Devon Ellington's Blog, page 12

Tues. May 6, 2025: Lots of Rain Means Quiet Work Time

image courtesy of StockSnap via pixabay.com

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Waxing Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Rainy and cool

And we’re back into retrogrades until at least March of next year, which is frustrating. Pluto went retrograde on Sunday, and will remain in retrograde until mid-October, with other planets joining the party along the way and then continuing on.

Settle in with your favorite beverage, because this is a loooong post!

Friday was busy! Three loads of laundry first thing, got them hauled over to the laundromat, put through, and hauled back upstairs. Quick breakfast. Wrote out some bills.

I had sourced the piecing fabric for the compass portions of the textile piece for the group show, so I went and picked that up. I think I might have enough for both compass pieces, and all I still have to get is background and borders. I have to get the embellishments elsewhere, which is fine. I can’t put them on until the piece is built and quilted.

Swung by the post office to mail some bills and cards, and to buy stamps. And, you know, catch up on local news, because the post office is THE happening place. Picked up my mother’s prescriptions, did a light grocery shop (a little more than I planned, but gotta jump on a good deal), and then the library.

Home, hauled everything up the stairs. Talked to the maintenance guy about getting the fire alarms switched out yet again, and sang the praises of the painters. Really, it is much less disruptive than I feared, even when there are times when the noise gets to me. The painters are nice, they clean up after themselves, they are careful.

An editor with whom I recently worked invited me to be part of her next project, which is so flattering! I rolled around a few ideas this weekend, and planning to pitch her something this week or next week. But on Sunday, she needed the pitch, so I sent something I felt was unformed. But she liked it, so now I have an early July deadline.

A4A came up with a way to acknowledge and honor some work I did for them just because it seemed like it fit something they were doing, and I am deeply appreciative.

I heard from FutureLabs with more information about the August show. I have to be late to their next meeting because of a previous commitment, but I will be there, and I have the drop-off date for the textile piece, installation date, opening and closing dates for the show. I’m going to help with the installation, so I can learn how to do that. They gave us allowable specs, which will help me as I build the piece. I think I will scale it down a little from my original plan. Only by about a foot, but I’m glad I have the information now and not after it’s built. We still have to figure out the workshop date in August.

I got the notes from the ghostwriting project, and they need this set of revisions by. . .today! They also praised my work to date, said I learned their style incredibly quickly, and said they hope I want to work with them again, so I guess they’re keeping me? I’ll believe it when they approach me with another assignment.

It cleared up in the afternoon, so Tessa could sit on the porch, and I could get some work done in my home office quiet.

In other words, it was the right kind of busy, with a mix of wonderful projects and people, and I am grateful.

Spent a lot of time Friday afternoon washing the fabric for the textile piece.  Got about half of it done.

Was thoroughly sickened by the post on the WH account, no less, of That Thing in pope regalia. I mean, I’m not even Catholic and I’m offended. The lack of respect for anything outside the self by That Thing is revolting.

Pulled myself together, put on Real People clothes, and headed down to First Friday. Two of the current A4A cohort had openings of new work in galleries, so I stopped by there, to support and congratulate them, and to enjoy their work. At one of the galleries, I ran into a guy who’s been part of the playwrighting group down in Great Barrington for the past 15 years, and we chatted playwrighting, and also the suspected serial killer targeting New England hikers. There’s a lot of frustration that law enforcement keeps denying the connection between the murders, but does so in a way that makes it even more obvious that they are connected. I am collecting all the material I can find on these cases, with an idea that it might come in handy in the future. For what, I don’t yet know, but the “what if?” buzzers are humming, so I’ll trust those instincts.

Also at one of the galleries, I ran into someone I know from the library, who was there with a friend, and we chatted all things art and cats. We went to FutureLabs, to see the new exhibit, which is really interesting. It features two artists exploring the same theme, but in very different, dynamic ways.

From there, we went across the street, to see an artist who I’ve been with in tarot circle every week  for the last two years – who had no idea who I was. Really? Still, it was an interesting exhibit, and I ran into an artist I’d met about two years ago at an Artist Meetup at Greylock Works who was also in the public art workshop a few weeks back. So we caught up, and he invited me to the opening of his new show in two weeks, and told me about some other events coming up, and I told him about some art calls/residencies I thought he might like.

From there, it was over to the opening of the public art Hatchlings exhibit, which is just so cool! I sat in on the committee meeting when it was presented to the city, and it was a delight to see it come to fruition. It’s a delightful exhibit that is in multiple locations in the city until early October. I plan to go out with the good camera one day and take worthwhile pictures of all of them. The photos I took on my phone don’t do it justice.

I ran into a bunch of people I know from Assets4Artists at the opening, and met some new people. One of the artists from my cohort was there and we caught up. He is part of the show opening in a couple of weeks to which I was invited, and he will be part of the Future Labs show in August, too.

Headed home. Was too tired to cook a full meal, so I heated up some leftovers and just crashed on the couch. Carrying the umbrella around worked – it didn’t start raining until well after I got home!

My feet and my bad hip hurt a lot, more than discomfort, but real pain, to the point I had to take something before bedtime. Went to bed early. Slept well with weird dreams until I was awakened by a crash at 3:30. Someone (cats) had pulled down the curtains on the stairs. Of course, there was not a kitty to be found, since no one wanted to be left holding the bag.

Went back to bed. Fell deeply asleep. By the time I woke up (later than usual), my mom had fed the cats. I had no energy at all.

It rained on Saturday, as predicted. I changed the beds. Charlotte helped with the beds, Willa helped putting the flannel sheets away for the season. I washed the rest of the quilting fabric.

I ironed. For five hours. That’s how much ironing had piled up, including the quilting fabric. So I didn’t get to build anything on the piece, because I ironed all the darned day. Still, I like ironing. It was soothing. I felt pretty much like crap all day, not sick, just exhausted, so ironing was a good way to get things done without over exerting.

I pondered the ghostwriting notes while I ironed, so I could do some problem solving.

I re-read A LIFE OF ONE’S OWN by Joanna Fields (Marion Milner). I’d first read it way back in the 1990’s, when Tristine Rainer and Christina Baldwin wrote about it. I have my own copy of it, in storage. But I wanted to re-read it, and ordered it from the library. I didn’t realize it was first written in the 1920’s. I thought it had been written in the 1970’s. Which shows how much is still relevant. Although it didn’t speak to me with the same depth that it did in the 90’s. Journal writing IS about exploring the self, but I kept thinking, doesn’t this woman pay any attention to anything in the world around her? Does she ever enjoy a sunny day or a garden or a book? The unrelenting angst made me lose patience. Now, I’ve been through plenty of periods of unrelenting angst myself, and I’m sure my journals reflect that. But my sense this time was of a refusal to try different tools and techniques to get beyond it, while claiming the purpose of the diary was to do just that. Our 2020’s are similar to the 1920’s in some ways, with the oligarchy and moving towards a recession – only in our case, it is completely avoidable, but everyone who could stop it just sits with their thumbs up their collective ass. So there’s definitely something to be learned from it, but also, come on, people. The self is important, but there’s also the self that interacts and is part of the world. We are the centers of our own universes, but part of the reason we are in the mess we are in now is that too many people demand to be the center of EVERYONE’s universe, without the ebb and flow necessary for societal contracts. Because self-reflection was so often discouraged, I think at times people go so far down that rabbit hole that instead of re-balancing the scales of interior-exterior, it swings to another imbalance.

Says the introvert, who is perfectly happy not leaving the house for weeks at a time, as long as I have enough books. Yes, I see the irony.

Started feeling better in the evening, well enough to cook our favorite baked salmon with honey-soy sauce, green beans, and sweet potatoes with cinnamon and cumin.

Slept well. The cats got me up too early. Good meditation session.

My computer was being persnickety in the morning. I am sure HP messed with it, since I refused their extortion attempt (purchasing their extended warranty), since I bought a 4-year warranty from Staples when I bought the computer.

Anyway, I got it up and running again. I had sourced background fabric and embellishments for the textile piece. I went to order them ten minutes after I sourced them, and. . .the fabric is no longer in stock, and the shipping on the embellishments was 3X the piece of the products themselves. Nope. Zeroed out my cart and left the site.

Sourced the embellishments elsewhere for less and free shipping, so I’m still well within the budget for the project. Learned a better way to piece the compass pattern itself – glad I learned it before I cut into any fabric!

I’m tracking work hours as well as the budged supplies for this project, so I have an idea of what a piece like this actually costs. Not that I’m making this piece to sell it – it’s stretching the way I tell a story, with visual/textile elements as well as text elements, for the show in August, and I want to see if I can pull it off.

I did the Community Tarot Reading for the Week, which you can read here. We’re using the Forager’s Daughter deck this month, which is such a beautiful deck.

I percolated the anthology story. The characters are starting to form, and the basic plot is aligning. It can be up to 5K, but I’m thinking this story makes more sense around 3K.

The script coverage agency STILL has not contacted the readers and told us that it is shutting down. They’ve been treating us badly since they went under new ownership. This is just beyond the pale. I did some research on one of the other agencies I considered applying to and. . .nope. Yet another agency boasts how many free trials they demand from applicants – I counted 5, but reading between the lines, it looks like they are unlimited – and then how they don’t hire 80% of the applicants who did all the free work. Nope. Means that the bulk of the “coverage” services for which writers pay are done for free by readers who are trying to land a job there. The writers pay, the readers aren’t paid, the agency profits. That is skeezy on multiple levels. No.

So this part of my career may be ended, or at least on pause. I’m tired of my skills not being valued, and being overworked and underpaid.

Met the new neighbors who moved into the green house across the street. They seem really nice, and have a cat.

Put gas in the car and headed down to Pittsfield. Parked in the lot I usually park. I’d planned it so I could visit Witch Slapped before the show. They are doing a lot of active community work, and I wanted to check them out. Had some good conversations there.

Headed around the corner to Hot Plate Brewing, where the WAM reading took place. Hot Plate is owned and run by a woman brewer (which is rare), and again, a space that is committed to being a community-oriented third space. I had their Valkyrie beer, which is very good.

I knew four of the people involved with the reading, and, since I’m on the literary committee, of course I had to show up! Plus, I got to catch up with the Artistic Director, who just got back from a screening of her film in Brooklyn, which went really well.

The reading was CRY IT OUT by Molly Smith Metzler, directed by Molly Merrihew. It was really well done. The writing, acting, and directing were all excellent. I talked to the stage manager (who is also on the literary committee with me) about a couple of places where I thought it could be tightened, or where I thought a few points could be explored further (she had asked my opinion). On an emotional level, the piece works really well. I’m very glad I attended the reading. It’s also nice to be around people who are DOING something, rather than making excuses for not doing anything, and who value my presence and my thoughts. I like, with WAM, that we can discuss difficult topics in insightful and respectful ways.

I had forgotten my umbrella back at the house, so I walked the few blocks back to the car in the rain. The police station is on the same block as the brewing company, so it was navigating through all the parked cop cars, which was an adventure. There was a concert at the large, red brick church near the parking lot. Their windows were open, and as I walked past, I could hear the music, which was kind of cool.

There was street flooding on the way home, and it was difficult not to hydroplane. I stopped at the Adams Fresh Market to pick up a pie. I thought I’d grabbed an apple pie, but it was strawberry rhubarb. Neither of us is a fan of rhubarb, but it was pretty good.

Home, dinner, settled onto the porch with a glass of wine and watched the rain fall. Tried to gear up for a busy week, even though we’re in a retrograde.

Slept reasonably well. Up early, because of the cats. Morning meditation was good. Got a bunch of admin done in the morning. Tried to schedule my oil change, but the system logged me in, showed me my information, and then told me I didn’t exist. After telling me it would be at least two weeks to get in for an oil change.

Packed up my mom and we headed to the doctor for her mid-morning appointment. It went okay. He thinks she is doing well, but there aren’t really any solutions for the fluctuating blood pressure and that her foot swells sometimes. Which is frustrating. Her bloodwork from the ER visit looked good, though, and we have the next appointment in August.

On the way back, I stopped at the grocery store to do the big start-of-the-month shop. My mom sat in the car and people watched. Then, I stopped at the liquor store, and after that I swung by the mechanic in person to book the oil change. For this morning, at 8 AM. All good. I am on my way out the door as soon as I post this.

Home, hauled everything up the stairs, felt like I’d been hit by a truck. Put all the groceries away. Made lunch. Took a bit of a rest, then had to pay attention to the rewrites on the ghostwriting project, when all I really wanted to do was sleep.

However, I dug in and worked the notes. I will go over it one more time this morning and send it off. I think I did everything asked? It sounds like they’ll hire me again? Who knows! They said I learned their style really fast, so . . .maybe?

We were under a flash flood watch, which is certainly not my idea of a good time. Four inches of rain overnight last night, on top of what we’ve had for days, with more rain in the forecast.

Wiped out by the end of the workday. Cooked dinner, did some reading. Two of the books I need for a project application arrived, so I started digging into them. I want to get the application out this week.

Forgot about the whole “stay off Meta” thing this week and posted a picture of Bea on Insta (I’ve stayed of FB & Threads without a problem). Oops. Will try to do better the rest of the week.

Went to bed a little early. Woke up every few hours. The first time, a little after midnight, I’d been dreaming in French, which doesn’t make sense, since I’m not fluent. But I was in the dream! The next time I woke up, around 3:30, I was worried I’d fall asleep and miss my oil change appointment, so I set the alarm. I needn’t have worried; I couldn’t go back to sleep.

Instead, I plotted out the new anthology story and the next section of the radio play. Both of which I hope to get started on once I get back from the oil change, do another pass on the ghostwriting edits, and get that out the door.

I am looking forward to yoga tonight.

I am making a quick breakfast and then heading out the door for the oil change. Wish me luck, that nothing is terribly wrong and expensive with the car!

Mon. May 5, 2025: Intent for the Week — Make Use of the Rain

image courtesy of  Margaret8 via pixabay.com

Monday, May 5, 2025

Waxing Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Rainy and cool

And we’re back into retrogrades for the rest of the year.

The Community Tarot Reading for the Week is up here. New month, new deck!

I had a busy weekend, but the good kind of busy, and I’ll fill you in tomorrow.

It’s supposed to rain most of the week, so I assume the painters can’t work, and I can work at home. If I am wrong, I will decamp as needed.

This morning is my mom’s doctor’s appointment. On the way home, we stop at the grocery store, and then I have to finish the rewrites for the ghostwriting client.

Busy start to the week!

Fingers crossed everything goes well at the doctor’s.

Fri. May 2, 2025: And Breathe. . .

image courtesy of  StockSnap via pixabay.com

Friday, May 2, 2025

Waxing Moon

Incoming storms and warm

And we’re at Friday!

Online meditation group yesterday morning was good, and it made Charlotte happy, so two for one.

Normally, May 1 is when we switch out the winter curtains for the lace panels and switch out the winter fabrics on everything to summer fabrics. However, with the painters working, we want the weight of the winter fabrics to add a layer of protection, and will switch things out as they finish.

I didn’t dare leave to work at the library. I needed to stay home and keep an eye on my mom.  The morning was not particularly productive, although I got a bunch of admin work done, and got the snow shovel and the rolly cart put away.

I was angry to learn that the problematic client is shutting down, as of August 1. Not angry because they’re shutting down, but because I found out via news releases, not from the client directly. In fact, on Monday, they sent out an email prominsing a good bit of work over the next couple of weeks.

Yeah, to say I am angry is an understatement. The new owners have treated us like crap since they bought the place.

The ghostwriting client has a delay on their end, so they offered to pay me half the fee, so I’m not sitting here waiting, since we went to contract on this project in February, and it was supposed to be time sensitive. So I invoiced.

The problematic client pay the last two weeks’ worth, which is higher than previous months, but still only 1/5th of what it should be for this type of work over a pay period. As angry as I am for the way all this has been handled, I will be glad to be done with them. The job helped me get off Cape and out here, so maybe it was just a bridge for a few years (no pun intended) toward something better. I loved the work when I was first hired, but once the new owners took over, it was an increasing nightmare of constantly lowered pay and poor treatment.

Managed, over the course of the day, to work through all twenty-two chapters of VICIOUS CRITIC. Since I’m changing the climactic sequence a lot from the original outline, it was necessary to get a sense of the whole piece before moving forward.

Mostly, I tried to deal with the noise and vibration. No, noise-canceling headphones do not help. They make me more stressed. If I played music, it would have to be so loud I couldn’t get anything done anyway. Even though it’s difficult, it’s still not as bad as I expected. It’s just relentless.

I don’t know if they are scraping/sanding the whole building, then priming the whole building, then painting the whole building, or working in sections. I hope it’s the latter, so we get some respite. But I have a feeling it will be all scrape, all sand, all prime, all paint, then the trim.

I made the big meal at lunch again, since I was going to be out past dinner hour.

The work on VICIOUS CRITIC took up most of the day. Heard from the ghostwriting client that they will have notes to me for the next rewrite by today. So does that mean I don’t get the half payment for which I invoiced? I can’t even start the rewrite until after my mom’s doctor appointments on Monday. (Update: they paid this morning, which is much appreciated).

It was a lovely day, so I walked up to yoga. It’s the same teacher I enjoy studying with, but in the new space (one she doesn’t own, but jobs into). I was shocked that none of the old crowd were there. All new people. But it’s a nice space, and, as part of the stress management workshop, we did a deep session of Yoga Nidra, which is my favorite. I want to start taking the gentle yoga with her again whenever I can. I need to do at least one thing for my own health and wellbeing in all this chaos.

I slept well, although I had weird dreams. I was up a little earlier than usual, and out the door to the laundromat so I was there when it opened. Three loads of laundry through today, which I will fold once this posts. Right after breakfast today, I have to go out and run a bunch of errands, including the post office, the library, and the grocery store.

Depending on what they are doing on the building outside, I may go offsite to work this afternoon, or I may stay in to wash and iron fabric. There’s a lot of household ironing that needs to get done, and also fabric for the textile project, which I hope to actually start sewing this weekend. I’d like to piece at least one of the compass pieces this weekend, but I have to wash and iron the fabric first.

I have to see what the noise factor is, the dust factor (yay for air purifiers), and how my mom is doing, once I get back from errands.

Tomorrow is a home-and-hearth day, around household chores and working on the textile project. It’s supposed to rain all day, so it will be a good day to be home. I’ll probably watch the Kentucky Derby, although I haven’t followed any of the horses this year. Sunday, I’m going to a matinee reading for WAM, which is being done in Pittsfield. Monday, we have an appointment with my mom’s doctor. She seems much better than she was earlier in the week.

I want to get some work in on VICIOUS CRITIC and CORNWALL CHICANERY in and around everything else, and then on Monday, I’ll dig into the ghostwriting project rewrite. I still have no idea if they will keep me after this or not. I suspect not, but we’ll see.

In any case, on Monday, I need to get out a bunch of LOIs, no matter what.

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

Thurs. May 1, 2025: A Wrench in the Works

image courtesy of Gerhard Rohrer via pixabay.com

Thursday, May 1, 2025

Waxing Moon

Beltane

Sunny and pleasant

Blessed Beltane to those in the Northern Hemisphere, and Blessed Samhain to those in the Southern Hemisphere.

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

Up early, cooling the apartment down before the painters arrived. Did a quick dash, on foot, to mail a bill at the post office. When I returned, Willa and my mom were in the back of the apartment, where it was quieter. Tessa and Bea were in my room. Charlotte was in the front windows, flirting with the painters. Because she’s Charlotte. This is the cat who thinks the town throws her a parade every autumn.

I packed up three project files and my computer and headed to the college library. Got set up at a desk by the window overlooking the quad, which was lovely. It took me a bit of time to settle in, but once I did, the work went well.

I took care of a bunch of admin work, answered a bunch of emails, found a book of essays relevant and interesting to my work, re-read the CASTLE LYSENDE material and added layers, and wrote the next 910 words. I sent an apology to two of the fellow members of the literary committee – we live fairly close (three neighboring towns). I had suggested carpooling down to the office for meetings, and then never followed up on it. I told them that I am on jury duty the day of the next meeting, but I put it in my calendar to see if they wanted to coordinate for June’s meeting. They were very gracious about it.

By then, it was time to head home for lunch. I timed it so we had a bit of quiet while the painters had their lunch break. I really wanted a nap, but the sanders were too noisy.

I didn’t feel comfortable leaving my mom because she seemed a little off. So I stayed in the kitchen and worked on VICIOUS CRITIC at the kitchen table, until it was obvious that we needed to go to the ER. Her blood pressure numbers kept going up, and her feet were swollen. So swollen that the only shoes that fit her were my residency slippers.

I got her into the car (we can’t afford another $3K ambulance bill to drive a mile up the hill, even with insurance) and we drove up to the local ER. They took her right away, no waiting (a plus of being 100) while I had to do the paperwork and get the security badge.

We were there about 2 hours. They did a lot of bloodwork and gave her Lasix. I’m teasing her that they’re prepping her like the horses for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby. She was definitely much better by the time we left, and the blood pressure numbers were down by about 15 points.

She will be on Lasix every day until her appointment with her regular doctor, and we’re back to monitoring the blood pressure every day again instead of 3x a week.

We got home a little before 5. I got her settled in, we had dinner, and had an early night. She was doing better; I felt like I’d been run over by a truck. Hopefully, between the three insurances she now has, the visit will be covered, or mostly covered.  It SHOULD be, but they always try to bill for things that are supposed to be covered, and then there’s a battle. I wish we lived in a country with actual health care.

Willa took good care of my mom all night, once we got home.

Heard from a colleague who was onsite for Creative Advocacy Day in Boston. 400 people showed up to advocate for our arts funding. That’s a great turnout. I’m glad I contacted my reps in writing ahead of time, and I’m grateful for colleagues who were able to be there in person.

Of course, I woke up at 2 and had a terrible time getting back to sleep. Finally fell asleep around 3:30 for a couple of hours.

Got up, fed the cats, did my morning meditation and writing. It’s Beltane, so I want to do some gentle celebration today.

During the work portion of the day, if my mother seems well enough, I will go offsite to get work done. The radio play and VICOUS CRITIC need to be the priorities.

I’m supposed to have online meditation this morning with the group in Concord, which should make Charlotte happy. This evening I have a 2-hour yoga workshop for stress management, which is well-timed. I miss going to yoga.

I’m tired, but there’s elder care to see to and work to get done. So I better get on top of that.

Wed. April 30, 2025: My Kind of Day

image courtesy of Ana Paula Feriani via pixabay.com

Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Waxing Moon

Partly sunny and pleasant

Beltane Eve

Midweek! It always comes up fast for us on the blog, since Monday is the intent post and Tuesday is the catch-up post.

50 years ago today, in 1975, the war in Vietnam ended. My childhood was filled with images from that war, and it has had a huge impact on how I view war and dehumanization.

Looking around, I’d say far too many learned far too little.

I am, however, delighted by Canada’s election results.

Yesterday was sunny and pretty. We kept everything shut tight because we expected the painters to show up any minute, since they dumped the ladders on Monday night. And we waited. . .and waited. . .they showed up just before nine, and again, their level of basic common sense did not impress me, since it seems to be non-existent. To be fair to them, this house was built in 1890 or 1891, and has plenty of quirks. It’s not like this is an easy gig for them.

I decided to be grateful for the early quiet, especially since I had ZOOM scheduled, and make use of what I could. I managed to get an LOI out to a place I never thought I’d want to work, but posted an interesting-sounding job at a good price.

The painters started at the front of the house, so we shooed Tessa off the porch and shut the front curtains. Charlotte kept pushing them aside to stare at the painters on their ladders. At first, the noise wasn’t too bad, so I retreated to my office (which is in the middle of the apartment) and went back to work.

I got the funding support letters out in advance of today’s Creative Advocacy Day to my state officials. I turned around a small script coverage. I was paid for the contest judging, and moved that money into the account, so I can pay bills on time.

The meeting with the dramaturg for JUST A DROP, which will be part of the Athena Project’s Read ‘n Rant, went really well. She had some great suggestions, and we formulated questions. I’m also excited to read the other play discussed that night, and participate in that part of the evening. Checked in with the company in Ohio, to see if they need anything else from me for the “A Rare Medium” reading.  They will have a shareable link by the end of this week, and need discussion questions from me, so I will do those today and get them out.

By that time, the sanding outside had gotten more intense. It’s still not as bad as I expected, but definitely will require me to decamp on the days they’re working, starting today. I’m putting together the materials I need for the radio play, VICIOUS CRITIC, and CASTLE LYSENDE. Until another freelancing job comes in, those will be my primary focus. I’m pushing back the ANGEL HUNT adaptation to later in the year. It makes more sense, genre-wise, for that to release in autumn.

Bea is very upset by the painters’ presence and noise. She’s back to hiding under the bed most of the time, like her first few days here, unless Tessa is in the room with her. Tessa is hiding most of the time, too, although for the moment, my bedroom is reasonably quiet (until they get to that side of the house), so she’s taken up residence there. Willa ignores them. I think Billy in Beacon has the brain cell they share among them for the week.

Charlotte? Is being Charlotte. We have the curtains drawn in the front while they’re working there, for everyone’s comfort. Charlotte has pushed aside part of the curtain and sits in the window, waiting for the painters to tell her she’s pretty. They think she is hilarious.

She is.

We had our big meal at lunch, since I was going to be away until past our normal dinner hour. The painters took a nice lunch break, which gave us a bit of respite, and Bea could sneak out to eat her lunch.

A supposedly viral Instagram finance guy was looking to hire script writers – at $20/per script. Um, no. If you’ve got 100K+ followers, you can pay a professional rate. Next! The very bottom of a professional rate is $85-110 per scripted minute, and it’s often far higher.

Got an email from a friend who runs a local Shakespeare company who has put together a 5-day festival at the end of May/beginning of June, with free events around the area (with donations appreciated). What a huge undertaking! I love their work, so I will attend as many of the events as I can. I’m sending my friend an email today to tell him how amazing and wonderful it is that he put it together, and how much I appreciate how much work it takes.

After lunch, I put together my materials and headed out to the door to Lenox. The traffic was insane, especially in Adams, which makes no sense. It was traffic like high season in Hyannis.

I had an errand to run in Pittsfield, which was successful, and then continued to Lenox. I was worried I’d be late, but I was early (because I’m me). I parked in my favorite spot and used the time to walk around Lenox, which I don’t know well, and enjoyed some of the shops. I stopped in at The Bookstore, one of my favorite places, and chatted with Matt. He’s put together a daily video on Instagram of a poetry reading, which has been delightful. Matt is just one of the best humans out there, and I was so happy to have a chance to chat with him.

Even with all that, I was still early at WAM. I helped set up the space for the meeting. There were three of us onsite, and the rest ZOOMed in. It was such a great discussion. The three plays we discussed deal with difficult, uncomfortable topics. It was so good to have an honest, respectful discussion about those topics, without the opiate sound bytes so often used on social media to make people who are doing nothing to create positive change feel better about themselves. Conversations like this really give me hope.

The drive back was smooth, very little traffic (yay). It was warm, so I had the windows down and the radio up.

Came home, had a snack and a glass of wine out on the porch as it moved from twilight to night. It was a lovely, soft night, and a nice way to wind down.

As I went to bed, a rainstorm came through, but it was dry by the time I woke up. Tessa slept on the bed with me most of the night. Bea was on the table in my office, but I think she snuck in next to Tessa at one point. Charlotte came in for shift change at some point, when Tessa  had Stuff To Do.

I have the windows open to air the place out and cool it down before we have to shut everything for the painters again. I have a few things to do here at home this morning, especially on the email front, and then I’ll pack up and migrate to my offsite workspace. I’ll have to pop out of it a few times for video meetings with elected officials for Advocacy Day, although most of that will happen with those who went to the State House in-person. Hopefully, MassCreative will start arranging for transportation from this side of the state, too, not just from Springfield.

Of course, if it rains and the painters can’t work, I can work from the home office! It wasn’t supposed to rain during the day until Friday, but there’s a dark cloud outside the window that looks like it will spew water any minute.

Have a good one!

Tues. April 29, 2025: And So It Begins. . .

image courtesy of  Stefan Schweihofer via pixabay.com

Tuesday, April 29, 2025

Waxing Moon

Sunny and pleasant

How was your weekend? I hope it was lovely.

No painters on Friday. I did some work on the Castle Ghost story project (working title CASTLE LYSENDE). I packed up a lot of books (two bags’ worth) and did a drop off and pick up at the library. Went to Big Y for a light grocery shop with a list and STILL forgot a couple of things I meant to get.

Bea stood on my legs in the morning. I was sitting on the sofa, with my legs stretched out for meditation, and I felt someone jump up. I assumed it was Charlotte. When she isn’t sneaking into Bea’s room to eat Bea’s breakfast during meditation, she’s on my lap. I opened my eyes, and it was Bea! She looked perplexed, like why was she standing on a human on purpose? I didn’t move. She thought about it for a minute or two, and then continued to the back of the couch, and started purring. Progress!

When she stretches out, she’s longer than half the couch now.

Tessa was delighted to be on the porch all day.

I decided to push off finishing the script coverage until Saturday, and another small one came in, too.

I came up with a totally bizarre idea that I ran past the library cohort. They really love it, so that is a project I will work on among all the other things I’m doing – I will let you know when it goes live so that you can participate in it, too.

Friday night, the neighbors set off the fire alarms AGAIN while they were cooking. Second time this week, and they set off all the alarms in the building. And ignored it, instead of fixing the problem they created, which meant a neighbor in the house next door called the fire department and two big trucks rolled up.

Storms started overnight into Saturday, and Saturday was a miserable, stormy, rainy day. We need the rain. Parts of the state are still under draught conditions.

That Thing was, as usual, an embarrassment at the Pope’s funeral. But then, That Thing is an embarrassment everywhere.

Wrote the first two chapters of the CASTLE LYSDENDE story, to see if they are viable. I’m having fun with it, although these chapters will need a major revision if the piece moves forward. Still, it’s the first draft, so I’m telling myself the story. I still don’t have enough to write an outline, though. I’m feeling my way into the piece. Setting and characters are strong, themes are getting clearer, but I need a more central narrative drive.

I had an awful lot of fun designing the castle, the grounds, and the town! I set it on the Hudson River, stretching geography to put my fictional town where I wanted it.

I spent a good portion of the day on the final category of contest entries, and I finished them, filled in the score sheets, chose the winner and finalists, and submitted it all on Sunday. So all three categories are done. Hopefully, I can invoice this week. They always pay quickly. Since I haven’t yet been paid for the ghostwriting, and am, once again, in limbo with it, I’m trying to invoice everything else that I can.

I finished the script coverage, and turned around another small one, also on Saturday, and went through some research books for a couple of projects. I need to focus on the research for a proposal next.

I tried a new to me recipe from a cookbook I really like. It came out fairly well, but I think I will tweak it a bit the next time I make it. I like it well enough to want to make it again, but I also want to switch out some ingredients.

A friend shared some sad news with me in the evening. I wish there was a way to make things better, but there’s not. If you follow the Special Agent Bob Cat account on Instagram, about my friend’s cats, led by Bob, the tough, elderly street cat from Brooklyn, he left us on Saturday. The whole gang (the cats are known as the Ridge Runner Gang) and their human and the humans who knew Bob are devastated.

Sunday wound up being sunny, which was nice. I did the Community Tarot Reading for the Week, which you can find here. As mentioned above, I finished the final judging category for the contest, and submitted all that stuff. I got the go-ahead to invoice by Sunday night.

Was upset to hear about the person killing people in Vancouver by driving a car into the crowd. One hopes Canada won’t Americanize like that. I checked in with my Nightwood cohort people who are out in that direction on Monday, worried about them. I heard back from one, who is physically fine but upset, and am still waiting to hear back from the other.

Finished the book for review, so I could write and send the review on Monday. Re-read THE DAUGHTER OF TIME by Josephine Tey. It’s been about 30 years since I read it, and Lilith St. Crow is the one who recommended I re-read it. I’d forgotten how funny it is. And very clever, about Richard III and the Princes in the Tower, with satirical nods to theatre, publishing, history, and gossip. Very relevant. If you’ve never read this book, I suggest you take a look. If you have, give it a re-read.

Re-read the pages I wrote for CASTLE LYSENDE. There’s something there, if I can just get at it. Realized I have to jiggy the floorplan to add a sewing room and a music room. I think I’ll move the billiards room to the other side of the castle, next to the ballroom, and put the music room next to it. What is currently the billiards room (next to the library) will be the sewing room, since it has good light. Since the castle was built by film people in the early 20th century and then updated as needed (still working on that backstory), it doesn’t have to be a traditional “castle” plan, just castle-inspired, the way many of these mansion-castles up the Hudson were.

Went to bed early on Sunday because I was tired. Had terrible dreams, three of them, waking me up several times in the night. But woke up feeling pretty good on Monday. Tried to get as much done before the painters arrived. Surely they must show up on such a bright sunny day? Finally?

I received a tiny bonus because a writer liked a coverage report. There’s been so much scoring-only, low-pay coverage that it had been a minute since I did a full coverage so the writer could have an opinion on whether or not it was helpful (and it’s always my intent to give notes that are helpful within the writer’s vision paired with the practicality of the business). And, of course, if we don’t get satisfaction bonuses, it counts against us in our performance reviews. But there haven’t been many coverages in months that were more than score sheets. In other words, they set up impossible parameters and then punish us.

Wrote up the invoice for the contest judging (for the books, the contest I’ve been doing, hmm, this is my eleventh year) and sent that off. So that freelance job is wrapped up for another year. I’ll find out in November or so of this year if I’m invited back. Wrote up the book review and sent it off. They are wrapping up a project, so there is likely to be less work from them for the next few months.

Did a rough draft of the residency proposal I want to apply to about an hour east of here. It’s a long shot, they probably want someone who has more of a scholar’s background, but if I don’t try, there’s no chance. I was first introduced to the place when an artist friend did a residency there a little over a year ago, and I’ve wanted an excuse to spend time there and do some work ever since. So why not send them a proposal and see what happens?

Did a bunch of admin. Adjusted the castle floor plan. Ordered a book from the library on American castles. A book I need as background research for the radio play is on its way through the CW Mars loan system. Put together my notes for today’s literary committee meeting. Re-read JUST A DROP in anticipation of this morning’s meeting with the dramaturg before it’s discussed at the May 19 Read ‘n Rant.

Our final library cohort meeting was good, but I felt sad and unmoored by the time we signed off. Which is silly, because we still have virtual spaces in which to meet any time we want. But hey, I feel what I feel.

Did some research reading in the afternoon. Felt like I “should” have done other stuff, but decided to focus on the research reading.

Since the ZOOM link the dramaturg sent doesn’t actually reach me, I set up a backup link and sent it to her, so I think that’s the one we’ll use today.

Options. I like options.

The painters showed up at 4:45 PM yesterday to drop off ladders – driving the wrong way down the one-way street. NOT a good start.

Leftovers for dinner, some reading in the evening, to bed at a decent hour (not too early). Slept reasonably well. Up and dressed in Real People clothes early this morning, in anticipation of the painters and my meetings. Even if the noise is awful today, I can’t decamp because of my meetings and then leaving for Lenox mid-afternoon. I have a nomadic writing plan in place for tomorrow, though.

Have a small coverage to turn around today. This pay period was better than the past few months, but nowhere near where it should be. Fortunately, the ghostwriting (when they finally pay me) picks up the slack at least this month, along with the contest judging. I need to get in touch with the audiobook producer to find out if we’re any closer to a start date. I’m debating tossing a resume in the direction of an organization for whom I would have never considered working normally, but the job sounds kind of cool. Might as well send a resume. Debating a couple of other possibilities, although I’m worried they might not have enough flexibility. However, since I’m still in limbo with both the ghostwriting and the audiobooks, I can’t just wait around. If they’re not going to give me answers, I need to explore other options. The imbalance in these working relationships is a big red flag.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to get some writing in around the meetings and before I leave for the theatre. The way today shakes out will help me in planning my next six weeks of nomad work locations. I have plans and possibilities for where to be on various days, but some of that will be shaped by whatever meetings get scheduled, since I can’t be on a ZOOM call at most of these on-site writing spots.

One step at a time, right? The end result of the painting will be worth it, even if the process will work my last nerve at times.

Have a good one!

Monday, April 28, 2025: Intent for the Week — Enjoy and Plan

image courtesy of morn in japan via pixabay.com

Monday, April 28, 2025

Waxing Moon

Sunny and pleasant

This last retrograde-free week of the year makes me want to try and get it all done, but that’s not possible, so I need to pace myself.

There is, however, plenty that needs to get done this week, and I have meetings and other responsbilities that need my attention.

The Community Tarot Reading for the Week is up on the Cerridwen’s Cottage site, using the Mystic Mondays deck by Grace Duong.

It’s a lovely day out there, and I’m trying to get as much possible done before the painters show up — IF they show up!

Have a good one!

What’s your intent for this week?

Fri. April 25, 2025: Hoping for a Pleasant Weekend Full of Books

image courtesy of  Petra via pixabay.com

Friday, April 25, 2025

Day Before Dark Moon

Partly cloudy and cool

Of course, as soon as I said it was quiet yesterday morning, people started up with leaf blowers. That’ll teach me! Still, it’s not anywhere near as bad here as it was on Cape, where leaf blowers often started around 6 AM and were going on until 10 PM or later, in bold defiance of city codes, and with zero enforcement.

I slid out of meditation quickly because it was the substitute leader who uses computer terminology. Since I am a human and not a computer, it enrages me and does the opposite of what meditation is supposed to accomplish. Besides, I’d already done my 30-minute sit early in the morning.

Moving up from a 20-minute sit to a 30-minute sit is much harder than I expected. 20 minutes felt good and not like enough. But I’m having trouble settling in for the 30-minute. Persistence. I’ll get there.

25-25! What a fun number. If you tote it up for numerology, it adds up to 14 which adds up to 5, a number of change. If you add in the 4 for April, it becomes a 9, which is fulfillment. If you add the full year – 4-25-2025 as 4 + 2 + 5 + 2 + 0 + 2 + 5 – you get 20, which boils down to 2, which is partnership. Choose your own numerical adventure, I guess! May today have the best of all these flavors!

I did a lot of admin work. I searched from some research material I need in order to submit a proposal for a project I’d like to do, and it turns out I already ordered one of the books from the library and it’s in transit. Did some filing. I have a lot of filing to catch up on. Started rearranging some things in my office.

Did some work on the radio play. Shot out an LOI. Joined the #FreelanceFriends chat on Bluesky. Turned around 1 small and 2 medium coverages.

The weather alternated between sunny and cloudy, but it was warm enough so I could take the laptop out on the porch and work on the coverages there.

Did some logistics/research work for the ghost story piece. Travel plans, castle floorplans, things like that. It’s starting to have a shape in my head, and themes. There’s the beginning of a plot, but not enough to outline yet. It’s a piece I will probably need to write my way into for about three or four chapters before I can create the outline.  It starts shortly after Hurricane Katrina. The characters have a lot to say, though. The piece needs to be told from multiple points of view. I know at least two of them. I have to decide if I want to use more, and I probably won’t know that until I’m into the book itself. It will unfold over the course of a year, through seasons. An idea that began as possibly part of the piece is taking shape separately, and may, with different characters, become its own short story, because there’s not really room for it in this piece.

How stories take shape always fascinates me.

I’m designing the castle itself for the story, using inspiration from several castles including Hammond Castle (which I visited, up in Gloucester, and whose garden was the inspiration for the climactic sequence in OLD FASHIONED DETECTIVE WORK. I took well over 100 photos when I was there), and a couple of other floorplans for castles I found online, while still being unique. I think I want it overlooking the Hudson, but pretty far upstate, and will create a fictional town for it. And I have a backstory for why there’s a gothic-looking castle in upstate NY!

Something to work on to blow off steam around other deadlines, such as the radio play and VICIOUS CRITIC.

I doubt the painters will show up today, so that gives me another day of quiet and the weekend. I will work on the radio play and VICIOUS CRITIC. I have a lot of books to return to the library, and quite a stack to pick up. I have to do a light grocery shop. I’m trying a new-to-me recipe this weekend. I have tidying up to do, especially in my office. I need to get on top of that. I also have one medium script coverage to turn around. I started it yesterday, so I hope it won’t take too long to complete.

This weekend, I will finish a book for review, so I can get that out on Monday, and finish the last category for the contest. I want to get that out latest by Wednesday. I have admin to do, and next week is the last week before we go back into retrogrades, and will have at least one planet in retrograde from 4 May into March of 2026. Which makes me tired just to think about it, especially since there are times where we will have more than one. But we do the best we can, and fight the good fight on as many fronts as we need to. I also have to quell the instinct to overload next week and push too hard while everything is direct. Things are chugging along the way they should, and I need to give them room to breathe.

I plan to block off some time on Sunday to spend with poetry. I have been starting each day with a poem, even though I haven’t posted about it. I’m folding it into the morning meditation, which is nice. My hope is to continue to do that beyond April, and make that part of my morning routine.

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

Thurs. April 24, 2025: Still Quiet for the Moment

image courtesy of Joe via pixabay.com

Thursday, April 24, 2025

Waning moon

Partly Sunny and Mild

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

Yesterday, while it was still quiet, I got a short story submission out the door. That felt good. I did a final proofreading pass on the ghostwriting assignment and had it to them before 9 AM, so it was waiting for them when they got in. If they want to keep working with me, fine. If we part ways, so be it.

The painters never showed up yesterday. Again. Once the ghostwriting project was out the door, I finished the reports on the three scripts for next week’s literary committee meeting, turned them in, and printed copies for myself to take to the meeting. Did some work on contest entries, but the big push to finish those will be this weekend.

There were lots of sirens in the distance. Hopefully, I’ll get some news on what that was all about later today. I didn’t see anything in the social media news streams yet. But I did see an article about a shooting (no one hit) near City Hall last Friday, at the intersection.

Took some characters that wound up being cut from a project, but whom I love, and am fashioning a new and very different project for them. It’s going to be one of those projects I work at here and there around other projects, just to let off steam, and see where it leads.

My treat for finishing my work by mid-afternoon was to sit and start reading one of my own books (instead of one of the large stack of library books), THE ART OF THE WASTED DAY by Patricia Hampl, which I’d picked up at Bear and Bee Bookshop last week. It’s delightful. It was warm enough to sit on the porch and read for a bit, and since there were no painters, it was relatively quiet. I mean, we live in a city, but compared to New York, and even to where we lived on Cape Cod (which was a residential neighborhood), it’s much quieter here, four blocks from downtown, even though we are beside a college.

Did not go to tarot. Cooked dinner, tried to relax in the evening.

Up early this morning. About to hop into the online meditation group. Then, I’ll do some work on the radio play and on VICIOUS CRITIC before working on script coverage and contest entries. Looks like the painters aren’t going to show up today, either, so I’ll get as much done as I can. . .

Have a good one!

Wed. April 23, 2025: Another Quietly Productive Day

image courtesy of  Firmbee via pixabay.com

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Waning Moon

Partly sunny and cool

The middle of the week! The weeks fly past.

I decided to sit down and get as much work done early as possible while waiting for the painters to show up.

I finessed the resource document I promised to the cohort, and sent it off for approval. I got an email from Dramatists Guild – there was a lot of unhappiness about no End of Play program this year, so they are trying to put something together for later in the year.

I turned around 5 small coverages. One of the larger coverages – the one that paid best – was removed from my queue, so I don’t know what that was all about. It was probably mis-entered for something and removed. That’s how it usually works.

Did another revision pass on the ghostwriting project, and got that done. It was warm and pleasant enough so I could work out on the front porch. Since the painters never showed up, I could! Very grateful to have an extra day of quiet to get this project done. I will give it a final proof this morning and get it out the door. Hopefully, they’ll approve it, and I can invoice/get paid soon.

The artistic director colleague I pitched earlier in the week picked two plays she wants to read. I did a quick read to make sure I was sending the correct drafts, and out the door they went. I also submitted a one-act for a festival at the end of the summer.

And that was my day.

I read for pleasure in the evening, and decided that I’m done with a particular series I’ve been reading. One out of 9 books has been good, and the first book was kind of fun, but the other 7 I did not like. I don’t need to go any further. I’ve given it enough chances.

On today’s agenda: get as much done as possible early, in case the painters show up. Do a final proof on the ghostwriting and get it out the door. Turn around a medium-sized coverage. Work on contest entries and on the scripts for next week’s meeting. Put in an emergency legislative request on an issue with my state senator and representative. I’d like to get work done on the radio play and on VICIOUS CRITIC (which has been in limbo for too long), but I need to clear all these scripts and contest entries out first.

Have a good one!