Tues. Sept. 10, 2024: The Weather Is All Over The Place

image courtesy of  Klára Sedláčková via pixabay.com

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

Waxing Moon

Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde

Cloudy and cool

I hope you had a wonderful weekend.

Friday, I did some outreach work for Assets4Artists. I slogged through some email. I picked up a prescription for my mom, did a big grocery shop, did a library run.

And then I was done. I hadn’t had much sleep, because of the alarms going off, and I was just cooked.

I took the rest of the day off to rest. I let the new poem percolate. I thought about tweaks to “Effie Effect.” But mostly, I was cat furniture for Charlotte, and keeping an eye on Bea as she explored. She’s trying to redefine her schedule to something that works better for her, no matter what anyone else is doing. She listens politely when Tessa goes over the day’s schedule with her, and then goes and does what she wants. There’s a core of steel under that muted tortie fur.

I read the first book in a new series about which I was excited. Sadly, the book is very formula, and the writer uses “witch” as a slur against other women, so I guess I’m done. I really like the author, as a person and a writer, but her work with Kensington uses this particular slur, and that’s a non-negotiable for me.

I read THIS DAY: DIARIES FROM AMERICAN WOMEN, edited by Joni B. Cole, Rebecca Joffrey, and B.K. Rakhra, where 529 women submitted their diary of a single day, Oct. 15 (I assume it was Oct. 15, 2002, since the book was published in 2003, and there’s mention of 9/11). It was truly fascinating. There was full text from 35 entries, and then snippets of others by topic.

Cooked dinner, read some more, went to bed early. Slept through the night.

Up at the normal time on Saturday. It was kind of a dreary day. Took my time getting going.

I turned around a couple of script coverages. I pondered “Effie Effect.” I read bits and pieces of books, but very little held my attention.

As I got ready to go out, there was an Instagram post that my colleague’s book was in stock and Bear & Bee. That’s good news.

Someone else started unnecessary drama about an unrelated project (privately, not on social media), something that was already worked out, which I pointed out.

It was raining and yucky. I parked and had time to dash into the bookstore and pick up the book, and made it to my other colleague’s show on time. It was an unrehearsed Shakespeare, where people took a class for an hour (before I arrived) and then performed a Shakespeare play (for which I was in the audience). They did HENRY IV, PART ONE, one of my favorites, and it was lots of fun. The colleague whose book I just picked up was there, and I asked her to sign it.

Home, dealt with more unnecessary drama, and then more unnecessary harassment around my mother’s medical bills. I’ll be filing complaints with the AG and CFPB this week.

Slept decently until the fire alarm malfunctioned again at 4 AM. I wish they could figure out what’s the matter.

Dozed off for an hour or so, then got up to feed the cats.

More unnecessary drama – I’m sorry, but 5 emails before 10 AM on a Sunday is excessive and unnecessary, especially since Sunday is the day I’m supposed to be offline. I put my foot down. Don’t pretend it’s an apology when it’s an additional list of demands when I’ve already set out the timeline that’s possible. I’m not stupid, and I stopped being that easily manipulated years ago. Maybe not enough years ago, but I’m there now.

So there went the morning, that was supposed to be about revisions on “The Effie Effect” so that I could focus on poetry in the afternoon.

I did, however, manage to get done the Community Tarot Reading for the week done, which you can see here. A little challenging.

I started making vegetable stock, since I had 5 bags of bits. I wound up doing 3 batches of stock, which made 8 jars. All strained, labeled, and put away.

In the meantime, Tessa decided she wanted to sit on the tarot reading cloth on my worktable, and Willa stole Bea’s lunch. Bea was actually pretty chill about it, just glared at me, not Willa. When Charlotte is the day’s Good Girl, you know we’re in trouble.

I did the adaptation of “Effie” into audio from stage, which meant layering in sound, stripping out visuals to communicate the information through sound and sometimes dialogue, and smoothing over a few things.

I didn’t get much written on the poem, but I think I have the opening sorted out in my head.

The unnecessary drama situation was just exhausting. But now I have information about this individual, which I will keep in mind going forward. It let me know some initial instincts were correct.

Once again, no good deed goes unpunished.

There was a block party a few blocks away to which I was invited, but I was still deep in the adaptation, and had to miss it. I hope it went well. It’s probably not a good idea to be around a bunch of people, with this latest COVID surge.

I cooked dinner, and, in the evening, read the next book for review.

The damn fire alarm malfunctioned again at 3 AM. I got up a little after 6.

As I was waking up, I had an idea for a speculative short story that might tip into horror. I need to play with it. It’s inspired by the lack of ethics in medical billing.

I wrote, polished, and submitted the book review and got my next assignment. I made suggestions on a friend’s outline for her screenplay. I polished the next draft of “Effie Effect” and sent it to my director. That took longer than I expected. I’m second-guessing myself, and I need to get notes from him first for a clear direction, rather than being all over the place.

I got a couple of pitches out, and realized I missed a submission deadline. It’s for a call, not something promised, so it’s not that big a deal. I’m annoyed with myself, but the piece I wanted to point in that direction isn’t ready, so it’s probably a good thing.

I turned around a small coverage. I played with some ideas for the story that had come to me overnight/in the morning, although I didn’t get too far. But a little progress is better than no progress. The shape of the story is in my head, along with most of the major scenes, but I need a good structure and connective tissue. The voice is pretty decent.

I got two plays out the door on submission. We’re looking into 2025-26 at this point. Of course, 2025 isn’t far away. I’m debating on another residency proposal. There was one I really wanted to do which closes today, and I just can’t put together the materials in time. I’ll apply in winter for next autumn, or next autumn for the following spring. It’s a place in which I want to spend time, so the proposal needs to be strong.

I was too tired to do more than read at night, although I re-figured some things in the story that I will put into play today.

One of the books I’m reading is about writers and their mentors. There was a resonant quote from John L’Heureux: “Complicate the motive. Simplify the action.”

Excellent advice!

Slept pretty well, up early to get out the door for the laundromat. The fire alarm malfunctioned again, but at least everyone was already up.

The laundromat has doubled the dryer fees for less time, which is frustrating. But I got the laundry through and was back home by 7 AM, even stopping for gas on the way home.

I’m going to work on the short story today, and, hopefully, get some more done on VICIOUS CRITIC. I need to send out some pitches, and turn around some small coverages, while hoping some bigger ones come in this week. I have to pick up the CSA box. I have a feeling I have to skip yoga tonight and work instead. I need to get some admin and organizational work done, too. And I need to vacuum.

I’d like to get some work done on the poem, even though it’s not yet confirmed I have a slot on the 29th. There’s another poem that’s starting to swirl around, too, on a completely different topic. I need to let it roll around in my head a bit before I figure out which words it needs. Poems form so differently for me than any other type of writing.

I need to do a library run. A stack of books I ordered over a long period of time all showed up at once, and I can’t wait until the end of the week to pick them up.

I’d better get to it all, hadn’t I?