Broke 31K words. Is it any good? Who knows? It is fun to write (so far).
Cold sunny day, which is kind of bracing. Lunch with youngest later, meaning I've got to hit the keyboard early, and soon.
I have a lovely googly eyed work of art for you today, but I am too lazy to upload it, so I'll just tell you: a googly eyed electric toothbrush!
Coffee and a yummy cookie please.
No Talia Wednesday! It's Fun With Googly Eyes day! The cats are not amused.
Nice to see you Red. You too Henrietta! Ping, Ape.
The weather is turning colder, but Thanksgiving is nearing, which is my favorite holiday--Christmas without all the gift-buying hoopla. Just good food and togetherness.
Time to fight the blank page. A coffee and a stack of cookies, please.
Today's googly eyed work of art.
Not much going on today. They start painting my old house in preparation for sale today. It's gonna be an annoying ton of work, getting everything ready. But it will bring in a un-annoying pile of money for me to spend on more googly eyes.
Started Roadrunner last night. Good doc.
Time to make the donuts. Should hit 30k words today. Looking forward to it.
Coffee and a random cookie please.
Quote by Ping
Oh, forgot to mention, just watched Roadrunner on Prime. A documentary about Anthony Bourdain. A highly recommend.
It didn’t reveal much that I didn’t already know. But it was good to see and hear him again. There are questions. How much did Asia A. and their, posthumously according to her, open relationship, push AB over the edge. I believe he was heartbroken when media widely revealed her coziness with another. Tony was a committed romantic in the truest sense. He was always a darkened soul, but he was happy with her until he joined her battle and took the #MeToo movement bit in his mouth. Feinstein is undeniably a wretched beast. But giving someone that much buy-in and then witnessing with the rest of the world her fling, open relationship or not, must have hurt really, really bad. No toxins in his system. He hurt. He hung. He died. I remember it like yesterday. Damn I miss him, just like I miss Freddie Mercury and Robin Williams.
Ooh, ooh, I may watch this tonight! $3! I knew very little about him until this year. I knew of the suicide, and the vague outlines of his persona, but had seen none of the tv shows or read his book. Then I started watching Parts Unknown and was just blown away, particularly after he hits his stride mid season 2 and you realize his true subject is not travel, or food, but the people he meets. And himself, but I don’t mind a little ego in the mix.
I told my youngest daughter I was binging it, and she started laughing loudly and told me I was turning into my Dad (I guess he loved this show, but I didn’t know that). So, another reason to recommend it.
Looking forward to Roadrunner. That, and Ping exclaiming “Oh my God, World War Z is SUCH an atrocious movie!”
Quote by Ping
Quote by verbal
World War Z is AWFUL. Good book though.
We saw Last Night in Soho and really liked it. Not perfect, but really great performances and set decoration and music. Worth seeing.
We saw Belfast too. Not as memorable, but very good. Best picture Oscar bait.
Really?!? WWZ is awful? 😩 Awful like most The Rock blockbuster albeit entertaining movies or awful like Killer Tomatoes and most things Marvel?
Grumble. Grumble. I really wanted to watch it. I guess I’ll go back to my first pick, Stillwater. Damon can’t be worse than that stupid zoo movie or that even stupider Mars mish-mash… could it/he?
Awful as in I saw it at the DRIVE IN and I still didn't like it. Drive in movies are a mighty low bar: as long as there's dancing popcorn boxes and hot dogs I'm happy. It's mindless, and the book is so good (Mel Brook's son wrote it).
The Martian is stupid!? The Martian!? Thems fighin words.
I think we agree The Rock is pretty silly.
Bright sunny day today! I raked and bagged leaves all day yesterday and while it was a nice way to spend the day, my back is barking today. Still not much to do: one meeting about selling the old house, the rest of the day is writing.
Got my googly eyes in the mail yesterday. Here's what my phone looks like now. World beware.
Coffee and a typewriter cookie please!
Hee hee! Good comp! Big congrats to all the winners, and all the entrants! That was fun, and made for several excellent nights of spooky Halloween reading. And thanks to Molly, for all her work behind the scenes! Come have a cup of hot tea, Molly!
No Talia Friday. Not making this up: I haven't seen the cats since I woke up. Perhaps they see the writing on the wall.
I hit 27k words yesterday. First drafts are easy, but still, the words are flowing. I have got a LOT of plates in the air, plot-wise. Let's see if I can this juggling act up. It's like juggling cats! Hey, that's an idea.
We saw Last Night in Soho last night. We both really enjoyed it. Not perfect, but really fun, and really smartly done. And Anya Taylor-Joy is crush-worthy; she's just mesmerizing.
Okay, time to make the donuts. A coffee and a GIANT PING-SHAPED COOKIE please!!!
Happy Veteran's Day, all, and my gratitude to those of you that served.
Talia has the day off, and I'm feeling lazy, so I will write a bit, but not shooting for the daily 1k (as a side note, I have friends doing NaNoWriMo--National Novel Writing Month--churning out thousands of words a day, anyone doing that? the idea of writing that quickly makes me anxious). We are threatening ONCE AGAIN to see Last night in Soho, We'll see if we actually get out of the house.
We finished binging Maid last night. I cannot praise that show enough. Margaret Qualley and Andi McDowell absolutely shine in it. Perfect. Or as close as it needs to be.
Coffee and a Maragaret Qualley shaped cookie. Oh, and a spliff rolled from the Ape's Chinese green tea please, too!
Quote by redwriter
Quote by verbal
Now, to do the same with an eye doc appt. in my sights (see what I did there?). I have faith.Verbal, I don't know how bad your eyes are, but if you are offered a cataract op, take it.
I had mine done three weeks ago. In and out in one hour (20 minutes only op time). Told I would need the lenses on my specs readjusted after four weeks and things might be a little blurry until then. That was the case, but only in a minor sense. At the weekend I was watching a football game on TV and the figures were slightly blurry. I removed my specs to wipe then and was amaze to see pitch and players on screen much clearer and brighter. I could even read the names on the shirts. This without the specs. When I tested other programmes I found the same. Clearly something to do with focal length. I'm hoping my optician will shed some light (no pun intended) next week. So if you need it, and are given the choice, I strongly advise it.
I have the beginnings of cataracts but nothing too worrisome yet. Actually, the (non) worry is macular degeneration, which they are keeping an eye on (heh), but which isn't yet a big deal yet either. The dilation was annoying for several hours, but the only upshot is to take eye vitamins.
Got my writing done though!
Losing more writing time today, doing COBRA paperwork for healthcare. Grrr. About halfway done. It's unnecessarily complicated.
No Talia Wednesday. Today the cats and I are staging the fight scene in Godzilla vs. Mothra. They're fighting over who gets to be a moth.
Coffee and a snickerdoodle please!
Morning all. Looking forward to reading WriterGirl. I like having my heart lifted. 
House selling BS went fine, and I still got all my writing in. Now, to do the same with an eye doc appt. in my sights (see what I did there?). I have faith.
I've just brought TWO laptops into Windows 11. Painless process. Not much different from 10, to be honest, but a few neat little design details. No problems so far. The God Mode thing (create a folder and name it GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} ) is really helpful at tweaks.
Time for a coffee and eleventy-six snickerdoodles.
I thought I'd read all the comp entries, and suddenly stumbled across VV's crazed entry concerting animatronic frikkin WEASELS!!! My kinda story. Any others I've missed?
Tired from the weekend, though I should be rested with a free hour's sleep. But no. I wasted my hour on frivolity. I'm the grasshopper to Talia's very pretty ant.
Dumb chores to do today, mostly centering around getting my old house ready for sale. That stuff bores me. Should get a few hundred words in anyway. Starting...NOW!
A coffee and a snickerdoodle please!
Those Northern Lights shots are incredible! And you are a good Dad to take your son out to see them. Talia and I keep threatening to center our yes-we-really-will-get-officially-married-someday honeymoon around seeing Northern Lights (taking a cruise up to Alaska and Denali Park), though the more sensible version of that honeymoon is a train trip up the California coast. Anyway, you are lucky to see them, and your son is lucky to be shown them.
No Talia Friday, or as I like to call it, Where the F*ck Are the Cats Hiding and Why Friday.
I've finally broken free from the rewrites, and am on chapter 14 of new material. Open seas! No more ice floes to dodge. Follow that albatross!
Two good movies out this weekend - Last Night in Soho and Antlers. We may actually leave the house!
Sara, today, I brought cookies for YOU! I'd love a coffee to go with one of these.
Quote by Ping
In all my years, I've never seen such an enthusiastic display for that northern hemisphere dancing radiation. My son was in awe. He's not seen the northern lights as vibrant as they were. So much green and purple rippling across the star-studded sky. Took some amazing pictures with my iPhone. The greens and purples were brilliant. Even thought we got a glimpse of some red too. That's rare. Usually, only see that at higher latitudes. We could have stayed there all night, but he needed more sleep before school. I once wrote a story about a zoo, igloos, polar bears, and northern lights. Good times.
That's so cool! I've never seen them, except for some very tame spokes in the sky in Mpls. once. Always wanted to see them - so cool you did! I learned about them when I was a really little kid, at a planetarium in Chicago, and it blew my mind! Good on you for taking your kid out to see them!
My Dad once took me out to see a comet late at night, and it changed my life.
The Jays-Phillies World Series was one for the ages. I think Joe Carter's home run is still circling the globe, now in orbit. I loved that Phillies team, but baseball transcends mere team identity.
Not much else going on. Gotta write. Feeling unmotivated. But I will push on.
A coffee and a Mitch Williams shaped cookie please.
Congrats on the win, Sara! The Braves deserved it. I became a big fan of Albies during the postseason. No more baseball for five months. 
Haven't started writing yet - had a video therapy session today. My therapist actually compared me to Pigpen, the filthy Peanuts character. I plan on suing her.
No Talia Wednesday. The cats are on strike, and refuse to participate in my all-feline version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof without better pay and working conditions. Actors! So actor-y!
Okay. Time to buckle down. A coffee and an apple cinnamon whippersnapper would be a dream come true.
Quote by Ping
You know what’s great?
You know what’s great?
Looking for common ground and interest with one’s own kids, especially dads and daughters, and then finding them. Verbs will definitely get this.
My eleven year old is a very creative and talented artist. I really wish I could post some of her stuff. She can creatively draw like I can creatively write. But her drawing is so much better than my poor attempts of writing. And, she has an edge.
For example. One art assignment in grade two or three, I don’t recall the parameters, but she did not subscribe to the premise. So, out of spite, she drew a frog holding a bloodied and clearly deceased small mammal of some sort in its mouth. Sound like something anyone you know would do with writing?
My God, we laughed when she brought that home. I’m sure her teacher was stunned.
Anyway, we’ve unearthed her interest in the horror/thriller genre of movies. Yup. She kind of reminds me of a little Vanessa. Leading up to Halloween, we watched Signs, and a few others. The other parental unit was concerned. Nightmares et Al. Nada. Stop projecting on the kid.
Then, as some of you may recall, I sang the praises of a wonderful Spanish movie called, Veronica. Damn. We had a great discussion about that movie. Sister Death. Evil spirits. Good stuff. I expressed how much I loved it and why. She actually got it, or so I think.
We were channel surfing and the beginning of Jaws 2 was on. We watched to the explosion and she then ask if I found that scary. No. No I didn’t not. Nor did she. But one needs context. She’ll see Jaws sometime when she wants to. I’m good with that.
But the apple pies de resistance was tonight. Sorry, I was supposed to be reading comp stories. I promise. I will. But tonight, after ballet, we were going to watch, A Quiet Place. We were going to start it when I had a revelation: Killing Eve.
Well, she LOVED the first episode. Her eyes got wide and glossy. She was riveted. So, we will watch the series (me re-watch) so we can watch the last season together.
How great is that?
By the way, if you are down or just need a laugh, watch some Best of Graham Norton clips on YouTube. Tears. Always. I laugh until I cry.
Egg nog, please.
Too soon?
Ping and Annie, it really is a gift to watch your kids interests and future self begin to emerge. I still remember my youngest writing a poem about birds swimming in a "trusting sky" and the teacher wanted her to change "trusting" to "blue" (in teacher's defense it was supposed to be a poem written with the color prompt blue). Let's just say I had a short talk with the teacher about nurturing creativity. She didn't change the poem.
Much love and luck and magic to your newborn, Annie.
Saw Dune last night. I LOVED it. It's slow and ponderous and kinda cold, which I know doesn't sound good, but it's so like, epic. Just HUGE. It inspired awe. Timothy Cambriolet (or whatever his name is) is a little lacking in gravitas for the role, but it all worked for me. I love the book, which helps.
World Series returns tonight. I'm rooting for a 7th game, so sorry, Sara. I'm rooting for the Cheaters tonight.
Coffee and a sandworm shaped cookie please!
Quote by Violet_the_Verbose
I have just succeeded in submitting something so last minute, it should be shameful. We'll see if it's allowed to slide into the comp lol. Read at your own risk.
Yay!!! Haven't seen you around much, VV! Hi!
Quote by Ping
Verbs sucks.
Dude! What did I do? I'm just sitting here, resting on my laurels. Sadly my laurels are going numb.
Great Halloween - we had a ton more kids than we usually do - I chose to see that as an optimistic thing, though I don't quite know why. We ran out of candy toward the end and were considering handing out canned goods. Mmm, canned yams! We had left over cake frosting, I was suggesting having kids open their mouths and then spreading frosting on their tongues with a butter knife. Calmer minds prevailed.
Good World Series! Braves in 7 games!
Cool and cloudy. Not much on my plate today - about to start herding words like cattle. Heyaa! Git!
A coffee and a yam flavored cookie please.
Happy Spooky Day! Candy is ready for the 2 or 3 kids willing to brave freezing cold and drizzle for a handful of candy bars. The rest we will eat while binging You (I may or may not have the World Series on the iPad at my side while we watch). Sorry, Sara, I’m rooting for a good World Series, and that means Houston needs to claw their way back into the fight.
A decaf and the scariest cookie please!
Good morning everyone.
Yesterday was a lost day, writing-wise. Trying to massage a plot change and just got blocked--something I always say doesn't happen to me. So, today it's important to get back on the horse and show the story who's boss! The story's the boss!
Last Night in Soho is out. I've been wanting to see it for awhile, and this might be the weekend. Looks creepy, and I have a tiny crush on the Queen's Gambit actress (too lazy to look up her three names).
Halloween plans are what they always are: watch scary movies, give out candy, and eat what's left.
Time to write. Take no prisoners.
Good luck against the Astros tonight Sara.
A coffee and a writing-block-shaped cookie please.
Good morning all.
Ping? Where are you? Did you go full scale biker and begin exploring Canada on a Harley D?
The leaves are all bright yellow and deep reds around us, a chill is in the air, though the sun is shining brightly. Few obligations today, other than to a plot shift I thought up at around 1 in the morning, so I suppose my day will be following the rabbit down that particular hole. I've been stuck at 20k words for a few days now, because I keep cutting old material, and it looks like today will be no different. It's work that's gotta be done, and sooner is better than later.
Sorry about your Braves, Sara. At least it makes for a more exciting series. And you gotta admit, Altuve is a force of nature.
Coffee and a fudge marshmallow cookie please.
I am dressing up as an easily amused man sucking down horror movies on the couch with my wife while displaying a gluttonous appetite for Halloween candy.
No Talia Wednesday! I am fashioning some sort of giant slingshot in the back yard for the cats. Air travel! They can't talk, but I sense they are enthusiastic.
Cool sunny day. Fine weather to write to. I see there are two more story entries! I shall get to them soon!
Congrats on game 1, Sara. Your pitcher BROKE HIS FRIKKIN LEG and still pitched 16 more pitches! Now THAT'S a gamer.
Coffee and a femur shaped cookie please!
Yarg. Didn't sleep well.
I got my new computer today. I don't like the action on the keyboard, but at least it's a relatively fast little machine (1TB solid state drive!). And unlike my last one, this will take updates, and Windows 11 eventually. So today I'll be pulling all my old files onto the new drive. Loading Office 365 now, which is taking forever.
Talia is doing fine. She's new to back pain (I'm an old hand) so got a little scared. I'm teaching her my back exercises. Geez, that sounds boring. It's not, actually. Kinda fun!
World Series begins tonight! Good luck Sara! I'm mostly rooting for the Braves, but whenever they do that stupid tomahawk chant I start hating them - I heard it during WAY too many Mets-Braves games (that you guys usually won).
Time to face down the blank page.
Coffee and a baseball cookie please!
Quote by Rumple_deWriter
Greetings on this Moanday mourning. Not sure how this feat was accomplished, but for some mysterious reason, I'm here -- sorry about that. Sometimes I can login, other times, not. Beats me why.
Before I forget (something that happens quicker and quicker these days) just what is a 'kreplie(sp). That's just one of the many things about this new set-up which I do not understand.
If I crank up a new account, will it delete my current one? I seem to remember there being a way to put an account into something like hibernation.
Anyway, enough of my whining. Now that our boss man has upgraded the coffee/tea/and goodies offerings, I'm gonna grab me some and go sit in a confy chair while hoping my Saints beat the Seahawks tonight on Monday Night Football.
Later, Inspirators. :glasses8:
Greetings, Bill! So nice to have you! Can I buy you a coffee? 'kreplie(sp), by the way, is the name of out new cat! The apostrophe is silent.
New computer is coming a day early, and should be here today! Yay! Of course, all the setting up (which I love) will eat into writing time, but what are ya gonna do?
Figured out a nice plot point for the novel this weekend. Wireless optochemical stimulation of dopamine receptors using a network of Ring doorbells = the end of the world. Or of the present world anyway.
Not much else going on. Talia is almost back to health. World Series starts tomorrow. Go Braves!
A dopamine receptor shaped cookie and a coffee please.
So my computer is rebooting every few hours (I think one of the hard drives is physically damaged, but slightly), and I keep losing small bits of writing between saves, so I moved to Talia's old Windows 7 laptop, and it's taking me forever to write anything. Partly because it's an old, bad, slow OS, partly because the keyboard layout is so different. My new computer comes Tuesday.
Nothing much else going on. Talia is almost back to her regular self. No baseball for two days, but then THE WORLD SERIES. Good luck Sara. I'm rooting for the Braves, but mostly because the Astros are a bunch of cheaters.
Gunther from Friends just died. Sad.
A decaf and a cookie and a MONKEY HUGS FROM THAT CUTE LIL OL MONKEY!!!
Quote by Molly
Dune.
I was not disappointed at all and I'm excited about another one. They are in talks to make it a full trilogy since the book itself is broken into three parts. Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune.
On a side note, it really does need to be seen on the big screen.
I am SO PYSCHED to see this. Tuesday, with youngest daughter, hopefully. Talia has NO interest in seeing it. All I read was the first book, but I did really enjoy it. It doesn't even have to be great, it just needs to NOT SUCK! and I will be happy.
