life update -- writing and family visits

On the writing front, I finished the rough draft of my remixredux08 story Thursday night and did some preliminary revisions tonight.

If anyone is willing to do a lightning-fast read-through tomorrow, please tell me, and I'll email it to you Saturday morning. (If not, that's okay. I should be able to strip out the most egregious stupidity on my own -- I just worry about the second-most egregious bits of stupidity, and the places where I'm beating a theme into the ground, making logical jumps without explaining how I got from point A to point L, or failing to tie one section of the story into another section.)

I have the oddest feeling that I've written this story before, and I know exactly why I have that feeling despite the significant differences between the two stories in question (starting with them not even sharing a fandom!), but saying anything more would be too revealing.

(ETA, 4/12/08: Have tweaked the remix so it's not such an obvious echo of my previous story. Of course, this involved adding echoes of a second story, but those echoes are things that tend to turn up in half of everything I write anyway -- you may not always notice them, because I do try to prune them back when they're superfluous -- and so I'm kind of resigned to them.)

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In other news, my mom is visiting. She drove up this afternoon, did my laundry while I was at work (my mom is weird like that), and then we had dinner at the Lost Dog Cafe, which was quite nice. Tomorrow we plan to run some errands (including shoe shopping for Cat's wedding), have a picnic lunch (which will probably end up being indoors, since it looks like rain), and just generally catch up.

I do like seeing my parents every couple months. It's nice to keep in touch. (And on the same note, it's nice that I don't have to see them every week -- that would be far too much of a good thing!)

life update -- writing and family visits

On the writing front, I finished the rough draft of my remixredux08 story Thursday night and did some preliminary revisions tonight.

If anyone is willing to do a lightning-fast read-through tomorrow, please tell me, and I'll email it to you Saturday morning. (If not, that's okay. I should be able to strip out the most egregious stupidity on my own -- I just worry about the second-most egregious bits of stupidity, and the places where I'm beating a theme into the ground, making logical jumps without explaining how I got from point A to point L, or failing to tie one section of the story into another section.)

I have the oddest feeling that I've written this story before, and I know exactly why I have that feeling despite the significant differences between the two stories in question (starting with them not even sharing a fandom!), but saying anything more would be too revealing.

(ETA, 4/12/08: Have tweaked the remix so it's not such an obvious echo of my previous story. Of course, this involved adding echoes of a second story, but those echoes are things that tend to turn up in half of everything I write anyway -- you may not always notice them, because I do try to prune them back when they're superfluous -- and so I'm kind of resigned to them.)

-----

In other news, my mom is visiting. She drove up this afternoon, did my laundry while I was at work (my mom is weird like that), and then we had dinner at the Lost Dog Cafe, which was quite nice. Tomorrow we plan to run some errands (including shoe shopping for Cat's wedding), have a picnic lunch (which will probably end up being indoors, since it looks like rain), and just generally catch up.

I do like seeing my parents every couple months. It's nice to keep in touch. (And on the same note, it's nice that I don't have to see them every week -- that would be far too much of a good thing!)

that's all my shopping done for the next few months

Today has been PRODUCTIVE.

We failed at taking my two boxes full of books to the Friends of the Library book sale, because the spring sale starts on the 26th and they're well into the set-up phase rather than the collection phase, but that's all right. I think I may sort through the boxes and see if I have anything that might be saleable at Autumn Leaves (a used book store), which would help reduce the clutter in my living room until donations open again in May.

Other than that, we succeeded on nearly everything! I now have a pair of silver dress sandals for Cat's wedding (and a couple other pairs ordered online, since Mom insists the sandals are too flat and I should have at least a half inch heel to make me look less short).

I also have, courtesy of Agway, the Farmer's Market, Target, and Wall-Mart:

1. a replacement screw for the armrest on my computer chair
2. a pair of black sandals, to replace my old ones that are falling apart
3. a pair of khakis, to replace the old ones with the broken zipper
4. a pair of black pants, because one can never have too many black pants
5. a new spare shower curtain
6. a new Silk Oak tote bag, to replace the one with worn-out shoulder straps
7. two new t-shirts, blue and medium purple, because last year I could not find shirts in those colors for love or money
8. three plastic food storage containers
9. a new drying rack, to replace the one with the loose fastening
10. a loaf of banana bread, and
11. a bottle of semi-dry Riesling.

Life is good. Expensive, but good. :-)

(I do still need a silver clutch purse or something similar -- or so my mother insists, and it's probably not worth the agravation of arguing the point with her -- and possibly a more sparkly pair of silver and/or blue earrings, but those are minor things and easily fixed.)

that's all my shopping done for the next few months

Today has been PRODUCTIVE.

We failed at taking my two boxes full of books to the Friends of the Library book sale, because the spring sale starts on the 26th and they're well into the set-up phase rather than the collection phase, but that's all right. I think I may sort through the boxes and see if I have anything that might be saleable at Autumn Leaves (a used book store), which would help reduce the clutter in my living room until donations open again in May.

Other than that, we succeeded on nearly everything! I now have a pair of silver dress sandals for Cat's wedding (and a couple other pairs ordered online, since Mom insists the sandals are too flat and I should have at least a half inch heel to make me look less short).

I also have, courtesy of Agway, the Farmer's Market, Target, and Wall-Mart:

1. a replacement screw for the armrest on my computer chair
2. a pair of black sandals, to replace my old ones that are falling apart
3. a pair of khakis, to replace the old ones with the broken zipper
4. a pair of black pants, because one can never have too many black pants
5. a new spare shower curtain
6. a new Silk Oak tote bag, to replace the one with worn-out shoulder straps
7. two new t-shirts, blue and medium purple, because last year I could not find shirts in those colors for love or money
8. three plastic food storage containers
9. a new drying rack, to replace the one with the loose fastening
10. a loaf of banana bread, and
11. a bottle of semi-dry Riesling.

Life is good. Expensive, but good. :-)

(I do still need a silver clutch purse or something similar -- or so my mother insists, and it's probably not worth the agravation of arguing the point with her -- and possibly a more sparkly pair of silver and/or blue earrings, but those are minor things and easily fixed.)

I win at remixing! (for certain values of 'win'...)

Remind me next year that if I sign up for a ficathon, I should arrange a beta-reader beforehand and set a due date for her/him to start kicking my ass and saying, "You're supposed to send me the rough draft today." If I set that deadline at least a week before the ficathon's deadline, I should be okay.

...

I got the story done and posted, and even edited (thank you so much to the wonderful person who shall remain officially nameless until the 26th!), but the corrollary to working well under pressure is that you're working under pressure, which is, you know, STRESSFUL.

(I am skilled at stating the obvious, oh yes.)

Anyway, now I should really get back to "An Ounce of Prevention," which I have been shamefully neglecting. (Except not right at this very moment, because I am tired and slightly tipsy, and I don't think I can manage complete coherence for more than a few minutes at a time. *wanders off in search of more wine*)

I win at remixing! (for certain values of 'win'...)

Remind me next year that if I sign up for a ficathon, I should arrange a beta-reader beforehand and set a due date for her/him to start kicking my ass and saying, "You're supposed to send me the rough draft today." If I set that deadline at least a week before the ficathon's deadline, I should be okay.

...

I got the story done and posted, and even edited (thank you so much to the wonderful person who shall remain officially nameless until the 26th!), but the corrollary to working well under pressure is that you're working under pressure, which is, you know, STRESSFUL.

(I am skilled at stating the obvious, oh yes.)

Anyway, now I should really get back to "An Ounce of Prevention," which I have been shamefully neglecting. (Except not right at this very moment, because I am tired and slightly tipsy, and I don't think I can manage complete coherence for more than a few minutes at a time. *wanders off in search of more wine*)