metempirical ~ beyond the scope of knowledge
Is anyone else out there messed up because of the holidays? What's up with this "work a day, have a couple of days off, work a couple of days, have another couple of days off"? It's very confusing!
In any case, my days are totally messed up. My weekend definitely did not go as planned. Saturday felt like Sunday because my family and I drove up to Hamilton, in a snowstorm, to visit my sister and her family. We spent more time travelling that we did visiting. The driving was pretty hairy. Thankfully, I didn't have to do any of it. :-)
I don't know what yesterday felt like, but for some unknown reason I got the urge to organize my craft closet so I spent the afternoon and part of the evening plugging away at that. Hopefully I'll get it finished today. This is a huge storage closet and it's jam-packed with craft supplies - mostly wool and fabric. I will be posting pictures on Facebook when it's finished.
I had actually planned to have my list of goals for 2013 done for today, but as I said I got my days messed up and then I got distracted by the closet. (Did I mention it's a big closet?) So I'll be doing the New Year's goals post tomorrow. You know, on New Year's.
Something else I'd planned for today . . . I'm planning to rename and revamp Random Writings and use it as my main blog. Probably for this week I will post duplicate posts on Random Thoughts, but after this week the only new posts on Random Thoughts will be the installments of Water for those of you who've subscribed to the posts. Don't worry, I'll make sure I leave a message pinned to the top of Random Thoughts explaining what's going on, and I'll include a link to Random Writings in case you need one.
Oh! And just because it's been a long time since I've had a good, old fashioned rant, I have one for this holiday season. Why do all these TV channels have marathons of shows no one wants to watch? Two weeks of marathons and the only ones worth watching were Doctor Who, the Big Bang Theory, and Star Trek: TNG. Even the movies on TV are the same ones over and over again. A little variety, if you please! /end rant. :-)
What I'll Be Up to This Week:
Tuesday: Goals for 2013
Wednesday: Hump Day Hunk
Thursday: Chapter 47 of Water
Friday: I have no clue. What can I say? It's 3 a.m. as I'm writing this (I remembered I need a post for Monday just as I was turning in).
Maybe I'll do a post about my craft closet on Friday. I'm documenting it on film, just as a reminder to never let the closet get that messy again. And to impress everyone with my organizational skills. LOL
Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve!
Dec 31, 2012
Dec 28, 2012
2012 Wrap-up
As we come to the close of another year it's time for my annual wrap-up post. I don't believe in resolutions, I believe in goals. Resolutions are too easy to break. But a goal is something to strive for and as long as you move towards it you have a win.
In 2011 I had a list of 7 goals and managed to meet 5 out of 7 of those goals. Last year I had 10 goals and if you count part marks, I made . . . um . . . 2 1/4 of my goals. Pretty poor performance overall. So where did I go wrong?
Let's have a recap of last year's goals and then we'll take them one by one.
1. Organize my days
2. Publish three books
3. Get more involved with the business of publishing
4. Do more self-promotion
5. Find a writing schedule I can live with and stick to it
6. Websites
7. Eat healthier
8. Exercise more
9. Crafts
10. Read a better variety of books
1. Organize my days
With the help of Organizational Queen Jamie DeBree I did make a start on this in the fall. She worked out a starting point for me and I started to refine it, but before I could really get in the scheduled groove I fell off the wagon when NaNo time arrived. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. I give myself a quarter mark here because at best I was organized for all of three months.
2. Publish three books
The books I listed in last year's list were: An Elemental Fire; the Faery Heart; and Shades of Errol Flynn. I got An Elemental Fire published, forgot all about the Faery Heart, and although Shades of Errol Flynn (which has been renamed) is finished, it still needs to be edited so it'll be another couple of months yet. It ran much longer than I thought it would - at times I thought it would be the story that never ends! I give myself a half mark for this goal. :-)
3. Get more involved with the business of publishing
Yeah, this was pretty much a failed goal. I dabbled a bit, bookmarked some sites . . . I can't in good consciousness give myself any kind of a mark here.
4. Do more self-promotion
This one didn't happen either. I suck at self-promotion.
5. Find a writing schedule I can live with and stick to it
This one kind of goes hand in hand with number one, but I also intended on setting a daily word goal for myself and to pick a non-serialized project and work on it until it was finished. Another utter failure. My writing is sporadic at best and the only things I've finished are really short stories. Think flash or less.
6. Websites
It may surprise you to learn I have a business website. Well, I had a business website. I really dragged my heels on this 'cause I kept changing my mind on what I wanted on it. So another fail here.
7. Eat healthier
I was diagnosed with diabetes more than a year ago, and I'll be the first to admit I'm a bad diabetic. I try to eat properly, but food that's bad for me tastes so much better! And then over the holidays I started staying up later, which meant I was sleeping in, so I was skipping breakfast. I'm giving myself a half point here 'cause I did try.
8. Exercise more
Last winter was mild enough that I was able to walk most days, but the summer was so hot that I kind of fell off the walking wagon. In the fall I lost my walking buddy and then due to other health reasons outdoor walking was no longer the best option for me so I switched to the stationary bike for a while, but even that petered out. So I get a half mark for my half-hearted attempt here.
9. Crafts
As I pointed out on last year's list, I have a crap load of craft supplies and the goal was to start using them. *sigh* Other than Christmas crafts, this was pretty much a fail too. No points here 'cause I only worked on them for a couple of weeks.
10. Read a better variety of books
Darn! I thought I did better here, but I specified I had to read at least one classic book a month and one non-fiction book every two months. I read maybe two classics and one non-fiction book. Two if you count a book of poetry I read. So no points here either.
And there you have it. Add them up and I have a grand total of 2 1/4 marks. Looking back at my lack of success I only have myself to blame really. If I had worked a little harder on the organizational thing, it would have helped all but the eating healthier. And even then, part of eating healthy is to eat on a regular basis.
So while last year was disappointing in many ways, I'm not discouraged. There's always next year. And next year just happens to be only a few days away. Monday I'll be posting my goals for the New Year - check back to see if they've changed. ;-)
Dec 26, 2012
Dec 25, 2012
Merry Christmas
Hope everyone is having a happy and safe holiday. Just to share the love, here's a trio of my favourite Christmas songs by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Christmas Canon
Wizards In Winter
Dec 24, 2012
Merry Monday
merry ~ full of high spirited gaiety, jolly
Well, we didn't meet a fiery end on Friday, so it looks like once again Christmas is saved. :-)
My winter solstice end of the world cookie exchange went well on Friday. I had just a few of my writing friends over but there were many, many cookies. Yum! And for a change my cookie press decided to co-operate so I made an enormous batch of spritz cookies.
We finished up the Christmas shopping on Saturday, and in the morning/early afternoon my daughter and I did our traditional Christmas crafts. Ever since she was little we've taken a day to do a new Christmas ornament for our tree. Now that she has her own tree we have to do twice as many. :-)
I thought about taking the whole week off of blogging, but I have a couple of more things I want to post this week. But for sure it'll be a shortened up week.
What’s Up This Week on both blogs:
Tuesday I will be posting the last of my Christmas videos - my absolute favourites from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Wednesday I will be posting an extra Christmasy hunk. ;-)
Thursday I will be taking a rest, which I'm sure I'll need by then.
Friday I will be posting my yearly wrap-up.
And now, because it's Christmas Eve, I give you my own version of T'was the Night Before Christmas (aka, A Visit From St. Nicholas):
A Visit From the Computer Tech
’Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, just the optical mouse;
The cords were all strung to the PC with care
In hopes the technician soon would be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of interwebs danced in their heads;
The wife couldn’t take any more of this crap
So she went to bed while I took a nap.
When there on the screen there arose such a clatter
I sprang from the chair to see what was the matter.
Away to the keyboard I flew like a flash,
Grabbed up the mouse and gave it a bash.
The monitor gleamed with a brilliant blue glow
Seeming to mock me as I lowly moaned, “No!”
And what to my wondering eyes should appear
But a security warning that made my eyes tear.
With an attack on my drivers, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment my computer was sick.
More rapid than eagles the popups they came,
And I whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
“Now Trojan, now Wormy, now BankerFox vixen!
A technician’s coming, my computer he’s fixin’.
By installing protection ,a blocker, a wall!
And then he’ll delete you, delete one and all!”
And then, in a twinkling, I heard it once more,
A van pulling up, then a knock on the door.
I opened the door with a feeling profound,
And into the house came the tech with a bound.
He was dressed all in blue from his head to his toe
And his jacket was covered with a sprinkling of snow.
A box full of tools was grasped in his hand
And he looked like an angel, come down to land.
His eyes, they were bloodshot, his face was unshaven
From his pocket he pulled a business card graven.
He was balding and old, and I was put right at ease,
And I said to him, “Sir, this way, if you please.”
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And in a few moments pulled the plug with a jerk.
“The mother board’s fried,” he said, shaking his head.
“And the rest of your hard drive looks like it’s dead.”
Then he packed up the tower and picked up his tools
“Gotta watch these old ‘puters, they’re stubborn as mules.”
He walked to his van, my computer in hand
And I had to admit, this did not go as planned.
And I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, no more surfing to-night.”
Well, we didn't meet a fiery end on Friday, so it looks like once again Christmas is saved. :-)
My winter solstice end of the world cookie exchange went well on Friday. I had just a few of my writing friends over but there were many, many cookies. Yum! And for a change my cookie press decided to co-operate so I made an enormous batch of spritz cookies.
We finished up the Christmas shopping on Saturday, and in the morning/early afternoon my daughter and I did our traditional Christmas crafts. Ever since she was little we've taken a day to do a new Christmas ornament for our tree. Now that she has her own tree we have to do twice as many. :-)
I thought about taking the whole week off of blogging, but I have a couple of more things I want to post this week. But for sure it'll be a shortened up week.
What’s Up This Week on both blogs:
Tuesday I will be posting the last of my Christmas videos - my absolute favourites from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Wednesday I will be posting an extra Christmasy hunk. ;-)
Thursday I will be taking a rest, which I'm sure I'll need by then.
Friday I will be posting my yearly wrap-up.
And now, because it's Christmas Eve, I give you my own version of T'was the Night Before Christmas (aka, A Visit From St. Nicholas):
A Visit From the Computer Tech
’Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, just the optical mouse;
The cords were all strung to the PC with care
In hopes the technician soon would be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of interwebs danced in their heads;
The wife couldn’t take any more of this crap
So she went to bed while I took a nap.
When there on the screen there arose such a clatter
I sprang from the chair to see what was the matter.
Away to the keyboard I flew like a flash,
Grabbed up the mouse and gave it a bash.
The monitor gleamed with a brilliant blue glow
Seeming to mock me as I lowly moaned, “No!”
And what to my wondering eyes should appear
But a security warning that made my eyes tear.
With an attack on my drivers, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment my computer was sick.
More rapid than eagles the popups they came,
And I whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
“Now Trojan, now Wormy, now BankerFox vixen!
A technician’s coming, my computer he’s fixin’.
By installing protection ,a blocker, a wall!
And then he’ll delete you, delete one and all!”
And then, in a twinkling, I heard it once more,
A van pulling up, then a knock on the door.
I opened the door with a feeling profound,
And into the house came the tech with a bound.
He was dressed all in blue from his head to his toe
And his jacket was covered with a sprinkling of snow.
A box full of tools was grasped in his hand
And he looked like an angel, come down to land.
His eyes, they were bloodshot, his face was unshaven
From his pocket he pulled a business card graven.
He was balding and old, and I was put right at ease,
And I said to him, “Sir, this way, if you please.”
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And in a few moments pulled the plug with a jerk.
“The mother board’s fried,” he said, shaking his head.
“And the rest of your hard drive looks like it’s dead.”
Then he packed up the tower and picked up his tools
“Gotta watch these old ‘puters, they’re stubborn as mules.”
He walked to his van, my computer in hand
And I had to admit, this did not go as planned.
And I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, no more surfing to-night.”
Dec 21, 2012
5 Days to Christmas!
It's getting down to crunch time - are you ready for Christmas? Here's a few of my favourite Christmas songs to get you in the mood.
The Little Drummer Boy – Bowie and Crosby (one of my all time favourite Christmas videos)
Mistletoe and Holly – Frank Sinatra
The First Noel - Celtic Woman
O Holy Night – Nat King Cole
I was disappointed I couldn't find a video of Nat King Cole singing this, but at least you get to hear his angelic voice.
Dec 19, 2012
Dec 18, 2012
Humour For Tuesday
Today's humour is dedicated to all you programmers out there. And you Poe fans too. :-)
No, I didn't write this and unfortunately the website I originally found this on is now defunct so I can't credit the genius who did come up with this. It's a little dated - kids today probably don't even know what a floppy disk is - and I'm sure I've shared this before, but it still tickles my funny bone.
Poe on the PC
Once upon a midnight dreary,
Fingers cramped and vision bleary,
System manuals piled high
and wasted paper on the floor,
Longing for the warmth of bed sheets.
Having reached the bottom line,
I took a floppy from the drawer.
Typing with a steady hand,
I then invoked the SAVE command;
But got instead a reprimand:
It read, “Abort, Retry, Ignore.”
Was this some occult illusion?
Some maniacal intrusion?
These were choices Solomon
had never faced before.
Carefully I weighed the options,
These three seemed to be the top ones,
Clearly, I must now adopt one:
Choose Abort, Retry, Ignore.
With my fingers pale and trembling,
Slowly toward the keyboard bending,
Longing for a happy ending,
hoping all would be restored.
Praying for some guarantee
Finally I pressed a key –
But on the screen what did I see?
Again: Abort, Retry, Ignore.
I tried to catch the chips off guard –
I pressed again, but twice as hard,
Luck was just not in the cards.
I saw what I had seen before.
Now I typed in desperation,
Trying random combinations.
Still there came the incantation:
Choose Abort, Retry, Ignore.
There I sat, distraught, exhausted,
By my own machine accosted.
Getting up I turned away
and paced across the office floor.
And then I saw an awful sight:
A bold and blinding flash of light –
A lightning bolt had cut the night
and shook me to my very core.
I saw the screen collapse and die.
“NO, NO, my database!” I cried.
I thought I heard a voice reply,
“You’ll see your data NEVERMORE!”
To this day I do not know
The place to which lost data goes.
I bet it goes to heaven where
the angels have it stored.
But as for productivity, well . . .
I fear that it goes straight to hell.
And that is the tale I have to tell.
Your choice:
ABORT, RETRY, IGNORE.
Dec 17, 2012
Magianism Monday
magianism ~ teachings or philosophy of the magi
Are you ready for Christmas? It's coming whether you like it or not!
I decided to cheat on my Christmas baking this year. I sent out invitations for a cookie exchange. That way I only have to bake one really big batch of cookies but I'll end up with a bunch of different kinds. :-) Being diabetic I really shouldn't be eating them anyway, and we don't really do entertaining over the holidays, so a cookie exchange is the perfect solution.
Today the tree is going up, come Hell or high water. Oh, don't judge me! I was sick most of last week so I didn't get much of anything done. I did watch a fair number of those smarmy Christmas movies and I read a book or two on my Kindle . . . and I napped a lot. ;-)
We've had a couple of cold days, but no snow to speak of. We did get a crap load of rain though. It's mid December. Where's my freaking snow! As I was typing this at 2 a.m. last night, it was 7 C (45 F). Not exactly snow weather. Although we are supposed to get a mix of rain and snow for the apocalypse Friday and if we're still around on Saturday it's going to be cold enough for snow that sticks.
Are you ready for the apocalypse? And have you seen the lengths some people have gone to so they can survive the apocalypse if it happens? I've been browsing through a few of these "preparing for the apocalypse" sites and the most interesting thing I've learned is that nondairy creamer (the stuff for your coffee) will explode upon contact with a spark. The things you learn on the internet!
This week I'll be baking spritz cookies for the cookie exchange ('cause they're my favourite) and maybe a couple of other varieties just in case no one shows up for the cookie exchange. ;-) And I have to make gingerbread 'cause it's so yummy (the actual bread, not the cookie - gingerbread cookies are only fun to make if you have kids around to decorate them).
I have a few Christmas crafts to finish up . . . decorations for the tree mostly. I have a Christmas wreathe I started a few years ago that has a stuffed reindeer head sticking out of it, but even if I get it finished I have no idea where I'd put it. It's fabric, so I don't want to put it on the front door with all the rain we've been having.
What’s Up This Week:
The schedule is up on the side bar, so I’m just giving the highlights here.
Tuesday On both blogs I will find something humorous to post. Maybe a couple of somethings. :-)
Wednesday (on Random Writings) I'll be posting the chapter links of the draft version of Shades of Errol Flynn for the last time, so catch up before it's gone. On Random Thoughts there’ll be a Christmasy hunk for your viewing pleasure. ;-)
Thursday Chapter 46 of Water. I fooled you last week, didn't I? But Dr. Arjun is still very much in charge so every once in awhile he has to have his say. But things are going to be seriously heating up for Taja and Ravi before Operation Retrieval goes into effect.
Friday on both blogs there will be more Christmas music videos. :-)
Are you ready for Christmas? It's coming whether you like it or not!
I decided to cheat on my Christmas baking this year. I sent out invitations for a cookie exchange. That way I only have to bake one really big batch of cookies but I'll end up with a bunch of different kinds. :-) Being diabetic I really shouldn't be eating them anyway, and we don't really do entertaining over the holidays, so a cookie exchange is the perfect solution.
Today the tree is going up, come Hell or high water. Oh, don't judge me! I was sick most of last week so I didn't get much of anything done. I did watch a fair number of those smarmy Christmas movies and I read a book or two on my Kindle . . . and I napped a lot. ;-)
We've had a couple of cold days, but no snow to speak of. We did get a crap load of rain though. It's mid December. Where's my freaking snow! As I was typing this at 2 a.m. last night, it was 7 C (45 F). Not exactly snow weather. Although we are supposed to get a mix of rain and snow for the apocalypse Friday and if we're still around on Saturday it's going to be cold enough for snow that sticks.
Are you ready for the apocalypse? And have you seen the lengths some people have gone to so they can survive the apocalypse if it happens? I've been browsing through a few of these "preparing for the apocalypse" sites and the most interesting thing I've learned is that nondairy creamer (the stuff for your coffee) will explode upon contact with a spark. The things you learn on the internet!
This week I'll be baking spritz cookies for the cookie exchange ('cause they're my favourite) and maybe a couple of other varieties just in case no one shows up for the cookie exchange. ;-) And I have to make gingerbread 'cause it's so yummy (the actual bread, not the cookie - gingerbread cookies are only fun to make if you have kids around to decorate them).
I have a few Christmas crafts to finish up . . . decorations for the tree mostly. I have a Christmas wreathe I started a few years ago that has a stuffed reindeer head sticking out of it, but even if I get it finished I have no idea where I'd put it. It's fabric, so I don't want to put it on the front door with all the rain we've been having.
What’s Up This Week:
The schedule is up on the side bar, so I’m just giving the highlights here.
Tuesday On both blogs I will find something humorous to post. Maybe a couple of somethings. :-)
Wednesday (on Random Writings) I'll be posting the chapter links of the draft version of Shades of Errol Flynn for the last time, so catch up before it's gone. On Random Thoughts there’ll be a Christmasy hunk for your viewing pleasure. ;-)
Thursday Chapter 46 of Water. I fooled you last week, didn't I? But Dr. Arjun is still very much in charge so every once in awhile he has to have his say. But things are going to be seriously heating up for Taja and Ravi before Operation Retrieval goes into effect.
Friday on both blogs there will be more Christmas music videos. :-)
Dec 14, 2012
12 Days Until Christmas
Are you ready? I'm sure not.
Could we put off Christmas for another month or so? Pretty please?
We still don't have any snow, and the temperature's been kind of up and down lately. I refuse to put the flannel sheets on the bed until the temperature hovers around zero for at least five days in a row. Every time I even think of breaking out the flannel the temperature goes up again. So far we've had one minor brush with freezing rain, but no snow.
Bah! Humbug!
However, despite flu bugs and sinus attacks and lack of snow, I am starting to feel just a smidgeon of the Christmas spirit. So today's Christmas music videos will be half humorous and half serious. Hope you like them. :-)
I Am Santa Claus
Achmed the Dead Terrorist - Jingle Bombs
Faith Hill – Where Are you Christmas
Carol of the Bells – Celtic Woman
Silent Night – Elvis
Dec 12, 2012
Dec 11, 2012
Humour For Tuesday
This is an oldie but a goodie and came to me from my son-in-law, via email. :-)
If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.
(Hardly seems worth it.)
If you farted consistently for 6 years and 9 months, enough gas is produced to create the energy of an atomic bomb.
(Now that's more like it!)
The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.
(O.M.G.!)
A pig's orgasm lasts 30 minutes.
(O.M.G.!!!)
A cockroach will live nine days without its head before it starves to death.(Creepy)
(I'm still not over the pig.)
Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.
(Dont try this at home - at work.)
The male praying mantis cannot copulate while its head is attached to its body. The female initiates sex by ripping the male's head off.
(Honey, I'm home . What the...?)
The flea can jump 350 times its body length. That's like a human jumping the length of a football field.
(30 minutes.. Lucky pig! Can you imagine?)
The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds.
(What could be so tasty on the bottom of a pond?)
Some lions mate over 50 ! times a day.
(I still can't believe that pig ....quality over quantity.)
Butterflies taste with their feet.
(Something I always wanted to know.)
The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue. (Hmmmmmm........)
Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people.
(If you're ambidextrous, do you split the difference?)
Elephants are the only animals that cannot jump.
(Okay, so that would be a good thing.)
A cat's urine glows under a black light.
(I wonder how much the government paid to figure that out..)
An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
(I know some people like t hat.)
Starfish have no brains.
(I know some people like that, too.)
Polar bears are left-handed.
(If they switch, they'll live a lot longer.)
Humans and dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure.
(What about that pig? Do the dolphins know about the pig?)
Now that you've smiled at least once, it's your turn to spread these crazy facts and send this to someone you want to bring a smile to, maybe even a chuckle.
In other words, send it to everyone!
(and God love that pig!!!!!)
Dec 10, 2012
Multitarian Monday
multitarian ~ having many forms but one central essence
Bah! Humbug!
Still no sign of my Christmas spirit, although the holiday depression is in full swing. We did knock off a bunch of our Christmas shopping on the weekend and we're going to need to get our out-of-town parcels sent this week. I found one item I've been searching for for weeks, but I can't tell you what it is because it's for someone who reads this blog. :-)
I have one batch of cookies done, and I have a date to do Christmas crafts one day this week. I've broken out the Christmas music and I might have to break down and get the Christmas tree up this week. Maybe. Just one good snowfall is all it will really take to jumpstart my Christmas spirit.
It almost turned into winter - we had freezing rain yesterday but today it's warmed up and we're getting un-frozen rain. Environment Canada still insists this winter is going to be more typical than last year, but I've yet to see it. The temperature is supposed to be up and down like a yo-yo this week but at least they're calling for a couple of sunny days *knock wood*. If it won't snow it might as well be sunny!
My big project for last week was updating my Goodreads account. I've read 65 of the 75 books I pledged to read this year, although Goodreads believes I've only read 59. But in any case, I can add four more books to the list - an anthology I wasn't impressed with, and the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.
Other than a bunch of reading I didn't do too much last week. I did go on a crocheting binge on Sunday . . . snowflake bookmarks to give to my friends in my writer's group (we have a meeting tonight).
Ironically, I got a letter from my sister on Friday telling me she gets a pain in her neck and shoulder if she knits/crochets too much and darned if the same thing didn't happen to me Sunday night. Like migraines aren't bad enough - I have to get pain elsewhere too.
As far as getting back to a healthier lifestyle . . . it's a lot easier to get back in the habit of eating healthier than it is to exercise. I get up to feed the cats in the morning and I take one look at the wet, miserable weather we've been getting and I'd just as soon go back to bed as exercise. But one of these days . . . I just need to do it without thinking about it. :-)
What’s Up This Week:
The schedule is up on the side bar, so I’m just giving the highlights here.
Tuesday On both blogs I will find something humorous to post. Maybe a couple of somethings. :-)
Wednesday (on Random Writings) I'll continue to post the chapter links for Shades of Errol Flynn so you can catch up before it's gone. On Random Thoughts there’ll be a Christmasy hunk for your viewing pleasure. ;-)
Thursday Chapter 45 of Water. Hmm . . . just what was on that data cube Taja passed to Ravi? And what's he going to do about it?
Friday on both blogs there will be more Christmas music videos. :-)
Bah! Humbug!
Still no sign of my Christmas spirit, although the holiday depression is in full swing. We did knock off a bunch of our Christmas shopping on the weekend and we're going to need to get our out-of-town parcels sent this week. I found one item I've been searching for for weeks, but I can't tell you what it is because it's for someone who reads this blog. :-)
I have one batch of cookies done, and I have a date to do Christmas crafts one day this week. I've broken out the Christmas music and I might have to break down and get the Christmas tree up this week. Maybe. Just one good snowfall is all it will really take to jumpstart my Christmas spirit.
It almost turned into winter - we had freezing rain yesterday but today it's warmed up and we're getting un-frozen rain. Environment Canada still insists this winter is going to be more typical than last year, but I've yet to see it. The temperature is supposed to be up and down like a yo-yo this week but at least they're calling for a couple of sunny days *knock wood*. If it won't snow it might as well be sunny!
My big project for last week was updating my Goodreads account. I've read 65 of the 75 books I pledged to read this year, although Goodreads believes I've only read 59. But in any case, I can add four more books to the list - an anthology I wasn't impressed with, and the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.
Other than a bunch of reading I didn't do too much last week. I did go on a crocheting binge on Sunday . . . snowflake bookmarks to give to my friends in my writer's group (we have a meeting tonight).
Ironically, I got a letter from my sister on Friday telling me she gets a pain in her neck and shoulder if she knits/crochets too much and darned if the same thing didn't happen to me Sunday night. Like migraines aren't bad enough - I have to get pain elsewhere too.
As far as getting back to a healthier lifestyle . . . it's a lot easier to get back in the habit of eating healthier than it is to exercise. I get up to feed the cats in the morning and I take one look at the wet, miserable weather we've been getting and I'd just as soon go back to bed as exercise. But one of these days . . . I just need to do it without thinking about it. :-)
What’s Up This Week:
The schedule is up on the side bar, so I’m just giving the highlights here.
Tuesday On both blogs I will find something humorous to post. Maybe a couple of somethings. :-)
Wednesday (on Random Writings) I'll continue to post the chapter links for Shades of Errol Flynn so you can catch up before it's gone. On Random Thoughts there’ll be a Christmasy hunk for your viewing pleasure. ;-)
Thursday Chapter 45 of Water. Hmm . . . just what was on that data cube Taja passed to Ravi? And what's he going to do about it?
Friday on both blogs there will be more Christmas music videos. :-)
Dec 7, 2012
Eighteen Days Until Christmas
So . . . it’s the holiday season, but I don’t have my tree up, I haven't started my baking, and there’s no snow on the ground. We’ve had lots of rain though. And yesterday it tried to snow. But now it’s warmed up again and we’re supposed to get rain for the next four days. So I’m going to start off my traditional holiday music series with a few of my favourite Christmas songs that seem appropriate for the current state of my Christmas Spirit. :-)
12 Pains of Christmas
White Trash Christmas
Chipmunks Roasting on an Open Fire
Dec 5, 2012
Dec 4, 2012
Humour For Tuesday
Okay, I stole this from a site called Bookgasm. I'm giving you the LINK to the original post because it's pretty long (there are 50 reasons in the original) that I've taken the liberty of only posting my top 30 favorites.
30 Reasons No One Wants to Publish Your First Book
Author: Allan Mott
1. Being innovative doesn’t justify writing a Civil War epic entirely in texting slang and emoticons: “ts u hor! i dnt gv dam :< !”
2. There’s this thing called punctuation. You might want to look into it.
3. Where are the vampires?
4. No, seriously, where are the vampires?
5. The world isn’t quite ready for an illustrated children’s book called SOME MOMMIES ARE INTERNET PORNSTARS: “Mommy and Daddy’s door is always locked and your online access is completely blocked! You asked them why and they say, ‘Don’t worry, honey, we’ve just found a fun new way to earn some money!’”
6. Submitting a manuscript handwritten in your own blood does indicate your passion for the material, but not quite in the way you might have hoped.
7. Iambic pentameter? Really?
8. It’s not technically a novel until you’ve written it down first.
9. Yes, enclosing a bag of flour along with your manuscript and causing an anthrax scare will get people’s attention, but it’s the wrong kind of attention.
10. You’re not just being paranoid; there really is a vast corporate conspiracy to ensure that your revolutionary ideas never leave your parents’ basement.
11. Most good books aren’t created with the sole hope that they might someday be adapted into a Martin Lawrence movie.
12. You’re actually the 139th person to submit a conspiracy thriller involving the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, entitled THE MICHAELANGELO CIPHER.
13. And the 78th to submit a chick-lit manuscript about an attractive woman’s sweet tooth and affection for footwear, called CHOCOLATE AND SHOES.
14. You know the part where the protagonist stuffs those puppies into the wood chipper? It’s not quite as funny as you seem to think.
15. A young-adult novel set in the behind-the-scenes world of network reality television featuring over two dozen characters, graphic underage sex and dead prostitutes? Are you fucking kidding me? No, seriously, are you fucking kidding me?
16. You know the talented creative writing professor who told you your work showed so much creativity and promise? Turns out what he really meant was that he wanted you to blow him.
17. Because they threw away their annual budget on the new Lindsay Lohan autobiography, BOOKS ARE RETARDED.
18. Everyone who attempts to load a copy of the manuscript onto their Kindle is found dead three hours later.
19. There’s a fine line between writing authentic regional dialogue and making all of your characters sound like stroke victims.
20. Just be thankful they refused to publish it, since the common accepted response to a novel that ends with the protagonist realizing all the terrible things that happened were in a dream (or was it?) is some stern re-editing of your face with a pair of brass knuckles.
21. Writing a book about vegetarian zombies kinda indicates you don’t exactly know why people like zombies in the first place.
22. God may have told you to write this book, but he didn’t tell you how to give it a decent ending.
23. You may want to revise the query letter you’re sending to agents so it’s more about the book and less about how much you love kittens.
24. For the first 20 pages, everyone who reads it is certain it’s the funniest book they’ve ever read. Unfortunately by the 21st, they finally realize you’re actually being serious.
25. It’s never a good sign when a manuscript’s first sentence is “’Are luck’s run out,’ said the Princess, ‘there unicorns are to fast!’”
26. When writing erotica, you want to avoid graphic descriptions of acne, cellulite and back fat.
27. Life-affirming poetry written by a 10-year-old with a fatal disease is inspirational; that same poetry written by a 47-year-old housewife with a trick knee and occasional indigestion is really, really lame.
28. If you’re going to make your main character a forensic coroner, you’re obligated to know more about human anatomy than what you learned playing Operation as a kid.
29. A general rule to follow when writing for kids: If you could go to jail for saying it to them in person, you’re better off not putting it into print.
30. Historically, books written solely to settle a bar bet seldom make it to print, especially if they were written during a seven-and-a-half-hour period in the same bar where the bet was made.
30 Reasons No One Wants to Publish Your First Book
Author: Allan Mott
1. Being innovative doesn’t justify writing a Civil War epic entirely in texting slang and emoticons: “ts u hor! i dnt gv dam :< !”
2. There’s this thing called punctuation. You might want to look into it.
3. Where are the vampires?
4. No, seriously, where are the vampires?
5. The world isn’t quite ready for an illustrated children’s book called SOME MOMMIES ARE INTERNET PORNSTARS: “Mommy and Daddy’s door is always locked and your online access is completely blocked! You asked them why and they say, ‘Don’t worry, honey, we’ve just found a fun new way to earn some money!’”
6. Submitting a manuscript handwritten in your own blood does indicate your passion for the material, but not quite in the way you might have hoped.
7. Iambic pentameter? Really?
8. It’s not technically a novel until you’ve written it down first.
9. Yes, enclosing a bag of flour along with your manuscript and causing an anthrax scare will get people’s attention, but it’s the wrong kind of attention.
10. You’re not just being paranoid; there really is a vast corporate conspiracy to ensure that your revolutionary ideas never leave your parents’ basement.
11. Most good books aren’t created with the sole hope that they might someday be adapted into a Martin Lawrence movie.
12. You’re actually the 139th person to submit a conspiracy thriller involving the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, entitled THE MICHAELANGELO CIPHER.
13. And the 78th to submit a chick-lit manuscript about an attractive woman’s sweet tooth and affection for footwear, called CHOCOLATE AND SHOES.
14. You know the part where the protagonist stuffs those puppies into the wood chipper? It’s not quite as funny as you seem to think.
15. A young-adult novel set in the behind-the-scenes world of network reality television featuring over two dozen characters, graphic underage sex and dead prostitutes? Are you fucking kidding me? No, seriously, are you fucking kidding me?
16. You know the talented creative writing professor who told you your work showed so much creativity and promise? Turns out what he really meant was that he wanted you to blow him.
17. Because they threw away their annual budget on the new Lindsay Lohan autobiography, BOOKS ARE RETARDED.
18. Everyone who attempts to load a copy of the manuscript onto their Kindle is found dead three hours later.
19. There’s a fine line between writing authentic regional dialogue and making all of your characters sound like stroke victims.
20. Just be thankful they refused to publish it, since the common accepted response to a novel that ends with the protagonist realizing all the terrible things that happened were in a dream (or was it?) is some stern re-editing of your face with a pair of brass knuckles.
21. Writing a book about vegetarian zombies kinda indicates you don’t exactly know why people like zombies in the first place.
22. God may have told you to write this book, but he didn’t tell you how to give it a decent ending.
23. You may want to revise the query letter you’re sending to agents so it’s more about the book and less about how much you love kittens.
24. For the first 20 pages, everyone who reads it is certain it’s the funniest book they’ve ever read. Unfortunately by the 21st, they finally realize you’re actually being serious.
25. It’s never a good sign when a manuscript’s first sentence is “’Are luck’s run out,’ said the Princess, ‘there unicorns are to fast!’”
26. When writing erotica, you want to avoid graphic descriptions of acne, cellulite and back fat.
27. Life-affirming poetry written by a 10-year-old with a fatal disease is inspirational; that same poetry written by a 47-year-old housewife with a trick knee and occasional indigestion is really, really lame.
28. If you’re going to make your main character a forensic coroner, you’re obligated to know more about human anatomy than what you learned playing Operation as a kid.
29. A general rule to follow when writing for kids: If you could go to jail for saying it to them in person, you’re better off not putting it into print.
30. Historically, books written solely to settle a bar bet seldom make it to print, especially if they were written during a seven-and-a-half-hour period in the same bar where the bet was made.
Dec 3, 2012
Morioplasty Monday
morioplasty restoration of lost parts of the body
Wow, it's December. How in the world did that happen? You sure couldn't tell by the weather. It's warm and rainy. It doesn't exactly put me in a Christmasy mood.
As you can see by the word count widget to your left, I did manage to make a come-back and crossed the NaNo finish line with a couple hundred words to spare. Unfortunately, the novel itself is far from finished, but I can take my time with it now.
If I had to sum up this year's NaNo in one word, that word would be stress. I don't know if was the insanely long span of grey miserable weather, the fact that I was writing in a linear fashion instead of jumping around like my previous NaNos, or the fact I was writing the sequel to a book that wasn't quite finished yet, but this was the most stressful NaNo ever.
As the month progressed and I found myself falling further behind, I found myself cutting more and more things out of my life - something I didn't have to do in previous NaNos. By the final week my husband was lucky he got supper on his bowling nights - the rest of the week he got to make supper. E-mails went unanswered, Facebook was ignored, even the puppies and kittens on the web cams went unviewed.
Which is why I'm doing a bare bones blogging for the month of December. I'm not doing book reviews, but I will be taking the time to get some reading in. I will not be doing poetry posts, although I may post my Night Before Christmas parody at some point. I will not be posting any flash fiction.
What I will be doing is a modified blog schedule with re-postings, seasonal postings, and yes, I will be continuing with Water.
What I will be using my break time for is to de-stress, catch up on my e-mail and blog readings, get my diet and exercise back on track, and maybe even a few mundane things like crochetting and Christmas crafts and baking. Oh, and editing. Lots and lots of editing. For me there's no better way to de-stress than editing. ;-)
I've already started the de-stressing process by being a lazy couch potato (or perhaps that should be chair turnip since I spent most of it in my easy chair) this past weekend. I read Forests of the Heart, by Charles de Lint (which I highly recommend to any one who enjoys urban fantasy, fantasy, or just a damn good book) and I've just started Fifty Shades of Grey (which I'm not impressed with so far).
There's something else for me to do during my break - get my Goodreads updated. Now there's a scary thought! :-)
What’s Up This Week:
The schedule is up on the side bar, so I’m just giving the highlights here.
Tuesday On both blogs I will find something humorous to post.
Wednesday (on Random Writings) I'll continue to post the chapter links for Shades of Errol Flynn so you can catch up before it's gone. On Random Thoughts there’ll be a Christmasy hunk for your viewing pleasure. ;-)
Thursday Chapter 44 of Water in which I have no idea what will happen 'cause I have no idea where I left off. ;-)
Friday on both blogs there will be a Christmasy post. Perhaps with music videos. :-)
Wow, it's December. How in the world did that happen? You sure couldn't tell by the weather. It's warm and rainy. It doesn't exactly put me in a Christmasy mood.
As you can see by the word count widget to your left, I did manage to make a come-back and crossed the NaNo finish line with a couple hundred words to spare. Unfortunately, the novel itself is far from finished, but I can take my time with it now.
If I had to sum up this year's NaNo in one word, that word would be stress. I don't know if was the insanely long span of grey miserable weather, the fact that I was writing in a linear fashion instead of jumping around like my previous NaNos, or the fact I was writing the sequel to a book that wasn't quite finished yet, but this was the most stressful NaNo ever.
As the month progressed and I found myself falling further behind, I found myself cutting more and more things out of my life - something I didn't have to do in previous NaNos. By the final week my husband was lucky he got supper on his bowling nights - the rest of the week he got to make supper. E-mails went unanswered, Facebook was ignored, even the puppies and kittens on the web cams went unviewed.
Which is why I'm doing a bare bones blogging for the month of December. I'm not doing book reviews, but I will be taking the time to get some reading in. I will not be doing poetry posts, although I may post my Night Before Christmas parody at some point. I will not be posting any flash fiction.
What I will be doing is a modified blog schedule with re-postings, seasonal postings, and yes, I will be continuing with Water.
What I will be using my break time for is to de-stress, catch up on my e-mail and blog readings, get my diet and exercise back on track, and maybe even a few mundane things like crochetting and Christmas crafts and baking. Oh, and editing. Lots and lots of editing. For me there's no better way to de-stress than editing. ;-)
I've already started the de-stressing process by being a lazy couch potato (or perhaps that should be chair turnip since I spent most of it in my easy chair) this past weekend. I read Forests of the Heart, by Charles de Lint (which I highly recommend to any one who enjoys urban fantasy, fantasy, or just a damn good book) and I've just started Fifty Shades of Grey (which I'm not impressed with so far).
There's something else for me to do during my break - get my Goodreads updated. Now there's a scary thought! :-)
What’s Up This Week:
The schedule is up on the side bar, so I’m just giving the highlights here.
Tuesday On both blogs I will find something humorous to post.
Wednesday (on Random Writings) I'll continue to post the chapter links for Shades of Errol Flynn so you can catch up before it's gone. On Random Thoughts there’ll be a Christmasy hunk for your viewing pleasure. ;-)
Thursday Chapter 44 of Water in which I have no idea what will happen 'cause I have no idea where I left off. ;-)
Friday on both blogs there will be a Christmasy post. Perhaps with music videos. :-)
Dec 1, 2012
NaNoWriMo 2012 - Wrap Up
Happy first day of December. For thousands of us, that means finally being able to give our keyboards a rest. I don't know how many people signed up for or completed NaNo this year, but there were over three billion words written in the month of November. That's a heck of a lot of words.
But now we can go back to reading a book, or watching TV, or even just come out of our caves to join the world again without feeling guilty. NaNoWriMo is over!
As you may or may not know, this is not my first NaNo win. I actually wasn't even going to do NaNo this year, but I'd talked a few of the ladies from my writer's group into giving it a try, even going so far as to giving a NaNo info session at the library and talking them into giving us a couple of write-ins, so I pretty much had to participate.
So let's start by re-capping my previous NaNo wins:
The first time I won was amazing. After years of writing (mostly poetry, short stories and articles) I had not only finished a novel, I did it in 30 days. Ironically, I almost didn't try. For the two weeks prior to November I wasn't able to write a word. Then November 1st a name popped into my head - Treasure Beaumont. Then her story, called Forever and For Always started just spilling out onto my keyboard.
The second time I won was even more amazing. Not only had I finished another novel and within the 30 days, it wasn’t going to require nearly as much editing. This one is called The Faery Heart, but it too is still waiting on my hard drive.
The third year was interesting. I had my idea well in advance – I knew the characters and the story, I even knew the setting. And then at the last minute I was seduced by a shiny new idea. 12,000 words into it, I discovered that not all ideas are suited to NaNo, so after taking a day to think about it, I scrapped it and started from scratch again. I won NaNo with my original idea, Quest of the Valkyrie, and did not even need to include the 12,000 words from the story I started with.
The fourth year I again thought I'd give NaNo a pass. I already had three not-quite-finished novels and I wasn't really sure I had the time. But somehow or other I found myself sitting down at the keyboard on November 1st and not stopping until I reached my 50,000 words. This one was called Fire and Ice.
Which brings us to this year. I have to admit it, my heart just wasn't in it this year. I'd had a massive overdose of grey, miserable weather and was feeling depressed and unmotivated. I started out strong, the first four days I was ahead of the game, but then I had to really struggle for my word count. I had six days with no word count at all. By the second week I was behind by 7,000 words and I stayed well behind until day 26. Finally the spirit of NaNo kicked in and I wrote 15,000 words in four days, reaching the 50,000 mark in the wee hours of November 29.
There were a lot of things about NaNo that were different this year than previous years. First of all, I wrote my novel in a linear fashion. All the other years I would write until I got stuck, then skip ahead to something more interesting and then go back and fill in the gaps - or sometimes not, which is probably part of the reason why those novels are still waiting to get finished.
Something else new to me this year was going to a write-in. We had two at our library and to be honest, I didn't find them very helpful. I found I got more writing done when a friend and I went to Timmies and McDonalds.
I also went into semi-hermit status this year. As the month went on and my word count wasn't keeping up, I started to avoid going out and even cut myself off from the internet - especially my email and Facebook. There were many times when I was ready to throw in the towel, but I'm nothing in not persistent. However, I felt really stressed out most of the time - it was like pulling teeth to get the words to come, until those last four days.
But I made it through, that's the important part. And although I reached my 50,000 words I've still got about 20,000 before the story's done. So that makes FIVE not-quite-finished NaNo novels I have. For the record, I'd like to state that I unless I have at least two of those novels completely finished and edited next year, I will not be doing NaNo.
So if you see that little NaNo widget go up next year with the name Lady Cat on it, you can totally call me on it. ;-)
Nov 30, 2012
NaNoWriMo - Week 5
Wow. Here we are. The final day of NaNo.
As you can see by my official NaNo word count widget on the left, I did it. I completed my 50,000 words in 30 days. But I gotta tell you, it was a close thing. Over the past few weeks I almost threw in the towel several times, but I'm nothing, if not persistent. :-)
This week I finally got my writing mojo back. Whether it was a change in weather, the cutting myself off from the rest of the world, or my husband's incessant nagging - I couldn't tell you. But something worked.
Maybe it was throwing zombies into the mix. Yes, that's right. I have zombies in my swords and sorcery, swash-buckling fantasy story. And they were necessary. My character even gives a very long winded explanation of them.
And while I may have completed the challenge, my story is far from over. There were a couple of times when my writing was going well that I worried that I wouldn't have enough story for the words needed. So I came up with a new plot twist that will add another 20,000 words on top of what I already have. But at least I won't have to be in a rush to write them.
Once again, here's the list of my fellow NaNoers from Absolute Write. Please check them out and leave a few words of admiration in the comments.
Aheïla: http://thewriteaholicblog.wordpress.com
Orion_mk3: http://nonexistentbooks.com/
BBBurke: http://awritersprogression.blogspot.com/
Meowzbark: http://www.lizzylessard.com
Michael Shoemaker: www.michaelshoemaker.com
Moreferarum: http://mahirnaem.blogspot.co.uk/
Wonderactivist: http://luciesmoker.wordpress.com
Ito: http://www.thehammerdott.com/
Lady Cat (you are here): http://www.carolsrandomness.blogspot.ca
Maggie Amanda: http://www.maggieamada.com/mblog/
randi.lee: http://emotionalnovel.blogspot.ca/
Tezzirax: http://thomascardin.blogspot.ca/
Proach: http://crusadesandcrusaders.wordpress.com
If you'd like to see the previous excerpts from my NaNo, we have Week One, Week Two, Week Three, and Week Four.
And don't forget to check back tomorrow for my NaNo Wrap-up post.
This one's pretty simple. Jessica's amulet, which allows her to communicate with her friend Howard, has been stolen. Now she's on her own, magically speaking, except for a book of magic that was in her travel pack. She's decided she needs to learn how to use the book to perform spells.
Jessica sighed and closed the book. "Even the simple spells are hard. There's one for causing rain that calls for sixteen different hand signals -- and even that won't work if there's no clouds to start with."
The dog whuffed softly at her.
She fidgeted under his scrutiny. "I know what you're wondering," she admitted. "No, I haven't found a transformation or reversal spell. But I'm sure I'm getting close, they're getting harder."
Another day's ride made Jessica more confident in her ability. Some of the spells relied solely on power, but others required little power, relying on incantations and hand movements. One love spell required nothing but dance movements.
"Howard always told me that wizards guard their spell books jealously," she said, "and it's no wonder. With enough power and physical dexterity you can do virtually anything."
Bandit gave another bark and nosed at the saddle bag.
"All right, all right. I can take a hint." She pulled the saddle bag closer and searched inside with her hand. Frowning, she opened it up fully and peered inside. "I don't know how to tell you this, but we're out of food."
His head drooped and he whined softly.
Jessica opened the spell book again. "You know, this is the perfect opportunity to test one of these spells. I'm sure I saw a spell for conjuring up a chicken dinner. If I can just - here it is! Chicken Flambé."
Bandit barked a question.
"Well it's chicken something or other, and it looks close enough to flambé for me to give it a try."
He prudently backed off a few paces to watch, rather dubiously, as Jessica prepared the spell. She sat cross-legged in front of the fire, spell book spread across her lap. After reading the spell over several times she finally nodded to herself and straightened her back.
Hands waving madly, she started. "Ip reel fela, shidd yib jev -- jev -- jev --" the fire snapped and flared as she paused and looked at the book, "crelna, isit sin gallow!" With a flourish she gestured in the air.
The blast from the fire knocked her over backwards. She could hear Bandit's high pitched yelp over the roar of the flames. An indistinct but enormous creature towered over them.
Jessica levered herself up on her elbows, gaping in shock. Bandit circled round to stand beside her. The creature was gaining solidity and let loose and awful scream.
"It looks ..." Jessica sat up better and gulped. "Holy Saint Christopher! It looks like a giant, flaming chicken!"
Bandit barked urgently and nudged her arm.
What?" He pawed the book in her lap. "Right, a banishing spell. Good idea."
The chicken let out another scream. Jessica edged away from it as she leafed rapidly through the book.
"Banishing, banishing ..." She looked up quickly and felt the first stirrings of desperation. She had the feeling that if she didn't find the banishing spell before the creature finished taking corporeal form they'd be in a world of trouble.
It was a rooster, not a chicken, that was forming in all its flaming glory. It flapped transparent wings sending waves of heat in Jessica's direction. She coughed and backed away again.
"Here it is!" she exclaimed.
The rooster crowed, gaining substance. It swept its head downwards. Bandit started to bark, distracting it away from Jessica. A shower of sparks sprayed upwards as it spread its wings and swept around, following the dog.
Jessica raised her hands and started to gesture again. The words she spoke were lost in the roar as the rooster crowed again. Jessica finished the spell. With a whuff of displaced air the bird, along with their fire, disappeared.
"Well," Jessica said, dusting her hands off with a nonchalance she was far from feeling, "that wasn't so bad for a first try, was it?"
Nov 28, 2012
Nov 27, 2012
A Little Humour
Okay, so it's not reallly humour per se, but the following LOL cats are pretty darn funny. And if even one of them brings a smile to your face, then my work here is done. :-)
Nov 26, 2012
Mactation Monday
mactation ~ killing or slaughter of a sacrificial victim
I had a seriously unmotivated week last week. It was a real struggle to get anything done, let alone any writing. That's the sentence I used to start last week's Monday post, but it's still pretty fitting.
As you can see by the word count widget to your left, I'm still struggling with my NaNo. A smart person would just call it quits right now, but I've never been accused of being overly smart. :-)
I'll need to average just over 3,000 words a day to complete the NaNo challenge, and therein lies the big difference between this year and previous years. In previous years I would fall behind, but then I'd put in a couple of 3,000 word days or a 5,000 word day and I'd just about catch up before falling behind again. This year my best "catching up" days have been 3,200 words and I've only had two of them.
So will I in fact complete NaNo this year? It's still a possibility. These last couple of days I've only averaged 2,000, not 3,000 words a day but my records show that in previous years the closer to the end I get the more words I write. One year I finished the final day with 8,000 words and I only needed 3,000.
Remember how in the previous week a friend and I met at McDonalds and what a great boost to my writing it was? Well last week we met at a coffee shop instead and it had just the opposite effect. It was too loud, too bright, and too uncomfortable. Then Saturday there was a write-in at the library, but because of the poor turn-out at the previous write-in they stuck us in a small room that had no windows, no air circulation, and was a thousand degrees. The heat gave me a migraine so I left early and didn't get a whole lot else done that day.
So not to be all doom and gloom, one good thing did come out of last week. I finally finished Magical Misfire (aka Shades of Errol Flynn). I'm giving you until the second week of December to catch up on the chapters before I pull them from the blog for editing. After that you'll have to wait until it's available for purchase to see how it all ends. :-)
To all those I again (or still) owe e-mails to, don't expect anything more than a quickie this week. But then again, those I owe e-mails to are my friends, and I'm sure you understand. :-)
What’s Up This Week:
The schedule is up on the side bar, so I’m just giving the highlights here.
Tuesday On Random Thoughts I will be re-posting something interesting or humorous or maybe both interesting and humorous. On Random Writings I'll probably do the same thing 'cause who has time for reading during NaNo?
Wednesday (on Random Writings) I'll continue to post the chapter links for Shades of Errol Flynn so you can catch up before it's gone. On Random Thoughts there’ll be a new hunk for your viewing pleasure. ;-)
Thursday Brace yourselves, there will be no chapter of Water this week. Unless by some miracle I get a couple of 5,000 word days in for my NaNo, I'm just not going to have the time.
Friday on both blogs there will be a NaNo update and another excerpt from Lucky Dog.
Saturday there will be the traditional NaNo wrap-up on both blogs.
I had a seriously unmotivated week last week. It was a real struggle to get anything done, let alone any writing. That's the sentence I used to start last week's Monday post, but it's still pretty fitting.
As you can see by the word count widget to your left, I'm still struggling with my NaNo. A smart person would just call it quits right now, but I've never been accused of being overly smart. :-)
I'll need to average just over 3,000 words a day to complete the NaNo challenge, and therein lies the big difference between this year and previous years. In previous years I would fall behind, but then I'd put in a couple of 3,000 word days or a 5,000 word day and I'd just about catch up before falling behind again. This year my best "catching up" days have been 3,200 words and I've only had two of them.
So will I in fact complete NaNo this year? It's still a possibility. These last couple of days I've only averaged 2,000, not 3,000 words a day but my records show that in previous years the closer to the end I get the more words I write. One year I finished the final day with 8,000 words and I only needed 3,000.
Remember how in the previous week a friend and I met at McDonalds and what a great boost to my writing it was? Well last week we met at a coffee shop instead and it had just the opposite effect. It was too loud, too bright, and too uncomfortable. Then Saturday there was a write-in at the library, but because of the poor turn-out at the previous write-in they stuck us in a small room that had no windows, no air circulation, and was a thousand degrees. The heat gave me a migraine so I left early and didn't get a whole lot else done that day.
So not to be all doom and gloom, one good thing did come out of last week. I finally finished Magical Misfire (aka Shades of Errol Flynn). I'm giving you until the second week of December to catch up on the chapters before I pull them from the blog for editing. After that you'll have to wait until it's available for purchase to see how it all ends. :-)
To all those I again (or still) owe e-mails to, don't expect anything more than a quickie this week. But then again, those I owe e-mails to are my friends, and I'm sure you understand. :-)
What’s Up This Week:
The schedule is up on the side bar, so I’m just giving the highlights here.
Tuesday On Random Thoughts I will be re-posting something interesting or humorous or maybe both interesting and humorous. On Random Writings I'll probably do the same thing 'cause who has time for reading during NaNo?
Wednesday (on Random Writings) I'll continue to post the chapter links for Shades of Errol Flynn so you can catch up before it's gone. On Random Thoughts there’ll be a new hunk for your viewing pleasure. ;-)
Thursday Brace yourselves, there will be no chapter of Water this week. Unless by some miracle I get a couple of 5,000 word days in for my NaNo, I'm just not going to have the time.
Friday on both blogs there will be a NaNo update and another excerpt from Lucky Dog.
Saturday there will be the traditional NaNo wrap-up on both blogs.
Nov 23, 2012
NaNoWriMo - Week 4
Well, as you can see, I'm still struggling to catch up on my word count. And unlike the previous weeks, I can't even use the weather as an excuse. The weather this past week has been nice and sunny, but my energy has still been somewhat lacking.
While it's still possible to catch up and win this thing, there's still about a 50/50 chance I might not. I have the time, I have the ideas, but what I also have a serious lack of is motivation.
I really need to get my head back in the game if I'm going to complete my NaNo this year. But honestly, right now I feel more like napping than writing. *sigh*
Once again, here's the list of my fellow NaNoers from Absolute Write. Please check them out and leave a word of encouragement in the comments. And don't forget to congratulation those overachievers who've already won! :-)
Aheïla: http://thewriteaholicblog.wordpress.com
Orion_mk3: http://nonexistentbooks.com/
BBBurke: http://awritersprogression.blogspot.com/
Meowzbark: http://www.lizzylessard.com
Michael Shoemaker: www.michaelshoemaker.com
Moreferarum: http://mahirnaem.blogspot.co.uk/
Wonderactivist: http://luciesmoker.wordpress.com
Ito: http://www.thehammerdott.com/
Lady Cat (you are here): http://www.carolsrandomness.blogspot.ca
Maggie Amanda: http://www.maggieamada.com/mblog/
randi.lee: http://emotionalnovel.blogspot.ca/
Tezzirax: http://thomascardin.blogspot.ca/
Proach: http://crusadesandcrusaders.wordpress.com
If you'd like to see the previous excerpts from my NaNo, we have Week One and Week Two, and Week 3.
This week's excerpt is pretty self-explanatory. Jessica and the man she accidentally turned into a dog (whom she calls Bandit) are enjoying some down time. The amulet she refers to is a magical link between her and her best friend, Howard, who accidentally sent her to this magical realm and it's their only means of communication.
It was a beautiful day. They followed the stream and when they came to the place Jessica had found to learn magic, they stopped. Bandit stretched out on a raised, flat rock to enjoy the sun. Jessica thought about contacting Howard to get a little magic practice in, but decided it was too nice a day for work. Instead she stretched out beside Bandit and in minutes they were both fast asleep.
A few hours later, Jessica woke with a start. Something was wrong but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She sat up and looked around them, but other than the shadows being much longer, there didn't seem to be anything amiss. Her hand went automatically to the amulet to call Howard to check things out, but the amulet wasn't there.
"Oh my god!" She patted herself down frantically, but the amulet was gone. She got to her feet and gave her clothing a shake, hoping it was just a matter of the chain breaking and the pendant slipping down inside her clothing. But nothing fell out.
"Bandit, wake up!"
He lifted his head and looked at her blearily.
"It's gone! My amulet is gone!"
Her frantic voice got through to him and he quickly got to his feet.
"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod! What am I going to do? That was my only link to Howard. I am so screwed without him!"
She sank to the ground, eyes wide with panic. "I can't believe I lost it."
Bandit was sniffing the ground around them. Despite the fact he'd started out as a man, there were some characteristics of dog that he was given and a heightened sense of smell was one of them. He criss-crossed the rock, stopping suddenly to bark.
"What is it? Did you find it?" She turned a hopeful look in his direction.
He shook his head no, then pawed the ground and growled.
Jessica tried to see what he was looking at. "I don't -" There, in the loose dirt in a depression of the rock. "Is that a footprint?" Her voice rose. "Are you trying to tell me I didn't lose my amulet, someone stole it?"
Bandit dipped his head in a nod.
"Holy Saint Christopher! I can't believe I slept so heavily that someone was able to actually take my medallion off of me without waking me up."
Lifting his head, Bandit sniffed a couple of times with his nose in the air, then sneezed. He looked at Jessica expectantly.
"What?"
He repeated his actions and her brow furrowed in concentration. "Something in the air?"
His head went up and down in a nod yes.
"Something in the air . . . like magic? Someone used magic to spell us to sleep heavier?"
This time he barked and nodded.
Jessica's panic was burning away with anger. "God damn them to hell! Do you think you'd be able to track their scent?"
He started at the footprint and then sniffed the ground around it. Catching the scent a little further on, he began to follow the trail.
"All right Bandit! Let's get the bastard, whoever he is!"
Nov 21, 2012
Nov 20, 2012
A Little Humour For Your Tuesday
As promised, here is my something humorous for today. Many thanks to my friend Jean for sending this to me via e-mail. :-)
Have a groan on me…
How does Moses make his tea? Hebrews it.
Venison for dinner again? Oh deer!
A cartoonist was found dead in his home. Details are sketchy.
I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest.
Haunted French pancakes give me the crêpes.
England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool.
I tried to catch some fog, but I mist.
They told me I had type-A blood, but it was a Type-O.
I changed my iPod's name to Titanic. It's syncing now.
Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.
I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid, but he says he can stop any time.
I stayed up all night to see where the sun went, and then it dawned on me.
This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I'd never met herbivore.
When chemists die, they barium.
I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. I just can't put it down.
I did a theatrical performance about puns. It was a play on words.
PMS jokes aren't funny; period...
Why were the Indians here first? They had reservations.
We're going on a class trip to the Coca-Cola factory. I hope there's no pop quiz.
I didn't like my beard at first. Then it grew on me.
Did you hear about the cross-eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn't control her pupils?
When you get a bladder infection urine trouble.
Broken pencils are pointless.
What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus.
I dropped out of communism class because of lousy Marx.
All the toilets in New York 's police stations have been stolen. The police have nothing to go on.
I got a job at a bakery because I kneaded dough.
Velcro - what a rip off!
Nov 19, 2012
Muciferous Monday
muciferous ~ conveying or secreting mucus
I had a seriously unmotivated week last week. It was a real struggle to get anything done, let alone any writing.
However, one thing I did get done was a poetry reading on Thursday night. It was my third time at this venue, and I had a great time (as usual). It was a little disappointing that I didn't have a chapbook available as the crowd seemed to be in a buying mood, but it couldn't be helped. I have two readings next year so hopefully in the meantime I'll get one of the two chapbooks I have plans for done.
Remember how last Monday I needed just over 3,000 words to catch up on my NaNo? Yeah. That didn't happen. I wrote 405 words that day and then nothing for the next three days in a row. I told you I was seriously unmotivated last week. By the end of Thursday I was almost 8,000 words behind.
Then Friday a friend and I went to McDonalds to write and that was the turning point for me. I tried to stay off the internet as much as possible the rest of the weekend, not even to catch up on my e-mails. Sorry about that, everyone to whom I owe an email!
A new character popped up in my NaNo and sent the story in a whole different direction. It took awhile to figure out what, exactly, that direction was but I think I'm pretty much set now.
As you may (or may not) know, my NaNo novel is the sequel to the story I've been serializing on Random Writings. So when it came time to write my serial chapter last week I found myself adding a chapter that explains something that happens in the NaNo novel. I can't quite make up my mind whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.
This will be another week that's pretty much filled with words. Hopefully I'll keep my momentum catching up on my NaNo words and maybe even find the time to catch up on my e-mails.
What’s Up This Week:
The schedule is up on the side bar, so I’m just giving the highlights here.
Tuesday On Random Thoughts I will be re-posting something interesting or humorous or maybe both interesting and humorous. On Random Writings there will be a book review of Wildwood, by Helen Scott Taylor.
Wednesday (on Random Writings) Chapter Seventy-eight of Shades of Errol Flynn. Is this the end? Who knows. I'm starting to think this story will never end. On Random Thoughts there’ll be a new hunk for your viewing pleasure. ;-)
Thursday we have Chapter Forty-three of Water (on Random Thoughts). I'm back to not knowing what's going to happen next, so no hints.
Friday on both blogs there will be a NaNo update and another excerpt from Lucky Dog.
I had a seriously unmotivated week last week. It was a real struggle to get anything done, let alone any writing.
However, one thing I did get done was a poetry reading on Thursday night. It was my third time at this venue, and I had a great time (as usual). It was a little disappointing that I didn't have a chapbook available as the crowd seemed to be in a buying mood, but it couldn't be helped. I have two readings next year so hopefully in the meantime I'll get one of the two chapbooks I have plans for done.
Remember how last Monday I needed just over 3,000 words to catch up on my NaNo? Yeah. That didn't happen. I wrote 405 words that day and then nothing for the next three days in a row. I told you I was seriously unmotivated last week. By the end of Thursday I was almost 8,000 words behind.
Then Friday a friend and I went to McDonalds to write and that was the turning point for me. I tried to stay off the internet as much as possible the rest of the weekend, not even to catch up on my e-mails. Sorry about that, everyone to whom I owe an email!
A new character popped up in my NaNo and sent the story in a whole different direction. It took awhile to figure out what, exactly, that direction was but I think I'm pretty much set now.
As you may (or may not) know, my NaNo novel is the sequel to the story I've been serializing on Random Writings. So when it came time to write my serial chapter last week I found myself adding a chapter that explains something that happens in the NaNo novel. I can't quite make up my mind whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.
This will be another week that's pretty much filled with words. Hopefully I'll keep my momentum catching up on my NaNo words and maybe even find the time to catch up on my e-mails.
What’s Up This Week:
The schedule is up on the side bar, so I’m just giving the highlights here.
Tuesday On Random Thoughts I will be re-posting something interesting or humorous or maybe both interesting and humorous. On Random Writings there will be a book review of Wildwood, by Helen Scott Taylor.
Wednesday (on Random Writings) Chapter Seventy-eight of Shades of Errol Flynn. Is this the end? Who knows. I'm starting to think this story will never end. On Random Thoughts there’ll be a new hunk for your viewing pleasure. ;-)
Thursday we have Chapter Forty-three of Water (on Random Thoughts). I'm back to not knowing what's going to happen next, so no hints.
Friday on both blogs there will be a NaNo update and another excerpt from Lucky Dog.
Nov 16, 2012
NaNoWriMo - Week 3
Yeah . . . so I'm way behind at this point. Thousands and thousands of words behind. Not as far behind as some people on my buddy list, but far enough to cause slight concern.
The worst part is that I really don't have a good excuse except for the weather. We've had an unnatural abundance of grey and overcast weather lately and it's put me in hibernation mode. All I want to do is nap.
I checked my numbers for last year and discovered that I was behind every day except four of them last year. Day ten I was ahead by 322 words, and then days 28, 29, and 30 I wrote an impressive 13,669 words for the win.
I don't want to do that this year. I want to catch up over the weekend and then go slow and steady to win the race.
Once again, here's the list of my fellow NaNoers from Absolute Write. Please check them out and leave a word of encouragement in the comments.
Aheïla: http://thewriteaholicblog.wordpress.com
Orion_mk3: http://nonexistentbooks.com/
BBBurke: http://awritersprogression.blogspot.com/
Meowzbark: http://www.lizzylessard.com
Michael Shoemaker: www.michaelshoemaker.com
Moreferarum: http://mahirnaem.blogspot.co.uk/
Wonderactivist: http://luciesmoker.wordpress.com
Ito: http://www.thehammerdott.com/
Lady Cat (you are here): http://www.carolsrandomness.blogspot.ca
Maggie Amanda: http://www.maggieamada.com/mblog/
randi.lee: http://emotionalnovel.blogspot.ca/
Tezzirax: http://thomascardin.blogspot.ca/
Proach: http://crusadesandcrusaders.wordpress.com
If you'd like to see the previous excerpts from my NaNo, we have Week One and Week Two.
This week's excerpt is pretty self-explanatory. Back in the real world, Jessica's friends are talking about her situation.
Howard sighed as there was a knock on the door to his apartment. There was only one person who would be bothering him at this time of night.
"Come in, Ellen."
Ellen was Jessica's other best friend, and room mate. She'd been making his life miserable since Jessica's disappearance. It's not like he meant to send Jessica into another universe, nor was it his fault that Paranithel and Thackery enhanced his spell. But she still held him responsible.
"How's Jessica doing?" she asked, by way of greeting.
"Still in the Darkwood Forest, but at least she's getting the hang of camping - she's not liking it much, but she's getting the hang of it."
"Poor Jess, she's never been what you'd call outdoorsy." Ellen went over to his coffee maker and helped herself to a cup of his favourite, and most expensive blends.
"Help yourself," he said. "At least she's got some company now."
"How's that?"
"She accidentally turned some guy into a dog."
"What?" Ellen choked on a mouthful of coffee. "What did you say?"
Howard grinned. "Someone disturbed her sleep last night and without even thinking about it she changed him into a dog."
"Howard! That's not even remotely funny!"
"Oh, chill Ellen. It won't be hard to change him back, she just has to wait for a month."
"That's not what I'm talking about, you idiot!" Ellen paced, short angry strides. "First of all, this just proves she's not safe on her own! He could have just as easily slit her throat while she slept. And then there's the whole 'accidentally' thing. You need to teach her how to control her magic."
"Me? But I don't-"
"Yes, you. You've been studying magic since you were a little kid. Jessica told me so. All you've lacked is the power."
"But Thackery said -"
"Screw Thackery! You need to teach her at least the basics, a modicum of control, or who knows what she might unleash!"
Howard opened his mouth, then shut it again. "It's just . . . she has so much power."
"All the more reason that she learns to control it. And maybe you could add a couple of lessons in using magic for defence. She's been really lucky so far, but one of these days her luck is going to run out."
"I guess you have a point," he said slowly.
"Of course I do," she said. "Now, have you got an biscotti to go with this coffee?"
Nov 14, 2012
Nov 13, 2012
Cheeses of the World - the Finale
Sometimes a series calls for a Grand Finale, and this is one of them. I've had a lot of fun with this series, and I learned a lot. I never realized cheese was so easy to make, nor how many people make their own cheese.
Since this series was my husband's idea, I thought I'd finish with something he annoys me with on a regular basis. ;-) I give you, Monty Python's The Cheese Shop:
And because you've been such a lovely audience, I'm including a short interview with John Cleese where he explains how they came up with the idea for the Cheese Shop.
Nov 12, 2012
Micropsia Monday
micropsia ~ disease causing objects to appear smaller than actual size
As usual, my week started out strong and then started to fall apart about mid-week. Same with my NaNo. After a strong start where I was actually ahead of the game, it too fell apart. By Friday I was almost 5,000 words behind.
I caught up most of the words over the weekend, but I didn't get the 1667 done on Sunday which has put me behind again today. - instead of 1667 words today, I need to get 3334 words done to be on target, and I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen. :-)
The NaNo novel hit a bit of a snag, which accounts for the slow down. I had a great idea for the end of it, but that was going to leave a big gap with nothing to fill it in with. So after running various scenarios through my head, I came up with a quest for my main character. But because the quest could take place just as easily after the end part, I moved the end part closer to the beginning and hopefully the end of the quest will coincide with the end of the book. *knock wood*
The big question is, if I do catch up today will I be able to keep caught up? Probably not. While I don't anticipate the same problems with my serial posts this week, I have a poetry reading on Thursday evening and I'll need to sacrifice some writing time to get ready for it. You know, choosing the poems to read, practicing reading, that sort of thing.
So far the breaking my novel up into chapters as I go along is working out fine. One chapter translates to approximately one day, or five pages, worth of writing. I don't think this one is quite as funny as the first one in the series, but it has its moments. :-)
Thursday I think I wrote the smallest amount of words yet, but the rest of the day was so awesome I didn't really care. I got my NaNo thermos in the mail AND I got a care package from my awesome friend Jamie DeBree. Books, and tea, and toys, oh my! I will be enjoying my booty for months to come. Thank you Jamie!:-)
It's going to be words, words and more words this week. Aside from my blog posts and NaNoing, I have emails to write. Two of them I started on the weekend but stuff happens - like trying out my new vacuum cleaner and baking cookies for my daughter - and the emails get saved to finish later. Sorry guys! I'll get them finished ASAP!
What’s Up This Week:
The schedule is up on the side bar, so I’m just giving the highlights here.
Tuesday On Random Thoughts I will be posting the final installment of Cheeses of the World which will feature . . . a surprise. And there will be no book review on Random Writings this week because I didn't finish the book I was reading on my Kindle.
Wednesday (on Random Writings) Chapter Seventy-seven of Shades of Errol Flynn. Will this be the final chapter? Probably not because now I have to tie the ending in to the beginning of the sequel I'm writing for my NaNo novel. On Random Thoughts there’ll be a new hunk for your viewing pleasure. ;-)
Thursday we have Chapter Forty-two of Water (on Random Thoughts). I actually know what's going to happen next (for a change) but you're going to have to come back Thursday to find out for yourself.
Friday on both blogs there will be a NaNo update and another excerpt from Lucky Dog.
As usual, my week started out strong and then started to fall apart about mid-week. Same with my NaNo. After a strong start where I was actually ahead of the game, it too fell apart. By Friday I was almost 5,000 words behind.
I caught up most of the words over the weekend, but I didn't get the 1667 done on Sunday which has put me behind again today. - instead of 1667 words today, I need to get 3334 words done to be on target, and I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen. :-)
The NaNo novel hit a bit of a snag, which accounts for the slow down. I had a great idea for the end of it, but that was going to leave a big gap with nothing to fill it in with. So after running various scenarios through my head, I came up with a quest for my main character. But because the quest could take place just as easily after the end part, I moved the end part closer to the beginning and hopefully the end of the quest will coincide with the end of the book. *knock wood*
The big question is, if I do catch up today will I be able to keep caught up? Probably not. While I don't anticipate the same problems with my serial posts this week, I have a poetry reading on Thursday evening and I'll need to sacrifice some writing time to get ready for it. You know, choosing the poems to read, practicing reading, that sort of thing.
So far the breaking my novel up into chapters as I go along is working out fine. One chapter translates to approximately one day, or five pages, worth of writing. I don't think this one is quite as funny as the first one in the series, but it has its moments. :-)
Thursday I think I wrote the smallest amount of words yet, but the rest of the day was so awesome I didn't really care. I got my NaNo thermos in the mail AND I got a care package from my awesome friend Jamie DeBree. Books, and tea, and toys, oh my! I will be enjoying my booty for months to come. Thank you Jamie!:-)
It's going to be words, words and more words this week. Aside from my blog posts and NaNoing, I have emails to write. Two of them I started on the weekend but stuff happens - like trying out my new vacuum cleaner and baking cookies for my daughter - and the emails get saved to finish later. Sorry guys! I'll get them finished ASAP!
What’s Up This Week:
The schedule is up on the side bar, so I’m just giving the highlights here.
Tuesday On Random Thoughts I will be posting the final installment of Cheeses of the World which will feature . . . a surprise. And there will be no book review on Random Writings this week because I didn't finish the book I was reading on my Kindle.
Wednesday (on Random Writings) Chapter Seventy-seven of Shades of Errol Flynn. Will this be the final chapter? Probably not because now I have to tie the ending in to the beginning of the sequel I'm writing for my NaNo novel. On Random Thoughts there’ll be a new hunk for your viewing pleasure. ;-)
Thursday we have Chapter Forty-two of Water (on Random Thoughts). I actually know what's going to happen next (for a change) but you're going to have to come back Thursday to find out for yourself.
Friday on both blogs there will be a NaNo update and another excerpt from Lucky Dog.
Nov 9, 2012
NaNoWriMo - Week 2
Oops! Well, we're off to a great start, aren't we? Not only am I behind in my words, I forgot to do my update before bed last night. Normally I write posts the night before and schedule them 'cause I like them to appear at 8 a.m. And if I were to wait until morning to get these things done, I'd have to get up at an ungodly hour and although I am capable of doing so, even the cats don't expect me up until between 8 and 8:30. So that's
Wow . . . I'm 6300 words behind. That's including today's words, which I haven't started yet. So if you don't count today I'm only behind by about 4600 words, which sounds much better. :-)
Falling behind is all just part of the Nano fun, for me at least. Okay, maybe it's not fun, but it's not totally unexpected. I was doing good until about Tuesday . . . Tuesday I only got a few words written, but I did get a chapter for the book that precedes my Nano novel done. I spent a lot of time looking for the maps I'd drawn up (about 10 years ago) for the fantasy world my novel is set in. I must have found about ten of them, but fortunately I'd had the foresight to number them so I knew how they went together. Very cool!
Wednesday I was out most of the day and when I finally got home I had a chapter to do for my other on-line serial. This novel had been giving me problems but for some reason it didn't this week. Then, to make up for all the grief it had been giving me previously, it suddenly came life with ideas for the next couple of chapters as well. And of course I had to write them down too. So the good news is, the next couple of installments of it will be a snap. The bad news is that it meant no Nano words.
Then yesterday I had to drive to Toronto in the morning and I didn't really get to the writing until late afternoon, at which point I discovered an interview questionnaire in my email that I had to fill out for my poetry group for promotion for the reading I'm doing next week, and that took three hours - they ask hard questions. ;-)
So now here I am, and I have the whole weekend ahead of me with nothing more pressing than grocery shopping in the next three days. I have every reason to expect to be all caught up on my Nano by Sunday night. You know, so I can fall behind again next week. LOL
Before I get to this week's excerpt, I want to point out the list - which is pretty darn obvious but needs a bit of explanation. This list is for the Absolute Write NaNo Excerpt Blog Chain. Each of the participants on the list have pledged to post an excerpt from their NaNo novel every Friday for the duration of the month. Please check them out and if you have time, leave a word of encouragement in the comments.
Aheïla: http://thewriteaholicblog.wordpress.com
Orion_mk3: http://nonexistentbooks.com/
BBBurke: http://awritersprogression.blogspot.com/
Meowzbark: http://www.lizzylessard.com
Michael Shoemaker: www.michaelshoemaker.com
Moreferarum: http://mahirnaem.blogspot.co.uk/
Wonderactivist: http://luciesmoker.wordpress.com
Ito: http://www.thehammerdott.com/
Lady Cat (you are here): http://www.carolsrandomness.blogspot.ca
Maggie Amanda: http://www.maggieamada.com/mblog/
randi.lee: http://emotionalnovel.blogspot.ca/
Tezzirax: http://thomascardin.blogspot.ca/
Proach: http://deannaswriting.wordpress.com/
If you want to see what happened just before this scene, click HERE.
This excerpt starts a couple of pages after last week's. My heroine, Jessica, was accidentally sent to a parallel universe where magic is real and people live and die by the sword. What she doesn't realize is that she originally came from this world, which is why she suddenly has magical abilities of her own. She's currently travelling through an expanse called the Darkwood Forest and has awoken to find a large black dog hanging around her campsite and a pile of men's clothing near her saddlebags. Her only connection to her home is a moonstone amulet she wears around her neck, through which she can talk to her friend Howard (who is the one responsible for her being in this new world).
"How'd you sleep last night Jess?" Howard asked suddenly.
"What?"
"You heard me, how'd you sleep?"
"How do you think? It was cold, the ground was hard and some animal started rooting around the campsite. Probably that dog." She glared at the animal in question, as though he were to blame for the change in the weather.
There was a doggy grin on his face as he sat there with his tongue lolling out of his mouth.
"You mentioned a pile of clothing . . . could you check them for me?"
"I think you've slipped a cog Howard."
"Just humour me."
Jessica stooped to rifle through the pile of clothes. "Black shirt, feels like silk, black leather pants and very nice, well worn leather boots, sized big. Someone's going to be real ticked off. It's all good quality."
"Keep digging Jess."
"You're really losing it Howard." Jessica folded the clothes neatly and set them aside. "The boots have knife sheaths, fully loaded. And . . . " Jessica paused. "Howard, there's a couple of really big knives and a huge sword here. What's going on? I can see the dog being able to make enough trips to account for the clothes and boots, I don't see him carrying off the weapons." She looked around nervously. "Who left all this stuff here and why?"
"Jess, I--" Howard paused, then restarted. "Did you notice anything special when you heard that animal rooting around in your camp last night?"
Her brow furrowed. "I didn't really wake up, but there might have been some lightning. I was too tired to worry about it really."
Howard sighed. "I thought so."
"Holy Saint Christopher!" Jessica exploded. "Tell me what's going on!"
"Given your temper, Jess, what's the first thing you would have said when your sleep was disturbed?"
"Howard . . ." Jessica sighed and rubbed her temples. She hated it when he got like this. "I'd probably say something like son of a --" Jessica swivelled around and stared at the dog, who backed away from the look on her face. "You're not suggesting . . ."
"It's consistent with your loss of power Jess."
"How could this happen without me being aware of it?"
"This kind of spell takes more instinct than concentration."
"I don't have time for this."
Howard maintained a prudent silence.
"Well it serves you right," she told the dog. "Who do you think you are, sneaking up on me at night. You're probably a thief and the world's better off with you as a dog."
The dog simply sat, watching her.
"At this rate I'll never build up enough power to get back home," she muttered angrily. "All right Howard. Tell me how to change him back."
"Well, the thing is Jess . . ."
"Holy Saint Christopher! What now?"
Howard spoke quickly. "The thing is, you'll have to wait until the next quarter of a waning moon to reverse the spell because it appears to be tied to the lunar cycle."
"You mean I'm stuck with this dog for a month?"
"That about sums it up, Jess."
Jessica glared at the dog. His tail thumped the ground.
"Look at the bright side, Jess. For the next month you'll have someone to talk to besides your horse."
"Not funny Howard."
Nov 7, 2012
Nov 6, 2012
Cheeses of the World - Part Sixteen
Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake
What series on cheese would be complete without a nod to the famous Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling and Wake?
After sifting through pages of research, viewing countless videos, and checking out numerous websites I can only come to one conclusion. These people are nuts!
Once a year an enormous crowd gathers at Cooper's Hill (sometimes called the Cotswold Edge) in the village of Brockworth near Glouster to watch competitors race each other down a sheer slope in pursuit of an eight pound wheel of cheese. The slope is so steep it's impossible to keep your footing and the competitors fall, tumble, slide, and cartwheel downwards. At the bottom is a group of volunteers ready to catch them, break their fall, or just move them quickly aside so they don't get run down by those behind them. And the reward for the competitors? The first one down gets the wheel of cheese they were chasing.
No one's sure how this got started, but records of it date back to the early 1800s and some family records earlier than that. It's held annually on the U.K. Spring Bank Holiday, which is the last Monday in May. Prior to the event, volunteers spend two weeks cleaning the slope, erecting fences at the top and sides (to keep the spectators at bay), and build a wall of hay bales at the bottom.
The cheeses used in the event are 8 pound wheels of Double Goucesters, and are hand made by Diana Smart of Churcham, who uses the milk from her own cows. You have to be at least 18 years of age to participate, and there is a maximum of 15 participants in each race. In between the downhill races there are uphill races, to allow the ambulances time to return from taking the seriously injured to the hospital. And it's not just the competitors who get injured. It's not unheard of for a spectator to get hit by a flying cheese or a flying competitor.
Really, this is an event that has to be seen to be believed, so I found this video on YouTube:
There are also some awesome pictures to be found HERE from Big Picture.
One thing my research did not turn up, is why it's called Cheese Rolling and Wake. I can only surmise that for those who finish dead last, a wake will be held. ;-)
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Not to be out done, there's also a Canadian version of this event held on Blackcomb Mountain in Whistler, British Columbia. The rewards in this competition are an 11 pound wheel of cheese and a season's ski pass for two for Whistler. This is more of a family event with seminars on cheesemaking, costume competitions, and games and activities for the children. You can find out more about it on their official site.
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