Devon Ellington's Blog

Tues. Oct. 7, 2025: Residency Day 5

Desk view. Photo by Devon Ellington

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Last Day of the Full Moon

Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde

Cloudy and cool

This will be much shorter than the usual Tuesday post, because I’m only catching up on yesterday, not the entire weekend.

It was a lovely, warm, sunny day here. While it’s too warm for the season, I’m also enjoying the warmth while we have it.

I wrote my way around a lot of stuff, trying to find a way in, and didn’t feel like I was successful. I wrote a poem to take to the workshop that was born out of sheer frustration that I couldn’t solidify what I was trying to contain in the words.

I also switched sewing machines. The one I started with wasn’t hefty enough for what I need, so I switched to a “heavy duty” machine. I had to unthread the previous bobbin, which I did by winding it onto a bamboo skewer. The bobbin wound smooth as silk.

Then, I could get back to writing.

I finally managed to get in some solid work on I WILL BE DIFFERENT, writing the Amanda-Mick breakup scene.

I checked out the R & D store on the way to lunch, and it was such a beautiful day, we had lunch outside again. After lunch, there were group photos in the Boiler House, after which the Collective is named.

I came back and pinned the backing to the textile piece. I put it through the machine, which stitches it like butter. I got the three sides stitched that I wanted, and it’s hanging properly.

By then, it was time to head over to the workshop. We had a great session, really wonderful work, people trying new things, which I love. I got terrific feedback on my poem, and I’m looking forward to digging in for that rewrite.

Swung by the studio to get what I needed for the apartment. We all agreed that there’s a weird smell in the women’s restroom on this floor. I think it smells like sauerkraut, but who knows? It was really bad on Sunday, and I hoped Monday’s cleaning would solve it, but it was back yesterday. I have not yet ventured in there today. Stay tuned! 

Dropped things off in the apartment, and then we headed up to Grazie’s new location, over on State Street. Mill Town Circus is in town, and the bright blue and yellow tent is up in the field behind the restaurant. The food was so darned good. I had pan-seared salmon with sauteed vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes. I probably should have eaten half and saved the rest, the portion was so huge, but I ate the whole thing. It was wonderful! And good wine, a nice change.

After dinner, we convened in our apartment to have our planning meeting for next year. That went well, although our dates still have to be finalized, and it will be one day shorter next year, which is disappointing. But we’ll all keep our tasks for the Collective, and we all hope to come back.

We sat and chatted for a little longer. I put through a load of laundry. Coming home with clean clothes is a nice feeling!

Just before I went to bed, I got an email from the anthology editor who accepted the comic mystery set on Cape Cod and rejected “Scent Memory.” The publisher for those anthologies is shutting down. I’m not particularly surprised – I mean, I still hadn’t seen the contract for the story, and publication dates kept getting pushed out. It also reinforces the decision not to work the way this editor likes to work – write on spec and do at least two rounds of edits before knowing if something is accepted. The editor said there were efforts to place the anthology elsewhere. I’ll give it some time, and then make other plans for that story. Learn and move on, right?

I mean, I feel badly for the editor, but it confirms this is not a good way for me to work.

Slept well, although I had weird dreams. It was hard to get out of that comfy bed this morning, but I managed it, and got myself out the door and to the studio a little before 7. Morning meditation was interrupted as the fire alarms went off several times (I assume they were testing them, since this is the museum’s closed day).

The morning plan is to write. Between lunch and workshop, I want to get the batting into the textile piece, pin it in place, and then maybe stitch the center. I found that working from the center out works better than the edges in doing the last piece. I also have to rethink the scale of the embellishments on this larger piece. Fortunately, there’s no deadline.

And I have a good idea of what I want to do for “Vast”, so now I can start sourcing fabric. I don’t need all that much (unless I make a lot of mistakes). It will be a fairly compact piece. I’ll let the poem form as I work on the textile elements.

I can’t believe this is our last full studio day. The time has gone so quickly! I need to get a grant application out, but I think I will do that after I get home. I have all the bits; they just need assembly.

There’s been so much wonderful, supportive feedback, and great conversation.

Have a great day!

Mon. Oct. 6, 2025: Residency Days 2, 3, 4

Inspiration wall & reading corner. Photo by Devon Ellington

Monday, October 6, 2025

Full Moon

Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde

Usually I do an “intent for the week” post on Monday, but since I’m still in the studio, I wanted to share that experience.

I do, however, have the Community Tarot Reading for the Week posted here.

Once I got into the studio on Friday morning and did my meditation and 15-minute writing sessions, I transferred the files I needed to print to a separate USB and printed them off. I tried to use my regular USB, but the printer can’t read within folders. So I’m glad I tossed the extra into my cosmetic bag of flash drives, and had a clean one just for things to print.

I printed out our collaborative poem flyer, the programs, and the book price and tracking sheets. I wanted to get all of that done for the next day’s reading, so I wouldn’t have to worry about it at the last minute.

Then, I printed out pages of CONSEQUENCE and I WILL BE DIFFERENT, the two projects I wanted to work on first. I managed to get all that done by just a little after 8:30, which made me feel more settled.

Studio set up for writing and sewing. Photo by Devon Ellington

I read through CONSEQUENCE (I wrote about 30 pages, pre-residency). There are a couple of different ways I could go. I have to ponder in which direction I want to take it. I’m still not sure there’s enough there for a full-length, which is a problem, since I need something full-length to aim at the theatre who asked for one by their November 1 deadline. It makes me wonder if I should switch to CONNECTION, but I don’t want to leave CONSEQUENCE unfinished.

I re-read through what I have for the Milly section and the Amanda section of I WILL BE DIFFERENT. I think I might try to finish the Amanda section and start the Joy section. That leaves Alice (Milly’s mother, who actually has some great scenes in the Amanda section), and write the Mildred section last, even though it’s first in the chronology of the play, later this month/year.

I had to get a book review out, too, but got that out of the way mid-morning. It was not a genre I generally read, but I did the best I could with it. I put aside my personal feelings on the genre and focused on the strength of the writing and the way it engaged.

Played with some ideas in longhand, the start of explorations for the next sections of the plays.

Before I knew it, it was lunchtime!

I browsed in the gift shop for a few minutes, and then we all found each other, picked up our lunch boxes, and went outside to eat, because it was such a pretty day. We chatted and hung out. After lunch, I went back to the apartment to pick up a few things, like my toothbrush. I walked across the street carrying my toothbrush case and some makeup brushes and ran into an artist I knew who teased me about a very strange walk of shame!

Had trouble settling into the hour and change before the workshop meeting. It wasn’t enough time to get any substantial writing done, and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to read. I spent some time on the acupressure mat, which was a good thing.

The workshop was a lot of fun, and the talent in that room makes me so happy and grateful to be a part of it. I did not bring anything to workshop on Friday. I listened and commented on other poets’ work. Even the dark poems have a lot of fierce joy in them, and I love that.

I headed home after on foot, stopping by Golden Bamboo to pick up Chinese food. I ran into a couple of people headed in for First Friday as I headed home. My mom was doing well. It’s good for her to have a few days of independence now and again. The cats were happy to see me, especially Bea.

After we ate, I headed back downtown to First Friday. I dashed down to FutureLabs, just in time for the talk by the two artists whose work is displayed this month. It’s really intriguing work. One artist made the paper she used by hand, and then painted on it – some of the paper was made from the garlic stems she’d help grow in the community garden, and on it, she created paintings about the process of planting the garden. The other artist does a series of robotic paintings. and he does them by painting with his fingers, rather than brushes. The gallery owner encouraged me to make an announcement about the reading at the library, which was so generous. She also really liked the proposal I sent about the upcoming shows, and will have my key to the gallery made up.

On the way back, I ran into some of my fellow poets, who were wandering around, enjoying First Friday. Yay! I love it when people who don’t live here can see how much fun we have.

Locals really want this to be a vibrant town, and love welcoming visitors.

Home baked the mini banana muffins. They came out pretty well, in spite the oven being inconsistent lately. I threw a few tee shirts into my bag, since it was supposed to get into the 80’s over the weekend, and I packed sweaters for the week. I checked the bags with the things we needed for the reading. I packed the muffins.

I actually slept really well (with Charlotte stretched out against my spine, purring). I woke up at 3, then dozed off again and had weird dreams, getting up around 5:30. While I’d hoped to be at the studio by 6, the world was not going to end if I was there by 7 instead.

I fed the cats, took my shower, risked putting curling cream in my hair (with the rising temperatures, it’s always a risk), made breakfast (scrambled eggs instead of the fried egg sandwich I usually do on residency mornings), packed up the food, said goodbye to the cats, and loaded the car. Tessa gave me instructions until the final time I shut the door.

I was in my studio a little before 7. It was lovely and quiet. I was still the first one there. I put up the suncatchers I brought from home. The pole beside my desk has two large screws in it, and I knew I would impale myself on them if I didn’t put something pretty there. I checked over the programs, paperwork, and ran through my own three poems for the reading. As weird as “The Grief Weather Tangerine” is, I really like it.

I had three false starts on poems. I hit a certain point on each and realized I’ve written this before, and better. Which is frustrating.

I did a little bit of research on the Queen Anne era and how prolific women playwrights were at the end of the 1600’s into the early 1700’s. According to the introduction of LOVE AND THUNDER, which is a collection of plays by women from the time (including Susanna Centlivre), “during the time of Anne, outright misogyny was tantamount to treason.” Wouldn’t it be nice if that was still the case, instead of the current encouragement of misogyny?

Headed up to the library, early of course. I wasn’t even the first one there! The third floor of the library was a wonderful space for us. It felt airy and intimate simultaneously. We set up the snack table and the book table and the chairs. Got the programs and the collective poem written for North Adams on the chairs. Chatted and generally got settled before the reading.

The reading went well, and was a lot of fun. There was snacking and chatting after. We put together a plate of goodies for the desk downstairs, cleared up, and were out by the time the library closed.

My fellow poets helped me load the car. I drove back down to the studio, resorted bags as to what was going over to the apartment for us to snack on for the rest of the residency, and what needed to go back home.

I paused to eat lunch with the collective. It was warm enough to eat outside again. In fact, I changed into a tee shirt because it was so hot. I had the roast beef for lunch, thinking it would be a good choice since I was feeling run down. But by mid-afternoon, I was reminded that red meat is rarely my friend.

Took things home, dropped off the car in the home lot, checked on my mom and the cats.

Walked back down to the studio, packed up what I needed for the apartment, and went over to the apartment to take a rest. I’ve been pushing hard on my deadlines since September with the ghostwriting client (last three projects on tighter than normal timelines), and the short story deadlines, and making sure things were set for the reading. Fatigue was to be expected.

I sort of dozed off and on for the rest of the afternoon. Read a little, dozed a little, read a little. There was a point where I realized how lovely and sunny it was in the livingroom, so I moved onto the couch there. Started playing with the idea for a poem that’s one thing on the surface with something else going on underneath.

My flatmate returned after the workshop, and we chatted for a bit and got ready for dinner.

Dinner was in Williamstown, at the Water Street Grill. I’d never eaten there before, but heard good things about it. I didn’t expect it to be as tavern-y as it was. It reminded me of Freight Yard Pub here in North Adams, in some respects. The food was good (I had fish tacos). The wine I chose was not a good choice. I should have gone with a beer. I’ll know next time!

Home, we all hung out together for a bit, my flatmate and I sat up talking a bit longer.

I set my alarm, in case I overslept, and I slept well. Weird dreams, which fled as soon as I woke up.

Woke up before the alarm, at my usual waking-up time. I tried to be quiet getting sorted out for the day, making breakfast, doing dishes. I swear one can hear that coffee maker all the way to Peoria.

And then, of course, I left my travel mug of coffee next to the sink!

I love getting into the studio early. I mean, there’s always someone working in one of the permanent studios, the museum’s security staff is lovely, and the space just feels safe and welcoming, especially without the public!

I did my morning meditation and my 15-minute writing session. Sunday was Day 45, halfway through the 90-day experiment. I played with my poem idea some more, and looked back at one of the ones I rejected yesterday, finding a kernel of potential in it. I played with it for a bit, and with another idea I had in the workshop on Friday.

I got several drafts of one poem done, well enough that I feel good about taking it to workshop. The title, which is what spurred the poem in the first place, no longer fits. The poem’s gone in a different direction.

I wandered the museum for a bit. I did my pilgrimage to the Boiler House and took some more photos. I might do a piece for one of the FutureLabs exhibits on striking images from the Boiler House that tell a story, three photos with three poems that can stand separately, but together add up to something more than the sum of its parts.

I sat with the Anselm Keifer pieces a bit, which are just so disturbing, I don’t know where to start to create poems or stories with them. They are so self-sufficient. What more can I say about them, except to explore the impact they have on me?

A fellow poet was in the exhibit, trying to write a poem, and said she’s been trying for the 10 years she’s been coming to the residency to do so, and hasn’t found the way in yet.

My camera was acting up, and I can’t figure out why. I sat at one of the picnic tables and my flatmate arrived. She was on her way to Boiler House, and then we wandered a bit, hoping to see Randi Malkin Steinberger’s “Archive of Lost Memories” which I loved so much when I saw it in summer. But it wasn’t open yet.

Back to the studio. I have wall space here, so I did some legs-up-the-wall pose to counter walking on concrete.

Picked up my lunch and ate it at the studio, reading Iris Woolcock’s book THE ROAD NORTH. Iris is one of my Playland Painters. She is the one who rented a room in the Greenwich Village brownstone owned by an Italian immigrant, his wife, their teenaged daughter and young son, with other lodgers being a young actor and two female journalists. Talk about a sitcom in the making! She lived in Vermont, not too far away from here, was a photographer and painter, even painting the official portrait of one of Vermont’s governors. Twice divorced, in 1947-48, she bought a trailer and drove the newly paved Alaska Highway with her cat. The entire trip was about 12,000 miles, since she began it in Florida.

The book is hilarious. She is the kind of person I would have loved to have as a friend. She’s such a good writer, with a wry sense of humor, a sense of adventure, and a clear-sightedness to the joys and foibles along the way.

Once I finished my lunch, I joined my fellow poets at the Fall Foliage Parade. Groups from all over the Berkshires are invited. There were many more organizations involved this year than in previous years, and it was so much fun. The marchers had fun, the audience had fun, it was a hot, sunny day. An all-around good time, and I’m really glad I went.

Charlotte fully believes the parade is in her honor, so I’m sure she had a lot to see, as they de-staged going past the apartment.

Back to the studio. Pinned up the fabric swatches, and got a solid idea of how I want to approach “Vast”, the piece I plan to create for the January show at FutureLabs. (Yes, that’s the one I hope doesn’t turn out to look like a giant potholder). None of the swatches I have will work for it, but at least I have more of an idea of what I’m looking for.

I set out the large “Human Compass” quilt top. I haven’t yet run a new bobbin, which I need to do before I pin and stitch.

I had hoped to do some stitching on Sunday, but went to the parade instead. I have no regrets.

The workshop was fun. As always, the poems ranged widely. I got lots of feedback on my poem, which I have to go through and figure out how to integrate. And there are options for titles now, far better than the ones I struggled to try and figure out.

We dropped off our stuff at the apartment, and then walked up to Nara Sushi for dinner. There were only four of us, out of the ten. The rest opted to stay home and eat leftovers from their previous meals I had rolls: Alaska roll (in honor of Iris) with salmon and avocado; yellowtail and scallion; eel and avocado. The wine was awful; I need to remember to only order beer there. But it was fun.

We wandered back. The moon over the city was gorgeous. Poets drifted over to the apartment to chat for a while. My flatmate and I stayed up and talked more, then headed off to bed

I woke up once in the night, but went straight back to sleep, and needed the alarm to hoist myself out of bed at 6. Still, I was at the studio before 7. Morning meditation, trying to get settled in my day. Once this is posted, I will do my 15-minute writing session, and then delve into the morning’s writing. I hope to do some stitching either late in the morning, or between lunch and the workshop session.

I can’t believe how fast the time is going!

Have a good one!

Fri. Oct. 3, 2025: Residency Day 1

poster for our reading

Friday, October 3, 2025

Waxing Moon

Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde

Sunny, cool, and then warm

Meditation was good yesterday morning, with the Concord group. Charlotte was delighted. She had an anxiety attack earlier in the morning, so it was good for her.

I dug into the final fiddly bits on the ghostwriting assignment and a final polish/proofing pass. I got it out the door at 11:49 – a little later than I hoped, but I got it out the door.

A nap would have been a good choice then, but I had lunch, packed the car, and drove it down to the Studio. I unloaded my bags, greeting the studio manager and the two fellow poets who arrived shortly after I did. I drove over to the residency apartment, hauled my stuff up the stairs in one go (not my best decision of the day), brought the car back home, and walked back to the studio.

It was a lovely day for a walk, unseasonably warm. I love to look up at the mountains all around the town. It’s so pretty. It’s a different kind of appreciation when one walks.

Got back to the studio and started setting up, moving things around, adding a table for the sewing machine, setting up the wellness corner with the yoga mat, meditation cushion, etc., unpacking my books, setting up my writing table, and putting up some of my images. I like visually stimulating spaces! I’m in the same studio as I was last year, so it’s comfy and familiar. This is a photo of what it looked like when I walked in. I will post a photo next week of how I set it up to work.

I still have some more images to set up, and some fabric swatches to pin up to the wall. While I plan to work on the large version of “The Human Compass” I am also planning the piece for the January show. I want to see if any of the swatches I currently own will fit that vision, or if I have to source.

We headed over to the apartments as a group, and helped each other unload and carry things up. The apartments are on the third floor, and the stairs are steep.

I just hit a wall then. I “took to my bed” – well, I was lying on the bed, looking out the window at the mountain, thinking, “if I want to, I can just lie here and look at mountains.” That’s what I did for about twenty minutes, along with drinking water. I hadn’t realized how dehydrated I was.

Went back to the studio, did some more setting up and settling in. Returned to the apartment to chat with my flat mate and hang out, before we all headed over to Public for dinner.  Food and conversation were good. Some of us came back to the apartment and hung out for a while, and then bed.

I woke up 2 minutes before my alarm went off at 5 this morning. I debated whether to stay in bed or get going, but figured since I was up, I might as well get to work. My flat mate was awake, too, and kept me company for breakfast.

I was in my studio a little after 6. It was too soon after eating to do my morning yoga session, but I did my meditation and my 15-minute writing session.

The bulk of the morning today will be about getting things printed and put aside for tomorrow’s reading. After our workshop this afternoon, I will head home, bake the last item for tomorrow, and check on everything at home. I have to come back downtown for First Friday tonight, for at least a little bit of the Future Labs opening.

I’ll load up the car Very Early in the Morning and come down for a few hours’ of studio time tomorrow, then head up to the library. We will set up for our reading, the reading starts at 11, when it’s over and we’ve sold books, I will pack everything up and head back to MoCA for lunch. After lunch, I will take the car (and the dishes from the refreshments) back home, and leave the car. Hopefully my spot won’t have been appropriated during those few hours I’m gone. If it has, I’ll use my parking permit for MoCA and try to get the car back Sunday or Monday into its slot.

Once the reading is over and the car is back in its slot, I’ll walk back down to the studio, and then I can settle in until it’s time to leave midweek next week.

I keep changing my mind on what I want to work on, so I’ll just see what flows.

I came up with two possible lines of a new poem this morning during the 15-minute writing session, so I want to see where those go.

And there will be napping involved, especially once I get back tomorrow afternoon. It’s supposed to be in the high 70s and low 80s F the next few days. I’ll pick up some lighter shirts when I go home tonight. I packed all sweaters.

Have a great weekend, and we’ll catch up next week!

Thurs. Oct. 2: Portal Into the Residency

image courtesy of  Siggy Nowak via pixabay.com

Thursday, October 2, 2025

Waxing Moon

Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde

Sunny and cool

The photo is not what the residency looks like. I just liked it.

You can read the latest about the garden over on Gratitude & Growth.

I got out the short story that had to go out yesterday. Fortunately, it was all prepped, so all I had to do was navigate the stupid, annoying form and upload it.

Printed out the schedule pages that will substitute for the daily white board for my mom. Ran the errands that needed to happen in the morning, and they were all successful. I needed help, in one store, reaching something. A clerk brought over a stepladder and climbed to get it, and it kept skooching farther and farther away. But she snagged it eventually, and then we had a serious case of the giggles.

Got things home and sorted out, and then some other stuff came in that needed attention. Packed up my wellness bags and the sewing paraphernalia that I’m taking with me. I will double check that I have extra needle threaders.

Worked on the ghostwriting project until about 10 PM. I’m close to done. I have a couple of fiddly things to do, then a proofreading pass, and out the door it goes.

I put aside a couple of things to take to the residency, and now have no idea where they are. I don’t think I packed them in a project bag. Or maybe I did. I’ll know when I unpack in the studio later. Not having those items with me isn’t a tragedy. I just feel like I’m losing my last marble.

But the daily sheets for my mom are in good shape, so she can keep track of dates, times, and what is going on. So at least there’s that.

And it’s not like I’m that far away. If I’m missing something important, I can always come back and retrieve it. I’m just annoyed with myself.

Good morning yoga, meditation (Bea was happy), and 15-minute writing session. I have the online meditation with the Concord group, then I will finish the ghostwriting project and get it off my desk. Then I’ll do the other little stuff I need to do to prep the last few things for the residency, and pack the food.

This afternoon, I load up the car and head over to the studio. I’ll unload at the studio and the apartment. The plan is to return the car (provided no jackass takes my parking spot), and then return to the studios on foot for our official orientation. I’ll help my fellow poets unload, and then maybe go back to the studio for an hour or two to set up.

I’m looking forward to just getting there! Once my stuff is there and the car is back here, I will feel like I can settle down. I’m excited to be with everyone again.

Mentally, I left a few days ago, which is why these last few days of finishing things up have been such a struggle. But I will get there.

I’m keeping an eye on government shutdown stuff and other chaos that will entail, but, for the most part, I’m going to try to isolate myself from the outside world as much as possible while I’m in the studio. I’m feeling depleted in that area, and I hope stepping back for a few days (while not ignoring the dumpster fire completely) will help me reinvigorate.

Have a good one! I’ll share studio photos when I can.

Wed. Oct. 1, 2025: Burning the Midnight Oil. Literally.

image courtesy of Hans Benn via pixabay.com

Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Waxing Moon

Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde

Sunny and cool

And now it’s October!

It always feels weird to me when a new month starts in the middle of the week. I don’t know whether I am coming or going.

They put out a frost warning for tonight. I will check later, and see if I need to take in any plants.

I did some follow-up yesterday morning from the various meetings. I worked the tyburn poem a bit, and now I think it’s where I want it (or at least close enough for the moment). I will close my section of Saturday’s reading with it. I’m starting with a surrealist poem, moving to a naturalistic poem, and ending with a tyburn.

I forgot to mention that yesterday’s 15-minute writing session was the 40th day. It was a good one, albeit a lot of visual art planning. Which means today was Day 41! Soon, I will be at the halfway point of this experiment.

The whole day was about the ghostwriting. I dug in and dug in and dug in. I took a short break for lunch. I took the hour-and-a-half break for the WAM literary committee meeting, which was terrific as always. I took a short break for dinner.

I worked until shortly after midnight, when my brain couldn’t function anymore, and hit the goal for the night. I still have a lot to do today, but hopefully, I won’t have to stay up until after midnight.

I worked longer than the government did!

Yes, there is a government shutdown. It’s all on the Republicans. I mean, we haven’t had a properly functioning government since January, but it’s gotten steadily, intentionally worse. The self-righteous stupidity around what is going on is off the charts.

Oh, and the COVID test was negative, yay, and that’s all sorted with the Studios.

Not much to say today. The 15-minute writing session was scattered. My brain is tired, but I have to rev up. I have a short story to get out the door and some errands to run this morning, before digging into the ghostwriting again.  And, of course, the Sidewalk Chewing Demons are around today, with noise off the charts.

I typed up the daily sheets for my mom (since I won’t be here to do the whiteboard) and I will print them off and set them up for her. Hopefully, she remembers to get rid of each day’s sheet and look at the new one.

I just have to deal with each thing as it comes up today. I still have to go through my work bag for tomorrow, deciding which projects I’m bringing in, and packing some of the sewing supplies. There are a couple of things I can’t get done before I leave that I will have to take with me and finish on Friday.

It will all get done, in spite of the obstacles like the Sidewalk Chewing Demons.

At least working late at night is a bit quieter, although they were doing some digging a few blocks away (another water main break, perchance?) that I could faintly hear.

I just need to get through today and tomorrow morning, and then I am in-studio and can take a nap before I start work!

Have a good one!

Tues. Sept. 30, 2025: Papers Piling Up

image courtesy of Anja Heidsiek via pixabay.com

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

Waxing Moon

Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde

Misty and mild start, supposed to get sunny later

And September is a wrap today! Wow! Can’t believe it. It’s been awfully warm and humid for autumn here. More like late August than early September. It nearly hit 80 a couple of times over the weekend.

I was out the door fairly early on Friday (once I returned with the laundry) because of all the errands. It’s a good thing I gave myself extra time, because every cashier in every store was very chatty. Which is fine. I can take five minutes to listen.

The grocery store was the first big event, and I was sorting out what I needed for meal planning, a few things for the reading, what I needed to cook ahead for my mom while I was gone. I’m picking up the last few things, that I need for my early morning breakfasts, tomorrow morning. Along with anything else I forgot!

I was finished at the grocery store before the library was open, so I went in a different direction to run a couple of errands. One was successful. One was not, but that’s okay, because it was one of those “If I can find it, great, if not, it can wait” so it will wait. By the time I was done with that, I could go and do my pickup at the library, and then run a couple of other errands, most of which are tied to the residency or the reading. And swung by the bank to get the small bills for the cashbox for the reading, etc. Something else I was worried about turned out very positively, which was a huge relief, and hopefully opens a less stressful road for me in the coming months. I was also delighted to see all the promotion the library’s doing for our reading, and that they followed through on putting the reading in the Chamber newsletter (which goes out to 10K people every week).

It was a lot of bags to unload and get up the stairs, and stuff to put away or pack in other bags that have to go to the residency either on Thursday or to the reading on Saturday morning. Most of the morning was gone by then.

After lunch, I folded and put away laundry. It had brightened up, from the sprinkles earlier in the day, and we enjoyed the last day of the light through the white lace curtains until next spring!

I got the book price sheets and the cashier sheets set up for the reading, and got the last bit of information I needed to finish the program and send it out for proofing. Hopefully, it won’t font wonk on their end. I had a terrible time with it, even when I re-keyed. I really am going to have to rebuild my font library from scratch, but I don’t dare until after this ghostwriting assignment is done. The warranty, I think, only covers hardware, not software. I have to check.

I rebooted the system, and, for the third time that day, reset the default font to TNR. I wonder if there’s a way to remove Aptos permanently.

I didn’t get enough writing done, but that’s the way it goes. My brain was tired.

I did, however, make a recipe from the Bruno cookbook: roasted acorn squash and parsnip in a honey sauce with sage and walnuts. As much as I disliked peeling the acorn squash, the recipe turned out well.

Read in the evening. Went to bed at the regular time and slept well.

Up early on Saturday, which started misty and mild. Morning routine, decent 15-minute writing session. After breakfast, it was curtain switch-out day, switching the curtains to the spiderweb curtains, except for the kitchen ones, which are black lace for the season, but with a leaf pattern. The porch door, front door, and kitchen aren’t a problem, although I had to wipe down the globes on summer lights when I switched them out for the pumpkin lights with Green Clean, rather than just wiping them down, because of all the construction dust.  The living room windows and my office windows are larger and higher and require more complex climbing, but I got them done. And I switched out the white lace curtain in my bedroom for a sheer teal that makes the room look like an undersea grotto. That, and the rest of the weekly housework took up the morning.

I lounged on the sofa with Charlotte and Bea, finishing Ellen Byron’s SOLID GOLD MURDER, which is a lot of fun. I actually liked it better than the first book in the series.

It was blissfully quiet in the neighborhood and the sun came out. Even with the spiderweb curtains up, the light was good, and it was nice just to be.

But I got my act together to get some work done.

I had a solid session on the ghostwriting, even though I didn’t get done as much as I hoped. I had hopes of doing more at night, but I was too tired.

I slept well, though, in my undersea grotto, until 6:30, much to the cats’ dismay. Morning routine, another round of proofing on the reading program, some final emails to make sure I’ve gotten everyone’s books/prices, and did the Community Tarot Reading for the Week, which you can find here.

The laundromat overcharged me, so I had to try to get that sorted out. They already “round up” when I do a single load of laundry, instead of charging me the actual price. This time, they didn’t remove the “hold” charge they put on first until they adjust it for actual usage. They charged me both. I wouldn’t even use the card if the coin machine actually worked anymore. So they force us to use the card, and then charge whatever they want. Skeezy.

I dug in and finished the anthology story, and finally came up with the title “Gorgeous Mess” for it. I let it sit for a few hours, then did a revision on it. Hopefully it strikes the right balance between comic, noir, and mystery.

It was hard to get up the energy to dive back into the ghostwriting. I wanted to take a nap in my sea grotto, especially after two rounds on the short story. I got out a script submission, and found some submission calls which open October 1. There’s one that seems like a perfect fit for a story I wrote a few months ago that I figured would be difficult to place. Fingers crossed. Found another unusual market for a story I think might work there, so got that out, too. Tried to submit my notes for the literary committee, but only one of the forms was accessible. I had to request permission for the other five. They came through, and I got in all the notes.

Four mass shootings in 24 hours in the US, and instead of doing something about it, there are fake “federal agents” with machine guns sashaying down streets terrorizing residents. And more shootings yesterday. Congress can stop this any time it wants. Yet they won’t, because they think they can fundraise off it. Too many Democrats are not meeting the moment.

Finally got started on the ghostwriting. Didn’t get anywhere near enough done. Was wiped out.

Slept very well in my teal grotto. In fact, I slept straight through the night, until the cats prodded me awake, which I hardly ever do. Hmm, maybe a darker room really is more conducive to sleep. Who knew? (Yes, I’m being sarcastic).

Morning routine, excellent 15-minute writing session, doing some planning work for a story due Nov. 1 and a story due Dec. 30. I did a polish pass on the anthology story. Good thing, too, because it needed some attention. There were missing words. I don’t think the computer is saving properly even when I save regularly.

Had to deal with some business that needed to be done in-person. One of the landlord’s maintenance guys was a total misogynistic asshole as I was on the way to the car. His guys are usually pretty great, so this youngish white dude is an anomaly. He started whining about “telling” like a fifth-grade tattler. “Telling” what? He was in the wrong AND was a misogynist asshole to a tenant. Jackass. I decided to kill off a character inspired by him by rolling over him with a bulldozer driven by a skeletal entity. Because we are, after all, in spooky season.

A psychiatrist I met at a mystery writers’ conference said mystery writers were often among the healthiest, mentally, of the people they dealt with. Instead of letting frustrations fester like pus-filled wounds, they created characters that faced consequences, and could move on with their actual lives.

I have noticed, since January 22 of this year, the white dudes are getting more and more openly misogynistic and bullying. Like we don’t all know why.

First errand was smooth as could be. I believe I made the right choice to start doing business with them. Then I had to pick up a prescription for my mom, and run the second errand, which shouldn’t have been necessary in the first place (unnecessary banking chaos). Got it sorted, came home, discovered it wasn’t sorted, had to go back, now it seems to be. It was all very pleasant, but it shouldn’t have happened, and only did because it is a less than stellar place with which to do business. Unfortunately, I am locked in with them for the next stretch.

CVS now makes you enter all your own information in the computer to pick up the prescription and then someone might deign to bring you the prescription before the store closes. In other words, they have the customers do the work, and the wait time is even longer. On top of that, you “sign” with your finger – right, I’m gonna touch a screen with a lot of germy fingerprints during a COVID surge. Of course, they took away the hand sanitizer that used to be on all the counters.  As usual, CVS has no interest in “healthcare.”

Why yes, I already started carrying hand sanitizer in my purse again. I started doing this a few weeks ago, when both vaccine access and hand sanitizers in stores began disappearing.

Big Y is having Vax Week, which is great, only it’s a week I can’t take myself or my mom. She got it there last year, I think? They gave her Moderna, and it wasn’t as bad as the first time she got Moderna, but still worse than Pfizer. I will try to get her in somewhere with Pfizer after I’m done with jury duty, and then schedule myself for November. Maybe the Friday before Veteran’s Day, so I have a long weekend to be miserable.

Home, never got the link for the online writing session (aka the first ZOOM of the day), so just dug in on my own. I’ll get in touch with the head of the group after the residency. I’d gotten a really nice email from her just a few days ago, so it’s just one of those things. I did a final pass on the anthology story and got it out the door. Only a day early, but I’ll take every small victory.

I’m really happy with the story, happier than I’ve been with one of my short stories in a long, long time. The world of the piece is very vivid, and I think I may set more there in the future.

It’s comic almost-noir, so well in my wheelhouse. The anthology is from a publisher I haven’t worked with before, and the call was pretty open as far as styles, although they said they were leaning toward noir and comic noir.

Every submission is 50-50. Either they want it, or they don’t.

My next deadline is for a 1-2K comic noir that has to go out the door exactly on Nov. 1.

Pollinator is still sending me “do this, do that” emails, even though I quit the program. Fine. There will just be a blank space each week where I’m supposed to be. The lack of respect for the people involved bothers me, along with the lack of organization.

Dug into the ghostwriting. Didn’t make as much progress as I hoped (which means I am now behind), but the work I did was solid. I have to rip apart a lot and rebuild it, and I’m doing so with 4 fewer working days than I usually have. So it’s a lot. My brain isn’t getting the percolation time it needs for this.

I think I’ve finally cracked the tyburn poem. I had to throw out all my words and use all new words, but the theme is the same.

Cooked my mom’s favorite sausage pasta for dinner. She has plenty of leftovers she just needs to heat up while I’m gone, and can choose what she wants to eat. I bet, most nights, she will treat herself to a hot dog instead. Hey, at nearly 101, she can have a hot dog now and then.

The next ZOOM was our FutureLabs meeting, which was great. We talked scheduling and protocols and possible collaborations, which was fun. I’m going to enjoy being a part of this, with my fellow artists. I will learn a lot, since the work I will be doing will stretch my wheelhouse. I hope I’ll get a chance to do some gelli prints, finally!

I have a lot of notes from the meeting, and will need to do follow-up over the next couple of weeks. I definitely have to manage to get to the opening on Friday night, even though it’s the night before our poetry reading. And I talked about our reading, so hopefully, some of them can come. I also told the cohorts about the reading, and I’m doing some personal emails today and tomorrow about it.

I had a short break, and then it was back on ZOOM for my friend and fellow Boiler House Poet’s reading as part of the Inflectionist Reading Series. Several of the Boiler House poets popped into the virtual reading, which was fun. It was a really interesting group of poets, each approaching their work in beautiful ways. I’m so glad I got to attend.

It was difficult to settle down after, and it took me a while to get to sleep. I couldn’t face the laundromat this morning, so I’m pushing it off, and may wait until I get back from the residency. If I get enough done so I can go tomorrow or Thursday morning, before I leave for the residency, I will, but otherwise, it can wait. Nothing in the laundry pile is vital for the coming week.

Today is all about the ghostwriting. I haven’t been using my sleeves lately, and my wrists hurt a lot, so I will put them on today. I have to remember to pack them in my computer bag, too. This evening, I have a ZOOM meeting with WAM to discuss this recent batch of plays.

I have to take a home COVID test today, and send the result to the studios. Even when I know I’m fine, I always get anxious. But I’m glad they’re still requiring the test.

That’s the latest on a personal front. There’s plenty to say on the national/world fronts, but I’m not saying it today.

Have a good one!

Monday, Sept. 29, 2025: Eye on the Finish Line

image courtesy of Gerd Altmann via pixabay.com

Monday, September 29, 2025

Waxing Moon

Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde

Misty and mild start; supposed to be sunny and warm later

The Community Tarot for the Week is up here. It’s got some interesting contrasts.

This week is stacked to the gills in the first half, clearing off my desk before I go into residency on Thursday. I am behind where I hoped in the ghostwriting, so somehow, I have to catch up and get that off my desk and onto theirs before I leave.

Once I get into residency, I will take some time to get setup, and then there’s the reading at North Adams Public Library on Saturday, October 4 at 11 AM (shameless plug, in case you’re in the area). Once the reading is done, and everything is hauled back to where it needs to be (books, food platters, etc.), I can really sink into the residency.

Today, I have to be out the door early (as in shortly after 8 AM) to deal with unnecessary banking chaos, and then back at the house by around 9:30, 9:45 for an online writing session from 10-12. I will work on the ghostwriting, although I’d rather use that time for my own work. But I’m too far off course from where I wanted to be at this point.

Ghostwriting all afternoon, too, then cook an early dinner. I have a ZOOM meeting with the gallery at 6, and then I’m attending my friend’s poetry reading (also on ZOOM) at 8.

That’s the 3-ZOOM limit I usually have for a week, all in one day! And I have another ZOOM meeting tomorrow evening.

So it’s a busy start to the week! Except for the banking chaos, it’s all good busy.

And the anthology story is finished — one more polishing pass and it goes out the door!

My intent is to keep my eye on the finish line, deal with each thing as it needs to be done, and not get overwhelmed.

What’s your intent for the week?

Fri. Sept. 26, 2025: Mapping Out the Upcoming Week

image courtesy of Anja via pixabay.com

Friday, September 26, 2025

Waxing Moon

Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde

Cloudy and warm

For some reason, Word has defaulted back to the corrupt Aptos font, and I had to re-enter Times New Roman as the default and save it again. Not to mention that I have to go into settings EVERY DAY to remove Copilot. I am sick and tired of this crap.

Charlotte was delighted to sit in on meditation. She loves ZOOM so much. It’s hilarious.

Some of the admin work went smoothly, or at least it seemed to. I won’t know for about 5 business days. Something else came up that should have never been an issue, but has, and I bet I have to go and deal with it in person tomorrow. Which is just annoying, with everything else going on. Stop saying that in your company “accessibility is your priority” and then don’t have contact information with accessible options. Especially when there have been multiple conversations about it.

Got the newsletter out (nearly forgot about it). Joined the #FreelanceFriends chat, which was fun. Worked on the cat story. Didn’t get as much done on it as I hoped, but it’s getting there.

I was sad to learn of Patricia Crowther’s death. I admired her work.

Had all kinds of obstacles to starting the ghostwriting, but I finally got there and dug in. I didn’t get as much done as I hoped, but I’m happy with what got done.

Leftovers for dinner. Had trouble concentrating on anything at night. Did not sleep well.

I was up early, though, and out the door to the laundromat. Got the laundry through and back home before the Sidewalk Chewing Demons could interfere with my passage. It was too dark to read or write in the car (and too stuffy to be inside the laundromat), so I did my morning meditation in the car instead, and also planned a couple of art projects.

When I came home, Bea insisted that I make up the missed petting time!

Decent, slightly scattered 15-minute writing session.

I have a lot of errands this morning, as well as working on the anthology story. I will fold the laundry and put it away. The rest of the day will be about the anthology story, the ghostwriting, and reading the final script for the WAM meeting next week.

Tomorrow, I have housework and switching the white lace curtains of summer to the spiderweb curtains of October. And then, type up and submit my notes for WAM, work on the anthology story and the ghostwriting. Sunday, more decorating, hopefully the anthology story is resting, and more ghostwriting. Monday, I want to do a final polish on the story and send it off one day early. I also have a 2-hour virtual session with the writing group in Amherst. I will probably have to run a couple of errands in person, when things aren’t resolved in person today (because I can already tell you that they won’t be), and more ghostwriting. In the evening, I have an artist meeting on ZOOM, and then, also on ZOOM, I’m attending a friend’s poetry reading.

It’s busy, but it’s a good kind of busy, if I can just keep my wits about me, and take breaks when I need them.

I hope you have a lovely weekend, and we’ll catch up on the other side. I can’t believe a week from today, I will be in-studio!

Thurs. Sept. 25, 2025: Welcome Rain

image courtesy of Mabel Amber, who will one day via pixabay.com

Thursday, September 25, 2025

Waxing Moon

Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde

Rainy and warm

You can read the latest on the garden over on Gratitude and Growth.

I like the look of the date: September 25, 2025. I’m sure numerologists have a lot to say about it, but I just like the way it sits on the page, so I’m going to enjoy it, and not worry about the rest of it.

Yesterday morning, I had to get a bunch of admin done (I know, I know, it’s supposed to be AFTER I write, but I had to get it done early). I also got my ticket for the opening night of WAM’s 1999 confirmed. Having attended the first rehearsal, I’m excited to see the growth between there and opening night. Well, afternoon – it’s a matinee. My night vision is now almost non-existent. It makes me feel old.

I keep forgetting I’m in my sixties, which isn’t old-old, but also isn’t twenty-five. I need to figure out how to manage my energy and some new limitations better. They are reality.

Worked on the tyburn poem. It’s not finished, but it’s closer. Made a cut in “Bread and Jam” and now it flows better.

The minute I tried to hunker down and focus on the anthology story, the Sidewalk Chewing Demons showed up and got even louder right outside.

A job listing showed up that I would have loved – associate editor on a series of cookbooks! 30 hours a week, at a decent rate. However, it’s onsite in Michigan, which is too far to commute, to say the least. Why I was sent that, when I specifically have “remote only” as my setting is beyond me.

I got about a third of the way through the anthology story, which was good. I hit a good stopping point, and I hope I can pick up with ease today.

Got a bunch of things settled for the October calendar post-residency: jury duty, opening night at WAM, Wiid Oats annual meeting, an Assets4Artists event, my mother’s 101st birthday, Samhain. Mercury goes retrograde for most of November (it goes direct on Thanksgiving, just in time to muck things up), so I’m trying to load October with a lot and have a quiet November. Plus it will be time for vaccine boosters then.

It took FOUR HOURS to RSVP an invitation that used the Partiful platform, not to mention numerous emails to them – and then they tried to push it off on the person who created the invite. Seriously, your platform DOES NOT WORK. It should not take 4 hours and tech support to RSVP to an invite. I should be able to click “going” and it’s confirmed. I shouldn’t have to put in my phone number, and then TEXT THEM FIRST so that they can send a verification code. Fuck right off. Anything that comes through to me on this platform will be declined from hereon in, and I will let the inviting organization know why. I bet they start texting me a lot, and I will have to block them.

I had about 1400 words’ worth of questions and possible ways to navigate the revision notes, so I sent them off, and they can tell me what they want, and I’ll just do it. I’ll actually start the revision today. It’s a very tight schedule, getting them 20K by next Wednesday night/Thursday morning before I go into residency, but that’s the way it goes. I’ll work through the weekend.

Read a little in the afternoon, and read another script for Tuesday’s WAM meeting. Found some photos of some visual work I’ve done that I need for a grant proposal and a residency proposal.

Cooked dinner, read some more, went to bed early because my brain was tired. I got up early, planning to go to the laundromat this morning, but it was raining, and I would have had to slosh through ankle deep water in the car with the laundry, so nope, not going. The idiots who rebuilt the apron/sidewalk, etc. in the parking lot got rid of the runoff capacity, which means whenever it rains, it becomes a reflecting pool. So far, it stops short of my car, but if there’s a lot of rain, who knows? If this causes issues with my car, I will file a claim against the construction company. What a bunch of incompetents.

We need the rain, desperately, so I’m very grateful it’s here. I’ll give it another shot tomorrow. If I have to, I’ll just do everything on Tuesday, when I planned to take another load in, and do two or three loads that day. I’d rather do one and one, but we’ll see how the next few days unfurl. Going to the laundromat on the weekend is not an option. Did that once. Won’t make that mistake again.

In the morning’s 15-minute writing session, I came up with the final beat of the anthology story, and I think it lands well. I have to build to it (and I have a good idea of how to do that). I’m excited to get back to the page today.

I have the online meditation group this morning, and #FreelanceFriends at noon. There is some admin I have to do this morning (it had to be done, specifically, today, and I am not happy about it, because it’s due to the incompetence on the other end). I would be completely on track for everything this week into next, if it wasn’t for damn incompetence by people who are paid to be competent. Charlotte will be happy.

Better get going!

Wed. Sept. 24, 2025: Playing With Words

image courtesy of narciso1 via pixabay.com

Wednesday, September 24, 2025

Waxing moon

Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde

Cloudy and warm

Hitting midweek always feels like a surprise, for some reason. A welcome one, but still a surprise.

I was so disappointed at the lack of Rapture yesterday. I’d hoped plenty of the self-righteous, hypocritical, and cruel would be sucked up, and we wouldn’t have to deal with them anymore.

After a noisy start with the Sidewalk Chewing Demons, things calmed down for a few hours, so I dug into the work. It was difficult to settle, especially since I felt the weight of “have tos” over me. But I’ve learned that I need to do the most creative of the work early, BEFORE the “have tos” or else it throws off the whole day. That’s one reason I get up early, and one reason, when I’m in studio, I aim to hit the studio by 6 AM. Early morning hours are my best creatively, and that needs to be saved for my own work.

And yet, when I’ve had a few unsettled days (or, in this case, weeks), it’s often hard to settle back into that.

But I got some work done on the anthology story. I decided that, instead of the close third in which I started it, it made more sense to write it in first, and that made a big difference. I now have the wry, slightly caustic comic voice I need for it, and my protagonist and her life is surprising me in fun ways, because I’m letting my subconscious run free.

Of course, as soon as I really started getting into the story, the damn Sidewalk Chewing Demons returned, making noise. But I dug in, although at the noisiest points, I did admin work that didn’t require too much brain power.

I didn’t get done as much work as I hoped on the story, but I’m happy with the quality of what was actually done. I see a reasonably clear path through the story. And I had my trusty notebook from the early morning writing sessions open next to me, so I could refer to the notes I made for it over the past few days, which helped a lot.

The way the Sidewalk Chewing Demons upped the noise EVERY time I started to dig back into the story was annoying. No, I don’t think it’s intentional. I’m not that important and they’re not that smart. It’s just negative synchronicity (if there’s such a thing).

Dealt with a bunch of admin. Packed some of my project bags for the residency. I got my notes back from the ghostwriting client – 20K to get to them before I go in-studio next week. 6 business days instead of the usual 10, so I’ll work through the weekend, which gives me 8. There may well be a late-nighter at some point late this week or early next week. I am getting too damn old for all nighters! I’ll go through all the notes a few times before I get started, so I don’t make changes that then are negated by other notes further down. It will all work.

I read two scripts for next week’s WAM meeting. I have only two more to read.

I wrote my first ever tyburn poem. That’s a 6-line poem. The first four lines are two syllables each, and the final two lines are 9 syllables each. It was a lot of fun. Although the description I first found didn’t mention that the first 4 lines have to rhyme and the last two lines have to rhyme, so I need to go back and work the poem some more! I mean, I was going to work it anyway, I only wrote the first draft, but now I really need to do that!

Yoga was wonderful. One yogi brought her service dog, who loves yoga and loves all of us. He did the round of the room, tapping people with his paw to get petted, since, you know, we were just lying there. He’s such a love bug. Much harder to ignore a 70-pound golden retriever who wants to be petted than a little cat like Bea! But the logic was the same: You’re just sitting/lying there, you might as well pet me. Tap, tap, tap, lick, lick, lick until you do.

Home, dinner, read a bit of Gail Godwin’s journal from the 1960’s. Another book I own, but is in storage, so I ordered it from the library.

Slept well. Woke up at midnight because it was raining – finally! It didn’t rain enough, though. The ground soaked it all up quickly. We need more. It’s dreary, gray, and heavy this morning, so we might well get more, and I hope we do.

During my morning yoga, I was in downward-facing dog and Tessa came up underneath me to lick my nose. Cats!

The bulk of the 15-minute writing session was background for the anthology story, which was a lot of fun. Now I have details I can pull and integrate as wanted/needed.

The main focus this morning will be the anthology story. The focus this afternoon is the ghostwriting. That’s all I’m putting into my “have to” column today. I will see how the rest of the day unfolds, instead of overloading myself, and then feeling guilty when it doesn’t all get done.

Have a good one!