sleepy yoga

I don't know what it is about yoga, but right at the end, when we get to lie down, I almost always fall asleep.  I think I might make some little snoring noises, too.  Eeep!

hanging curtains

I'm feeling quite proud of myself.  I managed to install my own curtain rods over my first floor windows.  This involved a level, measuring, drilling, and hammering!

*hands on hips, stares purposefully into distance*

I feel a little awesome right this moment.

summer garden veggies

The summer tomatoes are coming in!  They are ripening almost too quickly to be eaten.  I *love* them.  I don't even need to do anything with them.  Just eating them (like an apple) with maybe a little bit of salt is just perfect.  They taste like liquid sunshine, especially when they are just off the vine and sun-warmed.

I also have a ceramic bowl full of cucumber spears and container of (store purchased) baba ganoush (eggplant dip).  Mmmm.  Life is tough, let me tell you, but it can have these little delicious moments in them.  That's sooooo nice.

upcoming posts about my charity story!

I know I'm going to have some internet connectivity issues this coming weekend (a nice way to say, my internet access will be down!), and I'm scheduled for some posting on the torquere_social livejournal, so I set up my posts ahead of time.  (Nice feature, that, to be able to journal ahead of time and then have the posts show up when they should.)  So, I won't be replying to comments on that day, but will get to them later.

But, I posted quite a bit about the bits and pieces that went into my short story "Gray and Burnished Granite Seas", which is a short story for the Charity Sips that Torquere Press is putting out in September.  It's a lovely, sad, sweet, happy m/m romance set in present day but about WWII, with just a touch of the paranormal.  I really think that this is the one to read, if you've never read my stuff.  (If you have read my stuff, then this is exactly like the sort of stuff I write!) On my part, the story and all the work that went with it were donations to the charity, OutServe.

So, come by on August 24th, Saturday, to see my posts:
http://torquere-social.livejournal.com/

love: crazy-flashy or calm and steady

Just caught the very tail end of The Shopworn Angel on TCM, (it being Hattie McDaniel movie day on TCM) which had a very young Jimmy Stewart.  The interesting thing in the movie about the romance was that the female lead and the other male lead didn't realize they were in love until Stewart's character fell in love with the female lead.  It was quite the theme in the movie, and seemed very much in tune with the time that the movie was made, although still something that might happen today.  Sometimes love isn't crazy-flashy, but calm and steady.

puppies always steal the covers

So, I had occasion to sleep on an air mattress the other night while staying with a friend, and I had my dog with me.  We started out okay, with me owning most of the bed.  But by morning, I was scrunched on about 6 inches of mattress with my dog in the middle of the bed, and the rest of the bed empty!  I kept scooching over to give him space so I wouldn't squish his paws, and he kept inching over to stay snuggled up with me. Good thing the night wasn't any longer or I'd have ended up on the ground, and he'd have had the whole bed!

headed out to a musuem

I'm on vacation for a few days, and today I'm headed out to a museum for the day, to have a lovely Victorian-style tea with my mom, and to look over the well-tended and expansive gardens.  I spent the morning clearing out my photos on the camera so that I can take pictures.  Trips like these are always good for two reasons.  One, because I enjoy them.  And two, always researching for writing!!

What came first?

Usually I get an idea for a plot point well before I work out what the characters need to be within a story, but for once, I had an idea about a character.  It is interesting to have this character hanging about, and nothing to do with him yet.  I wonder what he wants?  What sort of adventure should I send him on? I don't know yet.  I hope something will gel soon, as I am soooo curious!

in the way!

Life has been really good at blocking me from writing lately!  I need to push the other stuff aside, but it is important stuff!  (Like balancing the checkbook, paying bills, doing laundry so I have clean clothes, etc.)

I need a vacation that isn't a vacation, but just me and a clean living room, and the laptop. (The wish for a clean living room may be a bit optimistic.  I live in a tourbillion!)

yoga class

I usually go to my favorite yoga class with my favorite instructor, but a neighbor invited me to go to her yoga class, so I did.  Yoga can be really different!  This one definitely had a "so you want to join the circus as a contortionist" vibe.

I thought my balance was fair and my arm and leg strength moderately developed.

Oh, nay, how wrong I was.

It was a very good workout, that was certain.  And an excellent reminder that I can always improve my athletic abilities.

writing a better blurb

I'm working on the short blurb for my upcoming story (available in mid-September). It feels a bit like writing for the voice-over artists that intone over the movie trailers.  In a world where....
(They just had a great interview on Fresh Air last week with some voice-over actors about a movie that was about voice-over actors.)

But seriously, this is a difficult art!  Make it short, but capture the essence of the story, but without sounding too generic, or too cliche.  That's a tall order!

Okay. Okay.  :)

Any preference between these two?

1.
Frank Ross lost his lover at sea during World War II, but he's waited long enough, and love never dies.  

2.
Frank Ross lost his love during World War II, and has gone to the Navy Memorial to pay his respects.  He finds more than memories, as the wide granite seas await with music and dancing, and a love that never leaves.

I'm leaning toward #2, but it is longer.

crockpot disaster

I have a nearly infallible cookbook for the slow cooker. I say nearly because up until this morning, I had yet to make something in it that I did not at least like, even if I didn't adore it.  That all changed today.

I made a lamb dish with a peanut sauce.

Granted, I had to make some very small substitutions.  I didn't have molasses, so I used honey and I made jasmine rice instead of brown rice. Not big changes.

I cooked and prepped all the ingredients in the evening, and set the slow cooker to cook all night, so that when I awoke, voila! there would be delicious food to take to work.  I was running low on time, so I didn't get to taste it, but I packaged it all up, and took it along.

Lunch time...and I have to say that the two flavors don't really go together.  At least for me.  Someone else may adore this recipe.  But, not me.  I actually had to throw it out, because I couldn't finish it, which I hate to do.  Wasting food is just terrible.  I try to avoid it as much as I can.  So many people do without, that I am thankful that I don't have to.  But, this recipe just didn't turn out well. 

Luckily a girl had brought in cookies for the day, so I had an extra banana and 2 cookies for lunch.  Mmmm. Yummy, even if not the healthiest of lunches.

*hand to forehead

Major bummer news--the Halloween story was declined.

While it's not fun, on the other hand, this means I can take a look at the story and see if I do want to expand it (and where the possible flaws were).  It sits pretty well as it is, a long story just under 8k, but there were bits and pieces that would make for a most excellent continuation. 

I will let the hindbrain stir it about a bit.

lure or Super!lure?

I ordered a fishing lure the other day through the mail, but I ordered the wrong thing.

The lure I wanted should have been about 5 cm long (about as big as my thumb).

(For anyone curious -- it was the Rapala Shad Rap Shallow Diver, Blue Gill color.  This is a fantastic lure. It. Catches.  Fish.)

But I wasn't paying close enough attention, and I ordered the Rapala Super Shad Rap Shallow Diver, Blue Gill Color.  At 5 1/2 inches long.  It is HUGE.

This lure is the size of some of the fish I catch with the smaller version of the lure. I'm not even sure I have test (line) that I want to put this lure on, the fish I'd be sure to entice would be *enormous*.

I could write the sequel to Moby Dick.  ;)



**I do indeed fish!  It was serendipity that I had a story idea for The Way to a Fisherman's Heart...which I enjoyed writing because I got to spend so much time thinking about fishing.  I had to remind myself...romance, write some romance.  Not just what lure to use! 

bright eyes

I had an eye doctor appointment today, to help keep my eyes in good shape.  Looking at computer screens for most of the day is not a great thing to do--you end up with very dry eyes.  Something about the concentration needed to do the work on the screen means that you actually blink *less* than when you're just doing other normal activities.

I did get my eyes dilated since I hadn't had that done in quite a while, and all is good, but my goodness, it take a long time to get the eye muscles back working again.  I had on sunglasses to drive home and was miserable from the brightness, so I hid in my house, shades drawn tight, and watched tv, with my sunglasses on!  I got a bit tired and went down for a nap, and now my schedule is all flummoxed.  No writing tonight!  I will refocus for tomorrow. (Ha, ha! Refocus...get it? Okay, I'm not as clever as I wish I was. *cheeky grin*)

long car rides

On occasion, I tend to make some long car rides to visit family. I'm not a huge fan of driving or riding.  I'm not unaware of the cost to the environment, even if I have an exceptionally fuel efficient vehicle, and it is a lot of time to be on the road. I do really enjoy seeing my family and friends, though.

Sometimes, though, the drive serves the most excellent purpose of allowing the brain to just free-float about with thinking of things.  And many times, those are plot-driven things, character-driven things, and problem-solving things. There can be some serious unraveling of thorny conundrums when you have a few hours at your disposal to just think at them.

cooking tonight!

No writing tonight.

I tried to go for a swim (in a local lake), but after 10 minutes, my imagination got the better of me and I hightailed it out of there.  The water was quite murky, and all I could think was that some enormous lake monster was going to come and swallow me down. 

So, I spent the better part of the evening cooking a very nice bean curry, using the rice cooker (again! go me!) and making raita.  I hadn't made it before, but it seems simple enough, with yogurt, cucumber, and a few spices. It's late now, but I'm going to sit down and have a bowl and enjoy!