat. Meanwhile, gotta try and get back to the writing. I must have five drafts awaiting revision.
Weather turned tolerable again. Supposed to hit eighty by Monday. I’ll take whatever comes as long as it doesn’t get in the way of work. Looking forward to hitting the gym again, and all the rest.
Tonight, veg time.
Visit with the boys in full swing.
Don’t figure to come up for air till the end of the week.
Big week ahead. Lots of visitors. Don’t expect to get much writing done, but that’s okay. Figure to have a rollicking time with the boys.
Heavy winds the past few days, and more in the forecast. The only thing about springtime in the Rockies I’ve never enjoyed. Easy to picture those wind-crazy pioneers in their sod huts murdering one another after a week or two of this stuff.
Going to work now. Still have a couple of hours before the plane lands.
Never quite hit stride this morning. Was up early, but not early enough, and production suffered on a account of it. Sill, did manage to get 1,500 words into another new story, and write a critique for N, so can’t complain too much.
Put in some time at the gym, just after noon, then came home and ran a few errands in advance of the boys’ arrival on Friday. Picked up some groceries, too. A lot left to do before they get here, but making the garage my number one priority. It went into decline after they left last summer and never quite recovered.
Weather cheered up, and except for a hard breeze coming out of the south it was a nice, blue-sky day. Don’t think it’ll warm up enough to go fishing anytime soon, but hey, fingers crossed.
Looking forward to a quiet evening.
Getting back up to speed.
Woke late, and spent the early part of the morning doing Q&A with the London editor of The Forge.
Worked out early afternoon, then came home and drifted off into a nap with Mr. Kitcat.
Talked briefly with Jack, and made plans for his end of week arrival in the Springs.
Didn’t break any records, but hope to amp things up tomorrow.
Tonight, taking it easy.
Back from Los Lunas, and a nice visit with family.
Saw some beautiful sights.
Road trip tomorrow.
A short one.
Here we are, Wednesday, and the entire week seems pre-ordained to mediocrity.
Same old, same old.
Maybe dinner will save it.
But, probably not.
Lots of doings today, few of which involved actual work.
Was up later than usual, but still in good time to write and get to the gym.
Did a little bit of reading, ran a few errands, and took a walk.
Nothing much else to say.
Late rise. Slept in after a night of restless dreams.
Working on the short pieces, but making progress with all of them. One of these days I’m gonna have four or five come to fruition at the same time.
Squeezed an early workout in before my doc’s appointment.
New X-rays of the lungs look good. No residual badness from the pneumonia.
So, slow day.
Worked early on another new story, then went off on an errand run.
FaceTimed with the boys, and that’s about it.
Dr. appt. tomorrow. New guy. They withheld my prescriptions and he drew the short straw.
Back to business.
Wrote well this morning. Have two near-finished drafts in the hopper now. Spent the rest of the day running errands and shopping.
Hoping for a quiet day tomorrow.
Spent a long afternoon in Denver yesterday visiting my uncle. He’s 91 and still punching. The Parkinson’s has crumpled him up pretty good, but he gets around all right with his walker. The toughest thing is his speech. Parkinson’s has taken that, too. He’s still able to summon up a sentence or two if he puts his heart into it, but you can tell it isn’t easy. Anyway, good to see him again. Really good.
Woke up to snow yesterday, and again today, but an hour or two in the morning sun and most of it melted away. Not sure what sort of weather the weekend’s supposed to bring. Sunshine, I hope. But I wouldn’t mind a little rain either.
Had a good morning at the keyboard. Near to having a reader draft of the story I’m calling "Nobody’s Business But His Own.” Might give it one more quick read tomorrow before letting it rest. Then I’m moving on to the next one.
Revisited “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” this afternoon. After, put in a decent workout at the gym.
Corned beef and cabbage tonight. K’s coming, too, before she leaves for the east coast. Used to watch John Huston’s The Dead on St. Pat’s Day in years past, but find it’s a hard sell anymore. Wish it weren’t, but it is. Brilliant story in so many ways.
Good day all around.
Weather got a bit iffy toward the end of day, but the snow hasn’t begun yet. Hope it doesn’t make my drive up to Denver tomorrow to visit my uncle too hairy.
Feels like the fog’s dissipating. Been doing better with the writing the past couple of days. At least one of the new short pieces feels closer than I remembered. Maybe all of them are and I just didn’t know it.
Looking ahead to a quiet night.
Braising some pork chops for dinner.
This one whizzed by like a deadline.
No idea what happened to it.
Watched the Oscars last night. Would’ve wished I hadn’t, except that I’d prepared myself days in advance and a bottle of wine was already open.
Slept well, woke early. Worked on one of the new stories and headed off to the gym about an hour too late. (It happens.) Took a short rest when I got home, then went back to work until my cousin J.J. called. I’m getting the feeling it’s going to be stop-and-start week. Hope I can make a good push to finish something.
Copies of the Ocotillo Review came. Good to see another story in print. Two more on the horizon.
Making plans to see my uncle on Thursday. He’s ninety-two and winding down, I’m afraid. Looking forward to catching up with him.
Did it.
Sucked down for liters of the foulest tasting shit I’ve drunk since my first glass of Ouzo (last dose 2:30 am) , caught about two hours sleep, and was at the colonoscopy clinic a little after 8:00 am. Procedure wasn’t bad, but the prep was awful. The worst I’ve had in three different outings. The juice came in what looked like a gas can from some cold-war warehouse. I asked the tech about it, and she said yeah, it was old technology. The new formulas—the ones I didn’t get—are a fraction of the volume, and some even come in pills. Pays to ask ahead, I guess.
Looking for an early turn-in time tonight. Real early.
