writer
Still down with the crud. Bad asthma attack in the middle of the night. Didn't get back to sleep until early morning.
Put in some time at the keyboard, but only because sitting up felt better than lying down. Not sure what sort of progress, if any, I made.
Laid around all afternoon. Took a nap. End of story.
Christ. Another cold. How many is that this year? Can't seem to catch a break.
Boys slept over last night. Had a good time all the way around. Up early, but a slow day owing to the crud.
Rain tonight. Not a lot, but maybe enough to knock down some of the smoke.
Made a pot of chicken soup. Gotta help, right?
Man. Screwed up elbow now accompanied by a late summer cold. Or whatever. Woke this morning with a sore throat, and it's only gotten worse.
Kids back and forth today owing to a shooting in the UCCS daycare parking lot the night prior. What a mess.
Hard to believe it's Wednesday.
Up early. Maybe too early. Figured it to be five, and came downstairs to write but missed my usual wake up call by an hour. It was only four. Finished the revisions on "Blood from Stone," then went back to bed.
Worked on some new material later, and caught up on paperwork. Hit the gym around one. Contacted the local chapter of the IBEW to see if I could find an electrician for the garage lift unit. Think maybe I hit pay dirt, but will wait to see what the bid looks like before I do any celebrating.
Cut the lawns after all else. Yard looks pretty good despite the warm dry weather.
Figure I broke even today.
Got "Blood from Stone" in submittable shape, and managed a brief look at one of my new pieces, "Down There" before everything got crazy.
Young M a project today. Not much else to say.
Mid-day there was a slow walk around the neighborhood in the wagon, but not without a great deal of whining and drama. The rest was murder.
Eric the Reluctant dropped in to check the electronics on the hydraulic lift, got flustered and promptly left again. Not sure where we'll go from here. Not sure I care, either.
Went to be early last night, but it didn't seem to help. Will try again tonight and see if I can't avoid the death row dreams that have visited me of late.
Skies blue, but smokey. Go figure.
Big winds last night. Big. Woke early and went to work revising "Blood from Stone." Something about the piece has been bugging me for some time, and I think I've managed to fix it.
Made a trip to the landfill just afternoon and jettisoned the old fence, along with some yard refuse and other stuff. Hit the gym on the way home.
Got another rejection slip for W2BH, this one after fourteen months. Very nice note from the editor complimenting the piece and assuring me it will be picked up quickly by another pub. Reminds me of what I went through while trying to get "Occurrence at the Night Owl Liquor Store" into print. Salty subject matter, cautious editors.
Anyway, this is either the third, fourth or fifth rejection note I've gotten this year for a manuscript that's been held longer than twelve months. A record.
Nice night tonight. Still breezy, but the skies are blue and clear.
Asthma attack in the middle of the night didn't help. Slept in until 7:30 after a restless evening. Worked on a new story the early part of the morning, then took care of some paperwork, and sent the page proofs for "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" back to Louisiana Literature.
Killed the better part of the afternoon at Spirit, then Starbucks. Came home and tried to figure out what was going on with the hydraulic unit and discovered something had been mis-installed, causing one of the motors to run backward. Gonna need some professional help to fix it.
Pretty day today. Wind blew off most of the smoke. Blue skies and sunshine. Gives me hope the fall might not be as miserable as I thought. Maybe the cool weather will help contain some of the blazes further west. Hope so.
Put together a rough query this morning. Did a little research. Started looking at a new short. Worked till mid morning, then hung it up and jumped into the footer for the new wall. Tell you what, bucking bags of cement is no way to make a living.
Finished up around four. Now it's up to Vern. Like to see the brickwork finished and the door hung before the end of September, but I'd like to win the lottery, too, and the odds of which will happen first are probably dead even.
Made the mistake of staying up late last night to watch a game. Note to self: don't do that again. Can already tell it's going to be an early evening.
Sky was pretty smokey today. Gave me pause to wonder if it will clear up at all, given the fires are in California and Canada. Christ, I hope so.
Worked on outline and synopsis material today. Other odds ands ends. Broke away mid morning to make a long overdue phone call to my buddy, John, back in Wisconsin. Managed to turn the conversation into a three-hour gab session. Lot of fun. Then, came downstairs to find out the bathroom plumbing had taken a turn south.
Hit the gym not long after, then came home and went right back out again to pick up the gate to the side yard at the iron shop. Man, they did a beautiful job with the hardware. Fits perfectly with the old logs and old iron bolts. Looking forward to getting Vern out to set the hinge bolts in the brick. Once it's hung, that ought to be the end of the major yard projects. Except of course for the southwest wall in front.
Eric gave up on the hydraulic platform project in the garage. Said he'd come back when the electronics had been figured out. Guess we'll spend part of the weekend reading the manual. The other half digging a trench for the front wall footer.
Had pizza with the boys over at their house tonight. Nice little get-together. Gonna call it a day now.
Up a little after 5:15 this morning. Had to wear a jacket out to the cottage. Went to work hard on the last six pages, saw them multiply, but found the end of the story anyway. Been putting in a lot of time on this piece, and while I know it gets better with each pass, still don't have a solid feel for the effectiveness of the entire arc. Need some time away, I guess. Make another run, and hope I don't get snagged on any one element too long and lose the pacing.
Rained last night, rained this afternoon. Sky still looks brown, but I guess this is the norm for a while. At least things are cooling off. That's something.
Eric back at it today, installing the new electric storage rack. Man, it's a bear. Big progress from yesterday, but still another half day or more from being functional. If he finishes before the weekend, who knows? Might have a whole new secondary project on our hands.
Up early. Got a few revisions in at the keyboard, then entertained the little guy most of the afternoon. Took a brief wagon ride around the neighborhood, but not much going on.
Weather uglied up by mid-day with an enchanting combination of mist and smoke. Can't even see the mountains anymore. Getting a nice rain now, though, who knows what tomorrow will bring.
No gym today. Too busy. Have to remedy that tomorrow.
Have no idea what went on in the world today, but understand there was some big political news. Indictments and verdicts and whatnot. The usual, right?
Eric the reluctant came by, too. Started work on the storage rack in the garage. Was pissing and moaning about the directions that came with the unit. All pics, no words. Felt his pain, but that's the way it is anymore.
Both excited and anxious about the long piece. Six pages from the end, and not sure where it goes from here. Something tells me I won't know for sure until the next read through. But before that happens I've got a couple of short stories I want to work on.
Felt like fall this morning. Had to wear a jacket out to the cottage. Was okay. Looking forward to snow now, or whatever, to put out the fires.
Yeah. No surprises.
First thing the new dentist says, is how about a new crown. Because, you know, the old one's old. Wasn't exactly a come to Jesus after that, but there was a brief discussion about not fixing what ain't broke, and that, without insurance some of us were more reluctant than others to dive into elective medicine.
As my son's Bolivian godfather used to say, "Carajo."
Worked hard on what look to be the final fourteen pages of the long piece. Got as far as possible, then hung up my spurs.
Ironworks guys called and asked us to come out and look at the new hinges. We did, and the stuff looked spectacular. Can't wait to get it done and hung.
Young M tomorrow. Seems like a long time since I've seen him.
That chirp from the keyboard? Fixed. All it took was a good hard crack against the desk.
Good day at the keyboard. Got lots of work in. Hit the gym mid-afternoon and worked out the bike for a change. Wasn't as good as skipping rope, but what is? Mowed the lawn(s) when I got home. Shoveled up apples into the bargain.
Cool most of the day. Some nice breezes rolled through. Skies were as blue as they've been for a spell. God, I hate to wish summer goodbye, but I'm tired of the hot and smoke and the mosquitoes and all the rest. I'm already envisioning a fall filled with fishing trips and weekends in the mountains.
Not sure what tomorrow brings beside a teeth cleaning with my new dentist. Will have to wait and see how that goes. Thirty-some years with Dr. Dan, the rock 'n roll dentist, and now it's a new guy. Can't hardly believe it.
Weird. Could swear there's a metallic sort of chirp coming from the keyboard. Sort of like glassware rattling in the back of the car. Been there all day, and it's starting to drive me nuts.
Quit work after an early start this morning and went to a movie. Spike Lee.
Gonna get back at it tomorrow and see if I can't come close to finishing my latest pass at the long piece.
Shoulder's been aching for days. Not sure if it means I should work out harder or lay off for a while. Guess I'll find out when I hit the gym tomorrrow.
Up and at it early. Surprised to find that much of what I'd written yesterday--and subsequently written off as crap--turned out to be a reasonably decent attempt at a story. Lesson learned. Again. Be hard on yourself, but always look forward. Even when you're looking back.
Drained today. Overcast skies didn't do much to inspire a sunny mood. Had a lot on the mind. That didn't help either.
Big rains came this afternoon. Some hail as well. Grass is finally beginning to look good, consistently. Now if we could just get enough moisture to knock down the fires so we could see the sky again.
Oh, and a rejection slip found its way into my queue this morning from a big pub that'll remain unnamed. One year, four months in the making. Seriously? SERIOUSLY? Good Christ this is a *&%#!2-ed up business.
Good progress on the longer piece today.
Quick trip to the gym, grocery store, and home again. Off to see The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) tonight.
That's it. Not exactly highlight material like yesterday's doings, but not bad either.
Okay. So, clearly it's the spinning of the earth and not me. Woke this morning and went downstairs thinking it was five, but discovered shortly thereafter it was four. Maybe the smoke from the fires is playing with the dark.
Anyway, time's all out of kilter.
Young J showed up a little before eight in his fishing vest. What a sight! Headed up to Green Mountain Falls after stowing our gear and had a great day on the water. The trout were quiet, but the kid hauled in a small carp, so the day wasn't lost. He threw it back, we moved on, and things went swimmingly for the rest of the afternoon. We fished, played pirate, ate ice cream, fell in the water. All in all, a pretty fine day. Pretty fine, indeed.
It's what, Monday? Where the hell did the weekend go?
Crawled out early this morning and realized the mornings are already darker than they were last week. Did some good work on the long ms., then moved on to other, less exciting things. Took the party stuff back to Bruno's, cleaned up the back yard, and went to work on a short critique. Same old, same old, except for the Bruno's stuff.
Made a brief stop at the gym, then went off running errands. Gonna take young J fishing tomorrow. Looking forward to that.
Eureka! Was patting down my fly vest for my fishing license, and was stunned to find my previously lost prescription sunglasses! Goddamn. That was the best luck I've had in a long, long time. Made my day. Which seems unfairly abridged now that I'm looking back at it.
Back to work for a while. Enjoying the quiet.
Sunday. Birthday doings done, day gone, do-over tomorrow.
Not much else to say. Except I'm not entirely thrilled with some of the feline behavior I witnessed today.
Yeah. Do over.
Schedule's all throw off and can't figure out why. Circadian-clock problems, I guess. Been more tired than usual while doing half the work than usual.
Anyway, up by six-thirty and at the keyboard. Struggled early on, then hit stride and made pretty good headway on the long piece. At least I think I did. Quit early afternoon to go out shopping in advance of young M's second birthday, whose party takes place here, tomorrow at 11:00 am. Nine guests, which is seven more than we're accustomed to, but we'll pull it off. At least I think we will.
Feels like I haven't seen J in a coon's age. Look forward to maybe taking him fishing next week. Yeah. I'd like that. I'll start crossing my fingers now the weather holds.
Cut the lawns this evening. Not much else to do but get clean, wind down and call it a night.
