« October 2003 | Main | December 2003 »
November 30, 2003
FINALLY
I can proudly display the new NaNoWriMo logo....
Whew. It all came down to a massive crunch--I literally had no time, and for the last five days, no computer, so I wrote by long hand and had to transcribe all day today. My hand hurts...partially from going bowling the other night with Joe's parents then holding a pen for hours on end last night, then typing like a demon today.
And now...onward...to the finishing touches on Plum Ruby Review, my 20 page paper and to figuring out how I'm going to manage doing everything on my to-do-list AND get sleep. :)
Posted by crystallyn at 05:07 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
November 24, 2003
my laundry list
of my life and why I have been a bit incommunicado...
* Crazy busy on my two classes for my M.A. in Critical & Creative Thinking. One is the online literary journal, which is nearly ready to launch, on December 1, Plum Ruby Review. The other is my research class in prep for my thesis. I'm going to be developing creative tools for advanced writers--I'm SO excited about that. I can see all sorts of cool possibilities for my future.
* Showing one of my best friend's kids how to play Everquest. A new addict has been created. I haven't been able to play as much as he wants me too though...life has been too crazy, but he really is having a good time.
* LOVING not working for the meanie boss. I've already lost the ten pounds (and then five more!) I put on during the month I was working for her.
* Interviewing here and there. I'm waiting to hear from a company in Cambridge that I REALLY want to work for...keep your fingers crossed. If that doesn't work out though, there is a consulting job I might take from Jan-Apr, so we'll see.
* Gave up on giving kitty medicine every day. He was starting to puke after we gave it to him so we called the vet and he said not to worry. Kitty goes under and gets at least three teeth pulled, including a fang, on December 9.
* Submitting poetry in many places. Look for a piece in the December issue of the Rose and Thorn.
* Still working on NaNoWriMo. I'm behind now. Only on 37736 at the moment and no foreseeable time in between Thanksgiving and my 10-20 page paper that needs to be written before December 1. I may try to get at least one more chapter in to get me over 40k and include all the backstory on the pantheon that I've been developing simultaneously...include it as the appendix, which it will probably be in some form for the book anyway. I HAVE been writing all that as well, essentially creating stories for who the gods are, their history, etc. I really want that 50k...I'm irritated that I slacked off in the middle, sigh. But I AM at about 84 pages and that's pretty cool. :)
Posted by crystallyn at 05:06 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
November 17, 2003
Food for Thought
"You’ve got to think about ‘big things’ while you’re doing small things so that all the small things go in the right direction." — Alvin Toffler
Doing lots of small things these days. It's odd how although I'm unemployed, I'm busy as all hell. That's a good thing, IMHO.
Posted by crystallyn at 09:10 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 12, 2003
one of the nice things
about both Joe and I being unemployed is that we have a chance to go out in the middle of the day and do things that most people can't do because they are holed up in an office or behind a counter somewhere.
Today we went walking at World's End.
It wasn't nearly so green, but it was beautiful. The smells were very pungent--the mud mixed with the rotting leaves. Was wonderful being out when no one else was. No other people, no dogs, just us. It was very foggy, however, which was beautiful over the water but it meant that we couldn't see the Boston Skyline, which is a wonderful view from World's End.
I think that Joe and I are going to join Paulette and purchase a Trustees of Reservations membership. We'll be able to receive discounted or free admissions to places like World's End and Crane's Beach, but we'll also be helping preserve some of the more beautiful places in all of New England.
Posted by crystallyn at 03:57 PM | TrackBack
November 07, 2003
kitty got the glove
poor Romeo. We had to take him to the dentist today--he has a fang that is swollen very badly near the gum line and is being pushed out of his mouth. He had his initial checkup today to see what the diagnosis is.
As expected, his teeth are pretty messed up. They have so much tartar on them you can't even see the teeth anymore and if you can, the back ones are fairly black. He's going to have to have the fang extracted. Apparently kitty dentistry is sort of a strange art...there are only 72 specialists (ones that can do full dental care--rebuilding entire mouths) in the country. Most vets won't even look in the mouth when they give checkups but most cats have dental issues. I guess that with all the bacteria growing in the mouth like that--it's a cesspool for viruses and it can lead to a myriad of other problems including heart and kidney issues.
Wet food is a main contributor to bad dental health in cats. I guess that's why he's been pretty lucky to make it to ten years old without any other problems...we mostly only feed him dry food.
He was pretty good today, all things considered. First they weighed him (14.8 lbs! big kitty!) and did all the regular stuff...and my suspicions about him are partially true, I think--he liked the thermometer part. He didn't like them looking much at his teeth as they hurt him quite a bit. Cats will pretend they aren't hurt for a very long time (to protect themselves from appearing vulnerable in the wild), until the pain is nearly unbearable. He's been acting fine, but we noticed that he's been chewing out of one side of the mouth for a bit.
Then they had to do labwork. They took him out of the room for that and we could hear him yowling. He didn't like the needle much. They tried to get him in the neck but he wouldn't have it, so they had to stick him in the leg. When he came back, he had two more shots--vaccinations since he hasn't had any in ten years. He was shedding like MAD at this point and starting to get a bit stinky.
He does that...gets stinky when he's nervous. The assistant mentioned that it was probably his anal glands backed up (lovely, huh?). Another freakish thing--cats can spray that stuff at attackers if they need to. PEEEE-EEEW! So the vet came back, got the glove and the KY out, did the finger thing and "uncleared" the glands. Gross. I turned quite green but thankfully no one noticed. Romeo was less than happy, let me tell you.
Niki, that one thing that vet did made me realize there is NO WAY IN HELL I could ever be a vet. No way am I going to stick my fingers up animals' asses to clean out stinky stinky stuff!
So we put him on an antibiotic treatment for ten days to get the swelling down. This will involve us putting a syringe into his mouth twice a day. That should be fun. Plus, he has wax plugs in his ears so we get to put fluid into them and massage the ears and eventually he should shake the wax out. Blech. Can't wait to clean that up off the floor.
We take him back on December 6 to do the dentistry. They'll clean off the tartar, determine how much damage there is and how many extractions. The fang will have to go. Who knows about the rest until they knock him out and start clearing off all the junk. I just hope he starts to feel better.
He's really lethargic now because of the shots. Joe made him a fire to sleep by. Talk about spoiled!! But after that, he deserves spoiling in my book.
Posted by crystallyn at 06:17 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
November 05, 2003
i'm having a SERIOUS craving
for MarketSpice Tea, something you can only find in Seattle. God I miss the stuff. I need some, desperately. I haven't had any in years, sigh sigh sigh.
Sigh. And that website that it is linked to...I used to work for the Washington Specialty Foods Association, many moons ago. I loved that job...one of the perks is that I got to taste all that great food. Mmm.
And oh, MarketSpice. There is NOTHING like it. No tea compares. I think I'm going to need to get some if I'm going to make it through all this book writing.
Update: 18690 wordcount...
Posted by crystallyn at 07:41 PM | TrackBack
November 04, 2003
make that
15646.
At this rate, my handy dandy calculator thingy that someone devised for nanowrimo says I'll be done by November 11 with getting to my 50k word count. I think that will put me roughly about 1/3 of the way through my book. MAYBE 1/2.
Posted by crystallyn at 11:11 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
November 03, 2003
writing, procrastinating, creating
is the name of my game. I'm in the thick of it now, 13,558 words. 26 pages. Not too bad! Tonight I found myself struggling a bit though, staring at the page and feeling slow and empty. I think that I'm too tired to really write effectively--I started after class and I was already pretty drained by that point. I wasn't able to write during the day today as I was in a flurry trying to figure out the work for my class--the research engagement class for my syn(thesis) project that I'll be doing next fall.
For the first time in my entire life, everything I'm doing is centered around the very thing I love most--writing and creating. My research is in developing a particular type of writing exercises, so it means as I write my novel, I can be my own guinea pig. My writing is the center of my creation, and the other aspects of what I love most about writing, creating and marketing are culminating in the Plum Ruby Review. I'm creating, writing, researching, designing and editing, all at the same time. I feel so excited about the vision of my future.
Tonight, one of my colleagues gave a presentation about his project, which is essentially his work in designing a professional career as an editorial cartoonist (the guy is amazing...once he starts publishing I'll point you in his direction!). He's a great guy, kind, honest, creative. He was nervous as he talked, but he needn't have been. His talent will take him places he still can barely dream about. Finally, in doing this project, he took drastic steps to lead him toward a new career path. He left his work as a carpenter and took a part-time job selling coffee so that he could spend more creative energy on the pursuit of a career that he knows will be hard-work but in the end, extraordinarily fulfilling. He's following his dream. He's taking risks, researching the things he needs to make the dream come true and he's just plain going after it.
How inspiring is that?!
For the first time ever, I am believing that I will support myself through my writing, through my projects and through my true talents. It won't be immediately, but it will happen. I will publish. I will make money. I will be happy. I may never be rich, but between Joe and I, I think that we have a lot of silver lined clouds to explore in our future.
I am going to have to work at it. I have to live it. I have to breathe it. I've always been too scared. Always too worried about what other people think. Always worried that I would either fail, or, oddly enough be too successful. Scared of the massive responsibility of relying upon myself rather than an employer. Scared of not making enough money. The list goes on.
I've wasted a lot of time to get to this point, to discover this resolve. I have a long list of things I need to do before I'm 40 and I'm getting started!
Posted by crystallyn at 11:36 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
November 02, 2003
back
from the Berkshires where I had the pleasure to spend more time with the in-laws. I swear, I really lucked out this time around!! They are truly the most wonderful people. Joe's mom wants to steal Romeo so badly. We took him along because he loves their screened in back porch.
Saturday, Joe and I wandered down to West Stockbridge and stopped in at Charles H. Baldwin & Sons. Martha even recommends them! The store, like the town, is quaint and quiet. It smells incredible when you walk into the tiny old building. In addition to vanilla (which is at astronomical prices no matter who sells it, due to crops in Madagascar being destroyed by a cyclone a couple of years ago), they sell all sorts of extracts and different baking supplies and some classical types of toys. Methinks cookies are in the future this week.
We also stopped in at Hilltop Orchards, producers of Johnny Mash Hard Cider. Joe said that the store he used to work for was one of the first stores to start selling Johnny Mash. We were one of the last people who were able to get in for the tastings that day. We ended up picking up some Apple Cidre, which is amazing, as well as a bottle of Riesling, Merlot and Cab, which they make from grapes brought up from Long Island.
We also stopped into a little known place in Richmond, MA, the general store, which is next door to the post office. Not your average general store, they sell a small selection of gourmet cheeses from all over the world so of course we had to pick some up. They also specialize in olive oils, gourmet food, regional wines and pastries. Worth going out of your way if you are ever in the Berkshires.
And now, well, I'm doing VERY WELL at procrastinating on my NaNoWriMo novel. I'm doing better than expected, but it's best to get my nose back to the grindstone. Thank god for chinese food!
Posted by crystallyn at 04:04 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack