Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 168

I Love Condor Cam

I'm not sure how I heard about it--probably over Twitter--but I learned that the San Diego Zoo had a condor egg ready to hatch! For the first time, they were broadcasting the camera feed over the internet--Condor Cam! This was back at the beginning of March and the chick hatched on Saturday March 10th. As luck would have it, I saw the baby bird shortly after he (she?) emerged.

I've become addicted to condor cam. Unfortunately, it didn't occur to me to take screenshots until 8 days after the chick's birth. I blame it on how tired and busy I've been. Because these are screen shots from Condor Cam, they're not as clear as I would like, but I'm going to share them anyway.

[image error] Condor Chick - 8 Days Old
[image error] Here's the condor chick with his mama - 11 Days Old
[image error] Condor Chick - 12 Days Old
[image error] Condor Chick tucked under his Mama's wing - 16 Days Old
[image error] Sleeping Condor Chick - 19 Days Old

Aurora From Space

I know. I have far too much space stuff on the blog, but I find it infinitely fascinating and often beautiful. This video shows the Aurora (northern lights) from the space station. There's also a shot of a meteor entering the Earth's atmosphere and becoming a shooting star. Seeing it from Earth orbit? Damn cool!

Pinterest, Movies, and Book Covers

One of the things people on Pinterest seem to love to do is pin movie posters for films they loved. If I recall correctly, it's one of the default boards, but I could be wrong. Anyway, these movie posters (and those for TV shows as well) quickly became really annoying in my stream of pictures. I didn't want to see dozens of these things and no one it seemed could post only one at a time.

Light bulb moment for me. Posting book cover after book cover would be just as annoying. I was right as several authors I'd friended began to do just this.

The driving factor for me to join Pinterest was sharing the pictures I'd used as inspiration for my stories. I talked about them frequently here, but didn't feel I could share on my blog. I didn't want to annoy anyone, though, so I gave it some thought and decided I'd post the images for one book a day and only one book.

I believe it worked. My stream wasn't inundated with my book pictures--not characters, not setting, not covers. Of course, I've probably annoyed my followers by pinning too many other similar things all at once, but at least they have no reason to be annoyed with my books.

Adventures in Entamology

I don't like bugs.

People who know I don't like the snow and cold used to ask me why I didn't move south. My answer always was I still hate bugs more than I hate snow. Things got pushed to a head, though, when my job was relocated to Atlanta. I decided to move.

I've been down here about three months now. I like the warmer weather. I liked wearing my spring jacket in January and February, something that never would have happened in Minnesota. I still hate the bugs.

Apparently, having pest control come out and spray every few months is mandatory. Signed up for that. I'm still dealing with bugs now and then, though. The ants in the bathroom were icky, but I've dealt with those in the past so they didn't freak me out. The enormous queen ant (it had to be what it was) that I saw walking across the living room did make my hair stand on end, but I killed it. It was just an ant.

Spiders, though... ::shudder:: I hate spiders with a passion. Last week, I had one in the corner of my bedroom. I've learned that Clorox household cleaner with bleach is a fantastically efficient way to kill bugs. So I sprayed that damn spider, then I had a phone call, and by the time I got back to the bedroom, the spider had vanished.

Yeah.

But the worst was yet to come. I've dealt with a few centipedes in the unit. They totally creep me out, but in February I had to deal with one on the wall of the living room in the morning, and that afternoon, one was on the ceiling of the bathroom. I killed them both, but I've been paranoid ever since and I don't walk into any room without doing a sweep of the walls and ceiling.

One day, there was another one on the wall. I got him.

Then came a Monday at the end of March. I checked the walls and ceiling as usual before getting in the shower. It was clear, I swear it was. I get out, wrap a towel around my hair, and grab another towel to dry off. As I'm bending over, something falls past my head. I felt how close it was. I look down and something is scurrying. Luckily, I had the Clorox handy. I grabbed it and sprayed.

It kept moving.

I sprayed again and again and again.

It finally stopped. I put my glasses on and checked it out. Yes, a damn centipede had fallen from the ceiling and nearly landed on my head!

I might need therapy.

Pin Art

I'd never have the patience to do this once let alone do it over and over to get this good at it. It amazes me sometimes what people can do with common things and make art out of them.

The Work In Progress

I have created a pin board for the Work In Progress (WIP). I'm calling it The Proposal In Progress because that's a bit more accurate at this point. I haven't put pictures of my hero or heroine up on the board yet, but I do have setting pictures up and an outfit (including cute boots) that my heroine will be wearing when the story opens (I think. I'm still struggling with a beginning.)

As I work my way through this story, I'll add more pictures to the board. I usually only look as I need things and I never know what I'm going to want until I'm about ready to write it.

[image error]

From Idea to Story - Part 7

I lost track of the dates in here. The last post I was doing pre-book writing, more where I was exploring character than expecting anything keepable. After this, I went back to making notes for a while and then I picked up some darn cold/flu bug. Again. I usually only get sick once a year, so twice kind of aggravated me. It also stopped all writing and notes because I couldn't focus long enough to string together a cohesive sentence.

So Sunday March 25th

I try writing again. The thing to remember here is that I haven't done any real writing since last fall sometime because of my move to Atlanta. I just didn't have time to take care of everything that needed to be done and have the energy to write, too.

There's a reason why I don't take much time off from writing--once I stop, it's really hard to get going again.

I spent my time Sunday struggling for words. I didn't get many and I don't think any of them are working really well. I also don't know if I'm starting the story in the right place. I'm only about 50/50 on choosing the right spot the first time, so this is always an issue I deal with. I think the hiatus I've had from writing is simply making things more difficult for me.

Will try again.

New cube decor ready for the wall

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

Anything You Say, Officer

This video is short, but pretty entertaining. The lesson? Don't mess around with the South Korean police.

I think the condor chick is awesome!

- Posted using Mobypicture.com