Steady Progress

I received the contracts for selling the contents of my father-by-marriage's house yesterday. I'll print them out at the shop (I have a functional printer there - still haven't bought a new one for home yet), read them over, sign them and send them off. I know we might not get a lot of money for the merchandise, but it will be more than we will get if we just donate everything, and we don't have to put the time into taking things here and there. It will be a total blessing and I'm very happy to have this opportunity.

I joined a "photo of the week" group on LJ. I figured I'm always taking photos anyway, so having a weekly theme to meet for a single photo would be rather fun. I'll find out how it works into my schedule, but I've already thought about what I want to photo for this week's theme - nothing very complex but easy for me to get to and working within their parameters. I don't have the greatest camera, but that's not a requirement.

I'm still writing drabbles again (100 word stories composed to meet a weekly prompt) and it's nice to be producing them again. I'm not always the greatest at composing them, but I have often thought them to be a valuable exercise in writing control and word choices. It's rather like a music student being asked to write a composition that emulates a specific composer or that fits within a certain number of measures or a particular time signature. Pushing the brain to meet specific criteria is good brain exercise and I'm happy to have the opportunity.

I had stopped working on drabbles for several months - it may have been almost a year. I know it was while I was still posting works at the writing board "Lizard Council". LC was an amazing, talented, and giving group of people who regularly offered constructive criticism on writing efforts when asked. I learned so much at the feet of these people and gained so much respect for their skills. Unfortunately personalities got in the way of the criticism, mud was slinging wildly, and things imploded with a push from an outside event.

I hear from friends that LC is almost dead now. I know I haven't visited it in many months. I miss that kind of wonderful crit. There were a lot of members who belonged and they visited regularly. Because there were so many members dropping by every day, almost anything that got posted had a good chance of getting feedback and input quickly and from multiple voices. It was an invaluable aid for my desire to hone my own writing skills and I really miss the people who haunted its virtual pages. I may have to look at it again - it may just be somnolent, not deceased.