Devon Ellington's Blog, page 3

Tues. Sept. 9, 2025: En Garde

image courtesy of Pexels via pixabay.com

Tuesday, September 9, 2025

Waning Moon

Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde

Sunny and pleasant

Happy new week! I hope your weekend was terrific.

The Community Tarot Reading for the Week is up here, using the Tarot of the Owls mini deck.

Uranus joined the retrograde parade, as of Saturday, until February 3 of next year. Grrr.

Friday turned into a beautiful, sunny, warm day, at least weather-wise.

I got out onto the street through the other lot, and headed down to City Hall. I got the voting question all sorted out and requested to see the permit for the sidewalk work. I was told it was down the hall in the Inspector’s office, although the Public Services Department would answer any questions I had. I said, gosh, that’s nice, but I’ve been asking them questions for two weeks now, and they don’t respond. The City Clerk was concerned. But she said it could all be sorted out down the hall at the Inspection office.

I walked down the hall to the Inspection office. The only guy there was the IT guy, who couldn’t really answer any questions, but he said the guy who could was just down the hall and would be right back. And he really was back, in like, two minutes. I asked the see the permit. He wasn’t sure how to pull it up without an address. I told him the scope of the work, and he figured he could find it.

Only the permit wasn’t in the office. He did some digging and found out it’s held – at the Public Services Office, which is in a building in my neighborhood (but too far to walk), and that I could just shoot Public Services an email with any questions. Again, I went on the record stating that I’ve been contacting Public Services for two weeks over four emails, and I’m being ignored. The guy checked with someone on the second floor (I suspect it was Community Development, who tossed the ball over to Public Services before) who said Public Services has to respond. I said, well, they aren’t, and no one is on their case to make them respond, so now what?

The now what is that I have to go to the Public Services office, and I bet you dollars to donuts they will refuse to let me see the permit, even though it is public record and my right to do so. I also find it impossible to believe, in this day and age, that the permit didn’t circulate the offices digitally and that any office could not pull it up upon request.

Because all of this could have been resolved in five minutes of them responding to a fucking email, which they can’t be bothered to do.

I was on a time constraint for the errands because of the Sidewalk Chewing Demons and the pending road closures for First Friday, so I left City Hall. I mean, everyone was very nice and I was very nice and we were all very nice and NOTHING GOT FUCKING RESOLVED.

With all the concern and lack of action, you’d think we were at a Susan Collins convention.

I went to pick up my mom’s prescription at CVS. She can schedule her COVID booster anytime after today. CVS will not give me mine, no matter what the state mandate is. They do not consider themselves bound by it. So that means I have to let the state know that CVS is refusing to follow the vaccine mandate for FREE vaccines. Yes, it’s not just “if your insurance feels like it”, the state mandate is that these are all FREE and any health organization/pharmacy operating in the state MUST provide it.

I mean, I’m going to look at CVS alternatives, like I’ve often used, but I have to find someone who gives Pfizer, because I can’t lose a week of ghostwriting work due to Moderna.  That schedule is too darn tight.

None of this needs to be this complicated or stressful. NONE of it.

Oh, to live in a country with health care. Wouldn’t that be a treat?

Popped next door to Big Y to do my big grocery shop, and still forgot a few things, even with a list (because I forgot to put them on the list). But I got some good deals on what I needed for my meal planning for the week, both in terms of the two soups I planned to make and for dinners. I’m going to try, in the autumn, to see if making up batches of two different soups on the weekend works to serve as lunches all week, with good bread. I mean, I’m sure there will be days when we feel like we can’t look at another soup and have something else, but I’m going to give it a shot.

Headed to the library for drop off and pickup. Forgot to go by the post office.

Managed to get in the back way to the parking lot, but I had to hump all the bags of groceries and books around the wet cement and over the ditches on both sides of the street and torn out aprons and up the porch. I couldn’t park in front of the house to unload and then go around the block to sneak into the parking lot the back way because they had the area in front of our house blocked off in the street as well as the sidewalks.

But I hauled everything up the stairs and got it put away and was ready for a nap.

No napping yet, though, even though my brain kept insisting I was done with work for the day. I knew I was not.

I got to work on the ghostwriting, and finished it about mid-afternoon. Sent it off, two days early, and I planned to start the next project for them yesterday.

The landlord came by to check out the work (and lack thereof) by the Sidewalk Chewing Demons. He pointed out that the new sidewalks are considerably lower than the previous ones, meaning there’s no runoff drainage for rain, the way there was before. In other words, the sidewalks and our parking lot, which drained pretty well before, will now flood. It also means there will be standing water on the sidewalks in bad weather, which is likely to make the concrete deteriorate more quickly. Not to mention a higher likelihood of water in basements (which has not been a problem to date). I hadn’t even thought of that. And, in their infinite skill, they nicked a gas main to the house next door, which entailed a multi-thousand dollar repair. I told him to bill the city for reimbursement. Or the construction company. He was on his way to DPW, to have a chat with a guy he’s known for a long time in charge there, because when I mentioned Public Services, he just rolled his eyes and reaffirmed that they are totally useless. We also discussed how, WHEN the back way to the lot is blocked off for the week or more it will be blocked, garbage pickup can’t happen, since that’s the only entrance the trucks can use. They can’t access the dumpsters from our lot. Which will be disgusting (the site has pickups twice a week, although we, personally, usually only need to take out the trash-trash once a week).

He also warned us there will be a small rent increase, come January. The number is do-able, but it means I need to add two or three upmarket clients before then. Especially since car insurance will go way up next month, just because they can.

I got a very puzzling letter from a residency to which I’d applied. I knew it was a long shot, but I figured why not try. The letter went on, for paragraph after paragraphs, with specifics about how much the committee adored the proposal, the strength of my portfolio, the strength of my project description, and on and on and on. I mean, specific references to characters and moments in my samples and the ambition of the proposal and the vision of it. So, after all those glowing remarks – they’re giving the residency to someone else. I guess there were two of us in the final round? But they didn’t say WHY that person’s work was chosen over my work, when they all supposedly loved the work and the project proposal. I mean, it’s their decision, they get to do whatever they want. I’m simply baffled at pages of praise to then tell me, in a sentence, “oh, and by the way, we’re giving it to the other person.”

It takes a lot of pressure off me, in some ways, because I would have had to spend 3 days/week in Amherst, minimum, which is a lot of driving for my old car. But the office space and archive access and the funding would have been worth it. I’m curious if anyone on the selection committee is part of this feminist writing group of historians, writers, scholars, and educators I’ve been asked to join (and was I asked BECAUSE of someone on the selection committee who likes my work)? I guess I’ll find out in the next few months.

Part of me is a little heartbroken, part of me is “oh well, it makes room for something else, even if I don’t yet know what” and part of me is completely confused.

I cooked our favorite baked salmon in honey-soy sauce with green beans, and roasted sweet potatoes with cumin. It was delicious.

In the evening, I finished Julia Cooke’s COME FLY THE WORLD, about the women who worked for Pan Am. It’s a very well-written book. I did not know how involved Pan Am was ferrying soldiers and orphans during the Vietnam War. I mean, there were plenty of other things I didn’t know, either, but that struck me in particular.

Did not sleep well. Woke up and realized I had not addressed a plot hole in the ghostwriting, which meant I had to fix it and send in an updated version, which I did in the late afternoon. Good thing everyone was out of town and couldn’t grab it on Friday!

Saturday morning, I made banana pudding, then two batches of soup for the week’s lunch: one batch of our favorite black bean soup (Moosewood recipe) and a kielbasa/potato chowder from the cookbook we’ve been using a lot lately. I think I can use a heavier hand seasoning the chowder, but both turned out pretty well.

We had a thunderstorm and lots of rain in the afternoon. Bea and I watched from the sofa. I think Bea remembers what it was like to be out in bad weather. A friend across the state was worried because she heard there were tornado warnings out on this side of the state, but they were down near Great Barrington, so we were find.

For dinner, I made a Korean dish called Japchae, which was very good. I’d definitely make it again.

Read a little bit at night, but felt like my day was all about chopping vegetables, cooking, and doing dishes. I started reading a book on pioneers in women’s filmmaking, but the author got the 9th  Amendment and the 19th Amendment mixed up, and if a researched book can’t get that right, I’m a little leery about the rest of it. To say the least.

Up early on Sunday, morning routine. Got the slow cooker loaded up with onions, potatoes, mushrooms, parsnips, carrots, chicken, and spices. Made two batches of vegetable stock, with an eye to the soups I want to make next weekend. More chopping vegetables, cooking, and dishes!

We had black bean soup and ciabatta for lunch, which was very good. I did some work on another project and dealt with some eclipse stuff. Did the Community Tarot Reading for the week and scheduled it to post.

The crockpot chicken stew turned out really well. Had a quiet evening, reading, staying up later than I have been lately so I don’t wake up at 3:30 ready to start the day.

I’m reading books on a topic I don’t know enough about and need to learn more about. The book I’m reading right now made some points showing me aspects in a different way than I’d ever thought about them, and suddenly a few things clicked that I hadn’t understood, and now understand at least a little better, if not fully. I love when that happens.

The feminist writers’ group that meets on Mondays won’t start including the ZOOM aspect until the end of the month, so I won’t be able to join them until then. The lunches after the sessions will be the first Monday of every month. If the weather and the car cooperate, I hope to attend in person in November and maybe even December, but the rest of the time will be on ZOOM.

That Thing posted a meme declaring war on Chicago. And Congress sits with its collective thumb up its collective ass yet again and does nothing. It’s completely repulsive, along with all the illegalities. And Democratic non-leadership does nothing. It’s disgusting.

Not surprising, but disgusting.

And the ICE raid on the Hyundai plant in Georgia? They cuffed workers who were there to help set up the plant. South Korea/Hyundai has now decided to cancel the factory, which means a loss of approximately 8500 jobs. Good work, feds! Way to go, just grabbing people, making assumptions, and ignoring due process.

Even though I stayed up two hours later than normal on Sunday night, I woke up at 4 on Monday. I didn’t get out of my warm, cozy bed until the coffee started at 5:30.

The Sidewalk Demons started doing their non-thing (making noise, not getting a whole lot of anything useful done) shortly after 7.

I got out a play submission. I pulled up my Submission File to add it in and the word document was all gobbledygook. Like wing ding font. Then I tried to open this file, and the same.

I restarted everything and it seemed fine. A virus scan shows nothing. But I’m worried.

With good reason. A couple of hours later, I got a “confirmation” for a $453 “invoice” for “device protection” from someone I’ve never heard of, and certainly not something I ordered. In other words, someone tried a hack and now wants to extort money. I contacted both banks where it might show up, sending them a scan of the email, and reported the email as phishing. No, I did not click any links. I’m not stupid.

I am, however, angry.

I would have reported it to FBI’s Cybercrimes unit, but the fibbs are too busy redacting the Epstein files to do anything. And you know all these hacks/extortions are escalating because DOGE sold off our information.

Oh, and I see the Supreme Court has used the Constitution for toilet paper yet again.

The Sidewalk Chewing Demons ripped out a big part of our parking lot and basically built a reflecting pool at first, then finally filled it up. This whole project has been so poorly done.

Needless to say, I did not get much work done.

I did mange to get signed up for a symposium at the Clark on Friday morning, and I was invited to the reading of the play about going into rehearsal next week at WAM, both of which I plan to do. Provided I can leave the parking lot.

I started reading the plays for the next literary committee meeting, and I requested the next review assignment, and received it. We no longer get to choose. We’re just assigned the next book on the list. Which is fine, I guess. I’ll read what I’m paid to read, unless I feel completely unqualified.

The Chewy order couldn’t be delivered, thanks to the Sidewalk Chewing Demons.

Honestly, by 3 PM, I felt like I’d been kicked all over. And, from all the dust and toxic fumes, even closing the windows and running the air purifier, I felt awful, with a sore throat.

I rested a bit, trying to get my nervous system calmed down. Charlotte decided sitting on me was a good choice, and Bea came by for some petting time.

Read a little, caught up on some emails. Searched for documents I need, which should be in the file set up for them but aren’t. I’m pretty good about keeping track, so I’m not sure what happened there. I have to request a new set.

Cooked dinner, read some more. I’m reading a biography of Louella Parsons as background for a project, and it’s interesting.

Slept well. The heat kicked on early this morning. It’s getting down into the 40’sF at night, even though it goes up into the high 60’s and low 70’s during the day. I could see a bright star from my bed when I woke up. I checked an astronomy chart once I got up, and I think it was Saturn.

The morning 15-minute writing session was excellent. Today hit what it’s supposed to shake loose.

When I signed onto the computer and opened up this document, it was wing ding font again, so I had to shut everything down and run a Microsoft Office repair. That seems to have fixed it.

Urgh.

I only got a few paragraphs of the anthology story done yesterday, so I need to deal with that first. I have some correspondence to catch up on. Maybe do a few pages of the play. The afternoon, up until I leave for yoga, is about the ghostwriting, since I didn’t get any done on it yesterday, and won’t get much done on it on Friday or Tuesday, being out of the house on other projects.

There’s a lot of fuss about today being 9-9-9 portal. There’s been a lot of fuss constantly all year, because it’s a chaotic astrological year. My best advice is know it’s a chaotic year, and pick and choose where to put your attention, or you will be exhausted. Enjoy the days you want, and be aware and lie low for the most chaotic.

Also, be careful. More and more of the “articles” coming up about astrology and tarot lately are obviously written with AI, because they are utter word salad and have huge errors in them. Find individuals whose work is trustworthy (such as Theresa Reed and Deborah Blake), and keep a critical eye on the rest.

Fingers crossed the Sidewalk Chewing Demons finish up today (they’re not even here yet) and we can get back to our lives. I mean, they’ll still be causing chaos on other streets, but I want them off mine.

Have a good one!

Mon. Sept. 8, 2025: Intent for the Week — Caution

image courtesy of Sascha Reuen via pixabay.com

Monday, September 8, 2025

Last Day of the Full Moon

Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde

Partly cloudy and cool

If you have a lunar eclipse hangover, be kind to yourself!

That is not one of my cats in the photo, but the facial expression is relevant.

The Community Tarot Reading for the Week is available here.

There are a lot of moving parts to this week, so I am moving with caution. A misstep or a careless word could have a domino effect. So I will try to think three times before speaking, instead of just twice.

There’s a lot that needs to get done this week, so if I can just put my head down and get the work done without interference, it should be okay.

The days are warm, the nights are quite cool, which is pleasant.

What’s your intent for the week?

Fri. Sept. 5, 2025: The Need for Rest

image courtesy of Stephanie Ghesquier via pixabay.com

Friday, September 5, 2025

Waxing Moon

Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron Retrograde

Rainy and humid

Yesterday was exhausting. Whenever there was a pocket of quiet, I just wanted to collapse.

I forgot to mention that I accepted an invitation to join a group of feminist writers, scholars, and educators based out of the Five Colleges Women’s Studies Research Center over in Amherst. They have weekly write-in meetings, both in-person and online every Monday, and lots of other activities. I hope to be able to join some of their sessions in person (I would go on Monday for the writing and then the luncheon, had the sidewalk chaos been handled and I could have gotten my new tires by then, but no. . .). In the meantime, I will join sessions when I can via Zoom.

As someone who often writes about women forgotten by history, this seems like a good fit.

I really hope all the New England snowbirds who claim they support democracy do not go down to their “winter homes” in Florida this year, boosting Florida’s economy and then bringing back disease.

Our MA Governor supposedly signed authorization that acts as a prescription so everyone who wants a COVID booster can get one this year. Hopefully, CVS will stop blocking me soon. But will insurance cover it? According to the BOSTON GLOBE, insurance is required to cover it. But the information on the state’s website says one thing, and then when one follows the links to the places supposed to offer the vaccines, it contradicts what the state says. I should just give them a minute to catch up and coordinate. I usually get the booster in November, and by then, maybe everyone will be all caught up.

My insurance is supposedly accepted by the community health partners around here, so I’m hoping maybe I can get a booster when the mobile clinic comes around.  I can’t drive back from Pittsfield (where the center is located) after the shot, because it starts affecting me within 5-10 minutes. One step at a time. I wish the urgent care clinic next to Stop & Shop hadn’t closed. The community clinic states on their website that the vaccines are not available at the center, but available at the mobile clinics. So we’ll see how that works out.

I challenged one of my mom’s medical bills a few months ago, because the insurances should have covered a larger portion between them. That challenge was successful, and I received the adjusted bill, which I will pay today.

I ordered copies of TAPESTRY and MURDER BELLS to have at the reading on October 4. I had to pay priority shipping, or the books probably wouldn’t arrive in time for the reading. The shipping was almost as much as the books. I also put in the order for some copies of CELLULOID CRIMES (author copies cost more than double what my author copies for the Nina Bell books cost), and they should get here just in time for the reading, too. Fingers crossed I timed it properly. Four weeks is supposed to be enough time. I’m doing a special discount for books sold at the reading.

The Sidewalk Chewing Demons caused chaos all day, with very little progress. Public Services, who is supposed to be communicating with the residents, has gone from simply dropping the ball to refusing to respond to questions, which is not acceptable. THAT IS THEIR JOB.

No #FreelanceFriends yesterday, which meant I could dig into the ghostwriting earlier than I hoped. I did a good few hours on it (some of it out on the back balcony, with Willa in her playpen, because it was such a nice day).

I have a list of theatres at a specific tier, and I’m going through it and seeing what their play submission guidelines are for each. I am pleasantly surprised by several who are open to the kind of work I do, so I will start submitting those next week. Nothing ventured, and all that.

In the late afternoon, I put on Real People clothes, got my act together, and walked down to the R&D Store at MASS MoCA for my colleague’s book event and signing. We’d been in the 2024 A4A cohort together, and I’d seen bits and pieces of her graphic novel in progress. It was great to see it all put together and published! I bought a copy of her book, and she drew me a special little cartoon with her signature, which I will treasure.

I could not face cooking, so I stopped at Golden Bamboo, which was on my way walking home, and picked up Chinese takeout. That ended up being more fraught than it needed to be, because the order was put in incorrectly – both the wrong food and the wrong price. The server felt awful and explained it was her second day. I told her it was no problem, we all have to learn things, and I wasn’t in a hurry. So we worked, step by step together, to void out the original order and get the correct one in. As I sat and waited for the food, a group of senior citizens, who’d taken up the center tables in the restaurant, kept expanding their group. By the time I left, there were more than 20. At least one was talking about just coming from her writing group. I guess they meet there regularly to catch up, and it was great to watch their community and their pleasure in spending time together.

Walked home, ate dinner, relaxed for a bit, and then worked on the ghostwriting until about 10:30. I have a little more work to do on it today, and then I’ll give it a polish and hopefully get it off my desk by the end of the day.

Then, of course, I couldn’t get to sleep, because I was too wired up from the ghostwriting. I finally fell asleep and woke up around 5.

The Sidewalk Chewing Demons showed up around 6:15 and stood on the corner yapping until 7. They took down the crime scene tape from the parking lot, but there’s no way one can drive over those frames and railroad spikes without trashing one’s tires. How much do you want to bet, if I can even get out by driving through the walking pass to the other complex’s Hoosic Street exit when I leave to run errands this morning, I can’t get back in when I return? As I write this, they are filling in the concrete to our parking lot access. Which means it will be inaccessible at least until Monday.

Un-fucking-believable.

One of my first errands today is to swing by City Hall. According to our city ordinances, Public Services is supposed to communicate with, you, know, THE PUBLIC they are supposed to SERVE about all of this, including sidewalks. Since they refuse, even at the City Councilor’s behest, I found another ordinance that says the permits are held by the City Clerk and are public record. I have an early voting question for them anyway, so I will lead with that and then ask them to pull the permit, so I can see what’s what. Then, I have to pick up a prescription for my mom, do a big grocery shopping (better make that list right quick), and do runs to the post office and the library.

Hopefully, I can access the parking lot when I get back, and not have to leave my car in the street all weekend, with the Sidewalk Chewing Demons driving heavy machinery way too close to the cars because they’re bitching that cars are in the street, when THEY have cut off access to driveways and parking lots.

The whole thing is so poorly planned and executed.

MA has 44 potential ballot questions in next year’s election. I went through the summaries this morning. There are some I really agree with, and will vote in favor, and some I will vote against. I do want to read the full ballot questions that make it on, though, and do some additional digging. The final questions will be announced in March or May of next year, so I will have some time on that.

When I get back, I hope to finish the ghostwriting project. Tonight is First Friday, and most of downtown is blocked off to traffic (starting at noon) for a community supper on Eagle Street. I won’t be able to attend that, but I do hope to get down to some of the gallery openings. If the weather is terrible, or if the ghostwriting takes longer than expected, I may have to give that up, but I’ll try.

I plan to stay relatively quiet for the weekend – housework and working on the anthology story. Depending on what goes on with the anthology story this weekend, I might push to finish it in Monday morning’s Zoom session with the FCWRSC group, or I might work on either I WILL BE DIFFERENT or CONSEQUENCE (which I’m thinking of re-titling THEORECTICALLY). CONSEQUENCE has a tight deadline, whereas I WILL BE DIFFERENT does not, so CONSEQUENCE should probably get the first attention.

The 15-minute writing sessions on the 90-day experiment make such a huge, positive difference in comparison to the 10-minute sessions.

Have a great weekend!

Thurs. Sept. 4, 2025: Escalating Chaos

image courtesy of Thomas via pixabay.com

Thursday, September 4, 2025

Waxing Moon

Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron Retrograde

Sunny and pleasant

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

I think the Sidewalk Chewing Demons are tearing things up on the street on the other side of us (Porter, maybe? Or is it Washington? I think it’s Porter. I should know this by now). I heard noise all day, but they’re not doing anything to finish what they started on either my street or the next street over where they tore it up and walked away. It’s very frustrating. And the noise makes it difficult to do my work.

I do not believe, for one second, it is necessary to do it this way and then “finish it all at once.” That’s a big load of crap, and it puts residents at risk.

The Director of the Clark announced he is leaving next year. He and his family are moving back to France. I don’t blame him. Get out while you can. He’s been such an important part of my experience and membership at the Clark since we’ve lived here. I plan to write him a letter of thanks. The next director has huge shoes to fill. And he’s wonderful at managing the big donors.

We were originally supposed to have online meditation group with Concord Library start up again today, but it’s cancelled, and now it’s next week. Not sure I will attend next week, since that’s 9/11, and I have plans for The Table of Silence project later in the morning. Plus, I have two meetings that night. I hate agreeing to meetings on 9/11, but since I missed the August meetings for both, I need to be at the September meetings.

I found it! There’s a city ordinance stating who is supposed to inform us about the sidewalk construction. They did not do this. Time for a reminder. I am also requesting to see the permit, which is also part of the ordinance.

MailerLite is changing their terms to try to squeeze more out of their customers. I still have some wiggle room, and I already have an account at beehiiv, although I haven’t used it, because they were so awful in the verification process. But at least I have options.

Wrote 4-1/2 pages of CONSEQUENCE, which felt good.

There’s a lot of cleaning and tidying going up around the building. I suspect the landlord is trying to sell again. I hope not. We will be screwed if that happens.

So the Sidewalk Chewing Demons came back and made it worse. They continued to dig up everybody’s driveways, then cordoned them off, and walked away in the middle of the afternoon. People returned from picking up their kids or work or whatever, and couldn’t access driveways and parking lots. So they had to park on the street, which is logical. This morning, the workmen showed up at 7 and had a hissy fit that people were parked on the street. So they left, which means it will be even longer to get things finished.

My City Councilor responded (reply all) to the email I’d cc’d him on yesterday to Public Services, who is supposed to be keeping us informed, and the Mayor’s office, saying that yes, Public Services is supposed to give us this information. So I replied all back thanking him for that information and telling them all how things escalated today. And yes, I specifically chose “hissy fit” as part of the email.

NONE of this had to be chaotic. Yes, there would have been some disruption, but if people had a general idea about what was going on and the expected timeline, everyone could have adjusted.

I’m not getting my new tires until this is done, or else they’ll be ruined the first day I have them. I don’t even know if I can go grocery shopping tomorrow. I can’t go to the laundromat, because I’m sure as heck not hefting laundry over the ditches and torn out aprons, and walking down the street to be hit by a wrong way driver.

Worked on the ghostwriting. Didn’t get as far as I hoped, which means I have to do a big push today. Tonight, I hope to go down to MASS MoCA, where a cohort member is doing a book signing. I’m already exhausted.

A friend had a death in the family, and my heart breaks for her. A colleague lost her husband the day before, and I hold her loss, too.

Wed. Sept. 3, 2025: Plodding Along

image courtesy of Jerzy Morkis via pixabay.com

Wednesday, September 3, 2025

Waxing Moon

Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron Retrograde

Sunny and pleasant

Wednesday, the middle of yet another week.

Yesterday morning was caught up with a lot of admin and correspondence and other dribs and drabs that needed attention. Some was just actual communication and follow-up, to make sure everyone’s ducks were in similar rows and not in conflict. This is the kind of communication I like, that’s fun and keeps everything flowing. Nothing was impossible, just time consuming. And some of it was annoying, because it was following up on organizations not doing their jobs or communicating the way they are supposed to.

It was about 10 AM before we could actually get out of the house, and it was difficult to get my 100-year-old mom safely over the torn-out aprons and ditches to the car. Mailed bills and cards at the post office, dropped a big stack of books in the library drop-off, then headed to Williamstown for my mom’s blood draw. That went fast, and we headed back to North Adams, doing a couple of errands on the way.

When we returned, the Sidewalk Chewing Demons were driving their heavy machinery round and round the block, striding back and forth calling out to each other – but over the course of the day, I did not see any actual WORK done, and certainly no progress on our street. They can claim they showed up, but they sure as heck didn’t finish anything. They might have torn out more on Montana Street past Hoosic, though.

Invoiced the ghostwriting client. Tried to get my head back in the game for something, anything, but it was a soft, warm day, and it was difficult. Yoga was cancelled, which meant I didn’t feel the pressure to get everything done before I had to leave at 5.

Since I’d pushed hard on several projects on Monday, my psyche wanted some more room on Tuesday.

I managed to get a little work done on CONSEQUENCE, more massaging what I’d written than moving forward. And there were responses to emails I’d sent in the morning and late last week which needed further responses, as happens when one communicates.

I did a good chunk of work on the ghostwriting project.

Leftovers for dinner, went through some books in the evening that I ordered for the library for research, but aren’t what I need. Which is why I ordered them from the library first, just in case! Looked over some grant and residency proposals, so I can put those materials together. Some of them are due next week, some a little farther along.

Slept well for a while, then woke up at 1:30 and could not get back to sleep. Figured out how to fix a plot hole in the ghostwriting and worked out the next section of CONSEQUENCE in my head, so it wasn’t lost time, even though I didn’t get out of bed.

However, when I fell back asleep, I overslept until 6:30, which sets the day back a bit. Tessa Was Not Amused. Then, she bumped me as I was putting down the bowls, and I spilled some water on her back. So she’s not speaking to me. She is part Maine Coon, which means she has a double coat. To actually feel wet and uncomfortable, she’d have to fall in a filled bathtub or swim across a river. These few drops of water sat on top of her coat until I toweled them off.

The ghostwriting client paid, which means I can make an appointment to finally get the four new tires I need. Hopefully, I won’t get an immediate puncture due to the construction.

The Sidewalk Chewing Demons are driving their heavy machinery around and around the block (often in the wrong direction again), but, like yesterday, so far, there’s no actual work being done. We will see if that changes during the course of the day.

And heaven forbid the city respond to anything. I gave them yesterday as post-holiday breathing room, but if I don’t hear from them today, further steps are necessary. You’d think the incumbents were actively trying to lose the upcoming local election this November.

The night-blooding jasmine in my office is actually blooming, which is pretty.

This morning’s 15-minute writing session started on a creative note, but then switched to practicalities, which frustrated me. But at least it felt like the right length.

I have admin to do this morning, and I have to dig up a few things that need attention that were put aside because other things needed prior attention. I want to work on the play, and maybe some ANGEL HUNT, but the bulk of the day is about the ghostwriting.

Have a good one!

Tues. Sept. 2, 2025: Misty Mornings

image courtesy of OnkelP via pixabay.com

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

Waxing Moon

Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron Retrograde

Misty and mild

And we’re in September.

“Do you remember. . .?”

And there’s a little Earth, Wind, and Fire earworm to start your day. I love their song “September.”

We’re back to the morning mists we get in spring and autumn, hence the photo.

I hope you had a great weekend.

I have my next deadlines for the ghostwriting. One is on Sept. 9, the next is on Sept. 24. I hope I get the notes back from the 9th by then so I can turn around something before I go into residency on the 2nd.

Went on a tangent in the 10-minute writing. While the material is probably not useful, the emotion behind it may well be.

Did some admin, then headed out the door. Once again, it alternated between rain and sunshine. I picked up a couple of things at one place, dropped off bills at the post office, did another pickup at another place, did the grocery shopping, did the library pick up, and headed home. Hauled everything up the stairs and put it away. And there was the morning, even though I’d been efficient in the errands.

After lunch, I worked on the marketing content calendar for September, and sorted some stuff out with the ghostwriting client. I dropped the ball on marketing over the summer, and I need to be more committed to it. When I market the books, they sell. When I don’t, they don’t. It’s a pretty clear cause-and-effect line. And I have CELLULOID CRIMES to add into the mix, too. A content calendar keeps me on track. I made a master calendar, and then I can just save it as each month and take a couple of hours during the month to plot the following month. I won’t have a special holiday release this year. I’ll just be pushing the back list. And I have to decide if I want to push the backlist of COVENTINA this October, or wait until the next one (THE BARD’S LAMENT) is ready next year and skip it this year, especially with ANGEL HUNT needing attention. I’ll know more by mid-month, and then I can plan October and decide how I want to promote the holiday backlist in November and December.

I re-read “Holiday Wishlist” to see if it was in any shape to release this season, and it’s really not. Some sections are lovely, but there are some sections that need a major overhaul. And it would make sense to re-release the stories that come before it as a collection (they were published in various magazines a long time ago) before releasing this, for the continuity.

So – no holiday release this year, and “Holiday Wish List” goes on the schedule next year. I will do a holiday flash fiction for the December newsletter, though. And I have to decide which Topic Workbooks will release next year, too. I have plenty of material from classes I’ve taught. I just need to update where appropriate and get it formatted and uploaded.

Tessa decided the absolute only place worth sitting lately is on my desk chair, behind me as I work. So I’m perched on the very edge of the chair. It’s pretty funny.

Wrote and submitted the book review. I hope to get my next assignment today. My town councilor checked in with me to see if the city responded to my packet. I told him they had not, and that someone who had to use the street to walk in because the sidewalks have been abandoned without being finished and are not accessible will get killed by a wrong way driver, and that needs to be addressed.

I pondered the ghostwriting and did some research, but very little writing on it. I will have to make up for it this week, because I’d like to get it in a little early.

Finished AT BERTRAM’S HOTEL, which was interesting, but a little odd. I’m not sure if it was odd in a way I liked, but it’s interesting, and that’s the main purpose. It kept me turning pages. I started reading the latest Meg Langslowe mystery by Donna Andrews, FOR DUCK’S SAKE, which had me giggling early on. The way the series has grown over the 37(?) or so books is very interesting. The focus is on the community at this point, and how working together for everyone’s well-being solves the crime and takes down the bad guy(s). The humor is mixed in well. It definitely breaks some genre “rules” and yet Andrews pulls it off and has an ever-growing audience. It’s grown to a large ensemble of characters that we spend time with over and over again, and the way the various arcs have grown are interesting.

Pizza for dinner, the first time since it got too hot to put the oven on in summer. And yay, something different to write about in the Taste Journal.

I actually slept almost a full eight hours (5-6 is my normal). I woke up at one point, wondering why I was tense, and realized I was cold. I pulled up another quilt, got warm, and was fine. It was in the 40’sF when I woke up on Saturday.

Saturday was pleasant. I didn’t feel like doing the morning yoga session, but rolled out my mat anyway and was glad I did. When I roll out my mat, Tessa joins me on it, and Bea goes over to wait for me where I do my meditation (which happens right after my yoga session). Because she has decided since I am JUST SITTING THERE, I might as well pet her. Pretty soon, she will sit in my lap during meditation, and we will be a cliché. Which is just fine with me.

She’s also started lying across the back of the sofa near me when I sit there reading, and putting her head on my shoulder. This morning, she tried to drink my coffee, which is not her best choice.

The 10-minute writing session was split between the practical and creative, and I made some notes for an idea for yet a third play, inspired by a small painting I saw in the thrift store and regret not picking up. That is likely to be a 10- or 20-minute play, not a long one. And it has to wait its turn.

Yeah, I’m going to need those Honor Roll writing sessions with my fellow playwrights!

FutureLabs is eager to keep working with me, too, so that is an ongoing discussion. I will share updates as things are confirmed.

My hope is that the various projects in different disciplines – novels, plays, nonfiction, ghostwriting, poetry, text-and-visual art – will all start feeding each other, instead of feeling like a conflicted overwhelm. If I can make that adjustment, it will pave the way for growth with less exhaustion.

Tessa decided to rearrange the worktable in my office on Saturday morning. While I agree that it needs tidying up, her idea of what should go where (and what should go on the floor, in her opinion) and mine are rather different. I don’t know why I waste time arguing. The cat always wins.

Saturday was a lot about housework. The usual cleaning and bed-changing chores, plus switching out fabrics from summer to autumn. They will then switch out again, shortly before I go into the residency, for Samhain/Halloween stuff, then switch back to autumn through Thanksgiving, then the big Winter Holiday decoration spree.

I got  a bunch of reading in, too, and some pondering on projects. I ran two errands, with only middling success, which was frustrating.

The 10-minute writing session was okay, but too short.

A candidate running for City Council stopped by on Saturday to talk, and got an earful about the lack of response on the city’s part to the sidewalk issue.

I made a chocolate cream pie with a lighter graham cracker crust, but still layering the whipped cream and chocolate cream. It’s better than the dark crust of the purchased pie that tasted like crushed charcoal briquettes, but still not what I want. I hunted down some other recipes. I will try one crust with Nilla wafers, and another with ginger snaps, and see if either of those are better. I kind of like the idea of the ginger snaps adding that extra layer of flavor. So that’s for future cream pie experiments.

Fish and chips for dinner. I haven’t made that in ages. The weather was pleasant, and it’s cool at night, so good sleeping weather.

With all the shedding, Bea got a bit of a mat in one section of her back. But when I got out the de-matting tool, she practically levitated and hid for hours, so I’m wondering whether she had mats when she was first rescued, and there was a problem.

Sunday was a nice, slow day. Lots of reading, playing with the cats, enjoying the nice weather. A decent 10-minute writing session, but again, too short. I made pork enchiladas for dinner, adding some additional spices to see what it would do, and it was a good choice. I also made a batch of vegetable stock. It’s cool enough to start making stock from the bags of ends I’ve been keeping in the freezer all summer.

I did the Community Tarot Reading for the Week. We’re using the Tarot of the Owls this month, which was a present back in March for my birthday, but I haven’t had the chance to work with it much. This month will take care of it! Elisabeth Alba, who does a lot of the artwork for Deborah Blake’s decks, is the artist, and it’s just lovely.

Bea let me use the de-matting tool on her and she’s all smooth again. Of course, the de-matting spray I ordered arrived AFTER I’d already gotten the mat out, but at least we have options if it happens again, or if any of the other cats need it.

We’ve opened the second door in the sewing room/Bea’s room that leads into the hallway to see if we can make that work again. Bea’s not thrilled with the change, but we’re hoping she will adjust. We would prefer that flow is back, and that we can then put the Christmas tree in the doorway between the living room and the sewing room again (it’s the most secure place to tie it off). But it depends on whether or not Willa causes problems with both doors to the sewing room open.

This is why we’re starting the process in September. To give everyone time to adjust.

Slept well into Monday. Up early, morning routine. Had a breakthrough on the large arcs of the Nina Bell series during the 10-minute writing time, which means the session did what it’s supposed to do, but it’s still too short. But I figured out how to integrate a few things I wasn’t sure about and make the timeline and the arcs smoother.

I wrote seven pages on the new play, with a working title of CONSEQUENCE. The flow was pretty good. And before 9 AM, within my prime writing hours!

Took a quick break to take out the garbage (chop wood, carry water). Came back and adapted episodes into four chapters of ANGEL HUNT (a little over 10K). Episode-wise, I’m a little past halfway, but I think I’m a little farther than that, story-wise. The chapter lengths are uneven, which annoys me, but I need to do chapter breaks where they make sense in the story, not tied to strict word-counts. I have 72 more episodes to adapt (more than I would like), but I think most of them are shorter than the ones in this section and more episodes can be combined per chapter, if I smooth out the cliffs and buttons. We will see.

The next revision will have me rearranging some chapters, I think. Which annoys me, because I’m so much farther behind than I hoped by now. Knowing I have only myself to blame  for it does not help.

Finally finished Chapter 23 on VICIOUS CRITIC, which was a lot of fun. Now I can gallop to the climactic sequence. I had to update the character list, too.

Took a short break, and then went back to the ghostwriting. I had to do a bunch of sorting things out and tracking and research links, so I didn’t get as far as I hoped in progress, and yet I almost hit the day’s goal.

I made turkey burgers for dinner, which turned out very well. Plenty of herbs and spices in them.

I read a memoir by a flight attendant from the Howard Hughes days of TWA. It was very poorly written, but once one parsed out the word salad and the lack of chronology, there was some interesting information.

I’m tempted to comment on the Weekend at Bernie’s – esque rumors that have been floating around for the past few days around That Thing, but I will keep my mouth shut. I have nothing of value to add to that conversation.

Slept well. Good morning yoga and meditation sessions, although Bea believes petting her is now vital to morning meditation. Which is pretty funny.

I extended the morning writing experiment from 10 minutes to 15 minutes (today is Day 11). That worked better. I will do these next 10 days at 15, and see how that compares, and then adjust as necessary.

On today’s agenda: I have a lot of admin that needs to go out today. Later this morning, I will take my mom to get some bloodwork done, and run some errands on the way there and back. Then, it’s all about the ghostwriting until I go to yoga.

I have to be very focused on the work front this week, which isn’t a bad thing. I just have to keep an eye on all the deadlines and make sure everything gets done. On, or ahead, of time.

If no one shows up to work on the chaos caused by the Sidewalk Chewing Demons, and I don’t get any answers from the city, I will have to go down to City Hall later this week to pull the bid proposal. I can’t imagine the City took a bid proposal that didn’t include a timeline. Well, I can, but I hope that’s not the case. And I shouldn’t have to lose billable work time because the City can’t be bothered to communicate or make sure construction work is completed and does not put residents at risk.

Have a good one!

Mon. Sept. 1, 2025: Intent for the Week — Increase the Pace

image courtesy of Hancock707 via pixabay.com

Monday, September 1, 2025

Waxing Moon

Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron Retrograde

Partly sunny and pleasant

It’s the Labor Day Holiday Monday here in the US. I’ll hopefully be balancing some work with lots of fun/rest.

This week, I need to tighten the timeline on a few things to make sure all the pieces are in place for the residency in early October and then my jury duty time. Which is why I’m going to put in a few hours’ worth of work today.

I also need to line up a few other ducks this week, although I expect some of them will wander and need to be corralled again.

The Community Tarot Reading for the Week is up here. We’re using the Tarot of the Owls mini deck this month.

What’s your intent for the week?

Fri. Aug. 29, 2025: When You Have to Plan Relaxation

image courtesy of  Candice via pixabay.com

Friday, August 29, 2025

Waxing Moon

Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron Retrograde

Cloudy and cool

We’re moving into a holiday weekend here in the US. Hope you’re having a grand time.

They were using jackhammers around the corner from me yesterday, not far from my office window. I’m not sure if it’s part of the sidewalk thing (in other words, breaking more before finishing anything) or if it’s something else that’s breaking. Very frustrating.

AAA wants me to renew my membership two months early so they can double-dip for the overlapping months by changing the next renew date to September (I asked about the next renew date). No, boo. I will renew it when it’s time to renew it. I wish I didn’t feel I had to renew, but with an old car, I feel it’s necessary.

Read the really wonderful play for WAM – it will be this autumn’s show, and I’m very excited to see this script on its feet. It echoed some experiences I had, and definitely brought up some stuff I thought I had resolved, but that’s part of what theatre is meant to do.

Bea let me rub her belly yesterday. And we managed peaceful co-existing playtime with Bea and Willa in the same room. Willa grumbled a little, but she wasn’t otherwise aggressive toward Bea.

Wrote 9 pages of a new play. Not sure if it will be a full-length yet, but it’s a tight 3-hander, and we’ll see. So far, it’s doing what I want it to do. It’ll hit some of the categories I need to fill in the coming months, if I can sustain it. Yes, I used what’s been going on as the catalyst, but it goes into other relevant issues as well. It’s a contemporary piece.

Hung out in the virtual #FreelanceFriends meeting, and it was good to catch up.

Turned around what was probably my last script for the coverage agency. Time for us all to move on. Especially since they informed us we won’t be paid until the middle of September (“the week of September 12”). Um, my contract states that I’m paid the day after the pay period closes, which is Aug. 31. Even though they claim their “new” pay period closes September 6, that would mean paying out by the 7th. And yet, they’re vamping so they don’t have to pay on time. So glad to be done with them. Even if something else shows up in my queue between now and the 6th, I’m not taking it.

Made some character notes on the other play idea that’s rolling around in my head. That, too, is contemporary, and only has four characters.

Couldn’t remember why I ordered a biography of Michael Curtiz from the library until I realized it was because he was married to prolific scenarist and screenwriter Bess Meredyth, and I haven’t yet been able to track down a biography of her. Hopefully, there will be some leads to more about her in the bibliography.

Started reading the September Agatha Christie book club choice, AT BERTRAM’S HOTEL, which is interesting, but a little odd.

Overslept until 6:30, which meant the morning routine was behind by an hour, but I’m all caught up. Today’s 10-minute writing session started well, stalled, then started up again right before the bell. It’s interesting how different each day is. It is not prompt-based (and, for the purposes of the experiment, cannot be).

Today, I have a bunch of errands: post office, library, grocery store, a couple of other errands. I will get some writing and some ghostwriting in. I have to write and submit a book review, too. It’s not due until Sunday, but assigning a due date on a holiday weekend is a red flag. And then, it’s the holiday weekend! Windsor Lake is shut down (again) for a weird algae problem, so my hopes to spend some time up there this weekend are for naught.

I hope you have a great weekend, whether it’s a holiday one or not.

Off to the page!

Thurs. Aug. 28, 2025: Figurative Lemonade

image courtesy of  Raquel Baires via pixabay.com

Thursday, August 28, 2025

Waxing Moon

Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron Retrograde

Sunny and cool

You can read about the latest on Gratitude and Growth.

Yesterday was a somewhat complicated day. I was out the door early to do the laundry, came home, some bozo was in my parking spot, and left a polite but pointed note.

I did a bunch of admin, put together the packet I promised City Hall, and sent it off. Headed to the library to fax my mom’s paperwork and got the confirmation, and had to re-route, because at the top of our street, there was another water main break, and Church St. headed toward the library was closed. I picked up and dropped off books. Headed for the post office to mail bills and get a postcard stamp to mail something that will be part of a gift to someone with whom I worked over the past few years.

Came home to find that all the traffic that hit the closed road is speeding the wrong way down our street. They somehow seem to think that if they go 60 mph with screeching tires, we’ll forget they are DRIVING THE WRONG FUCKING WAY. The signs are very clear. People can’t walk on the sidewalk because they aren’t finished, so they have to walk in the street, and now we have people speeding down said street in the wrong direction, KNOWING what they are doing is wrong. Somebody is going to get killed or badly injured, be it falling on the unfinished sidewalks, hit by a wrong way driver, or two cars hitting head on, with one of them being a wrong way driver. One white dude in a big black truck intentionally tried to run me down when I crossed the street (looking the correct way), screaming at me. My choices were to get out of the way or take a picture of his plate and get mowed down. Feeling like a coward, I got out of the way, but reported it anyway. Not that they can do anything without the plate number.  Not that anything would have happened to him, if he’d hit me, because we live in a world where white dudes are encouraged to run over anyone they disagree with, men are allowed to commit violence toward women, and there are no consequences. I bet I know who he voted for.

May he have the day and the results he has earned.

The Sidewalk Chewing Demons haven’t done any work since the first water pipe issue on the 21st. They’ve just left things dug up and half done. Which I put into the packet for City Hall.

I got to work on the polish for the Llewellyn materials, and sent them to my editor, who was happy to receive them.

In some good news, the CELLULOID CRIMES anthology from Level Best is out. I will work to put up links in the next few days, and share the cover. I’m debating whether to order author copies for October. I’m excited to read everyone’s work. The editor is also nominating each story for an Edgar Award, which is a huge honor.

I got a good chunk done on the next ghostwriting project. It’s flowing well, at least so far. Even though I’m a little behind where I hoped to be, because I didn’t get much done on Tuesday, I’m in good shape.

Bea is now letting my mom pet her, too. She is learning that she likes affection.

I did my 10-minute writing session at a different time of day, and it worked better, although it still felt like not enough time. I did not make up for the missed yoga/meditation time that didn’t happen because of the laundry run, and I should have. The evening sit didn’t make up for missing the morning sit.

Made up a comfort recipe for dinner (it was cool enough) that worked well. My mom loved it, and since getting my mom to eat properly is a daily struggle, I was glad.

Slept reasonably well. Woke up at 3:30 awake, not fretting about anything. Although I did get an idea for a play, with yesterday’s frustrations a catalyst.

It was genuinely cool this morning, and the cats played a lot, which was cute. Bea jumped up on the sewing table, and then on the dresser beside it – and saw herself in a mirror for the first time. She was fascinated. She got a little too rambunctious with Tessa, who gave her a hiss and a smack at one point, but they made up in about a minute and were playing again. Which is good, because Bea took sulking lessons from Tessa and pouting lessons from Charlotte, and is building quite the repertoire, although she doesn’t hold a grudge for more than 5 minutes (Tessa can keep up a grudge for a week or more, until one grovels enough for her forgiveness).

I haven’t heard from City Hall in reply to yesterday’s large packet (which began life as a Power Point), but it sounds like the Sidewalk Chewing Demons are working on the other end of the street, so maybe they’ve been pushed to finish things and not leave it all in chaos over the holiday weekend? Perhaps I’m being too optimistic. I hear some hammering and clanging and heavy machinery drives around and around the block, but not a whole lot appears to actually happen.

Another school shooting and only platitudes. Politicians really only see dead children as props.

Morning yoga/meditation was good, as was the 10-minute writing session. It still doesn’t feel like enough, but at least something is happening in it.

On today’s agenda: toy with the new idea for the play, work on the anthology story, turn around a script coverage, work on the ghostwriting, finish reading the play for WAM. There’s probably admin work in there, too. I’m thinking about working out on the back balcony this afternoon, if possible.

Have a good one!

Wed. Aug. 27, 2025: Boundaries

image courtesy of  Nikki Wyatt via pixabay.com

Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Waxing Moon

Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron Retrograde

Partly cloudy and mild

Mid-week, yet again!

Yesterday was a day of boundaries, communication, and trying to get things done. It was a lot of, “This is what I understood. But is that what you meant?” and some of “That doesn’t work for me right now. How about this?”

We will see how it all shakes out. There was a good deal of refusing to be backed into a corner for something with red flags.

Am I worried I’m missing out? Not as much as I would have five or ten years ago. I’d rather make choices based on a solid foundation than on panic that I might miss something.

That doesn’t make any of the conversations easy, but at least they don’t have to be adversarial. Most of them, anyway. I can see one, about the parking lot, becoming so, but too bad.

The paperwork my mom needed help with is chaotic and offensive. And yet, we had to fill it out and I have to head up to the library to fax it today. Insurance is a huge scam.

Deleted my account from an agency which started as an international job matchup for freelancers. Not only have they never lived up to the promise or (nor?) responded to feedback,  but the last few messages I’ve gotten from them have been obvious financial scams with heavy whiffs of illegal operations about them. All under the guise of “partnership” rather than freelance contract work. Do they think I’m stupid? I deleted my account and got an absolutely vile message from the agency. Glad to be shot of them.

On top of all of that, I managed to get out three play submissions for short play submission calls. I somewhat shot myself in the foot this year by not finishing a full-length play early in the year. Another theatre who likes my work invited me to submit a full-length with not more than 8 characters. But the two full-lengths I have that fit those specs they already read and felt weren’t right for them. They claim they really like my writing and want more. But I don’t have a “more” this year to give them. Even if I WILL BE DIFFERENT could be completed by the end of the residency (which is within their submission window), it has more than 8 characters (though may be able to be done with 8 actors). But I won’t know until it’s complete. JUST A DROP, the full-length they have not read, has more than 8. So does SERENE & DETERMINED, which isn’t in shape to send out yet, although it might be whittled down in the revisions. The revision notes I have on S & D are stellar, but I haven’t been able to integrate them in a way that pleases me yet. It’s like a tuning fork when it hits properly, and I haven’t had that hit from S & D revisions yet. I honestly don’t think I could whip up a 75-minute 3-hander within the submission window that could be revised enough so I’d feel it was fit to submit. I mean, I’d have to have an idea for it first. Maybe I could think of something, draft, and then revise during the residency? I may have to pass this year and hope they invite me back next year, since they are narrowing the submission invite. I’m debating whether or not to talk to them about it. If an honest conversation hurts my chances, it’s not the right place for me to be.

I’ve also been invited to submit to a place I’ve longed to be a part of for years, for their development program, but I’m not sure if I should send them something polished or something I feel needs the development. The latter would be more helpful to me, but I’m not sure the work is strong enough to make it into such a competitive program for the very reason it needs the development. I will have a discussion with them about it, and feel comfortable about having that discussion. They allow a slightly bigger cast size, but it still keeps JUST A DROP out of the running. Update: We had a good discussion, and I have a clearer idea about what they want. Now I have to decide if it matches what I want/need.

Being invited to submit to these places means a lot to me. I know I’m not the only one invited, and that they still have a huge amount of submissions. But the invite matters. I just wish it was in a year I had something strong to offer. I’d really need two different plays to submit one each, rather than the same play to both. Then I could switch them next year. But I can’t see that happening within the submission window.

Oh, for the days I could pull an all-nighter and get a draft like that done!

Yet another reason to stand firm and not get backed into a corner on the situation with the red flags and unrealistic timelines. I have my own tight timelines to deal with on both the ghostwriting and the playwrighting front.

Most of the day was gone by then, and I was far behind where I hoped to be in just about everything. However, the WAM meeting was switched over to fully remote, which meant I did not have to drive down to Lenox, saving me 2+ hours in my day.

I heard from my town councilor about next steps regarding the Sidewalk Chewing Demons. So I went around the neighborhood, took a bunch of photos, and they are getting an effing PowerPoint with a timeline today!

A friend sent me a call for submissions, and I got another play out.

Oh, and we finally got two weeks’ worth of mail delivered.

I look at the day, and I got a lot done, but it doesn’t feel like I did, probably because it wasn’t what I wanted to get done.

The WAM meeting was excellent, although small. We had excellent discussions about the plays and about the very relevant and complex topics covered in them.

Heated up some leftovers. Read for a bit. Overslept and was late getting out to the laundromat. When I returned, some jerk had taken my parking spot, so I left a polite but pointed note on the windshield. There are 9 parking spots in the lot, and most of them are empty all day. Do not take mine.

Today: fold laundry,  too much admin work, put together the photos and timeline for City Hall, Llewellyn polish, faxing at the library (and book pick-up/drop-off), post office, script coverage, ghostwriting, read a play the theatre’s AD asked me to read. And I’ll wrap up that puppy with a cocktail!

Have a good one.