Holding My Tongue

I had to practically race out of the YMCA this morning or risk swallowing my tongue. It was all because a man stood directly outside the woman's locker room. Normally I would greet someone so nearby.

But what could I say when he stood there holding this adorable stuffed rooster by the neck? I couldn't think of a single thing to say that wasn't risqué, not quite appropriate for my surroundings. Passersby probably thought I was having a stroke.

Should I have at least tried to say 'hello'?

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Neck Pain and Desk Update

Always one to tinker with solutions, I found a better setup at my actual desk than at the table like I photographed the other day. Ditching the now too tall footstool, I found a replacement in a sturdy box. This, I think, will be a place I can sit for hours and hours.

Complete with Marilyn Manson Mousepad!

This end of the house is chillier but my stories sometimes get me a little steamed up, anyway. ~grin~ Now enough silliness and back to the business at hand!

Happy blogging, my dears!

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The Joy of Rewrites

Ask most any author and they’ll tell you that editing and rewrites are the least fun part of creating story. To my delighted surprise, that hasn’t been the case as I read and reread the first seven novelettes from my shapeshifter series.

Last week I even stumbled upon a better way of proofreading. It started when I created a multi-faceted Scrivener document. Within that software I created a separate folder for each of the fifteen tales.

Meanwhile I’ve been rewriting each installment within Microsoft Word. This old 2003 programming actually makes the process faster and more efficient than Scrivener by better correcting little spelling mistakes as my fingers fly across the keyboard.

Then, a week or so ago, I decided to read books one through seven yet again (!) before reworking number eight. It’s amazing how many tiny tweaks continue improving the flow and continuity of my prose. Now comes the probably strange sounding, monotonous step.

Wanting to keep my Word and Scrivener documents both up to date, I could go through the entire MSWord document and copy and paste it fully into Scrivener. Makes sense, right?

Instead, I started copying and pasting edited passages – most often paragraph by paragraph – as I retyped them.

I know. Tedious. Right?

But I plan to continue in this manner, at least with these most polished pieces. I find it’s helping unearth little tidbits missed in countless prior passes. For example, when 'must' should have been spelled 'much' (???).

How about you? If you are a writer, how do you feel about rewrites? Do you love them or hate them? Do you have any tips on how to best catch mistakes?

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Writing – A Pain in the Neck?

Writing time is my favorite part of every day. I easily spend hours and hours lost in my fantasy world.

Fantastic as that is, I am suffering some unpleasant side effects known to many in my profession. The worst of late is a twinge in the right side of my neck.

While not terrible, it is not something I want to become chronic. So I looked up solutions online.

The source of the problem is looking down at my laptop screen all the time. This happens regardless whether I am at a table or desk, on the couch, or even at my makeshift standing desk.

One of Three Cat Trees, Mind You

Today I came up with an idea. Recently I purchased a Bluetooth connecting iClever keyboard. Then I added lower tech solutions – a stepstool and a book to raise the keyboard higher, and here you have it:

The Writing Zone

Note the book is about cat breeds. ~grin~ The paper towel and napkins are because the stepstool regularly sits on the floor and gets stepped on with my dirty sneakers.

What do you think? Do you have any suggestions for preventing neck pain and/or things like carpal tunnel syndrome?

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After the Honeymoon

Romance is long dead in my house. In fact, my partner has never been one for romantic gestures. Admittedly, I sort of shot that in the foot when we first met and I lamented about my former lover. That one delightfully displayed romance in spades but couldn’t hold a steady job (back then I wanted nothing more for us than to move out of our childhood homes and into a place together).

So let’s revisit my birthday from last week. I walked out of the bathroom to find not one but two envelopes on the bed. Here are the contents:

So My Advice for Your Birthday? Eat, Drink, and Be Murray

There Are Worse Things Than Getting Older. Happy Birthday!

My response? First, laughter. Secondly, “Hey, we could have spent all this card money on booze.”

At least we still laugh together after all these years. That is better than flowers and candy any day.

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Early Birds - The Buzzard Chronicles

I should have posted this earlier but got ahead of myself scheduling entries. We actually saw our first turkey vultures before February even ended. On March third I stepped out my front door to check the mailbox and saw a flock so large they startled me, nearly blacking out the blue. There may have been five hundred in perhaps a square quarter mile of sky.

Unfortunately they dispersed in the time it took me to run inside and find my camera. Snapping away, I photographed the last westward flying birds.

At Lower Center, Two are Crossing at Different Altitudes

A Kettle, So-Named After Bubbles in Boiling Water

The Sun Sinking Over Neighboring Roofs

For the fun of it, here is an old photo from June of 2013. Unfortunately our neighbors had to cut down this great, dying tree.

Soaking in the Sunrise

Hinkley, eat your heart out. We Southwester Ohioans deserve a Buzzard Day.

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The Flu Shot, Part Two: The Workout

As mentioned in my last post I received a flu shot the other day. I was on my way home from an intense workout and not exactly steady on my feet. Apologizing for my shaky appearance, I learned it can be beneficial.

“Your blood is really pumping,” chirped the needle wielding pharmacist. “The vaccine will coarse through you that much faster.”

Okay. I guess that sounds good.

That was around one o’clock in the afternoon. Fast forward to evening.

It started with a sneezing fit that surely cost me some gray matter. Then a headache formed (not too bad. Thanks, Korski vodka).

Now I’m lying in bed somewhere between three or four AM (you know, when all good health crises hit). I wake up freezing, shaking so hard I can hardly get out of bed. But I stagger through the house gathering two aspirin, another bottle of water, and a heavy blanket.

The layered shivers emanating from about mid back were so intense I thought my skin had to be glowing with kinetic energy. Finally, though, I slept – until five am. At that point I’m sweating, my right nostril streaming. With a tissue stuffed up my nose, I ditch the blanket and try for more sleep.

At six o’clock I gave up. Besides a hungry clown loach snapping her jaws for morning fish food and a hypo-thyroid suffering cat to pill, I needed yet another bottle of water.

Lesson learned. If you decide to get a flu vaccination, do NOT pump iron first.

Or do you think it was coincidence?

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The Flu Shot, Part One: A Marketing Ploy

Last week my partner started haranguing me about getting vaccinated against this season’s influenza. “We should have done it in September.”

Fine. Whatever.

Needles don’t bother me, nor the minor sting. And I’ve never suffered ill effects. I just always wondered if they were a moneymaking scheme for corporate US medicine. Then I learned that the shots are free this year at a certain big ‘discount’ department store. Suffice to say it’s the one affiliated with the big ‘box’ store, Sam’s Club.

So my partner goes and raves to me over the phone about this new bandage that the needle goes through. Apparently the new technology lessens the sting.

Again. Whatever.

“But I have to wait around for fifteen or twenty minutes. Hey, do we own ‘Ferris Buehler’s Day Off?”

“Of course we do. But why the wait?”

It turns out the needle wielding pharmacist says after the fact that they want vaccine recipients to report back after several minutes to report how he or she is feeling. Besides being rude (what if the person has somewhere to be in five minutes?), that is pure garbage.

The store simply wants consumers spending money on crap they don’t need. I am sure of this because nurse practitioners in past flu seasons always ushered me out the doctor’s office before the needle was cool. Besides, you can’t tell me symptoms crop up that quickly.

Oh, I did get the free vaccination. Then I waltzed out the door. I had things to do, blog posts and fiction to write!

What do you think? Am I just being paranoid?

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