Tag Archives: Blogging

Daily Diversion #27: Duncan 0, Ghost Crabs 1,987

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I’m still toiling away at my Colossally Annoying Studio Clean-Out Project, Version 2012. I’m 90 percent there, aesthetically speaking. It took many dedicated hours to reach this point. A mental weight of approximately 999 pounds has been lifted! Unfortunately, the hard work is about to begin: sorting through the papers and notebooks hiding away in drawers and cabinets. Egads, do not get me started on this or I will shrink away in horror from the task. To right my mind, before dutifully getting back to my boring task, I am going to leave you with some cuddly puppy photographs as my Daily Diversion. It beats a progress photo of my studio any day.

Jennifer over at Quirk’n It made me think about crabs and, when I think about crabs, I think about my honeymoon. No, do not go there. We are discussing crustaceans here. Focus, people. This is a clean web-site (well, mostly). Enjoy these photos of my sweet dog, and wedding present, Duncan, trying his mightiest to catch a ghost crab (any ghost crab) on the beach in front of our honeymoon condo. He tried for a week, and came up empty after every effort.

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Daily Diversion #26: Beware of the Person of One Book*

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I’m good, then.

Book Pile

Book Pile (a.k.a.-the contents of a few of my book cases)

This, my friends, was the state of my studio floor a few hours ago. It looks better now, but still has a long way to go.

*Thomas Aquinas.

Daily Diversion #25: Birthday Excuses

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I’ve been celebrating my birthday since Tuesday. Although I will continue to do so for the rest of July (hey, that’s normal! Right?), I plan on reining myself back in tomorrow and return to cleaning the studio and write a little. I estimate that this project still has a week to go. Feel for me, lovely readers. It is truly a daunting chore and, so far, I have hated every moment of the project. Every. Moment. I promise to post a few reviews tomorrow. Until then, enjoy this slideshow of some of my little birthday adventures.

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*All of these images were taken on my Blackberry, which had a swiftly dying battery. This means that I did not stop to compose scenes, I just snapped away while I could.

I’m Sensing a Trend

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I’m lucky enough to share a birthday with one of my favourite actors (John Gilbert), one of my favourite writers (Marcel Proust) and the possessor of one of the most brilliant (recorded) minds in history (Nikola Tesla). What else do they have in common? Hmmm, let’s see.

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I’ve found that frivolous observations are best made on serious days. I’m off to celebrate with the husband at the newest contemporary Indian restaurant/bar in town. Toodles.

Daily Diversion #24: Birthday Wishes

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“Give me silence, water, hope

Give me struggle, iron, volcanoes.”-Pablo Neruda

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“I don’t want to go on being a root in the dark,

vacillating, stretched out, shivering with sleep,

downward, in the soaked guts of the earth,

absorbing and thinking, eating each day.”-Pablo Neruda

 

Tornado Maedez

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This. This is the reason for my fewer than normal posts. Once I have sorted through the mess, and am properly organized, things will not only be back to normal around here…they will be better. Guaranteed. Once the clutter has been vanquished, my mental processes will be freed up to focus on what I like (and do) best: write. No need to worry: until then, you can expect at least a post a day. I promise to miss you more than you miss me.

Tornado Maedez?

Tornado Maedez?

Seriously, this is so out of control (at least by my standards) that all of my writing projects are threatening to come to a full-on, nasty stop. Since I do this for a living, that is a pretty scary concept.

[Intermezzo] I’m Thinking About Cleaning Out My Idea Bank

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I’m thinking about cleaning out my idea bank. It is a knee-quaking concept. Ten years of scraps, plots, extracts, phrases, titles, names, research and character studies are lovingly tucked away or carelessly crammed into various crannies and boxes and drawers. They contain a lot of good ideas and solid or beautiful writing. There are threads of greatness, however frayed and dirty and dusty; there’s a lot of crap, too, or things that I have outgrown or moved past. Legal pads, notebooks, torn napkins, loose leaf paper. Written in pen, pencil, marker, lipstick. It’s all there, waiting to be addressed. Faced. Embraced or conquered. Trashed or saved. Crumpled mounds of surprise or disgust. “I’m this good?” or “What shitty shit of a writer came up with this?” It’s all conjecture, of course, as I haven’t read any of it; but I know the odds, and they are even. The summer is young, and the days are long. I can do this.

Daily Diversion #20: Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad*/My Neighborhood is Weirder Than Yours

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This pig has been keeping watch outside the main entrance of our building since Friday. This is totally normal, right? Right?

What is this, you ask?

What is this, you ask?

I recently wrote about one of my main concerns as a writer, which is feeling at home in my surroundings. I’ve struggled with this since moving to the Queen City six years ago. I love our flat, and our building; if the whole thing could be picked up and moved somewhere else, my contentment would shine forth like a lighthouse beacon. I know that I am guilty of focusing on what I wish I could change about our neighborhood, even as I am faced with all that there is to enjoy in this weird little corner of town. Mr. Enormous Pig has reminded me of some of the perks of living in the CW. They are:

  • Sharing a building with an unusual museum (thus, Mr. EP).

    Come closer.

    Come closer.

  • The best (and wackiest) mural of George Washington you will ever see.
  • The ability to get chili at 3:00 in the morning, and the simultaneous people watching opportunity.
  • A giant gorilla hanging off the side of a costume shop building.
  • People watching. Oh, the people watching.
  • The beautiful park across the street (visible from all of our windows), especially the dough boy statue that was dedicated just post-war.
  • The handsome architecture of this neighborhood is truly impressive, even if many of the buildings are derelict or down-right abandoned.
  • The city salt barn directly across the street. Not only is it an easy landmark for guests, it is absurdly fun to watch news crews swarm the premises at the slightest indication of snow. Also, it looks like a voluptuous breast. At least a C-cup.
  • I love being surrounded by manufacturing businesses and a sea of trees. This area is not very residential, but is intensely lush.
  • The minimum-security jail behind the park (also constantly on view from our windows). It sits on the site of an old workhouse, razed many decades ago. Only the stunning stone wall remains. A jail in the neighborhood means that the streets are very well patrolled. Even though some people think the CW is sketchy, it actually means that we have the lowest crime rate in the city.
  • Diversity, diversity, diversity.

Looking out our wall of windows, nine stretching full-height in a salute to the ceiling, I see colour and character; zest and life; dirt and beauty. It’s always interesting. A writer could do worse than to have so much at hand.

Don't look into his eyes, or you will turn to stone.

Don’t look into his eyes, or you will turn to stone.

Belly of the beast.

Belly of the beast.

*This is a quote from George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

Daily Diversion #19: Wherin I Show Off This Lovely Sunset and Admit to Not Being Romantic

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The sunset was almost enough to make romantics of us. I grasped his hand, compelled by nature to some kind of entry-level giddiness. I un-curled my toes and kicked the cool sand; it rained lightly over furtively scrambling ghost crabs. The dog whined on-leash. Bending over, a head pat; standing up on tip-toes, a hug and quick caress. Then one of us broke the sustained peace of the ocean breeze and lapping waves with a bad joke or punch on the arm. Ha, back to normal we went. Quickly, inward, like a collapsing house of cards. Laughing. Unromantic and inappropriate. Wisecracking. Bantering like Grant and Hepburn. Our normal. Content.

Honeymoon Sunset, Mexico Beach/Port St. Joe, Florida. June 2011.

Honeymoon Sunset, Mexico Beach/Port St. Joe, Florida. June 2011.