It was Thanksgiving Week. And I have turkey-nesia, which means I don't remember anything before I ate a boatload of bird. LOL
Okay, not really. Sunday - Wednesday is pretty much a blur, though. Let me see if I can rebuild... No, that would take too long. Lemme see if I can sum up.
In writing news, I wrote 15K words last week. 4200 of that was last night because I was on a roll. I finished the climax scene and am on the downward slope toward the end. Right now it's about 58K words, so probably around 60K when I get done. Then there's the stuff I have to add in because I changed some things at the end, and there's the stuff I have to add in because I rushed through several scenes, and there's a little bit I have to delete because while it helped me write the story, it needs to go before you read the story. I get all that done and I can send it off to the editor. Editing begins in January maybe? February? :shrug: I'm not pushing myself too hard this time so I can avoid burnout.
I did some fishing stuff. If you're interested in that, go to yesterday's Fishing Report.
Let's not talk about football, shall we?
Since I was jamming on my own book, I didn't read anything. I do have Silver's latest book - Rescue Moon - but I haven't started it yet. Maybe today. We'll see how the writing goes and whether I have the room in my brain for another person's book.
Fidel Castro died and I am overjoyed. Yeah, yeah, I've heard that you're not supposed to be happy when someone dies. Screw that. He was a monster. I'm with all the Cubans in Miami who were dancing in the streets at the news. So, that's one down. Next! If you have a problem with my happiness in this instance, please go away. Quietly.
Thanksgiving was a good day. Hubs made an amazing turkey and stuffing, and I ate like a pig. I also took that day off writing. I don't remember what I did, but it wasn't work related.
This week I learned that the Common Loon passes through here on its way to wherever it winters. I thought I heard one the other day, but I was sure we didn't have loons here. When I got home from the lake, I applied the Google-fu and found out that it was a loon I heard. Since then, I've seen two. They're in their winter plumage now, so not as striking as their usual outfit, but still pretty cool.
Early in the week, I got home from fishing and Hubs starts telling me about this weird bird he saw walking through the yard. He tried to get a picture, but couldn't. Later that day, the bird was in the front yard. It was a black vulture, on foot because, I assume, one of its wings was injured. It wasn't holding its wings weird, but when it tried to flap up to sit on the fence, one wing kind of had a hitch to it. We haven't seen it since. I hope it got better. Most likely something ate it. Nature can be a mean bitch.
Okay, that's it for me right now. What's up in your world?
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Saturday Fishing Report - 11/26/16
Welcome back to the fishing report for less than competent anglers.
Sunday - I tried a little afternoon fishing from a rocky bank sloping sharply into 15-20' of water. Did about 45 minutes of lure casting with no luck. Switched to worms set 5-6' deep. Something grabbed my worm about 4' off the shore and took it down. When I set the hook, I caught an underwater ledge and lost my rig - bobber, leader, hook and worm. So, I set up with a Rappala top water to try and get my bobber back. Hooked the bobber first cast. Bobber was still hooked to ledge. So, in an effort to not lose both the Rappala and the bobber, I rolled up my sweatpants and waded in. 63F water does not make for an enjoyable dip, but I got my lure back. In the process the bobber broke, though. Then, because I was wet from the knees down, and cold, I packed up and went home.
Monday - a.m. - Lovely cold morning with some scattered clouds and fog down by the water. I arrived at a locale off the deep water, main lake with plenty of ledges for the fish to shelter near. I set myself up with a yellow buzzbait with a yellow artificial worm. Cast, retrieve. Cast, retrieve. Cast... freakin' reel button pushes all the way inside the reel... can't retrieve by reeling. I managed to get my lure back by pulling the line in hand over hand. Got that all cleaned up and headed home because I only had the one rod/reel with me. My new red Shakespeare reel is dead. Hubs put my old pink reel back on because he fixed it.
Monday - p.m. - Hubs was in the mood for fishing, so we went out together to a spot with rocky banks sloping to gravel in a creek that feeds into a tributary of the lake. Hubs was working a spoon and I was working that shad crankbait. The spoon got hooked on an underwater ledge and was lost. The crankbait hooked on a log, which I managed to drag to the bank. Then it got hooked on a rock, which Hubs managed to free. I switched to worms, he switched to a white diver. After a while, we moved farther into the creek. I caught a 7-8" bass (large or spotted - it was hard to tell). A lot of action at 6-7' deep with the worm, but after I saw a huge snapping turtle surface near my bobber, I suspect reptile interference instead of fish.
Tuesday - I did the afternoon fishing thing again. It was totally overcast with a little wind and in the mid-60s. Back at the place where Hubs and I fished the day before. Saw some nice fish jumping. Caught two little bluegills about 6' deep off the ledges. Then it started to rain in earnest and I wasn't in the mood to get drenched.
Friday - We took the boat out. We went back to the same place we'd visited the last time. No luck. But we did have a lovely day on the water. I was jigging a nightcrawler. Hubs was casting with lures. I think we just timed it wrong or picked the wrong place. Funny thing, though. At one spot, I thought I got snagged on a log or something, so I was panicking a little because we were trolling and getting snagged while the boat is moving scares me. Hubs stopped the boat and took the pole so he could try and get it unsnagged. Except when he reeled, it wasn't hung up on anything and both ends of my worm were gone. Later I had a similar thing happen, but instead of panicking, I reeled. The line was taut and pulling hard and then suddenly the line shook from one side to the other and went slack. Umm, yeah, I had a fish on that time and probably the other time, too. There's a reason I say this is the fishing report for less than competent anglers. Better luck next time.
Until then, have a great week and go drown some worms.
Sunday - I tried a little afternoon fishing from a rocky bank sloping sharply into 15-20' of water. Did about 45 minutes of lure casting with no luck. Switched to worms set 5-6' deep. Something grabbed my worm about 4' off the shore and took it down. When I set the hook, I caught an underwater ledge and lost my rig - bobber, leader, hook and worm. So, I set up with a Rappala top water to try and get my bobber back. Hooked the bobber first cast. Bobber was still hooked to ledge. So, in an effort to not lose both the Rappala and the bobber, I rolled up my sweatpants and waded in. 63F water does not make for an enjoyable dip, but I got my lure back. In the process the bobber broke, though. Then, because I was wet from the knees down, and cold, I packed up and went home.
Monday - a.m. - Lovely cold morning with some scattered clouds and fog down by the water. I arrived at a locale off the deep water, main lake with plenty of ledges for the fish to shelter near. I set myself up with a yellow buzzbait with a yellow artificial worm. Cast, retrieve. Cast, retrieve. Cast... freakin' reel button pushes all the way inside the reel... can't retrieve by reeling. I managed to get my lure back by pulling the line in hand over hand. Got that all cleaned up and headed home because I only had the one rod/reel with me. My new red Shakespeare reel is dead. Hubs put my old pink reel back on because he fixed it.
Monday - p.m. - Hubs was in the mood for fishing, so we went out together to a spot with rocky banks sloping to gravel in a creek that feeds into a tributary of the lake. Hubs was working a spoon and I was working that shad crankbait. The spoon got hooked on an underwater ledge and was lost. The crankbait hooked on a log, which I managed to drag to the bank. Then it got hooked on a rock, which Hubs managed to free. I switched to worms, he switched to a white diver. After a while, we moved farther into the creek. I caught a 7-8" bass (large or spotted - it was hard to tell). A lot of action at 6-7' deep with the worm, but after I saw a huge snapping turtle surface near my bobber, I suspect reptile interference instead of fish.
Tuesday - I did the afternoon fishing thing again. It was totally overcast with a little wind and in the mid-60s. Back at the place where Hubs and I fished the day before. Saw some nice fish jumping. Caught two little bluegills about 6' deep off the ledges. Then it started to rain in earnest and I wasn't in the mood to get drenched.
Friday - We took the boat out. We went back to the same place we'd visited the last time. No luck. But we did have a lovely day on the water. I was jigging a nightcrawler. Hubs was casting with lures. I think we just timed it wrong or picked the wrong place. Funny thing, though. At one spot, I thought I got snagged on a log or something, so I was panicking a little because we were trolling and getting snagged while the boat is moving scares me. Hubs stopped the boat and took the pole so he could try and get it unsnagged. Except when he reeled, it wasn't hung up on anything and both ends of my worm were gone. Later I had a similar thing happen, but instead of panicking, I reeled. The line was taut and pulling hard and then suddenly the line shook from one side to the other and went slack. Umm, yeah, I had a fish on that time and probably the other time, too. There's a reason I say this is the fishing report for less than competent anglers. Better luck next time.
Until then, have a great week and go drown some worms.
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Thanksgiving This n That
 |
| Turkey dinner Thanksgiving 2014 |
A group of turkeys is called a rafter.
I love pumpkin pie, but I hate nutmeg, so I turn down offers of pumpkin pie from most people and I don't buy pumpkin pie. I also suck at pie crust, so I usually make a pumpkin cheesecake. This year I lazed out, though, so we're having a store-bought cherry pie.
I also suck at roasting a turkey, which is why Hubs cooks Thanksgiving Dinner every year. He rocks the turkey, man. He'll be in the kitchen today while I am reading or writing or watching TV. Of course, since he cooks the big bird, I will do the clean-up. It's the least I can do.
Hubs and I were talking last night and we decided we're both extremely thankful for each other. And we're thankful for our decision to move here.
I had four relatives on the Mayflower. A married couple with their daughter, and a single man on the ship who later married the daughter. So, I'm like American royalty or something. Right? LOL
I love the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special, especially the end when Snoopy and Woodstock are eating together. There's Woodstock gobbling down his turkey feast and a piece of pumpkin pie that's bigger than he is. =o)
Some dude in Wisconsin bagged an eight-point DOE this year. Yeah, I guess like 1 out of 100,000 does grows antlers because of an excess amount of testosterone. Who knew?
Anything on your this n that for today?
Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving! And if you're not in the states, Happy Thursday!
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Easy-Peasy Popovers
Yesterday morning's fishing trip was a total bust - as in I busted my reel on the third cast and had to come home. Faced with that, I decided to spend my morning baking instead. I pulled out a recipe I've had for years but never tried - popovers. So easy. So yummy. The recipe makes 8. We scarfed down 5 right off the bat.
So, just in time for Thanksgiving, I present...
Easy-Peasy Popovers
3T butter or margarine
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
2 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 400F.
Melt the butter in the microwave (30-45 seconds). Lightly brush melted butter into 8 muffin cups in a 12 cup tin (you should have lots of butter left). Beat eggs until light and frothy. Warm milk in the microwave (30 seconds to take the cold off). Add warmed milk to eggs and beat until well-combined. Add flour, salt, and remaining melted butter. Beat until smooth. Heat empty, prepared muffin tin in oven for 5 minutes. Remove with care (it's hot) and equally distribute batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with butter and jam. Or try them cold with chicken salad in the middle.
These will rise well above the edges of the muffin tin, which is pretty cool. And they'll have a lovely empty pocket inside for the spreading of jam or the stuffing of good savory stuff. I had a thought about filling them like cream puffs even. OMG, so good.
So, just in time for Thanksgiving, I present...
Easy-Peasy Popovers
3T butter or margarine
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
2 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 400F.
Melt the butter in the microwave (30-45 seconds). Lightly brush melted butter into 8 muffin cups in a 12 cup tin (you should have lots of butter left). Beat eggs until light and frothy. Warm milk in the microwave (30 seconds to take the cold off). Add warmed milk to eggs and beat until well-combined. Add flour, salt, and remaining melted butter. Beat until smooth. Heat empty, prepared muffin tin in oven for 5 minutes. Remove with care (it's hot) and equally distribute batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with butter and jam. Or try them cold with chicken salad in the middle.
These will rise well above the edges of the muffin tin, which is pretty cool. And they'll have a lovely empty pocket inside for the spreading of jam or the stuffing of good savory stuff. I had a thought about filling them like cream puffs even. OMG, so good.
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Sunday Update - Week 46
Not much happening in the writing sphere lately, as you've probably guessed from previous posts. Natural Causes is stilling rolling along. I'm at 43K words now - up about 5300 from last Sunday.
Not much going on in reading either. I did read one book last week - JB Lynn's latest installment of the Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman series - The Hitwoman Plays Chaperone (#16). It was awesome as usual.
Fishing is still slow as you could see from yesterday's Fishing Report. After listening to a few professional fishing reports, the consensus is that because of the weird warm temps, the fish are still deep - which means no fishies from the shore. Here's hoping yesterday and today's cold snap will drive them into shallower water.
I added to my lovely bruise collection when I tried to stop myself from doing a faceplant into a pile of loose rocks - you know, after tripping over a loose rock. Lucky for me a fallen log was right there to catch me, but when my hip slammed into the log, it created a lovely bruise. Just call me Grace.
I did some woods work yesterday. I took out a couple small trees (carolina buckthorns) so other small trees could thrive - a red oak and a small tree I thought was a royal paulownia (but after looking for a link to show you what I mean, I'm not sure what it is - it ain't a catalpa.) I also took down a dead cedar and began sawing up a tree that had broken in half and dropped it's top half on some other nice smaller trees.
Other than that, I'm not quite sure where my week went. Another blurry week added on to a blurry year.
What's up in your world?
Not much going on in reading either. I did read one book last week - JB Lynn's latest installment of the Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman series - The Hitwoman Plays Chaperone (#16). It was awesome as usual.
Fishing is still slow as you could see from yesterday's Fishing Report. After listening to a few professional fishing reports, the consensus is that because of the weird warm temps, the fish are still deep - which means no fishies from the shore. Here's hoping yesterday and today's cold snap will drive them into shallower water.
I added to my lovely bruise collection when I tried to stop myself from doing a faceplant into a pile of loose rocks - you know, after tripping over a loose rock. Lucky for me a fallen log was right there to catch me, but when my hip slammed into the log, it created a lovely bruise. Just call me Grace.
I did some woods work yesterday. I took out a couple small trees (carolina buckthorns) so other small trees could thrive - a red oak and a small tree I thought was a royal paulownia (but after looking for a link to show you what I mean, I'm not sure what it is - it ain't a catalpa.) I also took down a dead cedar and began sawing up a tree that had broken in half and dropped it's top half on some other nice smaller trees.
Other than that, I'm not quite sure where my week went. Another blurry week added on to a blurry year.
What's up in your world?
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Saturday Fishing Report - 11/19/16
Hey all and welcome back to the fishing report for less than competent anglers. I'm gonna do things a little different this week and try to go trip by trip.
Saturday: Hubs and I took the boat out. It's one of those no-frills 15' flat bottom bass boats with a smallish motor. It's also got a trolling thing and a low-end fish finder thingie. Anyway, it was 42 degrees F when we put in at the lake and putted over to one of the tributaries. The water was 62 degrees F. We went about 2/3rds of the way down to where the creek is stopped at the road. Mostly what we were doing was getting used to the boat and the depths and the trolling. My set up was my largest hook (#2, I think) with a big, fat Canadian nightcrawler. (That's what they sell down here.) No bobber. I put on a medium sized teardrop sinker and dropped it over the side. I let it sink until the line went slack (meaning it was on the bottom), then I reeled it up about a foot. When we started, I think we were in about 9 feet of water. As we trolled/drifted, the water got deeper and at about 15 feet deep, I got my first hits. At about 20 feet, when the water was 63 degrees F, I caught my first fish - a 13" largemouth. Then we drifted to the other side of the creek. No hits deeper. On the other side, I caught my second fish - a 14" largemouth in about 22 feet of water. (Both fish went back, of course. Dang it.) Throughout the morning, we went from deeper to shallower. Hubs had a bass on a white diver lure, but it got off. I had another bass on my worm, but it threw the hook about 4 feet from the boat. Nothing was biting by shortly after noon, so we called it a day. A successful trip all the way around. We're getting the hang of the boat and locating where the fish are. Right now, they're hanging out in 15-23 feet of water to either side of the main creek channel. Which totally explains why I haven't been catching anything from the bank. I can't cast out far enough or go that deep with a bobber.
Tuesday: Bank fishing again. This time I went to a spot on the main channel of TRL in hopes that maybe the last of the cool weather and the morning fog would've driven the bass in shallower. It did. I saw a lot of fish. Didn't catch a danged one, but they were out there. Bass of all sizes - largemouth and spots mostly, but I did see one smallmouth. One big hog of a largemouth jumped right next to my bobber which was about 4' from the boat dock. Dang it. I also saw several schools of 9-13" silver fish feeding along the rocks in the shallows. Research later told me those were gizzard shad (aka skipjacks). There were also tons of 3-4" bluegills in the shallows and a boatload of turtles. I was back to worms again, but since those weren't working, I tried my two spinner baits, my silver/yellow rattletrap(?), a jighead with a blue/gray sparkle grub. Nope to it all. I spoke with an old-timer who was on his way out from the docks. He said the fish in the main channel are biting at 28-36' deep, so right at that spot, I was screwed anyway. Best I can do is like 7' deep with a bobber.
Wednesday: Bank fishing. Another cool and foggy morning. Another morning of not catching fish. I started out fishing around a cove off a creek that feeds into a tributary of the main lake. Recently, Hubs and I discovered a function of the MDC website where it shows exactly where the state has placed what they call 'fish enhancers' - hardwood branches, evergreen trees, etc. One of them happens to be in that cove. I tried all of the lures I'd tried previously with no success. I also tried a fake crawfish. Still nope. Went back to worms and got some serious bites, but no fish. I am suspicious those bites might've been turtles. I fished there from about 8am to 9:15am. Then I went elsewhere. Back to the ledges off the main body of TLR. Back to my old standby spot. I saw a ton of bass jumping. I saw a ton of bass in the water. I saw something BIG that I couldn't identify moving through the shallows. But caught zip. And my pretty pink reel died, which seriously harshed my morning considering I only had the one pole with me. It would cast out, but then it wouldn't reel back in without some serious juju moves. I gave up and went home around 10:15am.
Thursday: No fishing, but I did pick up a new reel at Wallyworld. It's a Shakespeare to replace my other Shakespeare - albeit not the same model. And this one is red, which kinda goes with my pink rod but not quite. Fashion faux pas but the fish won't care. I also picked up several new lures, more hooks, more sinkers... Stuffs for fishing.
Friday: The weather was totally gross - which is supposed to be good for fishing, right? So I went to the place where I had good luck earlier in the year when the weather was gross. This was another spot where a stream comes into a tributary to the main lake. This spot is filled with old dead trees. Perfect bass locale, right? I tried the new lures - a red rattletrap that is painted to look like a crawdad, a diver made to look like a baby shad, and a white buzzbait. I tried old lures. I tried nightcrawlers. The only things I got was wind-blown and cold. (The temp started out at 68F and fell to 56F in the course of an hour with gusts to 50-60 mph. It was harsh out there.) I went home, drank cocoa, ate soup for breakfast, and warmed up. Then I went back out. Tried a different locale, fishing the main channel of a tributary, with worms set about 7' deep then a couple different lures. Yeah, still nothing.
When exactly am I supposed to start experiencing all this awesome 'fall fishing' I keep hearing about? BTW, the new reel is like butter. And Hubs managed to fix the old reel so we now have a backup. Woo.
Saturday: Hubs and I took the boat out. It's one of those no-frills 15' flat bottom bass boats with a smallish motor. It's also got a trolling thing and a low-end fish finder thingie. Anyway, it was 42 degrees F when we put in at the lake and putted over to one of the tributaries. The water was 62 degrees F. We went about 2/3rds of the way down to where the creek is stopped at the road. Mostly what we were doing was getting used to the boat and the depths and the trolling. My set up was my largest hook (#2, I think) with a big, fat Canadian nightcrawler. (That's what they sell down here.) No bobber. I put on a medium sized teardrop sinker and dropped it over the side. I let it sink until the line went slack (meaning it was on the bottom), then I reeled it up about a foot. When we started, I think we were in about 9 feet of water. As we trolled/drifted, the water got deeper and at about 15 feet deep, I got my first hits. At about 20 feet, when the water was 63 degrees F, I caught my first fish - a 13" largemouth. Then we drifted to the other side of the creek. No hits deeper. On the other side, I caught my second fish - a 14" largemouth in about 22 feet of water. (Both fish went back, of course. Dang it.) Throughout the morning, we went from deeper to shallower. Hubs had a bass on a white diver lure, but it got off. I had another bass on my worm, but it threw the hook about 4 feet from the boat. Nothing was biting by shortly after noon, so we called it a day. A successful trip all the way around. We're getting the hang of the boat and locating where the fish are. Right now, they're hanging out in 15-23 feet of water to either side of the main creek channel. Which totally explains why I haven't been catching anything from the bank. I can't cast out far enough or go that deep with a bobber.
Tuesday: Bank fishing again. This time I went to a spot on the main channel of TRL in hopes that maybe the last of the cool weather and the morning fog would've driven the bass in shallower. It did. I saw a lot of fish. Didn't catch a danged one, but they were out there. Bass of all sizes - largemouth and spots mostly, but I did see one smallmouth. One big hog of a largemouth jumped right next to my bobber which was about 4' from the boat dock. Dang it. I also saw several schools of 9-13" silver fish feeding along the rocks in the shallows. Research later told me those were gizzard shad (aka skipjacks). There were also tons of 3-4" bluegills in the shallows and a boatload of turtles. I was back to worms again, but since those weren't working, I tried my two spinner baits, my silver/yellow rattletrap(?), a jighead with a blue/gray sparkle grub. Nope to it all. I spoke with an old-timer who was on his way out from the docks. He said the fish in the main channel are biting at 28-36' deep, so right at that spot, I was screwed anyway. Best I can do is like 7' deep with a bobber.
Wednesday: Bank fishing. Another cool and foggy morning. Another morning of not catching fish. I started out fishing around a cove off a creek that feeds into a tributary of the main lake. Recently, Hubs and I discovered a function of the MDC website where it shows exactly where the state has placed what they call 'fish enhancers' - hardwood branches, evergreen trees, etc. One of them happens to be in that cove. I tried all of the lures I'd tried previously with no success. I also tried a fake crawfish. Still nope. Went back to worms and got some serious bites, but no fish. I am suspicious those bites might've been turtles. I fished there from about 8am to 9:15am. Then I went elsewhere. Back to the ledges off the main body of TLR. Back to my old standby spot. I saw a ton of bass jumping. I saw a ton of bass in the water. I saw something BIG that I couldn't identify moving through the shallows. But caught zip. And my pretty pink reel died, which seriously harshed my morning considering I only had the one pole with me. It would cast out, but then it wouldn't reel back in without some serious juju moves. I gave up and went home around 10:15am.
Thursday: No fishing, but I did pick up a new reel at Wallyworld. It's a Shakespeare to replace my other Shakespeare - albeit not the same model. And this one is red, which kinda goes with my pink rod but not quite. Fashion faux pas but the fish won't care. I also picked up several new lures, more hooks, more sinkers... Stuffs for fishing.
Friday: The weather was totally gross - which is supposed to be good for fishing, right? So I went to the place where I had good luck earlier in the year when the weather was gross. This was another spot where a stream comes into a tributary to the main lake. This spot is filled with old dead trees. Perfect bass locale, right? I tried the new lures - a red rattletrap that is painted to look like a crawdad, a diver made to look like a baby shad, and a white buzzbait. I tried old lures. I tried nightcrawlers. The only things I got was wind-blown and cold. (The temp started out at 68F and fell to 56F in the course of an hour with gusts to 50-60 mph. It was harsh out there.) I went home, drank cocoa, ate soup for breakfast, and warmed up. Then I went back out. Tried a different locale, fishing the main channel of a tributary, with worms set about 7' deep then a couple different lures. Yeah, still nothing.
When exactly am I supposed to start experiencing all this awesome 'fall fishing' I keep hearing about? BTW, the new reel is like butter. And Hubs managed to fix the old reel so we now have a backup. Woo.
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Thursday This n That
I was so prepared to sit a jury this week that yesterday I was at a total loss for things to do. I'd already done the grocery shopping. I had every post this week but this one written and scheduled. The house was pretty clean. And I don't write during the day, so there I was. At a loss. So I wrote this post and then went fishing.
A shrew's heart beats 1300 times a minute when it's excited or nervous. Can you imagine? It's like a furry little hummingbird. You know, that is venomous and eats meat.
Which reminds me. There was this hokey old horror movie called "Killer Shrews". They were man-sized and were either played by guys in bad costumes or dogs in bad costumes. It starred that guy who played the sheriff on the original Dukes of Hazzard. Totally horrible old movie that's worth watching for the laugh factor.
It's been freaking hot here for a November in Missouri. It's totally harshing my fishing, but it's nice not to be freezing my hiney off. This coming weekend, though, right back down to chilly-cold. I hate roller coaster weather. I'm writing this in warm clothes, but I'll probably be in shorts by the end of the day and back bundled up in sweats and fleecies on Friday. Make up your freakin' mind, Mother Nature. Sheesh.
Okay, well, that's all I've got for today. The sun's starting to come up and I need to get moving.
What's on your this n that radar today?
A shrew's heart beats 1300 times a minute when it's excited or nervous. Can you imagine? It's like a furry little hummingbird. You know, that is venomous and eats meat.
Which reminds me. There was this hokey old horror movie called "Killer Shrews". They were man-sized and were either played by guys in bad costumes or dogs in bad costumes. It starred that guy who played the sheriff on the original Dukes of Hazzard. Totally horrible old movie that's worth watching for the laugh factor.
It's been freaking hot here for a November in Missouri. It's totally harshing my fishing, but it's nice not to be freezing my hiney off. This coming weekend, though, right back down to chilly-cold. I hate roller coaster weather. I'm writing this in warm clothes, but I'll probably be in shorts by the end of the day and back bundled up in sweats and fleecies on Friday. Make up your freakin' mind, Mother Nature. Sheesh.
Okay, well, that's all I've got for today. The sun's starting to come up and I need to get moving.
What's on your this n that radar today?
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Thoughts
I have no illusions that anything I say here will affect anything anyone thinks or believes or how anyone acts, but, I'm in a Quixotic mood, so here goes...
The world would be a better place if...
... People minded their own business.
... People kept their hands to themselves
... Everyone remembered the maxim 'if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all'
... We all understood that the smallest minority on Earth is the individual and behaved accordingly.
... Individuals embraced ML King's idea of judging a man by the content of his character not the color of his skin
... We remembered the other maxim 'sticks and stone can break your bones, but words can never hurt you'
... The media stopped trying to stir everything up
... People stopped letting the media stir them up.
... We embraced the idea of private property, and my mother's maxim of 'if it doesn't belong to you, don't touch it'
There are others, but I think that's all I've got for right now. Anything to add?
The world would be a better place if...
... People minded their own business.
... People kept their hands to themselves
... Everyone remembered the maxim 'if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all'
... We all understood that the smallest minority on Earth is the individual and behaved accordingly.
... Individuals embraced ML King's idea of judging a man by the content of his character not the color of his skin
... We remembered the other maxim 'sticks and stone can break your bones, but words can never hurt you'
... The media stopped trying to stir everything up
... People stopped letting the media stir them up.
... We embraced the idea of private property, and my mother's maxim of 'if it doesn't belong to you, don't touch it'
There are others, but I think that's all I've got for right now. Anything to add?
Sunday, November 13, 2016
Sunday Update - Week 45
Well, as we all know, the big news this week was that the US elected a new president. And then the US populace devolved into a weird, whiny-baby, bunch of freaks. (Okay, not the WHOLE populace... it just feels that way in the media - both social and regular.) And I spent a large portion of the week (and the weeks leading up to Tuesday) hiding posts and comments on Facebook, unfollowing, unfriending and blocking on FB and Twitter (or whatever the Twitter equivalent is.) Then I see this meme about 'I won't unfollow or unfriend or restrict you for your political beliefs because I am not an asshole'. Well, then I guess I'm an asshole. If maintaining my sanity makes me an asshole. If recognizing that someone is blatantly irrational and not wanting that in my life makes me an asshole. If realizing that particularly people are not enriching my life and are in fact doing the opposite makes me an asshole. If avoiding virulence and viciousness makes me an asshole. If all of that is how certain people feel about my actions, and want to believe I'm an asshole, I can live with that. Personally, I blocked anyone I thought was an asshole, unfriended the slightly less-so, unfollowed a few boobs, and hid the annoying posts from the mostly friendly people. (All of which I do on any given day anyway. It was just more prevalent recently.)
Other than that, I wrote about 5500 words. Got to lay some good stuff down in the way of foreshadowing. Added in some facts and conjecture. Overall made the mystery deeper and richer. Poor Dennis. Someone asked last week if the heroine from Accidental Death is in Natural Causes. The short answer is 'yes'. So is Dennis' partner.
I had a sale for Blood Flow Monday-Wednesday. As I whined about on Wednesday at Outside the Box, it didn't go as well as I thought it would. I think maybe I need to rewrite the blurb. And maybe change the title. Maybe at the beginning of next year.
For fishing updates, see my Saturday Fishing Report. The only thing not on it was the fishing trip Hubs and I took yesterday. We got the boat out for the first time this Fall. It was awesome. More details will be in next Saturday's Fishing Report.
Fall has... well... fallen here, finally. But it's supposed to get back up into the seventies this week, so it's not all the way here yet.
Oh, and before I forget, I am supposed to have jury duty starting Wednesday. I have to call Tuesday night to see if I actually have to be there or if it's been cancelled. I wouldn't mind being on a jury, but I hate the drive up to the county seat. Especially considering it's deer season and I have to be there early, which makes driving these hills and curves a bit more dangerous than usual. Thankfully, due to the time change, at least it will be light out when I leave. Here's hoping if I do sit a jury, it doesn't last too long. That would totally harsh my fishing.
That's it for me right now, I think. What about you?
Other than that, I wrote about 5500 words. Got to lay some good stuff down in the way of foreshadowing. Added in some facts and conjecture. Overall made the mystery deeper and richer. Poor Dennis. Someone asked last week if the heroine from Accidental Death is in Natural Causes. The short answer is 'yes'. So is Dennis' partner.
I had a sale for Blood Flow Monday-Wednesday. As I whined about on Wednesday at Outside the Box, it didn't go as well as I thought it would. I think maybe I need to rewrite the blurb. And maybe change the title. Maybe at the beginning of next year.
For fishing updates, see my Saturday Fishing Report. The only thing not on it was the fishing trip Hubs and I took yesterday. We got the boat out for the first time this Fall. It was awesome. More details will be in next Saturday's Fishing Report.
Fall has... well... fallen here, finally. But it's supposed to get back up into the seventies this week, so it's not all the way here yet.
Oh, and before I forget, I am supposed to have jury duty starting Wednesday. I have to call Tuesday night to see if I actually have to be there or if it's been cancelled. I wouldn't mind being on a jury, but I hate the drive up to the county seat. Especially considering it's deer season and I have to be there early, which makes driving these hills and curves a bit more dangerous than usual. Thankfully, due to the time change, at least it will be light out when I leave. Here's hoping if I do sit a jury, it doesn't last too long. That would totally harsh my fishing.
That's it for me right now, I think. What about you?
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Saturday Fishing Report - 11/12/16
Welcome back to the weekly fishing report for less than competent anglers. Since I am a less than competent angler, I might not be using the right terminology. :shrug: Sorry.
The fish are still biting sporadically on worms, which, by necessity, has encouraged me to try some lure fishing. I'm still not good at it - as evidenced by the lack of bites. Hubs outfitted my tackle box with some top-water lures, since we'd heard that the bass are biting on top-water first thing in the morning. I have a Rapala that looks like a 3" skinny minnow and has a small spoon that gives it a little dive, but nothing overly deep. I also have two spinner baits - one totally white with what looks like a hula skirt and one without a skirt that's neon yellow. I also have a lure that looks like a fatter fish that's silver and yellow/green. That one is deeper, but I tried it, too. Also, I tried some artificial grub things with a weighted head in sparkly gray & blue, and sparkly white with a yellow head.
I tried them all at varying speeds and different jerk rates, but nada.
Hubs went with me on election day. He was using lures that looked like fish, ones that look like crawdads, spinners, spoons, etc. Caught a small spotted bass, but still nothing major. He did have something big chase one lure in a cove, but it didn't bite.
We need to be in a boat, but since we aren't doing that right now, we're not really catching anything of note.
I did catch a nice bluegill on a worm. I had to go with the next to smallest hook in my box because they were stripping the worms off bigger hooks. On the upside, I got to try out my new fillet knife. It was like butter. That fish is now filleted and in the freezer. I also caught a small bass and some okay pumpkinseeds - again with worms. All of those are back in the lake.
Out again today. I'll let you know how that goes next week. Until then, have a great week and go drown some worms.
The fish are still biting sporadically on worms, which, by necessity, has encouraged me to try some lure fishing. I'm still not good at it - as evidenced by the lack of bites. Hubs outfitted my tackle box with some top-water lures, since we'd heard that the bass are biting on top-water first thing in the morning. I have a Rapala that looks like a 3" skinny minnow and has a small spoon that gives it a little dive, but nothing overly deep. I also have two spinner baits - one totally white with what looks like a hula skirt and one without a skirt that's neon yellow. I also have a lure that looks like a fatter fish that's silver and yellow/green. That one is deeper, but I tried it, too. Also, I tried some artificial grub things with a weighted head in sparkly gray & blue, and sparkly white with a yellow head.
I tried them all at varying speeds and different jerk rates, but nada.
Hubs went with me on election day. He was using lures that looked like fish, ones that look like crawdads, spinners, spoons, etc. Caught a small spotted bass, but still nothing major. He did have something big chase one lure in a cove, but it didn't bite.
We need to be in a boat, but since we aren't doing that right now, we're not really catching anything of note.
I did catch a nice bluegill on a worm. I had to go with the next to smallest hook in my box because they were stripping the worms off bigger hooks. On the upside, I got to try out my new fillet knife. It was like butter. That fish is now filleted and in the freezer. I also caught a small bass and some okay pumpkinseeds - again with worms. All of those are back in the lake.
Out again today. I'll let you know how that goes next week. Until then, have a great week and go drown some worms.
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Thursday This n That
I was watching Worst Cooks in America last night and they were doing a wrap-up kind of thing where they had clips of the worst in categories. I was totally amazed by the woman who didn't know how to use a knife. She tried cutting with the protective sleeve on first. Then she tried cutting with the dull side of the knife. It was tragic. How did that poor woman ever eat before she got on that show? Or was it all make believe for the viewers?
Yes, I am a bit cynical.
No. I won't talk about the election. I have my reasons. I did see someone get crazy-ass mad at a writer for posting something lighthearted on their Facebook wall. Something like 'I don't want to talk about the election so tell me if you like grape jelly or strawberry jelly'. (Not that, but something as innocuous.) And this other person totally went OFF. It was bizarre. And a little scary. And I didn't know the crazy person, but I totally blocked them. Don't need anymore cray-cray. Had enough when I was younger.
So, anyway, I went for a walk yesterday to get away from the post-election crazy. It was awesome. I didn't take the fishing poles, but I walked along the lake in a place I'd never walked before. Kind of not the smartest plan I ever had because the rocky shore was totally unstable, and just about every step felt like I would start a slide that would tumble me into the water. But it was AWESOME. Here's where I was...
That's all usually underwater up to the vegetation line, but the lake level is so low this year. I don't know if you can tell, but that's all big rocks. I can't wait to fish there in the boat when the water level rises. Basstravaganza!
This time change is killing me. I've been up before 4 every morning since it changed. Sleep later, my ass. Damn Ben Franklin for thinking of this. Damn whoever it was that implemented it during WWI. Damn Congress for not getting rid of it a long time ago.
I need more coffee. Always.
How's the this n that for you this week? And, please, no election stuff. I've had more than my fill.
Yes, I am a bit cynical.
No. I won't talk about the election. I have my reasons. I did see someone get crazy-ass mad at a writer for posting something lighthearted on their Facebook wall. Something like 'I don't want to talk about the election so tell me if you like grape jelly or strawberry jelly'. (Not that, but something as innocuous.) And this other person totally went OFF. It was bizarre. And a little scary. And I didn't know the crazy person, but I totally blocked them. Don't need anymore cray-cray. Had enough when I was younger.
So, anyway, I went for a walk yesterday to get away from the post-election crazy. It was awesome. I didn't take the fishing poles, but I walked along the lake in a place I'd never walked before. Kind of not the smartest plan I ever had because the rocky shore was totally unstable, and just about every step felt like I would start a slide that would tumble me into the water. But it was AWESOME. Here's where I was...
This time change is killing me. I've been up before 4 every morning since it changed. Sleep later, my ass. Damn Ben Franklin for thinking of this. Damn whoever it was that implemented it during WWI. Damn Congress for not getting rid of it a long time ago.
I need more coffee. Always.
How's the this n that for you this week? And, please, no election stuff. I've had more than my fill.
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
That's Offensive
I read the subject for a blog post that got me thinking again. It was something about writing books in such a way that they'd be inoffensive. (I didn't read the post, so it might not have been about what I was thinking it was about from that subject.)
Ummm...
I don't write books to purposefully be offensive. I also wouldn't write books to purposefully be inoffensive. I write books hoping readers will be entertained, and that they'll take something away to make them think (maybe). If, in the course of that book, someone finds something to be offended about? Well, that's on them.
The only person who can offend you is you. Know what ah mean, Vern?
All sorts of stuff offends me. That new commercial for something called V.I. Poo? (I thought it was a spoofy commercial, but it's not.) That offends me. The rise of people vomiting on TV shows and in movies? Yup. Offensive. That all sorts of things are now 'X-treme' offends me. I'm waiting for someone to die on live TV, and the thought of that offends me. I take it all as a slow slide into America's version of the Fall of the Roman Empire.
But that's me. When I run across something I find offensive, I change the channels, or Hide the post on FB, or unfollow on Twitter.
A while back, I had an editor ask me to correct something in Accidental Death. One character uses the word 'spic' to refer to Hispanics, and she thought that might be offensive to some readers. Well, of course, it's offensive. He's an offensive kind of character. I didn't put it in there to offend people. I put it in there to be true to the character he was. Needless to say, I left it.
In Wish in One Hand, I refer to Renee the receptionist as 'plump'. And I was asked to change that, too. I guess I never realized that plump is now offensive. I'm plump and I'm not offended, but that's me, too.
Anyway, different strokes for different folks. My point is that various people can be offended by various things and there's no way of knowing what will offend someone at any given point in time. Scrubbing your manuscript so that you won't offend people seems like a waste of time and as if it would water down the writing. But that's also me.
So, I'll leave you with these words from Shakespeare...
Which just goes to show that even Shakespeare was concerned with offending people. LOL, I wonder if that can be counted as the world's first disclaimer. ;o)
Ummm...
I don't write books to purposefully be offensive. I also wouldn't write books to purposefully be inoffensive. I write books hoping readers will be entertained, and that they'll take something away to make them think (maybe). If, in the course of that book, someone finds something to be offended about? Well, that's on them.
The only person who can offend you is you. Know what ah mean, Vern?
All sorts of stuff offends me. That new commercial for something called V.I. Poo? (I thought it was a spoofy commercial, but it's not.) That offends me. The rise of people vomiting on TV shows and in movies? Yup. Offensive. That all sorts of things are now 'X-treme' offends me. I'm waiting for someone to die on live TV, and the thought of that offends me. I take it all as a slow slide into America's version of the Fall of the Roman Empire.
But that's me. When I run across something I find offensive, I change the channels, or Hide the post on FB, or unfollow on Twitter.
A while back, I had an editor ask me to correct something in Accidental Death. One character uses the word 'spic' to refer to Hispanics, and she thought that might be offensive to some readers. Well, of course, it's offensive. He's an offensive kind of character. I didn't put it in there to offend people. I put it in there to be true to the character he was. Needless to say, I left it.
In Wish in One Hand, I refer to Renee the receptionist as 'plump'. And I was asked to change that, too. I guess I never realized that plump is now offensive. I'm plump and I'm not offended, but that's me, too.
Anyway, different strokes for different folks. My point is that various people can be offended by various things and there's no way of knowing what will offend someone at any given point in time. Scrubbing your manuscript so that you won't offend people seems like a waste of time and as if it would water down the writing. But that's also me.
So, I'll leave you with these words from Shakespeare...
“If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
If you pardon, we will mend:
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call;
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.”
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
If you pardon, we will mend:
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call;
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.”
Which just goes to show that even Shakespeare was concerned with offending people. LOL, I wonder if that can be counted as the world's first disclaimer. ;o)
Sunday, November 6, 2016
Sunday Update - Week 44
Back again for another week in review.
First off, I hammered down another 8500 or so words last week. I had hoped to be around 37K by the end of the weekend, but I'm at 32.5K this morning and I don't see me cranking 4500 words out today. Still, pretty happy with the progress.
Tomorrow, I will finally let the cat out of the bag about what I'm working on. I think it's old enough now it can survive being public. Risky for me at this stage, but I hate not talking about it.
For fishing news, see yesterday's Fishing Report. (I'm actually writing this Saturday night, because I might go fishing again in the morning.)
I didn't read anything this past week because my head was all up in my WIP.
Part of my time was wrapped up in Hubs' car. It has some kind of weird battery drain on the new battery we put into it in January. We took it to the shop - they can't find anything wrong with the alternator, there's no weird shorts or grounds or whatever. They said it had to be the battery. He took the battery back to the store. They ran a check on it and they couldn't find anything wrong either. So, we're letting the car sit. Next time he tries to start it and the battery is dead, we're yanking that puppy out, taking it there in my car, and I'm going to pitch a hissy. He will have a new battery by the time I walk out and we will not be paying for it. (I told Hubs to tell them they DID NOT want his wife coming down there. LOL)
Another big part of the week was raking leaves. Whoof. I swear there are more leaves this year... then Hubs laughs at me. Well, there could be more leaves this year. But he's probably right that it just feels like there are more leaves.
So, what was up in your worlds last week?
Oh, and before I forget... god, I'm so bad at marketing sometimes... Blood Flow will be on sale Monday through Wednesday. You know, the political thriller on sale for Election Day and all that. It'll be 99cents for the duration of the Kindle Countdown Deal. Not sure of the exact start and stop times - check your local listings.
First off, I hammered down another 8500 or so words last week. I had hoped to be around 37K by the end of the weekend, but I'm at 32.5K this morning and I don't see me cranking 4500 words out today. Still, pretty happy with the progress.
Tomorrow, I will finally let the cat out of the bag about what I'm working on. I think it's old enough now it can survive being public. Risky for me at this stage, but I hate not talking about it.
For fishing news, see yesterday's Fishing Report. (I'm actually writing this Saturday night, because I might go fishing again in the morning.)
I didn't read anything this past week because my head was all up in my WIP.
Part of my time was wrapped up in Hubs' car. It has some kind of weird battery drain on the new battery we put into it in January. We took it to the shop - they can't find anything wrong with the alternator, there's no weird shorts or grounds or whatever. They said it had to be the battery. He took the battery back to the store. They ran a check on it and they couldn't find anything wrong either. So, we're letting the car sit. Next time he tries to start it and the battery is dead, we're yanking that puppy out, taking it there in my car, and I'm going to pitch a hissy. He will have a new battery by the time I walk out and we will not be paying for it. (I told Hubs to tell them they DID NOT want his wife coming down there. LOL)
Another big part of the week was raking leaves. Whoof. I swear there are more leaves this year... then Hubs laughs at me. Well, there could be more leaves this year. But he's probably right that it just feels like there are more leaves.
So, what was up in your worlds last week?
Oh, and before I forget... god, I'm so bad at marketing sometimes... Blood Flow will be on sale Monday through Wednesday. You know, the political thriller on sale for Election Day and all that. It'll be 99cents for the duration of the Kindle Countdown Deal. Not sure of the exact start and stop times - check your local listings.
Saturday, November 5, 2016
Saturday Fishing Report - 11/5/16
Here we are again at the new fishing report for less than competent anglers.
First, let me explain something really quick. I try really hard to maintain some level of privacy online, which is why I don't talk about exact fishing spots. Last week, I said I was on the quiet side of Table Rock Lake. That's about all you'll get. I don't imagine that the fishing reports I give are going to matter much from exact spot to exact spot. Rocky ledges are rocky ledges. Pebbled beaches are pebbled beaches. Coves are coves. The fish don't have a map and don't care about the names we humans give to locales.
Okay, so here's the deal. The fish still aren't biting much, but they're out there. Okay, let me rephrase that... Keeper fish still aren't biting much. The little worm-stealing bastards are still out there and still stripping your worms if you aren't careful. And sometimes if you are careful. I have to reel pretty fast through the shallows or the baby panfish will strip those worms right the hell off the hook. I caught one of those Thursday afternoon - a pretty little green sunfish about 3 inches long - as I was reeling in. Nice to catch something, but ultimately pointless.
So, anyway, I did some evening fishing. The weather was cloudy and mid to low 70s with a little wind. Got to my spot about 3pm and packed it in about 5:30pm. Caught the little sunfish, a 5" bluegill, and a 13" spotted bass. Seems like where I was fishing has some kind of underwater drop off when you move from right to left along the shore. Left is ledges (which is why this is called Table Rock) and to the right is rocky beach. Where the two meet, the bed must drop down because as soon as the wind took my bobber past that drop, I got bites. And it's where I caught that bass. Which wasn't easy, lemme tell ya. I must've gone through a dozen nightcrawlers to catch that one fish.
I also did a bit of morning fishing earlier in the week. Got out about sunrise on a clear, cloudless morning - no fog. Started out at a beach type area with lots of sand and small pebbles that's totally underwater when the lake level is normal (which is about 4 feet higher than now.) Nothing was biting at all there, so I moved west until I reached where the beach ended and the ledges began. I fished as deep as I could go and as far as I could throw. Nothing was biting there until the rig got closer to the rocks. I caught a 9 inch spotted bass about 3 feet off the ledges and about 6 feet down. I think it also helped that right about then, the wind picked up, but I can't say that for certain. Well, about the time I caught that bass, I had to use the bathroom, and there is no bathroom where I was fishing, so I moved on. Did my thing and went back to fishing at that same place I always go - where I was on Thursday. The wind was gone by the time I threw back in and I didn't catch a single thing, but, man, was it pretty out.
Oh, yeah, and on Thursday, I tried some lure fishing. As I said last week, I totally suck at lure fishing. And I still suck, but if you don't keep trying things, you'll always suck at them.
I'm planning to go out again today. If the fog isn't too bad. It's still dark out, but I can see pea soup glowing under the street light. This week the temperatures are dropping, so it should be better fishing. :fingers crossed:
Have a great week next week and, if you get a chance, go drown some worms.
First, let me explain something really quick. I try really hard to maintain some level of privacy online, which is why I don't talk about exact fishing spots. Last week, I said I was on the quiet side of Table Rock Lake. That's about all you'll get. I don't imagine that the fishing reports I give are going to matter much from exact spot to exact spot. Rocky ledges are rocky ledges. Pebbled beaches are pebbled beaches. Coves are coves. The fish don't have a map and don't care about the names we humans give to locales.
Okay, so here's the deal. The fish still aren't biting much, but they're out there. Okay, let me rephrase that... Keeper fish still aren't biting much. The little worm-stealing bastards are still out there and still stripping your worms if you aren't careful. And sometimes if you are careful. I have to reel pretty fast through the shallows or the baby panfish will strip those worms right the hell off the hook. I caught one of those Thursday afternoon - a pretty little green sunfish about 3 inches long - as I was reeling in. Nice to catch something, but ultimately pointless.
So, anyway, I did some evening fishing. The weather was cloudy and mid to low 70s with a little wind. Got to my spot about 3pm and packed it in about 5:30pm. Caught the little sunfish, a 5" bluegill, and a 13" spotted bass. Seems like where I was fishing has some kind of underwater drop off when you move from right to left along the shore. Left is ledges (which is why this is called Table Rock) and to the right is rocky beach. Where the two meet, the bed must drop down because as soon as the wind took my bobber past that drop, I got bites. And it's where I caught that bass. Which wasn't easy, lemme tell ya. I must've gone through a dozen nightcrawlers to catch that one fish.
I also did a bit of morning fishing earlier in the week. Got out about sunrise on a clear, cloudless morning - no fog. Started out at a beach type area with lots of sand and small pebbles that's totally underwater when the lake level is normal (which is about 4 feet higher than now.) Nothing was biting at all there, so I moved west until I reached where the beach ended and the ledges began. I fished as deep as I could go and as far as I could throw. Nothing was biting there until the rig got closer to the rocks. I caught a 9 inch spotted bass about 3 feet off the ledges and about 6 feet down. I think it also helped that right about then, the wind picked up, but I can't say that for certain. Well, about the time I caught that bass, I had to use the bathroom, and there is no bathroom where I was fishing, so I moved on. Did my thing and went back to fishing at that same place I always go - where I was on Thursday. The wind was gone by the time I threw back in and I didn't catch a single thing, but, man, was it pretty out.
Oh, yeah, and on Thursday, I tried some lure fishing. As I said last week, I totally suck at lure fishing. And I still suck, but if you don't keep trying things, you'll always suck at them.
I'm planning to go out again today. If the fog isn't too bad. It's still dark out, but I can see pea soup glowing under the street light. This week the temperatures are dropping, so it should be better fishing. :fingers crossed:
Have a great week next week and, if you get a chance, go drown some worms.
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Thursday This n That
I've been answering political polls on the phone lately. Okay, so the first one, I picked up the phone and shouted WHAT? because that same number had come up on our caller ID three times that day. But the young man was very nice and just doing his job and clearly sounded terrified. Live poll takers this year must be really taking some shit. There's a job I definitely would not want.
Speaking of political crap, I stopped using Pandora until after next Tuesday. I don't mind the ads for the most part. When I'm in the groove, I can easily ignore them. But the political ads on Pandora are obnoxious and throw me right the hell out of my writing. I got the same one three times during a two hour writing session. That's when I closed the damn website and went to the CDs I have ripped onto my computer. Yesterday, I loaded a couple more CDs and built a playlist. Works for me.
My playlist for this WIP: Foo Fighters, Bush, Lit, Blink 182, Stone Sour, Better Than Ezra, All American Rejects, Breaking Benjamin, Evanescence, Fuel. For some reason, I like harsh music when I'm writing about murder. I pick 'angry girl' music for dystopian and pop/folk (Mumford and Sons, Lumineers, etc.) when I do urban fantasy.
A couple of days ago, we noticed buzzards hanging out off the edge of the yard again. After we pinpointed their activity, I went down. Within about twenty feet I could tell by the smell what was so attractive to the vultures. I tucked my shirt up over my mouth and proceeded. It was a raccoon. We assume it was the raccoon we'd seen out during the day last week. He had been moving slow, but after I did some research into daytime raccoon sightings and symptoms for the major diseases, I wasn't worried. Raccoons do sometimes come out during the day and raccoons with rabies or distemper lose their appetites. This bugger was munching away at the deer corn. He also wasn't staggering or drooling. So, not a big deal. But he must've had something wrong because we have a dead raccoon. The vulture activity is over now, which I guess means the carcass is gone. Ah, life in the woods.
What's on your this n that radar today?
Speaking of political crap, I stopped using Pandora until after next Tuesday. I don't mind the ads for the most part. When I'm in the groove, I can easily ignore them. But the political ads on Pandora are obnoxious and throw me right the hell out of my writing. I got the same one three times during a two hour writing session. That's when I closed the damn website and went to the CDs I have ripped onto my computer. Yesterday, I loaded a couple more CDs and built a playlist. Works for me.
My playlist for this WIP: Foo Fighters, Bush, Lit, Blink 182, Stone Sour, Better Than Ezra, All American Rejects, Breaking Benjamin, Evanescence, Fuel. For some reason, I like harsh music when I'm writing about murder. I pick 'angry girl' music for dystopian and pop/folk (Mumford and Sons, Lumineers, etc.) when I do urban fantasy.
A couple of days ago, we noticed buzzards hanging out off the edge of the yard again. After we pinpointed their activity, I went down. Within about twenty feet I could tell by the smell what was so attractive to the vultures. I tucked my shirt up over my mouth and proceeded. It was a raccoon. We assume it was the raccoon we'd seen out during the day last week. He had been moving slow, but after I did some research into daytime raccoon sightings and symptoms for the major diseases, I wasn't worried. Raccoons do sometimes come out during the day and raccoons with rabies or distemper lose their appetites. This bugger was munching away at the deer corn. He also wasn't staggering or drooling. So, not a big deal. But he must've had something wrong because we have a dead raccoon. The vulture activity is over now, which I guess means the carcass is gone. Ah, life in the woods.
What's on your this n that radar today?
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
NaNoWriMo 2016
Today is the first day of National Novel Writing Month. This is the month we celebrate writing and one way we do that is by cranking out at least 50,000 words in 30 days. It's a madcap race filled with daily sprints to reach the marathon end. I've done this off and on plenty of times over the years. Sometimes I did it officially at the website created by the NaNoWriMo people. Sometimes I did it unofficially because I was already in the middle of a book and just wanted to use the month to get a boatload of words out.
That last thing is me this year. I'll be doing daily sprints to get this book I'm working on finished by the end of November. If that means another 50K words, then it does. If it means 40K or 60K, well it is what it is. As long as the first draft is done by 12/1/16, I'll be happy.
I was sitting here this morning trying to figure out which of my books was a NaNo novel. Officially, the only one y'all would be familiar with is Fertile Ground. Unofficially, I'm fairly certain that Wish in One Hand in its first incarnation was a NaNo novel. (It's original incarnation is a totally different book, btw.) I wrote In Deep Wish in what I called HoHoWriMo, because I was jammed in November, so I pushed the 50K in 30 days to December.
If you've never done it, I totally recommend it. It's a freeing kind of thing. In order to accomplish that many words in that short a time, you have to just write. No editing. No overthinking. Put the words down on paper. You can always edit them when you're finished. But, like I've said before, you can't edit what you haven't written, so get writing. LOL
If you're not a writer, I still recommend it. Open a file and start typing. Don't worry about structure. Don't worry about plot. Hell, don't even worry too much about getting all the bits right. Just write. You might surprise yourself.
Or to paraphrase a bit from The Carpenters... "Don't worry that it's not good enough for anyone else to read. Just write. Write a book."
And on that note, I'll leave you with this starting point for my current work in progress. I am sitting at 26772 as of this moment. A finished first draft for me is usually 60-75K. We'll see how many words it takes to do this story justice and whether I'll be sitting here on December 1st with a completed novel. :fingers crossed:
Are you doing NaNo this year? If so, good luck! You can do it! Have you ever done NaNo? Would you consider it if you were in the right place for it?
That last thing is me this year. I'll be doing daily sprints to get this book I'm working on finished by the end of November. If that means another 50K words, then it does. If it means 40K or 60K, well it is what it is. As long as the first draft is done by 12/1/16, I'll be happy.
I was sitting here this morning trying to figure out which of my books was a NaNo novel. Officially, the only one y'all would be familiar with is Fertile Ground. Unofficially, I'm fairly certain that Wish in One Hand in its first incarnation was a NaNo novel. (It's original incarnation is a totally different book, btw.) I wrote In Deep Wish in what I called HoHoWriMo, because I was jammed in November, so I pushed the 50K in 30 days to December.
If you've never done it, I totally recommend it. It's a freeing kind of thing. In order to accomplish that many words in that short a time, you have to just write. No editing. No overthinking. Put the words down on paper. You can always edit them when you're finished. But, like I've said before, you can't edit what you haven't written, so get writing. LOL
If you're not a writer, I still recommend it. Open a file and start typing. Don't worry about structure. Don't worry about plot. Hell, don't even worry too much about getting all the bits right. Just write. You might surprise yourself.
Or to paraphrase a bit from The Carpenters... "Don't worry that it's not good enough for anyone else to read. Just write. Write a book."
And on that note, I'll leave you with this starting point for my current work in progress. I am sitting at 26772 as of this moment. A finished first draft for me is usually 60-75K. We'll see how many words it takes to do this story justice and whether I'll be sitting here on December 1st with a completed novel. :fingers crossed:
Are you doing NaNo this year? If so, good luck! You can do it! Have you ever done NaNo? Would you consider it if you were in the right place for it?
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