My · life · as · a · writer.

No word count.
No exerercise stats.
No NaNoWriMo (mostly because I don't want to abandon my work in progress to start something new.)

I managed to have a short, brutal allergy attack turn into both an ear infection and a sinus infection at the same time. I'm taking the fact that I have absolutely no energy as a clue-by-four to the head. It's time to slow down, even with the holidays approaching. When I don't produce a word count, I"m not taking care of me as well as I should.

Over the weekend, I got the last two petals done on the flower hat (next year's halloween costume for a baby due any day now). I need to take photos and call my former intern.

Because I wasn't done watching the NCIS DVD marathon I'd rented (end of season four, beginning of season five) to entertain me in my knitting frenzy (nor had I caught up with the other shows my friends got me hooked on (V, Stargate Universe, the current episode of NCIS)), I finished an old, old project in the bottom of my knitting bag. It started out as a light throw for a baby in the less cold months. Because this was started with leftover yarn from another project, I reconsidered my plan about eight inches in. This is because 1) I didn't have enough of the pale yellow yarn on hand. 2) using size 11 needles to knit a sport weight yarn was not going as well as I thought it would (which is one of the reasons I stopped tiny fingers will get tangled in the cloth. 3) the seed stitch pattern was very uneven and not gift worthy.

However, I decided it would make a lovely short scarf. I added a few rows of a very bright yellow as an accent, cast off and called it good. Since the bright yellow matched the trim of my "in between coat"^ I decided to wear it today. Good thing, too. It's snowing here. There is a cold north wind seeping around the window in my office and blowing down the back of my neck. I have my new no,-I-really-meant-to-do-this-honest project wrapped around my head an neck. If the wind keeps up, I'm putting on my coat. Mr. Rabbit a few cubes over has his stocking cap, down vest, heavy outer coat and winter gloves on. (He's also part lizard.)

I think winter has begun. Now I just need to make fingerless gloves for when things really get cold in the office. (My nail beds haven't turned blue, so things are still tolerable here. For now.)

I've also got an idea for another scarf based on this ones "retread design)

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^ This is actually the thermal shell from a ski coat my late brother gave me. It zips and snaps into a tough windbreaker for extra protection. I wear the full combo on the farm in the winter when the wind gets lazy.* In town, when it's too cold for just a blazer and not cold enough for my good wool winter coat, I take out the lining and wear that.

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* A lazy wind can't be bothered with going around you, so it just goes through you.

Is "hard working" a single, compounded^ word that means "conscience person with an excellent work ethic who always does the job at hand in the best possible way" or is it just two words forming a phrase.

I'm hiring interns at the day job. The question: "What are three words you would use to describe yourself has netted me this answer 90% of hte time..

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^ another coumpounde word.... Ice cream.

forgot to add the second half!

Post intermission, I read my science fiction work in progress and we had a happy ending with a very funny romance. The audience did a lot of giggling over the number and quality of the euphemisms.

The weather, it was cold and rainy, so people stayed home. All the guests who did brave the elements were friends so it turned into a big party with food, drink and people showing off for people who wanted to be entertained.

We started off with a bit of Horror "Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater" as told by the "Big Bad Wolf" or, to summarize, Mother Goose with a blooody twist. After that, came murder in the form of "Missing". The story before intermission was a bit of historic fiction for middle grade readers called "Rox and Sam Head West"

During intermission, we and our guests noshed on cheese and crackers with a side of pepperoni, southwestern dip, brownies, chocolate muffins, white bean hummus, pumpkin pie spice cream puffs^, and cream cheese with Bronco Bob's  chipotle raspberry sauce plus another bit with spicy apricot. Plus we had wine and various other imbibles.

Post reading, the actors who had been rehearsing in another part of the art center came and help us deal with the leftovers. They approved of the food, too, and was more than happy to take home doggy bags.

... with a little rag-time sax....
It's time to put on make up. (That's what I forgot to pack!) It's time to dress up right.* (in about 5 hours)

Tonight is the LIterary and Culinary Event. The stories have been polished. My cream puffs are baked and boxed (but not filled -- that would make the puff much too stale) the hummus is made and sitting in the refrigerator at work next to the mousse that goes in the cream puffs. I'm ready to go to the MAC directly from here. My "glad rags" are in a duffle in the trunk.  

I spoke with our bar tender this morning and he's opening some champagne in honor of our 10th anniversary.

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*I call dibbs on Animal!

Just sent of the program verbage to the MAC for printing.

Tonight it's shopping and baking for tomorrow. My contribution to the Culinary side of the event will be white bean hummus and cream puffs.

By whom? The Writer's Studio and your's truly.
For what? We're reading our own works and providing food and drink. We call this our Literary and Culinary Event.
When is this? Wednesday, October 21st 7pm. 
Where do I go for the tasty food and drink? The Manhattan Arts Center  (1520 Poyntz, Manhattan, Kansas) in the large gallery.
Why should I go? There will be excellent food made by wonderful cooks. Drinks to be drunk. Stories to be heard by local writers.
How do I get there? By car, probably. Once you're in the front door, take a left and go down the short hallway. The large gallery  is on the left.  (You might also want to take a little extra time to look at the photography exhibit. Most of it's for sale.)

We do have a $5 donation at the door. The money goes towards the Manhattan Art Center.

Monday, I submitted the opening paragraph from my work in progress "Framed" to an Agent's blog-contest.
Tuesday I fretted that the paragraph didn't flow right and may be too confusing. (this was after at least two re-writes to date)
Wednesday, I spent 40 minutes re-writing that opening paragraph, again. (And I may edit it some more, later.)
Thursday, after doing some chores, a pitch paragaraph for another series*  came to mind via Mae (my Muse) whispered suggestion in my ear.** That suggesstion  flowered before I could stop it. Afterwards, I shoved a brownie in her mouth and said "We're watching NCIS^^. I need to figure out why they're stil surprising me with their who-dun-its." I also needed to cast on for a baby hat I'm knitting for an expectant mother.
Today, over lunch, I exorcised that bit of inspiration by writing it down.
Tomorrow and Sunday  I also need to work on quilt blocks for a presentation. Three down and three to go. My dealine is October 28.

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^Yes, I know that sounds whiney. I'm busy! Grateful, but busy.
*Back in college I had a really spiffy idea for a fantasy Nonolgy (three sets of linked trilogies along the lines of T. Brooks "Shanarra" series). After some copious mental outlining, I realized that it was just Tolkien in a Dress. Disgusted, I shelved it. Later on, after reading a bunch of other Tolkien knockoffs I figured out how to make it different, but other projects have priority.
** I have no other explanation for random bits of dialog (and occasional attendant exposition) running through my head unrelated to anything else I've been doing.
^^ I started on Season Three last night. My one bad guy prediction was wrong, and then I had to back up the DVD to see what bit of non-vocal plot element I missed while casting on for the fairy hat. In retrospect, the episode was called "Mind Games" so I don't feel so bad.

...mostly to prove I'm still alive.

Unlike people who spring clean (which I do about 50% of the time) I do an annual fall cleaning which means pulling every thing out, cleaning behind, under, over, around and (when applicable) inside. It gets the place nice and fresh before winter forces me to keep the windows closed and the balcony shut. I realized last night I skipped last year's Fall Nesting due to dealing with Tornado Stuff. There's nothing like working overtime to maintain a disaster recovery log and trying to convince various agencies that trees are lab equipment* to distract one from the mundane. I was doing good just to keep up on everyday chores and life obligations.

I also started my annual Battle of the Inner Pack Rat^ last night by investing in some modular storage cubes so I could get rid of the temporary storage crates that I've had for close to ten years. Right now I'm indulging in white plastic cubes with handy add-ons and spiffy organizer trays/bins for the kitchen. I need to go back for two more cubes, plus an additional caster set., because I liked the results so well. (I also had to get three rain checks for some add-a-shelf units, doors and a wood cube for my home office.  (They're on sale right now. It's not a great sale, but hey a dollar here and a dollar there adds up)

Plus, I need to start asking my woodworking friend if he has finished at least one of my custom bookcases. I'm pretty out of shelf space, and I have two more boxes of books to sort through, deaquistion the unwanted and shelve the keepers.

I've also been feeding the muse by watching a lot of NCIS. I respect a show that is so well plotted and written, that I rarely see what's coming. Usually, I figure things out about halfway through.  Also, there's one character I should hate, but don't. I'm still trying to figure out if it's the writing or the acting or a combo of both.

I've mentally plotted out to the end of "Framed", but the clutter has gotten to me. I won't be able to write until I'm done with Fall Nesting.

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* No, really, they are. Honest. The botanists, agronomists, arbolists, landscape architects, and artists all use them for various types of education. Plus, the whole university is an arboretum and has been for a century plus. My three-inch-thick report (mostly due to supporting documentation in the appendices) made it all the way up the food chain to FEMA's head honchos before anyone said "No." (FEMA doesn't pay for landscape damage, outdoor laboratory or not.)  One of the odder things I learned along the way is that it is possible to get class credit for climbing trees.  I wish I had known.

^ The Rules of Engagement are simple. If I haven't used it in a year it goes. If I can't stand to part with it, then I have a year to use it. If that year passes and the thing has still not been used, it goes. Each year ,the Inner Pack Rat wails and screams from the agony of having to let things go, but I grit my teeth and keep torturing the little dratsab.

First off? Good customer service. It starts with knowing who I am, if I am a regular. Barring that, it's greeting me in some friendly manner if I am a first timer or a some timer. Flexibility is also important. I know I tend to ask for unusual things, but I'm not unreasonable and understand when the answer "no", but I like it best when that negative is prefaced with a "let me see."

Next up is quality. I don't go into a small business expecting them to be able to compete with large chain discount stores. I do want to know that I'm getting good quality for the amount of money I'm spending.

Finally, is the Not-A-Chain phenomenon. Most small businesses that I like make a point of offering local, unique, hand crafted, or very well done work that, for whatever reason, can't be sold by a discount chain on the cheap.

Went looking for something else and found this.

I'm pretty good at the static ones, but the in-motion ones are just incredible. I noticed with Snake Illusion Ad Lib that certain color choices slowed down the illusion, sped it up, or stopped it all together. The more complimentary the colors, the faster the speed.

No new word counts lately. I'm back on physical therapy for my bad knee that I re-injured back in May. I expect my word count will increase rapidly once I get some annoyances out of the way at home.

I also attended a "health fair"/"HeathQuest" thing at the day job. They pay/bribe employees to do the height/weight/cholesterol/blood glucose/blood pressure/heart rate/body mass index gauntlett - it helps with insurance costs and employee wellness. I love attending these things and not just for the bribe. Physically, I look more like the Goddess of Willendorf than the Venus de Milo so I am the victim of gross assumptions. Today the "Consultation" part of the lasted about two minutes -- if that long -- much to my amusement. While the counselor copied my test results to the "Claim Your Bribe" form he saw that all of my numbers with the exeception of two were excellent and right where they should be. That always befuddles them.  The typical (non-verbal) response is, "You look like that and your numbers look like this?"

The conversation this morning went something along the lines of:
Counselor: (having skipped through the good news quickly) This number is too low. It should be in this range. Exercise...
Me: (interrupting, because I know what he's going to say) I reinjured my bad knee in May. I'm just now getting back into my workout schedule.
Counselor: (the light bulb goes on over his head) Oh. Well this other number is too high and needs to be in this range. Ummm... It won't happen over night.
Me: (deliberately not rolling my eyes) I know.
Counselor: (hands over a completed flyer) Well good luck and have a nice day.
Me: Thanks (leaves).

Usually, I get the kind of counselor that, when their preconceived notions are messed with, belabor the one or two things they can talk about from their initial, and lengthy, list of prepared comments.  This was a very nice change.

A few years ago I broke down and purchased a digital camera. I've carried it with me a lot since then, taking all sorts of photos. Last month, I clicked through a buch of photos, shored up my ego, and submitted five to a local photography contest at the Manhattan Art Center. I had one photo selected. 

The gallery opening for the photos is tomorrow at the MAC,  from 5 to 7pm.  Anyone who reads this is welcome to come.

A few weeks back, I submitted five of my photos to a photography contest at the Art Center. One was chosen. So I got busy and did the requisite print, matt and frame job.

Just delivered the results today. I was going to take a picture of the picture, but I"ll wait till it's hung in the gallery to do that.

The gallery opening is next Friday.

Some people post pictures of their cat when they don't have time to post or even content to post. I think I'll post pictures of my co-workers creativity.

At work I live next to a cube farm. I would be part of the aforementioned farm except for the fact that my office is the alcove formed by the addition of an IT/Telecom room. I have three real walls, one of which has a row of clerstory-ish windows, and a 3/4 wall bounding my space. Just outside of my office  is a white board. It is not well positioned for me to use due to how the cube farm was installed. 

However, it is on a well used path. Just inside my "door" is a large format printer (prints up to 13x19 color) shared  by the whole office. People often have to wait for prints. What started as a joke has become something more.

Typically, I seed the white space with some thing -- usually a drawing. Written messages don't do well. My sketch could be large or small, topical or odd ball. The important thing is I erase what came before and start over. Others add on as others will. This time, one of the interns asked for, got permission to, then provided the thought seed. The Blog Board (as Bob-the-Custodian calls it) has become essential to the mental health and well being of the office.  Sometimes it fills quickly. Some times it takes a long time to reach the "reset" state.

Long story shortened? The office's Blog Board is a communal sketchbook. Sometimes words creep in, but mostly it's a graphic game of telephone.

Day 1. Monday started with a simple blue line. It didn't last long. (Results are rarely to scale.)
( Day 1 Pic under the cut )

Day 3. Taken Wednesday at noon. I think the office uses this for stress management. Or something. I especially like the octopus/scuba diver interaction. (I provided the sharks.)

( Day 3 Pic under the cut.  )

I just wish I could get a square on photo. The short passage way is not wide enough for me to get a good, square shot of the proceedings.

2 quilt blocks,
1 chance encounter
1 instance of pied piper-ism.
20 dollars worth of indulgence.
3 inches knit
4 recipies
3 chapters read
4 episodes of research
1 pot luck
1 new addiction

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With the fabric shopping done and the fractions of yardages pre-washed, dried, ironed and sorted, I started making quilt blocks for the Quilt Code Presentation. (Which I may or may not be making. That is something to be discussed at tommorrow's GMMC meeting. ) First off was the ( Log Cabin Quilt which I did Friday night. )

Friday also consisted of turning a club of a zucchini (from a co-worker's garden) into tasty stuffed zucchini. Since I'm also working on a cookbook, I actually wrote the recipie down while I made it. (Rather than just dumping things together until it looks good, I actually measured things!) It was good. My roommate/guinea pig kept coming back for more.

Saturday required a trip to the Farmer's Market to get more big zucchini (to be stuffed) and some tomatoes (the zucchini came with cucumbers) for some salads I want to eat, take to the Monday pot luck, and put in the cookbook. While I was there, I found out the local Master Gardeners were selling iris rhizomes from the KSU Gardens. Since Tino bought a yard (the house was an afterthought) I thought she'd like some of the "we didn't sell out last week, so we're discounting stuff this week" bargains. I was browsing the other stalls while I called her on my cell. The lady selling random vintage items overheard the conversation, kept asking questions, and followed me back to the Iris booth. (She was an iris fan, too.) Tino told me to get her $20 worth of loot. I wound up filling a grocery sack full. (2, 3 or 6 for $1 goes a long way.)  Because I am familiar with the gardens and told the staffer stories about my sister, I also managed to net a couple of freebees. Later on I saw a college friend at the same booth. We tried to hook up for lunch, but M.Dona got waylaid. We wound up rescheduling lunch. Saturday's game was a little scattershot for me. I was researching quilt block patterns and planning my sewing attack.

I was lazy Sunday morning and read some more in Spook on the balcony in the morning, took a brief nap mid morning, then put together the ( Monkey Wrench quilt pattern ).

In the early afternoon, I made a tomato-and-cucumber salad and brined cucumbers for Monday's pot luck, with an attempt at making Remy's Rattatouille for my lunches this week. I followed that up with watching the next two disks of Band of Brothers while working on my knitted chain. I growled a little because my dowel-rod mandrel broke off inside the chain and I couldn't get the piece pulled out. Since I can't frog wire the way I can frog yarn, I had to get out my jewelry kit and snip almost 1/4 of an inch of knitted wire into little bitty pieces. It took me most of an hour-long episode to: fish, snip,  fish, and repair the damage. On an up note, it's really hard to tell where the break was. I just hope it stands up to the drawing process.

Monday was work followed by the Knitting and TV watching pot luck. We watched Sunday's "In Plain Sight" and the first few episodes of NCIS (Season 1, episodes 1&2)

I hope to get the crossroads block made tonight . I  also want to get some work done on "Framed"

More edits
More interruptions
More projects.
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I spend Friday stalking the wild fat quarters, hunting for ones with just the right colors for my quilting assignement. I found some and had some yardage special cut for me.
I spent Saturday hitting the Dog Days Sales with my sisters and hunting even more fat quarters. Plus more cutting of yardage to order.
I spent Sunday resting. This involved reading and mild puttering
Monday was potluck and knitting. My knitted chain project is coming along. Plus I was promised an introduction to NCIS, because most of the attendees love it.
Tuesday, was laundry, pre-washing the aforementioned fat quarters and random yardages, and ironing them while watching Band of Brothers (episodes 2, 3, & 4) followed by Ever After
Wednesday noon was the board meeting for the Mystery Conclave and it seems I have more stuff to do. Wednesday night was PotPot and writers studio. 
Tonight was more laundry, pre-washing the quilt fabric I'd missed from Tuesday's efforts, clearing out my in-box, responding to LJ's, working on my cookbook project. I also found out today that there is a distinct possiblity I'll be giving the talk about the Quilt Code for the underground railroad.

I need to start making time again because I'm sure not finding it.
 

I'll update my "excuses, excuses"  list tonight. I meant to do it last night, but I got distracted by the amount of traffic over on the Bujold List. (I saw the number of digests in my in box, muttered "what are they yelling about now?" and started scanning headers and deleting the things without reading the messages contained within.) With that in mind, here's a little Public Service Announcement for those people who still care about on line communities in general and that community in particular.

-----Begin PSA-----

Please Do Not Feed The Troll(s)

A troll is a person who delights in getting attention by making others angry, taking over a conversation, and/or spreading discord within a group. The goal of a troll is not to win any one argument, but to start a flame war or three. As a result, any response to their opening salvo  will bring you under fire. A response supporting someone else will also bring you under fire as well. Any response whatsoever is Troll Kibble and trolls will gobble them up and extrude Troll Droppings in hopes of getting more.

Well known troll habits include: deliberately misunderstanding you; specious arguments; personal attacks; assertions without references or supporting documentation; absurd & obviously false statements; ambiguous or unclear language; directly or indirectly calling you a liar; Some of their most often used phraseology can be found here in a handy bingo game.

The only way to successfully manage a troll is for everyone to ignore the troll and the troll's bait (aka:"Troll Droppings"). Please feel free to talk to anyone else about the subject, just don't address the troll. Also, you will never get the last word in. Ever.

You are allowed to feel outraged, insulted, hurt and everything else you happen to be feeling. A troll does not care about your feelings. A troll does not care about the facts. A troll only likes conflict and will start it at every opportunity.

Please do not feed the troll(s). Wholesale shunning is the only proven method to combat their flame-y badness. 

-----End PSA-----

0 words
0 workout
1 social gathering
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Wednesday nights are reserved for writer's studio (1st and 3rd weeks) and the murder mystery readers' group (2nd week). As a result, the 4th Wednesdays are just social time and an excuse to feed our mutual hot pot addiction. Since Happy Valley  - the family owned and operated Chinese restaurant that provides the hot pot- is temporarily closed*, we're making do with home-made, or pot luck hot pot (Pot-Pot). Happy Valley's Hot Pot (Happy-Pot) will return next month. ** In the meantime, we are learning how to make Perky Gothess's One-Butt-Kitchen^ work for multiple cooks at the same time. We discovered that "Dish Relay" works well for clearing up after the feast.

So last night was spent  joking with and telling stories to friends. The TV stayed off. No games were in session. It was just a group of people enjoying each other. I had a blast. So did everyone else. Dopple yelped at 10:30. It had gotten late without her (or anyone else)noticing, and she has a dog at home.

One of the new writer's studio members and I read chapters from our novels, so it was sorta a working gig, but not really.

Afterwards, I swung by the Mart of the Wal^^ on my way home to see if they had fat quarters. They didn't, but they had some remenants that might work.

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* The family that owns and runs the place went back to China for an 80th birthday party for the matriarch and patriarch of the clan. We gave the owners a birthday card to take back with them.

** The Writer's Studio seems to have created a ritual. First, we chat over hot pot, then we relocate to the art center workshop stuff.

^ My term for a small kitchen designed for only one cook. Two cooks in it at the same time is a crowd, and three cooks.... It's a good thing we're all good friends with warped senses of humor.

^^ Wal-Mart. They're open 24 hours, and my opinion of Super Wal-Marts stands unchallenged  and unchanged. Adding a grocery store to the mix kils the selection in other places. I'll hit the fabric stores and quilt shops over the weekend.