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. 

 

Ain't it good...

Home again. 

First time in Albuquerque since my dad's death. Glad it was to celebrate my mom's 88th birthday. Had a nice time seeing everyone. Nieces and nephews are growing up. Beginning to resemble real people. Good weather there and back, but didn't see a lick of wildlife. Nothing. The San Luis Valley was just starting to wake up, though the countryside was still ochre and umber and only a little touch of gold.

Got some writing done this morning. Came reluctantly after the hiatus, but all in all the effort bore fruit.

Pretty day today. Beautiful, in fact. Cool, sunny and nothing but blue skies.

Need I explain?

Early again to the keyboard. Hard at it. Took a break around 1:00 and hit the gym for a couple of hours. Time to think. Reflect.

Got a notice from another publisher. They've held my short story collection "The Outskirts of Nowhere" for fourteen months, and wrote today to say they'd been having some kind of internal shakeup and were returning all mss that had been under consideration. Seriously? Fourteen months? There are people in this industry who need to be lined up against a wall and...well. Never mind.

Cut the lawn--both lawns--for the first time this year. Felt good. Looks good.

Off to see Mom tomorrow for her 88th birthday. Maybe a nice long road trip will tip the scales toward sanity.

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.

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.