Sunday, November 8, 2009

Sunday, November 8, 2009
Waning Moon
Uranus Retrograde
Sunny and pleasant

I had so much trouble focusing yesterday. I kept procrastinating, using any possible excuse not to focus on what needed to be done. I don’t know why — I’m usually pretty good at getting down to it. It’s almost as though the fact it was quiet threw me more than the usual noise.

I got a chunk of “Digging” done and I think the first part is in good enough shape so I can get it up. I wanted to write the whole thing before I sent out the first part, but that’s just not going to happen. The first part will go out this week, and I just have to make sure that I continue work on it every day until it’s done — hopefully, I’ll have the whole thing done and the whole thing edited before Part II has to go out next month.

Yes, I realize you don’t know what “Digging” is, but all will be revealed soon.

I ran some errands in the early afternoon, took a nap, ordered some books I need, and puttered around a bit, trying to get focused. I did some research for a piece that’s percolating.

I had a great evening writing session on something temporarily called Untitled Blair Holland Project. It’s on fire. I had another great session on it this morning, writing over 1500 words.

I’m going to grab a bite of breakfast, and then do some more work on “Digging”, Untitled Blair Holland, and finish the essay copy edits, so I can get those out to my editor today.

I slept in until seven, which means I was late getting to the desk, but at least I feel somewhat refreshed.

Devon

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Saturday, November 7, 2009
Waning Moon
Uranus Retrograde
Cloudy and cold

Today is the Breeders’ Cup and I haven’t handicapped it. Oops.

I have my November To-Do list up on the Goals, Dreams, and Resolutions site. I’m working on next year’s questions.

I am deeply saddened by the tragedy at Ft. Hood. My thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the dead and injured.

Yesterday, my nerves were shot be midmorning, between the lack of heat and the noise outside. I was happy to pack up and head out in the afternoon. I didn’t get any work done, but I managed to have some relaxation time, and I also got 4 loads of laundry done!

Lazy night. I watched part of SANCTUARY and part of WHITE COLLAR, which meant I didn’t really follow either story too closely. I love Tim DeKay’s work on WHITE COLLAR — his extensive experience working in theatre serves him well here — he’s got a lot of nuances. In SANCTUARY, there was some sort of post-apocalyptic storyline and they put Robin Dunne in a mullet and a tank top for the Rambo reference. It was kind of funny — and I’m not entirely sure it was meant to be funny — but I kind of wish the design for his look had been a little more unique.

Some dates are changing in my site work the next couple of months. On a time/work level, it takes some of the pressure off, but on a financial level, it means less money.

Brandy, yesterday’s picture was taken up in Maine — I like it, too. I’m going to pass on the party in Lenox today because it’s driving 2 1/2 hours in each direction for a party based around wine-tasting — since I can’t stay overnight up there, and if I was going to have to get on the road, I couldn’t really enjoy the wine — I’m going to skip a 5 hour round trip.

Hitting the page early. I need to get a lot done on “Digging”, the short story today. It’s in the high 20’s outside — hopefully they’ll keep the heat on at least for a little while. I may do some errands later, or I may just stay in and keep writing, if it’s going well.

Devon

Friday, November 6, 2009

Friday, November 6, 2009
Waning Moon
Uranus Retrograde
Sunny and cold

So much for having a day off! Actually, it was a pretty quiet day. I felt a little under the weather in the morning, but better as the day progressed.

Got the assignment finished, polished and out for Confidential Job #1. Received the final copy edits for the anthology essay — I’ll look that over this weekend, and get it out the door by Monday.

Finally got a hotel booked in DC. Not the one I wanted, but I think it’ll be fine — clean, not too expensive, in a decent neighborhood. I’d seen one I wanted across the street from the Library of Congress at a rate on the top end of my budget, but I figured I was paying for convenience — but when I tried to book it, the rate came back at $100/night MORE than was advertised. I don’t think so. A lovely place up near DuPont Circle was recommended by a colleague, but they were booked on those dates. So I’m at a chain hotel a bit out of the fray, but still in a safe neighborhood near a metro station with a reputation for large, clean rooms. So it’s all good.

Received royalties from one of the plays — all warm and fuzzy with that one. Got my final check from Llewellyn — late as usual, which was the disappointing pattern for the last few years, but it got here, and I feel strange knowing that, after fifteen years, this was my last time writing for them — at least for the foreseeable future.

Got a little reading in. Caught up on some mail.

Had a great morning’s writing session on a short story. Did an extra 1000 words more than I expected, always a good thing.

I’ve got a focused writing morning, and then I’m out in the afternoon. I want to chill with friends tonight, but the weekend should be fairly writing-focused. Got a couple of short stories and a newsletter to get out, two novellas to work on, the essay copy edits, and a novel revision to dig into.

Devon

Thursday, November 5, 2009

View of Adelphi Hotel, Saratoga Springs, NY

Thursday, November 5, 2009
Waning Moon
Neptune DIRECT
Uranus Retrograde
Cloudy and cold

I’ve got a detailed piece up on the SDR blog about how I use anthology calls as inspiration, breaking down the process. You might find it interesting. I wrote it as I worked on the stories mentioned over the course of the last few weeks — and forgot to schedule it to post while I was away yesterday. Ooops.

So, the Yankees won a World Series on their first year in the stadium. Good for them, fans are happy, I don’t follow baseball, so I can enjoy as a disinterested observer.

Not happy at all with the local election results. The town is moving back towards the petty small-mindedness that caused me to leave in the first place, years ago. Some elections were pretty galvanized, but around here — when you live in a town of somewhere between 15-20,000 and less than 4000 people vote, it’s a problem. So now I have to look at my overall life plan and switch a few things around, and then, as of tomorrow, put my head down and get back to some serious work.

I take away a few things about overall election results. First of all, these were local elections, and people dealt with the issues that affect their overall, every day lives Second, when you look at how many incumbents got a boot up the ass, people made it clear, “You had a chance. You didn’t listen. Buh-bye.” Which is the way it should be. It’s usually pretty hard to remove incumbents, and this time, it wasn’t. Whether I personally agree or disagree with an election result (unless it’s the one that affects my daily life), I do think it’s good that people are removing those they feel do not represent them. That’s why we have a voting process in place. I also have zero respect for people who can’t be bothered to vote. It takes five minutes.

I really don’t feel only two parties can represent the variety of viewpoints we have across the country. We truly need five or six legitimate parties, as they do in Britain and in other countries, so people aren’t forced to accept package deals and can really put individuals in place with more focused positions. You can’t please everyone and you shouldn’t. But voters shouldn’t be limited by having to pick from one or two individuals who have to bundle policy positions to try to fit a wide range.

On to other things. Yesterday, we were out of the house by 6 AM. The drive up to Saratoga was nice — great, crisp autumn weather. We hit Mrs. London’s a little after 9 for a snack. We went to the bookstore and picked up a few things, walked around a bit, and I dealt with some business. We drove past the college — Skidmore is a beautiful campus, and I use it and the town of Saratoga as the inspiration for the location in the Casherick Drualtys stories (SHALLID, et al). We stopped to pick up a few things at the store, and then headed west out of town to a small town called Galway, which isn’t too far away.

An artist friend of mine had an exhibit up in the Town Hall there, where she photographed people in town and asked them who they were — not just surface, but who they really ARE. Fascinating piece. She originally had artwork in MOONTRIBE TALES — The International Women’s Day Project that I co-created and co-produced several years ago, and we’ve kept in touch. I’m so thrilled that I was able to see her exhibit. Because she’s such a warm individual, people open up to her easily, and she’s got such a great eye and knows how to capture, in a photograph, more than just what’s on the surface.

Got back on the road heading South, turned East at Albany, and took I-90 into MA, and then up to Lenox. We had lunch at The Haven, which was great, as always, walked around a bit, I got some business done, picked up a great bottle of Burgundy, got invited to a party on Saturday (I am so tempted to drive back up for it), and headed back.

I was in bed ridiculously early.

I’ve got to get out the assignment for Confidential Job #1 and finish up a short story, but other than that, I’m giving myself the day off to reassess and reconfigure a few things.

Then, it’s back to work tomorrow with a vengeance.

And I mean “vengeance.”

Devon

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Waning Moon
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
No idea the weather — it’s supposed to be nice.

Well, yesterday was. . .unusual.

On the emotional side, I was attacked by the Doubt Demons big time. We all go through times like this, where we doubt our choices, wonder if we’re good enough, whatever. You power through and hope you get out relatively unscathed on the other side. But it’s icky and uncomfortable and painful. And it really sucks to wake up to it and wrestle with it all day.

And, right now, I just have no time. Not to mention the fact that friends of mine are going through actual life challenges right now, and it’s entirely inappropriate for me to indulge in any of this Dark Night of the Soul crap.

On a practical side, the day was fine. I was at the dealer by 7:30 AM. A nasty “heart doctor” shoved his way to the front of the line because, of course, he’s so much more IMPORTANT than all the rest of us — bite me, asshole, it’s not like you’ve ever be saving MY life since I’m one of the uninsured, and, from your attitude towards the people who work here, who you think are so far below you, obviously you went into medicine for the Almighty Dollar and not because you have an interest in healing. adn you know what? I know where to rent a jacket and a stethoscope, too, so I am not impressed. After all it was Halloween last weekend, and I don’t really believe this guy WAS a doctor.

There was also a woman there with the cutest spaniel puppy ever who was just absolutely convinced we were all there to be his new best friends. Hilarious.

When I got to the desk, I told the guy I needed the regular checkup (I haven’t had a check-up in ages, but I’m meticulous about servicing the car), and gave him the list of things for him to check. He looked at me like I grew an extra head. I told him I might be overly cautious, but these particular things just didn’t feel right lately while I drove, plus I needed him to check the patch on the tire that was fixed a few weeks back, and one of my front tires is giving me agita.

Turns out I was right on every single count, except my worry about the battery. So a bunch of stuff has been fixed/adjusted and the other tire had a slow leak, too, and was patched, plus they replaced the first patch. Two punctured tires in my own parking lot within a month? When I haven’t had any sort of flat tire in over 20 years? My inner warning lights are screaming.

Meanwhile, this bitch comes in and starts screaming that she had no idea, when she bought her car that she ever had to come in and get it serviced. “I’m not a mechanic! Why didn’t someone tell me?”

Are you fucking KIDDING me? She didn’t KNOW she had to service the car every 5000 miles? What, she thought the Oil Elves and the Tire Fairies came and took care of it while she slept? This was no teenager or college kid, either. This was a supposedly professional woman. Not.

Oh, and by the way, they DO tell you about the regular servicing when you buy the car. Especially at that dealer. And they email you and send you reminder cards and all the rest.

The service guy comes out and starts talking to me about the different stuff they’re doing and how I was right on the money, and bitch interrupts with, “How could you possibly KNOW that? Your boyfriend must have told you what to say here.”

Those guys at the dealership knew me pretty well by now. Everyone took a step back. Even the puppy stepped back and sat down.

I made it very clear I was dismissing her: “My car and I are partners. I can feel it when something’s not right. Unlike YOU, I actually give a fuck and pay attention, and don’t believe the entire world revolves around me.” And I went back to my conversation.

So she gets on her cell phone and starts talking really loudly about me. I looked at her over my shoulder and said, “I am so not impressed because you so do not matter in my life.” She couldn’t believe it. She really had trouble wrapping her head around the fact that her opinions and tirades didn’t matter to someone else.

When I got in my car, one of the managers came out to apologize for her behavior, and I said, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll just kill off a character based on her in my next book.”

Even the Doubt Demons shut up for awhile during all that.

Drove home (the car felt so much better and buzzed along happily). Went to the post office, went to the bank, went to vote.

We still have those great old machines with the levers, so you really feel like you VOTED, like you did something and it matters. Love that. Anyway, I get in, shut the curtain — and there are two propositions on which to vote at the top. Now, none of the newspapers carried anything about them and we didn’t get voter guides or anything else. So I’d never seen either one before and therefore had no time to research. I read them, standing there in the booth, hoped I understood them correctly, and tried to use common sense to make my decision. I felt really uninformed, and I felt that those who should have informed us about these things dropped the ball.

Stopped at two local stores on the way home to pick up some yummy speciality food items. They’re both family owned and have been in town for 20+ years, so whenever I can give them some business, I try so to do. Their quality is excellent.

And really, what could be better for lunch than a tuna melt with real Swiss cheese on homemade French bread with real bacon crumbled into it?

After lunch, headed to White Plains. Stopped in for a quick meeting — all great. Back in the car. Headed to the shoe outlet – can never remember the name of it, but I can tell you how to get there. Found gray suede boots, but they both zipped and laced and took longer to get into and out of than some of the corsets in Shakespearean productions. So, uh, no. Another pair of black boots with which I fell in love didn’t come in my size. Deep, sad sigh. Home Goods didn’t have what I needed. I knew i needed something from Barnes & Noble, couldn’t remember what it was, and remembered about three hours later I needed a good, RECENT map for my DC trip.

Stopped at Trader Joe’s to stock up on cat food and my decadent Belgian dark chocolate crisps.

Drove to Hartsdale to Chef Central, a really great place for both professional and home cooks. I had a list of stuff that’s stacked up over the past months, and got almost everything: a large pan with six smaller, holiday-themed cake tins in it; an oven-safe glass dish so I can cook the meal for the day before Thanksgiving (I’m cooking for the family members who are setting up the dinner for all 50 of us) — I can use this dish for a ton of stuff, but I needed it specifically for Thanksgiving; a bear-shaped cookie cutter (okay, so I didn’t need it, but it was cute); a small whisk to compliment my larger whisks; a flour sifter because I broke the one my family’s had since 1965 — it finally gave up its nuts and bolts and went to the big scrap metal heap in the sky; some Stonewall Kitchen sauces I’d run out of (they carry Stonewall Kitchen products, my favorite). They didn’t have the espresso pot to replace the one I broke from my machine, but they gave me the number of the place that will “just send you a new one.” I’m assuming I have to pay for it, which is fine, but still . . .in the interim, I bought a set of cute glass espresso shot cups that I can use.

I cooked a pork roast for supper — I’d gotten a large hunk of meat and cut it into three roasts, one of which will be used on Christmas Eve. The meat’s not as good a quality as I hoped, so I’ll come up with a good marinade and marinade it for at least 24 hours before I cook the next one.

I managed to tweak my lower back somehow, and couldn’t sit for meditation group, so I had to miss it yet again.

Didn’t feel well, so didn’t go to Election Night party. As of the time I wrote and scheduled this to post, I have no idea who won in my town — the election that’s important to me.

Packed my bag. I’m headed back to Saratoga and Lenox today, because I didn’t get everything done last time. Should be fun with a torqued back, but, really, it is always fun. Hopefully, my mood will improve.

Tomorrow, I’m staying in bed all day and finishing the assignment for Confidential Job #1. This one is a struggle — I dislike the material.

Devon

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Violet

Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Yesterday was the full moon
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
No idea re: weather — I’m scheduling this to post the night before

Yeah, I never managed to blog yesterday. Oops.

And I’m headed off at the crack of — to get my car serviced, so I actually scheduled this to post on Monday night.

I’m trying to remember if I have a good book depicting Edward Hopper’s paintings in storage, or if I need to go and buy one. I know I have a big biography and books ABOUT him, but I don’t think I’ve got a book of plates of the paintings. And I need it for a project. Guess I’ll be haunting the Bargain Books section of the major bookstores soon (like I don’t anyway?).

Re-reading THE JOURNALS OF LOUISA MAY ALCOTT. Louisa May Alcott and Harriet Beecher Stowe are still my heroes, and they’ve been that since I was about eight.

Gave myself Sunday off from writing because my brain was exhausted. Two proposals, a 5K story and a 9K story all out within 48 hours was a bit much, even though I’d been working on everything over a period of time. I’ve got a 2500 word story that needs to be done in the next couple of days, the Christmas story, and another anthology story that need to happen in the next couple of weeks.

I had a BLAAAAST talking to those middle schoolers yesterday. I brought in my wardrobe kit and showed them how a bunch of stuff worked, talked about quick changes, talked about the differences in wardrobe needs between theatre and film, and how that feeds into the writing. They asked very insightful questions. They seemed interested and engaged. Almost all of them had seen WICKED, and, since I swung on that show for 3 1/2 years (gee, I bet you had NO IDEA that’s where I worked with all the flying monkey talk, huh? ) I used a lot of examples and anecdotes from that show. It was a lot of fun, the time flew, and the seemed pretty engaged. I was totally honest with them, especially about where I’m a royal pain in the ass and where I break the rules, why, and both how I’ve made it work and where it’s made things harder.

Came home and was pretty much a waste of food all afternoon. I booked the tickets for DC and am having hotel trauma. I thought I’d found this GREAT hotel at a GREAT price, but it turns out the neighborhood is too skeevy even for someone who used to live a block off Times Square, so I’m looking for something else that’s not totally out of my price range, but close to where I need to be. Not fun.

Anyway, I’m off getting the car serviced for its regular check up. Then, I have to go vote for friends who are running for re-election locally (and doing a damned good job). More errands after that AND some writing AND finishing up Confidential Job #1.

Then, it’s off to the meditation group, taking a change of clothes with me so I can hit the election party on the way back.

It would be really, really, really a good idea to get some writing done today, too.

Since, well, tomorrow’s another adventure!

Devon

Woot!

Those Middle Schoolers rock!

Just sayin’ . . .

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Sunday, November 1, 2009
Waxing Moon
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
Cloudy and cool

Editing a story and staying within a word limit is like bartering — for every word you wish to add, you have to give up one.

That’s how it was, editing “The Misappropriation of Talent”, the Merry’s Dalliance tale, but I got it edited, polished, and out. Either they’ll like it or they won’t, and, if they don’t, I have other markets that will accept it.

Had to make a trip to Costco, never a good idea on a Saturday. But managed to sail through pretty fast and stock up on a few things, including a 4-lb bag of Nestle’s semi-sweet morsels. Yeah, I’m planning to bake a lot in the next few weeks!

Wrestled with “Lake Justice.” It’s going well, just slowly, and I don’t have the luxury of “slowly” right now. I prefer to have time in between projects, time to decompress, but the deadlines fell together this go-round, so I don’t. And I’ve got three more stories to write in the next two weeks.

The noise and chaos around here with ridiculous all day and made it really hard to work. I think the workmen scared away the Trick or Treaters, which is a shame.

It was well into the evening by the time I realized I’d written 1500 words into a corner, and to keep going in that direction just made all my characters look stupid. But I didn’t know how to get them out of it.

So I took a shower.

And the solution came.

I jumped back to the desk and fixed it. And keep going.

I managed to get “Lake Justice” out the door by 11:22 PM — cutting it a little closer than I’d like to the midnight deadline. It’s definitely flawed, but I hope there’s enough there to get us to the editing phase. If not, and it comes back rejected, I will do another edit before I send it out again.

But I made the deadline, and that was very important to me, rather than just letting it fall by the wayside. I’ve let too many deadlines slide over the last few months. Some of it I had to, because of higher paying work needing to replace uncontracted work. But I needed to get this done for ME.

My GDR wrap-up is online for October, and I’ll post November’s To Do list in the next couple of days.

Once the deadlines were met, I could enjoy Samhain, and also the days of Tending the Dead, which are over the next few days — long nights ahead of me. If you want to know what I mean by Tending the Dead, you can read about it here.

I should jump into the next story, the 2500 word one that has to go out in the next few days, but I think I’ll give myself the day off writing. I’ve got some errands to run, and I need to get to work on Confidential Job #1’s next assignment. This is yet another very busy week, with a bunch of travelling.

If I’d committed to do Nano this year, I’d already be in despair.

I baked cinnamon rolls this morning. Well, I stuck them in the oven. Pillsbury prepared them. I couldn’t get the carton open with a spoon — you’re supposed to press down with a spoon and it pops open. Only it wouldn’t.

So I used a hammer.

And it flew across the kitchen when it popped, but I caught it in midair, so it was okay.

I’m off early tomorrow, talking to middle schoolers at my former school about career as a living, evolving organism, rather than a straight line. Why did I agree to do this again?

Devon

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Saturday, October 31, 2009
Waxing Moon
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
Rainy and mild
Samhain

Greetings and blessings, everyone, on the Celtic New Year and the final harvest. May the coming seasons bring health, joy, and abundance in all good things.

Unless, of course, you’re my landlord. In which case I hope you (insert expletive of choice) and (insert expletive of choice). Scumbag landlords are at it again. The day before Halloween, with NO ADVANCE NOTICE (which is required, in the State of NY), they ripped down everyone’s decorations to paint the doors. Doors which don’t need painting, and, make this place look every more like a sleazy-rent-by-the-hour motel. Now, we were home. No one even attempted to knock on the door and politely ask us to move the decorations for the painting. It’s nothing short of yet another act of harassment against tenants.

I polished and submitted the online portion of both NYFA grants yesterday. I printed out all the work samples (with the printer giving me agita) and prepared them. I hope my confirmation numbers aren’t an indication of how many people have applied, because if it is, there are over 40,000 applicants in each category. But I needed to try. If you don’t try, you REALLY don’t have a shot.

But by the time everything was all put together, I was ready for a breakdown. It’s not even one of the more complicated grant applications, but one does have to be meticulous about making sure all the directions are followed EXACTLY. When I worked for a foundation, I was at some sort of networking luncheon or something and the subject of guidelines came up. Quite a few attendees said approximately 78% of the applications never even make it to the judging committee because they haven’t fulfilled the basic requirements set out in the guidelines. It’s similar to submitting to a publication — you have to READ the guidelines, UNDERSTAND the guidelines, and then go ahead and FULFILL the guidelines. Or you don’t get past the gate. Nor should you. It’s disrespectful and egotistical to send it however YOU wish without an eye towards the guidelines. Trust me, most of us aren’t so brilliant that we can wow the panel in spite of disregarding the guidelines.

Had to drive to Purchase (a couple of towns over) to mail everything, since our post office’s hours are so wacky. Also, since I was out — bought the Halloween candy.

Got the weirdest email from an editor yesterday. I’d submitted a short story to an international lit mag a few months ago. Got a nice acknowledgement, great, worked on other things. A couple of weeks back, I receive an email stating that they liked the story, but had decided they no longer would accept material from international authors, so they were rejecting it. Okay, fine, it’s their mag, they get to do whatever they want. Yesterday, I get an email from the same editor saying she’s updating her address book and “should I know you?” WTF is that supposed to mean? As in, does she know me and can’t remember? In which case, obviously, she doesn’t know me. Or does she mean, am I worth knowing? Which is a completely subjective question. In any event, HER address book is not MY job.

Delete.

So much noise around the place all afternoon I was ready to rip my hair out. I finally gave up, made dinner, watched the news (I’m seriously considering a self-imposed news blackout after Tuesday’s elections for about a week), and hit the desk again around 8 PM. I finished “The Misappropriation of Talent” at 10:30. I’ll give it a polish today, do a bit of cutting. It’s 20 words over the limit. I hope to cut more, especially from the front section, and then beef up the end a bit — it feels a bit rushed. And then, off it goes.

Right now, I’m headed off to finish “Lake Justice” so I can give that a polish and get it out the door, too. So it’s back to the page for me. As it is, today’s so booked I’ll be up until three or four in the morning.

The GDRS may be up later today, or they might go up tomorrow.

A friend’s little boy is in the hospital, very ill with H1N1. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. In the bigger scheme, that’s really the priority right now.

Devon

Friday, October 30, 2009

Friday, October 30, 2009
Waxing Moon
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
Cloudy and cold

Important: If you get an email supposedly from me that has nothing in the subject line or just “Re:” and blank, don’t open it. I received an email this morning supposedly from my publisher with such a header. I opened it, saw a “prayer” — which is not something she’d send me — and then the line “there’s a virus in this message.” I deleted mine immediately — Macs don’t get viruses, so I’m not all that worried. But in case it somehow grabbed my address book and sent out reproductions, be aware.

Really struggled with the writing yesterday. Part of it was because I didn’t feel like it. Part of it was the noise problem. Part of it was that I was simply struggling. Oh, well.

I need to get over my worries about the grant proposals and just print them and get them out. Either I get them or I don’t. There’s no middle ground. But there’s absolutely nothing if I don’t at least try. I feel the playwrighting grant is solid. I’m waffling on the sample choices for the fiction.

Thanks for all the happy birthday wishes for my mom. She had a great day and thanks all of you. And invites you to come visit once we have the house on the Cape.

Was offered a gig for which I’m totally wrong, so I’m putting together a list of recommendations for the potential employer of really great people.

A few days ago, a friend sent me a submission call for a steampunk anthology. It sounded really interesting, the deadline’s not until April, it’s only 25K. Yesterday afternoon, the characters and the basic story came to me, so I jotted them down. I have to clear off “The Misappropriation of Talent”, “Lake Justice”, another 2500 word piece and the Christmas story before I can start it, but at least I can outline over the next couple of weeks. Steampunk is right up my ally, melding history and fantasy and wild west! I get to pull out all my research on steam trains — yippee!

So that has to be slotted in to next year’s roster. Depending on which grants or residencies come through or don’t come through, that roster may need to change. Plus, I have to keep up the deadlined, contracted stuff.

Sorted all the little post-its for 2010 and got them into the actual calendar. I have to confirm one more set of dates, and then I can start looking at where I need to fill in and book some additional bits.

Worked on my presentation for Monday — I’m speaking at the place where I used to attend middle school! And I’ve been invited to a local Election Night party, since we’re having some local elections and some of my friends are running.

Had some questions regarding the grants, was pleased by the quick response, but the answers didn’t really help. So I’m just interpreting as best I can and hoping for the best.

Working on my Christmas lists.

I’ve got a neighbor who lost her job a few months ago and has been really struggling. She had a hard time holding a job before the recession. She loves being a victim. I try not to engage too much, because my philosophy is “if something in your life doesn’t work, change it. Own your life. Stop blaming everyone else.” Anyway, I found a great, legitimate site for jobs in the arts and sent her the link. If I was looking for a full-time gig, there are at least 3 dozen I’d go after on that one site. THREE DOZEN. All I got back was an argument about why the first job on the list was a stretch. Heck, if I only applied for jobs in which I felt comfortable, I’d never grow. If I like the organization, if it interests me, I create a pitch to show them that they can’t live without me. And it often works. Her attitude is just frustrating. But it’s her life, not mine, so all I can do is step back.

Anyway, I feel much better today — it was so nice to wake up and not feel like my head wanted to explode. I’m off to print the grant proposals, do the final polish on the paperwork, and finish both “The Misappropriation of Talent” and “Lake Justice.”

Better get going.

Devon

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Lenox, MA

Thursday, October 29, 2009
Waxing Moon
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
Rainy and cool

Today is my mother’s 85th birthday! Happy birthday to her! If I wind up being 1/18th of the person she is, I’ll consider it well done.

I felt pretty awful yesterday and didn’t get much done, although I got everything I needed for the birthday festivities in.

I spent most of the day working on the grant proposals. I feel really good about the playwrighting grant. I’m still unsure about the fiction grant. I’ve got to put the finishing touches on them, print them, and get them out today.

I didn’t finish “The Misappropriation of Talent” yesterday, so that needs to happen today.

Day 2 of the headache, but it’s not as severe, so I think I can just push through.

Really, not much to say today. I just have to put my head down and work. Hopefully, it will be quieter, or, if it’s not, I can turn the iPod up loud enough to shut out the noise while still retaining my eardrums.

Devon

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Upstate NY in Autumn

Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Waxing Moon
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
Rainy and cool

I have SUCH a headache today. Where’s the Excedrin?

Monday was great fun, as I mentioned yesterday, and where I was, the foliage was at its peak.

I was out of the house yesterday by 6 AM, a little later than I wanted, because I was having trouble — again — with MobileMe. I’m really starting to think it was a huge waste of money. It does not do what it’s advertised to do. I can’t even get what I need on the iDisk, much less access it from anywhere. Unless Apple fixes it, I’m dropping it when the year is up. The computer’s working well again, but the MobileMe isn’t what it’s cracked up to be, so to hell with it.

Anyway, yesterday was kind of a gray and drizzly day. I’m curious why the NY metro area weather folk are NEVER right, when the Boston area weather folk are ALWAYS right. The NY weather folk promised it wouldn’t start to rain until late afternoon. At 6 AM, it was raining. Later in the day, as I had the Boston station on (which comes in clearly in VT, although you can’t get it in the MA Berkshires), they were spot on. Same with traffic. The NY traffic reports are always wrong, while the Boston/South Shore/Cape are always right.

We travelled up I-87. It was early enough to be fine. We hit Saratoga a little after 9 AM and, of course, headed immediately to Mrs. London’s for coffee and an almond croissant. Which was just fabulous.

And inappropriate customer requests never cease to amaze me. A woman of certain age, obviously wealthy, and her it’s-easier-for-me-if-I-never-argue-with-her husband entered. She asked if they served breakfast. The woman behind the counter said they don’t have eggs or anything like that, but there’s a variety of pastries and croissants and things that people eat for breakfast. The woman re-iterated that she wanted eggs. The woman behind the counter apologized and re-iterated that they didn’t have them. The woman said, “I don’t think you understand me. I want EGGS.” It took a minute for all of us to realize that she expected the woman behind the counter to go out to some other restaurant and bring back her order so she could eat it at one of the tables in this particular restaurant, rather than actually going to the restaurant that served what she wanted.

Uh, no.

After our snack, we walked up and down Broadway. I stopped at the Adelphi Hotel to take some photos. It’s closed for the winter, but I want to set a piece in a place inspired by the Adelphi, so I photographed some of the architectural outer detail and tried to photograph some of the interior through the glass. It looked very lonely, all closed up, and I wished I was a multi-millionaire so I could buy it, winterize it, and bring it back to its glory.

We stopped at Borders to pick up a couple of things — I love the fact that it was packed before even 10 AM on a weekday.

Back in the car, we headed up past the track (some horses are still training there, but racing’s done until next summer) and to the public gardens at Yaddo.

Yaddo is one of the premier artist colonies in the world. I hadn’t realized it backed up to the racetrack on one side — and I-87 on another. Several people whose work I respect swear by them with an almost obsessive fealty. I’d had a couple of negative experiences with their administrative staff about a dozen years ago, and scratched them off my list, but I’d always been curious about the facility. I hadn’t realized that the gardens were open to the public until recently, so I figured, why not take a look?

The gardens were being put to bed for the winter, and those working there were quite lovely and welcoming. I bet the gardens are stunning in the summer. And there are some lovely places tucked away that seem quite inspirational.

The main house, as you can see by the photo, is rather imposing. Lovely, but imposing. And there are signs and gates everywhere to keep the public away from the artists. Or is it the other way around? On the one hand, I appreciate that — you don’t want people tromping around peering in your windows or knocking in your door while you’re working. That’s not the point of a residency there. On the other hand, all those signs gave off a rather zoo-like vibe: “Don’t feed the artists. They’re more dangerous than they look.”

So that was really, really interesting. And the grounds are great. I took a lot of photos I can use in my work — there’s stagnant water with stuff sticking through it and downed trees and rushing streams and cairn-like creations — really fascinating. I’m glad I was there. I’ve never heard anyone complain about the noise from the track or the highway, so I guess the studios are well-insulated. Seeing the property, I understand the place in a different way. Funnily enough, it makes me not want to apply there. I think I have too much of a life, in a way, built on my time with various projects over the years, and it would be hard to stay in my studio and work — I’d feel like I wanted to go here and there doing all the things I usually do in Saratoga that make the place so special to me. There would be just as many distractions for me as I have at home, which cancels out the purpose of having a residency. I think it’s a great place for artists to work if they’re from somewhere else — it would not necessarily be the right place for me to work, because I’d be so tempted to be out and about instead of inside working.

I had hoped to see a friend’s exhibit that was outside of Saratoga — and I couldn’t find the turnoff. I felt like a total moron. I had the directions — I just couldn’t find the place. Fortunately, because I had no idea if I was actually coming up until that day, I hadn’t promised to get up there at any particular time. Maybe I can make another trip up just to see it.

We stopped at Lowe’s because they have one in Saratoga and we don’t, picked up some stuff, and headed to Vermont. The drive was very pretty, the rain held off, and the temperature dropped. There are many things I would have liked to photograph, but didn’t get the chance. Oh, well.

We drove across what’s basically a pass in the Green Mountains, past Bromley Ski Area and with the turn off to Stratton — and it smelled like snow. Technically, it was too warm to snow, but it still smelled like it.

We arrived in Weston later than we planned because we’d lost so much time looking for the exhibit we never found and were starving. We ate at a place called Bryant’s House Restaurant — I’m assuming a guy named Bryant owned it at some point. It’s an old farmhouse converted into a restaurant. The food was excellent – really good chicken pie with excellent biscuits.

We meandered through the Vermont Country Store after lunch. The store was the reason we’d factored in the side trip to Vermont today — we’d seen a few things in the catalog that looked interesting, but the shipping is so exorbitant it was actually cheaper to drive to Vermont and pick it up in person.

The store was really disappointing. To me, it came across more as a mass-produced version of a cliche of an image of Vermont lifestyle, rather than actual Vermont-based arts, crafts, and foodstuffs. When you look around at the overhead for the place, you realize why things are so expensive. We decided to try one of their stollen — stollen is a “must have” in our holiday season. But, other than that, there was nothing we really wanted.

Very disappointing.

But I got some ideas for AMENDS, of all things, while driving through the Green Mountains.

Maple tree in Lenox

Back in the car, back across the mountains, down Rt. 7 through Vermont and down through Massachusetts. By the time we hit Lenox, it was starting to get dark, The Haven had closed (so no curried chicken sandwich for me) and we were tired. If it had been an option, I would have booked into a motel right then and there. But we needed to get home.

So we did. It was raining by now, and dark, and the new headlamps in cars are angled so they hit oncoming drivers (me) right in the eyes. It was not a fun trip.

We stopped to pick up a pizza on the way home, and were back after being on the road for 13 hours.

Ate, watched stupid TV, and went to bed early, after playing with the cats.

I’ve got a headache this morning and am weary, but I have to pull it together to finish the NYFA applications and one short story. I also have to go out and pick up a cake — tomorrow is my mom’s birthday.

Hopefully, I can squeeze in a nap sometime this afternoon. I’m beat.

Devon

Monday, October 27, 2009

Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Waxing Moon
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
Still dark out — supposed to be partly cloudy

“The Misappropriation of Talent”, the new Merry’s Dalliance story, is going very well. It’s nice to be back with Captain Kit Erskine and the crew.

It was great to be upstate — a gorgeous day with wonderful people. We got our work done and had time to relax together over great food and wine and even visit a few art galleries. Lovely.

I’m off on an adventure today — will fill you in tomorrow. Have a great day, all!

Devon