Devon Ellington's Blog, page 58
August 2, 2023
Wed. Aug. 2, 2023: Shake It Off
image courtesy of Jack Geoghegan via pexels.comWednesday, August 2, 2023
Last Day of the Full Moon
Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, Venus, Chiron Retrograde
Sunny and cool
We have two full moons this month! Makes August quite special, don’t you think?
Today’s Process Muse is about reading and re-reading. You can READ it here.
We have TWO serial episodes going live today, from two different serials.
One is from ANGEL HUNT:
Episode 55: The Hermit of the Library
The Library’s caretaker answers some questions.
One is from DEADLY DRAMATICS:
Episode 5: Ransacked
Nina comes home to devastation in her tiny apartment.
Yesterday’s serial episode was from LEGERDEMAIN:
Episode 107: Duke Vauxhall Makes an Entrance
Shelley’s trip to the Infirmary is delayed by Duke Vauxhall’s ceremonial entrance
Friday was a hot, humid, nasty day.
I tried to get past the upset and the chaos I’m feeling around the housing crisis. I have a few cards to play in this game, still, and I have to make sure I play them well, and at the right time. I have to be calculating rather than reactive. Mercury entered Virgo on Friday, which supports that (and stays in Virgo through the retrograde, and into early October). I also can’t talk about them publicly before I play them.
I spent more time than I planned looking something up in the Gwen Finnegan novella “Myth & Interpretation” because I was worried that it was too close to an upcoming arc in ANGEL HUNT. I ended up re-reading a good part of the novella, and enjoying being back in Gwen’s world. While some of the themes are similar to the upcoming ANGEL HUNT arc, the actual events and characters and plot points are very different, thank goodness. I wondered why I couldn’t find them in the Series Bible – and that’s because I had taken the themes and turned them into something unique that served the novella. In other words, I was doing my job.
But that put me behind where I planned to be for the morning.
I did the episode graphics for this week’s LEGERDEMAIN episodes. This week, I have to plan ahead a few weeks, as far as getting things uploaded and scheduled ahead of time, because I’m out of town for a chunk of next week.
I sat down to revise, edit, polish, upload and schedule the next four episodes of DEADLY DRAMATICS, which included fixing the episode numbering issue, and fixing some plot points that had been adjusted in earlier episodes to pay off now. I finished the third mystery arc, and started the fourth (and final) arc of the season.
Then, since I was in the groove, I wanted to keep going. I revised, edited, uploaded, polished, and scheduled four more episodes, then an additional two. I was going to do the next two, but it was the end of the day, I was getting tired, and I had to write a new Episode 100.
It was so humid in the evening, I could barely do anything except lie on the couch and look at the moon. Which is kind of a great way to spend an evening. And who knows how much longer we can enjoy it here?
I discovered that an actress I worked with (and loved working with) way back on the FLOWER DRUM SONG revival on Broadway is going to be in a show in Great Barrington for the next couple of weeks. I grabbed a ticket for this week’s Saturday matinee (after fighting with the theatre’s glitchy software), and wrote her a note. She’s got a tight turnaround between shows, and I don’t want to interfere with her dinner break, but I hope I get to say hello.
Up early on Saturday. It wasn’t all that hot, but the humidity was oppressive. My mind was mush.
I managed to get my act together and finally make it to the farmers’ market. Stocked up, so we will have some healthy meals this week. I couldn’t believe how many of the vendors remembered me after so long!
Got some regular groceries, too, and came home.
Totally out of steam in this steamy weather.
Plus, Saturday was the anniversary of my father’s death. Yes, it was in 1972. No, it doesn’t get easier, you just learn to live with it.
The cats were fur puddles. I was on the couch reading. I read Juliet Blackwell’s OFF THE WILD BRITTANY COAST, which was lovely and surprising. That it was good is no surprise; she’s a wonderful writer. But the way the plot and characters developed had lovely surprises.
The storm finally broke in the late afternoon, bringing down both the temperature and the humidity.
I cooked trout for dinner, along with small potatoes and zucchini and carrots from the market, all sauteed in plenty of butter.
Sat on the front porch after, enjoying the rain and the cool. Later on, a lovely rainbow appeared. A hopeful omen, maybe?
Heard from my friend in Beacon. I can visit her on the way back from the Archives next week.
Slept well, because it was cooler.
Up early, finished reading a book for pleasure. I wasn’t sure about it when I started it, but I kind of liked it by the end.
Answered some questions from a friend about working under pseudonyms, and some other email.
Polished and sent off the poem due Aug. 1. Either it’s what they want, or it’s not, and I’ll never know if I don’t try.
Drafted an episode of Legerdemain.
Wrote the new Episode 100 of DEADLY DRAMATICS, then revised, edited, uploaded, and polished four episodes, getting me into early July of next year. In the home stretch with the season, but this arc needs more reworking than the others, especially with things seeded that need to pay off. And I seeded something that may not pay off until Season 4.
I was behind where I wanted to be for the day, but part of me was also being passive aggressive about not cleaning the house. Why should I bust my ass to impress the new owners when all they want to do is drive us out? And it’s not like the place isn’t clean, although it can always be cleaner. The new vacuum helps a lot.
By mid-afternoon, I had to head out the door, because I wanted to stop at Target on the way to the Mount, to pick up a few things I need for the Archives next week. Which, of course, Target didn’t have IN THE DAMN STORE, and I need to see the items in person, not just buy them online. So that was a wasted trip. And then I was almost late for the poets.
But I made it, and I took a lot of pictures with my new camera. The pieces were engaging.
I was very generous in sharing my bottle of bug spray. We needed it.
Had some good conversations with some of the other poets, which was fun, over lemonade and cookies. That included a conversation about the “universal junk drawer” and a riff between several of us how there is only one actual junk drawer, and when we open the one in our individual kitchens, it’s a portal to the universal/collective unconscious junk drawer. That conversation also gave me an idea for a completely wild, out there card to play in the housing crisis situation. It would take a bit of organizing, but it would definitely make a mark. The drive home was fine. Stopped to pick up a few things at Adams Fresh Market. I hosed off all the bug spray when I got home and ordered pizza.
The almost-full moon was gorgeous.
Nice and cool at night, so I could sleep, but the stress is wearing me out.
Up early, hauled myself to the laundromat. Revised the last 14 chapters of ANGEL HUNT, and I’m much happier with them. I still have to edit the middle 60-something chapters, but that will start as soon as I finish uploading and scheduling the rest of the DEADLY DRAMATICS season (in about a week or so). Then I’ll have two full seasons up and running.
I can then start working on THE LIGHTHOUSE LADY (the second season of ANGEL HUNT) and THE VICIOUS CRITIC (the second season of DEADLY DRAMATICS). And get ahead on LEGERDEMAIN.
Put away all the laundry. Found a pair of mystery socks which turned out to be my friend’s, and I will mail them to her.
Did a drop-off/pickup at the library and activated the library grapevine about the building sale.
Revised, edited, uploaded, and polished four more DEADLY DRAMATICS episodes.
Spent the rest of the day cleaning. Most of the house was in decent shape, because we had cleaned before my friend visited. It was mostly my office and my room, and some additional scrubbing in the kitchen.
I like having everything neat and tidy, but I do resent cleaning to impress people who might try to make me homeless.
Exhausted and disheartened in the evening.
I was just about ready to pack it in over at Bluesky, but a flood of new writers and artists have entered. Jendia Gammon, Gareth Powell, Helen Wistberry, and someone with the handle of Felonious Monk have really worked hard to connect writers and artists and set up feeds, etc. So we can have actual conversations and communications away from the screamers and shitposters. With the quality of conversation and connection improving, I’ll stick around for a bit.
Up early yesterday. Baked cornbread, because it was Lammas. It turned out really well.
Did some last minute cleaning, taking the garbage out, etc., and was worn out by 10 AM. My direct downstairs neighbors are annoying at the best of times, especially the way they keep their section of the front porch and the back a trash heap. They were shouting and banging all day Monday well into the night, and I worked on compassion, since they’ve got to be stressed as hell, too. However, I was INCENSED when I went to take the garbage out, and they’d pushed trash from their side of the porch in front of OUR door.
I got the broom out and shoved it right the hell back onto their side, and swept around our door. I’m limited in what I can do, but our stoop was clean, and we have a cheerful metal door hanging and a bagua mirror and a white lace panel, so it looks festive.
We knew the walk-throughs were starting at 11, and figured they’d be here between 12 and 1.
They were not.
I didn’t dare start any work. I didn’t want to have concentration broken by their interruption, plus I was too upset to focus. I had planned to take part of the day off from writing anyway, and then go to the Clark on my other project once they had come and gone.
I sat on the couch, and tried to enjoy the gift of time. Didn’t succeed, but I tried. I started reading Rachel Pollack’s final book, A WALK IN THE FOREST OF SOULS, about tarot, and there was actually information relevant to the situation. One of those synchronicity things. So it was interesting.
They finally wandered onto the street at 4:20. I was pretty much of a rage monster by then, although I tamped it down. And of course, OF COURSE, the new slipcovers arrived at the same time they did. Heaven forbid the slipcovers arrive in time for us to get them on before the walkthrough.
I watched them meander somewhat aimlessly for a few minutes, and then marched down to the front porch, opened the door, and said, “Hi! Good to see you. I need you to walk through this apartment first, because I have to leave for class at five, and I’m not going to miss it.”
They all looked at me, surprised, and then wandered in like a row of ducks. They saw the way the current landlord and I banter with each other (he was a Greek and Roman scholar at Oxford, so sometimes we go off on weird riffs). Their eyes lit up when they came in (which worries me, in case all they see are dollar signs). They were nice to my mom. Charlotte required them to line up and pet her, which they did, and she accepted them all. Willa danced around, and they gave her attention, too.
Tessa wasn’t having it and took refuge under my bed.
They were pleasant, took a lot of photos, liked the details and the big space. Again, this worries me that they’ll jack up the rent beyond what we can handle.
But they weren’t assholes, at least not at first go. And the cats didn’t hate them.
I told them we were happy here, and we wanted to stay.
We’ll see what they do with that information.
The only card I played this round was to be pleasant, answer questions, and be direct about what I wanted and needed now (them to focus, them to do this walkthrough first, and that we wanted to stay).
We are the only ones who don’t keep all the blinds drawn and the curtains down. We have light and space and it’s clean and it smells good. Especially since I sprayed the hell out of it with room scents from Goddess Provisions.
One of the guys was looking at the built-in that’s in the office and said, “There’s so much to SEE here.”
“Every object has a story,” I said. “Every object is part of my history.”
They were impressed by the kitchen. My landlord said it was the most upgraded of the kitchens in the building. I said, “Good. Because I cook a lot.”
“You have a lot of cookbooks,” one of them said, pointing at the two bookshelf units filled with cookbooks.
“I use them all,” I said. “I cook and bake A LOT.”
One asked if he could take a picture of the bookshelves for himself, because so many cookbooks fascinated him. I said sure, and told him about my friend in California who has over 1700 cookbooks and renovated a barn to house them all.
It went better than I expected, but we could still be screwed.
I shooed them out, changed, grabbed my yoga gear and made it to class on time, activating the yoga grapevine about the building sale. My yoga teacher told me that around here, people actively help each other find new places, and, in spite of the gentrification, it’s not as developed yet, so there are still options.
It was a double class, celebrating the studio being in existence for seven years. The gentle yoga was great. The flow and restore kicked my ass, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I actually don’t hurt as much this morning as I thought I would.
Home. Chatted with the neighbor across the street. Dinner. My best friend from college asked me to read his play that he’s going to submit to a theatre, so I’ll do that this afternoon.
Did a simple, but strong ritual for Lammas.
Slept well, and woke up to 46 degrees F, which is glorious. It feels and smells like the beginning of autumn, and the light has changed, too.
On today’s agenda: catching up with everything that didn’t get done yesterday (except for the Clark), working on the program and flyer for September’s reading, putting on the new slipcovers, promoting all three serial episodes and the Process Muse, reading and commenting on my friend’s play, a trip to the post office to mail my friend’s socks and activate the post office grapevine. Because the Post Office is the happening place in this town.
Have a good one!
August 1, 2023
Tues. Aug. 1, 2023: Lammas
image courtesy of Ray Shrewsberry via pixabay.comToday is an important date in my personal calendar, Lammas, for a lot of different reasons.
In spite of the Hearth Killers doing their walk-through today and deciding how fast they’re going to drive us out of our home, I am determined not to lose the entire day to them.
Today is a sacred day for me, and I intend to use it as such.
We’ll have our catch-up tomorrow.
Enjoy the fruits (and vegetables) of your first harvest.
July 31, 2023
Mon. July 31, 2023: Intent for the Week: Play Smart
image courtesy of Adina Voicu via pixabay.comI’ve been dealt an interesting hand these last weeks, and this week, I have to concentrate on playing smart.
Cards and gambling (mostly on horses) have been a part of my life for decades, so we’ll see how well I can apply it to life challenges.
What’s your intent for the week?
July 28, 2023
Fri. July 28, 2023: Heat, Humidity, and Pressure
image courtesy of via pixabay.comFriday, July 28, 2023
Waxing Moon
Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, Venus, Chiron Retrograde
Sunny, very hot, very humid
Moving into another weekend, and today is going to be a hot, humid, nasty day.
Today’s serial episode is from ANGEL HUNT:
Episode 54: Inside the Library
Lianna has access to ALL the books.
Tomorrow, TWO episodes drop for DEADLY DRAMATICS:
Episode 3: Questions About the Late Roger Fey
Nina’s boss is dead, and the detectives have some questions for her. Will she give Jake up or protect him?
Episode 4: Don’t Leave Town
Nina finds Det. Charlie Greer sexy, but that doesn’t stop her from being a suspect in her boss’s murder.
Episode 3 is free, but Episode 4 will need 8 tokens (it runs 810 words).
I had trouble settling into meditation yesterday. It felt too much like toxic positivity, and not enough like either relief from the current stress or something with solutions.
I cancelled out of yoga, because I was too sick to go.
I edited, polished, uploaded, and scheduled next week’s LEGERDEMAIN episodes. I fixed the episode numbering problem, edited, polished, uploaded, and scheduled the next four DEADLY DRAMATICS episodes (which gets me into mid-May of next year). The latter needed a lot of attention to detail, to smooth it out and fix things that didn’t fit the logic of what was set up previously.
I did the log lines for all six episodes.
I was exhausted from that, from the housing stress, but it was good to get into the work, even if I couldn’t get in as deeply as I would have liked. But I was very, very depressed when I finished.
I was too sick to eat, so I took a hydration break, and then dug into the client project. Originally, I figured I needed 1 day to research and 2 days to work on it. Since I was too upset on Wednesday to do the research, I figured I’d research today and split the work between today and tomorrow. But I dug in and got the whole thing done and out.
At least it took my mind off the stress for a few hours, although it was difficult to work in the humidity. Did some number crunching for the upcoming months, espeically with our housing crisis issue, which, with the strike going on, is grim. But the strike is necessary, although the SAG-AFTRA strike waivers are taking the teeth out of it, and now the publicists are whining about actors not promoting. Instead of whining at the actors, they should be pressuring the studios, but they’re not (redacted) enough to do that.
My Llewellyn calendars arrived for 2024, the big wall calendar and the datebook. I don’t know where we’ll be in 2024, but I have calendars.
We had a bad storm come through in the evening, lots of rain.
Collapsed into bed, woke up feeling awful, and just wanted to stay in bed. But that’s not an option.
This morning, I have to draft an episode of Legerdemain, revise/polish/upload/schedule the next four episodes of DEADLY DRAMATICS, do the episode graphics for next week’s Legerdemain episodes, do next week’s episode videos for all three serials, get them uploaded and scheduled to TikTok, do a catch-up video for Legerdemain to schedule next weekend (because next Thursday hits Episode 108, which means it’s time for the next Catch-Up video).
Once all that is done, I will work on the program and the flyer for the reading in September. That needs to get out for approval early next week, in case there are any changes.
Somewhere in there, I also need to run to the store and maybe the library.
I’m invited to a bunch of things over the weekend that, initially, I was excited about, but if I have to leave in a few months, why bother? I’m not giving up the residency or the research trip or the Clark Art Institute project.
I’ll see what I feel up to each day, and take it from there. It’s not supposed to be as hot, which will help. I’ll keep steadily drafting episodes of Legerdemain and uploading episodes of DEADLY DRAMATICS. I need to upload some more ANGEL HUNT episodes, but I have to check the internal logic of the next section – I think I made a mistake. Plus, I’m frustrated because the loglines I wrote for the last 8 episodes of ANGEL HUNT vanished from both files to which I saved them. And yes, I’m SURE I saved them; this fucking keyboard isn’t working properly. So I have to rewrite them, because I sure as fuck don’t remember them, WHICH IS WHY I SAVED THEM, SO I WOULD HAVE THEM WHEN I NEEDED THEM.
Yes, I’m yelling. I am unhappy.
I also have to do the final polish on the short piece due Aug. 1 and get that out the door, and work on the poem on book banning/gun violence for the event on August 16 (something else I am not willing to give up). I’ve been invited to write a guest post from a Substack site about to book POSSESSION and how it changed me (the pitch I sent a couple of weeks back was accepted), so I will get started on that. Which means re-reading the book, always a joy. I’ve also been invited to submit a play for a possible virtual read in September? October? I have to check the date. FALL FOREVER will have to be out the door by then, so I’m not sure what to send.
Next week, I dig into the short pieces for Llewellyn. I’d like to get all 25 in first draft before my research trip the following week, and then revise them when I get back.
And of course, there will be a lot of house cleaning happening this weekend, so we can please the people who are going to kick us out of our home. Such fucking bullshit.
Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll catch you on the other side of it.
July 27, 2023
Thurs. July 27, 2023: Just When You Take The Risk of Happiness
image courtesy of Arek Socha via pixabay.comThursday, July 27, 2023
Waxing Moon
Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, Venus, Chiron Retrograde
Rainy, hot, humid. Flood watch
Catch up on the latest about the garden over on Gratitude and Growth.
Just when you think you get a little ahead, it’s all destroyed.
Today’s serial episode is from Legerdemain:
Episode 106: Necessary Medical Attention
Shelley needs a Restorative Medic. The assassin needs to be neutralized.
I spent a good portion of the morning do the social media rounds and various site updates for the Deadly Dramatics launch. If you haven’t checked it out yet, I hope you do so soon. The first three episodes are free.
I also did the rounds for Angel Hunt and the Process Muse.
Then, the landlord showed up. He’s sold the building – all the buildings. The new owners are doing a walk-through next Tuesday. He tried to reassure me that we have nothing to worry about, but I KNOW BETTER. I know that we are screwed. And I have no idea what to do about it.
There’s a housing crisis. The waiting list for so-called “affordable housing” (which isn’t) is 3-5 years. In this state, the landlords can raise rent as much as they want any time they want. Because there is a housing crisis, they can get it, and get away with it. The various agencies and politicians yap about it, but let them get away with it. In this state, tenants basically have no rights. NY had much better tenants’ rights, and remember what happened when my mother’s building was sold.
Since we moved here, I’ve been afraid to be happy, for fear the other shoe would drop. I just started to let myself feel happy and dive into the work.
And now this.
Well, we’ll meet them next week and take it one step at a time.
To say I am devastated is an understatement.
The landlord tried to reassure me that they want to keep us, we’re stable, excellent tenants, and the rent raise will be “small” – which is a relative term. If they raise it to local market rates (which are lower than some other areas), it will still be above our range. Plus, they’ll add charges for things that are included now, like parking and garbage, so it will be even more out of our reach. And there’s nothing within our range here, even smaller. Besides, I know from experience that these corporations do NOT value reliable, stable tenants. Their only interest is to jack up the rents and have a high turnover so they can keep jacking up the rent. By being a reliable tenant who keeps the place in good shape, they will see that they have less work to do turning this unit around, and we will be one of the first they force out. With so many buildings and over 100 apartments filled with tenants, it will be a bloodbath.
And I am done making my life smaller for these ass-rats.
So I am upset.
I am very much a home-and-hearth person. If my home is unstable, everything else is also in chaos. It took me over a year to recover from the last move.
It meant the rest of the day’s work did not go well, to say the least.
But I did make up a rough sort of strategic plan for the next few months (“if Y happens, I’ll try Z” and that sort of thing).
Contacted the Rye Historical Society, trying to line up all my ducks for the trip the second week of August. Heard back from the Archives in Elmsford, who are so happy to host me. I’m really excited about the time there.
My new little red Kodak point and shoot digital camera arrived. It’s so tiny! It’s so cute! The directions have absolutely nothing to do with how it actually works!
But I figured it out, and I’m all set for the trip, at least as far as the camera and the SD card and the batteries and all of that goes. And the archives. If I can’t sort out Rye, I won’t go down on the Tuesday, and just go to the Archives and back on Wednesday. Whatever way it shakes out, it will be fine.
I was too upset to do client work in the afternoon; that will pile more on me today, and probably mean that a poetry workshop to which I was invited to tonight in Pittsfield is a no-go.
Since there isn’t much client work right now, due to the strike (well, not a lot of client work I can accept without being a scab), I have to take it when it comes up.
So much for the grant giving me any breathing room.
Floated a few information balloons on some of the social media channels, and got commiseration, suggested resources, and offers to be an ear for brainstorming on most of them, which was nice. Except Bluesky, where they’re too busy bullying and shitposting to have empathy for anyone. I swear, that platform is like the worst of high school.
I got some reading and organizational work done in the evening. Collapsed into bed, but was awake around 2 AM, fretting. I thought we were over that, but here we are again. I came up with a few strategies, and I just have to remember I’m playing poker and/or chess, not cage fighting. At least not at first.
Of course, this is happening during Venus Retrograde, with the Mercury Retrograde looming. Venus Retrograde is about needs being met, and an unstable housing situation definitely points out needs not being met. It’s also about self-esteem, and if my home situation is unstable, nothing else works. The Pluto retrograde: all of the maneuverings to sell behind the tenants’ backs (what’s hidden); the Saturn retrograde: life lessons (you thought you were in a stable, safe situation. Fuck you for believing that; haven’t you learned yet that there’s no such thing as an ethical landlord? Guess not, so let’s slap you with THAT life lesson again); Neptune retrograde: illusions and dreams (again, the illusion of a stable home environment, which is paramount to my being able to function); Venus retrograde (stated above); Chiron retrograde: the wounded healer (re-opening the wounds that were just scabbed over). And then the Mercury Retrograde looming, which means, if we are slapped with a new lease during that point, we are fucked. I mean, we moved during a Mercury Retrograde, which I hope I never have to do again, but signed the lease before the retrograde, which I had hoped at least protected us a little.
Venus Retrograde is also about course correction and creativity. Venus is retrograde in Leo, a fire sign. In my birth chart, Venus sits in Aries, another fire sign. In fact, it’s the only fire in my chart. Which means my tendency is to go aggressive flamethrower, and that’s not necessarily the best choice at this moment.
I can look at all the tendencies/influences the retrogrades affect and use it as information to make smarter choices.
Needless to say, we are not discussing it with the extended family up in Maine, who were so spectacularly unhelpful the last move, and came across as a bit disappointed when we pulled it off.
I’m hoping we can work things out with the new owners, but I’m not putting all my eggs in that basket, based on previous experience. At least, maybe, we can buy some time until spring.
I finally fell asleep again. Up early. Was violently ill. Took a COVID test, which was, as I expected, negative. It’s stress-based.
I have at least the start of a plan, which will settle me down a bit, and I have options on which to pivot. I even have a route on the flow chart marked “unknown” which doesn’t make it any less unknown, but at least there’s a slot for it, and my brain will process it better.
This morning, I have meditation group with the Concord Library and yoga at my home library (provided I stop being sick by the time I have to leave). I need to upload and schedule next week’s Legerdemain episodes, and polish/upload/schedule more Deadly Dramatics episodes. I’m 14 episodes behind where I hoped to be at this point, although I’m uploaded/scheduled through early May of 2024, so it’s not like I have to worry yet.
I have to draft more Legerdemain, work on a few other writing projects, and dig into the client project.
I’ve done all I can until the walk-through by the new owners next week. I’ll do some more cleaning and tidying over the weekend, so the place will sparkle and smell good.
August 1 is supposed to be an exuberant, joyful day in my personal calendar, and instead. . .this.
Oh, well.
Take each day as it comes, and don’t let down my guard.
Have a good one!
July 26, 2023
Wed. July 26, 2023: DEADLY DRAMATICS Launch!
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
Waxing Moon
Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, Venus, Chiron Retrograde
Hazy, cloudy, humid
Time to get back into the regular routine, after a fun weekend with my friend visiting.
We have a bunch of serial episodes today.
The regular Wednesday episode is from Angel Hunt:
Episode 53: Lianna’s Argument
Lianna takes the dragon into her confidence.
Today is also the launch of DEADLY DRAMATICS: Join Nina Bell in 1996 NYC for love, lust, theatre, rock ‘n roll, and murder.
The first TWO episodes drop today:
Episode 1: Give Me The Money
Nina’s boyfriend Jake tries to roll her for $10K.
Episode 2: From Hell’s Kitchen to the Upper West Side
Nina realizes breaking into Jake’s apartment is a bad idea, so she continues uptown with her delivery.
The first episodes are free; it would be a huge help if you’d hop over to them, read them, and, if you like them, give them a thumbs up!
Episodes will drop Wednesdays and Saturdays, and this coming Saturday, both Episodes 3 & 4 will go live.
If you’d like to see an introductory video about the serial, it’s the third one down on the Serial page.
On top of that, we have a Process Muse going live today, and it’s about editing in layers. You can read the post here.
In other words, there is plenty for you to read today, coming from me.
And I will have plenty of social media rounds to do. Along with everything else that has to get done.
Yesterday, I made Eggs Benedict for breakfast. We got on the road a little after 10. My mom decided to go with us, for the ride into Vermont and back.
There was a storm building, and I had my pre-storm headache, which made things harder than they needed to be, unfortunately.
But the trip up wasn’t bad, except for the construction on Rt. 7. At least the infrastructure money is being put to good use!
We drove up the big hill to visit the Battle Monument that overlooks the town – which was closed due to flooding in other parts of the state. Which kind of didn’t make sense, but, whatever.
We stopped in Manchester at Northshire Bookstore. Wow, what a great store. I bought a Vermont cookbook, a history of Southern Vermont Arts Center, and Michael Woods’s book on Shakespeare, which I didn’t technically need, but it’s Shakespeare, so I needed it.
Dropped my friend off and headed back. I had a hankering for Chinese food, then remembered it was Tuesday, so all those restaurants are closed, so that was that.
Home, took to the couch with my headache in the best Victorian heroine fashion. We didn’t have the release of a good thunderstorm, but when it started to rain, things eased up a bit. I still went to bed pretty early, and had weird, weird dreams.
The Vermont cookbook is spectacular, and inspires me to get my cooking mojo back, which has sadly lacked these past few weeks. I felt terribly guilty that I only cooked one dinner and two breakfasts for my friend’s visit. I might even get my act together to get to the Farmers’ Market this Saturday, unless it’s so hot and humid I’d pass out in line.
The cats rousted me up early, and Tessa and Charlotte had drama about who got fed first. Before I had my coffee. Which did not end well for any of us. I did not get my act together to go to the laundromat; will probably do that on Friday.
My reading slot is confirmed for Aug. 16 in Word X Word’s program built around book bans and gun violence, so that will be my focus for this weekend.
Today is about the serials (all the serials, Legerdemain needs some attention, too), the flash fiction that’s due on Aug. 1, digging through emails, trying to get things coordinated with the Rye Historical Society, and doing research for the client project, so I can actually DO the client project tomorrow and Friday.
Have a good one!
July 25, 2023
Tues. July 25, 2023: Spending Time With Friends
image courtesy of Christiane via pixabay.comTuesday, July 25, 2023
Waxing Moon
Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, Venus Retrograde
Cloudy and humid
The past few days have been quite a ride. A good one, but a lot going on.
Today’s episode is from Legerdemain:
Episode 105: Chaos, Pain, and Illegal Objects
The crew of The Nervy Molls has no intention of being the assassin’s hostages.
DEADLY DRAMATICS debuts tomorrow. Want to see an introductory video? Go over to my Serials page on the Devon Ellington website. There are intro videos for all three serials (DD is the third one down).
Friday, before I left for my meeting in Pittsfield, I polished, uploaded, and scheduled the next for DEADLY DRAMATICS episodes (getting me into April 2024). I did the loglines, updated all the paperwork. Did some work on the program for the reading.
As I was getting ready to head out the door, I got a wonderful email. I’ve been offered a slot in the summer/fall Creatryx program hosted by Nightwood Theatre in Toronto. We meet for 8 weeks, 2 hours a week, via Zoom, to create in community and learn from each other. I’m so excited. I had applied for the spring program and didn’t get in. I was told if the program continued, I would be offered a slot in the next go-round, but didn’t believe them. And I was!
It overlaps 2 hours into the Boiler House Poets Collective Residency, but I checked with them, and it’s not a problem.
I headed to Pittsfield. The weather was so confusing: it was rainy, it was sunny, it was sunny while raining!
I parked in front of a church a block or so from Dottie’s. The Word X Word people perform there sometimes, but I’d never been. It’s very much the San Francisco North Beach vibe of the 80’s and the NYC coffeehouse culture vibe of the 90’s.
I was early (as usual), but got my peppermint mocha latte and grabbed a table. The graphics designer came just after, and we had a good chat. It was a lot of fun. She’s involved in some really cool projects here. She’s off on vacation next week, and once she’s back and caught up, we’ll figure out another time to get together.
So that was fun!
Drove back through Williamstown so I could pick up a few things at Wild Oats and at Big Y. And I still forgot teabags and bread, so another trip was in the cards for Saturday.
Home, unloaded, has a bite to eat, worked on the client project.
I got the notification that the grant contract “had been executed” so I downloaded the signed copy (just in case). It was signed on JUNE 30th. I was notified JULY 21. Hmmm. According to the portal, it hadn’t been paid out yet, but when I checked the bank account, the money was there, and would be released on Monday the 24th.
Talk about a sigh of relief.
That means maybe not everything is derailed for the summer, and I can salvage a couple of things before Mercury goes retrograde.
Yeah, the LAST thing I felt like doing was going back to finish the client project at that point, but needs must, right? It was 9:30 by the time I finished it, but I got it off before deadline.
Especially since Saturday HAD to be dedicated to CLEANING THE DAMN HOUSE.
Up early on Saturday. Got this week’s Process Muse post written, polished, uploaded, scheduled. Got four more DEADLY DRAMATICS episodes edited, polished, uploaded, scheduled (into late April now).
The rest of the day (half day) was spent cleaning the house. My office and my bedroom still aren’t where I want them, but everything else is in decent enough shape for houseguests. All I can do is the best I can do. And then the vacuum died, so I have to look into getting another one. This one only lasted two years – we bought it the week we moved in.
The grant money cleared.
I ordered my new camera, which I need for my trips. My mom loves opera, so I bought us tickets for Berkshire Opera Festival’s La Bohème at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield in August. I got my final instructions around the play in Vermont for Sunday.
Venus and Chiron both went retrograde on Saturday. As far as Venus goes, it’s about relationships and getting needs met, and not entering new relationships or making big changes to one’s look. In other words, I didn’t get my hair cut before the Venus retrograde, so now I’ll wait until September, when it’s direct, to so do. Chiron is the wounded healer, so it’s about empathy, compassion, especially self-compassion, and figuring out what needs to be healed. I made some good progress on that last time around, so hopefully, I can build on that. Chiron stays retrograde until December 26 this year.
But with FIVE retrogrades (and Mercury’s next retrograde looming near the end of August), the overall message is “slow down.” Which is in conflict with the grant money finally showing up, and the sense of trying to catch up. But slowing down will serve me better, and maybe some things just need to be pushed back until next spring.
It cooled down enough at night to be good sleeping weather.
However, I was woken up around 3 by some neighbors (the next street over, the back of their house is at right angles to ours) who were screaming at each other about “fucking each other up.” I think these are the new tenants of the woman I call “Aunt Bea” who was such a PITA before they moved in. Next time I see her, I will give her an earful about how I don’t want to hear anything about my landlord when her tenants use their back porch as extra storage and they wake me up at 3 AM on weekends because they’re drunk and screaming.
Overslept on Sunday morning. The cats were not amused.
Scrubbed out the tub, the sinks, etc. All those last minute guest-y things.
Revised, polished, uploaded, and scheduled two more episodes of DEADLY DRAMATICS (getting me into early May). I had to do some rewriting for logic, and to develop a seed of a future arc. I also realized I think I made a major episode numbering mistake; it’s too complicated to fix while I have company, so I figured I’d take a break from uploads, etc. until tomorrow, and, you know, actually ENJOY having company.
I was on the road a little before 11. It was an easy, pleasant drive up to Dorset, VT. Once I got up there, I realized it was familiar. A lot of years ago, I spent a week in residence at Dorset Writers’ Colony. What’s weird, though, is that I remember staying in a different house than the one marked as “Dorset Colony.” I’d also forgotten the sidewalks were out of marble, because of the marble quarry. But the little general store, where I bought my groceries, was still there!
I picked up my ticket and settled into a corner of the outdoor café, reading. Well, I had my book open, but I was actually shamelessly eavesdropping, and there are definitely nuggets that will turn up in bits and pieces of my work.
The theatre itself is small, but absolutely lovely. The audience was nice enough, although few of us were masked. I didn’t mask outside, but I sure as heck did inside.
The guy sitting next to me looked familiar; he was very pleasant, but I had a feeling I’d worked with him on something before, years ago, but couldn’t place him, which made me feel somewhat like an idiot, and I didn’t want to say anything to him, in case I was wrong. When it comes to actors and people who are wellknown, if I haven’t worked with them, I usually don’t recognize them, even if they’re famous; but most people with whom I’ve worked, I do.
The play itself was lovely, a two-hander (which means two actors). A lot of it hit very close to home, in multiple details. The two actors did beautiful work. There was a hiccup or two (I found out later than one of them had skipped about a page and a half, which happens). But it was a lovely, strong, exquisite piece of work. I hope it has a life beyond this two-week run, because it deserves to have an open run somewhere.
The actress in the piece turns out to be partners with an actor I stage managed many years ago and adored (because he’s talented, kind, and good people). She is, too, and it’s always exhilarating when good people find each other.
The show only ran about 75 minutes, without intermission. After, I set myself up outside on a bench with my book, until my friend was finished with what she had to do to end the week; then we went to the house in which she’s living for the run (a beautiful one), so she could finish up a few things there.
One of the things I enjoyed a lot, both before and after the show, was listening to the audience be happy. They were excited to be there, and, after the show, they were excited about THE SHOW. It wasn’t all about recognizing the cast from TV and other work, it was about how good they were in this specific show and how much the show itself resonated with them. It’s great to sit and hear those types of conversations flow around.
So often, conversations before/after/during intermission are about people catching up with each other, or talking about celebrity, or complaining about something. But this audience was happy to be in this theatre at this moment with this show, and the pure enjoyment of that was a delight.
We got back on the road a little before 5, and it was an easy trip back down. We had dinner in Bennington, at the Dutchman’s Tavern (one of the few places open in Bennington on a Sunday night). It was fine; a no muss, no fuss place; the food was decent, but not spectacular. I had a Von Trapp Family Pilsner (who knew they were making beer now as well as cheese? But then, there are a lot of Von Trapps with varied interests, and yes, they are the next couple of generations after Maria and the Captain from SOUND OF MUSIC).
The show’s costume designer, who lives in Bennington, joined us, and we had a good chat. It turns out she worked at the Pearl Theatre (for 46 shows or something like that), which was one of the places I started my career. And we both worked with several other people. And we know people who know people with whom we’ve worked. Such a small world!
We got home a little before 8, got my friend settled into the sewing room, had a cup of tea out on the porch and talked until we were too tired to sit up.
Charlotte was friendlier than usual (she might remember my friend a bit)? Willa is still moaning that it’s too hot (it was a little warm, but not bad). Tessa was the really friendly one, which is unusual for her. But it’s nice to see her happy and socializing.
Slept pretty well. Up early, thanks to Charlotte and Tessa.
We headed out to the Clark first thing, and sat by the reflecting pool. Well, I sat; my friend walked the pool and explored. I get to revisit often; she doesn’t, so she roamed around and enjoyed herself.
I got my membership sorted out. The young woman who processed it is a poet, and I’m going to send her some information about Word X Word and the Northern Berkshire Arts Coalition and all of that.
The big exhibit in the downstairs gallery, where the exhibits switch was Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth, which is stunningly powerful. The curation is exquisite, everything from the choice of wall color to placement and flow, allowing a conversation between art and viewer, instead of mere presentation.
I took a lot of notes on specific pieces and the word pieces I want to build around them.
There were two pieces that reminded me of tarot cards: one a skeleton, which reminded me of the Death card, and the other a painting called “Spring Ploughing” which reminded me of The Chariot. There’s a painting of three women on a bridge that makes me want to script their conversation. “Starry Night”, which is so different and yet echoes Van Gogh’s painting of the same name (which was painted much earlier), spurred a series of ideas.
I will go back often between now and October to sit and stare at these pieces, and probably do some early drafting right in the room with them.
We spent the bulk of the time with Munch, but then explored some of the other galleries. I visited my favorite Renoir there, and the Sargent paintings set in Venice. We roamed some of the other galleries, but it’s really too much to do in a single day.
We had lunch in the café, which was actually quite good. Well, we purchased the food in the café, but ate at the reflecting pool.
Then we visited the library and some of the decorative arts galleries before running out of time (and, frankly, brain capacity to see so much).
We headed home so my friend could Zoom with her British-based book club.
I have my appointment booked at the Westchester Archives to research my Playland Painters in a couple of weeks; I’m trying to coordinate the time at the Rye library and the Rye Historical society around that, too, and maybe visit a friend on the way home.
After my friend’s book club meeting was finished, we headed over to Greylock Works to look around; most of it was closed, it being Monday. We went to Norad Mill, where again, a lot was closed, it being Monday, but we got a few things at the Toy and Candy shop. We headed over to Bear and Bee Bookshop (where the poets will read in September), and used it as refuge during a torrential rainstorm.
A friend of the owners was in, minding the shop for the day, and a woman stormed in, wanting a book for her vacation because she didn’t like the one she brought with her. She didn’t know what she wanted, but rejected everything suggested. Now, she had three book people with a wide range of tastes making suggestions, and she didn’t like anything. It was like working in the library all over again! When we finally left, she was working her way through a stack of Anne Tyler titles, so I hope she found something there.
My friend and I each bought a bunch of books – I bought four, including two odd little chapbooks by Georges Perec, one about arranging one’s bookshelves, and one about an ordinary day. I also bought my own copy of QUIET, and a copy of a middle grade book from 1969 called BREAK A LEG! by Stella Pevsner that my friend found, and looked like such fun I couldn’t just leave it on the shelf.
Home, a nice glass of Malbec rosé, and I made mac and cheese for dinner. And then we sat around and chatted until we were too tired to sit up.
It was cool enough to sleep well, although Charlotte and Tessa tried prodding me out of bed before the coffee was ready.
This morning, I will make Eggs Benedict, and we will head back up to Vermont, to take my friend back to her show. My mom wants to come along for a jaunt to Vermont, so it will be a nice ride for her. We might make a few stops along the way.
A client project came in that I will work on for the rest of the week. And, tomorrow, DEADLY DRAMATICS launches, and it’s back to the regular rounds of drafting new Legerdemain episodes, getting the rest of DEADLY DRAMATICS uploaded and scheduled, and revising ANGEL HUNT and getting the rest of it out.
Also this week, I’m finishing the rough of the program for September’s reading, along with the flyer and the listing information, so that we can tweak it, and it will be ready to go out first thing in September.
A friend sent me some submission call listings for radio plays, so I will take a look at those tomorrow.
Have a good one, and we’ll check back in tomorrow.
July 24, 2023
Mon. July 24, 2023: Intent for the Week — Listen to the Retrogrades and SLOW DOWN
image courtesy of Peter H via pixabay.comWe have five retrogrades in play right now: Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, Venus, and Chiron. Another Mercury retrograde looms on the horizon in late August.
The message is “slow down and enjoy what is now” and that is something I intend to do this week.
What’s your intente for the week?
July 21, 2023
Friday, July 21, 2023: A Day of Thought and Wellness
image courtesy of Pexels via pixabay.comFriday, July 21, 2023
Waxing Moon
Pluto, Saturn, Neptune Retrograde
Venus goes Retrograde tomorrow
Rainy and humid
Yesterday was a lot of fun, which was a nice switch after the stresses earlier this week.
Today’s serial episode is from Angel Hunt:
Episode 52: The Dragon’s Refusal
A dragon guards the final door, testy from centuries of misinformation, and refuses the final passage.
Up early, got the blogs done, got next week’s Legerdemain episodes edited, polished, uploaded, and scheduled. Did the graphics for the episodes.
Meditation was good. Instead of the usual guided meditation. Lara read us poetry. It was lovely and restful, and we could actually listen.
Tweaked “The Vicious Critic” outline with what I’d seeded in yesterday’s DEADLY DRAMATICS episodes.
Headed out to yoga at the library. I actually made it this week. The room was packed. It was a good class, enough to know I’d worked without totally kicking my ass.
I rode the elevator down with someone from class and said, “See you next week” and got a whole story of why I wouldn’t. Meanwhile, I’m thinking, “Lady, I just met you. I was making conversation.” But it goes to show how desperate people are for connection. And I can take five minutes to listen.
Dropped off and picked up books. Picked up my mother’s prescription. The pharmacist had defeated the insurance company and got it through. Got some wine.
Got the next 4 episodes of DEADLY DRAMATICS polished, uploaded, and scheduled, getting me to the end of March. A large client project came in that has to be turned around pretty fast, but it pays decently, and with so little client work right now, I took it.
I did next week’s videos for Legerdemain and ANGEL HUNT. I uploaded and scheduled them to TikTok, along with the intro video for DEADLY DRAMATICS and the episode videos for the first 4 episodes (the opening week I’m dropping 4 episodes, not 2).
By then, it was time to join the author talk with Doug Preston for my university’s book club. It was wonderful! Fascinating guy who is basically interested in everything, which is something to which I totally relate. He talked about how he comes from a family of archaeologists, which just got all kinds of ideas going.
I took a lot of notes during the talk, even though I’m not sure where I’ll use them (probably across a range of projects).
He pointed out that, back when he went on this adventure in the jungle (the book is THE LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD, about joining an expedition into the Honduran jungle to find a lost city) how the scientists he talked to were adamant about a pandemic coming (and there came COVID). It also turns out that the indigenous civilizations were much larger than originally thought, and European diseases wiped out 90-95% of that population, which is just horrific.
Anyway, it was a fascinating hour, and there’s a lot in the old brain to percolate.
Worked on the program for the reading. Did the social media rounds for Legerdemain. Worked on the big client project. Later on, switched to reading EVIL UNDER THE SUN, this month’s book club read for the Agatha Christie book club.
Not bad sleeping weather. Up early. The plan is to get some writing in before I leave for my meeting in Pittsfield. On my way home, I’ll do the grocery shopping for the weekend (my friend’s coming to visit). Then, four more episodes of DEADLY DRAMATICS go up, and I have to finish the big client project.
And start cleaning the house.
Tomorrow, Venus goes retrograde (great, more stress, this time having to do with looks, relationships, and self-esteem). Most of tomorrow will be about cleaning the house, although I’ll get some writing in there.
Sunday, I go up to see my friend’s show in Vermont, and she comes back down here for a couple of days. I’m looking forward to it,
Have a good weekend, and I’ll catch you on the other side.
July 20, 2023
Thurs. July 20, 2022: Milestone for Legerdemain and Adventures with Murder Maps
Thursday, July 20, 2023
Waxing Moon
Pluto, Saturn, Neptune Retrograde
Cooler, with wildfire haze
Latest on the garden over at Gratitude and Growth.
Busy day yesterday.
Today’s episode is from Legerdemain and marks the ONE YEAR anniversary of this serial’s launch! I love the serial, the characters, the kind of whacky humor mixed with action and adventure, with moments that are more serious. It’s a joy to write.
Episode 104: Aboard The Nervy Molls
Shelley follows the assassin aboard a female captained and crewed dirigible, which is more than for what the assassin bargained.
Because if I’m writing a fantasy, I want dirigibles. I’m glad this episode landed on the anniversary. It’s a lot of fun.
The serial’s been running for a whole year, and there’s plenty more to come. If you haven’t tried it yet, I hope you will. The first three episodes are always free. Likes, crowns, and reviews make a big difference in the algorithm.
Got some outlining work done yesterday morning before we headed out the door.
We went to Amherst, to the Center for Renaissance Studies, to see the work by Suzette Marie Martin’s exhibit. There’s a video about the exhibit here.
I printed out directions from the website, which took us down to the Pike, over to Springfield, and then up 91 to Amherst. The traffic was awful, and we were caught in a bad patch right before the exit. Then, the website hadn’t updated the exit numbers, so it was confusing once we were on 91. It got even more confusing from there. We finally pulled into one of the massive UMass lots. I managed to get Murder Maps (aka Google Maps) up on my phone, and it talked us through the last few miles. Murder Maps only tried to kill me once, telling me to turn into a place where there was no road, just a high stone wall. But we found it. Eventually. Every trip to that area is fraught because of bad directions.
The Center is lovely, the staff is friendly, and the artwork powerful.
Went through Amherst afterwards, which is lovely. I haven’t spent much time there, but I should go back and do a pilgrimage to the Emily Dickinson house. Although I’m not spending $300 to sit in her bedroom for an hour, not allowed pen or paper or anything else. That is not something I find inspiring. Arrowhead, Melville’s place in Pittsfield, is doing that now, too, instead of having artists in residence working in the space, like they used to. No, thank you.
On the way back, we stopped at Trader Joe’s in Hadley, because, I mean, we drove past it, it was RIGHT THERE, it would have been silly not to stop. Grabbed a few things we wanted. Like several bags of the Dark Chocolate Orange Sticks. Okay, two big bags of things, but you know how it goes.
I didn’t want to go all the way back down to the Pike, over and up again. So I pulled up Murder Maps and got an alternate route. Definitely alternate. We went through a lovely residential neighborhood that had no relevance to anything but the gardens were pretty, and eventually found our way back to Rt. 112. Murder Maps mumbled something about turning towards Ashfield in 11 miles, and then. . .silence. Murder Maps stopped communicating. I could either drive or restart my phone. I drove.
I was pretty sure I knew where the road we were on would spit us out, so I stayed on the road I knew, we came back through Dalton and Pittsfield, past where I’d gone to the Small Business Expo a few weeks back. It’s a much smoother, prettier, and faster road than Murder Map’s decision. So that is the way we will take to come and go to Amherst/Holyoke/Hadley from now on.
I do want to go back and spend some quality time in Williamsburg, which is a really cute little town (and a different town from Williamstown, where the college is).
Got home, had a late lunch, worked on the program for the reading, got up four more episodes of DEADLY DRAMATICS (I’m up to mid-March now). I found a place to plant a seed that will fully form in Season 2, so I did. Did the social media rounds for both Process Muse and Angel Hunt.
It was a pretty day to drive, in spite of the wildfire haze. And I’m glad I saw Suzette’s work. I really like and admire what she’s doing.
It was cool enough to sleep well. Jolted out of bed around midnight when the fire alarms went off for no discernible reason. Must have been the wildfire haze again. I find if I stand below the alarm in the hall and talk back to it (it’s a talking alarm), it shuts the hell up.
Up early this morning, to get in some writing. Online meditation group, then yoga at the library. Hopefully, I can pick up my mother’s pills then. And pick up some wine for the weekend, since I’m out in that direction. In the afternoon is the seminar with Doug Preston, courtesy of my university book club. And I’ll get in some more writing in and around there.
I was pondering a way-down-the-line arc for DD, with a charismatic character who is a threat to Nina and Zack. It was taking the piece in a direction I wasn’t sure would work. This morning I woke up and thought, what if I make this character still a threat, but not an asshole? And it fell into place. Much more interesting. I mean, other than a few quick notes, that arc doesn’t come up for a good long bit, but because of the various relationship arcs, I’m mulling back and forth through the long vision.
Have a good one!
