9-27-2020

eBay Sales: Lemax figure, vintage plush, blown glass pumpkin, pair of rag dolls

Craft Projects Completed: 0

To Do Lists completed: updated a website

Dead Bulb Watch: 20 Days (Paused until Monday)

#MilWordy Update: 50,318 words (need to do 2,801/day to complete on time)

Today was the final day of the Sumo Basho (Tournament). They’re 15 day long and we — as a family — watch the basho with dinner. The highlights are played on NHK TV. It’s fun and compressed into half an hour. And I really want to watch a series of mystery novels featuring a former sumo wrestler. I’ve got a list of titles, and the beginnings of a character sketch, but I feel the need to do a lot more of a deep dive into the actual sport before I go too far with it. So far my research has been stymied by not reading Japanese well. And I don’t know if relying on Google Translate is going to be my friend in this case. Still, it keeps popping up in the back of my head. And if I manage to get going on my writing and keep going at the rate of 3K per day, well, I’ll need those ideas sooner rather than later.

My next goal is to finish off a Christmas / Yule themed short story for Patreon, and then keep working on the Promises Universe novels. Maybe if I compress the time I’m working on them, I’ll get them completed more quickly.

I have some editing to do for the press, and I need to get the royalty payments out to our authors this week, so I should sign off from here and get some more administrative things done.

Hmmm… I need a new tag-line for fall. Love, Luck, and Lollipops is too summery. Let’s try Pumpkins, Leaves, and Laughter, my boos!

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9-26-2020

eBay Sales: None

Craft Projects Completed : 0 (some progress on the scarf though)

Dead Bulb Count: 20 Days (paused for weekend)

#MilWordy Update: 48,535 Words (need to do 2798/day to complete on time)

I’m getting prepared to go on a trip and my biggest decision right now is whether I should bring my external keyboard with me. I know that I want to be able to write quickly and I’m not sure if I’ll go back to writing on my laptop. LOL. I’ll be honest, I’ve written for more than a decade on my laptop, so there’s no real excuse. And there’s no real need either. Yeah, I think I’ve decided no. I don’t want to take too much with me. Need room to bring things home. *looks around innocently* There might be some shopping in my future. I’ve been setting aside cash in order to be able to do that.

I am trying my best to only buy one thing at JoAnn Fabrics tomorrow. I don’t know if the mirror I want is even going to be there, but it’s also supposed to be on sale, so I’m going to give it a shot. They have a really cool Art Deco Halloween line — I do think I’ve mentioned this before. I do like Art Deco and Art Nouveau. And I am an overstuffed Christmas and Halloween type. I think I’ve been doing respectably at letting go of Halloween items though. I’ve listed and sold several large pieces of Halloween stuff. And I’ll be honest, the Art Deco Halloween items are *not* going to be packed away. They’re going to be part of my main decor, so there’s a lot less guilt in that.

Ug, just realized that I need to clean out underneath the desk in my office. there’s a stack of books hiding down there under my “shred me” box. I’m trying to capture all of the books that I have hanging around and put them into the proper piles. I mean, it’s not like I have too many books to fit onto my bookshelves. No, of course not. There’s no reason that I’ve got stacks and stacks of books on my floor that I’ve not read yet. And there’s absolutely no reason that I shouldn’t keep getting ebooks and audiobooks too. I’ve got plenty of time to read these days. Right? You know, now that I’m back full-time as of October 1. *sighs* I don’t even get the last two days off that I might have gotten next week. Ah well, it was nice while it lasted. And I’ve been more at work than I’ve been home during this adventure.

My friends and I are actually going to try to gather — properly masked and more than six feet apart — in a parking lot. That’s going to be a lot different than the online meetings we’ve been having.

People at work have been trying to tell me that things will get back to normal at work soon. That’s sort of a “live in interesting times” curse, I think. I still won’t have a co-worker who can cover for me when I’m out for a week. I feel sort of badly that I’ve only half-trained the person who will be picking up the slack for me. I’m going to have to make sure she has the latest drawings. Oh, hell. I need to start that now because I’ve been nose deep in it for months now and she’ll only have a week or two to be ready to support it all. That’s a whole ‘nother layer of stuff to prep for my trip that I hadn’t thought about. Meeting minutes are easy enough. And the usual stuff we’ve done should be okay. But there’s a bunch of things we’ve been doing specifically because of current events that I don’t think I’ve been looping her in on. Well, that’s going to be a pain in her inbox when I get in on Monday.

Here’s hoping my inbox stays under control next week and I don’t end up back over 1000 before I leave for a week. I expect it will be awful when I come back to work, but that’s always the case. It’s still not enough to keep me from going. Proper social distancing, masks, disinfectants, etc. will be going with me on the trip, but that’s the new normal right? I have to wonder what people will actually write in the history books about this year. There’s been so much going on.

And now, the President is not agreeing to a peaceful transition of power, is trying to force a vote on a Supreme Court justice — when out of respect for the election last time (Scalia in 2016) that was held until the new president was in power — and there’s still no large-scale reform of police procedures or actual justice for imprisoned children. And I’ve been hearing rumors (can’t say if they’re true) that people are once again advocating for eugenics in the prison system and trying to enshrine such practices in law. And sadly the Supreme Court hasn’t struck down such laws as unconstitutional and the precedent was set in 1979 that states were allowed to do such things. The supreme disregard for human bodily autonomy just sets my teeth on edge and makes it impossible for me to actually write anything dystopian because I’m not sure it won’t be used as a blue-print by the Powers That Be to drive us further into the ground. Oh, the headache is just tremendous. Okay, for my own blood pressure, I’m stepping away from the politics. For now. But the list of actually nicely researched topics I want to study is getting longer. And I’m trying to figure out how to make that pay beyond putting things on this site and popping up a tip jar. (Which I realize I ought to do just in general for my own peace of mind. If I crib together a way to keep health care and make writing my primary method of making money, without having to work for Starbucks, I will do so. It’s the planning part of that which makes me twinge.)

This is a long enough block of text today. I will talk to you tomorrow. Also — hello future historians! It’s been really interesting around these parts. Hope you have fun sorting through the mass amounts of data. Well, actually, I hope that somehow the Internet Archive expands and survives and that you can still access all of these digital words. Or that someone thinks to make them into something which cannot be easily destroyed by hitting the delete key on a service, ala Geocities.

Love, luck, and lollipops, lovelies!

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9-25-2020

eBay Sales: Mid-Century print

Bonanza Sales: Face serum

Craft Projects Completed: 0 (6 rows on my scarf)

Dead Bulb Count: 20 Days (pausing here for the weekend). I also noticed another 4 bulbs on the floor which are burnt out. Still resisting the urge to put in the ticket to fix them. It’s morbid curiosity now.

#MilWordy Update: 48,303 words (This means I need to do 2,791 words per day from here on out to make it to the finish line)

Finished a short story yesterday which is now out for beta reading. We’ll see. I creeped myself out a couple of times while writing it, which is promising. We’ll have to see what the reader(s) think of it.

Work was work. Time stopped at around 230. I kept checking the time, but it was just not moving. I had to get a Code Red Mt. Dew to keep myself awake. On the other hand, I did get my email down to 487 or so. I consider that significant progress.

I was planning to do a whole digression on sumo wrestling, but I am just too tired to actually make it work. I think I’m going to head to bed early. Then, I can get up and do some writing in the morning. Or maybe I’ll two sprints tonight and see if I can’t get at least half of my words done for the day.

Talk to you tomorrow, cousins.

 

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9-24-2020

eBay sales: Lemax Spooky Town House, stuffed bear

Craft Projects Completed: 0

Dead Bulb Count: 19 Days and Counting

#MilWordy Update: 44,340 word

Work was, well work. I managed to get my inbox to a measly 699 emails today. LOL. Progress right? Every little bit helps. If only I could have, perhaps, stayed in my office for more than a few minutes. I think I could do without running throughout the building all day.

There’s nothing particularly interesting about today. Though I have a great horror story to write. So I’ll talk to you all tomorrow.

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9-23-2020

eBay sales: Lemax Spooky Town piece, necklace, pattern

Craft Projects Completed: 0 (no progress on anything)

Dead Bulb Count: 18 Days and counting

#MilWordy Update: 44,077 words

Work is, unfortunately, getting back to normal. I had more than 5 meetings. My inbox-zero challenge is down to 757 from 1020 this morning. (Down from 1400+ on Monday). I’m feeling accomplished, and dread seeing what tomorrow’s emails will be. Maybe it’ll be another, oh, three days before I’m at least under 200. I’m getting to the emails which need follow-ups or proper sorting rather than the ones I can just delete or file.

Got 2 Halloween pieces up for sale on eBay tonight. I normally don’t list after work, but I think I need to get into the habit if we’re going to be going back full time once the CARES act ends. Do I think we’ll go back to 100%? Eh. I don’t think so. Not immediately. I think it’ll be at least another week or two of weirdness.

Did I get writing done yesterday that wasn’t on the blog? No. Did I at least get a blog post done? Yes. I’m going to take the win. I had two more short story ideas today. So, maybe that’s where I’ll head for the rest of the night. Short-storyville. We’ll have to see.

How is your #MilWordy going? Or your Nano Prep? It’s getting close to October which is the ultimate prep month. Are you doing any other sort of interesting challenges? A month solid of blog posts? Writing from prompts once a week? Inquiring minds want to know.

Love, Luck, and Lollipops, y’all.

Night.

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9-22-2020

eBay Sales: 0

Craft Projects Completed: 0 (4 rows on my scarf before my wrists got angry)

Dead Bulb Watch: 17 Days and counting

#MilWordy Update: 43,371 words

You know the best thing about short story collections? If you don’t like one story, you can just skip ahead to the next one. I have trouble with writing short stories though. I tend to have deep tangled plots in my brain and compressing that down is an issue. Endings are the hardest part of any story or book and trying to keep on track for a short story means that I really feel the need to write it in one sitting. My most successful stories have been written that way. Like a torrent of word pressing out and onto the page. It normally takes about an hour or two. I suppose that means I just really need to force myself to sit down and write something. If I try I might get rid of some of my works in progress that have been hanging out on my hard-drive. I owe a few for GFP. And I really want to work on the Jules Verne related story. I had a great idea after watching that lovely version of the Fugue and Toccata in D Minor that I had as the Sunday Night music this weekend. It’s about the tech on Nemo’s sub who had to maintain the organ.

I think I’ve found this week’s Sunday Night music too. Work has a restricted list of music available. (Think along the lines of a retail job where you can only choose between like 10 CDs. Enough to keep you from going absolutely off your rocker, but not enough to actually let you find something you love.) I’ve been listening to the concert set they did from Brazil. I’m going to leave it to be a surprise though.

I called in because my CT was giving me troubles this morning. I don’t know what I did to it, but spending the entire day using a mouse and keyboard sounded like the worst possible idea ever.

Today we removed the legacy equipment from an old alarm system that was just going off randomly. (System has been replaced, but the old equipment was still in place.) Managed to get it off without too much trouble. And we happen to have enough tiles to fix the backsplash too. Not that that will happen any time soon. Oh, I need to remember to pick up mastic and black grout. Next big project for me is to regrout my bathroom and redo the caulk. It has some sort of red dye on it and I don’t know where it came from because I’ve never actually dyed my hair in there. I can only think it must have come off of a towel or maybe it was in a shampoo or something? Anyway, I need to take off the caulk and redo it. Now that I know to use blue tape that will be a much easier job.

  • Note: If you’re going to recaulk your tub. (Check out a Youtube vid, if you need the visuals)
    • Step 1, use a razor and remove the old caulk.
    • Step 2, clean the surface of the tub and the tile.
    • Step 3, fill the tub with water.
    • Step 4. while the tub is filling, line the edge of the tub and the tile with blue tape, leaving just the line of where you want the caulk to be free between them
    • Step 5, Once the tub is full and the blue tape is in place, run a bead of caulk around the edge of the tub. You will want a caulk gun for this.
    • Step 6, Lick your finger and spread the caulk flat in the area between the two rows of blue tape
    • Step 7, Pull off the blue tape
    • Step 8, Leave the tub full and unused for 24 hours.
    • Step 9, Drain the water and enjoy your tub

And thus, if I can help someone else, my time today has been well-spent. My wrist is getting annoyed again, so it’s time for another break. Talk to y’all tomorrow.

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9-21-2020

eBay Sales: mixer attachment, cookie cutters

Craft projects completed: 0 (no progress to note either)

Dead Bulb Count: 16 Days

#MilWordy Update: 42,842 words

Well, I saw my circle of friends today, even if it was at a distance and in lawn chairs. It was fun to actually talk to people without a screen in the way. It makes reading body posture and reactions a lot easier, even if we were all masked up.

The weather has changed and it’s now actual long-sleeve weather outside. Although, if I dress for outside, I’ll broil inside at work. The light has changed too. It’s sharper now, more clear as you drive along. The leaves haven’t started to shift yet, but I can see them yearning to do so. The road I took today was covered with a canopy of leaves and the light flittered in and out between them as I went. It was at that awkward driving angle, where the  light is just in your eyes and no hat or sunshade or sunglasses will truly make it not an issue. Some people seem to think that it’s the light itself that makes everything sepia toned in the fall, but I think it’s more of the sun’s angle makes my brain kick in with the perception filters.

I love the sharpness of fall light. Maybe it’s the lack of humidity in the air. Maybe it’s the angles of refraction. Maybe it’s just that my brain is more excitable in the fall season, but it’s here and screw pumpkin spice, I want to sit and paint the world. Not the great sweeping vistas of landscapes, but the tight focus on the geese which are starting to congregate, or the happy little flock of sparrows that was on the railing outside of work and didn’t bother to fly away when I walked by, secure in their numbers and that I was not a threat. The baby grasshoppers that were hopping around the stairs at work are now full grown and no longer neon green. The air is cleaner, even though I know that it’s my high season and the masks are saving my lungs.

I want to dance and play in piles of dead leaves. I want to pretend my friends and I are spies, using the leaves as camouflage as we use old ftizted out walkie-talkies to make codes and practice the morse that’s printed on the front of the case. I want to climb up the side of the building and jump down on knees that don’t hurt. And I want to play with the kittens which will never be mine, letting them crawl up my shoulder and snuggle into my arms. It’s an idyllic memory of being a child, wrapped in the nostalgia of the new school year and the creeping edges of summer bleeding into fall before the bitter winds of winter come in. Winter is it’s own beauty and majesty. But fall has Halloween and Thanksgiving. It has bonfires and spiced cider and crisp apples.

And I need to get this post out today, so I’ll close with a quiet wish for happy fall memories to bless you all.

G’night, cousins.

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Sunday Night Music: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor

There are very few pieces of music which make me want to wax poetic. This is probably my favorite piece of classical music. And while most people can probably recognize the opening — it’s associate with a lot of horror movies — they don’t always recognize the rest of it. For a piece that seems foreboding at the beginning, it resolves into one of the most beautiful and uplifting songs. The mathematical purity of the song is one of its strengths. And it is progress and light and forward movement and call and answer, and a hundred other things that match the soaring cathedral halls that are meant to contain it. As an organ piece it simply swells to fill the space around it echoing and building on itself. It is sublime.

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September 20, 2020 · 11:25 pm

9-20-2020

eBay Sales: collectable car

Craft Projects Completed: 0 (but I did get a few rows knitted)

Dead Bulb Count: 15 Days (paused until Monday)

#MilWordy Update: 40,992 (Look how close we are to 50K and it’s not been a full month yet.)

I spent most of the day working on eBay things. I did enough listings to fill two boxes to go down to the storage shelves. Then, I went through the boxes of things for sale to find anything having to do with Halloween or Christmas and brought those upstairs. It’s amazing how many items are just waiting for me to list and send off to new homes. It’s a satisfying to see things leaving the house. At the same time, I’ve been through my stacks of items several times in order to find items to go to Goodwill and other thrift stores.

I’m doing my best to sell things before sending them off to a thrift shop though, since I know that they’re overloaded. Heck, Goodwill is just selling pallets of unsorted donations to people. That is a sure sign that they’re overloaded. Everyone who’s been off has had the chance to do some spring cleaning. I’m only donating things that I can’t ship easily. Or things that will be better if someone can touch them. For example, if I want to get rid of a large poster frame, it makes sense to send it to the thrift shop as opposed to trying to ship it.

I’m going to start exploring Facebook marketplace for things, but I just don’t really want to spend time on Facebook these days. It’s just been getting to be a stressful swirl for the past few months. I want to keep in contact with the few people I have no other contact information for, but I just can’t see that happening if I leave Facebook completely. I’m going to need to think about whether or not I really want to stay in contact with people who aren’t actually friends. I’m fairly certain that being sure that not having contact information beyond being FB friends means that we’re not close enough that I should worry about. Ug. I hate big decisions like that.

Other than eBay stuff, it’s been a pretty bland day. I’m about to launch into some sprints (along with a video of someone else doing the same thing) just to keep myself writing. I’m getting a little behind on my schedule, but I’m still under 2800 words per day. As long as I keep it there or lower, I’ll survive. I can do about 1K in a 25 minute sprint and I’m going to make sure I do at least 2 sessions with a friend (via Discord) this week to keep myself moving forward.

And check it out, I’m on a streak that’s 20 days long. I think that may be the longest daily blogging I’ve ever managed, if you don’t count pre-scheduled posts like the writing from prompts I’ve been doing. Which reminds me, we’re about due one of those aren’t we?

The fandom story I’m working on has turned into a meditation on agency and I’m not sure how deep it’s going to get. It’s also got characters airing out emotions and issues and finding resolution before their mission because mission mindset means you don’t walk into a mission without eliminating the negative energies. It’s surprisingly mature for the team, but it also means that all of the little things that could be used against them can’t be. They’re no longer weaknesses if they’ve been talked out. Even if the issues aren’t completely healed, at least everyone’s taking the time to process them before they become a problem.

And I’m trying my hand at building actual emotional and mental health consequences for the histories of the characters. It’s good practice for when I’m working on original stories.

That’s my plug for why fanfiction is a good thing by the way. It lets the author test out plotting and character reactions without having to come up with all of the world and character details. They can take two characters from their stock, put them into a situation and play around without how things work out. And it’s not the investment it would be if you were creating characters from scratch. It lets and author play with tone and type of writing. You’ll rarely find me writing in present tense because I’ve tried it out in fanfic and I don’t like how it flows or feels unless I’m deep inside someone’s head and/or it’s a mental breakdown or a dream. It gives stories a very strange feeling and it might be useful in a horror short story, but a full novel would make me want to throw my computer out the window.

I’m stepping off my very short soapbox now. TTFN.

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9-9-2020

eBay sales: gravy boat

Craft Projects completed: None

Dead Bulb Count: 15 Days (Paused until Monday)

#MilWordy Update: 40,953

A rather bland day overall today. But hey, I’ve been blogging every day even if it’s not brilliant. 🙂

Have a good weekend.

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