You are right about Artemis, Ape. I hope they can lift off Friday. Someday, I'd love to see a rocket lift-off. Bucket list.

Mets are facing the Big Dogs of the National League - the Dodgers (sorry Red). Gonna be a tough series. Sara's Braves are on our heels.

Other than that, same old boring deal. Edit, walk, supper, watch the game. I should be about 3/4 done with this first pass by the end of the day. These are the easy edits, though, the real work is ahead of me.

Coffee and a win-shaped cookie please!

Good morning all. Thanks for the set-up!

Went to a minor league baseball game last night with Talia and my daughter. Fun, even if the name of the team is the Vibes, and I felt very silly yelling Go Vibes!

Bummed about the Artemis mission being scrubbed. My thoughts on Mr. Mush aside, I was very psyched to see us go to the moon. I hope they are able to lift off soon.

Family friend was here for a week, but she has left, so we are back to our old habits today.

A coffee and a cookie please.

Good morning all.

I'm a little over halfway through this first pass of the novel, and I have cut 12,000 words. I suspect there is a taught 80k word novel amid this 115k monster (now 103k). It's a litle better than I expected, though that is not saying much.

Talia free Thursday, but we have a family friend staying over, so the cats are spared the full-bore weirdness of me left to my own devices.

I'd love a cup and a cookie.

Quote by Mendalla

Welp, this should be interesting. A guy on one of the other sites I am on (the support site for the software I use to run Wondercafe2) wants to translate The Chronicles of Tana the Healer into French and post the French versions on his site. I gave permission. What is there to lose? He'll link to the originals on here for people who want the English and I get more readership en francais. And it will be kind of cool to have my writing in another language.

Grabs a lion and a polar bear in honour of absent (from here at least) friends.

That's cool about the translation. Anything to get your words out there. Good luck!

We have an old friend staying over for a few days. Should be fun. She's a writer too, and a frikkin successful one. So she and I will write all day, while Talia lawyers from the kitchen table.

Mets lost to the Yankees last night. Sigh.

A coffee and a car cookie. Any Lambos?

Good morning. Still trying to wake up. Frikkin weekends. Chill day, though, editing and a few errands. Mets/Yankees tonight!

We have a family friend staying the night. Should be fun. Not much else going on. At least the basement has dried and we have hot water.

I'd love a coffee and a bicycle-shaped cookie.

Writing, not editing, today. I got too bored yesterday and so started a story about a suburban homeowner checking his basement for leaks and finding eldritch horrors (I love that phrase). Sound familiar?

Other than that, nothing much. Should be a pleasant day. My tow shall not keep me from walking today!

A coffee and an airplane cookie!

dripping of percolator, gurgle of teapot, crunch of cookies

Hope everyone is doing well. Good luck at the job Sara. Gill, if I saw a Christmas decoration in mid-summer I'd burn it.

Another chill day. I am taking a break from editing to write new stuff for a day. It's just too monotonous otherwise. Fine weather.

Mets finally salvaged a game against those pesky Braves. Seeing if we can eke out a win tonight. I'll try to intercept Sara's shipment of cookies to the team today.

My toe has been bugging me, but I'm gonna try to go for a walk again today. I miss walking.

I'm having a coffee and a car-shaped cookie.

Mets got crushed again by our famous cookie-maker Sara's team, the Braves.

It rained all day yesterday, but today appears warm and sunny. Our hot water has quit working, so my first task of the day is going downstairs and futzing with the pilot light. Wah. Just as soon as I finish this cup of coffee.

Hope everyone is doing well. Feel better Sara. Gill, I'd be happy to listen to your complaints.

A coffee and a cookie please.

I'm late but I'm here! No customers except Red, 12 hours ago.

Coffee is a-coffeeing, tea water is teaing, all is right with the world.

Cold and rainy here, but I'm not complaining. The Mets got CRUSHED last night (sorry for the baseball talk Red) but I'm not complaining about that either. Larry's Padres got hurt big by Tatis's 80 game suspension - were I Larry I'd be complaining about THAT.

Me, I'm just drinking coffee and eating cookies.

Song of Music! Cat Stevens! Keep the hits coming, E!

I am, as always, boring today. Edit, walk, eat supper, watch baseball. Lather, rinse, repeat. Good thing I enjoy all those things.

Beginning of the big Mets-Braves showdown, part 2. Braves heavily favored to win tonight.

Coffee and a cookie please!

Hey, busy day here! Yay!

I'm boring these days. Editing leaves me uninspired, but it's gotta be done.

I think we are going to go to an actual movie this weekend: The Black Phone. Maybe dinner out afterward. Summer is drawing to a close, it's best to take advantage.

Glad your checkup went well Gill, despite your wisecracks. And Sara, I hope you feel better soon.

Free cookies for everyone! I'm buying (there're free, right?)! I'll have some more coffee and a snickerdoodle.

Hey, actual customers! Free cookies for everyone! Sorry for my unquenchable naughtiness, Elizabeth. It's a burden. Well, a treat sometimes.

Done with therapy for the day - time to edit, about a quarter of the way through a rewrite. Life is boring here too. Should be a nice day though. No Talia Thursday, sadly. The cats are wary.

A coffee and a cookie please.

You haven't scared me away, E.

Got the percolator perking, and hot water hotting. Let's see if anyone shows up today. I'll buy anyone that shows up a cookie!

Up to around 90 pages edited, so about a quarter of the way through. I might take a break and enter the noir contest on another site. I actually have a plot!

Anyway. Hope everyone is well. A coffee and a cookie.

And...we have a laptop!!!

My fan was making crazy phaser-on-overload sounds, so I had to take it in to get the fan replaced. Now I can write again.

Nothing new here. Hot a f. Which probably means insane thunderstorms this afternoon. Yay!

A ghost appears to have come in and set up coffee and tea and cookies. Thanks, Mr. Ghost! Coffee and a starfish cookie please.

OMG Newsradio is on Amazon Prime now! SUCH a funny show.

Quote by etairay

Sunday lunch up at mum and dad's cannot go wrong there. Dad's gone to church (bless his heart, good man, pray for us), service live on the TV, bro is on breakfast duty (hello, we're having lunch soon), Sissy pretending she's helping, time management, ahhh the aromas ..delish, the multiple convo, random topics, three generations ..I really miss my mum!! not going there E ..not today!

Sweet description of a busy breakfast table, E. I hope you had a nice weekend.

Things are chill here. My life is boring of late, not that I am complaining. Weather should be only in the high 70s. Yay! Other that that, editing and annoying the cats are the only things on my agenda. Mets had a good weekend, but I shall not gloat.

Farm animal cookies!?!?!? A chicken please! And my usual coffee.

Quote by elizabethblack

Oh, Verbs, that did cheer me up a bit. As one of the local TV personalities said, "Don't mourn their loss, be grateful for their time with you."

It will teach me not to go overboard in love with baseball players. I had to learn that when my first cat died unexpectedly. Complete breakdown (pre-children). Decided it was not to my benefit to love too much with an animal. Not that I didn't adore everyone I got, but that first one showed me that I couldn't live in fairyland.

I do think it's good if we can get thoughtful people on jury duty. When I lived in Fairfax County, VA, I was called over and over. Sat on a couple, but before we had to decide a verdict - person pled out.

Be good.

I understand loving pets and teams too much, Elizabeth. My heart is a battered pinata, hanging on the laundry line, awaiting another blow. My daughter, btw, got off having to do jury duty because she knew the defendant. I laughed.

I slept great, unlike the night before. Today looks sunny and chill. I kinda miss the excitement of trying to finish the novel - it gave me some momentum.

A coffee and a win-shaped cookie please.

Good morning Red, and good morning to Elizabeth and Lisa.

I woke up WAY too early today, so I’m assuming my writing will be for crap. Thus, taking the day off from it. Do some chores, build some Lego. I’ll marinate some chicken soon for the grill tonight, and the (cover your ears Red) beginning of the FIVE GAME SHOWDOWN between the Braves and the Mets.

Larry’s Padres are suddenly favorites to win the World Series! Congrats Larry. You need to hang out here more often.

Okay, enough baseball talk. Time for Lego!

I left some coffee perking in the percolator and hot water for anyone who wants tea. I’ll have a coffee and a cookie myself.

Quote by DenimAngel

Hi peeps

Jeff it's always exciting when the Mets and Braves play each other..

GO BRAVES:worship:

Finally gave in and now subscribed to ESPN+

Gotta have my baseball fix .

Fresh cookies tomorrow today is crazy busy

giving the adorable critters fresh water and treats

A super large coffee would be perfect.. tail is dragging.

Stay safe

Sara, I just got cable, so I could get ESPN! The season is heating up! Care to wager a bet on this huge 5 game series?

And Elizabeth, you beat our best pitcher! You did lose Soto, but you at least got a ton of young talented players. The Nats'll be back soon.

Boring day, though my daughter got in a fender bender on the way to jury duty. So I'm definately doing better than her. Let's hope she doesn't get picked.

A coffee and a jellyfish cookie please!

Big baseball moves today (sorry Red, I'll keep the baseball talk under two sentences): Larry's Padres get the best player in baseball, and Elizabeth's Nets get six young players in return. Looks like a good deal for both clubs. Meanwhile, deGrom returns to the mound tonight for the Mets, just before the HUGE five game NL showdown between the Mets and Sara's Braves. I love this time of year.

That was four sentences. Sorry, Red.

Editing today, and for the foreseeable future. It's kinda boring, kinda exciting when things are working.

Coffee and cookies please!

My computer fan is making this weird annoying sound--whinggg, whinggg, whinggg--that is driving me frikkin nuts. I will have to suffer through it and hope the new fan arrives at the computer shop soon.

Other than that, lazy birthday-less day. Time to edit.

A coffee and a starfish cookie please!

Quote by elizabethblack

Happy Birthday to Jeff!

Thanks Elizabeth, for the birthday wishes and the lizard-carrying cat. The day was fun, nothing big, just low key enjoyable. Lego and quesadillas and cake! Talia loves cake!

Today, back to editing. Sigh. At least it's Friday!

A coffee and a pink lemonade cookie, please!

Quote by redwriter

A large latte coffee to wish Verbal a happy birthday. Feeling any older?

Feeling forever young. Thanks for the mug, Red.

Good morning all.

Nice chill day here. Boring editing day ahead. Counting down until my birthday tomorrow. No big plans - lunch with daughters, cake and supper with Talia. I'll probably grill steak and salmon. On birthdays I just like to do stuff I enjoy, nothing fancy.

Thanks for the space cookies Sara! I'd love some coffee too!

Quote by AnnaMayZing

I watched Hugo in 3D. The effects are stunning. The film is based on actual people and events in Paris.

It draws inspiration from the rediscovery of Georges Mélies, a famous turn of twentieth-century film pioneer.

There is a little artistic licence, however. The film recreates a famous train crash which occurred at Montparnasse in 1895. Georges Mélies wasn't rediscovered until thirty years later.

I really liked this movie too. I was sad it didn't get more attention.

We saw Nope this weekend. I was disappointed, my least favorite of the three Peele-directed movies. Talia liked it even less than I.

Quote by redwriter

Day of celebration! 64th wedding anniversary. A day for reminiscing and laughing. Dug up an frayed newspaper report on a sprinting success. The piece read: "AFTER HIS VICTORY HE WAS HUGGED BY HIS NEWLY WED WIFE." I asked, " Did you used to hug me? " Her smiling reply, "Not after that first year." My response, "And I've hung around all this time, hoping for another one!"

That's amazing Red. Clearly humor has had a part in keeping you guys together for so long. I hope you have many more. Congrats!

I'm editing today, and probably for the next several months. It's boring, after the drama of rushing to finish the novel. But, it's gotta be done. I think of this part as sanding a piece of wood, trying to find the shape.

Thanks for the space cookies Sara! I'll have another! And a coffee!!!

Hey Lisa, hey Scott.

My computer is making an incredibly annoying noise as the fan breaks down. Gotta take it in to be repaired/replaced. Wah. I am gonna have to write on a creaky old desktop for a day.

Nice boring weekend. Life's been busy lately, I can dig a little relaxation. We saw Nope last night. It was pretty good. Had some great ideas in it, but it didn't quite pull together. I liked it better than Talia did. Saw an INCREDIBLY SCARY preview of a movie called Smile. Yikes.

No baseball tonight.

Coffee and a moon-shaped cookie please.

Thanks for the cookies Sara! Nice to see folks around again.

Red, I'll try to keep the baseball chatter down, though it's not easy, I can be a little obsessive about things.

Very chill day here. Preparing for a Talia work picnic tomorrow. Should be fun, though as hot as melting asphalt. I've gotten used to it by now, Talia may wilt.

A coffee and a Home plate cookie and a request for snickerdoodles! Please?

Yay! Actual customers.

Sorry the summer is treating you poorly, Gill. When my Dad lived with us he kept it VERY warm in the house, so I get how exhausting that can be.

Sorry too, Scott, that you have Covid. Hopefully it won't be a severe case.

And Red, is baseball sending you back to your burrow because you are hiding from it, or running to watch it?

I'll have a coffee and one of Sara's baseball cookies, please.

I hope Scott is okay. Haven't seen him here in awhile. Or anyone, really. Sara? Elizabeth? Larry? Gill? Ping? Molly? Red? crickets chirp

Sigh. I will start up the coffee and lay out some cookies and do the hot water thing for tea. I'll be here at the counter reading the paper, hoping for customers.

Baseball starts again Friday!