Archive for previous entries this month
April 1, 2007
Grackle
I took a nap this afternoon. Probably a bad move in the long run, but it felt good then. Now I'm a bit more awake at 12:30 am than I should be, but oh well. It's not like I'm on any kind of real timetable, right?
It was a quiet April 1 at least. Yesterday we had some really great storms, but I'm just as glad to have had a quieter day today, and with less worry about losing power. Russ had a friend over to the other house and they gamed all day. I... napped, I guess. I did get some writing done and a lot of editing done, so it wasn't all just laziness.
Just mostly so.
I am working on learning a new graphic program I bought a while back on sale -- Cararra Pro. This is a fancy program, and it's going to take a lot of work to learn it. It would help if I could print out the PDF to it, but I haven't the ink to spare. The book is about 600 pages long.
Lucky for me that the Daz site has a few tutorials and I'm starting to get the idea of how these things work. Far better than I've done with Poser, which is just far too confusing to me for some reason. I'm taking it as a challenge, though. I want to figure out how to make it work.
I keep getting side-tracked here by the tutorials, too. So I think that means it's time to finish this up and post it. Maybe I'll get some writing done tonight, too. That might be a good plan. (grin)
April 2, 2007
Today's work
Well, yes, I also wrote... but I really like the way this picture turned out. I'm going to do a few more flowers with this brush and get a collection going. Look, it's a new project!
The writing is still slow, but picked up a bit today... right before we had company, followed by Pip acting very ill. He's better now, but he goes to the vet in the morning. That means more medication for him, and he's not an easy one to do.
But we'll manage.
Other than that... not much going on. We had storms this evening, but they appear to be over now. I should either get some writing done or go to bed. Writing sounds like a good plan, in fact, and get a start on the work for the 3rd.
Ah, good. I have a plan. I think I'll get to it for a few minutes and then go head off to bed!
April 3, 2007
Pretty
I got some interesting writing done today. I started work on a nonfiction project I've been putting off, and it actually went pretty well, at least as any writing goes these days. I seem to have slowed down.
I blame it on the weather. It's 21f out there right now, with a nasty wind, and if there were any clouds we'd probably be a foot deep in snow right now. It's cold in the house, and I have the heat on and turned up again.
I thought it was spring just yesterday, wasn't it? Tomorrow it's only supposed to reach 38f. At least the day after we start getting warmer again.
And soon I'll be complaining about the heat, you know.
For the moment, though, the cold is just a bit too much. I want that nice spring weather where it's not too cold or too hot. It's not like it lasts very long anyway!
April 4, 2007
Tree Trunk
Late. Tired. Got quite a bit done today and I have a ton more to get done. Not going to happen tonight!
I need rest tonight. I'm falling asleep here at the computer, and I keep thinking I ought to be trying to do more. I don't know why I think that, but I do.
Maybe I should just sleep here tonight, right?
No?
I do wish I had brain enough to say something interesting here. I think it froze, though. We're back to snow in the forecast and lousy weather. I have to believe that spring really is not far away.
I think I'll go to bed and wait for it.
April 5, 2007
Spring on the River
I've been miserable today. This cold is really catching hold of me, though not as badly as Russ had it. Well, not yet anyway. He's going to Omaha tomorrow (Job interview) and I'm not going, despite it being a good zoo day. Ah well, I'll get other chances. My pass ran out anyway, and we'll need to get another one.
And if the job in Omaha pans out, who knows?
I'm working on several projects right now, and because I feel so lousy, none of them are going particularly well. A Plague of Rats is moving along, at a very slow pace, and I suspect I'm going to go back and read some of this material and wonder what I was thinking... but at least it's still going.
I've slept a good part of today. I'm going to be heading back in there soon.
On Sunday I'll be taking part in My Day In Photos. Let's hope I can come up with something interesting. Anything interesting. Normally we spend Easter at a wildlife refuge, but there's no way we can take such a trip this year. I hope the local Nature Center is open at least.
April 6, 2007
Painting of Pip
The painting looks interesting when you click on it.
I've had a busy and productive day. Yay! I woke up feeling much better and just got to work on things and really made a dent in a lot of work. I even got the dishes done. (laughs). Well, most of them. There's a pan there I still need to attack again.
I've already posted both 2YN classes for this week and updated the Haiku challenge as well.
I finished a picture that took me four days to get where I was anywhere happy with it. I need to open Paint Shop Pro and look it over again, and then post it. And then move on to something new.
I even straightened up my desk today.
Oh yes, and I wrote. Not a lot, but enough to keep me going. I'm going to post a snippet over on the Joyously Prolific blog in a few minutes.
I mentioned yesterday that Russ went to an interview in Omaha today. It went well, as far as he can tell. They want him back next Friday, and they'll fill the position by the end of the month. That's far better than anywhere else. We're still waiting months later for news on some of the jobs. I'm hoping for the best!
We are having record low temps. Gah. And I see there is snow in the forecast for next week. We've had snow in April before, but I'm really kind of ready for spring.
That's about it!
Time to get this posted and get a couple more things done tonight.
April 7, 2007
Sunset
Happy bunny hopper day!
Yeah, I know. Silly. But better to be silly than not sometimes!
On a normal Easter, we would go to one of the wildlife areas -- Niobrara, De Soto or even Squaw Creek. But this year there are too many things conspiring against it, so we're going to stick close to home. We'll see if the Nature Center is open, and maybe drive through Stone Park. This is okay on some levels, but worrying on others. Tomorrow I do my pictures for My Day In Photos, and I would like to have something at least reasonably more interesting than shots of me sitting at the computer all day.
Ugh.
And it's cold here. I'm tired of this bit of cold. We had some nice weather there for a little while, so it's not fair to drop us back into winter again so soon. I see the forecast calling for snow on Tuesday and then again on Friday and Saturday. There is something just wrong with this whole idea.
But anyway....
I'm ready to go out and find some good photos somewhere! Let's hope that I can come up with something interesting!
April 8, 2007
Pelicans!
We went to De Soto today! It was lovely -- and not quite as cold as it was here. (Snow on Tuesday. They say we'll have snow on Tuesday. That can't be right) Anyway, it was a wonderful photo day, and I've sent my chosen ones and descriptions off to A Day in the Life website. I don't know how long it will take before it gets it up. I may have written too much. What a shock, right?
Anyway, it was a really good day. Pelicans, geese, pheasant, ducks, coots, a heron, hawks, a turkey... and not much for people at all.
And I got writing done besides.
All in all, a good day. But I'm just a bit worn out now! (grin)
April 9, 2007
Chalk drawing of House Finch
I've worked on both Plague of Rats and the last Dark Staff book today, and I'm fairly happy with both. I'm still going a bit slow, but I seem to be doing fine over all. I hope to have the Dark Staff book done by the end of the week. That would be wonderful!
It's supposed to snow tonight. Yup, just checked the radar maps, and it looks as though it's heading our way. But it won't last since it'll warm up again tomorrow.
I'm back in the mood to rewrite something older. This is good since I'll be done with the Dark Staff series soon. It's also good so that I won't rush Plague of Rats, which seems to want to go slow and steady. We'll see. By the time I get done with the other book, I may change my mind entirely.
There's really nothing else going on. Hey, we had our adventure yesterday! It's going to be awhile before we get to stuff like that again.
Oh, and the pictures are up at the site!
April 10, 2007
Wind
This is Wind being Wind. He looks so much like our old, lovely Bonkers that we keep calling him that by accident. He's very silly, too.
I've been working on the two novels, one editing one writing, and it's going well enough, except for my inability to stay focused. I also have a nonfiction project, but it's going slowly.
Other stuff? Not much at all, as usual. It's cold. We're supposed to have snow tomorrow, but then they're saying warmer again afterwards. I can only hope.
And that's it for me for the day!
April 11, 2007
Pip and Plot Bunny friend
First, Russ didn't get the job in Kansas. I don't know if I should be relieved or not, because part of me is really ready to pack up and go somewhere else... especially somewhere closer to the mountains and the Southwest.
On the other hand, there would be that actual packing part. And moving the guys.
Bad plan, I think.
Russ has a job interview in Omaha on Friday, though. It's the second interview, in fact. Let's hope for the best.
Other than that, I am just picking at various stories and stuff right now, absolutely without any hope of concentrating. This hits me every now and then. I hope I get past it soon!
Oh, and it did snow a bit today, but lucky for us none of it stayed!
April 12, 2007
Waiting
This was an interesting piece to do, getting the people to look like they were moving. It took four renders, layered on top of one another, and blended in. And each render had to have the three people move just a little.
Anyway, it won me the $4 prize at Daz today, so I'm happy about it.
Odd things here. If anyone has been paying attention, for some reason my entries were not uploading. I hope to have that fixed tonight.
Other than that? Not much. Russ has a miserable headache and has to go for the job stuff tomorrow in Omaha. Poor guy. He's gone to bed, and I hope he's a little better by morning. I worry about him with stuff like this.
Me... I'm just going to go crawl off to bed as well pretty soon, I think. I'm tired today.
April 13, 2007
Edmond and Friend
Odd day!
Russ went down to a second interview in Omaha. It looks good. We'll probably know next week. He came back with a friend of ours from Kansas who is in Omaha/Council Bluffs with his wife (who is attending some meetings). I thought he was coming tomorrow, so it was quite a shock when they both walked in!
We had pizza. They're over at the other house and I'm trying to get some work done and not doing very well at it.
It might snow a bit tonight, but it will be up in the 50's tomorrow.
Oh dear. I wrote this up and forgot to save and upload it again. There are days when I just lose track of what I'm doing!
April 14, 2007
Cute Bird
Russ spent the day with our friend from Kansas, who goes back to Omaha tomorrow. I spent the day fighting with my novel, Ada Nish Pura, which I want to get out in submission. It's actually not going badly. I'm over a quarter of the way through the read/edit. I've filled in two holes and cleaned up a problem that had run through the entire book (the cultural name of one group of people turned out to be confusing after I had stepped back from the book for a while and looked at it more clearly.)
The biggest problem I'm having is that I can't find my lexicon for the local language. Not that it's really a huge problem, just annoying. I can figure out the words from the book because, of course, they are generally translated there as well.
Weather here is marginally better than it has been, which is much better than anything south of us. It looks as though we might really have finally seen the last of the snow, too!
So, as usual, not a very interesting day (though I really do like Ada Nish Pura, and I'm thrilled with how well it reads!), and I don't expect there to be much more to report for a few more days. We're in a kind of 'waiting' time again.
I think things are going to be better soon, though. I hope so. I'm looking forward to it.
April 15, 2007
Grackle
Well, there have been better days... but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. We took our friend back down to Omaha so he could head home to Kansas with his wife... and about twenty miles out we developed a serious transmission problem. It plagued us for a bit after that, but we got the car back home and it's behaving better now... but you know it's going to just die at any moment.
This is a real problem since we hope that Russ will be offered a job in Omaha sometime in the next two days.
Really, I could stand to have things calm down now. The idea that there might be a job is great. The hope that Russ could make it there -- if not home again -- would be nice, too.
There's just too much going on, and not nearly enough of it good... though there is potential for better. I would like it to get here. I would like some calm and good all at the same time.
April 16, 2007
The Boys at One
Yup. April 17th is the day the guys came into the house. That's Edmond on the left and Zaphod on the right. And they are wonderful little guys. I did mention to Russ that they are the most spoiled cats we've ever had, though. He was shocked, I tell you. Just shocked.
Other than that, I need more time. Not a surprise there.
So, back to work, back to work. I hope to get to be before 4 am tonight. We'll see if I make it.
April 17, 2007
Little Guy's Day
Yes, today was their day -- been part of the household for one year. Since they weren't more than three days old when we found them, I'd say it's close enough to the birthday, too.
I am writing on Ada tonight, and I want to get a bunch more done, so this will be short. It's already late. I need to get back to work!
No word on the job, though they were supposed to call today. Sigh. We'll see if things are better tomorrow. I kind of suspect this is not going to go well.
April 18, 2007
Night Street
The weather here was lovely today. A shame I felt so awful, but I'm better tonight. I missed most of the day, but we had the window open for a while -- the first time this year, and I didn't have to turn the heat on until late. Even so, it's still 50f out, which isn't really cold. It's just that I'm not feeling well, so I got chilled.
I'm working away at Ada Nish Pura, too, and I'm very happy with it. That's good. I want to have faith in this book when it goes out. I'm over the halfway mark and heading into the final confrontations. This is fun!
Russ is going to be gone this weekend. I need to think about any odd things I might need, though I think I'm pretty much stocked. Some soup or something like that might be nice. I don't think there's much else.
I might get a chance to go to the zoo next week. Maybe I'll have enough money to buy a new year pass, too, which would be very nice. I have missed the zoo.
Maybe I'll work on the zoo pictures this weekend. Hmmm... maybe I should tell myself that I can't work on them until I get Ada done. There's a nice treat!
So, off to work I go!
April 19, 2007
Sunset Painting
I played a bit with Painter yesterday between quietly going crazy. I like this one, though I'm going to work a bit more on it tonight, I think. It's fun to do stuff like this!
Oh yes, and the writing is fun, too. (grin) Ada is still moving along very well, getting closer to 400 pages. It runs a little over 500 pages right now, but it keeps adding a page or two every day, so it's hard to say how high it will go. All in all, though... very nice.
The car is giving us serious problems and Russ has to go to Lincoln tomorrow and stay until Sunday. I hope he can make it without trouble.
There is a little hint that things might start looking up soon, but I'm not going to trust it until it happens. And even then I probably won't trust it much.
Okay, time to get back to work on stuff. It's already late.
April 20, 2007
Swan Painting
I have about 150 pages left to do on Ada. It's going very well, and I've fixed some holes, and I'm pleased with the book. Really pleased. It's been fun to work on.
Should I mention that the car has well and truly died? Oh, it's moving a bit... but very slowly and not very far. This is creating all kinds of problems since Russ has to be in Omaha on Monday. A friend is going to be up on Sunday and take him down. Gah. It's just one thing after another this year. And last year. I refuse to think back any farther than that.
Other things? It's the weekend. I have to go do the 2YN class, but after that I think I'm going to pull out some more art stuff and just play again. Weekends are for playing, right?
So... go get the work done!
April 21, 2007
Red Tulip
You know, it would help a great deal if I had even the slightest interesting things to talk about these days. I don't. I'm caught up in the rewrite of Ada, but it's going slow. The weather here was very warm today and my office got too hot. I might have to move back to the other room and desk soon to get to the AC. I would like to get caught up with everything, but I'm not quite there yet.
I want something to eat tonight. I don't know what, and I'm not sure there's anything suitable in the house anway.
I want to get Ada done. I have about 150 more pages to go. It's going well, really. I just want it done and out of here. And then move on.
But right now I better get this posted before I forget again!
April 22, 2007
Pretty
Russ is in Omaha tonight. A friend came up and took him back so he could teach class tomorrow. I'm not entirely certain how he's getting back home. But he's there and he's set for tomorrow, so that's something at least.
I've been fighting headaches all day. I think a lot of it has to do with the weather, which has been up and down all day. I hope the weather and my head clears by tomorrow so I can get some stuff done around the house. I have been getting at lot of Ada done, though in little bites. Still, better than nothing at all.
Besides that? Not a thing going on. It's late -- I slept too much this afternoon because of the headache, and I've been off on time ever since. Not that it matters since I'm here alone. Well, me and the kitty-guys.
Zaphod wants to drink my tea. He has acquired a taste for it, and I have a hard time keeping his nose out of my glass! I have to get a glass with a lid!
And that's it. Really. This are dull here right now. I'm going to head for bed soon and hope I have a bit more energy tomorrow!
April 23, 2007
Pip in the sunlight
Russ is back home. Yay! The class went well, and he got a ride back to town with another friend, so all is well.
I pretty much finished the edits on Ada Nish Pura tonight. Tomorrow I start on the synopsis. I don't intend to fret too much over it, either. The book is good. I think it will sell, somewhere. Eventually.
Other than that... Oh, quiet day. Storms tomorrow, maybe, but tonight it's calm and quiet. I'll be glad to have all of Ada done and out of my hands -- I hope by this weekend. I always feel better when I'm about to get something done and out in a submission. The problem comes right afterwards, when I have the 'what now' feeling. (grin)
Still, it's going well enough. I've made a number of changes to the story, cleaned up a great deal, and worked on my MC's character a bit more again. That always happens in a rewrite.
So, now I have only one more little piece to add in, and then tomorrow the synopsis begins.
I'm not worried.
Really.
April 24, 2007
A drop of rain
I am almost half way through the synopsis for Ada. Not bad! It's the first draft, of course, and a lot of it will be rewritten and pared down, but I'm glad to have gotten this far already.
It's a case where I need to just write the material and worry about how to make it more interesting after I get the facts down. It's funny, but trying to explain things in the synopsis has made me aware of a couple spots where the story didn't explain things, so back I went to edit a bit more there.
Still, really, it's going well. I've just hit another of those spots, though, and I think I need to add something in earlier in the book to help make what happens more plausible. Hey, better to catch it now than realize after it had gone out! (I've done that before!)
I've been playing around a little with some pictures, too. I need to get out and do some real photography. But right now... time to upload this and get back to work.
April 25, 2007
The Tree
The first draft of the synopsis is done. I've started editing it and tightening it up. I think I'm going to have it done before this weekend, which would be really great. And helpful, too, since I need to get Vision done. (grin)
It's amazing how much time something like this can take, though. I'm lucky in that the first draft went together so well, but for less than 5,000 words, it's kind of taking way too long in my mind.
Ah well. Once it's done I don't have to worry about it again, no matter how many times I send the submission out. I should really write a synopsis whenever I finish a book and be done with it right then.
There's really nothing else going on here. The weather is a bit too cold, wet and windy, but I suspect it'll get past that before too long. Then I'll be moaning about the high heat and the humidity. The humidity really does nearly do me in.
Anyway, almost done with this project. I'll be glad to have it finished. And I'm going to hope for the best with it.
May 26, 2007
Carrara Render
I did this one a while back. I really need to get back to it again and play with the program some more because it is pretty amazing. Much different from Bryce, which I really love, too.
And you would think, finishing up a big project like Ada Nish Pura that I would have the time, right?
Two problems: Baen is no longer taking email submissions and Vision is due out in a couple days.
Snarl.
But still. I have the Ada stuff done. I'm just not so certain what I'm going to do with it now.
May 27, 2007
Goose at the pond
I forgot to upload yesterday. Ah well. Didn't really have anything interesting to say, and it's there in the archives now!
I should be working on Vision right now. I don't know why I'm not. I just can't seem to get moving on it. Lucky for me that I have virtually everything ready, so I just need to do a bunch of formatting and wait for the last couple bits to trickle in.
Beyond that, not much going on. I sent Ada off to Ace, or at least the first ten pages of it. I got a postcard back today that says Asimov's has a story from me. Rejection to follow in a day or two. (grin)
We're coming up on the short story challenge at FM. Story Accumulation Days. It used to be Story A Day, but that just didn't work from the start... but I like the SAD acronym, so I've been looking for something to use with it for a few years. I hope I get a chance to write a few this year. I've been having trouble keeping at it. Something always comes up.
Still no job for Russ, no checks in the mail, and no car.
I'm canceling the two conventions I was supposed to go to this year. One is the end of May and the other in early June. No way we could have money for those so soon when we've got to replace the car and all.
Ah well. Maybe next year!
May 28, 2007
The first lilacs of the year
It got warm today! Wow! And it's supposed to be about 90f tomorrow. I'm not sure I'm ready for that one yet.
I went out and did yard work today. Not a lot, mind you -- but a general pick up of downed branches and some raking. We had a bad winter for the trees, but it's starting to look better.
And I worked on Vision. It's going together just fine, I'm glad to say. Yay!
Writing is fine. Nothing spectacular, but fine. I'll get fired up again for the start of the month in May when I have all the Vision/FM stuff done and out of the way. Gives me something to look forward to!
May 29, 2007
Goldfinch Painting
I spent a good amount of today with a miserable cold and headache, but I've started to feel better tonight. Yay! I worked on this picture for a while and on some short writing bits that went far better than I hoped. It's been hard to move from Ada to something else!
I need to start looking toward May now, though, and maybe come up with another big project to get done and out. Or should I just try to write a ton of short stories instead? I'm really not sure which, though short stories are calling to me.
I have Vision mostly done, except for a few pieces I am still waiting word on. Oh, and I need to write one more small piece myself, but that shouldn't be hard.
I'm just trying to relax tonight, though. Maybe work on a few pictures or something. It should be fun!
May 30, 2007
Apophysis Picture
It's the usual end of the month insanity, of course. Vision is not going to be done until sometime tomorrow. The same for the new Sangre story. I'm about to fall over dead asleep. But I have most of Vision done and I did get the site updated (FM), so all is well there.
I want to write short stories in May. I think I can do it. Right now there is nothing much still hanging over me. And it would be fun to do short things for a while.
Okay, too tired to really keep going here. But it is now May, really! Let's all hope for a good month.