Tues. April 22, 2025: Unexpected Quiet Equalled Productivity
image courtesy of Oleg Mityukhin via pixabay.comTuesday, April 22, 2025
Waning Moon
Misty and raw
The Community Tarot Reading for the Week is up on the Cerridwen’s Cottage site.
It is shaping up to be a busy week. And very chaotic.
Friday, I got a bunch of admin work done. I packed up books and did a drop off/pick up at the library. I did a light grocery shop. I finished reading a local author’s book, which was fun. I did some percolating on the ghostwriting revisions.
The landlord stopped by in the afternoon. The outside of the building is finally getting painted! They were set to start yesterday, and it’s expected to take six weeks, which means they won’t be finished until the first week of June. I mean, I’m hoping they are done by Memorial Day Weekend, but you know how those go. Sections of the building will be wrapped and inaccessible at times, and the crew is trained in dealing with lead paint, if they find any.
I’m delighted that the building is getting painted – it needs it. But these six weeks are already stressful for me, and the repetitive machine noise of scraping the paint down means I have to decamp on weekdays to work elsewhere. When I have the ghostwriting deadline looming and am waiting for the audio book gig to start, plus writing the radio play and the shows going into readings. AND the last two weeks of the library cohort. So that will be an adventure. And we have to keep our windows closed during the day, which is not something one wants to do as the weather changes into spring, after being cooped up all winter. It also means I can’t set up the back balcony until they are done. And we have to bring in the large bench outside and have it stashed somewhere inside for the duration. I also have to bring in the bagua mirrors I have out front and back. They aren’t supposed to be used inside a building, but I’m going to wrap them up in cloth and tell them to rest. After all, they sit in stores and warehouses until they’re purchased and put into use.
It also means I had to postpone the gathering for the artist cohort, which was set for the 26th – this coming Saturday. It doesn’t make sense to bring people into the chaos, especially if there is lead paint being dealt with. I consulted with the people who run the cohort, and we agreed to postpone it until everything is lovely and shiny, and then I’ll invite both this cohort and the cohort of which I was a part in June, maybe around Solstice. I sent out an email to let everyone know.
So we will see how that all shakes out.
It will be stressful, but the result will be worth it. Let’s hope it’s not a step to put the houses the landlord owns on this street onto the market.
One step, one day at a time.
I read Jack Viertel’s book on the structure of musicals, which was very interesting. It also gave me an idea for THE WOMEN ON THE BRIDGE, so I took another look at that script. The draft I have works better than I remembered, although I still think the ending needs some work. I’m not sure how to fix it; I suspect I need to hear it read. But at least I have some ideas percolating.
Saturday was supposed to be sunny and gorgeous, but started chilly and grey.
I’d gotten an email from the LAVA Center about the June show, so I answered that. I meant to schedule it to send today, so that it doesn’t interrupt anyone’s long holiday weekend, but it sent over the weekend anyway.
Here in MA, Patriots Day hit on the 19th. Concord is basically shut down for the week because of the 250 Year celebrations. I wonder how contemporary issues are flavoring that. Because I’m part of the meditation group through the Concord Library, I’m on the mailing list. They told people to keep their library books an extra week and not try to get to the library. At least one of the branches is closed all week.
Because Patriots Day itself fell on a Saturday this year, most places took Monday as a holiday, so it’s a combination Easter/Patriots Day 4-day weekend for most. Many places (including the library) closed early on Friday, if they were open at all.
The main focus on Saturday was cleaning and rearranging my bedroom. There were other things going on that day, too, which you know if you’ve been watching news, so it was a juggling act. And I worked on contest entries. But I spent a good portion of the day cleaning, putting away winter clothes, setting up spring clothes so I could get at them, cleaning out things I don’t need to have in that room anymore and so on and so forth. I’m so happy with it. It makes a big difference. I had to laugh when I realized I was doing it as we entered Taurus season – which is about comfort, hearth, and home.
I can’t believe how delighted I am with the space now. It’s a sanctuary again. I still want to do some more decorative things within the room itself, but now the space is ready for it. It makes a big difference.
Slept well (of course I did). Sunday started rainy, but became mild and sunny. Tessa was thrilled to be out on the porch. I got some planting done, which I will detail in Thursday’s Gratitude and Growth post. Finished the next book for review, did some reading for pleasure. Took photos of the outside of the house, so I can do “before” and “after” comparisons when the paint job is done.
Did some work on the ghostwriting project, because I wanted to get a little ahead of the chaos. I want to make sure I have it in good shape and turn it in on time on Wednesday. 20K of revisions is a lot to turn around in a couple of days.
Read some more work by Elizabeth George. She killed off a character I disliked in the series, and I still felt bad for those who cared about the character, which shows the power of her writing.
Spent some time reading out on the porch. Tessa spent most of the day out there. We won’t be able to use it when they are working on the front of the house. I hope they’re working in sections, and it’s not scrape the whole building, prime the whole building, paint the whole building. I’m hoping they’ll do everything one side at a time.
The painters didn’t actually show up on Monday. They took the holiday. Which gave me a day of reasonable quiet to get some work done. I wrote a review, turned it in, and got my next assignment. I poured 16 pounds of cat kibble into various glass jars which keeps it fresher than leaving it in the bag.
I was sad to hear about the death of Pope Francis. I am not Catholic, nor am I a fan of the way religion is weaponized to control populations, but I liked and respected him, and I know that those within that faith hurt right now, so I wish them ease.
At the same time, the fact that Sidekick Cracker met with the man who died the next day – yeah. So many things to say about that, and none of them complimentary. Definitely enjoying the satirical memes going around.
I worked on the ghostwriting project. I took a break for the library cohort. I can’t believe next week is our last week. Twelve weeks went fast. I learned a lot, and feel there’s still so much to learn. Made lunch, did some more work on the ghostwriting project, then had another webinar on advocacy for archivists. Unfortunately, it was for people who’d never dipped a toe into these waters, and not the information I need right now, in addition to being far too complacent for what we are currently facing. I ducked out about twenty minutes early.
I went back to the ghostwriting project and finished the first revision pass of the 20K piece. I have two small sections to rework today, along with some layering, and then I have to do a pass for consistency on some cuts I made, and then a final pass tomorrow morning before I turn it in.
It was far more progress than I expected to make, and it felt good to get the bulk of the work done on it while it was still quiet around here. I am deeply grateful that I had the day in which to work. It was a wonderful gift.
Cooked dinner, read a bit in the evening. It was a book by an author whose work I’ve read a good deal of over the years, but this book didn’t hold me. A friend told me that an actress from one of my readings last year will read one of my friend’s poems at an event this weekend. That’s wonderful! It’s a lovely pairing of a talented, warm actress with a talented, warm poet!
Nine scripts showed up in my queue. 5 of them are small (and pay a pittance), and I should be able to turn around fairly quickly. 4 of them are medium-sized (and pay better), but I should be able to get them done by their deadlines at the end of the week. I have to finish the scripts for the literary meeting next week, and do more contest entries as well. It’s a busy week, but the good kind of busy.
Waiting for the painters to show up and get started, so that I will know if I need to decamp this morning, or if I’m okay to work another day. I can’t plan my day until I know what they are up to, and what part of the building they are working on. I hope, when it’s on the other side of the building, I don’t have to leave, but I won’t know until they’re actually working.
Have a good one!
