Wed. March 15, 2023: It’s STILL Snowing

image courtesy of janeb13 via pixabay.com

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Waning Moon

Snowing

The Ides of March

It still snowing. Sorry I didn’t post yesterday, but the power fluctuated, and the internet was out most of the day.

I hope you had a great weekend. We get a Wednesday catchup. Curl up with a beverage. This is a long one, because it’s been six days since we were last in contact.

Friday was a lovely, sunny day. I went out early in the morning to pick up my cake.

Then, we headed over to The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown. They have free admission for the month of March, so it seemed like a good time to check them out.

What an amazing space. It’s huge, and a little overwhelming. In addition to the multiple museum buildings and the research library, they have 140 acres of trails with sculptures.

Definitely something that needs more than a day.

We spent most of the time at the Promenades on Paper exhibit, sketches on loan from the Bibliotèque Nationale de France. Wow. The curation was exquisite, including the color choices for the walls. I was especially fascinated by the Opera sketches and the sketch of a “private theatre” that looked like it was a railroad car. I need to learn more about it. I  wish I’d taken notes.

We wandered over to the permanent collection, but there was just too much to take in, all at once.

Definitely going back. Often.

The reception for regional grant awardees is there at the end of the month, so now I know where to go.

I bet the gardens and trails are gorgeous in spring, summer, and fall. Probably a good place to go and write.

We came home and I ordered A Whole Lot of Chinese food, just in case the weather was so bad on Saturday that I couldn’t get my birthday dinner.

I read in the afternoon, re-reading a book about the antiquarian book trade (my copy’s in storage). It was so nice that we could sit and read out on the front porch. All three cats joined us.

I did some research on the two antique books I picked up at Thursday’s book sale for a dollar each and it looks like they might have some value. Not the kind of value pristine first editions would have, but value, nonetheless. One is by James M. Barrie, who is most famous for PETER PAN, but wrote a bunch of other stuff, too. They are also earlier editions, probably closer to the turn of the twentieth century or late Victorian printings, rather than the twenties I’d figured. And one of the publishers had apprenticed with the other, so the two books are connected.

I will get some archival white cotton gloves to handle them when I read them, and then put them in a safe place while I do more research. Neither book fits the first edition descriptions, but they are nicely made pieces I will enjoy.

I had a leisurely reading evening, too. I want to know more about Anne Baldwin, who ran a print shop in the 17^th century.

Slept fairly well. Had weird dreams about clay figures that had been slathered with a particular type of red paint. A former toxic boss was in the dream, asking for forgiveness. That’s how I knew it was a dream; she’d never do that in real life!

I somehow hurt both wrists in the dream, and woke up with sore wrists.

Saturday was my birthday, and it was snowing when I woke up.

I made smoked salmon eggs Benedict, which we had with Prosecco.

I did a library run, dropping off and picking up books ahead of the storm.

I started working on the revision for the upcoming “Plot Bunnies” re-release, and then I thought, why am I working on my birthday?

So I stopped.

I read. I’m reading a biography of actress Katharine Cornell that’s very fawning, but it has necessary information on Marian de Forest and Jessie Bonstelle. I can’t believe how few people remember Jessie Bonstelle, when she was such a force in touring companies and creating regional theatre as we know it.

I made notes for a couple of upcoming projects.

I re-read THE MOVING FINGER by Agatha Christie, which is the March “Read Christie” choice. It’s been years since I read it (it’s the one about poison pen letters).  Christie is remembered for Poirot and Marple, and, although this is, technically, a Marple story, it’s told through the first person POV of another character, Jerry, and the structure is interesting.

I ordered and picked up dinner from a local restaurant I wanted to try, that touts itself as an upscale farm-to-table place. Um? When I went to pick up the food, the restaurant itself is small, dark, and dingy with cheap furniture, and the staff was more interested in talking about their dating lives than in their customers. The food was okay, but I wanted better than okay. I had a supposed “Bolognese” sauce that was more of a Roman-style meat sauce without the tomato sauce, but definitely not “Bolognese.” There wasn’t even a smidge of cream in it, and none of the seasoning that sets apart a Bolognese sauce. I mean, it was an okay meat sauce over a glop of overcooked spaghetti (not even fettucine). Not great (mine are better). But it wasn’t a layered Bolognese, and for that price, I expected layered taste.

My mom had what was supposed to be cordon bleu chicken in puff pastry, with sides of mashed potatoes and green beans, with a cheese sauce over it. There was chicken wrapped in pastry, with maybe a thin slice of ham and cheese around it, like deli-sliced. It was in some sort of dough sheet, but not the puff pastry stated in the description. The mashed potatoes were heaped over the pastry, and a basic alfredo sauce poured over it, with four undercooked green beans sticking out of the bottom. Huh?

The ”garlic bread” that came with  my pasta was a few tiny (I’m taking 1/8” wide, and maybe 2” long), limp slices of leftover narrow baguette which had been dumped in warmed garlic-infused olive oil and wrapped in aluminum foil. It was dissolving and nearly inedible when I unwrapped it. That is not how one makes garlic bread.

And there was zero presentation. I mean, yeah, it’s a pickup, it’s going to be in containers (I’d brought an insulated bag). But don’t just glop it in the dish. At least try to make it look nice? A spring of parsley isn’t going to break the bank.

It’s not like they were overrun with customers.

It’s not that the food was bad. It was serviceable diner food. If I’d ordered it from a diner, I would have been satisfied. But it wasn’t a diner, and I didn’t want diner food. I wanted something special. This wasn’t it.

I won’t be eating there again any time soon.

But the cake made up for it. I’d bought a chocolate truffle bomb cake from a different place, and we’ve been eating the cake all weekend. It’s very rich, so we only have a small slice at a time.

Overall, it was a lovely birthday, filled with good wishes from friends online and off (and a package, from one friend, with a cat toy the cats love). I have such a tumultuous relationship with my birthday, it was nice to genuinely enjoy it and not work to enjoy it for anyone else’s benefit.

We “sprung ahead” for Daylight Savings Time on Sunday, which always screws me up for weeks.

Sunday was bright and sunny. I did a run to the post office to mail some stuff that needed to get out. We sat on the porch and read. I did some re-reading of GAMBIT COLONY material. When I do the next (and hopefully final) editing pass on these first sections, I need to set up better tracking sheets and do a more detailed Series Bible. I’m losing important elements, especially as I layer in other important elements.

I always wind up blocking a lot of oafs on social media on Oscar, Emmy, and Tony Award nights because they start pontificating about the business when none of them could last an hour on an actual set or backstage. It’s WORK, that requires enormous physical and mental capacity, so others can play. If the result isn’t your bag, that’s one thing. You like what you like, you don’t like what you don’t like, and that’s part of the risk creatives take when putting work out there. Not everyone will like it.  But when they act like creatives don’t work for a living, and it’s not “real work” and they can pass judgement on what it’s like to DO the work when they’ve never spent a day on set, or done anything creative with high stakes to it, I’m done. They know nothing, NOTHING, about what it takes to get it done, so shut the fuck up you lazy, untalented, snarky coward.

Of course, when they show their asses like that and get blocked, my overall life is better without them, so better knowing sooner than later.

As a wardrobe person, I was a little unsettled with some of the red carpet choices. I’m all for wearable art, especially for something like the Met Gala. But award shows are about the creative artists who did the work, and too many of the choices on the “champagne carpet” (how pretentious was that?) were about the stylist’s ego and not about making the creative artist look good. There were some wonderful gowns and radiant individuals, but there were also choices that were not about making the wearer look their best, and often the hair and makeup didn’t work with the gown. And one could tell who used the same stylists, because the looks were too similar and about the stylist, not about the individual being styled, which I disagree with. On the positive side, I liked that there were many bold color choices. Too often, the palette is too similar, and people wear colors that don’t suit them because that’s the color trend for that year.

I read the book for review, and sent off the review on Monday morning, before the storm got too intense.  Emails came in steadily, with cancellations and closures in the area for most of the week.

The storm started just after 8 AM. It started as snow, got heavier, then switched over to rain for most of the rest of the day.

Tuesday’s yoga class was cancelled, and Monday night’s soup class was moved to Thursday, because Jeremy had to travel and decided to get out while the storm wasn’t so bad.

I could not get my act together on Monday. I got through a lot of email. I updated my Creative Ground profile. I did some social media networking. I wrote up some project notes. I managed to get the first 20 episodes’ worth of Legerdemain graphics up on Pinterest. It’s such a pain, because when I try to arrange them in the correct order, after about 5 minutes, I have to log out and log back in. Getting all 60+ episode graphics up will be a PITA.

A director who’s worked on a bunch of my radio plays emailed me to say they miss me and would like more, so I sent off two they haven’t yet done. I still owe them a dirigible play. I guess I should get back to that. I haven’t heard from the other producer in absolute ages, so I’m not sure what’s going on with the play he has, and the other ones he wants. I’m assuming there’s a delay.

I finally gave up on getting anything on the “should” list done. I’m fine on my deadlines, so I didn’t have to worry.

I buried myself in another re-read of the GAMBIT COLONY material. Which of course, means taking the red pen and cutting or adding or making adjustments. There’s a vital position in the production team that I’ve ignored in all these drafts, and I have a feeling I have to suck it up and layer in another character. I also worked a big chunk before I realized that I was working on THE WRONG DRAFT. I’d picked up the wrong binder. When I got back to the correct draft, I’d already put in most of those changes! At least I know I’m on the right track.

It hadn’t started snowing by the time I went to bed on Monday. I woke up around 3:30 (feline shift change), and it had just stared; there was about an inch on the ground, but it came down hard.

When I woke up again just before 6, the power was out. I figured, because there was no scent of coffee.

The cats, however, Weren’t Having it, so I hauled myself out of bed and fed them, then went back to bed for a bit, watching the snow. The lights were on at the college, because they have emergency power generators, so I use the sound of the heaters (or lack thereof) to know if the power is on or off. That, and the fact that I don’t hear the hum of the downstairs neighbor’s television, which is on 24/7.

I finally dressed in layers – fleece-lined leggings under velvet leggings, oversized handknit sweater over turtleneck, thick socks. The snow was intense!

The gas stove still worked, when I lit the individual burners, so I made coffee in the French press and made tea for my mom. We could have a cooked breakfast and all, so it wasn’t too bad.

I’d unplugged the laptop the night before, and I powered it down. There was no internet, but occasionally the phone signal was strong enough to post a picture. The power went off and on all day.

We bundled ourselves under layers of blankets and cats in the living room, so we could watch the snow come down. I had the binders with GAMBIT COLONY and just kept reading. I layered in the missing character (this is a cast of Many, dealing with life behind the scenes shooting a large television series), and, by the time I got to re-reading the latest draft of book 3 in the series, realized I had to change her name because it’s too similar to that of two other characters. While one often works productions where multiple people have the same name, I only do that in this series when there’s a plot-or-character related reason for it, and I try to keep the names of people who are often in the same scenes together different enough not to be confusing.

The original GAMBIT COLONY Series Bible is a hot mess with all the drafts over the years. I know I need to start a fresh one. I’m also considering doing a corkboard type of document to track characters and make sure I’m following through on arcs, much as I would if it was a scripted series. I did a little digging, and it looks like there’s a way to do that in Scrivener. Since I own Scrivener software, and it doesn’t work for me to draft (since it won’t let me draft in standard manuscript format, and that’s a deal breaker for me), maybe I can at least use the corkboard function. I found a tutorial on creating a binder and ditching the document file so it allows one to just use the corkboard, so when I get to that point, I will try.

I’d hoped Office had an index card format, but it only has one for Windows10. I’d have to buy the NoteDex app, and it doesn’t have the flexibility I need. No, thank you. I’ll figure out how to use the board in Scrivener. I’ll also look at DramaQueen, the script software I use, and see if my version has one. I’m still dithering whether I should just suck it up and use some of the grant money (when it arrives) for Final Draft. That would be the professional thing to do. I know Final Draft has the board option. Plus I’d use it for, you know, scripts.

It was great to submerge myself in that GAMBIT COLONY world for a couple of days, but now I need to finish books 5 & 6, and do a big overall revision/organization, because they are all of a piece, and all have to be done before any of them can release, much less get submitted. I have stacks of notes on what happens next; I just have to work it into the schedule.

I heard from a market I’d forgotten I’d contacted that yes, I could submit to them in radio format. Now, I have to go back through  my notes and figure out what it was I meant to send them.

The snow is still coming down hard, and will be all day. I expect the power and internet will continue to fluctuate. If it does, I’m still on top of deadlines. If I can get some work done – on Legerdemain, and making the rounds for yesterday’s episode of Legerdemain, and today’s episode of Angel Hunt and the latest Process Muse (which is about research), I will do so. I have one script in the queue due Friday, and a novel they asked me to read and comment on for adaptation due Saturday, which I hope to finish by Friday. So we’ll see.

I feel guilty that I was in GAMBIT COLONY world during time I could have been working on the Heist Romance, but since the power was out and the internet was out, I couldn’t have accessed the software anyway.

I HATE cloud-based everything. I want it in my damn computer, so I can work offline.

Anyway, breakfast, then back to the page. I need to get back to work drafting new episodes of Legerdemain. I have episodes for the next couple of weeks, which I’ll upload later this week, but I want to get farther ahead.

I am NOT looking forward to digging the car out from nearly three feet of snow. If it lets up mid-day, I’ll start. Otherwise, I’ll wait until tomorrow and take as much time as I need to do it, in sections. The car looks like a baby igloo, with al the snow piled over it.

Hope you are well, warm, and happy!

Back to the page.

Tues. Dec. 6, 2022: A Richly Busy Weekend

image courtesy of Jill Wellington via pixabay.com

Tuesday, December 6, 2022

Day Before Full Moon

Chiron, Uranus, Mars Retrograde

Rainy and cold

Curl up and get comfy, and we’ll have a catch-up.

There’s a post over on the GDR site about looking back at November and forward to December.

Friday was a lot of fun. Mailed bills on the way out of town, and headed down to Great Barrington. I found a shorter route, which was good. But, because we’d left later than I expected, we stopped at another store on the way down that was open, but wouldn’t have been had we left on time, and picked up something we needed (but didn’t find the bayberry candles we went down to get).

On the way down, we made an impulse stop at the library in Pittsfield, which was having a lobby book sale and found some cool books. Some of them holiday craft books, because I am a sucker for even tacky holiday craft books (especially at 50 cents a pop). And these have some cool ideas in them.

We went only to one store in GB, one of our favorite thrift stores. I found a train station for my Christmas village and the crossing sign lights up! (Which is more than the crossing sign IRL down the street does). Found a couple of small plates in a favorite pattern, a really cool mermaid candle holder, and a silver chain and bracelet with the large links I need for the charms I have for each. I also found a silver-plated frame for my favorite picture of my dad (who died when I was 10).

On the way back, we stopped in Stockbridge, in search of bayberry candles, but no luck. Then it was to a store in Pittsfield to pick up the last gift for extended family in Maine, and a few goodies for us. With a stop at Adams Fresh Market for fish for Friday night supper.

Pizza for lunch. I’m going to have to start making pizza from scratch again. Store-bought pizza tastes worse every time we buy it.

In the afternoon, I turned around two script coverages, and did some admin work. I was tired by the end of it. Really, really tired.

Tried reading for pleasure, a mystery that came recommended. But the writer uses “witch” as a slur against women and the world’s internal logic doesn’t makes sense, placing the characters in the “too stupid to live” category. So that one goes back, and that author is crossed off my list.

In Ellen Byron’s latest newsletter, she posted a photo of gigantic earrings she bought several decades ago in a shop on Columbus Ave. in NYC. I started laughing, because I remember the shop AND the earrings. They were too big to wear, so she turned them into Christmas ornaments. I love that so much. And that’s just so Ellen.

Her next Catering Hall Mystery (under the Maria DiRico name) comes out in March, and I’m excited.

Saturday morning, I had trouble getting going. But I did. And I wrote the first draft of “Net Worth” (which goes up today on Ko-Fi). The bones worked, and I knew I would do some edits. It came in a little over 1K, but hey, I don’t have to fit someone else’s word count. It won’t go too far one way or the other once it’s edited.

I started “Comfort, Then Joy” which was originally aimed to Ko-fi, but which I now feel is better suited to the quarterly newsletter. The story’s in my head; it’s just a case of getting it down on paper.

After a couple of hours at the desk, we hauled out the big Christmas tree from the broom closet and brought it into the living room. I started fighting with the stand, which has never worked well (and I bought this damn tree in 1989, or maybe it was 1990).

I finally decided I had HAD IT. I put the stuff down, wrapped up, got into the car, and drove into the escalating storm to get a new artificial tree stand. I got the last small one in the store, and while I was there, picked up a couple of oversized decorative poinsettias that clip to branches. I had hoped to find a finial topper, but no luck. I’ll keep looking in thrift stores after the holidays. All the other traditional toppers were too gaudy for our tree.

Home. Unwrapped. The new stand snapped together in less than 5 minutes, the tree slipped in and locked, and we could spend quality time fluffing the tree, instead of fighting for an hour or more with the stand. We put the lights on the tree (which actually had stayed coiled properly this year). And moved the tree into position in the doorway between the living room and the sewing room. We use the glass doors to frame it.

Even though this stand is far sturdier than the other one, I tied off the tree to the door hinges, just for added security.

We unpacked all the ornaments from the big bin in the closet in the sewing room and put them on. The shimmery gold ornaments and some small wooden ornaments go on last, after everything else goes on, and we put those aside.

That took most of the afternoon, but we had a lot of fun with it. Each ornament has a story, and we tell and retell our history with it.

The kitty litter delivery from Chewy also arrived, so I got to haul 45 pounds of cat litter up the stairs.

Sprawled on the couch reading in the evening, with candles on and cats on laps.

Willa is so gentle when she checks out the tree. It’s kind of adorable. Tessa circled it a few times, and pointed out where some branches needed adjustment, and then was satisfied. Charlotte watched from a safe distance.

They really are all very good with the tree. But then, we don’t shut them out when we decorate. They’re always a part of the process of unpacking ornaments, putting things up, or packing them. ALL my cats have been good with the trees. I mean, Elsa (tortie) used to climb the bare tree, but she was fine once the ornaments were up. And Iris (Russian blue) used to choose a patch of tree she wanted bare and remove the ornaments. But none of them were ever destructive.

The storm intensified, and we had power outages on and off all night. Tessa did not like it, and roamed the house, complaining, each time it went off or on. I discovered that, while I could report the outage to the electric company, the gas company has no system for outages. WTF? Charlotte and Willa just burrowed deeper in blankets.

By the time I got up on Sunday morning, everything was fine again.

I mean, we live in a city, not a rural area (despite what Staples claims, when they slap “rural carrier fees” onto orders). It makes sense they’d get the power back on pretty quickly.

Sunday was cold and sunny. My neighbor knocked to let me know packages arrived last night. He’d knocked on the door, but, for whatever reason, I hadn’t heard, and he’d taken them in and then brought them over this morning. One was the Goddess Provisions box (which I didn’t expect until Monday) and the other was a gift from a friend in NY.

After breakfast, I revised “Net Worth” mostly for internal logic, and starting to layer in some sensory details. There’s plenty I intentionally don’t explain and leave for the readers’ imaginations.

I did some more work on “Comfort, Then Joy” which is surprising me for all the right reasons. I’m a little past halfway with it. I figure it’ll come in between 3-5K, a little longer than I wanted for a newsletter story, but it’s a fairly short newsletter.

In the late morning, we went over to the Alpaca Farm to pick up a gift for the cousin in Maine, and then to pick up a few things at Wild Oats. They had bayberry candles! And wonderful ones, from Mole HIll in Sturbridge.

The afternoon was all about wrapping presents, packing the packages, writing the cards to go in the packages, taping everything up, mailing labels, etc. I was tired, grumpy, and feeling every bit of my age by the end of it. Charlotte helped, which was pretty funny.

I like the wrapping and choosing things I think my friends would enjoy. But the whole post office prep can be a bit much. But I had the labels and the tape and the Sharpies and all the rest, so it was fine.

Too tired to do much more in the evening except have a glass of wine with some cheese, crackers, and fig/orange spread, enjoying the 2^nd of Advent candles and the partially finished tree.

Dipped into a bit of Script Chat, but felt old and grumpy and in pain, so I wasn’t at my best.

To date, I have been invited to 17 different holiday gatherings, none with appropriate COVID protocols, and therefore have said no to all the invitations. Not worth the risk. I’m grateful they invite me, but I’m not getting sick because someone can’t be bothered to wear a mask. So I don’t put myself in high risk situations.

Fell into a very deep sleep. Charlotte woke me around 1:30. When I went back to sleep, I dreamed that I met Dewi Hargreaves, with whom I’m friendly on various social media, in person. We were meeting a couple of others we “knew” from social media in a parking lot somewhere, but they were wittering on about stuff we found vicious and tedious, so we ditched them to go to a book-lined bar and talk about books, which sounds like a nice evening to me. In this Dreamscape, we didn’t have to worry about COVID.

Tessa woke me up around 4, and I told her I was NOT getting up that early, and fell back to sleep. I dreamed that I was at an estate sale, bought 5 vintage suitcases, some books, and lots of women’s gloves. I have lots of suitcases (but love luggage) and I do pick up vintage gloves a lot (at least I did, pre-plague), so that made sense. But there was this other guy there, who kept trying to take stuff I’d already paid for and add it to his pile.

According to dream “experts”, dreams about suitcases mean an upcoming trip, or the need to access personal information about yourself. Dreaming about gloves shows a need for protection. It’s pretty obvious what someone taking something symbolizes. However, in this case, I think it was all more literal than metaphorical. But I’ll use the Rackham Tarot given to me by my friend to dig deeper. That deck works well for dream work.

I woke up late, and felt behind the beat and tired all day.

I got the Monday blogging done, made the SM rounds, sat down and made the grocery list. I took the packages to the post office. Managed to park right in front, walk right up to the desk, and was done in just a few minutes – AND within budget. Everything will be where it needs to be by the end of the week. It was sunny, so everyone was in a good mood (and most masked, indoors).

Went to Big Y to do the Big Shop. I think I’m all set for baking – will probably need to get more eggs, as some point. But I’ve been stockpiling staples for a few weeks, and I think I’m in pretty good shape.

Got a batch of veggie stock made in the crockpot. Did another draft of “Net Worth” so it was where I needed it to be in order to put it up this afternoon on Ko-fi. Polished the next two posts for The Process Muse, chose the graphics, uploaded and scheduled.

Turned around two coverages.

Jeremy’s soup class was great. He taught us to make Italian Wedding Soup, and I learned a bunch of new techniques. Charlotte was delighted, although I had to stop and grate some Parmesan for her, because he used Parmesan and talked Parmesan, and every time he said the word, she got all excited.

Tired. Had weird dreams overnight.

Last night was St. Nicholas Night, a traditional celebration, where one leaves out a shoe, and wakes up to find it filled with chocolate or candy or whatever. Chocolate and cocoa for us, this morning. And we generally put the goodies in either a gift bag or one of the Christmas stockings and put the bag in the shoe, because, you know, hygiene.

Waking up to chocolate is always good.

The coffee filter split this morning, so there are coffee grounds in the coffee. Better than no coffee, and I HAVE to get the new coffeemaker up and running.

Roxane Gay shared an article written by Isabel Kaplan about her boyfriend, a fellow writer, breaking up with her once she had some success. He didn’t like that she kept a journal. He felt it was his “responsibility to take her down a peg” and so on and so forth. It reminded me so much of a toxic, emotionally abusive relationship I was in back in the mid-90’s. I’m so glad I’m not still with that guy. I would be dead, emotionally (and most likely physically; he had a history of dead wives). She talks about parsing out her good news, about contorting herself emotionally until she’s a pretzel and then blaming herself for the hurt. It hit very close to the bone. Too many men in my life have defined “partnership” as me putting my writing last while doing physical, emotional, and sexual labor to promote their careers. No. Just no. The right partner will not sabotage the writing. The bell weather for me, in a relationship is – if my writing improves, sparkles, strengthens with this person, it’s a good relationship. If the writing falters or stalls, it means get the hell out.

And, as someone who has kept a journal for 50 years (there are boxes of them in storage), anyone who tried to keep me from my journal, or, worse yet, violated my trust by READING it, was gone in a heartbeat. My blogs are public. What’s in those handwritten books is private.

The big priority this morning is getting at least some of the next episodes of LEGERDEMAIN uploaded and posted. ‘Net Worth” goes up on Ko-fi this afternoon. We’ll see where we are, timewise, after that. I need to work on “Comfort, Then Joy” and also work on THE TREES WHISPERED DEATH and more LEGERDEMAIN, but that might not happen.

The baking begins today. I’ll do two batches of one kind of cookie right after lunch, then start my script coverages for the day. That should let me get all my baking done by the end of the weekend, so I can start delivering cookie platters early next week.

No doubt, I will post photos as I bake.

Have a good one, my friends. Peace and joy to you.

The next epsiode of Legerdemain goes live today. Enjoy!

Tues. Oct. 26, 2021: Ruled By Cats (and Words)

image courtesy of Mustafa Ezz via pexels.com

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

Waning Moon

Neptune, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde

Rainy and raw

The other side of the state is getting pounded by a nor’easter. We have some heavy rain here, but it’s not bad. I like being tucked into the mountains.

Friday’s soul journey material was all about upselling to another class, which was a disappointment. There was very little real meat to the session, although the exercise for the day was about an affirmation to move forward. The live session in the afternoon was pretty much all recap/upsell instead of how to use the work done this week to move forward. There was talk about doing the work over and over again, in a circle/spiral, but, to me, it feels like it should be more of an elongated spiral, to make sure you wind up in a different place than you start, rather than going ‘round and ‘round like you’re in a washing machine.

But different people are at different points in the journey.

They run a business, and they deserve to be paid for all the work they put in. But the courses they’re selling are for those new to the work; but they want everyone to have similar training, so you can’t participate further unless you go through the basic courses. Which is perfectly understandable, but not where I am right now in my journey. I respect their work enormously; but our paths are separating. My way through the forest is different. I am grateful for the tools I gained through this week. I showed up and did the work every day, without whining or excuses, no matter what else was going on. Now I need to integrate what I learned and build on it.

Getting through to AAA was a nightmare; on hold for 40 minutes. What if I’d been roadside, in severe distress, without a fully charged phone?

Once I got through, I was given an ETA arrival time of just over an hour. Okay, whatever, there was stuff I could do on the porch while keeping an eye out.

The mechanic got there in about 20 minutes, which was great. I have a full-sized spare in the trunk; he switched them out. Easy peasy. For him, anyway. I wouldn’t have been able to do it on my own.

He showed me the problem: a tack about the size of a dime. He said it was fixable. I thanked him, tipped him, he took off, I just made it to the live session of my class (although I missed the Sundance Collab session, and therefore, working on the plays).

After that, I looked through information, and found a highly rated mechanic not even 5 minutes away. I contacted them about the tire and an oil change. Heard back right away; they were very nice. I set up an appointment for Saturday morning.

The rest of Friday was finishing up the soul journey work, and finishing up the script coverages. Which I did, although it took me way too late into the night, and I still didn’t earn what I planned for the week.

But I was cooked.

I slept on the sofa bed in the living room on Friday night, so Tessa would have company. She was delighted; Charlotte, not so much. But I slept until 5:30 on Saturday, and woke up with an idea for a series of interlocked short stories. It’s an idea I’ve played with on and off for years, but which finally is coming together. I wrote up the notes first thing, so I wouldn’t forget them.

A couple of other ideas poked at me, related to other notes I’d started over the past few weeks, but I couldn’t yet connect the dots.

Saturday morning, I was out the door early to my mechanic appointment, with plans to continue up that same street to run some errands further along, once I was done.

Only there’d been an awful accident further up the road. It was blocked off, because a telephone pole had to be taken out and replaced. I was able to get to the mechanic – and then their power went out. It came back on pretty quickly, and the whole oil change/tire repair went smoothly. The woman who runs the place told me they do a lot of tire repairs, because the streets are always full of stuff causing punctures, due to all the industry here. So at least I know it wasn’t just me being careless!

I couldn’t run any of my other errands up that street, but I went back and around to go to the public library, who has a huge stack of books for me. Got those off their hold shelf.

Read and relaxed in the afternoon. Really enjoyed Elizabeth Flynn’s book. Read Maria DiRico’s LONG ISLAND ICED TINA. I laughed until tears ran down my cheeks, and it made me miss my Greek and Italian friends in Astoria. It’s such a good book!

Did some more decorating. I still have to run the last few strings of lights up the bannisters, but then the decorating is done!

Slept in my own bed on Saturday night, and Tessa let me sleep until about 5:30 again on Sunday.

Sunday was my “Just for Me” day, at least for most of it, so I puttered around, and read and relaxed and generally didn’t worry about a schedule. I had a live Shadow Work session at noon with the same group that sponsored the soul journey work. Their approach to Shadow Work is very different than the way I’ve been trained, and I got a couple of good tools I can use. But again, there was a lot of upsell, and a lot of first-timers who don’t pay attention to the session, yammer incessantly, but expect to be spoon-fed individually all the information that was just discussed. That’s just not where I am right now. Blessings to them all, but my path takes me somewhere else.

Read a book that was interesting, but not brilliant. Relaxed. Made ratatouille to go with the fish for dinner.

At one point, all three cats were sitting in different chairs in the sun on the porch, which has never happened. It was a big step.

Read four scripts Sunday night.

Tessa woke me a little after midnight on Monday. I got her settled, then she started up around 4:30, but I was out like a log, and didn’t wake up until nearly 6. She was not amused.

That put me back in everything for the day, which is okay, since it got done, just in a different time frame. I can’t be too tightly scheduled here, because everything runs on its own time.

Got some excellent writing done in the morning, especially on an outline for a piece whose characters and situations have been rolling around in my head since late August. It started to come together.

Had to go to CVS to try and negotiate my mom’s thyroid medication, since the insurance problems are still ongoing. The pharmacist who helped us before managed to pull the prescription from the Cape CVS and get a 90-day refill at a price I could afford. Thank goodness.

Dropped off books at the library. Came home and discovered a check from a client – more than double what I expected, which is great, because it takes off the pressure for end-of-month bills.

Got out a couple of LOIs.

Tried to work on “A Rare Medium” during the Sundance Collab time, but I absolutely lost the thread of where I was going with the next scene. Even though I have notes. I was completely baffled.

This is why I need to work every day on the first draft of something until it’s done, and not in fits and starts. I have to block out time to work on this play every day, even if it’s only a short session. I was so frustrated with myself.

Wrote up three script coverages in the afternoon, and read three scripts at night.

Charlotte woke me up this morning at 1 AM. She wanted cuddles and playtime. She was sweet and purry, but it was one a.m. I got her settled and dozed off again. Then, Tessa woke me at 3:27 with her howling. I grabbed the featherbed and moved to the couch, got her settled, and dozed off again. Willa woke me at 6:30, because she was Very Hungry and I was late feeding them.

Sigh.

Working on the outline this morning, for the piece that’s coming together, and then, hopefully, finishing the outline for CAST IRON MURDER. I want it to marinate (no pun intended, since there’s a lot of cooking in the piece) before I start writing next Monday. I will also block off some time to work on “A Rare Medium” and read over the source material, as well as working on the next scene. I have script coverage to write up, and more scripts to read.

I’ve done the meal planning for my friend’s visit this weekend; what we actually get up to (other than the Samhain celebration and giving out candy to Trick or Treaters), we will somehow play by ear, because so much depends on the weather. But it will be a lot of fun. Our first houseguest since before the pandemic, which means it’s a little over two years since I’ve seen my friend in person. My mom’s triple vaxxed, and my friend and I are both double vaxxed. Plus, we all still take precautions, so, fingers crossed, it will be okay.

Time to get back to the page.

Fri. Oct. 18, 2019: Storm Day = Cat Socialization Work

Friday, October 18, 2019
Waning Moon
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
Clear and cool

Sorry about yesterday. No Ink in My Coffee. No Gratitude and Growth. But there’s a short post over on Affairs of the Pen today on shipboard activities.

The power went out around 1 AM on Thursday. We called it in, even though it was during the storm. Better to get in the queue early than to wait until it’s over and then have to wait even longer.

Tried to go back to sleep, but didn’t do more than doze. The winds screamed more than the new cats when they’re arguing about something.

It kept the cats quiet, that’s for sure. They didn’t like it.

I got up at the usual time, although it was still dark. The flashlight got me to the candles. I made coffee. The gas stove works in power outages (although the oven does not). The heat, also gas, does not work because it’s powered by an electric switch, which annoys me on multiple levels.

I fed the cats by candlelight. Charlotte was so cute. I told her I couldn’t see in the dark the way she could. She would run ahead of me a few feet, then come back and touch my leg with a paw, then run ahead a few feet, then come back. Like a seeing eye cat.

Willa and Charlotte have not been socialized much. It’s obvious their original human adored them and spoiled them. But they’ve never really learned how to interact, although they want to. So we’re working on that.

Willa is more outgoing. She’s already a lap cat, and loves to play and interact. But she gets oversitmulated, and then, even on a lap, can get yowly and growly. She nipped the first few days, but we’ve gotten her past that. She’s very sweet, for the most part, although she needs to learn to be a Writer’s Cat — I need BOTH hands to type, and will pet her in between paragraphs.

Willa does start the yowling and screeching with both of the others. I think she wants to be dominant cat. She might be dominant over Charlotte (although I suspect Charlotte only lets her think so sometimes), but Tessa is Head Cat in this house, and Tessa is not putting up with Willa’s antics.

Willa does back down from Tessa, though. Which is good.

Willa is also fascinated by running water. She likes to be on the bathroom counter when the tap is going, and she’s trying to learn how to turn it on herself. Fortunately, one needs thumbs for that. She doesn’t like closed doors, especially not bathroom doors. She loves the new perch we made for her on the old tea cart from Chicago’s Pump Room that’s in my office and usually holds plants. We put a fleece blanket on the top, which is even with the windowsill. She sits and watches the squirrels and neighborhood dogs and cars. Her behavior has vastly improved since we set that up.

She needs a lot to do. Lots of playtime, interaction. I’m thinking of getting her some battery-operated toys.

Charlotte is at the stage where she wants company, but she doesn’t know how to interact with people or other cats. She sits and watches most of the time, which is fine. She comes and asks for attention, but still won’t let anyone pet her.

I think she and Tessa will make friends first. They barely growl at each other anymore, and, when they do, it’s half-hearted.

Charlotte likes to be up — on the behemoth, on the bureau. She likes to be on the bed with me. Unfortunately, so do the others, so it can get a little dicey.

Tessa stomps around, keeping them in line.

Willa and Charlotte swat each other sometimes, but not Tessa. And they swat each other with soft paws. It’s more vocal than physical, thank goodness.

They’re getting lots of individual playtime, but now they want to be involved in each other’s playtime. But then they get upset that the other cats are there, and run away. But it’s already better.

Today is only two weeks since Willa arrived, and a little less for Charlotte. Tessa is much happier with them here, even though she’s telling them off. My cat vet in NY said that once, “It’s better for two cats to live together than alone. As long as they don’t attack each other, even if they don’t like each other, it gives them something to do.”

So this weird insistence here in MA shelters that adult cats have to be “only cats” makes no sense.

The Storm Day was good for socializing. With no power, no street lights, library closed, many businesses closed, and the sirens going for police and fire all day, I was lucky I could stay home.

Even without power, it wasn’t too cold. We bundled up in sweats & sweaters & socks & blankets. The cats settled in with us. We read and played with them. It was quiet (except for the neighbors’ generators). They got used to all being in the room together and associating good things with it.

Willa and Charlotte learn fast. They already know that “bedtime snacks” means treats and then I head upstairs for meditation and bed. Now, they gobble their snacks and get there ahead of me.

Charlotte is fascinated by the meditation space. Sometimes, she sleeps on the cushion when I’m not there.

The power came on for a few minutes in the early afternoon. Then it waved, off and on, until it steadied later in the afternoon. Cell service was out for most of the day. Most of the batteries I stockpiled for just such an emergency were new, yet didn’t work.

Candles are much more reliable.

The batteries in the radio worked, though, so we could get news, which was a help.

I finished reading MISS BUNCLE’S BOOK, which was odd and charming and delightful. I read a mystery by an author whose earlier work I adored, but whose turn into puritanical mystery in locations with no flavor and stock caricatures instead of characters disappoints me. I’d skipped her last few books, but thought I’d
try again. It didn’t work for me. The relationships, including the supposed romantic ones, are flat and bloodless. No, thanks.

Started reading a mystery by a new-to-me author who has a lot of books in the series (how did I miss her )? The location is unusual and well-rendered, the human-animal relationships are good, but I’m not sure about the rest yet.

My treat for myself this weekend is my friend Arlene Kay’s newest release, Homicide by Horse Show. Once I get everything done.

Made a Kripalu recipe of roasted eggplant, tomato, raisin, and mint over couscous for dinner. It was good. Hope to make cowboy cookies (from the Moosewood recipe) later today.

There’s a lot of yard cleanup to do. Plenty of branches came down, although I don’t think any big limbs did. Some idiot was out in the nor’easter yesterday using his leafblower.

I have some client meetings to finalize for next week, and some other work to get done at the library, along with pickups/drop-offs. The furnace guy is coming this afternoon for yearly maintenance. I have stuff to put away.

I didn’t turn around the edits for my Llewellyn article; will do it this weekend and send it off on Monday. I have some other edits to finish this weekend, too.

I gave myself yesterday off for the storm and cat socializing. Now, I need to get back to work.

Have a great weekend!

 

Tues. March 6, 2018: In Between Storms

Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Waning Moon

It’s been quite a ride the past few days, and looks to be the same going forward.

The storm Thursday night into Friday into Saturday was bad. At the same time, we were much luckier than many others on Cape.

I stayed put on Friday. Couldn’t work on the computer, because of power fluctuations. It could hurt my old Macbook, reliable as it is. But there was no way in heck I was going out in that storm, unless absolutely necessary. And it wasn’t. We cleared off the deck, so only the large, metal table is there. We moved the two potted evergreens on the front steps next to the step, back against the house, so they wouldn’t blow over.

The storm worsened all through Friday, and, a little before 8 PM, we lost power. Losing power here means we can still cook (gas stove). However, even though we have gas heat, an electric switch controls it, so we lose heat if the power goes out.

Went to bed very early. Woke up at 10 PM, with the winds screaming. I like to lie in bed and listen to a storm, but this was pretty extreme. Woke up again around 3:30, and it had quieted down. I started making a list of everything I needed to do once it was light enough to see. The cats huddled on the bed with me, not liking the noise.

We were lucky to get the power back on a little before 5 AM. Plenty of places on the Cape will probably be out until at least tomorrow.

And there’s another storm set to come in tonight/tomorrow.

The wind and rain were still pretty bad on Saturday, so I didn’t go anywhere. We had a few more power fluctuations, so again, no computer. A neighbor’s stockade fence was uprooted, and twisted bits of it littered the street. They’ve lived here for nearly two years (bought the house from a long-term resident), but made it clear they don’t care to get to know any of us on the street, so no one has the contact information to let them know what’s going on.

Sunday, it was clearer, although cold and blustery. I ran some errands, like getting in cat food. It was too windy and sleeting off and on, so I couldn’t really get outside for any clean up. Plus, I was tired, which makes no sense, but I was. I did a couple of loads of laundry.

So what did I do, when I couldn’t use my computer and work on THE SPIRIT REPOSITORY, which is behind again? As someone who has always been good at staying on top of deadlines, this is very frustrating.

I re-read POWER OF WORDS, the material that will comprise three of the four books covering auditions through filming the end of the first season. It holds up; I like it. The way the relationships ebb and flow, the collaborative, creative energy between them, works. I need to find a way to get the writing back on schedule, so that I can get the fourth book finished. I may need to write the fifth book, covering the second season, and then I want to release them one-a-month over five or six months. They are of a piece. They are not quite a serialized novel. They are more of a serial novel, in that they all are puzzle pieces. I found satisfying places for each to stop, but there is always more story. I’d like to go through several years’ worth of filming, with other creative projects blooming for them all. I might write the books covering the second and third seasons, and then write an epilogue.

But first, I need to finish the first books. Books 1 and 2 have had numerous rewriters, and are close to ready to go. Book 3 needs some more work, and I have to decide where to break it to create Book 4. Probably at the midseason break.

I need to find a new series title, and new titles for each of the books in the series. I need to figure out if they get their own subdomain, or if I just add a page to the Devon Ellington Work site.

But first, the books have to be finished.

But before THAT, I have to finish THE SPIRIT REPOSITTORY, the one that’s actually on deadline.

The problem I’m having is that my subconscious mind thinks it’s done and has moved on to other stories. Plus, I got a new idea for a thriller that won’t let go.

Somehow, I have to corral these creative impulses and creatively focus them so I can stay on track without dampening anything.

I’m so, so close to finishing REPOSITORY. Now, I just have to get it done.

I had a good morning session on the book yesterday, and then, again, today. I’ve almost hit the predicted word count — I think I will go two chapters over, which will still put me in the wheelhouse for the genre.

Yesterday was an up-and-down day at a client’s, but, on the good side, I wrote and designed four solid ads for them.

Back at the client’s today; I’m hoping it will be a calm day.

Mon. Feb. 6, 2017: Holding SuperBowl Advertisers to Their Message

Monday, February 6, 2017
Waxing Moon
Sunny and cold

Busy weekend.

Friday was mostly about research and studying. Saturday, I got some writing done, but there was more research and studying.

Sunday started out very well, writing-wise, and then the power went out around 9:30 in the morning. It had fluctuated a bit earlier, but Autosave had saved most of the larger document on which I was working. I corrected, saved, printed, and then the power went off for the rest of the day, and I lost the next 750 words of a new chapter, which sucks. Especially since I’d gone off the notes/outline and can’t recreate it.

Put a fire in the fireplace, and did what I could to keep the house at a reasonable temperature. It was sunny, so I read. Michael Connolly’s THE WRONG SIDE OF GOODBYE, which was very good.

Eversource, as usual, was a nightmare to deal with. It’s illegal in this state to be entirely off the grid; you HAVE to be connected to Eversource. Yet, when the power goes out, their lack of interest in fixing it is insulting, as is their shrug and suggestion, “Go get a generator.” If I need a generator, and add solar panels and a wind turbine, I shouldn’t have to be connected to YOU. We were okay, but I felt bad for all the people in the area who were having Super Bowl parties and had to prep.

A local newswire said it was a transformer fire just up the street, but the “outage map” showed no power outages. I emailed them and told them they were wrong. But, actually correcting an article from a source on the site is not the Cape Cod Way. Far better to have the wrong information up.

I was supposed to go to a political meeting in Brewster in the early afternoon, but there was no way I was going out on the road without traffic lights. Local drivers consider them suggestions at the best of times; no lights and many accidents. No, thank you.

And if you think a transformer fire “just happened” to occur on Super Bowl Sunday, you’re incredibly naive. Either the transformer was tampered with by someone who wanted to mess with game day, or the transformer was tampered with by someone inside who wanted the company to be considered “heroes” for getting the power back on in time for the game. However, they just looked like idiots all the way around — not the linemen, who actually do the work. They’re good, as always. But Eversource Management, which isn’t even located in New England, doesn’t understand the northeast, and doesn’t care. Although, from what I heard today, it was a pretty massive fire, so who knows?

The power went on for about two or three minutes at a time, and then off again half a dozen times between four and six o’clock. They’re lucky they got it up and running again before kickoff or they would have had a riot on their hands.

We need a smaller, local company that actually gives a damn and has an ethic or two.

I’m not a football person, so I didn’t really care about the game one way or another. Usually, I’d root for the Patriots, because, well, I live here. I rooted for the Patriots when I lived in New York because the Jets and Giants both played in New Jersey, so they can say “New York” all they wanted, but they still played in New Jersey, so who cares?

I’ve had less respect for them over the past few months because of the connection to the Narcissistic Sociopath. Hey, you stick by your friends, good for you. Most have tried to keep politics out of the game, good for them. But my respect for them went down. But my neighbors and people I deal with here on a regular basis are ardent fans, and I wanted to see them happy. At the same time, I felt they were going in with a lot of arrogance, and it was a given that they would win.

I always thought “deflategaate” was a crock. You look at the charges, at the evidence, and it was Roger Goodell wanting to give Tom Brady and the Patriots a smack down. There was nothing legitimate in it. I think he thought — and so did football fans all over the country — that with a 1/4 season suspension, even undeserved, the team couldn’t get into the Super Bowl.

They were wrong.

I also didn’t like a lot of the nasty Tweets that were going on, beyond trash talk, especially once the Patriots started pulling it out. To compare it with election night? Get over yourself. This is a football game. Decisions made no matter which side wins don’t change the direction of the country.

The Patriots had an amazing comeback. The Falcons were ahead, 28-3, and by the end of the game, the Patriots tied, and then won in overtime. When the pressure seems insurmountable, Brady and Belicheck dig deeper and pull it out. They did it. The team did it. They deserved the win. Goodell got his karmic return.

I have lots of happy, hung over neighbors this morning!

Lady Gaga’s halftime show was spectacular. Prince’s is still my favorite, but this comes very close. It WAS political, but it didn’t need to speak politics. The show itself was about the positive, the inclusive, the joy of creation. She’s a hell of a performer, and she showed it last night.

The commercials were pretty surprising, too. Corporations gave the people who reject the evangelical, white supremacist trajectory on which this country is headed what they wanted. I mean, let’s face it, Coca Cola has always been good at this. They did the whole “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” and the “world harmony” thing decades ago. They gave us our vision of Santa Claus. I was pleasantly surprised by Budweiser, Air Bnb, 84 Lumber. Good for them.

Not that I trust a corporation. Ever. They gave us what we wanted last night. It wasn’t quite a promise, but it was a message of inclusion. Now, we hold them to it. We thank them. We buy their products. We keep track of where they make political contributions. And if they’re backing people who are contrary to last night’s message, we call them out on it.

I did have to laugh at the Tweets responding to the threatened boycotts of Coca Cola, Pepsi (who did the halftime show) and Budweiser by suggesting that those boycotting individuals drink Flint’s water.

Meanwhile, Nieman Marcus (known in the wardrobe trade as “Needless Mark-up”) and Nordstrom’s dropped things in lines made by the Sociopath’s Daughter. I never bought anything anyway by any of the family brands, because I’ve practiced conscientious consumerism for years. Not spending my money on their products is not new to me. But I also didn’t buy any of the designs or products because the craftsmanship was always poor, and, frankly, I thought the designs were tacky. Very Bridge and Tunnel. (New Yorkers will know what that means). I stopped shopping Macy’s when they added that family’s product line to their stores. To me, that was a sign that Macy’s no longer cared about quality.

This morning is cold and sunny. As I said, lots of happy, hung over neighbors. I have a lot of writing to do today, I start my second week of Constitutional Law classes, and I have a few errands. Plus, research. A great deal of the next five months will be about research.

Tomorrow, I spend time in the rented office. That should be interesting.

Meanwhile, another week, another chance go do some solid work. Let’s hope I can, and that there aren’t yet more illegal Executive Orders stripping us of more rights.

In one of the pieces on which I’m working, the architecture is vital to the plot. I used a real house as the inspiration, but then I spent time this weekend drawing blueprints/floorplans to make the story work. I added a rotunda to one side, I changed a few things. My architecture books came in handy. But now, I have to think twice, when I work on the book, and when I think about the house — do I mean the real house who inspired the fictional house, or do I mean the fictional house? Interesting dilemma.

Back to the page.

Wed. Oct. 3: Power Outage and Deadbeat Client

Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Waning Moon
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
Cloudy and cold

We had a power outage yesterday, just as I was working with my tarot students. The computer is fine, thank goodness, but it was a little chaotic, with the generator kicking in and having to report it and then getting the power back on. Couldn’t get back online the rest of the day. But it meant I couldn’t watch any of the video lectures for class, so that gets all lumped in today.

I got back a lot of information I needed yesterday and now have to integrate it into various projects, and am talking this project and that project with several different editors. Finished the submissions, and am glad to be done. Live and learn.

Sent yet another reminder/invoice to the ghostwriting client, who still owes me the balance for the work and has gone completely unresponsive to the last questions so we can wrap this project up. This is why clients have to pay 50% up front -so the writer is not completely screwed. Also last time I give a deep discount because it’s set up by someone I know.

Word from home is that there’s a leak in the ceiling (the landlord came by yesterday and will fix it tomorrow), and a woodpecker’s torn a hole near my room and built a nest (naughty Carlos). Tessa is depressed and mopey — not eating much, won’t play, lies on my bed and looks sad. Poor little thing.

The week Costume Imp comes up to visit, about 6 kazillion things are going on, so I’m giving him the options, and he can choose to participate or not as he pleases. After all, it IS his vacation.

I need to spend some time on my Sustainability Projects today. The first chapter of the mystery will be the easiest, so I’ll probably work on that first. I’ve got my notes — I just have to sit down and focus. It’s more difficult when there’s someone else on the site.

I have a meeting with an agent this evening — I’m looking forward to it. A full morning here tomorrow, and then I’m back on the road to GO HOME.

Looks like DEATH SPARKLES will release on October 12 — how exciting!

Devon

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Waning Moon
Saturn Retrograde
Sunny and milder

I was barely online yesterday, which was a good thing. I wrote about 15 pages in the morning, an excellent day, split over two sessions. Printed everything off.

Went to the library. In addition to books, there was a vintage jewelry sale, and I got a birthday present for a good friend of mine (it’s as perfect as if I’d commissioned it for her), which I will pack up and ship off in the next few days. Went to Trader Joe’s and the grocery store and the wine store, and stocked up. Also bought a couple of batches of daffodils and a batch of pussy willows, and switched the door wreaths from the snowflake wreath to a spring wreath.

In the afternoon, I read Janet Evanovich’s SIZZLING SIXTEEN, which I enjoyed more than #15. And it only took about an hour and a half to read it — exactly what I needed. A break, and reading something just for fun.

Last night, an acquaintance had a quick comic bit at the top of a show, so, of course, I was watching. And the power went out. It was only out for three minutes — but it was the three minutes of that scene! And, boy, this street really gets dark on an almost-dark moon with no streetlights. I’m not sure why everything winked off, and, three minutes later started up again, we weren’t having a storm or anything. It was a pain in the keister to get the cable boxes to talk to the TV again — they don’t reset themselves the way the one I had in NY did. And I had to run around fixing the clocks on the stove and the coffee-maker and the microwave, etc., etc. Anyway, by the time everything was back up, I missed the scene. Hopefully, I can watch it online later today.

Back to the page this morning, on the book and on the play. I’m going to run out to the library again later this morning to pick something up, and maybe follow some of the maps in the local history books to bits of the area I haven’t yet seen. There’s a whole section of the community I haven’t found yet. And it’s a lovely day, so I want to spend at least part of it outside.

The Wednesday post for Gratitude and Growth will go up late in the day. I have to upload some photos for it, and I want to get some writing in first.

Back to the page.

Devon

Power Problems — June 10

We’re having massive power problems here, so this will be a relatively short post that I’ll try to get up before the next outage.

I was going to write a post on bitterness, but by late yesterday afternoon, bitter was long gone and I was furious.

First of all, the Con Ed executives lied to all of us last week when they said they were ready for this. Not a surprise, but they must be held accountable. The people who are doing the actual work at Con Ed are great, but the executives need to feel a cleated boot in their backsides. In addition to all of them being removed and replaced with competent people, the rate hike they got (with, as a condition, that we would not face the same problems faced in previous years) should be rolled back. Their job is to provide the power THAT IS NEEDED, not to keep taking money and keep ruining people’s small businesses and lives.

Second, our horrible new super not only didn’t report the outage to Con Ed, but walked away from the building at 5 PM, even though we are in the middle of a construction zone with NO SAFETY LIGHTS (which means, since doors have been removed, people could fall down the stairs into the basement into the holes in the floor or get impaled on partially constructed walls), saying, “Tenants need to learn how to take care of themselves.”

And we are paying you exactly why?

I wound up being point person with Con Ed, on the phone with them every hour, and when the big trucks with the floodlights rolled up at 2 AM – the cats thought it was fun. Me . . .not so much. Glad to see them, glad to get power back, but . ..

I ate my first Creamsicle yesterday – why didn’t anyone tell me how good those were?

Sitting by candlelight wasn’t bad (I’ve worked by candlelight before). I had batteries for the radio, got Chinese take-out for dinner, used the portable emergency light I have to read LIFE’S COMPANION. I’d forgotten how good it is – I highly recommend it to anyone who’s interesting in diaries, journals, the writing process, the creative process in general.

I’ve been trying to read a biography of Germaine de Stael (yes, I’m missing the umlaut over the last “e”, but I can’t make it take). It’s so poorly written I can’t stand it.

I’ve kept the cats cool by using cool, wet washcloths on their footpads (since they can’t sweat, shouldn’t pant, and heat and cool via the feet). The twins think I’m crazy, but Elsa kind of likes it.

The Belmont wrap-up will be in next week’s issue of FEMMEFAN, not this week’s. I’m behind on the plays, and on everything else. Oh, well.

I’ll lose most of the day filing paperwork with the State (provided the power stays on long enough for me to do so). If the power goes out again, I’ll head to Greenwich Library – they offer me sanctuary. I can get some work done there, or just sit around in the air conditioning and read.

I managed to get the work for Confidential Job #1 done before the outage and also get some research done for some other stuff.

Massive migraine this morning, due to heat exhaustion and stress, but what can you do? I have to stave it off until what needs to be done is done and then I’ll take a long nap. Hopefully in air-conditioned comfort.

Hope all of you in storm areas are safe, and the rest of you aren’t sweltering.

Devon

Devon’s Bookstore:

5 in 10: Create 5 Short Stories in Ten Weeks by Devon Ellington. This ebooklet takes you from inspiration to writing to revision to marketing. By the end of ten weeks, you will have either 5 short stories or a good chunk of a novella complete. And it’s only 50 cents, USD. Here.

Writing Rituals: Ideas to Support Creativity by Cerridwen Iris Shea. This ebooklet contains several rituals to help you start writing, get you through writer’s block, and help send your work on its way. It’s only 39 cents USD. (Note: Cerridwen Iris Shea is one of the six names under which I publish). Here.

Full Circle: An Ars Concordia Anthology. Edited by Colin Galbraith. This is a collection of short stories, poems, and other pieces by a writers’ group of which I am a member. My story is “Pauvre Bob”, set at Arlington Race Track in Illinois. You can download it free here: