Devon Ellington's Blog, page 99

Mon. Jan. 3, 2022: Intent for the Week — A Positive Start

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My intent is to give my week and my year a positive start.

Saturday, January 1, 2022: Happy New Year!

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Happy New Year!

May each of us be the light in the world that is needed.

Fri. Dec. 31, 2021: Happy New Year’s Eve

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Happy New Year’s Eve to you. May you have the start to the new year that you wish!

Thurs. Dec. 30, 2021: Wanting Peace, Feeling Despair

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Thursday, December 30, 2021

Waning Moon

Uranus and Venus Retrograde

Rainy and cold

I didn’t go for the car inspection yesterday, which means it has to happen today. I’m worried that the car won’t pass, and then what?

Yesterday, I finished the one act version of “Dawn & Dorothy in the Afterlife”, gave it a polish, and sent it off. It feels good to have all three plays out by deadline. I do want to expand “Dawn & Dorothy” into a full-length, maybe next year, if I can fit it into the schedule. It took some interesting turns.

Wrote up script coverage; read two more scripts that I will write up today.

The first shipment of books for the contest I’m judging arrived. They look good, and I look forward to diving into them next week. Worked on the books for review. So much for time off, right?

But if the car needs a repair, I have to dig down and take on as much work as needed to earn that money. I’m so tired of something going kerplooey every time I get a little bit ahead. I need a little breathing room. I need a little rest.

I have another script to read today, and I hope to write it up tonight, so that I can take the whole weekend off.

I want to look forward to 2022, but honestly, at this point, I’m just wondering what fresh hell it will bring. At the same time, I don’t want to be negative, but every time I have a little bit of hope, it’s destroyed.

The poor response to the pandemic doesn’t help, either. Once again, profit is put ahead of people. Where are the monthly stimulus payments that were promised, throughout the pandemic? The testing hasn’t been figured out, almost three years in? The CDC keeps rolling BACK precautions as numbers rise? The exact opposite of what these candidates promised. The Democrats are failing, yet again. Yay, economy booming – but at too high a cost of human life. And all the security nets we were promised to get us through the pandemic have been pulled away, because of fucking CEOs who don’t give a damn about people, only profit.

In NYC today, two subway lines are suspended because of staff shortages due to COVID. All because the Republicans are allowed to do whatever they want, whether or not they have a majority. And they don’t give a damn how many die, as long as they can line their own pockets.

Anyway, let’s hope my day gets better. There was no meditation group today, and I missed it. But, if I can get everything done today, maybe I can do some deep meditation work this weekend, and greet the New Year in a more positive frame of mind.

I wish you a safe and peaceful New Year, and a joyful start to 2022.

Catch you on the other side, friends.

Wed. Dec. 29, 2021: A Day at the Desk

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Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Waning Moon

Uranus and Venus Retrograde

Snowing

Yesterday was kind of a mixed day. I did more admin work than I planned in the morning, which cut into the writing time, but it needed to be done. I need to move admin later in the day, because it siphons off too much creative energy if I do it in the morning.

It cleared up enough mid-morning for me to gather the rolly cart and a few bags and walk to Big Y. It’s not that far, about ¾ of a mile. Because the streets are one-way around here, the necessary curlicues one has to take on the roads make it farther in the car. It’s a pretty straight shot on foot. Plus, I looked in store windows and art spaces and walked by Ramunto’s Pizza, which always smells so wonderful. I haven’t tried them yet; they are on my list.

Picked up my mom’s prescription at CVS, then went next door to Big Y. The carts have wider rims, so the hooks on my rolly cart didn’t work, and I had to stash my cart inside the bigger cart instead of hanging it off the end, like I’ve done in other stores. But I didn’t need much, although I bought more than I planned.

I found a duck, which is exciting, although I think I will cook it for New Year’s Eve, rather than New Year’s Day.  I’ll do the baked salmon on the Day instead, which will balance better with the Eggs Benedict breakfast anyway.

It wasn’t bad hauling everything back in the rolly cart, but I definitely had to take a rest when I got back. Everyone was masked and distancing, so it was less stressful than it might have otherwise been.

I mean, when I lived in NYC, I used the rolly cart all the time to go to the store (even though ALL the grocery stores offered delivery). I had the rolly cart with me in San Francisco, back in the 80s, when I used to have to walk to and from the various stores. I just can’t buy as much as I can when I have the car, and with the pandemic numbers going up, the safety mechanisms being rolled back because all the government cares about is corporate profits, I’m not thrilled with the idea of shopping more often. But needs must, and hopefully, I can get the car fixed in the next few weeks. Once that’s done, I’ll do a couple of major grocery shops to restock long-term supplies,

And the walk is good for me.

Used the ham bone from the Christmas ham, along with kale and navy beans and sundried tomatoes, to make soup. It turned out well. Not a lot of leftovers. Maybe enough for two more meals. But that’s fine. When that’s used up, I’ll make the Moosewood Recipe for Black Bean soup I’ve been wanting to try. I have all the ingredients.

However, I do have leftover kale. Since I am not a big kale fan (although I’m trying to use it more often, because it’s so healthy), I have to figure out what to do with the rest of it. The Berkshires is obsessed with kale, so I’m sure I’ll find a recipe quickly.

Puttered around rather than doing my work, but hey, this was supposed to be my vacation week, and that is what my brain and body want.

I could feel the tensions influenced by the bone crusher square, and, being aware of that, made me aware of CHOOSING to be less reactive to tensions and frustrations. More of a sense of “Okay, this is bugging me, but it’s not that big a deal and not worth an argument, so why don’t I make that choice instead? It avoids a fight, but I’m also not rolling over.” Knowing the tensions in the square make poor choices/rash reactions likely, I can take a breath and choose not to react that way. That’s what meant about using astrology as a tool, rather than an excuse. I could have behaved like a jerk and just used the bone crusher square as an excuse. Instead, I was aware of the way it negatively influences, and made choices that were better in the larger context instead.

You know, the whole acting-like-a-grownup thing. Only understanding why certain tensions and pressures are stronger on a particular day.

Got my script coverage done and read another script, which I will write up today. I need to read/write up two scripts today/tomorrow and one more tomorrow in order to finish and take New Year’s weekend off. I planned only the remaining two, but I was requested for a coverage. That’s always an honor, so of course I said yes. In the information notes, the writer said my notes on two previous scripts had given this writer “a lot of strength to keep writing” which is one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me.  I sometimes wonder if I care too much about each script, but notes like this make it worthwhile, because it means my suggestions are genuinely helpful to the writer. And that’s the point of this – helping them with their craft, so they can share wonderful stories with the world.

I heard, last night, that City Ballet in NYC cancelled the rest of the NUTCRACKER run, due to COVID. They usually end on New Year’s Eve anyway, so it’s not that much earlier, but still disturbing, especially since one of my best friends works there. I contacted him; his last test on Tuesday was negative, so fingers crossed he hasn’t caught a breakthrough case.

Will finish “Dawn and Dorothy” today, and, hopefully, send it off tomorrow. It’s snowing again right now, so I will put off going to get the car inspected until it clears up later this morning. I’m grateful to have the flexibility.

Angry at the CDC for rolling back isolation time because corporations want to force people back to work. Yes, the science grows and changes as more is learned about how the variants mutate. But CEOs should not be dictating this. If anything, people need MORE time off, not less, and it must be paid. All of this talk about how Biden’s economy is booming – too many people are being sacrificed for it. It’s disgusting.

It was very discouraging to see so many people who should know better post photos of their irresponsible holiday behavior. No wonder we can’t get this under control.

Someone on Twitter talked about instead of party spaces, having library spaces where one can read all day in comfy chairs, and waiters pass canapes. A Reading Resort! Sounds wonderful to me.

Back to the page. I won’t get anything done on the Big Project today, but maybe tomorrow or Friday, I can get back to it. I’m behind where I want to be, but the foundational work I’ve done is vital to being able to write it smoothly when I go back to it.

Have a good one, people. Mask up, distance, stay safe.

Tues. Dec. 28, 2021: Post-Holiday Errands

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Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Waning Moon

Uranus & Venus Retrograde

Rainy and cold

I hope everyone had a good weekend, whether or not you celebrated the Christmas holiday.

Ours was fine: lots of food, lots of books. We were tired of the foods we “traditionally” had for the Christmas Eve and Day meals. So for the Eve, it was baked trout, baked whipped potatoes with garlic and herbs, and spinach. For the day, it was a baked ham with a bourbon-molasses glaze. We don’t eat much pork anymore, but my mom wanted ham, so we had ham. I didn’t feel all that great afterwards, but not too bad.

Desserts were stollen on the Eve and chocolate mousse on the day, and that was all good.

We usually do presents on the Eve and stockings on the Day, but, again, my mom wanted to wait and do everything on the Day, so that’s what we did.

We had fun opening things. Tessa “helped.” Charlotte and Willa watched from a safe distance. Tessa adored her present – a catnip toy that looks like a gift. Willa and Charlotte didn’t know what to do with theirs. Charlotte figured it out, and then she was afraid someone would take it away.

But most of the time, we just relaxed.

It was perfectly pleasant, although I felt somewhat unsettled the entire time.

I checked in regularly with my friend, who lost her mother the day before Christmas Eve. There’s not much I can do, except give her as much support as possible. The whole world shifts, and it’s painful.

Sunday, I puttered around with paperwork, and getting my email inbox down to 13 emails for a brief, shining moment, before it filled up again. Worked on the blog schedule for some of the blogs, and tried to get ahead a bit on ones that don’t rely on being in the moment. Researched some companies and added them to the list that will get the postcard mailing in January. Looked through some article guidelines. I’m going to work up some pitches this week, although I won’t send them until the New Year, because it’s just tacky and thoughtless to send them out now. Dived back into the research for “Dawn and Dorothy.” I made a loose writing plan for 2022, which, no doubt, will change by the middle of January. But at least it’s a starting point.

Yesterday, I went to the laundromat. I like to change up my days, but Monday is not a good day. People. The last thing I want, when the virus numbers are back up again, is to be around any more people than necessary. But things got done. Using the rolly cart to go to and from the laundromat is actually easier than getting everything down to the parking lot, loading the car, driving to the laundromat, unloading, reloading, driving back, etc. I just roll the cart down the block, around the corner, down another half a block, and there I am. Plus, yesterday, their parking lot was like a skating rink. I could have fallen and gotten seriously hurt. The sidewalk was clear. Much easier.

While the laundry was going, I make some organizing lists, and worked on a couple of arcs for The Big Project. There are three major arcs that have to be resolved, one after the other, along with less-important, longer-reaching arcs.

A little more than half the neighbors took down all their holiday decorations already. We are keeping ours up until Twelfth Night. That is a tradition we intend to uphold this year.

We never did put a tree topper on our tree this year. None of the ones we have looked right. And the tree looks just fine without it.

Read Colleen Cambridge’s MURDER AT MALLOWAN HALL and loved it. Stayed up until nearly midnight to finish it (I think that was on Christmas Day). I hope there are more books in the series.

Read a book by a new-to-me author set in Venice, which I liked. Put aside another book I started, also set in Venice, that just wasn’t doing it for me.

Started reading Sally Wright’s PURSUIT AND PERSUASION, which I’m enjoying.

Did my errands on foot. My mom won $20 on a scratch ticket that was in her stocking, so I picked that up for her. Mailed thank you notes and birthday cards at the post office. Dropped off and picked up a stack of books at the library. It was pretty cold and windy, but still nice to be out.

Got irritated by an author on Twitter. He’d followed; I followed back, as I do with most authors. The first interaction was a long DM from his “publicist” asking me to read and review the guy’s book. It was a long, involved DM, with a tone making it clear that they were doing me a favor. The publicist is male, of course, and the DM was typical male mansplaining privilege.

Okay, wrong on so many levels. First of all, I’m a paid reviewer by publications. Occasionally, when it doesn’t violate my contract terms, I can review a book for free, usually by someone I know, because the publications that pay me don’t want me reviewing books by people I know. But it is work. It relates to my job, and is therefore unpaid labor. I’m not doing unpaid labor for a stranger. Second of all, how often have I publicly stated that if the first interaction from a new mutual follow is a DM trying to sell me something (or ask for free labor), that’s an immediate unfollow, and often a block? Often. If the idiot can’t be bothered to do due diligence, not someone I want to deal with. Third, a professional publicist would know better than to pull crap like that, because that’s negative public relations, not positive public relations. So either the guy’s amateur hour (which means I hope the author’s not paying him much) or it’s the author using a pseudonym as a publicist. Fourth, if the social media is set to “automatically” DM any new mutual followers marketing crap, again, you don’t know what the hell you’re doing, and are not someone with whom I wish to interact on any level. Fifth, don’t ask someone to work in the week between the holidays, unless you’ve done your due diligence and know that they are actually working. It’s rude.

That author also goes on my “do not ever buy or read” list.

Caught up with my lovely postman so I could give him his cookie packet. He was pleased.

Read a script, which I will write up today. Grabbed some more scripts to read the next few days. I’m reading less this week, but I need to read something.

Had Doordash deliver Chinese from my favorite place in Williamstown. One order for last night’s dinner (their duck lo mein is one of my favorites), and a chicken pad thai for today (yes, I know the latter is not Chinese food, but it’s from the same restaurant).

It’s clearing up, so I will bundle up, get the rolly cart, and head to CVS to pick up my mom’s prescription, and Big Y to pick up a few things I need for the meals over New Year’s. It’s a bit of a hike, but I’m trying to preserve the car until I can get it looked at.

Today, the “bonecrusher” square supposedly ends, and Jupiter goes into Pisces tonight/tomorrow, which, in my chart anyway, is supposed to be a good thing. I could use a break, and I’ll take any support from the stars I can get! 

On the agenda today, after I get back from the grocery store, is writing up the script coverage, and then finishing the short version of “Dawn and Dorothy.” I hope to get some work done on The Big Project, but we’ll see. This is supposed to be a week of more rest than work for me, but there’s always work to do.

Debating whether I’ll do a mini retreat over New Year’s. New Year’s is usually a tough few days for me, on multiple levels, and I want to be as gentle with myself as possible.

Jeremy Rock Smith is teaching an online cooking session on the 4th; seriously considering taking it, because I love learning from him. He’s a wonderful teacher, in addition to being a quality human being.

That’s the latest; off to the store now. Since I can only buy what I can carry, I have to stick to my list!

Hope your weekend was great, and that the days between the holidays are peaceful.

Mon. Dec. 27, 2021: Intent for the Week — Rest

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Yes, there are things that need to get done this week. And I couldn’t take off completely, as I’d hoped.

But I intend to rest and recharge as much as possible, so I can greet the new year with fresh energy.

Sat. Dec. 25, 2021: Happy Christmas Day!

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Have a bright and merry day!

Fri. Dec. 24, 2021: Merry Christmas Eve!

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I wish you all the delights of the holiday.

Thurs. Dec. 23, 2021: Nameless Day

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Thursday, December 23, 2021

Waning Moon

Uranus and Venus Retrograde

Partly Cloudy and cold

Nameless Day

Latest on gardeny-weathery stuff over on I also talk about “Nameless Day”, the day between Celtic Tree Months, and its unshaped potential.

Yesterday, since it was too yucky to go out and run errands on foot (and I’m trying to save the car until I can get it fixed), I decided to make the stollen, instead of piling everything onto today.

Stollen requires a lot of patience. Every step takes a bit, there are four rises to the dough before it goes into the oven, and it’s a lot.

But the yeast bloomed beautifully (new bottle). What a relief after the bread that didn’t rise.

In general, the way the stollen rose was like we were in a horror movie, and it was going to eat the whole house. But once the fruit peel and the currants and golden raisins and almonds went in (soaked in rum, of course), it looked and smelled delightful. It turned out perfectly, the best I’ve ever made.

I also finally made the apple and cheese turnovers from the Wintersweet cookbook. I have to accept that I loathe working with puff pastry, even when I buy the Pepperidge Farm sheets. It never works the way I need it to. It sticks where I don’t want it to stick, it won’t stick to itself, even with water, fork tines, or beaten egg yolk. It breaks when I try to use it. I hate it. And whatever I make isn’t delicious enough to make it worth the frustration.

So I will use up the pastry sheets and the phyllo dough I have in the freezer and not do any more recipes which call for them. I don’t like working with it, so why keep putting myself through all that frustration? There are plenty of other things I like better.

In between the dough rises, I revised and polished the Marie Corelli play “The Swan, Reincarnated” and sent it off. Two down, one to go.

I have a feeling that I will do a quick ten minute “Dawn and Dorothy in the Afterlife” to make the deadline, and then expand it to a full-length next year. This play has been several years in the works. There’s a lot to say.

Sent off a pitch to a coffee company looking for a part-time copywriter, which could be kind of fun. It’s through an agency, so they might put one of their regulars on it instead, but nothing ventured, not shot at all.

A friend was headed home because her mother is in hospice. My heart breaks for her. Words are so inadequate at a time like this.

Did my script coverage and got it out the door. Two more today, and I’m done until next week. I won’t be able to take off the whole week, like I planned, but I can take on less work.

Really, all I want to do is lie around on the couch in yoga clothes and read books.

I have errands to run and packages to wrap, and the last two script coverages to finish, and then I start my holiday weekend. The next long natter we’ll have together is next Tuesday. Have a lovely, peaceful, joyful time.