House sitting and hobbity visits

I took another house sitting gig. Two weeks this time. Normally they’re pretty chill. I do them as a sort of writing retreat and, hey, i even get paid a little.

It’s like i’m doing the Neil Gaiman Stay-At-Famous-People’s-Homes-And-Write-Genius-Prose thing, but more of the bargain bin version.

Anyway, the gig was pretty annoying at first. The owners were not so good at giving me essential information, like the code to get in their gated community, or (one of my requirements) the password to their WiFi.

They also didn’t mention their dog likes to eat other dogs.

Erg.

Anyway, it started a bit hectic, but got a LOT nicer when Sarah came out on the 20th for a visit.

I really enjoyed showing her around Eugene, but i stressed to whole time that i wasn’t showing her the “good stuff.”

I’m not really sure what the good stuff is in Eugene.

I ended up introducing her to some of my friends, taking her out to my favorite restaurants and a few parks. I mean, there’s lots i love about Eugene, but it all seemed so boring. Would she dig the bike coop? Does she care about food collectives or the Farmers Market? Should i show her where significant political events happened. I wanted her to see what my life looks like.

*worry worry worry* What’s impressive about Eugene? What does my life look like?

I took her to my favorite writing cafe and, like i said, i mostly took her out for food and movies.

I’m a lousy host.

Regardless, she was very polite about the whole thing, and … well, for me it was a wonderful visit.

As always, it was too short. Maybe if i start planning now, i’ll do a better job on the next one.

Tags: Miller, notadoor, Sarah, visit

What is this thing called … blogging?

Up way too late.

It’s been awhile. Just got back my first feedback on the novel … i see lots of revision on my horizon. Ugh. More on that later …

Trying to figure out what to put in this here blog thing. Been thinking about getting back to the music and art posts but also have lots of big important stuff going on in my life right now. What do you want to hear about?

Who am i writing to anyway?

I haven’t figured out what to report. What’s balanced? My friend Neil mostly keeps his blog positive, professional and light, but he throws in little bits of his real life too. (Though he waited quite a while to get into some really personal stuff.) Ferrett practically exposes a raw nerve every day on his blog. I don’t think i’m looking for that much exposure, but …

I don’t quite know what to share, and what not to. I like doing the art and music for the blog, but i worry i’m not putting enough of myself in here. At the same time, i don’t really want to get all confessional either … whew! Complicated.

Honestly, i have this blog thing for a variety of reasons, some contradictory. I want to keep in touch with people. I want to entertain. Partially i just want to get my name out there, build an audience for my work. (I hope that’s not mercenary. I just have big plans and want folks to read my stuff.)

There’s people in my life, i want to talk about them, want them to know what and how much i think about them, how much i care. I want to hold a sign over their head that says, “SIGNIFICANT.”

Should i make a chart so you’re clear on who’s who? Or should i just talk about my life and let you figure it out from inference?

When am i hiding things, accidentally hurting by omission? When am i saying too much, walking through a bus station, screaming TMI?

How much of blogging is entertainment and how much is diary?

*thinking* *going to bed*

Tags: confusion, life

Novelburns final update

It’s done. The book’s not in perfect shape, matter of fact it’s pretty sickly. But i’ve let go of this draft and sent it off to some initial readers.

Which means ….

I can shave off these ridiculous sideburns!

Here’s a recap for those who missed the progression:

Then i dyed them purple.

And now, with the novel off to the readers, i SHAVE THEM OFF!

OMG!

Hmmm … what should i do with this novelburns fuzz? Maybe i’ll threaten to mail it to someone who’s behind on their wordcount?

Suggestions?

Tags: sideburns, writing challenge

#$10novel – day 25 – Holy $#@%!!

I can only say…

I RULE!

95,110 words, the last two are THE and END.

Is it perfect? No. But it has some good stuff in it, i think. I’m going to quickly and obsessively look over the scenes (throw a good ten or twelve of them away probably) for a day or two and then send the whole mess to initial readers.

Valerie, E.J., thanks for the motivation! You don’t get the $10 each, but E.J. gets Charles Darwin and Valerie gets an Asian guy with an afro!

Thank you all. It’s been a hard process, i couldn’t have done it without you.

Check in tomorrow for a novelburns update. New exciting surprises coming!

Tags: $10, novel, stupid things to do with your money, win!, writing challenge

#$10novel – day 25 – FINAL DAY!

Like the climactic final scene in the action thriller, i have to satisfactorily end my novel and write at least 3000 words doing it.

Wait.

Which action thriller is that?

I mean it’s like a show down between me and Valerie and E.J. I have my laptop and they have … wait … where is this metaphor going?

FINAL DAY! Valerie Polichar and Eugene Fischer (DOUBLE DAY!)

I need to hit 95,000 words and THE END. Otherwise, i owe them each $10.

[Imagine that whistling music from "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly"]

Let’s see what happens…

Tags: $10, novel, stupid things to do with your money, writing challenge

#$10novel – day 24 – Flash, uh uh!!

SO. CLOSE.

I’m literally at the end of the climactic scene, which is, oddly enough, really hard to write. I actually only managed to meet my wordcount by going back and padding out some earlier scenes. Ah well.

But i did it. Thanks for playing, J Peters, but the ten dollars stays home.

But you get … a giant eyeball!:

Tomorrow: FINAL DAY! Valerie Polichar and Eugene Fischer (DOUBLE DAY!)

Tomorrow, i HAVE to finish the end. No excuses.

Tags: $10, novel, stupid things to do with your money, win!, writing challenge

#$10novel – day 24

I’m a little worried about today.

Sure, the end is in sight, but i think the climactic scene could likely be the hardest in the book to write and i have a bunch of meetings today and will be running around a lot.

Whine. Whine. Whine.

So, note to self: Rewriting a novel in 25 days … is hard.

So here’s the plan, fit in writing in little dribs and drabs when i get time, use tomorrow to pad out any scenes that are too spare, and then maybe go over the whole thing to look for anything too blatantly stupid.

Then i ship this off to the initial readers. Whew.

More importantly, THEN i shave off the novelburns. Pictures to follow.

Tags: $10, novel, stupid things to do with your money, Words Words Words, writing challenge

#$10novel – days 20, 21, 22, 23 – BAP! BIFF! POW! ZOOM!

For those new to the site, this will make much more sense if you read this first.

Hey all,

Been gone the last few days, so i need to catch you all up!

To start with, here’s a picture of me presenting Diana with her ten dollar reward.

Thrilling!

Ferrett, because he rocks, donated $20 in my name to GLADD. (This was especially nice since the &%$#@!^* had threatened, in the comments, to donate my $10 to the Prop-8 people if i lost.)

Let’s recap the last few days.

Day 20 – Monday, June 8th: Misa Arant and Jerry Oltion (DOUBLE PAYOUT DAY!) – YES! (80,018 words)

Misa Arant, you get a starfish. Jerry, you get an old fashioned pinball machine!

Tuesday, June 9th: OFF DAY! – (but i spent all day catching up on work. whew)

Day 21 – Wednesday, June 10th: Lydia Rhoads – YES! (84,282 words)

Lydia, you get a bowling pin.

Day 22 – Thursday, June 11th: Josh English – YES! (88,111 words)

Josh, you get a pocket knife.

Day 23 – Friday, June 12th: Teng Chek – YES! (90,254 words)

Teng, you get a bench.

I have a secret …

Ready?

… i’m one scene away from finishing the novel. (!!!!?!!) Maybe a little denouement after that, but that’s it.

Whew.

I guess to honor the contest, i’ll have to go back and find stuff that needs more description or see if there’s a missing scene. We’ll see.

Tomorrow’s contender: Saturday, June 13th: J Peters – 92,000 words

Novelburns update:

Health update:

Ugh. Haven’t been exercising at all lately. Hoping to pick it back up in the next few days.

Tags: $10, novel, stupid things to do with your money, win!, writing challenge

#$10novel – catchup!

Hey all,

I’m on track, but i’ll be mostly away from internets for a day or two… but will still be writing!

I’ll catch you all up Thursday or Friday.

Rawk,
Grá

Tags: $10, novel

#$10novel – day 20

Misa Arant and Jerry, i didn’t forget you. But i’m just starting now on the last 2800 words of the day, so we’ll see.

Whew.

UPDATE:

Totally did it. 80,018 words. Real update tomorrow, after i’ve slept.

Tags: $10, novel, stupid things to do