Ira Heinichen's Blog, page 71

Day 3,717: New Habits

I really want to get back to reading before sleep. It’s a good time for me to read, and while I did read quite a large bit more last year than the year previous, it wasn’t consistent. I read in spurts. And, at the end of the day, if that’s how I read, it’s fine. But, it would be nice to be more consistent about it, so I’m going to try.

Had a wonderful day with Liz today. We walked the pups together, ate breakfast, went and did some errands, lunch, nap, finished this seasons’ GBBO, at dinner t...

Day 3,716: The Year Is Dead, Long Live The Year

Happy New Year, everyone.

2023 was an intense one for me. But a solid one. Not exactly a banner year, or a “banger” as my friend Josh would call it, but a really, really solid year. Hopefully it’s the foundation for a banger this coming year. That’s the plan, anyway.

Liz is home. My love is home. All is right with the world.

Gonna end this one early here and go snuggle with her. Oh, how I missed her.

Day 3,715: Control

I remember seeing the film Control in theaters. I have no idea what it was about at the time—a friend at work had wanted to go see it and asked if I wanted to join him. I said yes, and dove into the world of Ian Curtis and Joy Division. I didn’t even know he killed himself until the end of the film. Odd, because I’m pretty sure I’d seen 24 Hour Party People before watching that movie, which was centered on the same musical scene, not Ian specifically, but they do definitely reference his death.

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Day 3,714: No Place Like

Home.

Wiped. Good god I’m so tired. Travel does that! Coops was waiting for me when I got home. All by himself, poor guy, but he’d been taken care of throughout the day. Sweet boy. He was so happy to see me…and now it’s like I never left. He was ready to do nighttime routine and go to bed, just like that. Just like today was any other day.

Good to be home. Starting to think about the new year, getting everything in order, ready to rock. It’s always a bit hard to start out, and while I want...

Day 3,713: Bonded

Joy is my little companion, now. We’re super duper bonded. My little shadow. She’s often asking now to be up on my lap, where she lets out a big sigh and falls asleep. Even Coco wouldn’t ASK to be on my lap. Not really, anyway. She’d look at me sometimes with big eyes, and I knew that meant she wanted to be picked up, but Joy outright will jump in my lap, even if I place her somewhere else beside me. It’s probably not the best behavior to reward, especially considering she’s a little insecure an...

Day 3,712: Schadenfreude

It is wild – so much of the publishing world that I’m a part of—a very, very small part, to be sure—is the frontier. It’s messy. Really, really messy. And to be honest, I stay out of it almost entirely. My dragon to slay is not the reputation of self-publishing, or to comment on the latest scandal; my dragon is my own writing, my own ability to tell the stories I want to tell. But…every so often, I am reminded of just how wild west bat shit crazy my neck of the woods can be.

It’s also funny—s...

Day 3,711: Minus One

An old Heinichen family tradition has been rekindled: we went and watched a movie together in the theater. Godzilla: Minus One! It was a blast. Plucky heroes. Badass battles. Set right after WWII. What’s not to love?

Got up a bit early to take care of Joy (right at dawn, actually, which is only 7am here in Portland, ye gads. That is SO LATE. The sun rises so late up here, and sets so early. Way more dramatic than LA. But, fed and walked the pup so I would be ready to go with him and Cal over ...

Day 3,710: Chrimass

A wonderful Christmas day. Just miss Liz. It’s very, very weird to be away from each other on this holiday. I don’t think we’ve done that in…oh man, over ten years. And I miss Coopey, too. And Coco.

Not to say that my day has been filled with “missing.” It hasn’t. It’s been filled with quite the opposite—feeling very grateful and full with family time. I haven’t seen my family for the holidays in several years; since 2019, I think, the year before Christmas. We’ve spent the last three years a...

Day 3,709: Eve

Merry Christmas Eve to everyone who celebrates, and to those who don’t: happy holidays

2023 is almost behind us. Wild. Been an intense year. An intense few years. But, we made it. I made it. I’m looking forward to the new year and the opportunities it will bring.

Had a really nice day with Scott and Addie today – a holiday party kicked it off. Lots of babies and friends. Busy busy, and about three hours long which was PERFECT. Took a solid nap after that, and then went on a nice walk with ...

Day 3,708: Front Door!

My bro has a new front door on his house! He and Dad finagled it all day, basically, and got it perfect. That’s honestly some of my dad’s best work, those fine details, fiddling with something until it’s perfect. He’s very, very good at doing that. This was the perfect job for him. And it’s in, now. A gorgeous (expensive!) dutch door, which are those kind that will open on the top. It’ll be so nice in the summer time to get a breeze going through the house without any chance of letting anyone sc...