want to fly to a place where it's just you and me

I wasn't as productive as yesterday, but that tends to happen since my productivity ebbs and flows. Still, today was pretty good overall - I got a lot of sleep, then did some market research this morning. I'm trying to figure out exactly what subgenre I think I'm writing, since that dictates some things that I may want to include or avoid. I haven't had to make this decision in quite this way before - when I decided to write historical romance, I knew pretty quickly that I wanted to write Regencies, and that was that. With this book, it could be high fantasy, or urban fantasy, or romantic fantasy, or paranormal romance, or maybe even YA, or fantasy/scifi, or something else. All of them have slightly different reader expectations, niches, etc., and the fact that I don't know what I'm writing is starting to cause me some angst.

So, I did some market research, then ate lunch with [censored], and then watched some writing videos to try to triangulate on what's blocking me. I also did a bit of mural stuff, ran to the grocery store, and wrote a bit in the late afternoon. I made spaghetti for me and [censored], using Grandma Barb's famous spaghetti sauce recipe - note that we don't have a Grandma Barb, but the random spaghetti sauce recipe I found online is a real winner.

Then, after eating, I wrote for an hour while sitting on my balcony. I also read for a bit - I started a nonfiction book about the history of fabric/textiles (called THE GOLDEN THREAD), since for some reason I think textiles might play a role in my book that I don't understand yet. And now, I need to sleep - goodnight!

high on the roof, thin the blood

I had a headache pretty much all day, perhaps verging on migraine-ish (although I don't know if my headaches qualify as migraines). I blame the fact that I had to stop taking my allergy meds because I have an appointment with an allergist next week, and so I woke up feeling as congested as if I had a cold, even though I do not.

I did successfully get up and write and do some stuff and go to a meeting for my mural project, so at least I was able to fake it until then. But then I came home, ate lunch, dozed, and generally deferred to my headache's desire to do nothing. I did finish reading the book I was reading last night, and it was excellent, but my headache returned in force. At some point, I decided to sit on my balcony with a blanket and my notebook and avoid looking at screens for a couple of hours - while I did not actually write, I daydreamed a lot, and my headache felt better.

Eventually, I made myself some boxed mac and cheese, which is not a dinner of champions but was better than real cooking. Then, I read a book - an on-paper book, which was better than screens, but still probably not what my headache needed. I got through 2/3 of a book called THE BOOK EATERS, which is a rather grim and depressing fantasy about some people who get all their sustenance from eating ideas (either in print form, or by sucking out people's memories). I'm not sure how I feel about it, but I will finish it because I want to know what happens. And if the last two books I read were excellent for triangulating what I want to write, this one is probably excellent for nudging me away from something that's too dark and bleak (but I think I already knew that).

And now, I need to go to sleep and hopefully get over my headache - goodnight!

get drunk on the good life, i'll take you to paradise

I had quite an unusually productive Monday - usually Mondays get to me, but I somehow powered through this one. Granted, I slept until after nine, but that's a given. I wrote after I got up, then did some desk stuff, and then showered before having lunch with [censored]. Then, I slogged most of the afternoon - I had some stuff to do for the mural festival, so I mostly focused on that.

At some point, I ate dinner with [censored] before he drove to [censored]. After that, I took my trash to my dad's dumpster, emptied my dishwasher and did some other lowkey tasks, and then spent another hour or so working on the thing I was trying to finish. And then I rewarded myself by starting a new book - EMILY WILDE'S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FAERIES, which showed up on a list of new fantasy books to read (although it actually came out in January). It's the perfect companion / antidote to the heavy AI scifi that I read the last couple of nights - it's about an explorer / scientist who goes to far northern Scandinavia to search out some faeries to complete her encyclopedia, and then her love interest shows up (who might actually be one of the high fae), and then everything kind of goes to hell in a delightful way. It's all told through her journal, which I don't normally love as a construct, but this one is well done.

So, I read for three hours, which is one hour more than I intended to and about 90mins less than I want to because I really am itching to just finish it tonight. But I need to do some stuff before a meeting tomorrow, and that means I need to go to bed, so I am going to attempt to restrain myself. Goodnight!

maybe then i'll fade away and not have to face the facts

I slept pretty late this morning because I was up until almost two last night, but #noregrets. I poured myself some cold brew and wrote for an hour as soon as I got up, which was good for everything except my carpal tunnel. Then, I made breakfast for me and [censored] - the usual scrambled eggs and hash browns, but they were particularly tasty today.

Then, I procrastinated pretty hard for a couple of hours. But I also cleaned the kitchen and washed my sheets, so it wasn't all wasted effort. I also answered some email - not all the email I should have answered, but enough to make me feel just slightly more caught up. Perhaps I'll continue that trend tomorrow!

After that, I made supper - the semi-usual-for-Sunday burrito bowls. I added some spicy Spanish chorizo that needed used, and I increased the rice/salsa/liquids a bit because I had more chicken than usual, and it all turned out perfectly. High on that success, I decided to end the evening on that note -- and so I came up to my room and finished the book I was reading last night (INFINITY GATE). It was book one of two in a series, and the next one won't be out for a year, which is a bummer. But it was really excellent - a lot of interesting inferences on AI and personhood, with some strong characters and great writing/dialogue. I ruminated a bit on the book today - my own book has some AI elements, but it's more fantasy, whereas this was definitely pure sci-fi (despite the talking rabbit). So I'm still playing around with how I want my book to read, and it would be nice to figure it out sooner rather than later, but we'll see.

And now, I'm going to push myself toward going to bed at a relatively reasonable hour so I can get some tings done tomorrow. Goodnight!

i hate to bug you in the middle of dinner

I have v little to report - the weather is ridiculous and v cold, which has put me in a somewhat sour mood. Despite that, I did write as soon as I woke up, which was a good thing. I tried to do a bit more writing after fueling myself up with coffee and yogurt, but it was slower going - still, anything is better than nothing.

At some point, I had the last of my leftover chicken tacos for lunch. I also cleaned the living room - dusting and vacuuming aren't my favorite tasks, but at some point they have to be done. [Censored] and I grabbed takeout from the Mexican place for dinner, and we timed it pretty well to avoid the traffic related to the high school prom. And then, I considered watching some tv with [censored], but instead came upstairs and read a book. I have now stayed up at least an hour longer than intended, but the book is quite good - it's called INFINITY GATE, and it's got some interesting stuff going on with multiverses and AI that is interesting and also mildly relevant (in topic, not in storylines or voice) to what I'm working through.

I really just want to stay up and finish it, but I also have a headache and know that sleep is probably a better idea - so I'm going to do the v. adult thing and go to bed at the very civilized hour of 1:30am. Goodnight!

surrender all your dreams to me tonight, they'll come true in the end

I decided to let myself have a mostly-hermit day, which in SF means I only saw people for approximately four hours. I also looked at my fitbit, saw that my heartrate has increased by 10-12 bpm since leaving Iowa (likely thanks to wine and overstimulation), and decided to indulge my inner bougie self and check into a hotel for the night. So, I'm writing this from the top of the Fairmont, overlooking the city of sin, and likely able to write this off on my taxes because the Fairmont is weirdly part of my next book (#winning).

Anyway, I woke up this morning, gathered my tings, relocated, and had a late breakfast while doing a bit of stuff on my laptop. Then, I rendezvoused with Adit (some people call him the cat) for coffee in Potrero Hill. We discussed a lot about life and AI while I drank a flat white, and it simultaneously gave me great ideas for my book + a lot of unease about the future of humanity (+ a lot of caffeine). Then, we relocated to Tartine Manufactory, where we had a late lunch (a delish salad with endives, radicchio, blue cheese, candied walnuts, citrus, and tuna salad for me). We eventually met Claudia there, where Adit told her that my book is basically "a girl moves to Iowa and becomes a magician," which is both accurate and horribly stated in a way that makes me never want to write it.

sssanyway, it was a lovely afternoon with two of the people whom I've known for my entire adult life (I met them a week after I turned eighteen!). Then I came to the Fairmont, flush with ideas, and promptly took a nap. Then, I spent the evening writing in the hotel restaurant - I ate an overpriced steak, drank some tasty zinfandel, and wrote a lot of pages about where this book is headed. And then I read an entire novella (ALL SYSTEMS RED), written from the perspective of a 'murderbot' android in a future space world, which was v. helpful for what I'm trying to do.

And now, I'm going to continue indulging my inner hermit by sleeping as much as possible and then writing all day tomorrow before my social plans commence again. Goodnight!

stuck in a vial

I wasn't sure I would make it to my destination today because it was unexpectedly quite snowy this morning when I was getting ready to leave the house. I knew there would be bad weather around Des Moines, but I had thought my part of the state would avoid almost all of it - however, huge flakes of snow were falling as I was trying to get myself out the door.

Luckily this morning wasn't really a scramble - I got up, made some coffee, showered, repacked a few tings after reconsidering my wardrobe choices, and talked to [censored] while touching up my nails. Then, I drove to the airport and didn't run into any issues. I made the genius (self-described genius; your mileage may vary) move of parking in short term parking just to check in my suitcase, which, since Des Moines' short term parking is very close to the terminal under a covered walkway, meant I could get my bag in without having to drag it through a lot of slush. Then I drove to an economy lot, dropped my car, caught a shuttle (as the only passenger on the shuttle) and was back at the terminal in less than ten minutes. Iowa has some downsides, but the convenience of the airport isn't one of them.

However, I am rusty at the travel game - I somehow forgot to dump my water bottle, and I had to leave security and go through it a second time. But despite that, I had time to grab a salad at the bar before boarding my flight. My flight to Denver was smooth (except for some final turbulence), and I had just enough time to grab an iced coffee on my walk through between gates before boarding my flight to Portland.

And now I'm safely ensconced in my hotel for the night. I have zero plans in Portland because I wasn't sure that I would get here tonight or that I would have time for anything tomorrow, since I'm leaving almost immediately for the coast - but I will get to sleep in tomorrow, so there's that. And I'll probably dream of my fantasy novel tonight; I spent both flights + a couple of hours after getting to the hotel reading THE GOLDEN ENCLAVES, which was the third and final book in a fantasy series that I should have finished when it came out a few months ago. I'd been saving it for a rainy day, and this was definitely a rainy day (literally, not metaphorically), so I picked it up and then read it pretty much straight through. My book isn't anything like that book at all, but all books are interesting to throw into the well of my psyche, and this one was a little more interesting than most.

And now, I need to sleep - goodnight!

put apprehension on the back burner, let it sit, don't even get it lit

I had a lovely day, although it started late because I went to bed sometime after two and so got up at 10;30. I have no regrets about that, but I am trying to go to bed earlier tonight (it's only 11:48pm!). But I got up, made some tea, got ready, and got some good writing done, so I'm happy about that.

I had some leftover spaghetti for lunch, ran to the grocery store to get some broccoli, messed around a bit, and then spent most of the afternoon finalizing my tax information to send to my CPA. I did take a long break to talk to Katie, which was great (and v. overdue). And then I made dinner, which turned out perfectly - salmon teriyaki, rice, and roasted broccoli, which is v. easy and also v. delicious. While I cooked, I listened to a couple of good entreprenuer-type podcasts, which gave me the push I needed to wrap up the tax stuff and upload it. And then I celebrated by reading - I started a book called THE FINAL STRIFE, which I picked up on a whim at the bookstore in Indianola last month. So far so good, but we'll see how it goes as I get deeper into it.

And now, I need to go to bed, or at least not look at my laptop - goodnight!

treat this night like it'll happen again

I mostly accomplished what I set out to do today - I wrote seven pages, which felt pretty good, even if I still have no idea where this story is headed. I also ate leftover burrito bowls with [censored] and spent some time this afternoon getting my tax documents together - I'm not done, but I'm farther ahead than I have been the last couple of years.

Eventually, [censored] left, so I said farewell, and then I took care of a bit more online stuff before making dinner. I whipped up some spaghetti all'amatriciana, which was delicious and relatively fast. Then I took my trash to my dad's dumpster, did a bit of writing, and ended the night by finishing a book I started the other night (ROSEMARY AND RUE). I didn't totally love it, but it is in the genre that I'm maybe writing, so it was v. thought-provoking.

However, it kept me up later than intended (but I needed to finish it because my library due date was fast approaching, so no regrets there) - so I think it's time for bed. Goodnight!

would you miss me in the end if i run out of oxygen

I had an excellent first official post construction day, which felt amazing. It started off amazingly mostly because I was able to laze in bed until almost nine - I was awake by eight, but I had no desire to get out of bed, and I had no reason to because Randy wasn't here to start work and [censored] wasn't here to judge me.

Eventually, though, I did get out of bed - I made myself some coffee, foam rolled to get the kinks out of my shoulders, and then wrote for a solid hour. I got almost four pages, which was great - and they were four good pages, in that they revealed some story that I wasn't expecting.

If that was all I did today, I would have been delighted. However, I did have to stop writing so that I could take a shower, eat some lunch (a v. uninteresting but nostalgic Amy's enchilada, which was the frozen meal of choice when I lived with Adit a lifetime ago), and then run into town for a meeting related to a volunteer group I'm participating in. That meeting ended in thirty minutes, which was good news for me.

So, I washed my car (it was above freezing today! yay!) and then, on a whim, drove to Indianola to look at paint chips. I know, I literally just finished construction. But [censored] and I are going to repaint the bathroom, and I still need to paint the dining room, and I think I want to use Benjamin Moore instead of the paint I get locally (don't tell the local guys). So I got paint chips, and then I checked out a bookstore that I hadn't been to before - it was small, but I was pretty impressed with their fantasy/scifi section, so I picked up a couple of books on a whim.

Then I got gas for my Audi, which takes fancy fuel that I can't get near my house, and picked up groceries before driving home. When I got here, I messed around a bit before making dinner - a spicy miso carbonara pasta that I absolutely adored. I can't make it when [censored] is here because [censored], like the FDA, doesn't like undercooked eggs (and I'm guessing [censored]'s jury is also out on the amount of chili paste I put in it). But I loved it and have leftovers for the next couple of days, so that's a win.

After eating, I procrastinated a bit with Twitter, reread what I wrote today, and then finished a book I started reading last week - SATURNALIA, about an occult/alchemical secret society in Philadelphia in a near future when the climate is wrecked. It was pretty good, and I liked the writing, but I didn't love the ending (but that could just be me). Still, it was a much better use of my time than reading twitter, so I'm glad I finished it.

And now, I need to sleep - goodnight!

i talk to myself and it's quite surprising

I had an excellent and productive first day of the retreat. I woke up unusually early for me, but I'm sure it's because of the timezones + the fact that I can hear people moving around and others are also early risers. So, I made a quick and dirty iced coffee with a Starbucks Via packet, and then I wrote in bed for an hour and a half while watching the ocean through my window. Yes, you should be jealous.

After that, I took a shower, grabbed a second iced coffee from the actual Starbucks down the street, and got a mani/pedi. I didn't completely love it, mostly because I have sensitive toes and they were too aggressive with cutting / filing - but it felt great to get my nails done for the first time in almost three months. My bougie ways are really suffering in the country, but it's probably good for me.

sssanyway, while I was getting my nails done, I started reading a book called SATURNALIA - so far so good, and I like her depiction of a Pennsylvania after a lot of climate disasters. After the mani/pedi, I came back to the house, ordered a poke bowl to get delivered, and ate it on the rooftop while chatting with Veronica and Barbara. Then, I thought about writing and instead took a long and delicious nap.

I spent the late afternoon in a long business-focused brainstorming / sharing session - I got some good ideas, but at this stage in the game I really need to be thinking about writing more than about tracking URLs. Then, we ordered food, which is a trick for fifteen people, but we managed (mostly by getting from two different restaurants - my Mediterranean was tasty, so #noregrets).

I spent the later half of the evening talking to Grace and Sylvie, and hoping that Sylvie will be my new friend coming out of this retreat (I'll probably make more friends than that, but Sylvie seems to be a winner). I also chatted a bit with Barbara and Anne, but I missed out on both the hot tub (because I was too cold) and a game of Cards Against Humanity (because they don't need to find out yet that I'm evil).

And then I came to my room and wrote a couple more pages, and now it's officially time for bed - goodnight!

so i woke up with a curse, i was searching i was looking through the purse

I had a strangely busy day, which was probably good because it was incredibly gloomy out, and I could feel the freezing rain start to drag on my mood. Rather than sitting at my desk or kitchen counter, I spent most of the day curled up on my chaise in my bedroom - good for my coziness, bad for my spine.

I spent some time in the morning reading the lecture for my writing class and thinking about the main takeaways. Then I had a long chat with a college friend, which was really lovely. After that, I swung my kettlebells for a bit, took a shower, and had a late, ravenously-consumed burrito bowl for lunch. And I chatted with Katie, who is always a delight.

I spent the afternoon taking care of some tings and talking to Randy, and then I had another long chat - this time with Barbara, whom I hadn't seen in ages, and who has now abandoned Colorado just like I have (although she moved to a small town on the Oregon coast, which is far more picturesque than here, although maybe my view of the gas station and the rodeo arena is just as impressive as her view of the Pacific Ocean). It was great to catch up and talk about writing and life, and hopefully we'll chat more now that I've (mostly) recovered from my extreme Zoom aversion.

After that, I procrastinated a bit, did some laundry, and ate leftover salmon for dinner. Then I wrote a handful of notes to myself about my book, folded my laundry, and spent the rest of the evening reading the first section of THE SEVEN MOONS OF MAALI ALMEIDA. It won the Booker Prize last year, and it's a magical realism novel set against the backdrop of Sri Lanka's civil war - so far it's interesting, and the premise/voice are compelling. But I need to stop reading it and go to bed immediately if I'm going to wake up in time for construction to begin tomorrow - goodnight!

and you'll begin to wonder why you came

I had a lovely day, despite the fact that it continues to be mercilessly grey and dreary. I made a lightning-quick trip to Des Moines out of sheer necessity - my tires were basically bald, so I had an appointment to get them changed, and then I picked up a bunch of alternative tile options for the bathroom, grabbed a salad to go, got a handful of groceries, and came back home. The tires are something I could have theoretically done closer to home, but the Audi is an unfamiliar vehicle in the land of tricked-out pickups, so I thought the city would be a better place for such service.

The tile, of course, could not be done closer to home - I had picked up trim pieces for the shower, but we decided they weren't quite the right depth, so I got some more tile (and some more shower shelves) and returned a previous set of shower shelves. And the groceries perhaps could have been done closer to home, but I'm excited to have nice-looking blueberries for my oatmeal this week.

sssanyway, I was home by 3:45, which was good. On the way, I listened to part of Prince Harry's memoir - it's amazing how that family has so much innate privilege, and also so much built-in hierarchy on which to treat each other badly. Also, his recollections of his mom's death are unbearably sad. There's a lot of memoir to get through, which will take awhile since I usually only listen to audiobooks in the car - but I would say, without going into any of the rest of it, that his hatred of the British press is entirely justified.

When I got home, I procrastinated for awhile, said farewell to [censored], and made myself some v. delicious salmon teriyaki with roasted broccoli and rice. Then, I talked to Veronica for awhile, which was what I needed. I also checked in on the Iowa State score, which was great (we beat Texas!). And then I finished reading A MEMORY CALLED EMPIRE - it's a bizarre space opera that I think I enjoyed? Actually, I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it. And now i want to read the sequel, but I also have a million other books on my list, so we'll see.

And now, I need to sleep - goodnight!

even old new york was once new amsterdam

I feel like I did a lot of tings today, but perhaps I did nothing. I'll let you be the judge with my list of accomplishments:

• I walked to the hardware store through the snow, where I was briefly propositioned by someone (hard pass, although it became a hilarious topic of conversation later because my contractor heard about it when he took his coffee break there).
• I talked to Katie for quite awhile, which is always a delight.
• I reheated shrimp fra diavolo for lunch, which I shared with [censored] (perhaps to [censored]'s dismay).
• My dad showed up to inspect the kitchen and drink some iced tea, which was nice.
• I watched a video and read a couple of lectures for a writing / performance / strengths class that I'm taking, which reminded me that I really am wired to need to research copious amounts while in the story formation phase.
• Along those lines, I read most of a book about ancient Cahokia, which was the largest city in North America at one point pre-Columbus (as large as London was at the same time ~1050AD), and is located east of St Louis.
• I baked potatoes to go with some leftover/frozen pulled pork and leftover/indestructible nacho cheese for dinner.
• I gave an extremely minimal amount of assistance to [censored] on a plumbing project in the basement, which thankfully didn't reveal any (more) centipedes.

And now, I really need to sleep, since I'm going to bed much later than intended - goodnight!

i ain't no fortunate son

Welcome to 2023! I rang in the new year mostly like any other weekend day (which means I made scrambled eggs and hash browns for me and [censored]). However, I did write for an hour this morning, which felt great after some extended time off during the holidays. I also took a walk around town this afternoon since it was a balmy forty degrees. And I read a book tonight...so in terms of filling the first day of the new year with things I want to do the rest of the year, I think I got off to a good start.

Beyond all that, I mostly did house stuff. I also made a new-to-me recipe for dinner with great success. Ina Garten's cookbooks never fail me - I got the new one for Christmas, and I made her salmon teriyaki tonight, and it was excellent. It's a super simple sauce (soy sauce, olive oil, maple syrup, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, red pepper flakes), boiled/reduced just a bit, and then poured over salmon to bake for <15min. I also roasted broccoli to go with it, which turned out perfectly. And, I experimented with my new rice cooker, which is a gift to myself - I had never thought I needed one before, but I used to live places where I could get Asian food whenever I felt like it, and I find myself wanting perfect rice more than ever. So far, I'd say it was a worthwhile investment - the rice really was perfect, and made it easy to time with the other meal components.

So, supper was excellent - even [censored] thought so, and turning [censored] into a roasted broccoli convert is a crowning achievement. After that, I cleaned up the kitchen, and then read a research book about elves and witches (so far, I don't know where the elves come in, but we'll see). And now I must sleep - goodnight!

you can't be bothered with those just for the night boys

So, [censored] has granted permission to disclose that [censored] is the one who exposed me to covid, by having covid and sharing a house with me. This has made for a strange couple of days - [censored] came home Tuesday feeling unwell, and eventually took a covid test, which was positive. The layout of my house + the ongoing construction makes actual quarantining from each other pretty much impossible, so I'm hoping my existing immunity carries me through. So far, I've tested negative every day, but it's unclear whether that will last.

Of course, I texted our contractor (Randy) to let him know about [censored]'s illness, but he decided to keep working anyway. But, since it's a small town and Randy isn't under any HIPAA restrictions (or any contract at all, actually), the guys at the lumber yard already knew [censored] was sick when I went in there yesterday. So, this may mean I won't get to go to Lorena's funeral...but it looks like it will be livestreamed, so at least there's that.

sssanyway, I spent the day being distracted by remodel stuff, which seems to be how I'm spending most of my days. Randy's making quick progress, though - he painted today, and then his cousin came to help bring in all the lower cabinets so that he can start setting them. Unfortunately, this meant the plumbing around the sink has to get rearranged, which [censored] had committed to doing - and so [censored] rallied from his deathbed to do it, which I felt quite bad about. Luckily, it got done, but hopefully [censored] is able to rest the rest of the week.

After that, [censored] and I ate leftovers from last night's cooking, and then I came upstairs and finished the book I started the other night (SWEEP IN PEACE, which is the third book in this cute/fun Innkeeper series that I am enjoying). And now, I'm going to take the unusual step of going to bed at 10:30 in an attempt to continue staving off the 'rona - goodnight!

so welcome back and take a breath, you come to life, you're bored to death

I was lazier than I intended to be today, but that's because I had intended to spend today prepping the garage so that I could spray the ceiling tomorrow. However, my hands are still shot from this weekend's painting activities, and I've been on the brink of carpal tunnel or RSI or whatever other hand issues often enough to know that I need to rest them now or they will only get worse. So, I reneged on my plan to prep the garage, which felt right even if Future Sara will probably not be excited to do it next weekend.

Instead, I spent the day messing around the house - I did approximately four loads of laundry, cleaned some tings, moved some tings around, etc. I also did a wee bit of journaling and an even wee-er bit of writing. And I took a walk around town, despite the fact that it's approximately forty degrees - it was colder than I wanted it to be, but it helped me to stretch out from painting + kettlebells, so it was #worthit.

After all of that (and a trip to the grocery store), I had a pretty quiet night. [Censored] showed up this afternoon, and we ate dinner together (leftover burrito bowls that I made last night). Then I retired to my room, where I reread the first half of SUNSHINE. This has been a favorite reread since it came out almost twenty years ago (gasp), but I don't think I've reread it since the pandemic started, so I'm overdue. It has a bit of an interesting plot structure and a very strong narrative voice, so I'm reading it partially to see how the author did what she did - but I'm also reading it because I love it, and I continue to love it despite reading it so many times over the years.

But now, I need to go to bed before I inadvertently stay up all night finishing my reread. Goodnight!

all night long, writing poems to california

I had a fairly excellent day, all in all. I did some stretching and a bit of kettlebell stuff, and then I spent the morning doing some legit writing, which felt great. It's quite likely that none of it will make it into the final draft, but it's also quite likely that I'm getting into something interesting. We'll see where it takes me tomorrow!

I also had lunch with [censored], although we ate different things. Then I did a bit more work before talking to Alyssa, who was a delight. After, I did a bunch of random house stuff - I put together the rest of a set of shelves, did some laundry, tidied up the kitchen, etc. And eventually, I made dinner - I roasted some salmon, along with some roasted potatoes and some roasted broccoli, and even though everything roasts for different times and even though (or perhaps because) I used approximately one gallon of olive oil, it all came together right on time and was quite delicious. I ate it while [censored] and I watched some TV (Big Bang Theory reruns + some replays of this week's SNL - ooof, that cast is gonna need some time to gel).

Eventually, I came upstairs and read part of a book on the folklore of rural crafts (especially beekeeping and blacksmithing), which is way too high level but also gave me some interesting avenues of exploration. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

it took forever and a day to miss the mark

If I get as much sleep tonight as I got last night, I might be on my way toward recovering from last week's trip + yesterday's binge of the Queen's funeral. Today was pretty good, all in all - I made some tea, took a shower, ate some yogurt, and read some more of my (long) book on the Scythians while sitting on my balcony. Today was nearly 100 degrees, but my balcony is shaded throughout the day, so it was still pleasant in the morning. And the Scythians remain interesting - I can't tell you why I feel the need to read it when the book I'm writing is set in rural Iowa, but I feel some sense that there is a connection. Or, if nothing else, it makes me want to go back to Ukraine when the war is over and see the Scythian treasures that are apparently in a museum in Kiev - it's rather astonishing how much gold (very finely crafted gold with elaborate images of animals, warriors, etc) ended up in burial mounds stretching from Ukraine to Siberia, and I would like to see it in person. We shall see, we shall see.

sssanyway, at some point I had lunch, and then I went to check out flooring for my kitchen remodel. This was a fairly successful endeavor, since I got penciled in for an installation date in early December, and I got to bring home several samples (I was told I could keep them for a week, likely because the proprietor told me early on that everyone around here wants barn board styles and I was clearly drawn to not-barn-board samples). I also got some gossip of dubious provenance, which is my favorite. So, all in all, it was #worthit, and hopefully I can finalize the last major decisions for the kitchen this week.

Then I grabbed some groceries, came home, did some house stuff, and made a batch of pickled onions to go with my supper. Supper was a new-to-me recipe for chicken tacos - I made it in the instant pot, and it was super easy and extremely tasty. It would have taken five minutes to throw together if I hadn't staged the prep photos in case I instagram it, and then it took ~10min to come up to pressure, ~20min to cook/release pressure, and another ten or so minutes to shred the chicken and add some black beans to it. The chicken tacos almost tasted barbecued, since the sauce was a mix of chipotle peppers and honey, but I really liked it - so it will likely be a go-to recipe when I'm cooking in my instant pot in the garage throughout November.

And then, I wrapped up the night with some laundry, some procrastination and more reading about the Scythians. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

love's what you deserve

I had a rather unproductive day, which was frustrating even though (or especially because) I did it to myself. The most interesting thing that I accomplished was getting the abstract for my house - it was at my lawyer's office here since he'd done a title opinion when I bought the place, but since I closed remotely I didn't see it then. I decided that I was curious about who had owned it in the past, so I picked it up and read through the whole thing this afternoon.

It was an interesting read - the title chain started with the surveying of this area of town as the 'first addition' to the town (back in the 1870s when town thought it was going to get way bigger than it did). I live next to an area that was surveyed out in hopes of becoming the county courthouse, but the courthouse went to a different town, thus changing this town's fortunes forever. And I own basically a city block, although there was no road or alley surveyed between me and the proposed courthouse site. My 'block' is further subdivided into fifteen lots that, theoretically, would have been shops and offices around the courthouse - but now it's just me, and a part-time [censored], and a lot of yard.

sssanyway, the abstract had names of previous generations of people/families that are familiar to me, even if I didn't know the specific individuals. There were a couple of divorces, and the divorce decrees were included in the abstract, which made for interesting side reading (and complexity for the deed, especially when one party of one of the divorces died while the other party was still paying for the property on contract to the original owner). The biggest laugh I got, though, was that I had flippantly told [censored] that I just hoped the abstract didn't mention Standard Oil (since you never want to discover you live on top of buried fuel tanks) - and then the abstract actually *did* mention Standard Oil, but only in relation to other property in one of the divorce decrees. Lol.

After that thorough examining of my abstract, nothing else was all that interesting. I also did some deep research on how to kill wasp nests, since a new nest is forming on my balcony door and I need to kill it with extreme prejudice before they multiply. And I should have cooked tonight, but instead I ate boxed macaroni for dinner. And then I read half of 'Forgotten Peoples of the Ancient World' - it's way too high level and cursory, and also only deals with Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Mediterranean, which seems way too simplistic. But I'm looking for tidbits that might spark some story ideas, and I stumbled across some interesting factoids, so that's what I wanted.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!