Spinning Wheels

So the fans are still drying out my carpeting, but things are pretty dry. I should be able to start reassembling my closet tonight. The plumber is set for Thursday morning and, with the long list of things that have been piling up, I think he'll be here for most of the day. DH will take the day off from work to be here with him.

I want my carpeting to be as dry as this desert-like lake bed. Go fans, go!

Our road is under reconstruction, the city is doing something with the sewer and water systems, so getting to the house is getting more and more challenging. Hopefully the plumber won't have any problems getting to us. If we were another block or two west, it could be quite dicey.

Since my AinA story is complete and happily received by my assigned friend, and since I have also happily received my own, I can concentrate on my classwork which I have been letting fall through the cracks. Between the Olympics, my AinA and the plumbing issues, I've barely had a chance to read through the class notes at all. That's NOT good since there is some really good stuff that's being passed on to us from the teacher and I really need to get this stuff into my system and make them a part of my writing thoughts. Another thing that I need to do is to start to get familiar with my characters for my NaNo. I tried the questionnaire-style character development method and that didn't work well for me. So I think I'll try to interview each of the characters. I might be more successful that way. Well...nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? At least I was able to get back to the treadmill again today. Yippee! Another mile closer to Rivendell.

AinA and Olympics

My AinA is complete, posted, and done. I never would have succeeded without the incredible assistance of Keiliss who generously beta read my monster twice! The final word count was extreme - more than 15,000 in nine chapters. This was certainly NOT what I had intended when I accepted the assignment in May, but as the story unwound, there wasn't any other way it could go. I just wrote the words, the story was already there just waiting for me to grasp it. I'm relieved that it is over, though. Now maybe I can work on some smaller writing projects until NaNo comes along.

Words float and I grab them....

On Sunday we went over to Cindy's house for a light lunch and to finish the final repair on her wall. It was fun seeing her and Jeni again, but after two hours we were more than ready to leave. I love Cindy and Jeni tons, but they own two large dogs - a Husky and a Golden Retriever, in an extremely small house. The living room barely has room for a couch and a chair, adding in the two kennels and the fact that the dogs bark or whine constantly...it's very uncomfortable. I love dogs, but these dogs are too big for their space. So as much as we liked seeing our friends, we couldn't wait to leave. I feel guilty about that, but that's the reality. *sigh*

Kimberly Rhodes was in her Fifth Olympics and won gold again in Skeet Shooting. Well done!

We are glued to the television (well, as much as I will allow myself to be glued) watching the Olympics. The archery has been great fun, and I've caught some of the Equestrian dressage. I've watched water polo, rowing, beach volleyball, and fencing. Also soccer, basketball, cycling, and the inevitable swimming and gymnastics. I'm having fun with table tennis and badminton, and the US got a gold with skeet shooting. She hit 99/100 targets - pretty incredible. Yeah - I'm having fun with the Olympics. Because they are showing events on so many channels I haven't had to stream a lot yet. I'm sure I'll have to eventually, but right now things are comfortable and a lot of fun. I'm happy...

Quick Notes and Thoughts

OK, let's start with the Olympics because I have the road race on behind me as I write this. The opening ceremonies last night were very fun. As some of my friends have mentioned, it was reminiscent of the "Scouring of the Shire" - the overthrow of a "peaceful and happy" agrarian society to one of the Industrial Revolution. Of course, mentions of famine, Lords and serfs, and land entitlement weren't mentioned at all. So, the Industrial Revolution takes over and then we pass on to a major segment celebrating the wonders of Britain's health care system. I'm envious of some parts of the system, but have enough friends who have had difficulties with getting adequate and timely care through the National Healthcare System that I am a bit skeptical. It was fun though. Mary Poppins was fun, the Queen and James Bond parachuting into the stadium was marvelous, and the way that the torch was lit - yeah. Those were all good. In the main, I enjoyed spending several hours watching the opening ceremonies.

I love the Queen, and her outfit was marvelous. She should smile a bit more, but she quite obviously has a wicked sense of humor.

The Queen was escorted from the palace by James Bond (gotta love it!) and they both leaped from a helicopter in the grandest entrance by a ruling monarch in recent history (even if it probably wasn't the actual Queen jumping from the heli). Great visuals and fun stunt.

I worked on my final edit of the AinA story and got to within two pages of the end. I will finish that this morning and then do a final read-through. Yes, I know I said that this last one was the final, but I'm getting a suspicion that I am flitting between standard and perfect tenses in a few places and that's a hard one for me to control well. So I'll take one more read-through - less for language and attitude and more for tenses. *sigh* I really wanted to put this one to bed...

Each national team was presented with an engraved copper vessel giving the nation's name and 2012 London Olympics engraved in the copper. These vessels were placed on stems that would channel gas and lit by the Olympic torch. They then began rising into a cluster - magical!

When all of the vessels converged, they made the torch - the Olympic Flame that will remain lit for the length of the Games. I just loved this - maybe it's the jeweler in me, or the love that I have for copper and flame, but this was magnificent.

My DH will have the TV on to Olympic sports for the next 2+ weeks. Thank goodness for equestrian, archery, and rhythmic gymnastics (yes, I like the ribbons and the balls and think that this part of the sport is incredibly challenging) and best of all, thank goodness for bike racing! I can pull away from the endless track and field and the water sports and races and find happiness in steeplechase :-) I admit, though, that I love the Olympics.

Editing and Deadline Crunch Time

I'm so tired I almost fell asleep over my keyboard while doing the final edit on my AinA story last night. I'm almost finished with this edit, then I'll consider it a complete story and my goal is sending it off by the end of the week. I need to move on from this magnum opus and write something shorter - LOL. I also have the MPTT Anniversary Story 90% complete. I wanted to have that posted yesterday, but I'm looking at another one or two days before it will be ready. I'm trying, but working without the Chickie is difficult. It means that I am the front-room person, the one who interacts with each customer walking through the door, and product still needs to be processed - received, packed and tagged.

So I'm concentrating on work things at work instead of being able to drop into the back room for a quick 5-10 minutes of working on a story or catching up with LJ or Emails. This is a real change for me because usually I can access my computer every two hours or so, even if just for a short time. But not now. That means that I have everything piled on me at night instead. Oook!

Thursdays are Project Runway nights and Season 10 started last week. I'm really not sure about many of the designers chosen for this season. There are some real babes in the woods here. But last week's winner was well deserved and there are a few strong contenders in this season's crop. It's a joy to see the show again in any case. I love Tim Gunn!

Time Problems and Rain

So I have my AinA story back from my marvelous beta reader, but getting the time to finalize the last bit of it is turning out to be very difficult. The program that I need to use is not installed on my laptop (and time at the shop without Chickie there to help out doesn't exist) and in the evenings, my DH is often sharing my computer den. I don't want him reading over my shoulder on this story, actually, on any story (reading over my shoulder drives me a bit crazy). If I haven't been able to do anything by Wednesday night I'll have to shift my schedule so that I can get something completed at a weird hour of day or night. I have to finish the last bit and send it on its way.

Thunderstorms are rolling in and we'll be under rain and lightning at least until 10 am. So I'll get wet running in for my morning coffee and oatmeal and then again when I go to the post office, take care of Chickie's cat, and run into the shop. But if it stops by 10am, I should at least have customers. It's odd, but for some unknown reason, Minnesota people will come to the shop if it is snowing and we are under blizzard warnings, but won't go out in the rain. Maybe they're afraid they'll melt?

The Century Theatre assassin was in court yesterday. He looked totally bizarre, very spaced out, orange hair and pop eyed. He reacted to nothing, almost as if he was drugged although that would be doubtful. The thing that really gets to me is how nice a guy he looked in his younger days. He looked very attractive and rather shy. And then he fell into a fantasy and snapped. The entire event is a tragedy, and the assassin is tragic as well. What a waste of lives...

Happy 115th Birthday, Amelia Earhart. I grew up hearing about the mystery of her disappearance and her unfinished flight around the world still captures the imagination of the world, so many years afterward. It's good to have mysteries in the world though, if everything was known how boring life could be...

Almost Finished

Many, many months ago.... OK, a few months ago... Anyway, at one time I accepted the challenge to write a story for an unknown person for the Ardor in August writing challenge. That person has since become an on-line follower and I have been hip-deep in my work for her. She requested a standard pairing, and my challenge was to figure out a twist that would bring a different perspective to this relationship.

It turned into a monster - fun to work on, but much longer than I had ever anticipated. I have a few more pages to edit and then can send the final off for my beta to take one more look at. And then I will read it once more and send it off on its merry way, allowing me the freedom to write something else. And that will be bittersweet.

I have to say that I've enjoyed this. Writing this ended up giving me a fairly good idea of what I can expect for NaNoWriMo and has made me a bit hesitant about taking on an O-fic for a challenge. But it's also been a marvelous journey in words and methods. I see improvement as I write and I know I can and will get better as I continue to practice. Isn't that what every story does? They allow me to practice and hone my craft?

I have to figure out what I want to write next while continuing to watch Le Tour de France. More Alps today...happy, happy me!!!

Dentist and the Big Mountains

So, today at 7:30 am I will be getting my semi-annual tooth cleaning and check. I have one tooth that bothers me on occasion and I'm really hoping that they don't find anything. I don't do well with dental work. In fact, it leaves me a quivering, frightened pile of protoplasm. Icky all the way around. But with luck I'll pass with flying colors and look forward to December as the next hurdle. I have to admit, my dentist is great and we are mutually determined to allow me to keep my own teeth for as long as possible. Here I am, tickling 60, and I still have all of my own teeth, so something must be working.

Le Tour in solidly in the Alps today and broadcast will start an hour earlier than normal (of course, I'll miss a good portion of the broadcast, see above for the reason). When I finally get to the shop I'll turn on Le Tour and my laptop and continue with the final edit of my AinA story. I want to be able to put this story to bed, but I also want it to be good for my friend and something that she will enjoy reading. At least, that's my goal.

I always loved the Scooby Doo gang. They had so much fun and no parents were around to call them back home just when things got interesting.

I have to take a look through my paperwork to see what story is next in line to write, but I also signed up for a course in Writing Mystery Stories that starts next week. Since the O-fic I'm working on for NaNoWriMo is a mystery, I'm hoping to get a better handle on the approach. I've written a few now, but nothing with the length of NaNo, so I thought a little more help couldn't hurt. At least it's worth a try - LOL. Happy Thursday!

A Break in the Heat

Finally our heat wave has broken. Last night around 6:30 pm a rainstorm passed through the area and dumped a wonderfully gentle but heavy sunlit rain onto us, dropping our temps from 102F (38.8C) to 88F (31.1C) in a few minutes. Another storm coming through in the early hours of the morning dropped the heat down even more. I can breathe again, I don't feel like a sticky piece of rubber baking on a hot sidewalk, I didn't stick to the sheets while sleeping, I'm SO relieved! This was a miserable stretch of days and we really needed the break. It's only July and we may still get some hot days, but I'm very happy about a weekend that will only have high temps in the 80's instead of the 100's. Yippee!

I did get a lot finished yesterday. I got a 100% on my final exam, I did three loads of laundry, I did a second run-through beta for Lai, and I finally finished my AinA, or at least it is ready for a serious edit. This turned into a monster story, one of my longest to date, but the characters insisted and Glorfindel actually GLARED when I suggested that he might want to be a bit less wordy or cut out a scene or two. Oy! So I'm well into the edit now and I'm pretty pleased with it. I also am fleshing out my LOTRO Community story for June which is a fixed length story of an arbitrary number. I chose 333 as my number. Why? Why not! It's been a while since I forced myself to write in snippets and I'm pleased that I gave myself the assignment. The story is almost written, it just needs a good ending and then shaving to fit the word count.

This isn't from my class, but it's such a pretty plot diagram...

I am still researching for my NaNoWriMo O-fic. I need to sit down with plotline outlines and start developing some character sheets for my main and secondary characters. That will be fun, so I hope I can start on that early next week.

And Le Tour de France hits the mountains today! As always, I am a total Tour geek, as I have been for many years. Yesterday's crashes pulled some serious GC contenders out of the run for Paris and the crashes on the flats over the past five days have played havoc with the general peloton completely. But Team Sky is protecting Cavendish and Team BMC is riding well for Cadel, and Fabian Cancellera had a full week in yellow. He'll lose the jersey today, but it's been a great ride for Radio Shack-Nissan. I'll have my TV on at 7am, and I hope I get the chance to see the prime time tonight also.

Heat Wave - Temper, Temper...

My goodness, what heat! The temperature is hot, people's tempers are equally hot, and I'm just one of many getting burned. It's unpleasant. As usual, I need to really understand that internet friends are just that - not real life friends, not friends with whom I have invested a lot of time and effort getting to know, not people that I always have a great deal in common with. It is unfortunate, however, when friendships crash and burn. I had one "friend" leave me in a huff yesterday and just had to shake my head. I was unfriended by her because I supported the privacy of another "friend". Ugh! It was ugly and so very unnecessary. But life goes on.

A broken friendship can become scattered pieces of your past.

I spent most of the day hunched over my keyboard trying to finish up my AinA piece. I feel good about it, but am looking forward to beginning the revision part. It really needs some serious trimming and a clear and serious look. I don't want it to be over the top, just reasonable and following sensible steps for a relationship. It's getting there, though, and I'm pleased.

I write at my keyboard. Are you a pen and paper person? If so, I envy you!

I started work on my fixed length fictlet also, but that one I'm not as happy with. Not that it isn't within the word length, but more because looking back at it with the harsh glare of (upcoming) sun, the topic I chose is really lame. Time to trash most of it and rewrite it. There might be one or two sentences and characters worth keeping for the re-do.

It's hot...hot...hot!

It's HOT! I had a wonderful breakfast with my friend Meaghan and her fantastic son Sebas yesterday morning, dropped her off at work, and then began working on my own things. But it's hard to think in this heat. I usually don't look forward to going to work, but I have A/C there, so today may not be as bad as it could be - LOL. Have a marvelous day!

One Down, On to the Next

I'm going to start out by wishing my country, the USA, a Happy Flag Day. On this date in 1777 the "Stars and Stripes" were officially adopted as the flag of our nation. Through good times and bad, good decisions and very questionable ones, this flag has flown proudly. The US may or may not be the best nation on earth in your view. All I know is that I am pleased to be living here and consider myself lucky that I was able to.



So, on to more mundane things. I finished the final edits on my LOTR Community Story and turned it in yesterday afternoon. I missed the html codes for one italic and I'll have to edit it when it is made public tomorrow, but I'm pleased with how the story developed. Because I was alone in the house I had the chance to read it aloud as a final edit and once again, that was extremely helpful. It's hard for me to do that on most days, but Wednesdays lend themselves to more freedom of expression. So, one mountain peak photo to celebrate the attainment of one peak (goal).



I then had a chance to spend time and catch up with my beta duties. I got the next chapter done for my friend and sent it on to her. She might be on vacation now also because I haven't heard back from her, but whenever she gets a chance to review - it's no rush. I've been working with her now for 2-1/2 years and we've worked out a good give/take. So, one more mountain peak because I accomplished another goal for yesterday.



So now I can dive back into my AinA story. I love writing to a challenge, it usually spurs me on to spread my wings and broaden my horizons. My only concerns with any fic swap of this nature is the potential for disappointing the end receiver. So I am reading and re-reading to do my best to write a story that she will be happy to receive. And isn't that the goal of writing stories and novels anyway? Happy Thursday to all of you!