May. 14th, 2011

ksmith: (coffee cup)
And I now have new A/C. The guy installed it yesterday as I holed up in the home office with the pups and did day job stuff. Funny how confining a room can feel when you can't leave.

Of course, once I was in there for a bit, I figured out how to pen the kids in with King's Very Large Bed so I could open the door without them squirting out.

It's nice to have a brand new system, but I still would have preferred to spend the money on something else.

I have until the end of the month to write a short story. It seems like plenty of time to some of you, I'm sure, but I don't have an idea nudging me so I feel a bit of a blank. I dug through some old, old files for ideas that I sketched out years ago. I will dig through the old file cabinet later and pick through the handwritten notes. No theme to this antho, so sky's the limit. And no guarantee of acceptance, so no details yet.

I envy people who can pull together a tale in a couple of days, I really do. So many of my ideas take soooo damn long to gestate.

In other news, after two lovely days of warmth, the temps plummeted. It's now in the 50s, with clouds and occasional sprinkles. Farther west, they're getting pounded with rain, but everything headed toward my neck of the woods breaks up before it reaches me. So, stuck with the chill and the wind and nothing to show for it.

In gardening news, the lettuces are sprouting in the raised bed, and I think I spotted the broccoli raab as well. I'm glad I packed mulch around the tomatoes and peppers--I think it's sheltering them from the chill. The basil are sprouting in the deck pots, and I bought a couple of hanging flower baskets to brighten things up. Yellow petunias and yellow and orange gerbera daisies dahlias. I hope they survive the chill.

And now, off to the grocer store.
ksmith: (coffee cup)
And I now have new A/C. The guy installed it yesterday as I holed up in the home office with the pups and did day job stuff. Funny how confining a room can feel when you can't leave.

Of course, once I was in there for a bit, I figured out how to pen the kids in with King's Very Large Bed so I could open the door without them squirting out.

It's nice to have a brand new system, but I still would have preferred to spend the money on something else.

I have until the end of the month to write a short story. It seems like plenty of time to some of you, I'm sure, but I don't have an idea nudging me so I feel a bit of a blank. I dug through some old, old files for ideas that I sketched out years ago. I will dig through the old file cabinet later and pick through the handwritten notes. No theme to this antho, so sky's the limit. And no guarantee of acceptance, so no details yet.

I envy people who can pull together a tale in a couple of days, I really do. So many of my ideas take soooo damn long to gestate.

In other news, after two lovely days of warmth, the temps plummeted. It's now in the 50s, with clouds and occasional sprinkles. Farther west, they're getting pounded with rain, but everything headed toward my neck of the woods breaks up before it reaches me. So, stuck with the chill and the wind and nothing to show for it.

In gardening news, the lettuces are sprouting in the raised bed, and I think I spotted the broccoli raab as well. I'm glad I packed mulch around the tomatoes and peppers--I think it's sheltering them from the chill. The basil are sprouting in the deck pots, and I bought a couple of hanging flower baskets to brighten things up. Yellow petunias and yellow and orange gerbera daisies dahlias. I hope they survive the chill.

And now, off to the grocer store.
ksmith: (Default)
I'm taking advantage of some down time this month to take an online Scrivener class offered by Outreach Int'l Romance Writers. Gwen Hernandez, the instructor, posts exercises and homework a couple of times a week in our class Yahoo group, and we can post questions. I knew the barebones basics of Scrivener--I could type and compile--but I didn't know anything about annotating or splitting views or color coding files according to POV. Scrivener offers a lot of options when it comes to setting up and organizing your work, but it can be hard to get your arms around all the possibilities and this class is helping. $25 bucks ($20 for OIRW Members). Found the link via Twitter.

Recommended.
ksmith: (Default)
I'm taking advantage of some down time this month to take an online Scrivener class offered by Outreach Int'l Romance Writers. Gwen Hernandez, the instructor, posts exercises and homework a couple of times a week in our class Yahoo group, and we can post questions. I knew the barebones basics of Scrivener--I could type and compile--but I didn't know anything about annotating or splitting views or color coding files according to POV. Scrivener offers a lot of options when it comes to setting up and organizing your work, but it can be hard to get your arms around all the possibilities and this class is helping. $25 bucks ($20 for OIRW Members). Found the link via Twitter.

Recommended.
ksmith: (Default)
Printouts of late 90's Usenet posts from rec.arts.sf.written and rec.arts.sf.composition. A comment by Guy Kay on a post by Pamela Dean. Lists of agents and editors posted by Rob Sawyer. Most everyone has the Evil Overlord's Guide. I have posts of the Evil Henchman's Guide, the Hero's Guide, and How to be a Heroine, all from 1997-1998.

Photos of my first baptism (Lutheran. RC came later. Reason? [Insert your favorite bs family dynamic here]). Me at age 3 or so, astride my rocking horse. Holding a ball. A grade school photo.

A folder labeled "Quantum Cells & Consciousness," containing articles about linking brain cells to silicon chips and determination of the minimum number of genes required for life to arise.

A file labeled Ghosts. Others labeled Police/PI, Oligarchies, Speciation (Jani-era). Ideas/Info.
ksmith: (Default)
Printouts of late 90's Usenet posts from rec.arts.sf.written and rec.arts.sf.composition. A comment by Guy Kay on a post by Pamela Dean. Lists of agents and editors posted by Rob Sawyer. Most everyone has the Evil Overlord's Guide. I have posts of the Evil Henchman's Guide, the Hero's Guide, and How to be a Heroine, all from 1997-1998.

Photos of my first baptism (Lutheran. RC came later. Reason? [Insert your favorite bs family dynamic here]). Me at age 3 or so, astride my rocking horse. Holding a ball. A grade school photo.

A folder labeled "Quantum Cells & Consciousness," containing articles about linking brain cells to silicon chips and determination of the minimum number of genes required for life to arise.

A file labeled Ghosts. Others labeled Police/PI, Oligarchies, Speciation (Jani-era). Ideas/Info.

August 2025

S M T W T F S
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
242526272829 30
31      

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Sep. 21st, 2025 09:46 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios