Archive for the ‘Daily’ Category
I’m packing for a long weekend, beginning tomorrow. Originally, I was content to send Himself off to play in the woods while I stayed home – until I saw the hotel. The resort, actually. What kind of selfish person would I be to send him off alone to a suite?
Me: “You got a suite? Not a room?”
Him: “It was all they had left. What do I care, I’m not spending a lot of time in it.”
Me: “You do know what a suite is, right?”
Him: “Uh … yeah. Sure.”
Me: “I’d better come with you.”
So, it’s been a crazy few days of trying to get everything done and packed. I watered the plants, stopped the mail, the neighbors are checking in regularly, and I have a big note on the door to take out the trash before we leave. (We left once in July for a week, neither realizing the other hadn’t taken out the kitchen trash. We won’t make that mistake again.)
The packing is underway. Himself used to be amused at the list I make and check off but ever since he forgot his cell phone charger, medication, and socks, he no longer offers wise comments. He was amused that I checked the weather until I pointed out we would be an hour away from Canada and the nights could be as low as 34 degrees F and it might be wise to take a jacket, eh?
He did feel free to point out I didn’t need to take such a stack of books with me. Do you think a dozen paperbacks for a long weekend is too many?
Me neither.
See you next week!
I was seduced by the library again.
That was ‘by’, not ‘in’.
Anyway, the other night Jinky and I were talking and I mentioned a story idea that I was making notes for. I try to write for at least an hour in the morning six days out of seven then I write a little at night if I can stay awake long enough. But I wanted to work on this new story without taking away from the time I allotted with the other current projects.
Writing at my workplace is out of the question. No matter if I sit in the kitchen or at my desk with my (pink) laptop, people feel perfectly comfortable sitting down and striking up a conversation or discussing a work issue. Never mind I’m on my time, not company time.
So I thought the ideal solution would be the public library. It’s barely five minutes away, I don’t know anyone there, it’s a wonderful building, and it’s guaranteed quiet.
Yeah, not so much on the last part. I appreciate the part about libraries needing to be community centers but … you can’t even get quiet in the quiet room. Mothers with herds of children stop to converse, complain, and set up playdates while their offspring stampede through. Retirees socialize and discuss health problems and the state of the world.
I sat in the genealogy room one day, thinking no one would be shaking their family tree at noon on a Tuesday. Except ten minutes into my writing, a woman came over and sat down across from me and blurted out an incredibly convoluted family history without pausing for breath. When she finally stopped after asking for research assistance, I said, “I don’t work here.”
The Current Periodicals Room – the loudest sound should be the rustling of newspaper pages. Except the elderly gentleman reading WSJ was apparently too deaf to realize that it was his phone that played “Fly Me to the Moon” at top volume. He glared at me and snapped, “Aren’t you going to answer that?” “Sure,” I said. “Hand it over.”
After that, I went to sit in my car. Which was good until the meter maid knocked on my window to issue a parking limit warning. I give up!
Last week was a blur of Book in a Week and kitten cuddling, and believe it or not, the two are actually very similar.
Because an unwritten first draft, like a two-week-old kitten, is vastly different than its mature counterpart. It demands constant attention, endless worry, and just when you think it’s starting to get cute, it lefts its legs and shits all over your favorite T-shirt.
I started Book in a Week still clutching to that nagging fear that someone would sneak up behind me and “out” my crappy first draft for what it was – a crappy first draft. But then I found Nathan Fillion abandoned in what remained of an old car door, and I got my perspective back:
No one wants a first draft full of crap, just like no one wants to poop a kitten every two hours. But if you put in the work it takes to clean it up, the results can be astounding.
Nathan has already put on two whole ounces since Friday. The first draft is moving along more slowly, but gaining weight every day. They both smell incredibly foul, now, but I’m hoping with a lot of attention (and a little luck), the stench will eventually give way to something cute and fuzzy that I won’t mind keeping around.
