S.J. Reisner's Blog, page 102

From the Greenhouse & Other Stuff

I think I've just found the new title for my gardening posts. This post will also explain the title. DH and I are talking about building a PVC greenhouse in the backyard this year to extend the growing season. We're still weighing pros and cons. Went and looked at some supplies last night. It would be cheaper than buying a commercial one. Heck why spend a few thousand when I can get a larger greenhouse for a few hundred. I need something functional and movable at the moment. Something I can fit my existing "greenhouse" shelf into and still have room to place pots along the walls and back. Maybe even put in a few movable raised beds.

Ideally, down the road, I'd like something bigger than what I need so I can grow into it. Something more permanent. Something with solar fans for temp control and a small ceramic heater for the colder months. Maybe even work in a drip irrigation system. A longer growing season would be heaven for the vegetables and me. Not to mention my herbs would likely thrive in that environment. So in the meantime I'm going to read up on greenhouses to learn what we need to know. But like I said -- at the moment, I'd like something bigger than what I have just because I've got SO much going on with plants in the summer months (usually - I took the 2 deck building summers off).


On that note - the writing is coming along slowly but surely. The problem with this second OTS mystery is it's coming out in scenes. Grafting them together has been tougher than expected. ::groan:: But that's the way it goes sometimes. The scenes themselves flow beautifully. Go figure. I still have a lot of story to tell. I should probably get off the net and get busy writing. Deadlines are creeping up and I'm daydreaming. ::sigh::

Spring Projects

So every year I grow new stuff in the garden. Sometimes magickal plants - most of it common or stuff that's native (sage and mullein both do beautiful in a mountain dessert). This year I'm actually trying magickal plants that are a bit harder to grow, one of them being mandrake. I'm wary because it's reminding me of the pennyroyal experiment some years back. lol 

I'm also growing Lemon Balm from seed to replace the plant that was destroyed by the backyard construction. Should be an interesting experiment alongside the heirloom veggies I'm growing this year.

So I did my seed inventory last night and it made me realize last year was a BAD, BAD year for veggies. The weather was freaky. The climate in the greenhouse sucked. At some point I want to put in a real greenhouse. Who knows, maybe after the more important projects around the house are done I can set aside a few thousand and get myself a small greenhouse. Something where the climate is easier to control. As it now stands I need a new cover for the greenhouse frame. I'm going to need it to harden off my seedlings and transplants.

I'm also going to need some seedling starter soil and some of my pots from outside. Mandrake can take up to a year to germinate and the issue I'm having is out of five seeds being cold stratified in the fridge right now, four are floaters. Eh. A friend suggested I try a compost spray to mist the seedlings. On that note the basil garden is started. Nothing like fresh pesto on salad or pasta.

The calamus should prove interesting, too. I've never grown it before. It requires 4 weeks cold stratification before sowing. Then it can take awhile to germinate. If anything, my garden (on top of writing) is going to keep me really busy this summer and I'm looking forward to it.

Terrific Tuesday!

Spent a half hour this morning talking to the anti-cyber stalking advocate (victims assistance) working on my case. Sadly, being a writer (even if I am B List - yeah, I've graduated from D List - lol!) you still tend to attract loons.

So how's life? Awesome actually. I can't complain. I have a loving husband and family. I have great friends. My life is spiritually rich. I live in a nice house, drive a new car, and am currently doing well financially. ::shrug:: If I complained or said my life was shit I'd be completely lying to you. Just because I have to deal with an occasional whiner or stalker - eh, goes with the territory. I spent an hour this weekend dealing with someone crying about Selinda's father's private journals (including 6 minutes on a YouTube video addressing the issue - 2 minutes to read Selin's statement, 2 minutes to upload, 2 minutes to share with friends) and I spent a half hour this morning with my advocate updating my file. If that's the worst thing going on in my life (which it is) then I'm doing pretty darn good. ::smile::

A gentle reader wrote me and asked me what was so special about my grandmother's death. Evidently she thinks no one understands loss except those who lose their mothers. Sad really - that people can be so hubris as to try to judge others grief or loss. Doesn't make for a good necromancer anyway. So in answer to that, my grandmother helped raise me. Truthfully, I spent far more time with her than I did my own mom. Not that I don't love my mom, I do, and I imagine when she passes away I'll probably be just as impacted by that as I was by the loss of my grandmother. Of course the gentle reader doesn't know anything about me personally, obviously. ::shrug:: Different people have different circumstances and different relationships with their various relatives. My point being just because your mom's death may have been more impactful for you than losing your grandmother, doesn't mean it's that way for everyone. You likely didn't have the same close relationship with your grandmother that I did. So that, gentle reader, is what was so special about my grandmother's death and why it impacted me so greatly and spurred me to finish writing a book long overdue. It took me losing someone dear and special to me. Such is life (and death).

Enough rambling from me today. I have a lot of writing to do and the OTS mystery is calling me. Have a terrific Tuesday!

The Problem With...

...Having too many projects is that sometimes you flutter off to work on something whose deadline is open as opposed to stuff that has a more immediate deadline.  So I'm feeling guilty that I worked on another book (since I got some material for it over the weekend) as opposed to working on "Into Darkness". ::sigh:: I guess the key thing is that I did actually work so I shouldn't feel that bad. I also got some organizing done. I finally (after two years of telling myself I would) put my holiday dishes and silverware into the china cabinet. Before, I was keeping excess kitchen stuff in there. ::rolls eyes::

The thing is I'm a stasher. We have such limited storage space in our house that I shove stuff where it fits, then my husband gets upset because he opens a cupboard and has to unload the cupboard to get what he wants. What we really need to do is de-clutter by getting rid of stuff.  We have a lot of crap. Stuff we'll likely never use in a million years. While I make several trips to GoodWill every year - I should probably make more this year. Either that or have a garage sale this spring (I'm not sure I'm that ambitious). I found a few collectible doodads, I should put them on eBay. Maybe Craigslist for some of the other crap.

Temple of DOOM Friday!

This week I've decided I'm DOOMED to be covered in cats. I don't know what it is about me, but cats LOVE me! I can go to a friend's house and their cats immediately make a home on my lap.

I figured I'm destined to a DOOM of cats forever. Oh - ::back of hand across forehead, ready fainting couch:: the sheer terror of kitties!

Busy Slacker's Guide to Being a Writer

Yeah - the header post is an oxymoron, but what the heck? It sounds like a good book title. ::smile:: Don't give me any ideas!  I haven't had the opportunity to really explore my Temple of DOOM Friday this week. Perhaps I'll contemplate it on the tree of woe. ::grins:: 

First - good news - I have two books in serious process right now, one being the next OTS mystery obviously. The other is a surprise. Very few and select folks know the details. I was given cover art earlier (for the new NF) and I love it. I'm already many thousands of words into that book. I've been writing it here and there over the years, it's just that it hasn't come to fruition until now. I never lack for ideas and I have a few more projects on the back burner like this. Sometimes it's a paragraph here. Other times it's a paper there. Then I begin to realize I have enough material to start building a book. So all these orphaned tidbits I write (usually in passion for the subject matter and because the ideas won't leave me alone until I put them on paper) can end up sewn together. In this particular instance, I've been collecting information about the subject matter (and writing about it) for years.  While cleaning up computer files this past December I realized just how many there were about this particular topic and said, "Hey - that's a book waiting to happen." Then I ran the idea by my editors and loyal betas and they loved it.

Certainly it's another labor of love because I doubt it's going to be a popular book. Merely another special interest book. This time not Demonolatry related, believe it or not.  Of course I never write a book with the intention or expectation of it being popular. Especially since I write a great deal of niche NF and niche fiction as well. When you write for specialized interests you're targeting a very specific, limited audience. It's the nature of the beast.

To be honest, I'm surprised  Honoring Death: The Arte of Daemonolatry Necromancy has been as popular it has been since its January release. Of course I'm not selling thousands of copies, but enough to realize it was long overdue and highly anticipated by a lot of people.

On the OTS front, this was a slow week. Sometimes a story comes out a paragraph at a time. Other times it comes out chapters at a time. I hope I move from paragraphs to chapters soon. It will happen, I have no doubts. I just hate the slow parts.

Now the bad news. I've been SO busy at the day job (due to the weather) that I've been having to take work home and that's why I'm so behind on e-mail etc... And that's probably why I'm only getting books written a paragraph or two at a time. LOL!  I'm hoping I'll have this weekend off. What I really want to do is clean up the house and set up my distillation apparatus.

I'm Too Sexy For Your Forum...

On one of the forums I frequent I often post to a board for BBW (big, beautiful women). Now I'm not super large, but I'm no longer a skinny little thing either. I'm about 55 pounds overweight. And yes, it's causing me some health issues the older I get, so I am actively trying to lose weight even though my two full time jobs are quite sedentary. Mind you I'll also be turning 39 this year and me and my metabolism aren't getting any younger, so it's been a bit of a struggle.

So along come a few teen-aged and twenty-something skinny girls, who seem to feel they need to tell all of us on the board that not only are we are significantly overweight, but that we *shouldn't* be overweight at all. Then they act as if it's as easy as pie to lose 50 pounds and we're just lazy. Well that's great to say when you've never had a weight problem. During my teens and twenties I was a tiny little thing, too. Sure - I've always been quite voluptuous (hourglass shaped), but I was always healthy. I didn't start gaining my weight until I was around 33-years-old. That extra 55 pounds didn't hit me overnight either. It crept up on me slowly.

It seems none of these tiny little things (the ones posting the snark) understand things like BMI, bone structure, or metabolism vs. age. But I have news for them. Many of them *will* eventually learn what it means to struggle with their weight. Most women go through that struggle at some point in their lives, even if they were skinny in their younger years. As cruel as it sounds, I find a lot of satisfaction in knowing this. I sometimes wish I could be a fly on the wall when all these girls making the inconsiderate and thoughtless comments about bigger women find themselves 20-50 pounds larger 10-20 years from now.

I'm here to tell those ladies - I was tiny, too. I used to be able to eat whatever I wanted and not gain a single pound. But it eventually catches up to you. You can't eat fast food or processed food every other meal for years and years and never expect to gain an ounce (no matter how active you are). Especially if a woman considers herself "curvy" now (which is why these young girls are hanging out on the BBW board to begin with). Perhaps instead of being snotty toward the bigger women, they should be kind and supportive - lest they find themselves in the same position and have a bunch of young skinny girls harping on their weight later on down the road.

The Art of Submission

I am seriously contemplating, at the moment, the meaning of surrender and submission. In the novel I'm working on, my MC, who is a strong, independent woman, is faced with the challenge of having to completely submit to the man she loves and trust in him enough that he won't abuse that power. Why? Not necessarily because she wants to, but rather to get out from underneath a murder charge. It's given me pause to consider other novels I've written about women who choose to surrender to their partners and who have a need so great, that they crave submission. I've also considered this same surrender in my own life. The things we do, sacrificing the self, for those we deeply cherish. Submission can be a fickle thing. The strong among us may refuse to submit until life forces it on us. On that same token, the strongest among us may fall to our knees at the mere request of someone we deeply love. And believe you me -- there is a point in a person's life where everyone is forced to submit to something - even if it's death. It's what keeps us humble and grounded in reality.

Submitting because you have no choice, and submitting because you want to are two different things, indeed. So, putting myself in a position to feel submission from my character's point of view is actually proving to be quite an educational experience.

History as a Judge

I was researching and enjoying the beauty of Anglo Saxon metrical charms earlier and it got me wondering.  What will future generations think of what our current era has left behind?  After all, I see the Anglo Saxon material and I think it contributes a great deal to how we, as a species, have evolved intellectually. It's a part of human history and says a great deal about our psychology. It also contributes to the sociological picture of the time period in which it was written. This led me to ask, what do Justin Beiber's memoirs say to someone a thousand years from now? Two thousand?  Will future generations look back and say Lady Gaga contributed a great deal to human civilization as we know it? In one hundred or two hundred years will our modern magickal gurus like Lon Milo Duquette, Donald Tyson and yes, even Konstantinos be revered in the same way modern magicians revere Aleister Crowley or John Dee?  What will history of say of them or will they even have a place in the historical record? (Provided man doesn't destroy himself or our species isn't annihilated by natural means.)

It's an interesting thing to ponder. It makes me look at those things I enjoy doing or those things I hold sacred in my every day life and ask, "What does this contribute to society and the human race as a whole?"

Temple of DOOM Friday

Ah - as promised I will now introduce to you my Mentor of DOOM! He makes all DOOM possible.

He is my exalted Master and a dear friend. Please give a warm welcome to the Mentor of DOOM!



Want more Dr. Orpheus (Grand Wizard, Master Magician)? Watch Venture Brothers on Cartoon Network!