quicksilver girl

I realized today that I have only been home two of the last seven weekends, which explains why I don't really know how to operate in my own house. I was invited to a coworker's house tonight to hang out, but I ended up canceling in favor of indulging my inner, v. neglected hermit and getting shit done. It wasn't all work - I slept for over ten hours last night, and then I got up, messed around, made coffee, and got a mani/pedi. I also took a nap and talked to Katie, so it wasn't like I didn't do anything relaxing/fun....

But staying in was rather imperative because, totally ridiculously, I had to finish last year's taxes tonight. Yes, they were due in April. I paid them then, but I had gotten an extension for actually filing - as I recall, I was in the middle of trips to Iowa for ukuleles and trips to Paris for champagne, along with the performance review cycle that was happening then (which was pretty painful, although that pain has been forgotten because of the fresh trauma of September's performance review cycle). It really only took me another 3-4 hours tonight to prep everything, but my spring/summer was so ridiculous that taxes were pretty much the last thing I wanted to do whenever I was home.

So tonight I had to pay the wages of my sins and actually do the thing I'd been putting off. Luckily, I'm basically done - I just have to go into the office tomorrow and scan some stuff to send to my CPA, since my printer at home is over ten years old and no longer connects to any of my computers since they no longer make modern drivers for it. So, while tomorrow will involve a lot of other work and errands, at least this portion is done.

And now, after confessing my sins and showing you all that it's not just your emails/texts/voicemails/postcards that I've been neglecting, it's time for bed - goodnight!

our old friend fear and you and me

I'm not ready to go to bed yet, but I'm blogging now so that I'm not tempted to slack off later. Today was an okay day, all in all - I procrastinated more than I should have, and I probably should have gone outside for some fresh air, but so far so good. I slept late, then spent much of the late morning/afternoon journaling - both the bullet journal artistic stuff that I like to do + the deep ruminations that I've been avoiding. I'm making a serious attempt to get back into my writing career, and journaling helps me with that.

But my writing career also involves money and taxes, which I've definitely been putting off...so I spent several hours tonight going through receipts and reconciling Quickbooks. I'm not done, so I'm going to do some more until I fall asleep, but I'm getting closer. However, I had to take a break for the last hour and file an expense report for the day job, since it was also getting close to overdue (and at some point the system starts emailing your manager to rat you out for not submitting your report, so I was trying to avoid that). Yes, my life is glamorous. Can you tell I really don't like doing all this admin stuff?

Beyond that, I have nothing to report - and I have to wake up in the morning and pack my stuff to continue onward toward the next part of my Iowa adventure (hint: it involves ukuleles). Goodnight!

we sweat for a nickel and dime, turn it into an empire

Another lovely day in Colorado, and I'm already trying to ignore the fact that I'll have to pack up and leave soon. I slept a little later than planned, but I still got up in time to eat breakfast and pack a lunch and do similarly vital things before going to the coworking place. Katie was there today, but I successfully did some actual work without letting her distract me (or, more honestly, without letting me use her as an excuse to be distracted). However, we did take a break to walk down the street for coffee, and we also ate our lunches together, so that was all delightful.

But I had to leave a little after three, which was earlier than usual - I had happy hour plans north of Denver (closer to Boulder) with Chris and Natasha. They are a blast from the past - Chris and I were in India together, and Natasha and I worked really closely together when I worked for the big boss, since she was the big boss's admin. I also went to their wedding way back in the day, but they moved to Boulder five years ago, so we haven't had a chance to get together since then.

Sadly, Chris ended up with a last minute meeting that conflicted with our 4pm meetup, but Natasha and I grabbed a drink and snack before going back to their place. She picked up their boys (aged 5, 3, and 8mo) on the way, and we spent some quality time catching up while feeding the kids. It was great to see them - I really liked Chris and Natasha when we spent more time together, and I predict that I'll see them more often if (when) I (eventually) move out here (hedging much?).

But I left their place around seven so that they could engage in bathtime, and I drove back to Denver, made a late supper since my snack wasn't doing it (more eggs and hash browns, yum), and then watched the last two episodes of The Crown. I thought they were brilliant, all in all - I think they did a great job of capturing what must be such a lonely life and position, and how it would blight all one's relationships, as one character said in the last episode. And John Lithgow's Churchill was great. I recommend!

Now, though, I should sleep so that I can get even more work done tomorrow - goodnight!

i'm only human after all

I meant to get more done today than I did, but I crossed some things off my to-do list that had been lingering there for months, so I'll totally take it. In an effort to go someplace where I could concentrate, I drove into Denver and went to the coworking space where Katie works. I got there I little later than I did on Wednesday, and we promptly went down the street for iced coffees. Iced coffees at a totally charming, cute, hipstery bakery/cafe are $2.25 each, which is reason #812 why everyone in SF should move here (actually, not everyone, since that would ruin it, but I think twenty or so of you should consider it).

Then we both worked, or pretended to, until lunch (Katie brought leftovers, I brought a v. tasty sandwich). At that point I was really thinking that I was going to screw around and waste the rest of the day, but I forced myself to concentrate and ended up doing some great stuff, so that was a wonderful surprise. But Katie and I still held to our prearranged date to get pedicures, which I was in dire need of (Katie actually pointed in shock to the amount of dead skin the woman grated off my feet, which means I made need to add some pumice to my nomadic necessities).

Then we went back to Katie's place, where Katie made dinner (a tasty frittata and some watermelon) while we hung out with the girls. James eventually came home, and we all ate and talked and generally laughed too much before I decided to go back to Castle Rock instead of hanging out while they put the girls to bed. When I got here, I did some laundry, journaled some more, etc., and then made plans with Aunt B and Uncle B for tomorrow night.

And now I must sleep - tomorrow I have to pack up my stuff in preparation for moving on down the road (my dramatic way of saying I'm going back to Denver to stay starting Sunday). Goodnight!

don't put your blame on me

I had a delightfully productive day despite feeling like I was overheating for almost all of it. I woke up this morning after sleeping surprisingly poorly last night (or not surprisingly, since I'd had way too much wine). Then I drove into Denver - I had a date with Katie to work at her coworking place, and this was a great decision, because I was extremely productive. Of course, I need to be similarly productive for the rest of time, but I'll take today as a good start.

We had a break for lunch (I grabbed a v. tasty burger from the place across the street), and then I worked the rest of the afternoon (with another break for me to go to Tattered Cover to pick up a book). I parted ways with her around five and drove back to Castle Rock, where I had supper with Aunt B and Uncle B - Aunt B made some awesome fish tacos, which I'm going to have to replicate as soon as I have a home again. Then we watched the first two episodes of 'The Crown', which I've been meaning to watch forever, and it became clear that I know waaaaay too much about the royal family.

And now I need to sleep - we're apparently going on a hike tomorrow, which requires waking up super early to avoid getting heatstroke. Goodnight!

we order different drinks from the same bars

Blogging from my phone because my computer is in the middle of a v. ill-advised update/reboot cycle and I want to sleep. My fucked up shoulder almost got the best of me today, but I seem to have treated it with a lot of ibuprofen and a couple of margaritas, so hopefully I can sleep tonight.

But today was great - great for friendship, and great for getting things done. Katie and I went to a coworking place that she frequents so I could check it out, and I got so much done there - I did some actual bonafide writing in the morning, and then got a lot of admin work done this afternoon that I'd been putting off forever. And I got to take a break in the middle to have a tasty omelette and a glass of rosé with Katie at a cafe down the street, which felt so lush and delightful. So, the coworking space is a winner, but I won't be in the neighborhood for the next week or two, so I probably won't get to indulge in its comfort for awhile...

Then we came home and Katie made supper, which was v. tasty (turkey burgers and sweet potatoes), and then I had a long call with my friend Maya while Katie and James worked on getting the kids ready for bed. I hadn't talked to Maya since something like November (how sad/embarrassing), so we were way overdue and it was fun to talk to her. Then I hung out with the girls and said goodnight to them, and then Katie and I (and later James) sat out back and enjoyed the night air (hopefully it doesn't cause fever and ague, but this isn't the Kansas Territory and I'm not Laura Ingalls Wilder, so I'm probably safe).

And now I must sleep - goodnight!

dead leaves and the dirty ground

Time for bed...I spent the last three hours working, which is unusual, but I didn't have much time to work earlier in the day and I was feeling compelled. I woke up this morning, made an omelette (perfection) and at it with some avocado like a fucking millennial. Then I thought my sister was arriving imminently, so I showered without washing my hair, but I discovered after I got out of the shower that she wasn't coming until 12:30. Oops.

So I hung out on the porch with my parents until she arrived. She came over with my niece Allie, and they hung out for a couple of hours - my mom had to go sit at the round barn, and my dad had other errands to take care of, but Jackie and Allie stayed for awhile. When they left, I mostly procrastinated (with a bit of journaling), and then I ran into town to look for cointreau for margaritas. But our grocery store only has extremely cheap triple sec and I wasn't willing to lower my coastal elite standards, so I grabbed some Mountain Dew (yes, that shot my coast elite high horse right out from under me) and came home.

Then the parents and I went to Seymour for supper - Saturday night is prime rib, which we all enjoyed. Then we came home and my dad and I watched some 'Magnificent Seven' together (the short-lived tv show, not the movie), and then I came downstairs and worked until now.

And now it's time to sleep - goodnight!

another love grows cold on a sleepless night

I'm tired and I should probably wash my face and go to bed in case we lose power...there's been some impressive lightning going on outside for a couple of hours now, and while it's mostly skirted us, there's always a chance that something will happen.

Today was great from a productivity standpoint, though - I woke up, made a tasty omelette, and then spent the afternoon hard at work on the back porch. I had to stop around five so that I could finally shower and eat an early supper (ribeye and baked potatoes) - my mom and I had a meeting of our secret society tonight (she goes to every meeting; I go approximately once a year when my trips home overlap with a meeting night). So we went into town for that, and I saw a bunch of ladies whom I always enjoy talking to (mostly faces from my childhood - there are some younger members, but a lot of them were in it when I was a kid, and I've known them forever).

And now I need to sleep, since I want to hit the writing hard tomorrow - goodnight!

late night when you need my love

I can't believe that it's almost time to leave Miami - I could easily stay here for another two weeks, since I'm starting to get into the groove with work and am loath to pick up and disrupt myself again. This is a good lesson, though - the last six weeks have been too chaotic, and while it was well-timed in the sense that it happened right after I released my last book (and I always seem to need a break before getting started on the next project), I'm starting to get really antsy about getting stuff done. So, the trick will be finding ways to be productive in Texas for at least a few days next week, and then hoping that the weather in Iowa will be ideal for me to make use of my favorite outdoor 'office' on my parents' back deck.

But Texas should be plausible - I believe that I'll have Monday to myself, and I'm spending Tuesday-Thursday with a writing friend, so at least there's hope. And the reunion is always worth taking a break for, since Wamplers of all generations tell great stories that I intend to shamelessly steal someday.

Today, though, was an exercise in trying to get things done. I was unsuccessful in the morning since I slept late (so much for trying to get on this timezone...Saturday I'll move an hour closer to the west coast, so maybe that will help), but I worked from one to nine p.m. with only a couple of breaks, so that counts. And I ended the evening by reading (HILLBILLY ELEGY, which I am *loving* - more on that another time) on the patio for an hour before splitting a bottle of rosé with Luisa, so that was delightful.

And now I must sleep - goodnight!

so get ready

My eyes are glazing over - I spent another five hours today working on tax stuff. Remind me to stop putting this stuff off, since it always results in two or three days of pain when it's time to file returns.

But for all that, my day was pretty good. I took an hour this morning to talk to Lisa, who used to work for me way back in the day - as always, it was good to catch up, and it made me a wee bit nostalgic for corporate life (but not enough to actually go back). I also took a break to talk to Katie, who for some reason is still talking to me even though she should be planning to ghost me immediately so that she doesn't have to host me when I'm in Denver in June/July.

Then I worked until 8:30, which was miserable. But I stopped and enjoyed my first Miami community dinner - people barbecued, and I mostly just helped with cleanup since I didn't bother to make anything. But we had some highly entertaining conversations, and I watched some dueling content marketing/coaching types discuss their strategies, which is both amusing and informative. And I've kicked it into high gear with being snarky - if there's one 'advantage' to the moving around that I've been doing, it's that my sarcastic side comes out more quickly (that's almost certainly not an advantage, but #sarasnotsorry).

And then I came to my room fifteen minutes before midnight and tentatively booked two weeks here in September - highly tentative and mostly influenced by the fact that I have a credit that was going to expire, and I knew that if I booked something now they'd let me move it later anyway. But I'm kinda tempted to spend September doing a two-week roadtrip around the south and then spending two weeks in Miami (with my car, which would make it way easier to get around here). We shall see, we shall see. The other options on the table are 1) a month in Bali, or 2) a month in Eastern Europe (Budapest, Prague, maybe Warsaw, Vienna, and Salzburg), with the kicker being that I have to be back in SFO by September 28. But September is currently free, and I need to plan something that is both interesting and helpful for my writing endeavors...and I probably have too many ideas of what that could be.

But that's a decision for another time - goodnight!

bienvenido a miami

Nothing exciting to note today...it's a holiday for those of you with regularly-scheduled jobs, but I'm desperately in need of some working time. Of course, that didn't actually succeed in getting me out of bed before ten a.m., but eventually I was quite productive. I spent the early afternoon journaling/planning, and then I spent approximately five hours this afternoon/evening working on tax stuff - I'd deferred my taxes since I was out of the country and didn't have all my documents in time to file in April, and now I need to actually deal with it. Of course, since I was a lazy asshole and didn't really deal with receipts for most of last year, this is a traumatic and harrowing (and by that I mean boring, repetitive, and eyestrain-inducing) experience.

But five hours of progress is better than nothing, and was sufficient to reconcile everything that was on my credit card statements for the past twelve months (luckily my memory is still up to par and I can either remember based on the name of the restaurant/store/whatever what I was doing, or my calendar can tell me). I still have at least five hours of work to go, but that was a solid stint.

And then I stopped working around eight, ate some leftovers, and read a book until now - "All We Wanted Is Everything", which is incredibly depressing and not particularly interesting yet, but we'll see how it pans out. And now I want to sleep and finally try to get on the proper timezone - goodnight!

she gave me a night, that's all it was

I'm working like mad to take care of all sorts of things that I've neglected over the last month. Today, that meant accidentally waking up at six a.m. (hi, jetlag), and then working in bed until my battery died around ten. At that point I was desperate to eat anyway, so I went upstairs and hung out for awhile, and I also showered and went to town (exciting stuff) to get some groceries.

Then I spent the rest of the afternoon in photoshop - I was designing some collateral for an event I have next week (v. belatedly), and it took many hours, but I was pleased with the results. I finished just in time for supper, which I enjoyed, and then I watched some fine PBS programming (not CBS! mostly because Wednesday is Criminal Minds night, and so we watched a documentary on the Nazis' extermination of the Jewish population of Vilnius, Lithuania, which was not the most uplifting subject, although the people who survived were rather astonishing).

Then I came downstairs and talked to [censored] about [censored]. And then I worked for another hour. And now I must sleep - goodnight!

those little red panties they pass the test

Today was a pretty great day, all in all, even though I had to finally admit that I'm not done with my book and push my preorder date back, which made me sad. Not as sad as it probably should have...which gave me a vague, fleeting feeling of wondering if I really still want to be writing historical romance, since there's a lot of other stuff I'm excited about.

But I sorted everything out and made a plan to finish the book - I'm pretty close, but it's not where I want it to be and I'd rather make it right than publish early and wreck my fanbase. And I made an announcement on Facebook and also solicited reviewers and already got a bunch of replies, so I think it will all be okay in the end.

Still, it's not ideal, and I'm going to have to work pretty steadily to hit my new target. But I'm also in London and need to take advantage of my time here to learn new things and find ideas for my next series, so I took a long break this afternoon to go to the V&A Museum (one of my favorites in the world) and see their temporary exhibit on the history of undergarments. It closes on Sunday, so I bought a ticket earlier in the week to see it today so that I wouldn't put it off until the very end. I'm super glad I went - they had some cool stuff from 1700 to the present, and while I couldn't take photos, I definitely wrote almost four pages of notes from the exhibit. People really aren't all that different through the ages - we all want to feel sexy and well-groomed and fashionable, and we're willing to wear dumb things occasionally to do it (although few things were as dumb as the cage crinolines that made dresses so wide that women would sometimes catch their dresses on fire and burn to death - the Victorian version of 'on fleek' was way riskier).

So, the exhibit was great, and I have more museum plans coming soon. Then I came back to Roam, dropped off my stuff (I bought a book on historical fashion, of course), and went to the department store to buy an electric kettle. This may be dumb, but I've got another month here and there have been many mornings already when I really wanted tea as soon as I woke up but didn't want to go down two flights of stairs and interact with strangers to do it. So I bought the cheapest kettle they had, which also happens to be dual-voltage so I can take it back to the US if I want.

Then I ran a couple more errands, came back to Roam again, and ordered Thai because I was starving and couldn't be bothered to cook. The Thai delivery was pretty tasty, and I ate while talking to Michelle (the community manager) since we were both staying in tonight. Then I came upstairs and messed around online and dealt with email, more preorder stuff, etc.

But that's all I have to say - tomorrow I need to write in the morning, because I have museum plans in the afternoon. Goodnight!

be good or be gone

I spent way too much time on my computer today, and didn't get nearly enough done to show for it (expect for some online shopping, of course, because #priorities). Also, I slept way too late and then spent way too much time reading twitter, which didn't help my productivity. But I sent some critical emails and checked off some critical tings, and I spent the last three hours researching possible website names for my travel blog (more on that tbd).

I also took a break somewhere in there today - I started the day with a fucking delicious hot ham and cheese sandwich, and I ended it with ham and bean soup and cornbread (yes, we are drowning in ham and I have #noregrets). And I watched 'Life in Pieces', which I've already said I adore; I am also strangely fond of 'The Great Indoors' with Joel McHale, which I wasn't expecting to like since millennial jokes aren't always funny, but this one somehow works.

But now that I'm updated you, it's time to go to bed - goodnight!

i ain't sorry

You know, it's really time for me to get my shit together on this writing thing. And by that I mean that, even though it's been six years since the first time I quit my day job for this (I can't believe that, but I just realized it's true), I somehow keep sabotaging myself in the same ways. The biggest form of sabotage is that I know the following to be true: I write almost exactly a thousand words an hour during my average pace (some days are less, some days are more, but that's where I usually end up). I also know that 2000-2500 words per day feel about right because that's close to a full chapter, and usually I need to take a break and think about where the next chapter's headed before I can write it, so I can't usually keep going beyond that without needing to stop.

And yet despite knowing that my ideal output of 2500 words/day can typically be accomplished in 2-3 hours, I don't happily sit down and do 2-3 hours of work and then move on to one of the literally dozens of things that I would like to do or that would make me happy or that would contribute to other areas of my business - instead, I feel guilty that it's not eight hours of writing, and so procrastinate, and thus throw away my time.

Ugh.

sssanyway. I mention this because I was worried that today was headed where yesterday went (aka nowhere), since I did some stuff from 9:30 to 1:30 but mostly procrastinated and only wrote for 20mins. However, I then went to San Bruno to meet up with Barbara, Anne, and Veronica - and in the 90 minutes I spent writing today, I wrote 2600 words. Granted, it was an easy scene (finishing something with Lucy and her butler, and starting something with Max and his more mysterious sister). So really, 9:30 to 1:30 would have been better spent reading or taking a walk or cooking or sleeping or day drinking or doing anything other than reading the internet and claiming that I'd start writing in five minutes.

I write this here only because I think it's finally time for me to own the fact that the writing part of my job can typically be done in 2-3 hours per day (at least rough draft mode; final draft mode often demands longer hours, but I can edit for a lot longer than I can pull words out of nowhere). And if I own that, then I need to figure out how to maximize the business side of my time, and also make sure I'm doing things that bring me happiness rather than reading every article ever written about the royal family (not that I do that...but I totally do that).

So. That's one part of today. The other part of today is that I had dinner with the Shedletskys - I hadn't seen them since before they went to Japan, and I wanted to hear all about their trip (which sounds like it was fantastic). They're a delightful couple, as per usual, and they're worth driving to San Mateo for (granted, I was already in San Bruno, which makes it a little more palatable). Then I came home, messed around online, hated myself for that, and then cleared my inboxes (shocker!).

And now I'm going to sleep - goodnight!

six inch heels

I need to stop looking at the computer - it's been a v. long, v. slog-filled day. Okay, so like three hours of that computer time involved drinking rosé and having an intense catch-up with Ritu. And I didn't really get started until 10:30. But the rest of it was mostly work, with a brief break to do some more laundry (verdict: bleach wasn't enough to un-dye my white towels after their unfortunate encounter with a pink washcloth) and to walk down to Philz for an iced coffee (which was more of an excuse to get out of the house than anything, since I have perfectly good iced coffee here).

But I'm happy with what I got done today, although it would require many more slogs like this to begin to feel caught up. And I'm happy that I spent so long talking to Ritu - it's nice to know that we can still be friends and still find stuff to talk about even now that her wedding is over!

However, that's all you're getting from me - I'm tired and it's time to take care of my eyes by letting them dream instead of making them stare at pixels. Goodnight!

the words that i sent to you, never got into you

Today was another slog, and I need to trek to Mountain View and pick up my new glasses tomorrow, because I think my eyes will be happier if I stop subjecting them to contact lenses and computer screens for sixteen hours a day. But I'm really happy with what I got done - I finalized the cover and title for Lucy's book (which will be announced on Facebook/Instagram/Twitter tomorrow, although the preorder is already live on iBooks because I set it up tonight). That took me a ton of time because I made the cover myself - this is not typically advised in publishing circles, but I decided to abandon the cover that I'd paid for a year and a half ago because I realized the guy was too ugly to salvage, and I couldn't wait the 2-3mos to get on my cover designer's waitlist. So I decided to try doing it myself, learning more about photoshop as I went - and I think it turned out pretty well. Well enough that it looks professional and pretty, at least. And now I'm itching to redesign all my covers...but that's definitely not necessary at this particular moment.

So anyway, I played with photoshop until almost two, when I realized I was incredibly hungry (two scrambled eggs and some iced coffee before that weren't enough to last all day). So I made some fancy tuna (which is just tuna, but with celery and shallot and parsley and s/p/cayenne and lemon juice, along with homemade mayo, because I had all those things on hand and fancy tuna salad in a bowl with no bread feels marginally less sad than regular tuna salad). Then I went to the grocery store, came home, and made dinner....

...which took four hours because I used a slow cooker, which was about four hours longer than I wanted to wait, but I really wanted to try this recipe. I made slow cooker chicken tikka masala, which turned out superbly - it was really tasty and the spices were balanced, and it was really easy to make (and would be even better if I set it up in the morning to cook all day, rather than impatiently waiting for it to cook in the late afternoon). I also tried a new technique for cauliflower rice and thought it was great - rather than sauteeing it (which takes work), I microwaved it (per this technique from epicurious), and it was perfect.

So, my dinner, at least, was a success. And the rest of the night wasn't bad either - I did some more work, made some lists, took care of some admin stuff, and quietly contemplated Lucy's story while all that other busy-work was going on in the foreground. But now I really need to sleep so I can slog all over again tomorrow - goodnight!

sun goes down

According to some measurements provided by Blogger, this is my 4000th post. *throws confetti* That's...almost dumb. However, thank you for joining me whenever you feel like escaping the minutiae of your day by reading the minutiae of mine! It's been a good twelve years, and while I can't guess whether Blogger will still be around for the next twelve, I hope you'll stick around for as long as it does.

Of course, today didn't give me a lot of exciting things to share on my 4000th post, but that's how things go. I woke up this morning and dealt with the residual mess in my kitchen - I emptied the dishwasher from last night and added the last things that could go in there, and I put some stuff away, and all in all the cleanup was pretty easy. Last night was fun, of course, although I was too tired to do it justice in the post - I had a lowkey group of people over (John, Jess, Ian, Vidya, Katrina, Lauren, and Priyanka, in order of arrival), and we all managed to fit around my table (mostly because Priyanka was quite late after getting off work at the hospital, and John and Jess were taking turns hiding in my closet and trying to soothe Ian, who apparently wasn't that excited about a Wampface-style birthday party). But we drank some Dom Perignon, and we ate some tasty food, and Lauren asked the usual questions about reflecting on my past year and saying what I want for this year, and it was all generally wonderful.

Today, though, it was time to get back to work. After I cleaned up, I went to Samovar to have brunch with a writer friend - his name is Curtis, and he used to work at the same place I worked years ago, and now he and his wife live in Portland and he writes scifi. He was in town for an event (which I missed Saturday because of my delayed dinner + my inability to rally), but we grabbed lunch and talked writing shop, which was delightful. It also made me consider, again, how much sense it would make to move someplace with better rents and vibrant artistic communities....

Then I stopped at Target to buy bleach, and then I came home and took a nap. My nap was hardcore, and I startled myself awake an hour later - apparently this is what it's like to be old. Then I needed to do some work, but I was having trouble motivating, and so I talked to [censored] for quite awhile - he'd texted me for my birthday, of course, but we hadn't talked in awhile, so we had a long, meandering catch-up.

After that, though, work was really calling, so I spent the last eight hours curled up on the couch (with a glass of wine (two glasses) and a break for pot de creme) and did a whole bunch of monkey work. This included some web stuff, reformatting a couple of epubs, messing around with a cover, etc., etc. In fact, I went back to working on stuff after I made that list...but as I was starting to feel sleepy while playing around with photoshop, I felt an earthquake jolt that woke me right up (and reminded me that restocking my food and first aid supplies is on my to-do list).

But despite that jolt, I think it's time for bed - goodnight!

then get back to business

Tahoe continues to delight. Today was less productive than yesterday - perhaps because I didn't shower, and thus didn't come up with any amazingly brilliant ideas. Also, I got a later start than I did yesterday, even though I woke up an hour earlier - Lisa and I walked over to Safeway to get coffee from the Starbucks kiosk there, but after I'd stood in line for almost ten minutes, they put up a sign saying that they couldn't make hot coffee, iced coffee, or hot tea because their hot water was broken. Lolol. So we came back to the house and grabbed my car and drove down to Heavenly Village to the Starbucks there, where the line was well out the door and it took twenty minutes to get coffee.

But coffee is necessary for my life and wellbeing, so we stuck it out and I savored every sip. When we got back, I messed around in the kitchen and made a delicious omelette with cheddar and onions, along with sour cream and salsa. I was getting ready to work as soon as I finished it, but then Barbara and her son showed up (they had gone out for breakfast during our coffee exploits), so I talked to them for awhile, etc.

However, when I finally got to work, the work went pretty well - I did some more brainstorming (and Barbara and Lisa had some good ideas about the idea I had yesterday, which I think will be a series in its own right rather than anything to do with this book - which kind of threw me for a loop, since now I need to go back to a previous plot idea for this book and simultaneously start plotting the next series). I also wrote four pages of Lucy's story, which felt good (even if I know I'll scrap it all someday in a fit of despair).

Then I took a break to call my parents, who were doing as well as they usually are. After I talked to them, I really just wanted to keep sitting on the deck and watching the lake, but I went back inside, and we all talked about ads for almost two hours - I ended up giving an impromptu lesson in Google Analytics + AdWords, which I used to be super qualified for and am now only mildly competent at. But it was good to look into all of that, and I think I need to spend some serious time on it in the very near future - no other authors that I know of are doing big things with Google ads, which means there's an opportunity to seize a bigger piece of that marketing area if I just go for it.

sssanyway. We broke to eat supper; Lisa made salmon and roasted potatoes with pesto, and it was super yummy. Eating on the deck overlooking the lake didn't hurt either. Then we buckled down to write again, but I stopped writing new pages and instead scribbled several pages of notes before calling it a night. Then we got into a discussion about politics that I only half listened to (I'm sick to death of the election and didn't feel like getting into it, so I instead opened my bullet journal and made my plans for next week). We also got into a discussion about publishing that I listened to a bit more carefully, but by then I was really tired, so I wasn't quite as strident in my opinions as I sometimes am (okay, that's a lie, I said I would throw someone off an elephant if I had a chance, so I guess that's strident).

But now I'm safely ensconced in my room and I need to sleep if I'm going to do a million things before leaving tomorrow - I think Lisa and I are staying and working through the day, then leaving here around four or five so we can get over the mountains before dark but also miss traffic in the bay area but also get home at a decent time. Wish me luck with all of that - goodnight!

kiss me twice

After last night's reading bender, you might have guessed that this morning did not quite go according to plan. I woke up at eight (after five hours of sleep), sulkily grabbed my eye mask, and blocked out the light so I could get another couple of hours of sleep. That meant I got up at ten, which wasn't terrible from an amount-of-sleep standpoint, but quality of sleep suffered somewhat. And, needless to say, quantity of work suffered as well.

But I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower and made myself presentable. Then I made mayonnaise, because I am clearly on a one-way trip to crazytown in the kitchen. The mayonnaise turned out perfectly from a consistency standpoint, but I need to find a lighter-flavored olive oil...but at least I know that I can make mayonnaise now, despite the repeated failures with the rouille recipe. I then used that mayonnaise to make fancy tuna salad (fancy tuna salad is exactly like my usual tuna salad, except I added some lemon juice, onion, celery, parsley, and chives since I had all that stuff on hand), which I ate like I was starving, because I was.

After that, it was time for a nap.

But I managed to sleep for less than thirty minutes this time, and then I packed up my stuff and walked down to Books Inc, where I found the second book in the series that I started last night (and I accidentally saw one line in the middle of the book that made me want to read it all immediately, but I am being good and refraining). Then I went to Philz, where I did a couple of hours of work. I'm still plotting, and still messing around with character development, and I think it might come together eventually.

Once I was done with my coffee and done with the people watching, I went to the library - I never go to the library, but I maybe should start, since it's only a couple of blocks from Philz and I'm there pretty regularly. This excursion was to get 'Lunar Men', which might be good research for some stuff related to the hero - it's about inventions and the start of the Industrial Revolution, so while it predates the time period I write in by some fifty years, that's good background for me to have. I also picked up a fantasy book while I was there, because why not.

Then I walked home, and I was starving again when I got here, so I had some salami and some leftover cheese from my Shedletsky party. Then, I cooked some stuff for tomorrow - I'm trying a sweet potato hash, and I cooked some components tonight for tomorrow's breakfast. It turned out so well that I almost ate it all tonight, but instead I had leftover thai beef, turned on the tv, and watched three episodes of an old season of 'Project Runway' while working for the past four hours. This was all admin stuff - I drafted a newsletter to send out tomorrow, and I messed around with website stuff, which I've been wasting a lot of time on for no real output yet. At some point soon I may have to decide to just hire somebody, but I'm stubbornly convinced that I can do what I need to do by myself if I just focus for a bit, so we'll see.

But now, I need to sleep (and not read) - goodnight!