Archive for previous entries this month
April 1, 2006
Spring Clouds
Gah. I've had one of those nights where no matter what I do, something goes wrong. Good news is that I finally got Adobe Acrobat loaded on this machine, so I can do the Vision PDF files now! Yay!
Bad news is that it doesn't work quite right, but I can still work around it. Better than nothing!
I finally got the stuff figured out to do the TOC for the 2YN class. And then I messed it up. Not once, not twice, not even three times -- it took me five times to get it done right.
And then I found that the cover I've done doesn't look right in the PDF format, so now I have to redo that again.
My head hurts.
Welcome to April. This just does not bode well....
April 2, 2006
Geese at the pond
I was just working away tonight and completely lost track of the time. I've gotten quite a bit done, both work-wise and for my own stuff. Several new pictures posted on the picture blog (http://zettevisions.blogspot.com/) and a new Daz piece on the other one (http://zetteimagine.blogspot.com/). I've been doing an odd personal dare with the Daz stuff. I cut up strips of paper with the names of models I have and then I pull three out and put a picture together of them. It's made me work harder to learn how something go together. I'm happy with most of the results. It's especially hard when you get things that just don't fit together (like the snow sleight and a desert backdrop), but I've managed so far.
All in all, though, everything else pales to the news that I'm leaving for the zoo in about seven hours. Yay zoo!
So, I'm off to bed!
April 3, 2006
Warn days, happy kitties
Went to the zoo. Got there a little before they opened at 9:30 am. Left a little after 5:30 pm.
No sleep two nights ago, and only two hours last night.
I am going to bed now....
April 4, 2006
Spotted Turtle
So far this is the only picture that I've been able to work with today. I hope to get to a few more of them tonight, though.
I think the Jatol people and I have come up with a plan that will at least get us through until the next renewal, and we'll evaluate everything again then. I'm still going to be looking for ways to curb our bandwidth usage.
Beyond that... got some work done on Vita's Vengeance today and on Return. Return is coming in very short -- novella at best, but I like the story. I'll either expand it a great deal later or look for a novella market for a romance type story.
I'm looking forward to working on the pictures! I think I'll just get the last of my writing done and go to work on them!
April 5, 2006
My favorite pen
Holly likes the 2YN book. Life is good.
Right now it's off being read over by someone (thanks Jean!), and should be back in a couple weeks. By then I might have figured out the cover art for it. I had one thing, but both Holly and I noticed that it didn't look good in a smaller size.
And you know, I'm suddenly looking at this pen picture thinking I can do something with it. I like the looks of it. And it's about as symbolic of writing a book as anything, I would guess.
We'll see.
Long day. Got lots done. Want to go read now. I promised myself the new Cherryh book (which I got for my birthday a month ago!) as soon as I finished the damned book. This looks like the time to go start reading it to me!
Other than that... not much else going on. I need to get to work on the Vision stuff. I need to get all kinds of work done. I'm just floating along here, instead. But things are looking better, at least.
April 6, 2006
Pretty Building
We're having storm tonight! Unfortunately, I couldn't get any pictures though there was some lovely lightning -- just not in a direction I could get the camera set up to shoot at. We also had a lot of wind, and it looks like we might have more of that tonight.
And that's about it for the night. Working on Vita's Vengeance and Return. Reading the new Cherryh book. That's it!
April 7, 2006
Ugh
I'm a bit late. I just looked through a site with over 3500 pictures of birds trying to ID one.
It wasn't there.
Thunk.
I've been fighting a back and neck ache all day, and it's wining. Or maybe not -- I managed not to crawl off into bed again, so I guess I held out over it. I even got a little bit of work done here and there, besides spending way too much time trying to find one stupid bird. This may be the bird I have to ask about at the zoo. I've so far managed to find out on my own for many of them -- though, granted, a couple times I was wrong and finally got them straightened out later. Yeah, it's goofy, but I enjoy the search.
At least when I find something at the end.
So, anyway... that's why I'm late tonight. Time to go finish up the rest of my work and get to bed, I think. I'm kind of tired!
Oh, and the Cherryh book was great, of course. (grin)
April 8, 2006
Lady Jane Pudge'ums from 1999
Well, over all a good day. I copied about 50 disks from the old FD91 camera. Still hundreds left to go, though. The great news is that Picasa has a wonderful import system that makes it very easy to do this.
I have no idea what's on the disks left. I had stopped making thumbnail pages for them back about 200. I'm up to 249 now. In all too short of a time I'm going to run out of the numbered disks and have to start sorting -- but wisely I have the dates on them, so that won't be too difficult. There might be four to five hundred move of them, though.
It's good to see the pictures, though. Like this one. What a cute cat.
I also wrote nearly 4000 words this afternoon. I'm going to try and get that last few hundred done before midnight. Then I'm going to go back to reading Ruins and see if I can get it ready to go out one more time. It sold last year, but the company closed shortly afterwards.
So that's it for my day. Nothing really earth-shattering, but a nice day.
Time to get back to work!
April 9, 2006
Pretty summer flowers
I've had one of those days where you work all day... and never quite finish anything. I'm not sure why, but I think it has to do with the number of aspirin I've taken for back trouble in the last couple days. I think the brain just sort of turns off now and then, and I must just sit here staring at nothing. That's the only way I can explain it now being nearly midnight.
Well, that and the nap this afternoon. (grin)
I'm reading Ruins and getting an idea of what I want to do with it. It's mostly done and ready to go out, and I have to stop setting things aside and pretending like I'm going to do something else. It will go out again. It went out once and sold, and it can do it again.
Positive thinking and all that stuff....
Other things? No, not really. Nothing new going on here. I got into something I'm allergic to tonight and I'm not particularly happy about that, but I seem to be coming out of it already. Annoying stuff. My head itches.
Time to finish reading Ruins and make a decision on it....
April 10, 2006
Sunset
Good work day!
I still haven't got caught up on some things, but I did get quite a bit done on Vita's Vengeance and both some FM and DTF work done. I also finished a Daz picture I've been working on for a few days and that I really like. You can find it here.
Beyond that... can't really say I have much going on. I'm having a great time with the novel. I haven't quite finished the other one, the romance novella, though. I'm having trouble picturing the ending and getting everything to fall right. But I'll get there.
I had the windows to the house open today. The cats were in heaven -- cats in every window, soaking up the fresh air and sunlight. It's going to storm tomorrow, it appears.
I'm about 1/4th of the way through Vita's Vengeance now. Still not really certain that I'm getting it right, but it's a massive novel and I'm willing to give it all the time, and rewrites, that it needs. Each time I tackle it, I know I'm getting closer.
And now... time to go watch some television, just for the fun of it.
April 11, 2006
Chaco Canyon Ruin
Sometime in the last couple days I hurt my hip. I've done this before, and as usual I'm not certain what I did. Did I slip getting out of the van? Was it cleaning the floor a couple days ago? The walk I took on Monday? Who knows... but it hurts like hell and I've been hobbling around for the last two days cursing and scaring the cats.
It's also difficult to sit for long stretches -- though I somehow manage to do it anyway. I finally got the interview questions off today for Vision. Next up is the contracts.
And all through this, the idea for a new sf book has been running through my head. Not just a new book, possibly a new series. And a new universe, moving away from my beloved IWC books.
I need to get something else done before I even seriously look at this. But... Oh, I have seen some of the technology, and I'm happily working away at it in my head. And two characters, at least. And aliens. I've rarely worked with aliens -- almost all my novels have humans or human mutations.
This could be fun.
If I get other stuff done.
April 12, 2006
Spring
Not a whole lot to say tonight. I'm nearly done with Return. I have more ideas for my new universe, and even some story bits to go in it. I have no idea when I'll get to it, though!
I'm working on Vision stuff tonight. Mostly. Also not feeling great, so it's hard to get anything done.
But I'm getting there. Maybe by tomorrow it'll be better.
April 13, 2006
Sunset, December 1999
Not a good day. Incredibly ill. Harassment by the neighbors who keep trying to pull the city into it. We are, quite seriously, talking about moving. Enough is enough. We are the quietest, least obtrusive people on the block. We've been here for more than 25 years. The neighbor doesn't like the looks of our house, which does need a coat of paint and some fixing -- and which we had already scoped out for some quick fixes this summer, if we got enough income for at least some paint. Doesn't like the cats, either. Russ has told the city not to bother me about it. If they don't like the cats, they should put traps in their yards -- which they have. The city person today said they caught three this week, including a Siamese -- which means Nazir is gone, alas.
Blood pressure went incredibly high and I've been fighting it back down all day.
And then, of course, Microsoft's latest update went bad and almost no one could save documents. Until I figured out the update thing I was without the ability to work all day. I did notes, and tried to work out some problems in my head, but all in all, it was a wasted day.
Russ works here in town tomorrow, so it's going to be better. I'm just hoping this stress headache eases.
April 14, 2006
Monument, Ponca State Park, Nebraska
This is where we went today. We didn't know it was there, and decided just to go take a look... it's gorgeous. This is just one small part of the entire setting. I'll be posting more pictures, though probably on a page all their own.
Russ, rightly, decided that I needed to get out today. He had something to deliver to another town, so we drove over there and then took a nice, leisurely trip back home. It was a lovely day, and there weren't many people out at all. I really appreciated the time out and away from the reminder that I hate the people across the street and I've lost several very sweet cats to them.
I cannot save them all. That's just all there is to it, in the end.
I'm going to try and finish Return tonight. There's not much left to go. It'll be good to have something done that's fiction and brand new, though I don't have any complaints about my overall plan to rewrite some older material this year. That seems to be doing very well.
And that's it tonight. I'm going to bury myself in my work for a little while.
April 15, 2006
Another part of the monument
Tomorrow (in a couple minutes, that is) it will be Easter. Usually we go out to one of the wildlife areas on Easter, but we just can't do it this year. I'll miss it. It's one of the high points of my year. But this year is just not going to be a good one -- or at least not this month, I think. Maybe in a couple more months. The end of May, if we go to the convention... that's always fun. And two of my favorite wildlife places are along the way. And June is our anniversary. We should be able to do a little something by then, I hope.
I'm trying to get past my anger of the last couple days, but it's not easy. I spent most of today by myself which is never a good thing when I'm in a bad mood -- though at least I got some stuff done around the house.
It's just not good for me to get into this kind of mood. Nothing good comes from it. And to have things like a couple chapters of return disappear on me -- well, that didn't help. But I rewrote them and finished the story, almost exactly 26,000 words. So finally, something done.
I'm just a few pages from finishing up reading about fish in the Grzimek Animal Life Encyclopedia. Yes, I'm still working my way through those books! This one is divided between fish and amphibians. I'm looking forward to reading about a new kind of animal, though the fish have been fascinating.
I'm also reading a wonderful book on Queen Victoria. This is the one of Lytton Strachey, someone I enjoy reading anyway. Originally written in 1928, this is a relatively new edition put out by Barnes and Noble. I think it's worth just the pictures alone, which remind a person that Victoria was not always the widow dressed in black of later years.
A very stubborn young lady, it seemed, and caught up far too much in etiquette. It's an interesting book, and a great look at character.
And that's it for today.
April 16, 2006
Inside a rock
I finally finished the section on fishes today. That's about all the news I have, too. I've been working on Vita's Vengeance and I think I'm close to half way through it, which is good. That other story, the one I had going in my head, has been completely wiped out by the events of the last week. Maybe it'll come back, and maybe not. I can't really say that I care much.
I did get the 2YN stuff up this morning. That was about the big thing for the day.
I'm going back to work. Maybe I can get this chapter done before midnight.
April 17, 2006
Odd creature....
It's days like these that will drive me crazy.
We took a wonderful quick trip down to De Soto this afternoon. There were far more people around than we expected, but I saw some nice turkeys and deer, and everything was starting to turn green. It helped. I had relaxed.
We came home. I decided to go next door and take pictures of tulips at the other house.
And that's where I found the four abandoned kittens, about one week old.
I think I know which cat was their mother, but I haven't seen her in a day or so and I think she got picked up with some of the others. I thought I could be wrong, so we put them in a box, sat the box just a few feet from where we found them (one had crawled out into the grass, so I know he had to have been alone for a while), and I sat behind a closed door and watched. I have never known a mom-cat not to come running at the cries of her babies. These cried quite a bit, especially after the wind came up. Only one cat showed up, and we're fairly certain he's male. He showed no interest in the kittens in the box.
So they're in the bathroom over here, where it's warmer. We'll go buy some baby kitten milk, but I think they're too young to save. There are four -- two black (one with a white tip on the tail), one stubby-tailed manx that has dark fur and a sort of mackerel tabby face.... and one Siamese that has to be poor Nazir's kitten.
Ugh.
I need a break from all of these cat disasters.
April 18, 2006
Weed
We tried our best to find someone to take in the kittens -- everyone from the Humane Society (who won't help because we're in Nebraska, not Iowa) to a local woman who unfortunately was just given four other orphaned kittens and can't take more.
It's the stress that I can't take any more. I know that they're not likely going to survive. The Siamese is already failing, and I suspect he'll be gone by morning. The others are all eating (so is he, but he just isn't doing as well), but I don't expect any of them to pull through this. They're too young. I thought they were close to a week, but I think they might be only about three or four days. No sign of eyes opening yet.
But I feed them every three hours. It's played havoc with my sleeping, and being so upset about the loss of the other guys has just made me an emotional wreck. I need some kind of break, and I can't get it. The kittens are in the bathroom and every time I look outside my window I remember the guys that are no longer there.
I've gotten a little writing done. Not much of anything else, and right now I can't even say that I care.
I hate the neighbors. At this point I pretty much hate everything.
April 19, 2006
From DeSoto
The baby Siamese died this morning. Sigh. I feel badly about it, but I know he was already failing by the time I got him. Still....
The other three are very lively, but it would be so much better if they had a real mom to take care of them. The potty part is very difficult, and if we could just get that worked out, I think they'd do all right. But as it is, I think one of them is far too bloated, and nothing I do seems to help. Poor little guy. By the way, I've started referring to them as the Bat Boys and little Monkey. The Bat Boys are two identical black kittens, both with a tip of white on the tail. I think one may be larger than the other. The other is the stubby-tailed manx, and he's quite a little climber. Harder than hell to hold on to.
My right hand is covered in little tiny tiny claw marks.
I slept through one of the feedings tonight. I was so tired at dinner that Russ told me to go ahead and go take a nap, and I slept through until almost midnight when he came back. And boy were those three upset about not getting food, even though they apparently slept through it. And then I realized I hadn't put food out for the outdoor guys and went and got some to put out the window, just like I did before all this started up ---
And Whisper leapt up on the window.
I have no idea where she's been. It's possible she has a litter of kittens of her own somewhere, and these are not hers. She might have been trapped somewhere. She looked like she had battered her nose up pretty bad, maybe trying to get out.
Russ wants to try and lure her into the kittens rather than putting them out. That way we have a far better chance of keeping everyone tame and even finding them homes -- including her, if we can.
April 20, 2006
Small crazed things....
Really, not much else to say today. I think I'm starting to get a pattern back to my life, though it's not a good one. And the little guys are far from out of the woods, so I can't really expect any of them to survive. They are active, though.
Work? I got the Vision contracts out.
Russ might be gone tomorrow, and he'll definitely be gone on Saturday. I'm getting horribly confused about the days.
I really, really have to get some work done....
April 21, 2006
One of the kittens has his eyes partly open, so we're talking about one week old now.
Russ leaves town for about 24 hours. I told him that I feel like I'm going into the 24 hours of Le Manns -- don't expect to sleep, cause you'll be out there every few hours feeding and cleaning the guys.
On the good news side, Forward Motion made the top 101 Sites for Writers from Writer's Digest. Yay!
April 22, 2006
The little guy whose picture I had put yesterday has taken a turn for the worse, and I don't expect him to survive the night. That's all the news I have.
April 23, 2006
The news is no better today. He held on, but only barely. If he makes it the night, we can get him to a vet tomorrow... but we really don't think that will make a difference.
April 24, 2006
Willow and Zelda
We did lose the little guy. There are only two left, and while they are both active... I just don't trust it. I am especially worried because Russ is going to be out of town for three days.
We'll see. I've been so emotionally over the top with this (and I'm not entirely certain why) that I can barely get enough energy to move from one room to another. I finally ate this afternoon -- the first time since Friday -- and that will probably help, except that I felt half ill afterwards.
We're supposed to have snow tonight.
I need to get the 2YN stuff done and up. I can do at least that much!
April 25, 2006
Pretty
I spent most of today trying to sort out emails and finding all kinds of things that should have been handled before now. I think I got the DTF stuff sorted out, and most of the Vision material. I have to admit, though, that I'm just dragging. I've hurt my back, and I have a huge bump on the side of my right foot that hurts.
All in all, it's been a miserable week.
Time to get some more work done since I'm even farther behind than usual.
April 26, 2006
Older zoo picture
The best that can be said for today is that I didn't fall too much farther behind.
The kittens are doing fine, I think. I'm worried because they seem less active. As Russ pointed out, we're doing all that we can for them. They will be two weeks old on Friday (assuming they were three days old when I found them -- which would be right because they didn't have umbilical cords still, which they would have prior to three days).
Today is 'Gracie' Day. She's been with us for 12 years now. Starting to show her age, poor old dog -- but she finally got to stick her nose in and see the kittens tonight, and that delighted her. I can't say that Pip and Kwi had the same reaction, poor guys.
My back is still just killing me. It hurts to sit, sleep, walk. I pretty much just have to ignore it or I won't get anything done at all.
So, off to work I go....
April 27, 2006
A bit of Daz work
I am feeling somewhat better today. Did I mention that all of Russ's out of town work cancelled -- both the stuff in New York and even something in Omaha for tomorrow. That's bad news money-wise, but helps me be less worried right now. The kittens will be two weeks old tomorrow, and on Monday they'll have been with us for two weeks. It's been a very trying time and I don't know when I'll stop worrying that they're not going to make it. There are still problems.
I am starting to get Vision put together, at least. This is going to be an odd issue. And I have to work on the workshop still. I am having trouble concentrating. Maybe I'll ask Holly for one instead. She sometimes has something she's done that we can use.
I have to get my head back into the work side of things. I am still working on Vita's Vengeance, which is over 400 pages now. So that, at least is still going well.
I need to get back to work. I feel better tonight than I have in a week.
April 28, 2006
Wild Baby
This kitten has an attitude. You'd think I was trying to kill him rather than feed him. It's pretty funny sometimes, although those early morning feedings can be a real annoyance.
I'm trying to get over my fear of getting attached to the two guys. They're really pretty cute and have started purring nuzzling when I pick them up -- as long as they're not too starved. And trust me, they aren't. They've doubled in size in a week, and they're starting to get their legs under them. Dangerous times.... tomorrow I'll probably put them in a clothes basket and bring them into the office with me so that they can start having a little more interaction.
We went grocery shopping at midnight tonight -- the reason why this is so late. It was a good time to go, though. Hardly anyone there at all, and we were able to just move right through the place and get out very fast -- even without a list and some back-tracking.
I live such an adventurous life.
And it's pretty much going to stay that way for a few more weeks until the guys start eating for themselves. We generally plan everything around feeding times right now. (Laughs)
Writing is going well. I think I have the Workshop done. Can't ask for more than that on days like this.
April 29, 2006
Sunset
I've had another one of those busy days where I feel like I really haven't gotten anything actually done. Some of Vision is done, at least. And caught up a bit more on the DTF stuff. Fed kittens. Fed kittens again. Fed kittens later. Will feed kittens in about an hour....
I've done some work on Vita's Vengeance today, too. I'm well over half way through it, I think. Going well, too. But still, nothing actually done.
I did get another story off to submission sometime between the last post and this. There's something, at least. And I got my hard drive cleaned up so that I could fill it all up again in the next week or so. I must get the money together for a second hard drive.
And that's it. I'm going back to work on Vita's Vengeance now.
April 30, 2006
My last Daz piece
Despite everything, I am virtually done with Vision. I have to do the Index page still, and upload the previous version to the back issue section.
I am extremely tired tonight. I'm not going to upload anything until I've had a little rest because I don't trust myself with it right now. And having come this far, I would hate to mess it up now.
I have a bunch of FM stuff to get done before morning too. Since I have to stay up at least until 2 am (next baby kitten feeding), I have plenty of time. But only if I can get past this current round of 'too tired to sit at computer.'
So, I'm getting this up and taking a short nap, I think!