| the end... or begining |
[Nov. 16th, 2009|10:08 pm] |
Today has ended a long stretch of waiting for me. Today, I stared to pay off my student loans. Tragic yes, but I have structured my life for the last 4 years of my life around them. Now I am on a wave that will stop in a placid lagoon of financial freedom in two years time. I've planned this out so carefully, and struggled to set it up. So help me, it will not fail now that it has begun. |
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| The Birthday, take 27 |
[Nov. 15th, 2009|01:05 am] |
This year's celebration was great: two days in the making. Celebrations began on Friday (even though my birthday was on Saturday) me and six friends met for dinner at the tasty Vietnamese restaurant on Forest ave. I enjoyed some Pho and then we came back to my place. Proceedings included awesome margaritas and delicious fudge; also, some of said friends provided me with a year's worth of peanut M&Ms :) To top it all off we watched the director's cut (Ridley Scott) of Blade Runner.
Then on Saturday, the BF got me up early for breakfast buffet. I got an omlette from the awesome omlette guy. He is a true artist. He flips it in the pan, cracks his neck and everything.
After running a couple off errands, we came back home and laid low for the rest of the day.
Perfect. Now... How to continue celebrating for the weeks to come? |
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| 2 things |
[Oct. 18th, 2009|10:45 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | "office" | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  frustrated | ] |
The good news first:
I've created a new blog. No, not one to replace this one with, but one specifically for writing (and reading) related material. You can find it here.
I'm hoping it will help me stay focused and on track with my writing goals. I'll still use this blog for personal and non writing things--I mean I wouldn't want to be whining on my "professional blog" and I wouldn't want to bore all of you with my submission details or current reading list and whatnot. :)
And secondly... Fail.
I was hoping to post "I completed my revision to the torture story today" on said new writing blog but I did nothing of the sort. I feel like I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off and didn't get a lot that I wanted to do today done. But I can look at all the stuff I did do this weekend and still be pretty happy with that. But where did all the time go?
Of all the things I wanted to do this weekend, writing was on the top of the list. I did put some brain time into it, but no "Butt in chair, Hands on keybaord" time.
I didn't sleep in too badly either day of this weekend? And I even stayed up pretty late being productive (and I did do some relaxing--I know that's necessary).
Why can I never set realistic goals, or I guess, finish my to do list? Will I ever be satisfied if I don't have a billion more things to do? Something makes me doubt it...
Man, wouldn't it be nice to work part time again...then I could spend at least 10 more hours a week doing things for me instead of for someone else. sigh... |
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| some exceitment |
[Oct. 1st, 2009|09:49 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | frustrated | ] |
(note: my Internet died yesterday so I couldn't post this until today)
Sure, I've got some. But not quite the "good" kind.
Tomorrow (today) we have an exterminator coming in to get rid of a little problem.
Some background.
My awesome new apartment is mostly in the basement level of the building. It's damp, cold and somewhat underground. The damp is not so good in the summer. The cold is good in the summer. And the underground bit is just fine for the winter--my last apartment didn't have any insulation, I swear. But we also have seasonal bugs. Spring/Fall we get some pill bugs crawling around... whatever. We've got spiders--but mostly the harmless spindly type so no big deal.
So why get an exterminator?
Because now, BEES are our problem. I believe they are coming in from outside and have a nice little nest somewhere between the floors. But our storage room (very basement like) has a bit of a gap in the ceiling between the sheetrock and foundation through which I bet they love to COME INTO MY APARTMENT.
I’ve found more than two dozen bees in my apartment, in each downstairs room to be exact, over the last few weeks. We’ve sprayed “Hot Shot” TM into this hole. This resulted in a bunch of drunk like bees flying up and down in our laundry room and a few just laying dead on the basement floor. Sometimes the big ones make it to the kitchen to fly around angrily trying to find their way out. Some crawl into my bedroom and die on the carpet, looking like pieces of black lint until they tip over and show off their tell tale, fuzzy, yellow Bumble Bee backs.
The ones that don’t die, I’m crushed to say, must be killed. It’s them or me. Last time I checked I was allergic to the common busy buzzers. So, I am somewhat nervous to take a step in my home if there are not lights on and the floor unexamined. Contrary to preferred practice, find myself wearing sandals inside to boot. They don’t have to be alive for their venom to work.
So in comes the exterminator.
(He was under the impression that these were honey bees because I said they were fuzzy, even though I said they were bumble bees. I know I’m not always right, but it really pisses me off when I am and no one believes me.)
When he’s here he pokes around and finds the hole in the basement they’re coming in through, sprays it and says to wait a week then caulk it up. (I don’t know why we have to wait.)
So a few hours later, the basement room is abuzz with pissed off bumbles. And when I say abuzz (according to reports) my roommates thought the neighbors were playing loud music. Talk about angry bees.
Now, it’s all quiet on the home front, but I still won’t go into the laundry room not for a couple more days anyway. |
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| Readercon 20 |
[Jul. 12th, 2009|09:51 pm] |
Just back from Readercon 20 in Burlington, MA. The panels were good and some were even incredibly useful.
First off I saw Greer Gilman read from her new book, Cloud and Ashes. She is an amazing reader. I highly recommend catching a performance if possible.
Another great reading I saw was Catherynne M. Valente. She read from an untitled book coming out in 2011 from Tor. Her writing has the power to turn Communist Russia into a living breathing fairy tale, and make you laugh.
Aside from the readings, I caught a presentation about the Odyssey Workshop. I would love to attend this 6 week workshop, but I'd have to do some major rearranging of my life in order to do so. As I'm not sure how to do that right now, I'll keep it in mind for the future.
Another interesting presentation was on Outsider Art. I've never heard of this before and it's very interesting. Outsider art can be loosely defined as art which is outside normal conventions and is not accepted by its art community as well as the world in general. Prison art, artistic creations by the mentally ill and just "weird" art would be considered outside. The internet makes the proliferation of it much easier these days.
The coolest part of the convention was seeing the folks from my writing meet-up group from Portland. This is not something that I've encountered at conventions before. It rounded out the whole experience for me. |
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| on going to Conventions |
[Jul. 12th, 2009|09:38 pm] |
The more time I spend at Cons, the more aware of where I stand in the publishing world. Way back in 2007, when I started at Seton Hill's MA in Writing Popular Fiction, I started going to cons again; I had taken a couple years off. I went to so many panels about writing, style, craft, marketing, editing, revising and all that. I was so inspired by these I'd go home and create and write and dream. It felt so wonderful.
But now, after receiving a master's education about writing and marketing speculative fiction, I realize I already know everything they told us. And that being the case, I am wasting my time at these panels, and maybe at the cons themselves.
What I should be doing is writing, getting myself out there. Writing short stories and trying to sell my novel is what I need to do. Hearing back from editors and agents is the only way to show how much my writing and marketing knowledge is worth.
On the other hand, I should go to what cons I can afford to meet current professionals and learn the community. |
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| I'm out, I can have my life back! |
[Jun. 29th, 2009|06:43 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | home at last | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  ecstatic | ] |
| [ | music |
| | birdsong out the window! | ] |
Today was my travel day, after a week of awesome (torture) at Seton Hill.
I defended my thesis, taught writers a new way to look at Word, and PITCHED Limna's Hold TO AN *EDITOR*! She didn't ask for a proposal, but that's in part due to the fact that I don't have an agent. So I don't know what that means about my book right now. But either way, my next big project is finding an agent. :)
I'm trying to to be sad about ending my time in the WPF program by telling myself that I'll see all those wonderful people again in the future. Like when we're on the convention circuit pushing our books on everyone.
Another project I need to get underway is building a website. This get's complicated as I want to build it for both writing and for my jewelry making.
And I do have one more project to keep me in the writing mode. My goal is to get a short story published be it anthology or magazine. I have so many ideas for stories now I must write them!
I've found one anthology already so I'm off to a good start. |
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| been a while |
[Jun. 21st, 2009|02:16 pm] |
hmm, it's been a while since I've posted so heres some quick highlights of the last couple months...
My thesis passed
My Genre Essay Passed (it was excellent, and I thoroughly enjoyed writing it)
My mini-module teaching subject was passed (and arranged that I got a computer classroom for it!)
I got my plane ticket to June Res for free because US Air screwed me over so horribly at last January's Res (I've learned the power of a good complaint letter:)
We got a Bread Machine! I love it.
I'm Going to Readercon 20 two Weeks after Res!
It's rained 90% of the last month... my still newish apartment has humidity issues and dehumidifiers cost like $200 :(
3 day countdown to res:
In working on my mini-module, I've gained tons of respect (sometimes even more) for all the teachers I've ever had (Handouts are evil)and must complete them all today.
I've completed my workshop crits for res
I've decided to have them mail my thesis (so I can fix a few things more) so there is nothing available to the public for future embarrassment.
I have yet to think really hard about my Pitch to Betsy Mitchel of Del Rey Books that I will have to do at res. |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 16th, 2009|03:29 am] |
|
I Passed. My book passed both readers. |
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| rescued |
[Apr. 20th, 2009|07:10 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | relieved | ] |
by the cable guy!
We have the Internet again. Just in time for tomorrow night's chat too.
We were supposed to have the net a week ago, but the provider fucked that up and sent the lines to another house delaying the process another two weeks. Well, they couldn't fix their error any faster and lost our patronage. We abandoned them and went with hot heels to the cable people who got us connectivity in under a week! Go cable guy.
So much for cleaning the floors in my spare time... |
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| 2 week internet silence from me |
[Mar. 27th, 2009|11:44 pm] |
We should be mostly settled into our new place by next Monday or so. We're going to be canceling our Internet here and our Internet there won't be available until April 13th. This means no Internet for me between 5pm and 8am. I'll still be able to access the net at work though.
The plus side is that I can finish my thesis with no Internet distraction.
The downside is... no Internet at home for 2 weeks....
I suppose I'll live... |
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| Dude... Life |
[Mar. 26th, 2009|09:28 pm] |
Life is hitting me full force right now.
Final deadline for thesis novel submission is April 15th
We are moving
so I am madly packing everything up
we get the keys tomorrow (I also get paid tomorrow, YAY)
and I still have tons of editing ahead of me
(Chorus) |
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| We got it! |
[Mar. 17th, 2009|07:53 pm] |
We got the unit in the 4 plex!
the packing will commence
I don't think I've every been happier to move.
Cedar siding, birdies, grass, no traffic, insulation, oh I can't wait! |
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| wish me luck |
[Mar. 15th, 2009|10:14 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  anxious | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Angel Blake | ] |
A week ago we decided to move. Now we're in the application and approval process, and we're pretty sure we're going to get it.
It's an awesome place. Instead of an apartment building above businesses on one of the busiest streets in Portland, we hope to live in a housing unit about a mile away on the end of a street off another street off of said busy street where we hear birdsong instead of traffic and sirens, and the neighbors have kitties who stop by and visit. This place is managed by a business that operates in New England, not just owned by one guy.
It has an upstairs, a bathtub, 1/5 bathrooms, and a dishwasher... but we'll have to see how it affects the gas bill--if we get the place that is.
So next week will be interesting...
packing, working 40 hours, and well, trying to graduate in June. I guess I'll be drinking a lot of wine and chamomile tea. |
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| the most uplifting thing I've seen all day |
[Feb. 28th, 2009|10:06 pm] |
was in my critique from my mentor.
"Delete comma, give it ten strokes with the knout, crucify it upside down for two days, then draw and quarter it."
And people in college thought I was tough on grammar... |
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| my horoscope was definitly right about today! |
[Feb. 6th, 2009|07:19 pm] |
You have high hopes today and your optimism may be enough to place you in the range of accomplishing your goals. Of course, you'll need to put in the required work, but your positive attitude can make all the difference in the world. If you believe in yourself, then dealing with a few surprises along the way won't prevent you from reaching your destination.
Yup... that happened today... |
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| I got up at 2:45 am to catch a flight. |
[Jan. 15th, 2009|10:23 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | shu | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | optimistic | ] |
And I got home at 11:15am. That must mean PHL, and therefore Residency!
Yes, I spent the last week at Hogworts/Gormenghast (depending on which books you've read) honing my writing craft and networking.
As always Residency was amazing and so I am exhausted. A little post residency tradition I've developed is sleeping like the dead for hours afterward. This year I kept that going. I slept until 6pm. How am I ever going to get to work tomorrow at 8 with my system so screwed up?
Despite my odd flight times, none of mine were delayed by the existence of PHL, which, by the way, is incredibly surprising. I really had a three hour layover in PHL.
Anyway, with Res over, I look forward to revising my 400 page manuscript, writing a critical paper qualifying it in the Fantasy genre (all those High School Themes and DBQs are coming in handy now) and participating in various forms of online discussion with all the wonderful people I spent the last week getting to know. If all goes well, I'll graduate in June.
Next month I predict that I won't be enjoying the revision part all that much. We'll see how it goes. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 9th, 2009|02:09 pm] |
So this morning I had to wake up at 5am to catch a flight. That went surprisingly well. However, when I'd rushed through Philadelphia airport to catch my next flight, I only found that it was delayed an hour. Grr for waiting, but I'd have had to have waited at PITT for my roomate/ridemate anyway. So no glitches and we made it to Greensburg safe and sound.
On with Res! |
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| Motivation |
[Jan. 2nd, 2009|09:44 pm] |
People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get.
- Frederick Douglass
Time to get to work! |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 2nd, 2008|09:34 pm] |
Ahh! Revision, nothing like it. :)
Before I can go through and just make it pretty, I need to create a few tools first. I'll need to lay out a map of the educational steps my characters take to approach the end, and then I need to reoutline it to include all the changes I need to make. It's going to take a couple weeks. Then I'll need to ameliorate my grammar weaknesses before I will let myself rewrite. I'm sure this plan is going to change before end of April.
I wanted to get through the MS in one day, scanning for sections where my POV characters learn important things. It's taking me a lot longer than I'd hoped as I started on Sunday and am about halfway done. I think that it will go faster when I get to the parts that I wrote more recently and not over a year ago.
Interestingly enough, I've noticed some interesting things about the way I've used structure. My characters don't "learn" things during action scenes. They learn the most things during dialog. On occasion they learn things on reflection. While revising, I'd like my characters to figure more things out in sequels than conversation. |
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