Fri. Sept. 19, 2025: Just Keep Putting One Word After Another
image courtesy of Ирина Шутько via pixabay.comFriday, September 19, 2025
Day before dark moon
Pluto, Neptune, Chiron, Saturn, Uranus Retrograde
Sunny and pleasant
Charlotte was so happy we had meditation via ZOOM yesterday morning. That made her whole day.
Bea was unhappy that our morning routine was changed due to the laundromat, and she didn’t get her regularly scheduled petting time. I had to make up for it.
The ZOOM meditation was good, and it was nice to be all together again.
Did some work on a grant proposal. Received a reply to a question I’d sent about a residency, with the person quoting the website text that caused the question in the first place (in other words, not answering the question) and calling me by the wrong name (not to mention the wrong gender). I may decide not to apply for that one.
Pollinator proved continued disorganization, making yet another change after I rearranged my schedule to accommodate them after our exchange on Wednesday (or maybe it was Tuesday) for the five upcoming weeks. Enough already. I told them I was permanently pulling out this time. I tried to delete my profile, and the site won’t let me. So I posted on my profile that I withdrew a month ago and it was ignored, I would not be at any meetings, and I hope it goes well for them.
Which is true. I hope the people who stay have a wonderful experience and it sets up a terrific network. It is not the right fit for me. The attitude since day one is that they are doing us this enormous favor, and therefore we have to do whatever maneuvering they demand to fit it. I am too old and have been around too many blocks for this crap.
But I am out of that cohort for good.
I am so over people being disorganized.
I’ve kept Assets4Arists up-to-date on how this has been working, since they are the ones who told me about this cohort. I also told them if they had paid a participation fee on my behalf, they should ask for their money back!
On a happier note, Level Best has another anthology call that’s in my wheelhouse, due at the end of December, which gives me both percolation time and writing time. AND the Nina Bell print copies arrived, so I have copies of all three books to sell at the reading. I’m selling them at pretty deep discounts.
Speaking of disorganized, when I folded and put away the laundry, I discovered I was missing a pillowcase. I hiked back down on foot to the laundromat and found it. I’m usually more careful than that and check the machines. In fact, I remember checking the machines, and don’t know how I missed it. I am very happy I found it and retrieved it.
The #FreelanceFriends chat was a lot of fun. I will be hosting the chat on October 23. I will come up with 3 questions on the topic, and we will let it rip.
I was later than I hoped getting to the ghostwriting. I did some really good work, but I’m behind where I wanted to be. I’m still fine with the deadline, just not with the earlier deadline I set for myself. I don’t know if I can finish it by the end of the day today.
We are officially in a drought now in the state, and being asked to conserve water. Hmm, maybe shut down some of the AI data centers that drink it all up, and we’ll be fine, okay? Stop asking residents to accommodate greedy tech bros and pay the price financially and environmentally.
We got an alert to elevated fire concerns, too. We haven’t had any real rain for a week or more, and there isn’t any rain predicted until the 30th. I hope that adjusts, and we get some before then.
The Jimmy Kimmel situation is just eye-rollingly corrupt, on multiple levels. I was glad to see both the WGA and PEN respond quickly. And, as it’s been pointed out on both Colbert and Kimmel, it’s not just them losing their jobs. It’s all the people who work on the show, and there are a lot of people behind the scenes making it work every day. Disney could have taken a stand. They have enough financial muscle. And yet they caved. I hope people do cancel their streaming and cruises and planned trips. But most people talk the talk without walking the walk.
Slept well. Was awakened by the scent of coffee. Got up and realized it was just after 1 AM and it was someone else’s coffee, not mine. I managed to get back to sleep, and slept past 6, much to the disgust of the cats. Although my own coffee was fresh!
Good morning routine. And the 15-minute writing session did its job well. This next Level Best deadline at the end of the year is an historical mystery, anytime in history until 1901. Which means I can’t float a test balloon of a mystery inspired by my Playland Painters, who were there from 1928-1940. There will be, I am sure, a kazillion submissions in the Victorian era, so I’ll avoid that. Ancient Egypt and Ancient Rome are also popular choices, so I’ll avoid those.
But I have a wealth of research from my women-forgotten-by-history plays. I can tap into those eras, even if I don’t use those women, or use them peripherally. I used the writing session to narrow down, narrow down, narrow down. I have three solid ideas, although I’m leaning toward one in particular, mostly because I don’t think I’ve read anything set in that era or that particular environment before. I’m not quite ready to share it yet; I want to play with it a bit.
I may write all three of my top choices, eventually. But I’ll start with this first one, once I have the story due Sept. 30 polished and out, and revisit my research materials. It might be a good project (or series of projects) to bring into the feminist writing sessions on Monday mornings, when I join them virtually a week from Monday. And they have resources there, so if I CAN make it out in person in early November and December, I can get credentials to do some research for a couple of hours in their archives after lunch, before I head back.
On today’s agenda: grocery store and library. The rest of the day is about ghostwriting and finishing the book review. I had hoped to do a couple of other things, but I may have to push them off until the weekend.
I think I’ve found the spark for the story due for the anthology call that ends on the 30th. I hope I can do a first draft this weekend. It can be 3K, 5K is the usual length, and can’t be more than 7.5K. I’m hoping to hit between 3-5K. I also need to get the rejected story out on submission again.
My friend’s idea about changing the default font seems to have worked (so far). Although I thought I’d changed it to Times New Roman and it’s Arial instead. I like Arial, as long as it’s stable. I can always convert to TNR for specific projects.
This weekend, I have household chores and catching up on work that didn’t get done during the week. Some of that includes ironing. I’d like to get some sewing done, but it depends how much work I get done today.
I will have writing to do, and some practicalities to take care of over the weekend, too, around the household chores. I’m also starting to put aside clothes and materials for the residency.
The day before the dark moon is often a very low energy day for me, but I don’t have that option. I still have to get things done. I will be glad to have this latest eclipse season in the rear-view mirror.
The Scout Crow showed up at the window this morning for a chat with me and with Tessa. Bea is fascinated. The crow also popped around to the side to comment on the new office setup. Between the painting and the Sidewalk Chewing Demons, they’ve stayed away almost all summer. Let’s hope we can get back into our routine with crows! We’ve all missed them.
Have a great weekend, and we’ll catch up on the other side!
