Mar 23 2009
“Life is a process. We are a process. The universe is a process.” — Anne Wilson Schaef
Can I just say that sometimes I feel a bit overprocessed, as if I’m turning into Velveeta Cheese or something like that? But here we are in the early hours of the morning, the start of new day and the start of a new week. The process begins anew.
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Mar 20 2009
So I ended up deciding that I’d be good and not cast on my Viper Socks tonight, but wait until I finish the Dunegrass Socks (almost there on the first one).
And then I was bad and did a little stash enhancement at Loopy Ewe — I bought a skein of Dream in Color Smooshy Visual Purple and I’m going to use those for the socks. It’s the yarn called for in the pattern, though a different color. I like the purple, though because I think it’ll make the pattern stand out beautifully. Also, years ago when I had a chance to see the satellites that were retrieved on a shuttle mission because something had gone wrong with them while in orbit, I remember being struck by the most amazing blue-purple colors on the solar cells, a result of exposure to solar radiation without a protective atmosphere. That made the purple seem rather appropriate to this project.
Now I just need to wait for the yarn to ship — and then to arrive. ::bounces with anticipation::
Oh, and casting on tonight was definitely an option because my usual Friday night writing spot is unavailable. Borders is running their annual Educator Appreciation Week (which is a good thing) kick-off event tonight and that will take up the cafe until about 8 or 8:30 (which is a bad thing for me). Then, at 10 PM, they’re starting up their activities connected with the release of the DVD of Twilight, which means the store is going to end up a bit overrun and I don’t want to go anywhere near that. Instead, I’ll be home, curled up on the couch with my yarn (once I get the day’s wordcount done) and watch something the husband would probably just roll his eyes at if he was there.
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Mar 19 2009
I’m not a fan of BSG. I think it’s brilliantly written and I have gotten sucked in from time to time when Sci-Fi is running a marathon, but it’s not actually to my taste. Still, I could resist this knitting pattern: Viper Pilot socks. The pattern is $5 via Ravelry and I think they’re absolutely gorgeous. (Yes, I already bought the pattern. No, I’m not casting on tonight; I have to finish at least one of my Dunegrass Socks first.)
There are patterns that I instantly react to and say, “I want to knit that.” This was one of them. I’m wondering if I want to use something from my stash or be good, continue to work on the current socks and reward my virtue by ordering some new yarn specifically for this project. Hmmmm. Decisions, decisions…
Mar 16 2009
“Most of us can read the writing on the wall; we just assume it’s addressed to someone else.” — Ivern Ball
The writing on the wall for me this morning is that I really need to be a little more rigorous with my exercise — and step away from the chocolate 90% of the time.
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Mar 15 2009
I’ve been quite for the last few months for a number of reasons. One of the big ones was time. My day job is frightfully busy at this point and shows no sign of slowing down in the near future. Blogging every day? Not going to happen. Better to face up to that and move forward.
The other big reason is what to say. I’m not a writing teacher and I don’t have something to say about writing every day. At least, I don’t have something to say about writing every day that wouldn’t be caught by most obscenity filters. I started this blog in support of my writing, but I’ve noticed the blogs I enjoy the most aren’t focused solely on that. They talk about their lives, they post photos, they’re about…things.
So I’m going to stop worrying if the blog I’m posting is the “right” image that I’m trying to present and just post. There are a few things I’d like to do regularly, such as a Monday morning quote, but other than that, I’m not pushing for more than two or three times a week — and you are going to hear my opinion on this round of American Idol as well as the knitting projects and what I’m writing.
2009 is going to be an interesting year.
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Jan 01 2009
“The sun will come up. It will be a new day.”
–The Dalai Lama when asked what would happen when we hit Y2K
As can be testified by the scarcity of posts last year, 2008 wasn’t the greatest for me. There were definitely some high points (the decision to go to London next week was one), but I’m more than happy to see the end of it.
So, new day and new year. New goals as well. I’ve joined a group of writers that have committed to writing a minimum of 200,000 words each in 2009. I’ve gone for the completely insane level of 350,000 because I realized it’s slightly less than a thousand words a day — and I can usually do that easily. Progress is being tracked on the sidebar with monthly and year-to-date progress. This is going to cover a variety of projects as well as revisions.
Actual projects on the table — a book of essays about Doctor Who and, at the moment, a romantic comedy that’s taking some interesting turns. I’m sure others will come up as the days pass, but right now I’m trying to settle down and get into the groove without overloading my plate. With my departure for London in six days, there’s enough there already.
Here’s to a good, successful and productive 2009.
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Nov 01 2008
40 words written on new project. NaNo 2008 has officially begun.
Only 49,960 words to go.
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Sep 27 2008
I just strolled by the NaNoWriMo site and turns out signups for 2008 are already open. Go now; avoid the server crashes on Wednesday.
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Sep 24 2008
I’m in the middle of end of month/end of quarter madness at my day job, but it is worth noting that sign-ups for NaNoWriMo 2008 start a week from today. If you’re not familiar with what the madness of trying to write 50,000 words in a week, you can find an explanation here.
If you are familiar the NaNo, starting thing now about what you’d like to spend your November pounding away on. This is the project’s tenth year, and I’ve love to see them hit a billion words by November 30. This will be the sixth round for me and I’ve learned that having that commitment for a month when so many people want me to do so many other things has a very positive effect.
Besides, it’s a great excuse to leave family gatherings early. “Sorry, I have to go write.” 
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Sep 12 2008
I’ve made reference to the fact that 2008 hasn’t been a particularly good year for me. Lots of things have had to be put off and things I wanted to do just didn’t happen. One of those was a trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon to see David Tennant and Patrick Stewart in Hamlet (I was also hoping to see Tennant in Love’s Labours Lost while I was there). It didn’t happen for a variety of reasons and I figured this was one of those things I would look back on and say, “I wish I had.”
Well, I’m going. Not to Stratford, but to London in January. Thanks to the efforts of some wonderful ladies I’ve never met face to face, I have a ticket for the show’s final performance on January 10. What makes this even more amazing is that 6,000 tickets sold out in about three and a half hours. I was up at 2 AM and tried to get tickets via the web, but the servers crashed badly. I went to bed thinking I wasn’t going to be able to this — and awoke three hours later discovering that someone I know only tangentially had managed to procure an extra ticket (she stood in line) and thought of me. Caution is being thrown to the wind and I’m figuring out how to get the plane tickets without ruining the budget completely.
It’s not just Hamlet or Tennant; it’s a chance to do something I didn’t think I’d get to do. It’s not letting fear make you stand still, going neither forward or backward. It’s taking a chance and taking the leap because you think it’s worth the risk. Too often, recently, I’ve been afraid to take that chance in my life and my writing. I’m going to enjoy Hamlet, enjoy that I’m seeing what is likely one of the definitive performances of this role for the early part of the 21st Century. But I’m also going to enjoy taking the leap and everything else that entails.
