Broken Arm

I finally finished my project at 1 minute until 2:00 today. My boss told us we could go home at 2:00, so my timing was perfect. I called my mom on my way home and told her I "might" get off early. I like to surprise her so I don't always tell her I'm on my way. She told me that she might not be home when I got there because she BROKE HER ARM! She fell on the front step, probably tripping over Harley's leash, and broke a bone just above her right wrist. Did she then do what any normal person would do, and go to the doctor/hospital? Oh no, she went grocery shopping! That woman is nuts. Anyway, she's at the emergency room now. What terrible timing, with the Fourth tomorrow. We were going to go swimming, and now she can't. She'll probably insist we go over there anyway and she'll just watch while we swim. What a bummer.

Happy Monday!

I have to start blogging more often because I have too much to say for just one entry a week.

First, the good news, my big project launched successfully today. Yay! This is the one that has kept me at work for 12-13 hours at a time. The one that I thought would never get done. There is still a lot to do, but those things can be done post-launch. I'm so happy.

This weekend was nice and quiet. My parents were busy on Saturday with my dad's brother, so I took the day and used it for all of the errands I have been putting off, combining them with shopping, of course.

Back in December I bought four pairs of glasses at Penneys so I could use up my whatchamacallit money that had been deducted from my paycheck for medical expenses. I should have used that money for the dentist or doctor, but I put it off too long and I really did need new glasses. Unfortunately, out of four pairs of glasses, four of them were defective. So, I took them back to be fixed and she was able to fix two pairs on the spot and will send the other two in for repairs. While I was in Penneys I went in and got my hair cut, something I've been putting off for 6-7 months. It's nothing special, she just cut off a couple of inches of split ends.

I was way overdue for an oil change on the TinkTerra, so I stopped at a Jiffy Lube near the mall. While they changed my oil I walked over to a bookstore nearby. It wasn't really my kind of bookstore, it had all of this weird new agey stuff, but I found a ring and bracelet I liked. I can shop just about anywhere.

Mom had given me a message that the game I had ordered at the game store had come in, so I drove over to my favorite mall, Savage Mill, and told them that I didn't know what I had ordered, but whatever it was, I wanted it! They checked their records, but I hadn't ordered anything since the Shut the Box game I bought for Dave (coworker) for Christmas. Turned out later that it was the Game Stop store calling about a Nintendo DS game, not the Savage Mill game store. It worked out ok, though, because I finally managed to be there on game night and I played a game with some total strangers. The game, whose name I can't spell, was a lot of fun, but the people were annoying. Still, I had enough fun that I might go back.

While I was at Savage Mill I ran into the woman who owns the dance studio where I've signed up for a yoga class. She gave me and a couple of other women a tour of the studio. It's beautiful, I can't wait for class to start on Thursday.

Sunday was quiet in comparison to Saturday. Mom, Harley and I went swimming at a friend's pool in the afteroon. Well, I swam, Harley doesn't like it and Mom didn't feel like it. In the evening we played a new game I bought at the game store on Saturday. It's a card game and it's called Showbiz Shuffle. The object of the game is to produce movies while giving each other production problems like tempermental stars and drinking problems. I liked it, but it's going to take time before I am completely comfortable playing it. There are a lot of rules to remember. Dad was having trouble reading the fine print, but seemed to enjoy it, ok. I think we'll try it again. I should have bought the game I played at the store, but I had already gotten the card game and didn't want to spend any more money.

Just so you know, Harley did great at obedience class. He sat, he walked on his leash without pulling and he actually played with one of the other dogs. I told Mom that we ought to think about getting him a little sister, but she wasn't excited by the idea. We did agree that if we did get him a sister, she would have to be called Scooter. I'll wait a year and then we'll see. I don't really want another puppy until Harley is fully trained and I'm sure I'll have time to spend with a fourth dog. I offered to give Indiana to a good home, but she didn't think much of that idea, either. You never know, maybe I can get Scooter for my birthday next year.

Finally, for now, my diet is going really well and I've posted a hefty loss for the first week. Double yay!

It's a Monday

Harley is better, which is a huge relief. He's still not back to 100%, but he's better. I was up for an hour in the middle of the night cleaning up after him last night, so I'll be happy if I can just make it through the night tonight. I have my writing class tomorrow and I need my sleep.

I stuck to my diet all day today, and even harder to believe, all evening, too. I'm craving carbs in a big way, but I'm committed and I will NOT cheat. What I didn't stick to today was my plan to write more on my book. I got a page or two dictated this morning but this afternoon neither I nor my laptop were working well, so I gave up and listened to one of Diana Gabaldon's books on tape, instead. "Lord John and the Private Matter" if you're interested. I liked the book just fine when I read it but the man who did the audiobooks is awful. I remember he ruined another book for me, too. He makes the book almost unlistenable and that's saying a lot for one of my favorite authors.

I've almost finished my big project at work. Considering it was supposed to be done and in testing mode a week ago, that's not anything about which to brag, but at least it'll be done in time for the deadline. I just would have preferred more time to test and debug before it went live. Too late now, unfortunately. I have a huge pile of projects that have been waiting for me to finish this one, so I can't finish it quickly enough now.

I need sleep!

Long Week and Even Longer Weekend

I have a big project going on at work this week and I didn't get as much done as I had hoped. I had actually hoped to finish it and I'm only about halfway done, so that's not good. I can't think about it now, though, because it's the weekend and I have homework for my writing class to get done, I have to finish reading my novel and rewrite a scene from the book. I also committed to 20,000 new words, don't forget and I'm not sure if rewriting counts, so I have to get some new stuff written. Then there is Father's Day on Sunday and I've done now shopping for my dad, yet. I'm a terrible daughter. We are going shopping in the morning, I just hope I find something.

I have three web sites to start and/or finish this weekend and I'm restarting the HTML class I'm teaching on Wednesday so I need to prepare for that. My workspace and bedroom are in truly awful shape, but I won't get time to clean this weekend. I would like to get out my new art supplies and play with them, but that's not happening either. I also have a ton of new scrapbooking supplies which won't be coming out for a while.

My friend, Alice, has a weaver's and spinner's guild meeting at her house on Sunday and I've been dying to go see all of her stuff, but I don't know if I'll be done with everything in time for that.

With all I have to do, I'm still taking time to blog. Aren't you proud of me?

New Writing Class

A couple of years ago my dad and I took a memoir writing class at the college. We enjoyed the class and the other people in it so much that we all formed a writer's group that has been meeting monthly ever since. The teacher from that original class is part of our group and now she is teaching a class called Advance Your Fiction. Dad and I signed up for it and I went to the first meeting last night. He couldn't go because his forensic locksmithing organization has their convention this week. It turns out that the lady next to me is another Ren Fest geek and we kept getting into trouble because we couldn't stop talking.

Our teacher, Susan Moger, asked us to set a goal for the four week class. I wrote down on my paper that I was going to read my rough draft, all 100,000 words, and then add 10,000 words to it. But the one guy in the class other than my dad said that he was going to write 15,000 words so I scratched out the 10 and made it a 20. The ren fest gal said, "You're not competitive at all, are you?" No, of course not. I just like to have a bit of a challenge!

My project at work is foundering. I am doing my best, but I don't know if it will be good enough. We have a meeting about it tomorrow and the whole thing might take on a completely new direction. How frustrating. At least the uncertainty meant I could come home on time with a good conscience and I'll deal with tomorrow when it gets here. For now, Harley and I are going to bed!

No Rest for the Wicked

Let's see, on May 5th I went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. The following weekend was my three day camping trip to Virginia. The weekend of the 19th my mom and I went shopping and saw Spidey 3 and Dad and I went to our writer's group meeting. Last weekend was four days of Balticon 41. That's a lot of busyness for an entire month of weekends. You would think I had earned a rest, right? Not hardly.

Today we went into DC for Learning and Product Expo: Art! DC 2007. They had a juried show with one of my mom's pictures in it. They didn't have the good taste to give her an award for it, but it was an honor just to have a picture in the show. It's not my favorite of her pictures, but you can judge it for yourself here.

I bought a lot of art and scrapbooking supplies and we took a watercolor class together. I was actually enjoying the class until the end. The teacher asked me to take my picture to the front of the class so he could demo something on it. I was so flattered until he took out a spray bottle and splattered all but a tiny spot with blue paint and then splotched a couple of ugly purple flowerlike objects on that one spot. It was horrible. My mom knew immediately that I was very angry and leaned over to reassure me that she would help me fix it, but it was too late. The entire picture is ruined. It wasn't good before he destroyed, but now it's hopeless. I would think I was just being picky, but one of the other students and I talked afterwards and she gave me her sympathies because she was appalled at what he had done. It was the very end of the class and I think he got in a hurry and just didn't care what he did. He's probably so used to slopping these things together that he forgets how much work this is for students. Idiot.

Tonight I got out my new colored pencils and pad of paper and tried to do the first of the exercises in one of my books. It turned out pretty badly. I guess I should have saved my time and money and done a little computer art instead. At least with computer stuff you can always hit CTRL-Z and undo the mistakes.

I'm ready for a break, but I won't get it anytime soon. Next weekend I'm meeting with my accounting client to talk about his website and his bookkeeping and one of the guys from work wants me to redo his website. In the meantime I'm working on a complete solution for the 30 Stories in 30 Days website and I still need to rewrite my novel and figure out whether or not it's salvageable.

Anyone want to guess why I haven't been blogging lately? LOL

Busy Weekend

I had a few friends from work over this weekend for game night. Dave, Brian and Cindy came as well as the friend-who-must-not-be-named. Dave brought his wife, Edie, and Brian brought his girlfriend, Rachel. I ordered pizza and had some veggies and fruit, too. Since our family is LDS and we don't drink, I also had a large bowl full of chocolate candy. I gained a couple of pounds from the food, but I had a great time.

We played Fluxx and Cranium, both of which are pretty freewheeling types of games. With Fluxx you start with only one rule and no goal, but you add new rules and goals as the game progresses. It's confusing the first time through, but it gets to be a lot of fun once you get used to it. Cranium, as you probably know, is a game that combines every other board game known to man... Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, Scrabble, etc... into one.

We split up the couples and Brian and I took on Dave and Rachel on one team and f-w-m-n-b-n with Edie and Cindy. Brian and I kinda won, but there was some argument about whether or not we cheated. I was ready to keep going until we got a definitive winner, but it was getting late, so we let it go. I think everyone had fun, I know I did.

The only downside was that I had already been feeling ill and I spent way too many hours cleaning and getting ready for the game night, so that on Sunday I was too sick to do much. We postponed celebrating Mom's birthday until next week and I called in sick to work today. I got out of bed long enough to check email and call in sick and then went back to bed until noon. This afternoon the winds knocked out our power so we went to Chipotle's at the Annapolis mall and did a tiny bit of shopping.

I am still sick, but the two days of rest helped a lot and I'm going back to work tomorrow. I hate to be out at all right now with all that is going on. I definitely can't take two days off. I should be ok tomorrow, I handled the mall just fine tonight. I think that five hour nap this morning helped a lot. Sometimes when I get too exhausted my body just shuts down on me. I don't know which comes first - getting sick and then feeling tired or getting tired and then feeling sick. It's one reason I try not to overdo it, though, because I always end up sick. Speaking of which, I need to get to bed. I've been up for a full nine hours!

Qualified Success

My HTML class went pretty well today. I never quite got in the zone, but it wasn't bad. If you've never taught a class or given a lecture or spoken in public you may not know the zone, but it's great when it happens. My friend-who-must-not-be-named said it must be like sex, only you don't have quite as many people watching.

My boss and his boss both attended the class and were complimentary about it. I will have to do better next week, though, I'm afraid, if I don't want to lose some of the students. I didn't engage enough with the attendees and didn't make the connection that makes them really get interested in the subject. That's what I'll focus on next time.

HTML Class

I'm teaching an HTML class at work, starting tomorrow. I have 17 coworkers who have signed up. That means there are at least 17 people who are willing to give up their lunch hours to listen to me talk. That's kind of humbling. Of course, I'm a great teacher, and they're lucky to have me, but even so....

When I put up the sign up sheet I expected at most 6 people to sign up. I knew Dave would, he tried to take it the first time and had to drop out. You remember Dave... the one who likes to sit on Tinker Bell? I figured Cindy would take the class just to support me. She's a good friend like that. Adam kinda has to since he has to start doing HTML stuff at work and he dropped out of the first class because I gave too much homework.

Starr is the one for whom we developed the ice cream website. Did I mention that at the time? She and her husband own Carousels Ice Cream, a shop in Southern Maryland. She needs to learn how to fix and change her own website so she can take care of it in the future.

I never thought I would get 17 people in this class, though. I am a good teacher, even if it is not very modest of me to admit it. I look forward to teaching and speaking in public in the same way that other people look forward to a scary roller coaster ride. I've got those flutters in my stomach and I'm a little nervous, but it's a good thing.

They say there is no physical difference between fear and excitement. The only difference lies in your attitude. My attitude is that the more people I can get to listen to me about any subject, the better!

BS

Meeting today...

Me: That's the name of my gay typing teacher from high school.

BS: They taught gay typing in your high school?

::rim shot::

There followed a riff on what a gay typing class would be like...

Meeting adjourned

P.S. Brian Sweeney wants full credit for the above.... Sorry Brian

How important is Star Wars, really?

Back when I was in high schoo/college and they first started talking about VCRs I remember thinking how amazing it would be to watch Star Wars in my own home any time I wanted to. Now I'm finding out how much of a dinosaur that makes me, not just because I can remember a time before VCRs but because I actually remember when Star Wars was the new, exciting movie franchise.

We were living in Munich, Germany when the first Star Wars movie came out and someone who had seen it before moving to Germany was trying to tell us about it. It just didn't sound that interesting to me, but when I finally saw it, I was a complete convert. The epic nature of the movies, the startling special effects, Harrison Ford... Star Wars had everything.

When Empire came out I was living in Las Vegas and was in college. We went to see it over and over again in the theaters even though we really couldn't afford it. I gave my sister tickets to see it one more time for her birthday, even. These days, how often do you go see a movie at the theater more than once? I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean twice and that was a big deal. I don't remember how often we saw Empire at the theater, but it was probably five or more times.

So, what is the point of all of this? Well, I TiVo'd all of the movies, starting with the disappointing 1-3 saga and ending with the original films. The special effects in the old films don't hold up well, nor does poor Mark Hamill's acting, but I still prefer the originals. Anyway, I was watching Empire this morning, still my favorite, and I mentioned to my buddy, Chris, that Mark Hamill never looked the same after his car accident. Chris didn't know what I was talking about! Now Chris has lost all computer geek credibility. He's got to spend the weekend watching Princess Bride, Young Frankenstein and Monty Python to prove he's a true geek.

In the meantime, I asked the girls from work if they knew who Mark Hamill was. Four out of four could not identify him and only one of the four has seen the movies, and that was under protest. When I expressed shock, they told me that maybe the movies were only a West Coast thing. What??? This is Star Wars, people, not some obscure indie film. Am I the only one who remembers how much impact these movies had on our culture? Star Wars ranks up there with Star Trek and... I can't even think of anything as big. The Star Wars phenomenon dwarfs the Harry Potter franchise. Sure HP is fun, but it is not Star Wars. Of recent movies, only the Lord of the Rings trilogy can really compare.

So, how important is it that people know and love the same movies? If you believe, as I do, that every culture is defined by the stories they tell and the legends they share, then movies perform a much greater role than merely entertainment. They give us a frame of reference, a shared experience. We no longer sit around firesides and listen to stories of heroes who face down evil and survive, we sit in darkened theaters, but the effect is the same. Sure, most of the movies we see are forgettable and many of them are pure dreck. But when something comes along that speaks to our core values and connects with us on a deeper level, it binds us with other human beings who feel the same feelings. It gives us a starting point and a shared experience even if we have only just met. It gives us a history together.

How important is Star Wars... it's just entertainment, or is it?

Another Day Off

I did not call in yesterday to make sure our office was closed when every other business, government office and school in the state was shut down from the snow and ice. I would have, but I was sick and fell asleep and I didn't wake up until noon. Today, I called in sick and found out that our office did not close yesterday, so I was AWOL. I could not reach my boss so I just left a message. Now I have to go back tomorrow and hope he is not pissed at me for not calling on Tuesday and not going in today. I was sick, but there is a good chance he won't believe me.

I get sick a lot, and I hate having to take off from work. I always feel like my bosses think I'm faking, even though I am not. If I were, I would come up with a much better story than "I was sick." I never even got dressed today, did not set foot outside (always a good choice when I don't get dressed) and barely moved from in front of my computer all day. Yesterday I slept almost all day, and I should have slept more today. In fact, that's what I am going to go do now.

Bummed

I really wanted a lot of snow, but we haven't gotten it. The big bosses told us we could go home at 2:00, but I was the only one in my department who had left by the time I got out of there at 2:30. The drive home was uneventful, there was not much snow, just a lot of ice. The roads I drive on are mostly freeways, though so they were all clear. Maybe a miracle will happen and the snow will pile up overnight, giving me a snow day. It won't happen, but I can dream.

I have been teaching HTML on my lunch hour at work and last week one of my coworkers came to me and asked if I could help her with a website for the ice cream parlor she and her husband own. The two gals in my HTML "class" agreed to help her and so we created her site. You can see it here... Carousel's Ice Cream. She's pretty happy with it and she is going to give it to her husband as a Valentine's Day gift. I guess if I can't have love of my own I can contribute to someone else's. (bit of self pit there, ya think?)

I have been watching Beauty and the Geek and I am happy that Nate is going to the finals tomorrow night. I like him so much. He reminds me of my old friend, Chris. He's kind and unassuming and yet very sexy. Unfortunately, his partner in the game is a selfish, mindless, thoughtless, classless loser and if he wins she wins. I don't know whether to root for Nate or root against CeeCee. Maybe there could be a compromise, Nate wins and CeeCee gets hit by a bus. That works for me.

I got only 1500 words done yesterday and just over 400 today. I'm going to have to throw all of that out, too, which stinks. But, according to the rules, even if I can't use it, it counts. The ending of this stupid book is taking longer to write than half of the rest of the book. While I was driving home tonight, I came up with another solution to some of the problems I'm having with the ending. I should have come home and started writing while I was still excited, but first there was dinner, and then we watched TV and then I watched more TV and now it's almost 10:00 and all I've accomplished is emptying out some of the shows on my TiVo. I get so mad at myself. It's like when you know you shouldn't have those cookies, but you just can't stop. Then all of your hard work gets wasted. That's the story of my life. Wanna read it?

Week Two

I have been blogging for just over a week so far and, not so coincidentally, today is the first day of the second week of my second "Write a Novel in a Month" month.

To write 50,000 words in February requires an average of 1,786 words a day. That means that I should have 14,288 words done by now. I finished tonight with 2,141 words, so I am now at 8,486, leaving me 5,802 behind schedule. I'm gaining! I actually wrote 2400+ words today, but somehow lost a chunk of over 300 words. When I'm this far behind, every word counts.

If it seems like I am obsessed with quantity over quality, it is because I am. The thing is, I am such a perfectionist when I am writing that if don't force myself to write this way, I spend so long agonizing over each word, each phrase and each sentence, that I give up and don't write at all. Besides, without a definite deadline, I am so lazy that I would get nothing done. This way, I write down the bare thread of the story in a relatively short amount of time, and then I can go back and fix it all later. Since plotting and maintaining a narrative thread is what I find most difficult, it frees me up in rewriting to concentrate on the finer points, like believable dialogue, good grammar and honest characterizations.

Speaking of the latter, I had an argument today with a coworker who agrees that Tolkien is too bogged down with detail to be interesting but disagrees that the core reason the books are boring is because the characters aren't believable or engaging. Ah well, as she says, we will agree to disagree. (As long as we both know I am right, I am okay with that.) This is the same friend who gets annoyed because I say that I do not argue unless I am right. She thinks that I am boasting, but actually I am just telling the truth. I will argue opinion, because my opinion is as valid as the next gal's and I think everyone has the right to express their own opinion, even when they are wrong. But, wen I say I don't argue unless I am right I am talking about arguments of fact. I will not waste my time or yours arguing about some fact or other unless I know what I am talking about. If I am not sur of my facts, I will say so, But, if I argue with you about what actress played what role in a movie, or what breed of dog we are looking at, etc., don't waste your breath. I am right, you are wrong, get over it. That's not arrogance, just the truth.

Meetings Galore

I spent almost the entire workday in meetings. The morning and all of lunch was taken up in a meeting with the owners and sales staff, trying to get them excited and educated about something new we have developed. Some of them got it, some didn't. It doesn't seem complicated to me, but then I've been doing this whole web thing for years. Some of them are like my dad and go online only to get their email and would prefer not to do that, either, so this is going to take a while for them to understand.

Most of the afternoon was spent teaching my HTML class. I started out a couple of months ago with eight students, and now I'm down to two. The two that are left really want to learn, so it's ok with me. I just wish I could have inspired the others. I love teaching, but maybe I'm not that good at it.

I wrote in the car on the way to and from work, so I managed to get about 1100 words done today. I am very much behind schedule. I should have 10,714 done and I'm only at 4,066. I have got to pick up the pace or I'll never make it. The story is coming along, but I just wish it would hurry up. I'm impatient to see how it all turns out.