A Professional Dilettante

I'm still writing. Finished Chapter 14 today, and started Chapter 15. I write in the mornings, and do museum stuff in the afternoons. Except for the last week or so before the exhibit opens, when it will be all museum stuff all the time [sigh].

I've got over 51,000 words again. Of course, if I hadn't had to cut over four chapters worth, I'd be up to almost 70,000 words (the joy of spreadsheets -- but keeping count is a good incentive).

But we won't go there.

Today was the second of two unbelievably unseasonally sunny days in a row. A young friend came over to dig out the recalcitrant clematis for me. It was beautiful for about ten years, but it hasn't bloomed since 2010, instead scraggling all over the place and getting tangled up in things it shouldn't have been getting tangled up in, so it had to go (I still have one clematis, and it's behaving, including dozens of enormous pink flowers last June).

After she left (she stayed a while to play with the cats -- she's studying to become a veterinary techician, and is passionate about animals), the cats and I went back out in the backyard where I dug a lot of weeds (I haven't weeded the back flower bed since last fall -- the weather's just been too icky most of the time) and cleaned up and threw away a bunch of dead pots, too.

One of which was about a quarter full of dirty water and nailed me in the face before I realized it was [wry g].

But it was so nice to get out in the garden. Esp. with feline company.

And you know it's heading towards spring when cloudless weather means bright sunshine and warmer temperatures and not a temperature inversion resulting in thick, heavy pea soup fog that never burns off and air quality warnings all over the place.

I took the boys out back with me when I went outside for a little bit this afternoon. Ivan (who is by far my more adventurous cat) wandered out of sight, which he's done a number of times before, and hadn't come back when I was ready to go back in. I thought, okay, he'll be back in a bit. He's never gone far before.

But it's been three hours and it's getting dark, and I've canvassed the neighborhood, and I can't find him.

I'm sure he's okay, but I'm worried.

Dammit.

Morgan pulled this on me once -- he didn't come home till the next day. But I really wish Ivan would come home. Now.

ETA: He's home. Scratched at the door, then trotted in, tail held high, all but radiating, "wow, that was fun", drat him [g].

So. Joss Whedon's made a new version of Much Ado About Nothing.


(snurched from Heroes and Heartbreakers)

So far as I can tell from the trailer, the only thing it's got that might be an improvement over my alltime favorite movie, the Branagh version of Much Ado, is Nathan Fillion as Dogberry. But then the only thing I despise about the Branagh version is Michael Keaton in that role, and I could watch Fillion read the phone book...

Not that it was ever in doubt, but Daniel Day-Lewis won his third Oscar, for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln, in the only performance I've ever seen where someone was portraying a historical figure and I actually forgot for minutes at a time that I was watching an actor. He was that good.

The rest of the awards didn't matter quite so much, but I cared about that one.

Oh, and ye godlings, I hope they never invite Seth MacFarlane back as host again. He was right down there with David Letterman, vying for the Razzie for Worst Academy Award Host in the Last 40 Years (the first time I remember watching them, I was thirteen).

Item the first. I attended my first Heritage League of Pierce County board meeting today, having been elected to the august position of board member at the annual meeting earlier this month. I narrowly escaped being elected to the office of secretary. I will happily take on such positions at some point -- but not till the next officer election, thanks. Let me figure out what the heck's going on here first. I've never been on a nonprofit board before, and I have never taken minutes (or even read more than a set or two) before. I am now the board's official liaison with our webmaster, though [g].

Item the second. The power cord to my netbook died this morning. The netbook itself is fine and dandy (if running a bit low on juice just now), but the cord is apparently toast. Fortunately, it is possible to buy a replacement cord. Unfortunately, I had to purchase it online, so it'll be a few days before I get it, but fortunately I can write on the desktop till then. It's not optimal, but it's workable. Unfortunately, the replacement cord cost a bit more than I expected. But that's a much better problem than not being able to replace it at all.

Item the third. I just made the best beef stew I've ever had. Unfortunately, I did it by winging it. I hope I can duplicate it the next time I want beef stew...

With a side of feeling better, if not completely well.

Napped soundly for three hours in the wing chair yesterday afternoon, and you have to understand, I just don't nap. Period. Slept through the night except for waking up around three a.m. boiling hot (no, not a hot flash -- hot flash=campfire, last night=something on the order of a nuclear bomb -- I did not get up and find the thermometer, mostly because I was afraid of what it would tell me [wry g]). Went right back to sleep, though. Woke up this morning with a sinus issue (the er, evidence is very much against it being an actual infection), but otherwise feeling much better. Low grade headache and, er, evidence (the down-the-throat part causing a very slight occasional cough) the only things that are bothering me now. I'm not wiped out anymore, either, which was the most worrisome part from my point of view. The last time I was that tired was the day I had my gall bladder out.

I have no idea what this is or was or has been.

But at least I felt well enough to go conduct what darned well better be the last interview for this exhibit, and to see a quilt show [g].

You know, it has just occurred to me that the sinus thing (but not the rest of it) may have to do with the two flowering bulb pots I brought in the house earlier this week. I put them both out on the back patio just now. If there's an improvement, I shall be appropriately embarrassed. However, I've had both daffodils and reticulata irises in the house before without a problem. If they're an addition to the growing list of growing things I can't have in the house, I'm going to be sad.

A fellow named Brian Moffit, who lives somewhere where the blizzard hit in New England, aimed a video projector out at the snow and recorded the results. This is just lovely.



Snurched from komotv.com's weatherman.

1) Have a waterfall: http://mmjustus.wordpress.com Or at least what I think are some nice photos of Snoqualmie Falls, even if some of them are a bit truncated. The falls, for those not familiar with western Washington, are in the foothills of the Cascades less than an hour from Seattle, not far off of I-90, and are 268 feet tall according to Wikipedia.

2) Yesterday I wrote over 600 words, but cut about 675, so my net word count was in the red, alas.

3) Today I wrote over 900 words. And cut about 15,000 (yes, that's three zeros, not a typo), because where I went wrong was in the middle of Chapter 11, and I didn't figure out that I'd gone wrong let alone where until the middle of Chapter 15, when I came to a complete and grinding halt for three expletive-deleted weeks [sigh]. We're not going to discuss how far in the red that is. On the bright side, I think I've got things fixed, and now I'm writing all new material again. And who knows? Maybe I'll be able to put some of those words back in the book. Judging from past experience in such situations it's not bloody likely, though.

Someday I'm going to finish this book...

For I am slightly buzzed.

But would someone please like to explain to me why I had no trouble whatsoever shelling out three grand for my museum studies certification four years ago (which I do not regret doing for one moment, mind you) but can't talk myself into spending $300 apiece for a couple of classes on self-publishing (how to design covers, write teaser copy, design the interior of a paper book, etc.) that I suspect would help my writing income rather a lot?