Ah spring. Season of warm days, rain and birthdays. You're almost here. In fact, today in Melbourne, winter decided to give up and give in to Spring early. Which didn't make it easy to stay inside and work, even if they did bribe us with Krispy Kremes (of which I heroically had only one).
And today, thanks to the magic hands of my chiropractor, was the first day all week I haven't felt exhausted. Note to self, feeling exhausted means something is wrong. The book is chugging along nicely, about a third done and I know roughly how the next few bits go which is always nice. And I have a villain. Who is creepy. I know he's meant to be but eeek. Sometimes I wonder about my imagination.
In other news, hmmm. The weekend was much socialising and eating. The coming four weekends promise to be likewise. I'll be the one in the corner munching salad during the week. Spring means no more huddling in bed pretending it's too cold to get up and move the butt. Sigh. Apart from that, nothing exciting. Women having car crashes because they let dogs drive the car (not me, someone in china), the new Ikea catalogue apparently features a picture of a dog with an, um, interesting appendage (that will liven up your scandinavian furniture), krispy kreme is opening a city store in September (bad, bad bad but oh so good). I am even organised enough to have bought a Father's Day gift. More of the cute boys in tights this weekend at the ballet. Yays all round.
So happy spring everyone!
PS Whoever shot those seals at the Prom, there's a nice toasty pit in hell waiting for you. Ya better believe it.
August 31, 2006
August 23, 2006
Breathe
As I may have mentioned before, the combination of virgo brain and writing is not always a good one. Sometimes the aforesaid virgo brain seems specifically designed to torture the writer bit. Like today. Today is one week after I sent my manuscript off. Mail from here to the UK takes roughly one week. So of course today the brain kicks in with "hmm, wonder if it's there yet? wonder how long it will take for them to read it? wonder what will happen?". Can we say "Gah"?
When I finally got the brain off the ridiculous calculations of postal speeds between Australia and England it moved onto "how long will it take to finish the wip?" calculations. You know, the sort where you go, if I write four pages a day that's 28 pages a week and 10 weeks to finish, or if I write 5 pages a day, that's 35 pages a week and 8 weeks to finish or if I could write 10 pages on a couple of days and five the rest I could do 45 pages a week....yeah yeah yeah. And if I could write 100 pages a day I'd write the darn book in less then a week and then my hands would fall off. Then we moved on to exactly what is happening with this wip and 2 other wips and then to 'cool possible titles for other wips'. Upshot being I need to breathe. To get back to calm. Not sure how to do that exactly but I'll let you know how it goes.
I don't know if this was what my brain was doing all night but I woke up feeling vaguely off and completely exhausted. Sometimes you should trust your instincts. Instead I hauled my butt off to work. Only to haul it back again just after lunch when exhausted morphed to exhausted with pounding head and queasy stomach. Having applied a two hour nap, I'm now back to mostly tired with vague headache. I prescribe a quiet night and more sleep then we'll see. Thankfully it's my short week at work so tomorrow is effectively Friday.
In other news BSG Series 2 rocked. But DVD designers need to work on their menu systems. What might seem like a cute way of selecting an episode or feature when you watch one or two in a row can quickly become cumbersome and annoying. Remember, you're catering for geeks here who will suck down a series faster than you can say "Launch the alert fighters". And make sure the music isn't annoying (hello, farscape)!
And the orange cat is stitch free and stupid collar free and has resumed normal programming. So I now get a two month break until we do it all over again. The grey cat is still refusing to take a decent picture but I offer you this. Which is kind of what it feels like in my head at the moment.
When I finally got the brain off the ridiculous calculations of postal speeds between Australia and England it moved onto "how long will it take to finish the wip?" calculations. You know, the sort where you go, if I write four pages a day that's 28 pages a week and 10 weeks to finish, or if I write 5 pages a day, that's 35 pages a week and 8 weeks to finish or if I could write 10 pages on a couple of days and five the rest I could do 45 pages a week....yeah yeah yeah. And if I could write 100 pages a day I'd write the darn book in less then a week and then my hands would fall off. Then we moved on to exactly what is happening with this wip and 2 other wips and then to 'cool possible titles for other wips'. Upshot being I need to breathe. To get back to calm. Not sure how to do that exactly but I'll let you know how it goes.
I don't know if this was what my brain was doing all night but I woke up feeling vaguely off and completely exhausted. Sometimes you should trust your instincts. Instead I hauled my butt off to work. Only to haul it back again just after lunch when exhausted morphed to exhausted with pounding head and queasy stomach. Having applied a two hour nap, I'm now back to mostly tired with vague headache. I prescribe a quiet night and more sleep then we'll see. Thankfully it's my short week at work so tomorrow is effectively Friday.
In other news BSG Series 2 rocked. But DVD designers need to work on their menu systems. What might seem like a cute way of selecting an episode or feature when you watch one or two in a row can quickly become cumbersome and annoying. Remember, you're catering for geeks here who will suck down a series faster than you can say "Launch the alert fighters". And make sure the music isn't annoying (hello, farscape)!
And the orange cat is stitch free and stupid collar free and has resumed normal programming. So I now get a two month break until we do it all over again. The grey cat is still refusing to take a decent picture but I offer you this. Which is kind of what it feels like in my head at the moment.
August 20, 2006
Musings
Sunday again. The book is done and in the mail...so now we wait. The new book is so far playing nicely. Except I was writing after work on Friday while waiting to go and see the ridiculously gorgeous and talented Hugh in the Boy from Oz and the scene was whizzing along nicely and then I forgot to send it home to myself. So then I had to decide whether to try and remember what I was doing and do the rest of the scene and have it go pear-shaped or whether to leap to the next bit I knew.
Unfortunately in the middle of dithering I thought "maybe I'll just watch an episode of BSG" (Ezydvd having come through with Season 2 on Friday. Big mistake. Story is kind of my crack. And when I get one I love, one which I can access to big uninterrupted chunks of and it's GOOD, and good people are doing heroic things and not so bright things and bad things are happening, villains abound and the stakes are high, then ooops, there goes most of a day.
So today it's write first, chores next then play with the nice dvd machine.
In between wondering where all the men like Hugh might be hiding. Sigh and sigh again. Any man who can be playing a gay man and prancing round in gold lame and come off as funny, handsome, nice, talented and absolutely 300% SMOKING HOT, is my kind of guy. Every woman in the audience wanted to be Len from Frankston who got to dance with Hugh (and made him crack up completely which was also adorable). Hugh also proved the theory, started by Chris Isaak, that mirror ball suits look great on hot guys. I've seen Hugh a few times now live and every time he delivers. And he's Australian so there's gotta be more like that in the gene pool somewhere.
Unfortunately in the middle of dithering I thought "maybe I'll just watch an episode of BSG" (Ezydvd having come through with Season 2 on Friday. Big mistake. Story is kind of my crack. And when I get one I love, one which I can access to big uninterrupted chunks of and it's GOOD, and good people are doing heroic things and not so bright things and bad things are happening, villains abound and the stakes are high, then ooops, there goes most of a day.
So today it's write first, chores next then play with the nice dvd machine.
In between wondering where all the men like Hugh might be hiding. Sigh and sigh again. Any man who can be playing a gay man and prancing round in gold lame and come off as funny, handsome, nice, talented and absolutely 300% SMOKING HOT, is my kind of guy. Every woman in the audience wanted to be Len from Frankston who got to dance with Hugh (and made him crack up completely which was also adorable). Hugh also proved the theory, started by Chris Isaak, that mirror ball suits look great on hot guys. I've seen Hugh a few times now live and every time he delivers. And he's Australian so there's gotta be more like that in the gene pool somewhere.
August 15, 2006
Possibilities
The blossoms on my tree say Spring is coming. My favourite time of year. Everything fresh and new. Anything possible.
Maybe I'm all inspired from conference, but my book is just about done after a solid day's work. One final check tomorrow and it will be in the mail. The very embodiment of possibility. Then I have to get stuck into another. See what possibilities it contains. What will it teach me? Where might it take me?
Writing is hard but it's also worth the effort. So is chasing your dreams.
August 14, 2006
PS
Just 'cos I couldn't resist...the orange cat, whose expression most eloquently expresses his opinion of stupid collars, butt surgery and me going away : )
Back
I'm back. It was fun. I am wrecked. Until I can write more coherently about the highlights...here's Keri and I looking glam at the awards dinner (it's amazing what good photos you can take one handed after a few champagnes!)
PS Wah, melbourne weather.
August 10, 2006
Off
Cat update: Not fight. Anal gland abscess (OUCH). He had an operation yesterday and is currently hiding under my bed singing a sad little cat opera that goes something like "Oh my butt hurts and I've got a stupid collar on my head and I think I'll go and eat worms". Which is understandable and probably close to what my reaction to butt surgery would be. Poor baby. He will be fine apart from the bit where he has to have more surgery in a few months to remove said glands so it can't happen again.
And I will be here. Doing this to recover from contemplating the expense of cat surgery.
And I will be here. Doing this to recover from contemplating the expense of cat surgery.
August 07, 2006
Oh the glamourous life
Another installment in 'weird things the orange cat has done'.
The other day he got himself into a little blue as he sometimes does (you'd think he'd learn that he never wins but this is the orange cat). So the last few days he's been a bit quiet and sorry for himself. I know the signs. It means he's nursing a bite or scratch. Which will turn into an abscess as cat bites usually do. Problem is, not much you can do about it until the abscess comes to a head.
So, like a good kitty mother, I have been checking him over each day to feel for scabs and lumps. Today I didn't need to check. Today he wandered past, tail in air and my brain thought "hmm, something not quite right there". Sure enough, on closer (and hotly contested) inspection, my darling orange cat has managed to get himself bitten just below his um, nether regions. A literal pain in the butt : ) One nicely developing abscess. Gross. I'd post a picture but trust me, it's probably something you don't want to see.
Even better, it just burst so I got to spend ten fun-packed minutes trying to bathe my cat's infected bits with hot salty water. As you can imagine, he didn't exactly express his undying appreciation. So off to the vet to hand over yet more of my hard earned dollars tomorrow to get them to check him out and pump him full of penicillin.
At least I'm off to the Romance Writers of Australia conference in three more sleeps (yet another reason the orange cat chooses now to manifest an illness or injury) for hopefully a hint of glamour, some bubbles, some gasbagging with friends and some inspiration. Oh, and some sunshine and warmth on the Gold Coast.
From cat's butts to cocktails in one week. Lucky me : )
PS Ewwww. And I love my disposable gloves. Lucky he's cute, that's all I can say.
The other day he got himself into a little blue as he sometimes does (you'd think he'd learn that he never wins but this is the orange cat). So the last few days he's been a bit quiet and sorry for himself. I know the signs. It means he's nursing a bite or scratch. Which will turn into an abscess as cat bites usually do. Problem is, not much you can do about it until the abscess comes to a head.
So, like a good kitty mother, I have been checking him over each day to feel for scabs and lumps. Today I didn't need to check. Today he wandered past, tail in air and my brain thought "hmm, something not quite right there". Sure enough, on closer (and hotly contested) inspection, my darling orange cat has managed to get himself bitten just below his um, nether regions. A literal pain in the butt : ) One nicely developing abscess. Gross. I'd post a picture but trust me, it's probably something you don't want to see.
Even better, it just burst so I got to spend ten fun-packed minutes trying to bathe my cat's infected bits with hot salty water. As you can imagine, he didn't exactly express his undying appreciation. So off to the vet to hand over yet more of my hard earned dollars tomorrow to get them to check him out and pump him full of penicillin.
At least I'm off to the Romance Writers of Australia conference in three more sleeps (yet another reason the orange cat chooses now to manifest an illness or injury) for hopefully a hint of glamour, some bubbles, some gasbagging with friends and some inspiration. Oh, and some sunshine and warmth on the Gold Coast.
From cat's butts to cocktails in one week. Lucky me : )
PS Ewwww. And I love my disposable gloves. Lucky he's cute, that's all I can say.
August 05, 2006
Sunshine and sponges
It's almost warm in Melbourne today...almost mild might be a better description. The sun is out and doing its best to raise the temperature about 14 degrees. It might even have succeeded.
The ornamental pear in front of my house is blooming, the jonquils are showing just-about-ready-to-go bulges and star flowers are peaking through. Spring is heading our way. My favourite time of year. Anything seems possible in Spring. And I also get the insane urge to clean and organise. Gotta stop watching Nate on Oprah.
I took advantage of the sunshine to wash my car. You may remember my adventure to the Dandenongs a few weeks back. Well, that drive left my poor little Squeak looking like he'd been offroading for months. They got them some good sticking gravelly sandy dirt in the Dandenongs. Of course, because my car is dirty, we have had very little rain in the last few weeks (given the water restrictions I only wash my car a few times a year if possible, in between he survives on rain baths and rubbing off the dust with a nifty microfibre moppy thing) and the little kid who comes round every few weeks trying to gouge me $10 to wash my car is nowhere to be seen. He's got a good thing going on that kid, in my day I got probably something like $3 to do both cars. And ours were grubby being country cars). Of course, he doesn't get to have the fun we did having water fights because of aforementioned water restrictions.
Given that fate was not coming forth with clean up Squeak solutions, I decided to do it myself. Which lead me to two discoveries. One, my hose attachment is on its way to the great garden in the sky - it will only let me do dribble or wimpy spray, the trigger requires great amounts of jiggling and two of the four settings don't work at all. Something to rectify on my next trip to Bunnings. The other thing is not really a discovery, more a continuing mystery. My front hub caps. The rest of my car is coated in sandy coloured grime, the back hubcaps are mildly dirty with the same stuff but the front hub caps, particularly the little indented bits were absolutely coated with dark brown goop. This happens all the time. The rest of the car can be spotless and the front hub caps grow goop that looks like Squeak has been swamp trawling. Weird. Not sure how you design hubcaps that do that, but well done to Ford. I'm sure it has something to do with physics. And physics and my brain don't get along. Whatever. I shall chalk it up to "things mysterious" along with "who is it who makes my house get messy when I am working ridiculous hours and barely there" and "why do fancy mag wheels look like they're spinning backwards when the car is going forwards" (if there's some easy obvious answer to this I'm sure it's to do with physics/optical illusions again but you know...it's weird).
So there you go. Housework mostly done, a clean shiny car and the cheque to pay for the RWAustralia conference next week posted and really, I'm running out of excuses to not sit down and work out what's going on with the structure of my book. You'd think Virgo Brains would like that stuff. But apparently this one doesn't. It likes composing lists of things to take to conference and things to buy so they can be taken to conference and things to put on the lists-I-must-write list (at this point we shall pause while Keri shakes her head at me and the VT nods in agreement) but timelines and acts and arcs are making it go "do I hafta?". Go figure.
And by the way, the answer, dear brain, is YES. Or maybe I can clean my microwave and see if the stuff I bought based on the TV ad really does work.....
The ornamental pear in front of my house is blooming, the jonquils are showing just-about-ready-to-go bulges and star flowers are peaking through. Spring is heading our way. My favourite time of year. Anything seems possible in Spring. And I also get the insane urge to clean and organise. Gotta stop watching Nate on Oprah.
I took advantage of the sunshine to wash my car. You may remember my adventure to the Dandenongs a few weeks back. Well, that drive left my poor little Squeak looking like he'd been offroading for months. They got them some good sticking gravelly sandy dirt in the Dandenongs. Of course, because my car is dirty, we have had very little rain in the last few weeks (given the water restrictions I only wash my car a few times a year if possible, in between he survives on rain baths and rubbing off the dust with a nifty microfibre moppy thing) and the little kid who comes round every few weeks trying to gouge me $10 to wash my car is nowhere to be seen. He's got a good thing going on that kid, in my day I got probably something like $3 to do both cars. And ours were grubby being country cars). Of course, he doesn't get to have the fun we did having water fights because of aforementioned water restrictions.
Given that fate was not coming forth with clean up Squeak solutions, I decided to do it myself. Which lead me to two discoveries. One, my hose attachment is on its way to the great garden in the sky - it will only let me do dribble or wimpy spray, the trigger requires great amounts of jiggling and two of the four settings don't work at all. Something to rectify on my next trip to Bunnings. The other thing is not really a discovery, more a continuing mystery. My front hub caps. The rest of my car is coated in sandy coloured grime, the back hubcaps are mildly dirty with the same stuff but the front hub caps, particularly the little indented bits were absolutely coated with dark brown goop. This happens all the time. The rest of the car can be spotless and the front hub caps grow goop that looks like Squeak has been swamp trawling. Weird. Not sure how you design hubcaps that do that, but well done to Ford. I'm sure it has something to do with physics. And physics and my brain don't get along. Whatever. I shall chalk it up to "things mysterious" along with "who is it who makes my house get messy when I am working ridiculous hours and barely there" and "why do fancy mag wheels look like they're spinning backwards when the car is going forwards" (if there's some easy obvious answer to this I'm sure it's to do with physics/optical illusions again but you know...it's weird).
So there you go. Housework mostly done, a clean shiny car and the cheque to pay for the RWAustralia conference next week posted and really, I'm running out of excuses to not sit down and work out what's going on with the structure of my book. You'd think Virgo Brains would like that stuff. But apparently this one doesn't. It likes composing lists of things to take to conference and things to buy so they can be taken to conference and things to put on the lists-I-must-write list (at this point we shall pause while Keri shakes her head at me and the VT nods in agreement) but timelines and acts and arcs are making it go "do I hafta?". Go figure.
And by the way, the answer, dear brain, is YES. Or maybe I can clean my microwave and see if the stuff I bought based on the TV ad really does work.....
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