The over and under...

Quiet day.

Up early, and off to the keyboard. Put in most of the morning on commercial work. Three drafts and counting. Needed a break a little after noon and went shopping for stuff around the house. Pretty ho-hum stuff.

Also found an interesting article on Gordon Lish. An interview, really, with a handful of his students.

Can’t claim to have killed any giants, but the day’s not over yet. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Calling it.

The start of the weekend...

Running close to burn out on the long piece. Made the last of the revisions for this round and put the ms. to bed. Don’t think I can look at it again for a while, but that should free up some time for the stories I’ve shelved.

Quit on the keyboard a little afternoon, then went out and finished pruning the trees. Made a trip to Rocky Top, cleaned the gutters, and took the truck to the car wash. Not a whole lot of excitement, but the day was clear and beautiful, and it was nice just driving around. The heavy snow really brought out the leaves.

Need to get cracking on the commercial stuff. Thought I’d get a good jump on it today, but was so close to the end of the revisions I’ve been working on, I couldn’t resist taking them to the end.

Yard looks great. The hard work’s paying off. Now to find the time to sit around and enjoy it.

Stay tuned...

Nice day.

Up early, wrote a while, then went to the trolley museum with young J. Played a little T-ball before he left, and embarked a long, serious bug-hunt. All in all, a lot of fun.

Hit the gym later this afternoon, then the barber, then the grocery store. Cut the lawn(s) when I got home.

Not sure what tomorrow’s gonna bring, but I’m guessing it’s going to come with a bit of copywriting, some yardwork, and a trip to Rocky Top. Wish I could say fishing, too, but even I won’t venture up into the mountains on Memorial Day weekend.

Wild times...

Had the boys all day today, so most of it’s a blur. Up early for a quick round of revisions, then straight to the rest. Lowe’s, iHop, a couple of episodes of Baby Einsteins, playtime with every toy in the house, forty minutes of wrestling, ten minutes of pouting… All good.

Young J back tomorrow for another around. M home for the day.

Still have copy to write, trees to prune, flower boxes to re-hang, and a whole lot more. Fingers crossed I make it.

Only a few pages left in the Africa book. Decided to save them for this evening. Gonna hate putting that one down.

Limb by limb...

Big snow last night. Big and wet. Had to go out in the middle of the night, dressed in a poncho, and stand on a ladder and shake the boughs to keep them from breaking. Shoveled the walks, too, which felt very much like shoveling wet cement, and repeated the process again a little after five this morning. Took a few casualties, but not as many as the neighbors, some of whom were hit pretty hard.

Planted a few hundred bucks in flowers on Saturday. Hope some of them survive. Have hauled the pots into the garage for tonight—it’s supposed to dip to freezing—so maybe we’ll come out okay. It was a late snow, even for the Rockies, and the accumulation was heavy. Probably five inches. Hope we’ve seen the end of it, but who knows.

Finishing the last few pages of Out of Africa. Dinesen talks about locusts, how their invasions were so massive, the weight of the alighting insects would break the limbs of her coffee trees. She goes into great description about how the settlers would try, in vain, to ward them off. Sympathized greatly, last night, while trying to save the trees.

No M. today. School out of session owing to the weather. He and J will both be over on Thursday. Hope the sun comes back so we can get outside.

All in a day's musings...

Mist and rain all day, since early morning. Walked out to the cottage in a light drizzle, and had my first cup of coffee at the keyboard.

Put in some good revisions, then cleaned up and got some commercial work out of the way. Hit the gym mid-afternoon and the grocery store after that. Just put a pot of homemade mushroom soup to simmer.

Weather’s supposed to be rough again tomorrow, which’ll mean a few extra challenges with young M.

Still riding the fumes of the Louisiana Lit story. Takes a helluva long time to write something and shepherd it into print, but every now and then it’s worth it.

Overcast Sunday...

At it, early. Started fitting bits and pieces of the long narrative back together, and so far, things haven’t sucked nearly as much as I’d expected them to. Maybe it’s a harbinger of things to come. Hope so.

Worked most of the morning, then put in a little more time policing the yard. Pruned back the trumpet vine, pulled a few dandelions…

Contributor copies of the new Louisiana Literature arrived. They look great. Got a little boost seeing them after such a sluggish spring.

Lazy afternoon. Hope to hit the ground hard tomorrow, and set a good pace for the week.

Feeling it...

Will take a Saturday like this anytime.

Up a bit after five, and straight to the keyboard. Made all the revisions I could stand (and some decent progress while doing it), tidied up the yard, and headed off to parts known and unknown to shop for flowers, food, and a new hedge trimmer. Never made it to the gym, and didn’t care. Nice to have a day off, and even nicer to have a day off with a nap.

Read a little, wrote a little, and even managed a trip to Starbucks.

It was supposed to rain come noon, and continue on through the night, but we’ve barely seen a drop all day. Clouds are sitting low on the mountains and something may come in yet, but so far everything’s high and dry.

Thinking about a movie tomorrow, but there isn’t much to see. Might stay home and work around the house, weather being what it is. Maybe not. We’ll see.

Itching to get back on the water. Take young J along. Maybe next weekend. That’d be fun.

Let's call this one a win...

Got into the swing of it today. Up just after five. Hit the keyboard hard, made some decent work of the revisions on the long piece, then dressed and teak-oiled the patio furniture.

Figured I’d be worn out early owing to an iffy night’s sleep, but found enough energy to make a respectable appearance at the gym, put some time on a new commercial project, and cut and trim both lawns.

Maybe the weather had something to do with it. Beautiful day. Breezy, but in a nice way. Blue, blue sky.

Looking for an early rise tomorrow. It’s supposed to cloud over, maybe even rain. Not thrilled, but rather have that than the way-too-early summer heat.

Quiet tonight. All the neighborhood kids are off in Monument Valley Park celebrating the twins birthday. Cause for celebration, indeed.

Looking ahead, again...

Not sure how it got to be Thursday, but I’ll take it.

Nice day with the boys.

At the keyboard early. Ran hard, made a lot of progress.

Missed getting to the gym today, but made up for with a little extra reading. Nice story in this week’s NYer. “The Presentation on Egypt” by Camille Bordas. One of those, I wish I’d written that, moments.

Got a chance to look up big-game hunter Denys Finch-Hatton, Karen Blixen’s lover. Interesting character. Old school, even then.

Weather overcast. Not sure what the forecast is for the next few days, but will take what comes.

Mid-week ramblings...

Two in a row.

Beautiful day.

Up early, clipping away with revisions on the long piece. Took a break before noon and finished the reviews for the N stories. Cleared my queue then went off to the gym for a short workout.

Finished sanding the back patio settee and left it out for teak-oiling. Pruned a couple of the trees. Picked up some flowers for the front bed out at Hardings. Came home and made a pot of tomato soup.

Gonna turn in early and get a jump on tomorrow.

Read a little more of the Africa book.

Covering the bases...

Getting used to the nice weather.

Woke early, revised. Coffee.

Got to do a little yard work with young M in tow. Put down some top soil patches in R’s yard, then went out to Lowe’s to look at some shrubbery and pick up teak oil for the benches and doors. Home in time for Sesame Street. (Episode where the autistic girl gets a haircut. Hands-down favorite for three weeks running now.)

Sneaked away for some time at the gym, then home again in time to play ball with the boys. J got knocked on the nose with a bat, so no extra innings.

Nice evening. Would sit out, but it might invite company.

Another Monday...

Doesn’t feel like Monday, which must count for something.

Up earlier than usual, long before six, at the keyboard. Made up for some of what was lost over the weekend, then went on to a bit of commercial work. Did okay.

Read a while, cleaned the house, hit the gym. Read some more.

Nothing new.

Young M tomorrow. We’ll see what the weather brings.

Blow up...

Good morning at the keyboard. Then the neighbor kids came over, shrieking, and I went to close the file and everything disappeared. Christ.

Coming on the end of the day, and if there was ever a one that deserved to be drowned in a bottle of hooch, this was it.

Worked out at the gym a while. Called Mom.

That’s pretty much it.

So 'tis clear as the summer sun...

Sun finally announced itself. Weather was still a little cool, but the day was a fine comeback after all the dreariness of the last week.

Spent most of the morning writing and revising. Made some good headway. Quit while I was ahead and drove out to the Pro Bass Shops to have a look at some canoes. Place was overrun with eager sales types trying to sell timeshares, so the trip was short-lived. Did a little grocery shopping, then came home and cut the lawns. Not the most exciting of days, but not bad either.

Mother’s Day tomorrow. Gotta give Mom an early call.

Taking it easy tonight. A little chicken orzo soup, a little TV, a little reading.

You got the mojo, you get the say-so...

Getting tired of the weather. More of the same. Cold, overcast, ugly.

Had to squander the morning at the doc’s office, begging for refills on my RXs. Hearing stories about old age and diabetes. But screw it. They get to call the shots and they know it. Just have to kowtow until I figure another way out.

Didn’t get much work done when I got back, but surprised I got any done at all. Attitude was already half way in the dumper before I left for the clinic.

Got to the gym for a pretty good workout, and that may have been the saving grace of the day.

Read a story this afternoon that sent me into existential shock. Isn’t very often anymore I read something that makes me want to put down my pen forever, but this one came damned close. If it’s the real deal, I’m as good as dead.

Need to get out tomorrow. Find a movie theater and drift into oblivion. Something.

Undecided...

Yeah, so, another rainy one. Actually, it couldn’t decide whether to rain or snow so it did both. Is still doing both. Not sure what that bodes for the weekend, but I’ll bet you don’t want to be on the roads early tomorrow. Whole thing’s about to turn to ice.

Was up and at it by 6:30, and made some good headway with revisions before M arrived. Hope I can keep things moving through the weekend. God knows I’d like to get back to some short fiction, though on that front it isn’t just me who’s ass is dragging. Can’t count the number of submissions I’ve got out there that’ve been languishing in other folks in-boxes for a year or more.

Not counting on any fishing this weekend unless I get unexpectedly lucky. Probably see a movie instead. Tidy up the rest of the yard. Stuff like that.

Annual physical tomorrow. 8:15. Talk about squandering half a day of good writing time. Can only hope it goes quickly, the scripts are all renewed without discussion, and the lectures are held to a minimum.

Working out the details of Mom’s arrival and departure. Gonna be a busy spring and early summer what with C’s wedding and all the rest. Want to try and enjoy this one.

Dreary day...

Drizzling weather hung on overnight and into the day. A breeze came up, too, and you can feel the cold in the air again. Still a way from summer, I guess.

Was up early to the keyboard. Made headway on the revisions, but not as much as I’d hoped. Reached that place where there isn’t much aesthetic distance, but you still enough wiggle room to make a change here and there. Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever see the end.

Young M tomorrow. Weather folks are calling for rain, so there won’t be much outside time. There’s talk of packing him out to REI to have a look at some canoes, so maybe we’ll kill part of the morning shopping.