Fri. Jan. 24, 2025: When Annoyances Stack Up

image courtesy of svklimkin via pixabay.com

Friday, January 24, 2025

Waning Moon

Uranus, Jupiter, Mars Retrograde

Cloudy and cold (started snowing as I posted)

And we’re at the end of another week!

I went through the notes from the ghostwriting client in detail; overall positive, it’s mostly getting to know their house style. They didn’t think another revision was needed on the earlier material, and are happy to move on. I’m happy they are happy!

I’m in the process of phasing out my use of Meta platforms. I deactivated the tertiary pages on the Facebook account, and I will rarely post on the page left. I may deactivate all the pages at some point, or delete them. I will then phase out my time on Threads. Instagram will be the longest and most difficult phase out, since that’s a mix of fun and business, leaning heavily toward fun, and also how I keep up with a lot of artists through A4A. As an advisor, one of my responsibilities is to follow/encourage the cohort on social media. So, while the first two may be a matter of weeks, Instagram will likely phase out over several months. I’m taking things one step at a time. There’s a lot of democracy-based advocacy happening there right now, sometimes from surprising places, but I have no doubt the ass-licking billionaire who owns it will shut that down right quick.

For the moment, I plan to remain active on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Tumblr, with some Instagram activity. I will occasionally check in on Counter Social. I will update the websites and other links to reflect that.

It would be nice to be able to walk away dramatically, but as an artist, I’m a small business, and it needs to be handled as a business decision, in addition to being a values decision.

I forgot to mention that, on Wednesday, I put up curtains on the stairs. What? A draft was coming in around the front door, because this is an old house and nothing fits well, be they doors, windows, etc., and the landlord (good as he is) isn’t fixing them anytime soon. Shutting off Tessa’s room for most of the day and all night helps a lot. But there was still a breeze coming up the stairs. This is great in summer, but not much fun in winter.

I found a tension rod long enough to span the point where there’s a difference in ceiling height. It’s a lightweight rod and I only could put sheers on it; between that and the banisters, I wasn’t sure it would do any good. But I hung them. They look like I’m setting up a haunted house attraction, but they actually make a difference.

I also worked on the February newsletter blast, about the screenwriting workshop. That will go out the first week of February.

I packed up the rolly cart with books and headed off to the library. Dropped off and picked up. There was no delivery today because the computer at the sorting warehouse was down yesterday. However, the books I need as background for the script commission application and about the BLACK CROOK arrived, so I’m okay for now.

Got out a couple of LOIs. One got back in touch about “not being able to tell” from my portfolio about my skills and demanding an unpaid, project-specific piece. I told them we’re not the right fit; I didn’t realize I was dealing with people with the typical 6th grade reading level, and I’m used to working with people who have critical reading skills. Happy to burn that bridge. Another company also said we would not be moving forward because they don’t pay for the SERIES of writing tests they administer, and I won’t make an “exception” for them. Honey, then you’re not worth my time. Next!

Companies who collect unpaid writing samples from interviewees are getting free labor, and they’re just going to say they “went in a different direction” and use this pile of unpaid work without hiring anyone as they claim they wanted. Don’t do it.

Turned around a script coverage.

Got my prep and onboarding materials from the ghostwriting client. Had difficulty with one of the platforms, and submitted some questions that we can sort out today, so we can jump into the actual work on Monday. It’s a tight deadline. It’ll be worth it, if I can pull it off, but the next few weeks will be stressful. How this assignment shakes out will shape a good bit of the coming work year, so there’s a lot at stake for me.

The only tax document I’ve received so far is from the serials, and a good reminder that it was the right choice to end them and move off that platform before they shut down.

Finished the next book for review, so I will write it up and send it off this morning, and hopefully get my next assignment.

Had trouble sleeping (because I was doomscrolling). However, I got an idea for a rather dark, timely short story. I was afraid, when I woke up, that I lost it, but I found it again, and will, at the very least, make some notes or try to get some drafting done. I anticipate it will be under 2K, so it shouldn’t take too long. I also have an idea for an absurdist one act, also topically relevant, that I will play with. I don’t think it’s quite right for the commission pitch, but we’ll see.

While I was trying to get to sleep, I also planned out the details of the first day of the screenwriting workshop, so I will work on those slides this weekend. I want all the class slides for the whole month done by early February, and then just work on handouts.

I’d planned to go to the grocery store first thing this morning, but it looks like it will snow any minute, so I may wait a few hours. Oh, there they are! Snowflakes. Not walking the mile and a half round trip hauling a cart full of groceries. I’ll wait a few hours and see if it clears up. The computer is trying to push an update, and I’m worried about it. I’d rather do it over the weekend.

I want to work on the anthology story today. I have another coverage to turn around. I have to write and submit the review. I want to work on the materials named above.

Tomorrow is Community Day at MASS MoCA, so I will trot down there for at least a couple of hours. One of the cohort members is doing a reading in the afternoon, but it’s sold out, so I will probably go in the morning, unless I’m writing.

Weekend plans then include writing and prepping my class. Next week, I dive into the intense work for the ghostwriting client and figure out how to jerry rig the car to get it to the inspection station so it can fail, and I can buy some time to get it fixed.

Have a good weekend!