Category Archives: Non-Writing

What’s Next?

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I knew you were wondering.  You weren’t?  Then I know you’re not reading this, so I’m going to tell you anyway.

NaNo 2009 is done and won.  Check.  (It doesn’t matter that I produced the singularly worst writing I think I’ve ever done.  I may have gotten enough character development done to be able to salvage something from the book down the road a ways — probably a long ways.)

I got the blog moved.  Really.  I don’t know why I made such a big deal.  I changed two lines in my admin set up and moved some files from one folder to another on the server.  Piece of cake.  Then, so people could find me, I created a very simple HTML page with the new link on it and put it up at the old site.  I also Tweeted about it, which cross-posted to Facebook, where TECH advised me that I’d screwed up the URL.  It helps to put the .org on the end of the domain name.  Head slap.  But I’m glad he told me — it reminded me to update my URL on my Twitter bio.  And FB.

I also did a little web work by logging into MySpace (I do not care for that medium, but I keep a token presence there as one of my pseudonyms).  When I moved the files for the blog, I also moved a short story, and I had to update a link to a short story.

I am in the Early Bird class for How to Revise Your Novel (HTRYN), so I had to pick a novel to revise.  I have a plethora of choices.  I considered several but decided to look at Polar Bear on the Loose.  It’s my first novel, a book of my heart, and I haven’t looked at it for four a half years.  I think there’s enough distance.  One of the first assignments in HTRYN is to read your manuscript.  For years, I’ve thought my opening to that book was lame, but when I read it last night, I found myself thinking, “Maybe it’s not so bad….”  Maybe this will be fun.

And, TECH, I know you’d like to see Twilight back on the front burner, but I believe I need more distance before I go back to it.  I will go back to it.  I think it has promise.

PBOTL will be a good project to work on, because it isn’t in Scrivener, and I’ll be in San Antonio for the rest of the month.  The offline work of revision will be a good thing, because I can’t justify a MacBookPro yet, and I refuse to lug the Mini and accessories back and forth.

On deck in San Antonio, of course, is more foliage decimation.  I haven’t been down there since September, but I know it’s been growing like crazy, and I had a bunch of tree work to do when I left.  There’s only more waiting for me.

Of course, with me pulling PBOTL out of the drawer, Inuit has been more talkative.  She has created her own Twitter account: InuitTheBear So far, she hasn’t had a lot to say, and most of it’s about the Spurs (you may recall she loves the Spurs), but who know what will happen at the rewrite goes along.  Twitter and Facebook weren’t around when she was written.  The Social Media possibilities for a polar bear living in human society — or wanting to — are endless.  Imagine if she had a human following before she even left the Arctic?  What kind of impact might that have had on her transition?  Good or bad?

I will also be trying to reduce my on line time over the next month or so.  I think I’ve been spending too much time on line at the detriment of other things that are more important overall.  What I probably need to do is devise a plan to use my time on line more effectively, so I’m not sure how visible this change goal will be to you.

Central Texas Update

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Yes, I’m still very much alive.  Hubby and I have been working on all kinds of things here at the house.  He left this morning to head back to San Antonio, where he’ll spend the week loading the car trailer with more auto parts.

Last week, we moved the ’46 4-door into position in the storage garage and unloaded the Spitfire.  We also did a little clean-up in the storage garage and cleaned the gutters (which had, amazingly, filled up with leaves over the winter).  We found some gutter guards at Lowe’s and bought one to see if it would work.  It will, so I’ll be looking for more this week.

We replaced the first floor heating and A/C unit with a heat pump.  I’d forgotten that those things run all. the. time.  Installation is nearly complete, but the guys got it working in time for the weekend so we’d have heat.  Since last week was cold and rainy, that was really appreciated.

Oh, yes.  Our friend in the walls.  I don’t think I’d mentioned him.  Something was scratching behind the wall in the bedroom.  There was a repair on the wall where the previous owners told us a squirrel had come through.  That was where I isolated the gnawing to.  Hubby and I figured we had something between a mouse and a squirrel in size trying to come through the patch.  A couple of days ago, hubby called me upstairs and showed me where it had broken through.  Just a small hole.  It temporarily gave me the creeps, of course.  Hubby peeked up and saw fur and an eye looking back at him.  From that, he determined it was either a squirrel or a rat.  Based upon activity times (active at night and quiet during the day), he surmised it’s a rat.

For starters, we poked moth balls into the hole Saturday afternoon.  The critter scurried away, and I haven’t heard from him since.  We patched the patch with more expandable foam.  Then we went into the attic looking for signs of rat.  None.  But we looked down beside the chimney and noticed an old metal stovepipe extending from the chimney to the bedroom wall.  We figure he came down the chimney and into that pipe, so he’s not likely to get into the house.  Something in the chimney must be keeping him from coming all the way down, or he’d have found his way into the front bedroom easily enough.  We’ll be investigating that over the next few weeks.  We don’t really want the critter getting loose in the house even if it might make the cats’ day.

And, finally, I head to the local Texas Veterans’ Commission office tomorrow to begin what I expect will be an arduous process to file my claim for veterans compensation.

As for writing, I’m still on Scene 18.  It’s a scene I’m inserting, so it’s all new material.

Virtual Trail Certificate

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Back at the end of January, I mentioned several of us were starting a virtual walk of the West Coast Trail in British Columbia. We were pleasantly surprised to hear from Parks Canada’s Metropolitan Outreach Officer after we finished the trail. It turns out he’d found our discussion of the virtual walk and followed our progress. At the end of the month, he offered Virtual Completion Certificates to us to complement the real completion certificates they give real world trail hikers. What a treat!

This month, we started on the Appalachian Trail. It’s not too late to join us. Come on over and jump in.

Digging Out

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In addition to trying to get over this cold, I’m digging out of a deep, deep to do list.  I think I see daylight above me, so I may be able to get back to making writing progress soon.

Yes, it’s “just” a cold.  To make hubby feel better, I saw a medical professional yesterday morning.  She confirmed that’s all I have.  Admittedly, one of the more miserable manifestations of a cold that I can remember, but a cold just the same. 

On Intelligence

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I’ve just finished reading On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins with Sandra Blakeslee. If you don’t know or don’t remember, Jeff Hawkins is the designer and founder of the PalmPilot and Handspring. I see value in this book on two divergent (for most people) fronts. First, in the arena commonly known … Continue reading →