Frogs and Ravens

Project List - January 30, 2007

Writing

• Observations
• Transcription, cleaning of old notes

Fiber Crafts

• Work on red and black striped socks
• Finish, felt grey wool mittens
• Spinning

Photography

• Upload and edit pictures on card

Outdoors

• Go for a walk

What's Been Going On

You don't know how complicated and useful your back is until you damage it.

I was attacking weeds in the backyard last week, something that involved lots of bending in the cold, and when I stood up I could barely walk. So the last few days have been an exercise in learning how to sit, stand, and lie down in ways that neither strain the injured muscles, overtax the other muscles that are trying to compensate for the injury, nor result in freezing up and spasms.

All I can say is, heat pads are my friend.

Nothing else of terrible interest has been happening. I continue to work on writing-related chores, and am trying to get up the energy to write something small I can query an editor with. I hate the whole querying process - I think that one of the best things a person could teach a child would be how to write an effective cover letter. I would not be in the least bit surprised to learn that many opportunities have slipped through my fingers because I can't. (It's not that I write bad ones; it's that the ones I write are boring and labored.)

I find it ironic that I can't persuade people to take a chance on my writing because I can't write a one-page letter.

(I won't, at this point, go into the fact that there are only two publications that are a fit for the kind of writing I do at this time. I haven't decided how badly I want to be published if it requires me to write outside my strengths and interests. I'm still leery over that whole competing-with-the-more-accomplished thing.)

The weather is chill and grey, and most things are pretty quiet, whether we're talking birds, trees, grass... The only exception is cats. The porch is a magnet to them. The total is up to four visiting cats now. Two are cute, one is adorable, and one is a huge tom that pisses so much around the place that we can smell it from inside. If it weren't so cold, I'd spray him with the hose.

I'm in the process of felting a new pair of mittens as we speak. The previous pair I've given up on. The first one was a lot of work, and ended up looking like crap. I frogged it back to fix it, and it still looked like crap. So I'm done with it.

D.'s job search is at a still point. No new news, either good or bad.

Life is quiet. I can't decide if that means that it is boring too.

Cold Snap

After much dilly-dallying, winter finally arrives in a wave of cold air.  Tiny snowflakes swirl in the predawn twilight, visible only in the lights of cars.  You can see where the wind moves, and where it doesn't, in the drift patterns on pavement and grass. I notice my breath for the first time in a long while.

I am inside, where it is warm.

Project List - January 16, 2007

Writing

• Observations
• Transcription, cleaning of old notes
• Workshop application

Fiber Crafts

• Work on second spring-colored sock
• Frog top part of mitten, redo
• Spinning

Photography

• ?

Outdoors

• Go for a walk
• Prune tree

A Week in One

The weather, unseasonably warm last week, has shifted into cold.  The drops of water on my car this morning turned out to be ice.

There is a mouse in the house.  A mouse that does not like peanut butter.  From time to time it startles us, a sleek gray ghost with pale crinkled ears and pale scurrying feet.

I wake each morning with sneezes. 

In the afternoon and evenings I type.  I am revising the notes of a year and a half.  I am daunted by the crystaline purity of the prose that came out of last year's writing workshop.  I am amused by the overuse of adverbs in my blog posts.  Bringing the latter up to the level of the former is going to be tricky.

I have abandoned a mitten.  I am working on a sock in a strange garish colorway - smooth blues and greens alongside grays, creams, burgundies - and a lump of electric green and bright yellow.

The tables, chairs and floor are piled high with books.

There are power plays underway at work.  *sigh*

Project List - January 9, 2007

Writing

• Observations
• Transcription, cleaning of old notes
• Conference application
• Workshop application

Fiber Crafts

• Work on spring-colored sock
• Spinning

Photography

• Upload images

Outdoors

• Go for a walk
• Prune tree

Still Alive

It's quiet in the office these days, with next to nothing to do... time for an update.

The sheep puppets are done and sent off to the children.  I made a single mitten and hate it.  I went crazy while visiting my parents and bought lots of sock yarn and a rainbow roving for spinning.

I took a few pictures during the break, but none were too interesting.  Making photo cards to send out for the holidays made me realize that D. and I need more pictures of the two of us.  We only had three to choose from for the whole of 2006!  A greater success were card packs I made as gifts.  They featured photo portraits of leaves matted atop "nature-colored" card stock from the craft store.  Everyone was very impressed with them (hmm... business idea?).

I've been a rather pitiful outdoorswoman.  These days it consists mostly of walking to and from the car and occasionally staring at the moon or wind or rain, or birds at the feeder.  This morning I saw a mouse in the kitchen - gah! - and startled D. with the sound of my startlement.  I need to get back in the habit of walking to work.  It's been warm enough, with no snow.  (Yet?)  Also, the trees need pruning.

Writing broke free this week.  I'm not sure what changed, whether it was hormonal, or reading about writing during the trip, or thinking about the spring.  In any case, I'm plowing back through my notes and getting a better sense of my project.  I still feel daunted by turning short blog posts into multi-page chapters, but at least I want to write again!

I'm also vaguely longing for my recorder, but I think I have enough on my plate for now.  No need for further distractions.

Project List - January 2, 2007

Writing

• Observations
• Begin another chapter
• Conference application
• Workshop application

Fiber Crafts

• Begin second brown and black mitten
• Work on spring-colored sock
• Spinning

Photography

• Process images taken over the holidays
• Upload images
• File management
• Back-up files

Outdoors

• Go for a walk

Happy New Year!

Hi all,

I hope that the new year brings wonderful things to all of you.  Happy New Year!