Monday, August 29, 2011

ROW 80 and Artistic Mother Update - more, and less

It only seems appropriate to begin this post by sending heartfelt hopes and prayers of goodwill and safety to those dealing with Irene - and the secondary effects of a bloody huge hurricane moving up the coast. My sister is in VA proper, and when I asked about that 'flash flood' warning, she said they get those during rainstorms the same way we get tornado warnings with every summer rain.

So, yeah, I shut up about it.

It sounds like there are places further north where real flooding did happen, where folks were evacuated with cause, and where jobs were interrupted, and people were in serious danger. And I hope they are well tonight.

On to the update - sorry, I've just gotten back from hunting down my muse and giving her the what-for -  bloody Hell it took a while to find her this time! That's more-or-less true, by the way.

I made a strong go of the beta read, up until halfway through the story. Claudia Lefeve deserves better - hell - ANYONE you commit to deserves better - than what happened when the gas ran out. Fortunately, Claudia, smart cookie that she is, had other beta readers hauling bunnies through the story and sending feedback. "Parallel" is a really intriguing story. I'm a near speed-reader, which is why I thought I could pull off a speedy beta-read, and I have to tell you, the twisty bits slowed me down very nicely. She is a hell of a challenging author and her story really took me in, and made tricky characters far more sympathetic than they were at first glance. I'm thrilled with its' originality too, so I cannot wait to read the final version! And, I hope some of you will give it a shot also.

It's tempting to say I ran out of gas muse-hunting.

It's more truthful to say I ran out while pitching a fit.

Nothing major, earth-shattering, or truly horrid - just freaking out about my daughter starting pre-school, the summer being nearly over, the d@mned story not being done. In all honesty, I got pretty fed up with myself. Heh. That explains, quite nicely, why the muse may have taken off in the first place. However, much art was done while I've been playing hooky, a poem was even started, and I did do Some writing work while leading the Heritage Writers writing group - working on fleshing out MC's, by the way.  Watched a pack of kids as usual, and, happily, indulged in 'family time' too.

Some time ago, I decided that my family and extended family was too large for me to budget $ for occasion cards. For instance, Jon's family has 5 birthdays in the month of August,plus my in-law's wedding anniversary. Add 3 Mother's Day Cards, 4 Father's day cards, and the social calendar of 2 children, $3-$5/card is just too much money.

I can only say this because, thanks to my years of art school, I've stockpiled BUCKETS of paper. Which I am trying to de-clutter. I also have two children who need to learn to cut things, glue things, and color. Enter the family Design firm. I've tightened up my designs since I started, so people are now more appreciative than appalled - apparently, my 3 year old has a Lot to learn about color choice!

So, while I've been away, I've done 6 cards (5 birthday, one anniversary). I started a poem but got quickly derailed - I'm thinking 'shitmobile' was where it went downhill- yes, in fact, the poem is still unfinished. I spent a goodly amount of time yesterday working on my honeymoon scrapbook/photo album. My son is 7, and I swear the only reason I will get it finished is so I can start his baby book!!  After some innovation with the meal plan Thursday, I am still the only one eating the leftovers. We did trips to the zoo and science museum in the same week, and when I've been doing boring paperwork during the day, I'm doing it outside so I can be around the kids. Lots of activity, not much progress. It's been pretty fun, though!

The recovery plan? I'm renting a neighbor kid hiring a 'mother's helper' 4 days this week, 3 hours/day, to help my kids gear up for their school-day routines while I get the house thoroughly ordered, as evenings this week will be beyond hectic. That should free-up the naptime for the writing, which I've neglected so much that I - still - miss it. I know that I can only plan to commit 30 min for writing and also 30 for the Artistic Mother program, but with everything else going on, it will feel like a reward. The best part of the reward is that my helper will have $20 to put toward her own ballet gear, which will make her feel pretty proud.

Life happened.

That's all :-)

UPDATE: 4:48 pm - sat still for 45 minutes and finally cleared 11,000 words. Righted some conflicting ideas and developed the hermit a bit further. Tossed in a patrol man to ensure the trucker leaves the Pit, reinforced the kleptomaniac gossip, and defined questions about the plot - why does Miss Main Character suspect the hermit anyway? The dude is 82 pounds soaking wet, how could he be the bad guy. Better - WHY could he be the bad guy? Clarified the means by which the first body is found and corrected the timeline. My sweet girl is up, so it's time to juggle the kid and cooking duties, psych my son up for the evening activities, and get dinner rolling. Later, 45 minutes for the Artistic mother projects.

It's turning into a really, really good week :-)

S.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Marry That Geek! Plus, What Have We Been Doing With Ourselves?

Let me tell you right now, if your life has Anything to do with a computer - you could do worse than put a ring on that Geek.

My Husband (actually, more of a geek-wrangler than a certified geek) just saved us from - gasp - the Budget-Blowing Expense of a New MacBook Pro! Mostly by playing Betty Crocker with our motherboard last night. The one from the computer that I took out while attempting the nightly smite-the-cat session. (Cat 1, computer 0).  Truthfully, the smote computer died from multiple causes - 2.5 inches of tightly packed dust in the fan vent, one gravity surge (cough) taking it from the couch to the floor, and cracked solder weakening connections All Over the Place.

So, he Googled something (don't know What - dead motherboard? ten fixes for wife-induced laptop woe?) and found that our motherboard is known to act up a Lot. And, that in fact, baking it at 350 for 10 minutes as it is suspended above a foiled cookie sheet on Little Foil Balls softens up that solder and helps it do it's job.  Since we were about to start using it for a door-stop anyway, he cooked it.

And I am using it Right Now. (do I have to say that backing up everything on-line weekly Just in Case is really, really smart....)

So, yeah. If you love a geek, make it legal. If it's currently, for some dumb-ass despotic reason Not legal for you to marry your geek, move someplace you can. Then go back to where you used to live and recruit people to get them dumb-ass despotic laws changed (wow. sounds so easy on paper....)

On to the progress report - hey, there is some!

ROW 80 - 30 minutes on Tuesday of WIP related background work, which dovetailed with the Heritage Writers group monthly meeting prep work. Which actually will happen next week (See what happens when I don't have a computer!) I'm the last person to teach anything about writing, but we're working with some great world-building materials, when I'm more alert I'll post the source - great stuff even if your WIP is not sci-fi or fantasy. Today I am pegging away at my beta-comments for Claudia Lefeve - this was massively derailed by losing the comments I'd already written when the computer died. Not sure why I couldn't recover them :-(.  Anyway, I'm always surprised how much I learn by beta-reading, and it's an honor to be involved in the process. So the WIP might get 30 today.

A.M. (The Artistic Mother) Finally finished de-uglifiying Most of my backgrounds and can move on to stamping the borders and finishing the layout. Today is tricky because my hubby is gone all day long, so I need to position the kids in their happy places to make this Happen. I put some good time in on Monday (the timer really helps) so little by little, I will get there.

Exercise. Sorry, the mountain bike ride Sunday was the last of it. For the rest of the week, running around like a chicken Sans cranium will have to suffice ;-)

Ok, well, gotta wake them kids!

Have a lovely week! Click the ROW 80 badge at left to find some writing buddies to read :-)

And, as always, thanks for coming by :-)


S.





Monday, August 15, 2011

It's Monday Morning, Slacker.

 Well, that's uplifting.

Actually, this is a good time to warn you, if uplifting was what you are needing this wretched morning, I advise you to invest your time in drumming up some helium for your hot air balloon, as the gas-bag resources over here are rather the Opposite of useful.

;-)

In August, I invariably consider the Sargasso Sea - time somehow lulls me into what looks like activity, but isn't the same as actions. And so, progress dwindles. Time spent is interesting, but doesn't seem to get me too far. For example, let's see what happened to those excessive to-do's ;-)

If it's deleted, it actually Did get done. Some completed items are still  in the list for illustrative purposes:

Here are this Weeks goals - excuses included:

1. Finish the beta read and fire off comments to Claudia so she can get busy herself! Finished the read!!! Yay! Now need to finish the comments. It's her fault - the story is Nicely complex and Not just one to breeze through. Regrettably, this means that my pondering is ponderously slow. Also, a dead computer - killed off by yours truly in a tragic moment of irony (I was Attempting to smite the cat instead) means I may have to rewrite some of my comments. damn damn damn. Claudia, I am so sorry :-(

2. Scan ANY backgrounds that look reasonable and post today. None of them are reasonable. I may pick three at random and post instead as 'what Not to do'. This Could get done today. On the other hand, Potbellied Pigs could also begin migrating with our Canadian Geese. Update: pigs are Not flying, and this old sad temporary computer might not be one that plays nice with my scanner. damn damn damn.

3.5 - 30 min/day 3 days this week on the WIP. 15 min/day at best - but it was spent with the 'de-crapify' button. Think that works on the art? Update: doodely Squat with any writing since last post. more damns. Oh, hey, I did two small sunflower watercolors on Saturday night. They both have good places and cheesy places, I'll have to use them as fragments (er, the good parts) for the birthday 5 cards I need to make this week. Need to buy replacements at the farmers market Wednesday and hope my technique improves. Oh, for the de-crapifyer....


5. Babysit three neighbor kids on Thursday (probably). Still no idea if this is happening. Oh, it happened alright. 5, not 3 though. Turned away 2 more later in the day and made their own parent watch 'em. Also watered my neighbor's plants for a few days. (Tomatoes are so much easier!)


7. Create layouts for the backgrounds I am creating and scanning, assemble as per instructions. Layouts halfway done. But, it Was the harder half, so this Could happen by Sunday! See the aforementioned pigs.  damn.

10. Find a photo of my 'younger self' for use in next week's project. May just use a photo of my daughter at this point. She looks so much like me at that age even I get confused! Skipping the photo if the scanner and computer don't play nice. Will draw stick figure instead. My younger self had all the bulk of a giant mosquito, so it's somewhat realistic. Since week one is officially now lagging in week 3, there is clearly plenty of time for this one!

11. Browse a few art blogs (I'll Take Suggestions here!!) Alas, I forgot about this. The layouts/backgrounds are actually for an Art Action plan to print up weekly - to keep yourself On Track. Week one of this program is really, really getting long. If you lot don't suggest an art blog or two soon, I may not get past this one.....(see what I did there? Just gave you guys goal number 11! :-p.  And, I must say, it feels pretty good!!)

12. CANCEL football for my son (our set list of activities is filling up!) Cancelled football, signed daughter up for pre-school. My husband's neck may not recover from watching This abrupt reversal. So, yes, mission accomplished.

14. Take a photo of the new orchid in the house. It's very, very beautiful. Need to re-locate the damned camera first. So, yeah. Got the camera, now to use it someday this week.

15. Blog On Time on Wednesday for ROW 80 check-in. See you then!! Fail. And, late for Sunday too.

So, of 15 goals/to-do's for the week, I got through 8. I added a few though:
- try out bike on single-track mt. bike trail - 2x for .8 miles. No blood - yay!
- annoy husband No end friday and feel like an ass about it the rest of the weekend
- spend good amount of time playing sea creatures one-on-one with my daughter
- spend good amount of time visiting kids room last night - count em, 4! so the poor things could get through   the night. I mean, someone in this house should sleep well!
- took nephews and kids to the sprawl of America. Stared at the octopus there too! Yup. MOA has a giant Pacific Octopus.

This week? Well, I promise not to post a damned thing until I knock out a few leftover goals. Especially since it's my turn to lead the Heritage Writers tomorrow night. I think I'll let them work on world building exercises while I work same exercise directly into the WIP. Good plan, eh?

Why else do you think I invented the de-crapify button? ;-)
 
Hop around at the below ROW-80 blogs - some of these writers will become your new favorites. I promise :-)

S.



Thursday, August 11, 2011

ROW 80 plus A.M. plus Autumn Round-Up - Recipes Included! UPDATE

UPDATE - Only five extra kids today. That's all.....

Well, good morning!  It's bright, sparkly, and not even CLOSE to 107 F. out there. It's also time to demonstrate whether or not the Mayhem has dealt any serious blows to the process of Art/writing/family work. For you newcomers, let's just say that it's 8:21 am, and I...don't actually know if I'm watching the 3 neighbor kids, or if they'll just show up with the other 4 friends that usually show up. Ready, or Not.

Hence, Mayhem.

For those of you Not new, snarky mama Was asked to come along for the post. She said I should be so lucky.

Hence, minimal snark.

On to the goal-post. (oh dear. This is already going downhill....)

Here are this Weeks goals - excuses included:

1. Finish the beta read and fire off comments to Claudia so she can get busy herself! 20+ pages to go - this is a fun read and makes you THINK!
2. Scan ANY backgrounds that look reasonable and post today. None of them are reasonable. I may pick three at random and post instead as 'what Not to do'. This Could get done today. On the other hand, Potbellied Pigs could also begin migrating with our Canadian Geese.
3. Get to the post office with thank-you's for my son's birthday party and some to my folks.
3.5 - 30 min/day 3 days this week on the WIP. 15 min/day at best - but it was spent with the 'de-crapify' button. Think that works on the art?
 4. Visit a townhome, maybe more!  for my mother so she can sign a lease and MOVE HERE
5. Babysit three neighbor kids on Thursday (probably). Still no idea if this is happening.
6. Get house ready for sleepover with 2 of my nephews. This is halfway done - two bathrooms, three floors, and a bit more laundry left. Yay!
7. Create layouts for the backgrounds I am creating and scanning, assemble as per instructions. Layouts halfway done. But, it Was the harder half, so this Could happen by Sunday!
8. Read two more poems
9. Maintain organization of art-supplies Easily done if you didn't make time to USE many!
10. Find a photo of my 'younger self' for use in next week's project. May just use a photo of my daughter at this point. She looks so much like me at that age even I get confused!
11. Browse a few art blogs (I'll Take Suggestions here!!) Alas, I forgot about this. The layouts/backgrounds are actually for an Art Action plan to print up weekly - to keep yourself On Track. Week one of this program is really, really getting long.
12. CANCEL football for my son (our set list of activities is filling up!)
13. Make a meal plan for this week that includes two veggies not related to red sauce Recipes below!
14. Take a photo of the new orchid in the house. It's very, very beautiful. Need to re-locate the damned camera first.
15. Blog On Time on Wednesday for ROW 80 check-in. See you then!! Fail.

 There. That is me, being accountable to you. Good thing you showed up for the witty dialogue and rapier-sharp observations.

Uh, how 'bout a recipe for all your extra tomatoes?

Heat Broiler to HI - put your grate in the upper third of the oven. Turn on that Oven fan. Start a big pasta pot of water to boil. Take about 4 cups of grape or cherry (or roma's, cut into thirds) and toss them (gently!)into a bowl with 2 T. e.v. olive oil plus 2 tsp. sea salt. Cover a baking sheet w/foil and oil that. Broil your tomatoes for 15-20 min on the sheet- shake or stir/turn the tomatoes every 5 minutes. Some - not all - should be blackened in places when done.

While tomatoes are going, heat three T of olive oil (again, use good stuff) to a simmer in a small saucepan. Not Too hot here. Mince or garlic-press 3-4 cloves of garlic if large, (5 if sm./med.). Add garlic and 1 tsp. red pepper flakes to the oil and watch it - let it cook only until garlic is golden brown (not more than a minute - it should sizzle and get crunchy!) pull from heat and let steep. When cooled a bit, put it in the bowl you are serving pasta in.

Those tomatoes done yet? pull from oven, let pan cool on a cooling rack. They can go into that tasty oil when you get a sec.. When water is boiling, salt your pasta water (a BIG pinch, or a half-handful) and Then add your angel hair pasta - enough for 4 at least - whole wheat is pretty good for this. Cook only until al dente and reserve 1/2 C pasta water. Gently toss cooked pasta with your soft and blackened and yummy tomatoes in oil. Add pepper to taste, and also Parmesan cheese - grate between 1/4 -1/3 C into your pasta during the tossing. Got a few slices of prosciutto? slice it into thin strips and toss it in.  There's no way this should be dry, but if it is, a few tsp. of pasta water will help. Top w/shredded fresh basil. This came from Fine Cooking magazine and is pretty much as written. Except they wrote it better.

Right. Off to water plants (mine, plus the neighbors) and see what I can knock out on the to-do list. I love autumn - I cook more, everyone (self included) EATS more, and it's when I was clever enough to get married and hit Italy for 10 days on the honeymoon. I can buy sunflower bouquets at the Farmer's Market for $5, and in general, I feel more creative and in-control. On the other hand, just yesterday I panicked and signed my daughter up for three day/week preschool. She'll be 4 in November, so it Is about time. I'm just a little attached to her, it's probably a good thing for both of us - and Only 7 1/2 hrs/week.

and, who knows, it might help with the writing! Provided I can see the screen through the tears :-(

Yeah. Knew it. Sap like that wakes up snarky mama Every time. Off we go, thanks for coming, and good luck to you on.....everything.

hugs,

S.




Blog hop below - get HOPPING!! :-)

Monday, August 8, 2011

ROW 80 and Artistic Mother.....er......Progress Report. (?)

If I was being strictly truthful, there are at least 14 different things I could have chosen as today's blog title. Snappier. Honest. Amusing. Grabby things. But, alas,  'snarky mother progress report' is a little dangerous pre-coffee, so we'll go with a topic to keep me from digressing all over the place with a morning b!tch session.

Round of Words in 80 days-ies - Finished half of my beta-read for Claudia LeFeve (hang in there dear, wrap up and comments are TOTALLY on the books for today!) Tapped away on my own WIP for 15 Friday (because that's all I had left in me). Successfully ignored it Saturday and Sunday, as per my usual stated goal of leaving those days for family time. Bleah. Ok, that's hardly inspiring. Just another week of real-life at the Orchid House.

Exercise - well, this check in should shock no-one. Running amok like the (earlier_mentioned) chicken with a skull flambe doesn't Actually burn more calories than one can intake on a half-pan of homemade Ghiradelli chocolate brownies, at least, not in the same week. Welcome to veggie week at the Orchid house ;-)

Art progress - the workbook/projects/program of Shona Cole's "the Artistic Mother". Ummmm. Well. Two words for you.

Cadmium Yellow.

(there's a whole digression I just swallowed on why quinacridone colors work better for the first project than heavy pigments). Let's just say that if you have a big chunk o' experience with various media, and you are following someone else's project plan, either modify plan as instinct warns, or get set to triple the time on the project, and no whining allowed! The first project (after Step 1 - unearth the drafting table from all the supplies) was creating backgrounds for scanning projects, blending different colored paints and 'toning back' with water, gesso, or creating monoprints. I have 2 (of 11) that are scanner ready (will post later) and 9 that are pretty - but demand 'toning back' like you wouldn't believe. Got some ridiculously good photos of my kids (also a projetc) but only succeeded in reading poetry that I already knew and liked, nothing new. But, with the beta-read for Claudia ,s'okay. :-)

So....yeah.Week 1 has just bled into week 2. It's more realistic for me to stretch the challenges and projects over 2 weeks while I  keep pegging at the horror story. And, in re-reading the project, just now....it looks like I should have read the project steps more...thoroughly. My. Thank Goodness I Didn't Whine!!

(golly, the fascinating musings just better and better, don't they? Where the hell Did snarky mommy get to?! she's at least an amusing read?!!)

So, here's the goals/jobs for the week:
1. Finish the beta read and fire off comments to Claudia so she can get busy herself!
2. Scan ANY backgrounds that look reasonable and post today.
3. Get to the post office with thank-you's for my son's birthday party and some to my folks.
3.5 - 30 min/day 3 days this week on the WIP
4. Visit a townhome, maybe more!  for my mother so she can sign a lease and MOVE HERE
5. Babysit three neighbor kids on Thursday (probably).
6. Get house ready for sleepover with 2 of my nephews
7. Create layouts for the backgrounds I am creating and scanning, assemble as per instructions
8. Read two more poems
9. Maintain organization of art-supplies
10. Find a photo of my 'younger self' for use in next week's project
11. Browse a few art blogs (I'll Take Suggestions here!!)
12. CANCEL football for my son (our set list of activities is filling up!)
13. Make a meal plan for this week that includes two veggies not related to red sauce
14. Take a photo of the new orchid in the house. It's very, very beautiful
15. Blog On Time on Wednesday for ROW 80 check-in. See you then!!

Hugs!

S.



Wednesday, August 3, 2011

WIP? what WIP? (and am I the only one who caught that low, red, sickle moon?)

Ok, welcome to August at the Orchid House.

I haven't done a ruddy thing with that short story.

I still love it, and it's actually on the to-do list (right after rounding up the local wolves to raise my children, and before turning on the stove for dinner) but it's been by the wayside whilst I dealt with a crazy weekend, some pre-school-startup angst, and the commensurate running-around-like-a-chicken-with-it's-head-on-fire routine. (It involves staving off sobbing in Target, among other things related to sending a kid off to First Grade.)

The Artistic Mother program is officially running limping along, and the exercise goals are, hmmm, well. Nicely planted on the shelf where I left them. Gathering dust, poor abandoned things. Er, not too unlike my TWO token orchids here. Bah. Okay, here's the thing. After my podiatrist did my final foot-check, we both noticed that the right foot's middle piggy is kowtowing toward the left, and will not improve it's posture for love nor money. Actually, I'm afraid money is the only thing that will get it done. The bone is too long on the right, too short on the left, so he's going to have to break the poor thing, remove a cone-shaped section of bone, and fuse it in proper place. I'm only mentioning this because it will become a point of much whining later - whether I fix it or not. It will certainly become an excuse for me to avoid exercise at all costs, if it involves any pressure on that cochone whatsoever. And it will Certainly involve whining if the bills are anything like the ones involved in having one's arch built. ahem.

So, nothing new on the horror story. I have several billion things to do (I believe screaming like a banshee has been moved to number 38) and have taken on endless things that weren't planned for (minding 10+ kids every other day....helping neighbors with language barriers getting their kids into activities....getting my daughter screened for kindergarten in a few years....) these are all important things, and it's my place to get it done, but, um. Well.

It's hell on my writing career.

(Hah. post done, not even 11 pm.)

There's hope for me yet - tomorrow IS another day.

Shout out to Stephanie Beck - wrapping up her first (of many!) book signings. And, to Rocco Capozzi Schofield, 9.5 something pounds, born to the Beyond Awesome Kevin and Allegra Schofield - Congrats to the whole fam damily - Gramma Winnie, Kevin, Allegra, Sam, Nolan, Vivianna, and ROCCO!! (welcome to the world, buddy, you'll just Love it!)

G'night, ROW 80-ers - every last one of you is doing better than I am!!

S.