caught in the rain

I went out for a very nice walk--well, mostly nice, a very nasty fly followed me for a good long time.  I must have looked a bit silly as I kept wiping the top of my head with a hand to send the fly away.  It'd just buzz off and then come right back to the top of my head.  But, almost done with my walk, it started to rain, and then that fly was no where to be found.  Where do they hide?  I finished my walk, quite drenched, but fly free. 

Tonight, hopefully, I'll get to writing.  I'm working on a Halloween story.  It's rather less spooky than just a tad frightening, though.  Those two are close cousins, but there is a distinction.

dedication

I just watched the documentary First Position last night, which followed several different young people as they competed in solo ballet at the Grand Prix ballet competition, an opportunity to be noticed and to get scholarships or even possibly hired into a company.  I am just so amazed by the dedication that these young athletes had.  You get into their heads a little bit by watching the documentary, and wonder, could I have done that if I had a passion?

Then, I needed to get up early to go walking with a friend, and I almost canceled because it was early and I was tired...and I think the distinction must be the passion.  (Or I'm just not that passionate about walking.) It's amazing that there are people out there with that much energy and dedication, to push past the boundaries not just of their bodies but of their own personal willpower.

a blank page

I do a lot of plotting in my head, and I get all excited about the characters and the ideas and the concepts, and the little bits and bobs, where I think, oh, yes, I should put that in there.  So how come when I am faced with a blank page, that I end up looking at it blankly?  There should be some easy way to download thoughts to the screen!  Snap, snap, engineers! Get crackin'.   (Of course, that's a whole genre of futuristic horror stories, right there!) Ha!

Mmmm

I went to a gathering this evening (something like the Tupperware parties, but this was for jewelry) and had a lot of fun.  And the food was divine!  Fresh strawberries with real, fresh whipped cream.  Tiramisu. Three types of cheese, crackers, and really fresh red grapes that just about burst in your mouth when you bit down on them. A chocolate cake that was super gooey and amazing. It was all really decadent, but I enjoyed it. 

Of course, being a writer, and it being a party, I had one ear open to listen to the cadence of how everyone spoke to each other!  Writing research never stops.  Not even for the gooiest of chocolatey cakes.

one for a story

Life is full of experiences that get tucked away for a story somewhere, and today was one!  I was swimming at the local swimming hole, and had my head in the water coming back toward shore, when I look up to see a dog about to jump on my head! He looked like a very nice dog (let me be clear, I love pups), but they do tend to have sharp nails when they swim, it really is a doggie paddle. I do have to laugh at myself -- my words of outrage were like this: "Oh, hello! Oh, hi!" to the dog. The owner called the dog back (dogs can swim a bit further up the way, but aren't supposed to be in the people area) and gave a swift "sorry about that" and they were gone.  The dog did catch me along the back of one hand and I have a little bit of a scratch-welt there, but it isn't too bad.  It'll be gone in a day or two. I was quite worried he'd scratch me more severely, but I was able to push back a little, and actually sort of provided a platform for his front paws and held him up in the water, so he wasn't actually paddling into me. But I did think, if I wasn't me, if I was older or younger or less skilled of a swimmer, it could have been a much worse confrontation.

story accepted!

My short charity story was accepted! *dances and twirls*

So, now I'm off to go swimming, and then nose to the grindstone, and maybe some writing time tonight!

pondering the next project

The next story I am thinking of starting would be a Halloween one -- and I am having some good brainstorming ideas, but they all seem to be variations of the same theme.  Temptation.  There'd be a different ending, and a different avenue to get to the ending, but yet, the theme would be very similar to other recent stories.  I realize that writing can go in cycles, and I must be stuck in this same thought process, but how do I get out?  I think up some good ideas, and when I examine the concept, turn it over and over and tease out the core of it, I find it to be too similar. 

I need to figure out a way to switch over into another theme, something with a different flavor to it. So, the brainstorming goes on. And on.