Shanna Swendson's Blog, page 286

Plot vs. Character

I'm actually somewhat ahead of schedule on the project that's due next week. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you actually devote the time to it. I survived the return to ballet. Tonight, it's back to choir.

Now that the holidays are over, it's time to go back to the bi-weekly writing posts. Every other Wednesday, I post about some topic related to writing. If you want to receive these posts by e-mail, you can subscribe here. I'm always taking questions or suggestions, so if there's s...

Internet Oddities

My new year enthusiasm must have worked yesterday because in spite of the dentist appointment and need to run errands along the way, I still managed to hit both my time and production goals. Yay! I didn't get any exercise or housework done, though (other than washing dishes). Ballet starts again tonight, which means I'll likely suffer through this first class after letting myself get a bit out of shape.

In other news, the Internet is a funny place, and a number of oddities have struck me latel...

Kicking off the New Year

Happy New Year! It was like my body knew that the holidays were over and it was time to get to work today when after weeks of sleeping ridiculously late, I woke up at my usual "work day" time -- actually even a little before. I might not quite hit my full quota of work time today since I have a dentist appointment and a few errands to run along the way, but at least I'm up and at my desk and have already dealt with one item on the to-do list.

Last year ended nicely, at a party with friends, wh...

Next Year

I gave myself an unplanned afternoon off yesterday when I met some friends for lunch and didn't get home until five. We had a nice, long chat at lunch, then the restaurant was close to Borders, and I had a coupon. I spent nearly an hour in Borders, looking for something I wanted to buy. Then there's a Half-Price books nearby -- on my way home from Borders -- and they were having a sale, so I spent another hour in there browsing for reference books. That's a great place to find odd things that...

The Year/Decade in Review

I normally do a year-end performance review of myself, but all the decade in review columns I'm seeing have reminded me that it's the end of a decade, as well -- at least for non-pedantic folks (I think, technically, the decade starts with the 1 year, but there's something satisfying about that odometer turnover).

I don't have a lot to say about this year. It was there. No major highs or huge successes, but nothing really awful. I think, in retrospect from further into the future, this year wi...

The Year in Books

Whew, I just survived a harrowing grocery shopping expedition. When I got to the store, the parking lot was almost empty and the store was a ghost town. I thought I'd timed it perfectly. And then hordes of people suddenly descended on the store, buying enough groceries to survive the entire winter and with their whole families in tow -- generally stopping dead still in the middle of aisles to contemplate their purchases. Because the store had been utterly dead mere minutes earlier, it wasn't ...

White Christmas (sort of)

I hope everyone had a good Christmas holiday. I'm back at work, sort of. I have stuff to get done, but I'm planning on this being a light duty week before I hit the ground at full tilt next week. I proved to myself over the holiday that I'm not addicted to the Internet. I checked my e-mail on my parents' computer Thursday morning but otherwise haven't been online until this morning, and I never even took my laptop out of its bag.

The big news in this part of the world was that this area had it...

Home for the Holidays

This is my get my life together day before I head off for Christmas (and, depending on the weather, it may turn into frantically packing day for an earlier than planned departure). I'm doing laundry and need to wash dishes, pack and get to the bank.

My Christmases tend to be pretty quiet, but then I'm not a big fan of all the hype. I don't go anywhere exotic, just my parents' house that's a couple of hours away from where I live. I drive the back roads -- the old US highway that was the main r...

Dear Santa

I survived my solo Sunday. I don't know how well I did because it didn't feel right, but people said it was good. The whole experience is a blur. That was my first time singing a solo in a church service, and it's a big church that was pretty full. I wish I could get over this fear. I have zero fear of public speaking, just singing. What I need is a singing Toastmasters, a way of getting used to performing in front of people on a regular basis in a supportive environment. I got over the publi...

Mid-Season TV Report Card

I successfully escaped the clutches of the evil flannel sheets this morning, but I may have to use earplugs or turn on a radio to drown out their seductive siren song calling me back to the warm bed. And it's not even that cold today.

I'm currently trying to psych myself up to go out and buy one more Christmas gift. The store is more or less within walking distance, but it would probably take me about half an hour to walk there, while it's a five-minute drive. So why does it seem like walking ...