The Anniversary Trip

(And now for a short break from Flash Fiction)

You really don't want to know about my trip to the Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge -- but I am going to tell it to you anyway.  It is a 193-mile trip to the refuge which is just across the Missouri border.    We left at a little after three in the morning so we would arrive at dawn.  It worked, too!  We arrived at 5:58 am and started a nice, slow drive through the place.

About 6:40 am (going by digital photo timestamps), Russ decided to nap for a few minutes, so we stopped by a lovely pond.  I got some great shots of herons and frogs!

Russ only napped for about ten minutes, and we were ready to move on.

Only the car wouldn't start.  There was battery power.  He guessed (rightly) that the starter had gone out.

So, there we sat. Usually, we couldn't drive through this place without dozens of other cars along the way.  Today?  Not so lucky.  Russ called to find a tow truck out of Mound City, which is pretty close, but there was trouble connecting with the guy, and the phone battery was fast going dead.  Four cars went by the entire time we sat there -- somewhere over five hours by the looks of the timestamps.  It was hot and miserable, and I do not do well with warm.

On the other hand, I got lots of great pictures.  (I might add some others later after I've sorted the nearly 1000 pictures out.)

One guy stopped twice as he checked out the refuge.  The first time, Russ tried a jump-start, but it wasn't the battery like he'd guessed already so there was no luck.

Someone from a local motel came and picked us up. (The Audrey, think was the name.  Great people, nice place!)  We left the car and went there to collapse.  The car got towed in not much later, and the guy said he'd have it fixed by the next morning.

We had not prepared to stay a night since the plan had been to drive there, do a few tours of the place, and head home.  We had no books, no Nook -- no battery charger for the phone.  The phone was dead before the night was out.  I had a notepad and handwrote out part of a novel (Summerfield 4), and Russ found a book to read in their collection.

The next morning --the 22nd -- was our anniversary.  The local shop did the repair work on the car, and we had it back at about 8 am.  Yay!  So we packed it up and headed out -- and yes, we went back to the refuge and drove around until just a little after noon and then headed for home.  Annoying, but it was one of those things that just happen.

We made a stop at a rest area and even walked around a bit.  Beautiful day!

As we were pulling back on the Interstate Highway, Russ said the power steering seized up for a moment, but it came out of it.  Then, no more than a mile and a half later, we were broken down on the side of the road with the engine badly overheated and steam coming out of it.  That was about 1:30 am.  And you do remember about that dead phone, right? 

We sat for a while.  A long while.  Hot, but at least there was a breeze.   Russ started walking back to the rest stop.  Two different women, both of them heading the opposite way, saw him, took the next exit, and came back to help him out.  Nice people!  A shame no one could get through to AAA.  Finally, a State Trooper pulled up and was able to get us a tow to the nearest town, Glenwood.  We were there by 4 pm, so only about 3 hours of heat torture this time.

I can't tell you all that is wrong with the car (air compressor?  AC unit?  I know one belt was destroyed).  The car is still sitting in Glenwood (about 120 miles away), and we have a rental car.    We drove home.  We did not stop anywhere, even for food.

It's going to be a day or two before we can get the Crown Vic back.  Between the two repairs, two tows, night in the motel -- the quick day trip to the refuge is going to cost us about $2,000.  And we'll still have to drive down and get the car back, risking what ever other bad luck the car has planned for us.

Two totally unrelated things had gone wrong -- and stuff that would have given out no matter where we were, but you know ... past the anniversary trip would have been nice.

On the other hand, it is a trip we won't forget.

And I did get some good pictures.

What happened to zette?

I had a . . . busy November. Yeah, busy is a good term. NaNo, of course (I did 176k), but other things happened as well. We had a major electrical problem that cut a few days off my writing, with people in and out, rewiring, and such. In the midst of that, my beloved Edmond kitten suddenly couldn't walk. Don't worry, he's better now -- but that meant calls to vets at 3 in the morning and emergency trips on Sunday. He developed a problem with his rear left leg, but it's finally cleared up to a limp. He was pretty miserable, though.

There were other things. There were things every week, in fact. Cable, which includes Internet, problems. Trouble here. Trouble there.

I was so looking forward to NaNo because life had been insane before it. Then NaNo hit and it got worse. And now NaNo is over, and I can't say things are much calmer.

I have a ton of things to get done before January 1. Finish two novels, put together the next issue of Vision: A Resource for Writers, finish an outline for the first novel of 2013 (Summerfield 3: Winter Warning looks the likely choice). I am going to put out a collection of teddy bear holiday stories this afternoon, so that will be one thing off the list.

I am going to put together the sign up list for the Two Year Novel Course this afternoon. I stopped doing the live (free) versions a few years ago, but I'm ready to take it back up for a year or two again. This is a big step for me. I hope I can do well with it this time around. I hope I have the time to do more than post the classes and answer any obvious questions.

I also hope to get back to this blog and twitter and stuff. I feel like I've done nothing but run and run and run for awhile. Time to get focused again!

The VERY Goood Week

 

Let's start with something I've forgotten to mention: I've just published a new story. This is a sort of prelude to the Devlin novels, with a first person account of how she went from being a port rat to joining the Inner Worlds Council Security force. This is a fun story and only $0.99!

 

Devlin's Report #1: Wasting Time

 

Monday was 'Zette Appreciation Day' at the Forward Motion site, which was wonderful, thoughtful and overwhelming, to be honest. I was dazed all Monday and most of Tuesday. Thank you everyone. That was very, very nice.

Now, here it is Wednesday and Russ's last real work day for the New York company. He goes into the office tomorrow to hand over work laptop and such, but mostly he's done.

He flies home on Saturday.

So, just two months short of five years in this job and it's finally over and he'll be HERE!

Yes, bouncy mood. Very bouncy mood. Using it to clean house, in fact. Get up and move around? Put something away, dust something, clean the floor if you're really, really bouncy. Go out and scrap more old paint off the house. Whatever.

Writing? Oh yes, that stuff. Actually, I had already planned to drop down to about 1k a day until at least October. I'm doing well, really. I actually have part of a NaNo outline done, finally.

Bounce, bounce, bounce.

I have a good feeling about things. And the weather is lovely.

Only a few days left.

Yay!

The Long Wait

On the day after Thanksgiving, November 22, 2007, Russ left for his new job in New York. We weren't certain how things would work out, but at the worst, we hoped maybe a few months to a year and he'd find something closer to home.

 

That didn't happen. The months turned into years and now nearly five years later, he's still in New York in a job. He's been home only two or three times a year. We missed holidays, birthdays and anniversaries (including our 30th). We no longer took vacations together, though whenever he was home we'd make a trip to one or two wildlife refuges, which I always loved. 

 

He's only met Buffy the Bear twice!

 

There is also the added problem that for one reason or another, I never learned to drive a car, so I've been pretty much stuck in this house for most of the time. The winters have been VERY long.

 

It's been a miserable five years for both of us, to be honest. 

 

But it's about to end.

 

On September 24th he starts his new job in Omaha, which is barely 90 miles away!

 

There is much celebrating going on here. The cats obviously think I've gone crazy.

 

I've known about this job for about a week, but to be honest, I kept expecting something to change. After so long, this couldn't be real and we can, serious, count down the days. It will be just two months short of five years when he comes back.

 

There are, of course, problems associated with this sudden move. We'll work them out.

 

Russ is moving back home!

 

YAY!

It is officially Buffy Bear Day!

Buffy the bear has now been here in the house for a year.  I was NOT looking for another kitten when I heard her crying outside at about 1 am or so.  She had gotten stuck between the house and a door.  I kept hoping mom would show up.  She didn't.  The weather was not good for a kitten outside, so . . .

Yeah, I knew it was going to happen the moment I saw her, of course.  Got a towel and brought her in.  The other cats were better about it than I ever expected.

She was a hellion as a kitten.  At Forward Motion she's generally known as The Demon Cat from Hell.  Russ swore she was raised by snakes because of her spit and nip threat beahvior (see second video).

This was Buffy a year ago:


Oh yeah and this one:




As of today, she's been here a year.  I'd do a video, but I'd have to wake her up.  Yeah, much calmer cat. 

You can see a huge collection of Buffy Pictures Here

Zette Vs. The Giant Green Grasshopper from Hell

Okay, first, I am not afraid of grasshoppers or many other bugs and insects. You can tell this by wandering through my picture a day blog and seeing how often I post pictures of the things, especially on the window beside my desk. (http://zettepicaday.blogspot.com/ )

However, when you happen to look up and see a huge green insect about as long as the palm of your hand clinging to the ceiling above your desk -- yeah, he's overstepped the line.

I did not want to kill him though. He was really quite lovely. And this was the second one this week, so I thought I'd just do what I did the last time. Got the broom, let him catch hold, and out we'd go. No problem.

Right.

After a couple pictures (of course), I put the broom up. He caught on. Cool!

I moved the broom.

Grasshopper panicked.

His first leap was onto Buffy.

Yeah, wish I'd had the camera in hand for that one! She leapt up in shock, grasshopper leapt to printer. Buffy moved. Grasshopper moved faster.

So for the next ten minutes I had a fun time trying not to trip over cat while grasshopper tries frantically to find some place away from broom and the increasingly crazed cat and her little cat buddies who are all now interested in the fun. Okay, this isn't working. I ditch the broom and go for a big plastic bowl and lid.

Come on little (or not so little) guy. Into the bowl -- yes!

No! Back out before I can get the lid on.

Across the light (did get a good shot there) and up the blinds. I knocked him down into the bowl. Got the lid on! YES! Success!

Out to the porch and out the front door and he's free! Yay!

Except he leaps on my arm and back into the porch.

Now, you know, it's a matter of honor. I'm not going to let this grasshopper win. The problem is there are boxes all over the porch and I'm not as good at climbing over and around these things as I used to be. I knock him down with a backhanded swipe of the lid. He's now somewhere I can't reach him at all. I tear away a box. He's glaring at me, I can tell.

I try appealing to him. "Outside. Grass. Grasshopper. You belong together."

He moves farther away.

But I'm ready for my big move now. Lid in one hand, bowl in the other; Leap forward, swat the grasshopper into the bowl, snap lid on!

Yes!

Only I'm not sure I actually have him and I can't see inside.

So.

Okay. I'm sure the neighbors are thinking I've gone insane by now anyway. What the hell. Outside. CLOSE PORCH DOOR BEHIND ME.

Open lid.

Grasshopper leaps straight up at me and I scream.

Now I'm positive he's on me somewhere. I start dancing around hitting myself on the back and legs. I do not look towards any of the other houses. I find no mutant huge green grasshopper on me so I leap back into the house, close and lock the door behind me and race into the house.

I've won!

Only . . . This was the second one this week. I don't know how they're getting in. I suspect the cats are behind it as a new way to drive me crazy. Or, given how the thing startled Buffy, maybe they're wise and thinking a nice live-and-let-live attitude is the best one here.

Or maybe it was the same grasshopper. Maybe he has a vendetta and now it's his honor against mine.

He's not going to win.

Well, not unless the neighbors have me committed.

The sort of thing that panics zette

There is nothing in writing which I can say truly scares me.  They're only words:  I can change, rewrite and do whatever it takes to make them into something I like . . . and I know, even then, they won't be perfect.  I've come to accept the fact, but not to let the idea paralyze me.  I also know there is no way I will please everyone with my books.  No one does.

So writing doesn't panic me.  Book releases don't worry me once I get that far. Even cover art, at which I have a lot yet to learn, doesn't worry me very much.

I went through last winter with considerable worry since I had to rely on three space heaters, two of which died in the midst of very cold weather.  But I survived the winter and so did the cats.  I hope not to have to go through another winter where I'm wearing 3 layers of clothing, a blanket, hat and gloves to work, but I know I can survive it.

Spring is here.  We had a thunderstorm this morning.  Lovely stuff.  No, weather doesn't panic me.

So what does?

My camera.

The Canon SX10 IS is my fifth digital camera.  I started with the Sony FD7 back in 1999.  Less than a megapixel per picture.  Before that I was a Minolta SLR person, with two bodies and a number of lenses, plus a fully manual Pentax K1000 as a backup (with the lens for it as well).  Going digital so early was an attempt to curb the photo costs, because the price of processing the film for a three day mini-vacation always cost us far more than the trip itself.  Now I could take pictures to my heart's content.  No, not great pictures, but still, I had fun.  It meant giving up my darkroom (I still have all the equipment), and I loved the work, especially black and white film and printing.  But I did it.

About a year after I got the Sony FD7 I moved up to the Sony FD91, which I think was a 1.2 megapixel camera.  A couple years later I got the Sony CD1000, which was 2.1 megapixel and recorded on mini-cds rather than a-drive disks and had a great zoom.  That camera stayed with me for a long time . . . but I am hard on cameras.  I take thousands of pictures a year, even on a quiet year without a vacation. By the time I replaced CD1000 with the Sony DSC-H1, they were up to 5 megapixels!  Wow!  This was another camera I put through hell, but the pictures were lovely!  Many of my favorites, even still, came from this camera.

I went with a Canon SX10 IS, 10 megapixel, next.  That one has done well but in the last few months has started displaying two worrisome problems.  First, it often gives me a lens error and shuts down.  I restart and everything is fine, but the moment of shutting down and restarting is annoying when it happens at the wrong time. The second problem is that it occasionally can't find the card.  Pull card and reseat it (even if it was working a few moments before), usually does the trick.  However, again, this can happen at the wrong time.  And there is a fear it won't come back.

Last night I ordered my new camera.  No, this is not wise.  I could really use the money for other things.  But Russ will be home in a few days, and the fear my camera would die when I am finally getting a chance to go somewhere (Wildlife refuge!  Zoo!) is really something that panicked me.

Russ and I were on Skype until about 3 am, going over stuff.  If . . . . if everything works right (ha! That should panic me!), then this is probably the best time to have ordered the camera that I could.  Better, we both agreed, to order on-line and have the camera ready to go (and a couple days with the manual), before he arrives.

So, what is the new camera?

Sony Cyber-shot Digital Camera HX200V.  http://bit.ly/Hy6Wsn 18 megapixel!  Fantastic zoom! Back to the sort of set up that, even after a few years, my fingers still automatically move to, which doesn't work on the Canon.

I've found some pictures (this is a NEW camera) on Flikr, which is what finally decided me on this particular camera.  To be honest, looking back at the Sony pictures and comparing them to the Canon . . . I just felt the Sony produced a more vivid picture, despite the lower megapixel.  This may just have been because I got to use the Sony in a wider range of situations, so I had a better feel for some things.  But I just felt better about going back to the Sony cameras this time.

I can't wait!

Yeah, this is a bit irresponsible, but I'll be paid in about a week (early, at my request -- nice of them!).  Russ gets paid tomorrow and he'll be paid the last day he's here.  (I did mention Russ coming home for a few days, right?  Yay!)  He will also have money coming from the classes he's teaching here the week he's back.  I am waiting for the payment from Smashwords so I can disburse money to the ACOA authors and editor and that should be soon, too.

I have been scanning in old slides (1400 of them so far), which has also been a lot of fun.  And adding cd/dvd's full of older pictures into the Lightroom database.  I LOVE Lightroom. This is the first program I've found that is easy to use for sorting pictures. I'll need to upgrade to Lightroom 4 at some point, but I'm really happy with what I have.  I already have over 10,000 pictures in the database and I haven't hardly started.  Yes, this is a lifetime commitment just to get the rest of the pictures I've already taken into it!  ACK!

I just got the notice that the camera shipped.

It's on the way!

I'll just go crazy for a few days now.

Welcome to Z Command Center: Merry-Go-Round Tour # 9

Hi there!  I'm Zette's Muse, and I thought I'd take a few minutes away from tormenting . . . inspiring Zette to show you her work area.  So, welcome to the spot where Zette spends the majority of her time.  We'll tour the various controls and additions to this location.  Please also note that while most assume the 'Z' in Z Command Center stands stands for Zette, people should realize that Zaphod (present in the photo) disagrees. Though he has accepted the title of 'Second in Command' this may be a misnomer since Zette doesn't appear to be in charge of anything at all.

Let's take a tour of the location!

Note on the left upper edge of the desk is a desk calendar.  This calendar will never be on the proper date and is only there to look at cute cat pictures.  Pay no attention to it.  The larger calendar on the wall (with cute cat drawings) is most likely to be on the proper month sometime after the second Monday.

At the front edge of the desk and beneath the cat you can see several notes, carefully placed under a plastic covering.  The notes will, at any time they are really needed, be covered by at least one large cat (note Zaphod's position).  If Zaphod is not available for the duty, he will call in his brother Edmond,  or on occasion bring Wind in to sit the desk for a short time.  If there is absolutely no other choice, he will call in The Demon Cat from Hell (aka Buffy Fluffy Bear), but this is a dangerous ploy since she might not be willing to give the spot back.  At least once a day three to four cats will take the position in order to drive Zette into the kitchen and the food containers.  One of them will be back at the desk before Zette returns, so the 'ploy' to lure them away rarely works.

The window to the left looks out on the bird feeders which allows for interesting photography most days.  The box below the window contains several hundred bags of tea in 52 different flavors,   As long as she can keep cats off it, Zette can choose any of the wonderful teas . . . of course, then she has to keep the cats from drinking them.  Zaphod, in particular, has a fondness for fruit tisanes.

To the right of the monitor are several indispensable books: Character-Naming Sourcebook, Dictionary of Costume and Fashion, Super Thesaurus, Flip Dictionary, Grammatically Correct, Random House Dictionary, National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds (Eastern Region).  These books never leave the desk.  To the far right of the desk you can see one of the 17 bookcases that have places throughout the rest of the dwelling.  This particular case has various history books along with several program-related books and the Cambridge Ancient History collection which has now grown to four books.

On the right corner of the desk is the printer/scanner,  which at all times is carefully protected by several stuffed teddy bears.  Important notice:  Despite some suggestions to the contrary, the bears are not cleverly designed listening devices, recording and archiving anything heard.  It is perfectly safe to talk to the bears about anything, including your darkest secrets.  You can trust them.  (I'd worry about the stuffed moose in the back, though.)

Also note that the printer/scanner is rarely used.  The small laser printer to the right and below the desk proper is the printer-of-choice for most quick work.  This proves that the bears are doing an outstanding job of protection, since even Zette rarely gets to use the device.

At the curve of the desk you will see three weather stations.  None of them have ever agreed on data, which has led to the likely theory that at least two are linked to alternate realities. Behind them is a cat-decorated covering cleverly concealing cords from Buffy.  Well, until she takes the covering off, which happens at least two or three times a week.  (Below the desk are several boxes, carefully places to keep Buffy away from the plugs.  This has never worked.)

Visible is one of the three external hard drives to the system.  This is the oldest and smallest of the hard drives, so of course Zette decided it would be best for cataloguing her extensive photo collection.  At some point in the future (near future, actually) the folly of this choice will be apparent.

Next to the hard drive is The Observation Deck: A Tool Kit for Writers.  Mostly this consists of a deck of cards with various odd things written on them, which can occasionally spark an idea for a scene.  Beside that is a plastic container with all the things Zette doesn't want the cats to play with. This only works when she actually puts those things in the container.

The heart of the station is the computer, monitor and keyboard.  It is here that Zette writes (and writes and writes), communicates with others, catalogues photos, creates art work and occasionally plays with music creation programs.  Zette eats at the desk (without cats, if possible).  She can be found here at almost any time, busily typing away or fighting with the sometimes recalcitrant mouse (I think the cats scare him).  The computer, which considers himself much abused, has lately taken to trying out future career changes, such as giant useless paperweight and Random Annoyance Generator.  (You really don't want that file, do you?  This one is so much better.  No really.  Not that file.  Oh, what do you care about deadlines?  That's why you're an Indie Author.  Get a grip, Zette.)

While some might think spending so much time in this one spot creates a rather limited world (and possibly an interesting form of insanity), the truth is that Zette is connected with more people via the Internet than in real life, and the computer allows her such a wide variety of creative choices that she's never bored and needs more time to do all the things she truly wants to accomplish in a day, let alone write all the stories building up as a backlog in her brain.

So, time to get back to work!  Well, as soon as we can get Zaphod off the notes.

If you want to get to read about nearly twenty other writers, check out the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour. Be sure to read tomorrow's post by Sharon Kemmerer

Happy Birthday to Me

 

So, here I am celebrating another year.  I've started a new book (right now called Elves in Space, but I hope to find something better.  Really.) and I wrote 1000 words on it before I went to bed last night.  I always start a new book on my birthday as a way to have fun doing what I love to do.  Today I've also  done bits and pieces of stuff for work, but I'm about to go write again.  Just write and have fun.

The release of The Servant Girl a few days ago was my real present to me.  I had intended to put it and my other novels on sale, but hey -- it fell in the 'read an ebook' week celebration, so I just put everything on sale for the whole week.  Yay!

So, would you like to help me celebrate?  Go buy one of my novels for $1.50 from Smashwords.  http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/zetteG Even if you don't have an ebook reader, you can download a PDF version!  The great thing about Smashwords is the variety of reading devices the site supports, including Kindle and Nook.

And me?  I'm going to go write some more and enjoy the day.

Why I love Russ

This is an exchange of emails between Russ and me today:

Zette --

Little package came today!  I'm setting it aside for a couple days (until my birthday on the 8th).

Russ --

Oh, I think it MUST be opened now!!!!

Small, white odd shaped? Making funny sounds?

If so, open it quickly!!

Zette --

No funny sounds.  LOL.

It's the 2012 Love Stamp box?

Russ --

That's the one!

Open it quick!!

Zette --

Ah!  He's CUTE!  Thank you!

Russ --

Whew! It was STUFFY in there!

When I put him in, I told him I’d get him out as soon as possible! It was a tough sell, but he was the LAST BEAR LEFT! We KNEW he had to come home with me!

Zette --

Oh my!  He gets to sit right by Aristotle!

Thank you

Russ --

Yep – he was alone for TWO WHOLE WEEKS! And in a box for 3 entire days!

Zette --

Bertie the Birthday Bear

2012: Slow start and expanding focus

I was very ill for most of the first week of the year.  I still got writing done, but it wasn't easy.  The DAZ newsletter took almost all of my attention and energy.  This was, honestly the worst start to a writing year I ever remember, but I did start on Water/Stone/Light.  A slow start, but I kept at it and now I'm finally into the second chapter.

 

The illness is not all that has slowed me down, though.  It's cold here; my furnace died and cannot be fixed, and my space heaters were doing the best they could -- until one of them died, too.  The second is now making odd sounds and I fear it's going to go soon, but today it is kicking out heat and I'm going to believe it will hold up for a while yet.  Really, all I have to do is make it through February, which is generally our coldest month.  I'm almost half way through January, so that's only about six weeks.  March can be iffy, but generally not as cold.

 

During these cold days I was reminded of something I had kind of forgotten.  My brain doesn't function well when I feel cold.  And that is the second problem I'm having this year.  I cannot concentrate on writing new material.  Even with the wonderful outline, I'd get maybe a paragraph before I stopped and stared, waiting for my brain to kick in with the next step.  It's even taking me far longer to get newsletters done than it should.

 

By last night I was starting to get very frustrated, which didn't help at all, of course.  Then I happened upon a sort of odd answer.  I need to keep writing or else I will just get in worse and worse moods.

I had been reading a very old story of mine.  Interesting story -- better, plot wise, than I had expected.  It was the 3rd in a set and I dug out the middle one.  Then I went looking for the first.  After a couple of hours trying to search through files it finally occurred to me that this was a very old story.  I had probably written it on the old Atari computer and never translated it over.  However, I knew I had read it in the last decade.  So that meant only one answer.

I went digging through my two file cabinets and finally found it: an old print out, still with the fan fold paper still attached, page to page.

This, obviously, needs to be retyped into a format I can work with.  And retyping it means rewriting, of course.  Far easier, though, that working from an outline.  The story is there.  I just need to translate it over.

And it will give me the experience of writing without my brain having to work too hard.  I am not going to abandon the other work -- Water/Stone/Light or the rewrite of The Servant Girl.  I have most of the second set of 2YN classes done as well.  What this is going to do is give me something to work on when I'm cold and need the distraction.

There  are, actually, other things in my life.  Photography, for instance.  I have been doing a Picture-a-day blog since January 1,2007 and I have not missed a single day.  That's over 1800 pictures posted in the blog (http://zettepicaday.blogspot.com/ ).  Very many cats, some lovely birds at the feeders, pretty sunsets and occasional trip pictures to other places.  My photography occasionally turns up in print, often for nature centers and such.  I give the printing rights for free in those cases.  Taking 40 to 50 pictures a day is not unusual for me (Yay for the age of digital cameras!) and that's just sitting at my desk watching the birds at the feeders.  I'll take several hundred on a ride and sometimes close to a thousand at the zoo or a wildlife refuge.

So photography, like writing, is something I do every day even though I don't talk about it as much. 

In the last seven years I've also taken up the fun of Digital Art.  This is like having a virtual photography studio with all kinds of models, backdrops, props -- and the ability to manipulate all of it in just about any way you like.  Because I work for DAZ 3D (www.daz3d.com) I have a lot of programs including DAZ Studio, Bryce, Carrarra Pro (my favorite) and even Poser.  For people like me who never learned to draw and really aren't going to take the time to learn now, this provides a wonderful way to visually express myself.  No, it isn't traditional art.  This is something different and requires a different sort of creativity.  I have seen some incredibly lovely work done.

One of my goals this year is to get back to doing one 3D picture a week, if I can -- because, like writing, I can only get better at it if I actually practice.  I've created a set of pictures at Flikr to take care of this so I am accountable for the work.  My first one up was actually a little late (what a surprise this year), but I am still going to hold myself to it.

I also have an odd program called Magix Music Maker.  This allows you to take little snippets of music and create your own songs.  You can also play virtual instruments to create your own pieces or add in to what you have.  Learning to blend in different tracks and building bridges has been fun.  Working with sounds is interesting to me.  It's something entirely outside of my usual range of creativity.  This is good.  No, it's not as creative as playing real instruments or writing songs, but that's not going to happen in my already busy world.  However,  it is an interesting way to get the feel of music styles.  One of the things I decided to do is create theme songs for some of my characters.  This is the one for Devlin: http://youtu.be/QiM3h81CuC0

My other plans this year include studying more of the CS5 programs. I was doing wonderfully learning InDesign, but then too many things hit at the end of the year and I dropped the work.  It's time to go back to it. Oh yes, and reading in general.  I didn't do well when I was ill because of the headaches.  But it's time to start moving ahead on the Cambridge Ancient History and the Durant Story of Civilization again. 

This is the way to spend the winter.  Focusing on creativity of different types and having something I want to do, not just that I need to do.  I believe the word I am looking for is fun.

Farewell to 2011

The last month has been a bit odd for me in many ways.  I've been rethinking Forward Motion and Vision, of course.  The moderators there have been working out some great ideas.  I think 2012 is going to be a lot of fun -- and work -- at the site.  I took time away from the sites, which was a good plan. 

I've been looking at my writing, which has made vast improvements in some areas this year.  Other problems I'm starting to identify.  I did come to realize one thing -- I am past the stage where I can write anything long without an outline.  Or maybe I should say where I want to write anything long without an outline.  I can do it.  It's just a hellish amount more work to write the story and then even far more work to edit it and make certain things work well together in the end.

So yeah, I'm not going to be doing that experiment again anytime soon.

Russ came home for the last week of the year.  Yay!

And the day after he arrived I got miserably, horribly ill and could hardly leave the bedroom for most of the week he's been here.  I feel better today.  Not great, but better.  I've lost a considerable amount of weight, and I'm annoyed that I missed out on most of the fun stuff with Russ.  We might try to go to Squaw Creek Wildlife Refuge tomorrow (January 1), which will be at least something fun for me.  He won't be back until April.

But, back to looking at the end of 2011.  I've done some interesting things this year, I've put a number of books out for publication and though the sales are not outstanding, they have been growing steadily through the months.  Next year, quite honestly, I hope to focus on me and my work for a while.  It seems as though I get moving on something, I'd get pulled off into some other work.

So, part of 2012 is going to be about focus again.  I'm real good at focusing on the small, day-to-day things like getting X amount written, or X amount edited.  However, things that spread out over time and that are not linear, will often get half done and forgotten until they happen to come into my view again. This is going to mean a schedule with things that slip off my sight on it.  Once some things become habit, I'll be better about them.  If I can work them into some sort of daily ritual, all the better for me.  I'm good at that sort of thing.

And the rest?

I am going to do more photography-related things.  I am likely going to buy a new camera this year, too, and I might move on to a DSLR, if I can truly save up the money.  That would be fun.

I will start writing Water/Stone/Light in a few hours.  The outline is about 2/3rds done and I'm just going to finish in the last part with a few notes as I see the storyline out as I think of them.  This should be interesting.  I'm looking forward to it.

So, happy New Year, everyone.  Have fun in 2012!

The last couple weeks . . . .

It's no wonder my hair is going grey.  Stress lately has been a bit higher than usual.  It started on the 22nd when a neighbor coming home saw someone staring in my window at 1:30 am.  I was working on the other side of that window, so the knowledge someone had been staring in at me . . . right.  Not exactly what I wanted to hear.  Add to that the fact I had heard something at the porch door earlier and assumed a raccoon or possum trying to get to the food.  And I had been hearing odd noises outside for days.  I had even mentioned it to Russ.  The neighbor chased him off and called the police and then came to tell me.   

So you know, not a lot of sleep happening here right now.  Russ will be home in about two weeks and we'll get security lights and such up.  Until then, every noise at night sets me off. 

It was just as well I didn't sleep that night.  About six in the morning I realized the kitten was having serious breathing problems.  Have I mentioned the kitten?  Buffy the Vampire Mouse Slayer.  You can see videos of her here: http://www.youtube.com/user/ZetteG  

Anyway, breathing problems.  I bundled her up and walked over two miles to get to the vet's office before even he was in.  She had an upper respiratory infection and various other problems.  They brought her back home the next day. 

On the 26th, Russ had a mandatory evacuation order.  Spent a couple long worrisome days watching hurricane news and worried about him. 

On the 30th I had several hours without power and then took almost three hours to get my computer to come back up again.  Yes, it's having trouble.  Yes, I will have to replace it. 

And then on the night of the 31st, my Internet went out.  Took 2 days to get it back. 

Had to restart computer.  Another two hours. 

Wind, who is my oldest cat, got very ill. (He appears to be recovering) 

And with all this, Russ's check was a week late and messed up autopay bills and various other things. 

Tonight my back is bothering me so much I can barely move from one room to another.  Not sure what I did this time. 

I truly, honestly, need a break from stuff.   

I spent part of the afternoon on Twitter at #kindlechat and I found that helpful.  I needed to step away from everything for a bit and do something that was not fraught with a dozen other problems.  

I need to have some time to work on my material.  I'll be in a better mood then.  But right now, I feel like I am falling farther behind on everything from my stuff to things I need to do for others.  Yeah, I'm getting a bit of writing done, but not as much as I would like.  I might just give up and do nothing but writing tonight.  I need it.  Really. 

Well, I do have to do a couple small updates on ACOA.  But other than that. . . . 

Ha.  We'll see if I can get much writing done at all tonight!

About the flooding

From For Blog

The Missouri River, August 2008

When Russ typed on Skype that he was going to call me last night, I knew something was wrong. He had already said he was heading for bed. That meant he had just gotten news about something. I started going through lists of things to be worried about, including the bills we had just been discussing.

The news was not what I expected. It turns out the town I am living in is about to get hit by a major flood because the dams up north have to release water. This is a predicted flood, and while the city is scrambling to do what they can to minimize the problem, I am still in the 'up to 2 feet' range last time I looked. Some areas of town are in the 'up to 8 feet' range, so I'm really lucky. It turns out that I'm actually on the highest point of the city, which really isn't saying much since this is river plain between two bluffs. Great farming land, of course, but you have to watch that river. I've been here well over 30 years and this is the first time we've had to worry about river flooding, though. There's been street flooding from heavy rains, and flooding by the river, but not this far in. I'm about ten blocks from the river

What I am not so lucky about is that Russ is in New York, I am in Nebraska, and I not only don't drive, I don't have a car anyway. (Yes there is one in the driveway. It hasn't moved for three years now. The only way it will move for this flood is if the waters get too high.)

This kind of limits what I can do at the moment. If things start looking bad, the best is to move important things from house 1 where I live to house 2 next door, which used to be Russ's office. House 2 has some advantages for a flood. Though it is smaller, it's higher off the ground. It has a basement, which would take some of the water while house 1 is most likely to be pushed off the foundation. House 2 has an attic room where I can put the most important things and hope for the best. It has some bad things, like the water pipes froze and broke the first winter Russ was gone and we haven't had the money to repair them, so the water is turned off. Well, if the flood is so bad I must go there, the water system will be compromised anyway, so that's nothing to worry about.

To be honest, it is doubtful I'll get anything more than maybe curb high here, but we needed to do a discussion of 'just in case' because if more storms make this worse, I need to be ready. It has been distracting, but I can't let the problem drive me crazy for too long. This is going to be an ongoing situation. The waters will rise for the next two weeks at least. They say the flooding will remain until September.

The people at the city have said that city services (water plant, power plant) should be fine. I will be gathering water anyway. I have some old soda bottles that I'm washing out and can fill. I'll store them over at house 2.

Oh, the comic books. I need to put them on the list. Certain books, a few odds and ends, but I am counting on this being a no-event on my end. It's already an event elsewhere -- the Missouri river is already flooding areas before they do the more massive water release. I just learned that one of my two favorite wild life refuges -- De Soto -- is closed. I'm betting the other one will be too. This is especially true because Russ plans to come home in about two weeks, and that would be where we would normally take our day trip. Since his trip coincides with the height of the water release, I'm betting we'll be around home for the three or so days he'll be here.

Right now all I have to deal with is excessive heat (91f/33c) and no air conditioning. So far the humidity isn't excessive so it's not as bad as it can be. I have a nice fan in my office. The trick is keeping the cats off the desk so I can work.

Which is what I need to get back to doing now.