Thursday, August 31, 2017

Thursday This n That

My computer's starting to make weird noises when I have certain web pages open.  Not sure what that's all about.  Too much of a load, I guess.  :shrug:

We had a new group of dark colored deer show up in the yard a couple days ago.  They all appear to have shed their summer coats already and the fawn traveling with them has no spots.  =oO

In case you missed it, a couple weeks ago I had a run-in with the park host wherein he went all Barney Fife on me.  I have since learned that other locals have also had run-ins with that particular park host.  And I also learned he is being moved out of this park to another park for the remainder of the season.  The move was supposed to be yesterday, so we'll see.  He really needs to find somewhere more suited to his personality.  We're way laid back here and I don't think he had the temperament.

Yesterday when Hubs and I were finishing weeding, he called me over to where he was working to look at a snake.  It was a little bitty baby snake.  He wasn't sure if it was an earthworm snake or something else.  I almost picked it up... and then I noticed the shape of its head.  And then I saw the pattern in its skin.  So I grabbed a stick and waved it in front of the little snake's face.  It made like it was going to strike and hissed and junk.  Baby rattler.  Too small to have a rattle yet - maybe four or five inches.  I've settled on baby pygmy rattler based on size and pattern.  Timber rattler babies are bigger. 

I also saw a baby five-lined skink (they're so cute!), a big toad, and a large wolf spider. 

In case you were wondering, I really do love nature.

What this n that do you have for me today?

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Start Thinking

Yesterday on Outside the Box, I did a post with regard to writing that encouraged you to stop thinking.  Today, though, I thought I needed to do an opposite post in regard to living to encourage people to start thinking.

And I'm sure this doesn't apply to you, but here it is anyway.

You've got that big melon on your shoulders for a reason, and it's for more than keeping your ears at an attractive distance from each other.  Think. 

When presented with something online that seems in the least bit hinky... Think.

When presented with something that seems perfectly rational... Think.

Consider everything from every aspect.  Always.

It's a lot of work, I know.  Sometimes it's easier to simply accept what people are telling you.  But it's worth the work. 

Years ago, I had a close friend call me in a tizzy asking me to find out if something she'd received in her email, from a trusted source no less, was true.  I did some research and found a bunch of sites proclaiming the truth of what she'd been told.  And a bunch of sites denouncing it as bunk.  In the end, I figured out it was, in fact, bunk.  And I eased her mind.  (No, she did not have internet, so she couldn't have done the google-fu herself.)  Lucky for her, she was already doubtful enough to contact me.  She was thinking.

I have people tell me things all the time that sound suspicious.  'If you see a bobcat during the day, it must have rabies.'  Umm, no.  But I did the work and confirmed the truth.  'You've got fire ants in your tree.'  I didn't need to do research to debunk that one.  'There's a black panther living in these parts.'  Unless and until I see it, it's a myth.  'I had a mountain lion in my yard. Here's a picture of it's footprint in the mud.'  Umm, that's a canine track.  See the claw marks...

Anyway, those are simple examples, but I don't want to get into some of the HUGEly stupid political/social things I've heard recently.  And people are passing them around like a cold in a Kindergarten classroom.  Think. 

Because, really, we have enough ignorance in the world already.
 


Sunday, August 27, 2017

Sunday Update - Week 34

Wow, that week went by fast.  And in a total blur.

I wrote about 6000 new words on Early Grave last week.  It was like pulling teeth.  You know the writing is hard when I manage less than a 1K a day average.  But I think I'm on track again.  EG now sits at just over 41K words.

I didn't do anything else writerly.

In reading, I finished that Australian romance.  It was pretty good.  I also read the next book in The Cat Who series.  It was okay, but she's starting to make Qwill's opinions on 'issues' more apparent, and in my opinion, they didn't really have anything to do with the story.  More like she threw them in there to check some virtue signaling boxes.  I hate that.  I'll try one more book and see if it gets better.  If not, I'm done with this series.  Not sure what I'm going to read next.

My fall from back on the 18th has given me some spectacular bruises, and my ankle still hurts, but I'm getting around okay, so it's all good.  I even went fishing once and did some yardwork.  Mom suggested that perhaps I should've gone to a doctor to have it checked.  My answer?  Why?  Pay a bunch of money for x-rays to have her tell me it's a sprain?  Pay her more money for the awesome advice of keeping it elevated and staying off it.  And doctors can't do anything if I broke the HO.  So, that's that.  If it gets worse, I'll suck it up and go see the doc.

Like I said, I did some yardwork.  The moles or voles or whatever the hell they are did a number on my gravel path.  They made a big mound right in the middle of it.  So, I raked all the rock away, dug around a bit, and smoothed it all out again.  On the plus side, it gave me a chance to pull all the weeds in there, too.  I have no illusions I chased the critter away, but I'm disinclined to try more drastic mole/vole measures at this time.  Maybe I'll shell out the money for those sonic things down the road.

Yesterday, Hubs applied Tick-mageddon III for the year.  Once it's dried, I'll finish weeding the gardens and he'll weed the driveway.  Maybe today.  Probably tomorrow.  We'll see.

Okay, that the update from me.  How's about you?


Saturday, August 26, 2017

Saturday Fishing Report - 8/26/17

Welcome back to the Saturday Fishing Report.

Sorry I missed last week's report, but there wasn't a boatload to report anyway.  I did do some fishing, but I didn't catch anything worth talking about.  I did find a big largemouth dead on the shore.  Not very long dead, but in rigor and starting to just barely smell.  I moved it from where it was under a bunch of shoreline bushes to an open area where the vultures could get to it easier.  In the process I discovered what killed it.  It had swallowed a lure and, I'm guessing, choked to death.  I retrieved the lure.

Then Friday before last, I slipped on some loose gravel at the edge of a creek and deposited myself on my ass.  Messed up my ankle, made lovely bruises, totally trashed the interior of my tackle box which required quite a bit of untangled and reorganizing.  Anyway, the messed up ankle made it less than ideal to fish for a while, so I only got out once last week.

Thursday - Went out around 8am to my spot on the main lake.  It's an easier walk and I don't have to play mountain goat to get there.  Unfortunately, nothing was biting there and I had to use the facilities, so I thought I'd try the park.  I used the bathroom and drove around the park looking for a place to park where I wouldn't have to walk a mile on my messed up ankle.  Nope.  So I drove to my go-to spot.  Walked down to the ledges without difficulty, found a spot to sit, and cast out.  Lucky for me it was a cool day because those ledges are east facing and full sun first thing in the morning.  I still got pretty hot and sweaty, though, and for only three 5-6" bluegills.  Still, better than getting skunked.

I can't wait for fall fishing to commence.  I want to try that lure I pulled out of the largemouth.

Anyway, that's it for me.  Better luck next week, I guess.  Now that the weather is turning cooler, try to enjoy the out-of-doors, eh?  Your spirit will thank you.


Friday, August 25, 2017

Friday This n That

Because I forgot to post yesterday, I thought you wouldn't mind a Friday this n that for a change.

Actually, not much has gotten done this week.  I blame the eclipse. 

Yesterday, I saw a female cerulean warbler in my redbud tree. 

I also went fishing for the first time since my fall last week. 

People, as a whole, are silly nincompoops.  (Not specific individuals, but people.)  And I'm trying to laugh at them.  Which is good because if I did what I really wanted to do, I'd be in jail and they'd still be silly nincompoops.

I keep hearing people say the word height with a th sound at the end.  For some reason, it's irritating me.  It's HITE not HEIGHTH.  Then again, tons of people say ASHPHALT instead of ASPHALT.  And OFFEN instead of OFTEN.  :shrug:

There really isn't anything as peaceful and recharging as sitting on the edge of a body of water with no one else around.  Quiet, calm, still.  The sun on you, the breeze ruffling your hair, birds singing in the distance.  Ahhh.

Of course, then you have to go back and reconnect with the world which reminds you that the world is nuts.  Ah, well.

Okay, that's it.  I'm done this-n-thating today.  What this-n-thating do you have to do?

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

The Eclipse

I posted on FB about 10-12 days ago that I was officially sick of hearing about the eclipse.  I mean, come on.  They started hyping it up over a month ago.  It's not like Haley's comet, either.  There'll be another one in 2024.  (Which they are already hyping.  Ugh.)

I remember, back in 1979, doing the whole pinhole thing for school.  At that work making the damn thing and I didn't see anything.  Or at least I thought I didn't.  I think I was expecting something more than the changing of a circle of light on the back of a box.  Perhaps my 8-9 year old self had hoped of the projector being more like a projector and showing me a movie or something on the inside of a box.  :shrug:  I found it all so very anticlimactic. 

So when they started talking about the 2017 eclipse, I was all like 'meh'. 


I didn't actually 'see' the eclipse yesterday.  I wasn't planning on doing anything, but Hubs thought it would be cool to make a pinhole projector, so we did and we went outside to try to out and junk.  Once again, it was :yawn:  I mean, it was fun doing that with Hubs, but the actual spectacle was boring.  Then a little while later, when the sky started to get this weird semi-dusk look to it, we went back outside to try the pinhole thing again. 

And something kind of cool happened.  The concrete slab out in front of the porch was covered in these little fingernail moons.  I took some pics of them.  It was way better than the entire pinhole thing - then and now. 

I guess those people who were in the 'path of totality' and had those glasses got to see something really neat.  I guess I'd have to see it to get excited about it.  Maybe in 7 years I'll foot the bill for those glasses things.  I'm still not driving hundreds of miles to get into the path of it, though. 

Personally, I get more excited about rainbows.  You never know where one is going to be and then bam, there it is.  So pretty. 

Anyway, did you see the eclipse?  Was it everything you hoped it would be? 

Monday, August 21, 2017

Heterotopic Ossification

I know this isn't my usual blog fare.  I just felt the need to write this and leave it here for anyone who might be searching the webs for heterotopic ossification (HO) - because there really wasn't a whole lot out there from a personal perspective the last time I checked.  If it isn't your bag, come back another day.

First off, pretty much everything I have to say is anecdotal.  I'm not a doctor or a medical professional of any kind.  I'm also not a researcher.  I'm just someone who's lived with HO for 23 years.

Now, what is heterotopic ossification?  Well, HO (or as some might call it myocitis ossificans) means bone that has grown where bone doesn't usually grow.  Or, to put it simply, bone grows inside muscle and connective tissue.  It usually happens when you combine a significant soft-tissue injury with brain damage of some kind.  In my case, I had broken my thigh and banged my head.  The head injury caused me to grow bone inside my thigh muscles, my butt muscles, and a little through the spot where the leg meets the hip.  It's pretty gnarly-looking on x-rays but otherwise no one know just by looking at me.

There isn't a lot out there from a personal perspective because the majority of the people who have HO incurred a significant enough brain injury to make it hard to communicate in any kind of cogent way.  Me?  I got lucky.  I came back from it.  Few do.

But this isn't about that.

Last I knew, HO happens in about 25% of the head injury cases.  Of the people I went to therapy with back in 1994, only one other client had HO.  He was young man who'd been shot in the head and the arm.  The arm, of course, became filled with aberrant bone.  To the point where he couldn't straighten his arm from the 90 degree angle it was frozen in. 

Once it's there, it's there.  I have heard about certain surgeries to remove the aberrant bone, but I think that also involves removing a fair bit of muscle.  Damned if you do, damned if you don't.  I guess, if your HO is bad enough to the point where you can't function, losing some muscle wouldn't be so bad.  In my case, I was able to work around it.  One leg doesn't bend as far as the other and it never will, but I can live with that.

If your medical professionals catch it soon enough, there is a drug that can be administered to stop the bone growth.  If I remember correctly, it was called didronel.  Not sure if they're still prescribing it for HO.  Unfortunately, by the time you know enough about what's happening to you or your loved one, it's too late to ask about didronel. Personally, the medical professionals on my case in the hospital had no clue about HO, so nothing was done.  They assumed my frozen leg muscles were simple contraction and attempted to stretch the muscle free.  Which resulted in stretching my tendons instead.  When I finally got a doctor on my case who knew about HO, the stretching stopped and he gave me a therapy plan I could work with.

My symptoms were, from what I was told, heat and pain at the site where it was growing.  Chalked up to a potential infection and my broken bits, I assume. 

As I said, once it's there, it's there.  When the process stops and the aberrant bone is in place, it's yours for the rest of your life.  And no more will grow.  It's like other bone at this point.  Which means it's possible to break it.  A fact I learned the hard way only last year when I fell and landed on the butt cheek that's filled with HO bone.

When HO bone breaks, it's like any other broken bone.  Hurts like hell, makes you a little lightheaded and nauseous, creates glorious bruises... that kind of thing.  And there really isn't anything you can do about it.  I did read one place that they recommended splinting the affected bone, elevation, etc.  Not an easy thing to do when the bone you've broken is inside your butt muscle, let me tell you.  Also, like any other bone break, you'll be able to tell the weather with it.  I recommend Aleve and ice packs or heating pads, depending on the severity of your pain. 

I never got it x-rayed so I don't know if they can actually tell whether HO bone has broken.  I know I broke some because I felt the crack and the grinding when it shifted against itself.  (Plus, the symptoms.)  You can always check with your medical provider if you think you've broken your HO.  I don't go to medical providers about my HO anymore because over the course of two decades, I've gotten too many blank stares when I mention I have HO.  Like I said at the beginning of this, there's not a lot out there about it.  Which means it's not that high on the training radar.  I got lucky when I found a doctor who not only knew about it, but knew how to approach a therapy plan for someone who had it.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask - even if it's months after this was posted. 

(Any errors in this post are mine and mine alone.  If you want information from a professional, consult with your physician, neurologist, orthopedic specialist, physiatrist, etc.)

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Sunday Update - Week 33

Time again for another weekly update.  Yay!

My newsletter went out last night, in case you missed it.  If you did miss it and want a copy, let me know.  I'll forward mine over to you.  Or check your spam box.  It might be in there.

I sent Wish Hits the Fan off to JC last Monday.  Then I didn't do anything else of a writerly nature, unless you count some marketing stuff. I'm still trying to decide what to do next.  To write new words or to edit something I've already written, that is the question. 

I did a fair bit of reading.  Okay, it was only two books, but they each took a while.  First off, there was Bradbury's Illustrated Man, which is a collection of short stories.  Not my favorite Bradbury.  Then I re-read Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.  I read it once before about 15-16 years ago.  After all that time, I didn't actually remember any of the story but who dun it.  Still, a pretty good mystery.  Right now, I'm reading an Australian romance.  Not simply a romance set in Oz, but one written and published in the Great Southern Land.  It's pretty neat so far.  I love that I can get books from other places. 

Fishing happened.  I didn't put out a fishing report because frankly it wasn't that interesting.  I only caught a couple bluegills and a little bass over the four trips out.  And I fell on my ass, so I'm still smarting from that little bit of gracefulness.  You should see the bruises.  They're glorious.  I did find a dead largemouth. It was a keeper, too, which made me especially sad.  It had choked on a big lure.  I retrieved the lure and set the fish out where the vultures could get to it.  Waste not, want not. 

Somehow or other my email address has gotten on some kind of porn spam list.  Luckily, Gmail shoves all that crap into the spam folder for me.  Unfortunately, if real mail ends up in my spam folder right now, it's screwed because trying to search for a real piece of mail in all that vulgar crap takes more effort than I have the will to expend right now.  It's getting deleted in one fell swoop.  Thus, if you've sent me mail and I haven't responded, try again or leave a comment here on the blog that you sent me something and I'll try to catch it before it gets shitcanned.

Oh, I saw an eagle on Thursday morning.  It was hanging out with a bunch of vultures eating a dead fish (not the big largemouth I found - a different one) on the shoreline.  My initial thought was 'oh, look, a vulture with a white tail', but then my brain kicked in and I realized what it really was.  It really needs to keep better company.

Well, that's it for me.  Do you have anything to update this week?  How's things in your world?


Thursday, August 17, 2017

Thursday This n That

I heard yesterday that the local fugitive, let's call him Mr. Stabber, has this neat trick where he lays in the road to get people to stop so he can... I don't know, rob them, steal their cars, hurt them?  Anyway, I'm letting the world know right now that henceforth I will be running over anyone laying in the road in front of my car.  I am not interested in stopping and potentially getting myself harmed or killed, tyvm.  I will try to not roll over anything crucial to his life - you know, avoid the head and the chest areas - but I can't make any promises.  I'll also try to slow down enough so the impact is lessened, but not slow enough he can chase me on foot if I manage to miss him entirely.  Afterwards, I will stop at a safe distance and call 911 from my cell phone.  If he gets up and tries to come at me, I will run him over again. 

I'll still swerve for turtles, though.  If it's safe.  I feel bad for turtles, but I'm not willing to risk my life for them.

This is really a strange world we live in, ain't it?  Where men going about lying in roads for nefarious purposes.  Actually, in a related note, two people in the area have been killed recently because they were either lying in the road or sitting in the road late at night.  I assume drunk or stoned.  Possibly suicide by motor vehicle.  Stupid either way.  I feel really bad for their families and for the poor people who hit them.  They didn't ask to be the instrument of those morons' deaths.

I think anyone who wants to tear down a public statue is welcome to do so, provided they pay for the statue in advance and clean up after themselves when they're through.  And that the money they pay goes back to the people who paid for the statue to begin with - i.e. the taxpayers in most instances.  If it's on private property, tough luck.  Perhaps the owner would be willing to sell it.  As always, if it doesn't belong to you, though, don't touch it.  Whether you like it or not, whether it offends you, whether it hurts your sensibilities or your feelings or melts your special snowflake. 

Earlier this week, I was shaking rugs and one of them snapped back and hit me in the back of the hand.  Hurts like the dickens and now I have a bruise there.  Oh, the weird ways I injure myself.  LOL

Last night, we had a fourth fawn in the yard.  It was quite exciting as we thought we only had three fawns this year.  But the light doe, the one who was still pregnant when all the other gals had birthed, brought her little bitty baby to see us.  Yay!

What's on your this n that today?

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Ramping Up

Wish Hits the Fan is almost here.  I'm setting the release date as September 15th.  It's a Friday, so you can snag a copy and have something to read over the weekend. 

I have the cover now, so I'll do a big reveal tomorrow on Outside the Box.  By then I'll have a Goodreads listing up and afterwards, I'll splash the cover all over the place.  Right now, though, I'm giving some ARC readers a day to be the first people to see the cover.  (And I have to write the blurb, which is always a blast.)

So, anyway, I'm ramping up.  The rush of blood and excitement is upon me.  Formatting to be done, final touches and proofing to be completed, marketing stuff to put in place.  Woohoo.

This is the final book in the arc for Once Upon a Djinn.  If it ain't wrapped up here, it ain't gettin' wrapped up, if you catch my drift.  I'm still playing with the idea of writing more genie stories - with and without Jo - but time will tell. 

Anyway, I'm excited.  I hope you are, too.  And hey, if you were waiting to read these books until the storyline was complete, wait no longer.  It's a four book series, and this is book four.  Tada!

I can't wait for you guys to see the cover.  It's so pretty.  And I've been playing this morning making graphics for the series.  They're all so pretty together.  Squee!

By this time next month, I should be either a basketcase or comatose.  LOL

Sunday, August 13, 2017

Sunday Update - Week 32

Thirty-two?  That doesn't sound right, but that's what the internet says, so it must be true.  Then again, the internet has also starting saying a week begins on Monday, which is just wrong. 

Anyhooway...

Last week.  I really should try to write these posts when I'm actually able to brain. 

Writing stuff:  Well, actually it's more like editing stuff.  Writerly, to be sure, but not writing writing.  Deadline is tomorrow to have this back to JC.  I'm actually pretty close to being done with my work.  I have six crutch words left to weed through.  Let's not go into how many I had to start with.  Maybe I'll write that post for tomorrow's Outside the Box. 

Reading stuff:  I read two 'Cat Who' books last week.  I needed the total escapism in those. 

Other than fishing, I really can't remember too much of what happened last week.  Things happened and overwrote the data. 

Yesterday I remember pretty well.  I did all the 'like' weeding and decided I needed to get the hell out of the house.  Hubs had to go get feed, so I begged him to let me get the feed instead, which he graciously consented to.  (It wasn't that hard.  He's more of a hermit than I am.)  So, off I went. 

One of my stops was the local gas station for a beverage and gasoline.  While I was pumping gas, I noticed a state trooper standing outside the store, talking to one of the employees.  I thought maybe they'd been jacked or maybe someone did a drive off without paying.  Nope.  He was there because there's a fugitive on the loose around here.  Yay.  Not.  And the guy's been hiding in the woods around here since Monday when he stabbed / assaulted a couple people.  Apparently, he's a real woodsman type psycho, so he's been hard to find.  "Well, ain't that awesome," says the little woman who can't run and is frequently alone.  All fishing is suspended until buttwart gets apprehended. 

Then I went to town.  My first stop was the bookstore, because they aren't generally open when I'm in town, but I knew her new hours included Saturday from 10-5.  I would hit town around ten.  Yay.  Except when I got there, the store was still closed.  Argh.  So frustrating. 

I left there and drove out to a thrift store I hadn't tried yet.  I thought it was a Salvation Army.  Nope.  St. Vinny's.  It was nice and clean and the people seemed pleasant.  I got a couple books, which always makes me happy.  And I chatted with a woman there who loves books and genealogy.  So in my wheelhouse.  I ended up giving her a bookmark with all my books on it and she said she'd look them up.  Yay.

Then I hit Wallyworld, where the first thing I put in the cart was pepper spray.  (See above.)  Did minimal shopping otherwise there.  Picked up lunch at the KFC and the feed at the local feedstore, then went home.  Heh, you should've seen my little Cavalier all loaded with 300 lbs of feed.  I tell ya, taking those hills was interesting.  She's not used to carrying much more than me and sometimes Hubs & me.  Poor Cally.

The rest of the day was divided between weeding crutch words and talking with the Kid on the phone for her birfday.

Well, thanks for reading all the way through that.  Not much else happened.  How was your week?


Saturday, August 12, 2017

Saturday Fishing Report - 8/12/17

First off and totally unrelated to fishing... Today is the Kid's 24th birthday.  Here she is 23 years ago on birthday #1...
Such a happy baby.

Anyway, you're not here for that.  You're here for the Fishing Report, so here goes...

The water level on TRL is down to acceptable levels - somewhere between winter pool and summer pool.  However, due to the heat, most of the bigger fish have moved deep.  And the ones that are shallower aren't hungry. 

Since my encounter with Barney Fife, I've been a little loath to go to the park.  I detest confrontation.  I also detest parking by the bathrooms and walking with all my gear to the spot where I hike down to the spot where I can fish.  There are easier places to fish where I don't feel like I'm being monitored.

Lucky for me, it's been cloudy in the mornings.  I went out over the weekend to my go-to spot.  Caught a bunch of little bluegills.  Went back Monday.  Caught four little 'gills right off the ledges.  I did see a school of big bass in what I referred to as 'the grotto' at low lake levels.  They weren't biting.

Thursday, I sucked it up and went to the park.  I parked in the official spots by the beach and tried fishing there for a bit.  Nada.  I walked around to the cove near the boat ramp.  Nada.  I did see some big bass right in front of me in about 3 ft of water off the chunk rock.  They weren't biting.  I also got hung up on a submerged tree.  Broke the whole rig right the hell off and for the next ten minutes watched the bobber bobbing there while I tried to fish.  Then I figured it was irritating the hell out of me, so I went in after it.  Heh, it was deeper than I thought.  I ended up soaked to the hips, but I got my junk back. 

After that, I went to the go-to again.  Nothing was biting, but the sun was out and it was nice, so I put on some sun block and laid on the rocks, letting my clothing dry while I watched my bobber float downstream. 

That's it for me.  I have another editing push this weekend, so probably no fishing.  We'll see.  Meanwhile, have a great week!

Friday, August 11, 2017

This n That... On a Friday

I totally brainfarted out this week.  I didn't post blogs.  I didn't comment on blogs I usually comment on.  I'm not sure exactly what happened there.  I could throw out a lot of excuses, but none of them are true.  :shrug:

When I was fishing yesterday, I startled a great blue heron and then a green heron, but as I got closer to where I wanted to fish I noticed a bird that wasn't really interested in flying away.  It just stood there with its neck stretched up, kind of swaying.  I thought it was a bittern.  I've never actually been in close proximity to a bittern before, so I wasn't sure.  Oh, it was a bittern, but not the one I thought it was.  It was a Least Bittern.  The American Bittern is way bigger.  Funny little bugger.  It did eventually fly away, but I had to get within six-seven feet of it.  They stop and sway as a defense mechanism - trying to look like the reeds and marsh grasses they live in.  With their coloration, I could totally see a predator getting fooled.

I really need to stop trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with people.  It's like trying to teach a pig to dance.  Frustrating and irritating. And people wonder why I fish.  LOL

I've been reading a lot of Lillian Jackson Braun's 'The Cat Who' books.  They're not overly taxing.  They don't distract me from what I'm writing.  Easy stuff, people.  No clue what I'll do when I've read them all.  Start reading through my Andre Norton collection?  I got a whole box of her books at a yard sale years ago and never read them.  (Same thing with the Cat books - bought a box of them at a yard sale and dragged them here.)

I'm really fed up with The Food Network.  I mean, I'm still watching The Food Network Star - there's one episode left - but that's about it.  The only reason I'm still watching that is Jason.  He's awesome. 

Okay, that's about it for me today.  The coffee isn't doing its job this morning, and I've got adult stuff to do today.  Plus, I'm weeding crutch words out of my manuscript right now and that taxes my bwains.  (Bwains!  Bwains!)  But, the editing is due back to JC on Monday, so this will be over soon.  Until the next round.  LOL

Later days, dudes.

Sunday, August 6, 2017

Sunday Update - Week Something or Other

I really don't feel like looking up the week # right now, so there ya go.

Anyway, here's how the week played out, even if it does feel like some of this happened weeks ago.

I finished the first draft of Sleeping Ugly.  It weighs in at 53231 words.  Way short, I know, but trust me when I tell you I have a lot to go back and fill in on this one.

I've been working on the edits for Wish Hits the Fan.  Right this moment, I'm on pg 86 of the line by line stuff.  I plan on being to like pg 125 by the end of the day.  We'll see if those plans work out.  I should be farther along, but I took a few days off because I am a toad.  And, I guess, I work best when the deadline is like staring me in the face.  :shrug:  I'd like to have this part done by Wednesday so I can use the remaining days before my deadline to take care of the other issues.  Of course, next Sunday could see me working like a maniac, drinking tons of coffee and freaking out to get the whole thing done by the 14th. 

Still waiting on the final cover for WHTF.  When I get it, you'll see it.

I read a book last week.  Jennifer Lyon's Savaged Vows.  Finished it last night, as a matter of fact.  My review on Goodreads is up but it's super lame.  This was a book with loads of feels and I haven't sorted them all out yet.  When I do... if I ever do... I'll post a better review.

Got some fishing done, too.  Nothing like fresh caught bass for dinner.  Mmm.

Sent out the Kid's birthday package.  She'll be 24 this month.  Ugh.  Sometimes I don't feel old enough to have a 24-year-old.  Not today.  Today I feel like I could be her grandmother.

That's it for me.  What happened in your world last week?  Looking forward to anything this week?


Saturday, August 5, 2017

Saturday Fishing Report - 8/5/17

Hello again and welcome to the Saturday Fishing Report.

I'm kind of scatterbrained this morning, but let's see if I can rebuild the week.

Tuesday - I went out early - about 7am - and got to the ledges in the park.  It was raining, which was awesome.  I tried lured at first, but nothing.  Then I switched to worm & bobber.  Caught a 15.25" spotted bass (weighed in at 1lb 12oz) and a small bluegill.  Then nothing.  Took the bass home, cleaned it, and ate it.  Awesome.

Thursday - Went out about the same time to the same place.  It was a bright, shiny day, but where I fish is in the shade first thing in the morning, so it was all good.  Caught two small bluegills and saw a little mink.  Then I got Barney Fifed*.  If you're not familiar, it's when someone in a position of authority (usually a police officer, but not always) throws their weight around unnecessarily and acts bigger than they need to in order to prove their point.  It seems it's against park rules for people to park in official camping spots unless they're paying campers.  I always figured if it's empty and it says 'Available' (as opposed to 'Reserved'), I could park there - as long as I was prepared to move should an actual camper come along.  Anyway, a 'park host' told me I had to move my car and I said Okay.  Then he explained all the huge fines I could incur should I get caught by an actual park ranger.  And I said I'd move, again.  Then he told me how he was ex-law enforcement.  Then he told me how much the actual ranger loves to write tickets.  All while I'm packing up to move and hiking up the steep hill.  True, I did continue to talk - explaining my thinking and why I was parked there and making conversation.  Perhaps he thought I was trying to argue.  Then I get up to my car, and he's parked his little golf cart right behind it, as if I might try to flee.  I don't know.  I was kind of upset about the whole thing until I realized I'd gotten Barney Fifed.  Now I can look at the dude for what he is - someone who's feeling the pinch of having responsibility with little actual authority.  And for the record, I won't be parking in camping spots now that I know it's verboten.  The additional exercise will be good for me.

Anyway, I could've parked elsewhere in the park and hiked back to where I had been fishing, but I was down to one worm, so I left to get worms.  Then I decided to try a different spot.  Ain't no thing but a chicken wing.

Friday - it was cloudy and kind of cool, so I went to my old go-to spot.  The lake level is almost normal now, so the ledges over there are dry and the parking lot is dry and there's even some shoreline so I don't have to stand in the parking lot and try to cast past the trees.  Nothing was biting along the creek area, so I went to the ledges.  I caught so many bluegill, I lost count.  None of them were keeper sized, but they kept me hopping for a couple hours. 

That afternoon, I grabbed Hubs and we went back out to the go-to spot with a saw and a rake and a garbage bag.  He sawed up a pine tree that had fallen across the entrance to the ledges (during that tornado back in April), so it would be easier for me to get back there.  We hacked up some particular heinous thorny vines in the way.  Then we walked the shoreline picking up garbage.  It was a lovely afternoon.  We got outdoors, got some exercise, and helped make that beautiful spot cleaner.

Well, that's it for me.  Get outside if you can sometime this week.  If you see trash, pick it up.  If you bring it in, take it out.  That sort of thing.  See ya next week.

Thursday, August 3, 2017

Thursday This n That

I finished the first draft of Sleeping Ugly last night.  I'm pretty sure I'll have to rewrite the ending.  In fact, I'm positive.  It's lame.  Lame lame lame.

Lame words are better than no words.  And done is better than not done.

By my calculations, if I keep working on my edit notes at the pace I set yesterday (which was when I still thought I had a book to finish writing), I should have the line by line stuff done in 7 days, which will leave me time to work on some notes and the eradication of crutch words. 

I was one hot mama yesterday.  I did the banking, mailed packages, hit Walmart for groceries, picked up critter feed, did the dishes, edited 29 pages while making semi-homemade spaghetti sauce, made dinner, and wrote 3K words.  Go me.

I'm really tired today.  Not sure how certain people :cough:Silver:cough: do what they do every day.  Must be drinking better coffee than I am.  ;o)

My hummingbirds are little assholes.  To each other.  They never bother me.  But you know those pictures of hummingbirds gathered a feeder eating together.  Not here.  They don't share food.  One will actually sit on a branch of the nearby redbud to guard her spot.  If any other hummingbird tries to drink, she attacks them.  Of course, while she's chasing one away, another will sneak in for a quick drink.  Sometimes it a male guarding the feeder, but usually it's a female.  Vicious little buggers.  Fun to watch, though.

Our wild rabbits like to lay in the food pan while they're eating.  It's pretty funny.  Yesterday, there was one laying in the pan when Hubs went down to feed the critters.  He was all like "You're gonna have to move if you don't want to be covered in corn."  It finally hopped away, but it was hilarious.

Well, that's it for me.  What's on tap for you today?

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

It's August?

I'm really not quite sure where July went.  It seems like just yesterday I was bitching about the fireworks.  (Wait, that was yesterday.  They're still shooting them off here.) 

Anyway, I think I lost July because I was so focused on getting Sleepy Ugly done by the 31st.  I missed that deadline by probably a couple days.  It's all good, though.  I got the edits back from JC and from her edit notes, it sounds like Wish Hits the Fan was pretty clean.  We'll see when I dive in today.  I've decided to try finishing the first draft of SU while I'm working on edits for WHTF.  It might be crazypants, but it's not like I haven't done this before.  I can do it again.  Sure, I'm older and a little more scattered...

I remember July being hot.  I spent a lot more time indoors than out.  All my gardens need to be weeded bad.  It's hard to see the actual wanted plants between all the unwanted ones.  :shrug:  Better Homes and Gardens will not be visiting my place any time soon.  Like ever.

But July is gone.  Time to look ahead. 

I have to get the edits back to JC on the 14th.  I need to finish writing SU - sometime this week, I'm really close.  I need to think about some kind of marketing plan for the end of the month so people will be excited about WHTF.  The Kid's turning 24 this month.  I'll be getting the finished cover for WHTF and setting up a Goodreads page. 

Busy busy.  Don't talk to me about September.  Not yet.

How was your July?  How's August looking for you?