This is a Test

Even this photo is a test… Inserting a photo via the phone is very different from doing so on my desktop

I am writing this post via my new (to me) phone… More of an experiment than I’d hoped for to be honest. Never thought the very setup of the browser and editor would be so different.

One could also call this an experiemt in sanity… I had been promising the Boodle a trip to Dave & Buster’s for a while now (mostly delaying out of a desire to hear), but… I figured I had procrastinated long enough. We’re here, and he’s off galavanting among the blips, bleeps, whistles, bells, squeals and other assundry cacophony that makes up this place.

To add to the “test” quality of this post… It is all being written with my S-pen (the handwriting recognition app and pen that the Galaxy Notes are known for…) Very different from what I expected because of the way the way it interacts with the browser. Also very cool. I just wrote that last sentence with the S-pen and my left hand. The S-pen recognizes my messy off-hand writing nearly better than my normal neat regular writing.

The discoveries that come from Buffalo wing sauce…

Normally since this is Wednesday, I would be posting my ROW80 check-in and my WIPpet post. And… so I will be (if I can figure out how to copy and paste AND perform all my usual color and text tricks here in this browser). Another test! Can I peek at my Dropbox files via the installed version of Word on this phone and decipher what ones of the Scrivener sub-files relates to what section of a particular story (and make it relate to the date).

So here it is…

my Wippet

I spent most of my writing (and thinking) time this past week on Swan Song: Marche/Promenade so this snippet comes from there. We have eight sentences from the 31st sub-file in that Scrivener project.

After breakfast, grain meal of some sort… Visse wasn’t sure what her brother had added beyond a few sweet grains he called ‘ground nuts’ to their own supplies, but it wasn’t like the stuff she had made before, being both sweeter and blander than she had expected.

She imagined he’d probably used some of those twigs—sweetroots he called them, motioning to the edge of their campsite where the ground had been disturbed. A small clutch of plants with with fading yellow-white flowers stood there. By the torn ground lay the trimmed top of a plant or two, clearly the remnants from what her brother had harvested.

A common roadside weed… Her brother was a madman. How did he know his random gleanings wouldn’t get them killed?

If you enjoyed that, perhaps you might wish to head over to the WIPpet linky and visit some our other awesome members. Hopefully if you go there you’ll find many more tales to delight you.

Thank you, Emily Witt, for being our gracious hostess this year!

ROW80 check-in

Another mini… I am still in post-camping recovery. Whatever made me think that I would get ANY writing done while we camped? Though being completely off the Grid for a time did have its niceties, it was hard to get into any of my Works In Progress. When I needed to check something in a previously written file, I couldn’t. And… so instead, I spent the whole of last week daydreaming, note-jotting, picture-taking, and reading (when not doing Family stuff). Well, not totally… I wrote new story on Wednesday. About a page…

It was decompression time more than anything else.

I took some wonderful photos though! When I’m home and using a better internet connection (and can edit the photos to a smaller size), I will post some.

And there it is… I think the test was a success in general.

Do NOT Unplug

For the record, I am generally in favor of reducing electrical drain (a well as fuel efficiency of most kinds), but certain things just shouldn’t be done. Unplugging plugging  old refrigerators (if you expect to use them again) is generally not advisable, at least in my experience. They tend to not want to restart when you plug them back in.

Worse, however, is when you unplug a closed-up refrigerator with food in it, knowing that no one will be in the house for a few weeks because it’s summer and people are on vacation, etc.

I don’t know which of my brilliant relations did this to my grandmother’s refrigerator, but  it made for an… interesting visit this Friday.  I’m still coughing up mildew  and cleaner fumes.  And… I don’t want to discuss the onions.  Nothing, except maybe rotten potatoes, tweaks my *UGHH* factor like rotten onions.

And now that I’ve probably grossed you out…  don’t unplug the frig.  Not until it’s cleaned out and empty.  Then, leave the doors open to  let it dry out.

This has been a Public Service Announcement.  Now this will be a…

Row80 Check-in & Assessment

Had to get this check-in out because we’re off to Saranac Lake for the annual camping venture. VACATION!!!

I’m both so eager and in utter dread.

Vacation involves change at its most basic, and as I’ve noted before, I don’t deal well with change.   But there is the added reason of being…  or at least feeling unprepared.

I’m not, at least not anymore than any other year.  I’m actually ahead in that I packed my clothes this evening instead of waiting until the morning to do so.  I have the list of scenes I need to write, I have my art supplies gathered, I have charged camera batteries and a clean CF-card…  I even have my reading and research materials gathered.

I’m just not emotionally ready.  This year has kept me spinning so much that I’m not sure I could relax if I tried.  So many strong downs, so many wild and airy ups…  I’m almost afraid to enjoy myself, lest something drastic follow.

• CRAFT
  • Goal: spend ~three hours a week delving into writing craft related learning
  • Progress: I had most of it done by my Wednesday post, but nothing else since
  • Goal: Hand-write new words daily! (the Five Sentences thingie)
  • Progress: I missed Thursday, and Friday’s words had nothing to do with fiction
  • Goal: typing two pages a day of old notebooks into the computer
  • Progress: nothing since Wednesday
• SOCIAL
  • Goal: maintain local critique group submission of excerpts and critiques during non-NaNoWriMo months
  • Progress: soooo very behind here
  • Goal: return to regular posting in the WIPpet and WeWriWa blog hops
  • Progress: WIPpet is on track; the WeWriWa is still on hold; and I won’t be near a computer (save my phone) for the next week, so probably won’t do either one
  • Goal: sponsor duties for the ROW80 twice a week
  • Progress: mostly on track (I’m behind on replies to comments)…  and all soon to be on hold for a bits
• PERSONAL
  • Goal: Explore my creative side daily
  • Progress: I created some new words the other night as I was scouring that frig…  not quite shareable on a PG-13 blog
  • Goal: Daily languages (except Sundays)
  • Progress: oddly, yes…  some inspired the new words listed above
  • Goal: daily exercise amounting to a minimum of 30 minutes a day
  • Progress: oh, I nailed—nay, excelled at—this one, even with the 3 hour drives across the state Friday and Saturday afternoons

That’s all I feel up to sharing now.  Going to head out (I’m at Denny’s with my weekend writing group) so I can finish that load of laundry in the washer.  So…  bye!

Belief and Thoughtfulness

It’s … an odd Wednesday.  I think I’m keeping going mostly by pattern today, more than anything.  A headache (a cluster headache that is trying desperately to be a migraine), some…  “anniversaries” that are best understood by reading my ROW80 sponsor post, and general busy…

Oddly, I’m not sad.  Or stressed.  Or…

I just feel thoughtful.  The busy doesn’t even feel like it’s there (it is, omnipresent as always, but without being as demanding in its presence).   Of course, I am thinking of my two friends that aren’t here today, but there are a lot of good things to think about as I remember them.   Last night while I was writing m 750words and somehow some Elvis songs came through the playlist, I remembered silly, giggly pre-teen days at one friend’s house and the “weird music” our parents liked.  Last week, we went to a classic car show, and  as I thought of how much fun my dad had sharing a love of his with our Boodle,  I was thinking of all the fun discussions of cars and engine specs  I’d had with the friend whose birthday today would have been.

Some of this comes from the reading I’ve done this past week. Though I’m still working on my Steinbeck’s Journal of a Novel, I’m mostly spent this week reading Chasing the Scream by Johann Hari about the “war on drugs”.  One can’t read stories of lives torn to shreds without feeling somewhat blessed by the banal normality of one’s own, of course.  It’s heartbreaking reading, but…  it’s very human.  After finishing The Fall by Camus on Saturday (I have The Plague in my queue next), I wonder if I chose to read these two books one after another by some grand design.

All of which of course has little to do with my post today.  It’s Wednesday, time for a ROW80 check-in and a WIPpet.  Since I started with some of the reading I’ve been doing, let’s move on and finish the check-in first.

ROW80 Check-in

Another Wednesday mini with good things to report so far…  My Five Sentences are going well.  I’ve had to nudge myself daily to get my typing done, but I’ve done it.  Similarly, I am behind in answering blog comments (I haven’t been inspired to spend a lot of time on social media these last few days), but I have scheduled time tomorrow to do that (and my ROW80 sponsor duties).  My creativity time…  that’s been short.  I have my art supplies with me however, and I have plans.

Now, that that’s settled.  Onto..

the WIPpet

I could easily say I have no “maths” for this week (I do), but given that it’ a long excerpt on top of an already longish post, I probably should offer up all my justification for this.

This is one:

#1linewed theme for August 17th is:
***** Believe *****
Please NO buy links
Pls have FUN! pic.twitter.com/jUtXxZwhkF

— Kiss of Death (@RWAKissofDeath) August 12, 2016

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The maths are today’s date (17) minus the month (8) for 9 smallish paragraphs.  And the piece has a theme too, related to the RWA Kiss of Death #1LineWed weekly Twitter tag…  doubly so, since the Kéline mentioned here could best be described as the lovechild of Kali and Pluto; Eris is her fairy godmother.

The WIP in question is Courting the Swan Song (my attention is here doing edits for the impending future).  We’re about 1/2 through the first chapter here.

“My lord Andarniis, you honor our humble sanctuary with your presence, but—I fear we have no votary dedicated to Isana here.” The man blushed slightly. “She does not recognize the faiths of those who come here.”

Alanii nodded calmly. “My escort has just informed me of the Lady Myékis and the devotions they offer her. We’re here so they might be able to make their observances for the Nooning.”

The man winced. “That is—quite considerate of you, my lord. But we have no place where you can wait while—”

“I intend to make my observances with them. While Myékis is not the Lady of my House or family, she clearly has played a powerful role in the protection of our people and ourselves. It is only just and right that I offer her my respects and honors.”

The docent blinked. Behind him, he could hear the silence that had overtaken his escort in the thunderous increase of the other sounds in the temple. Alanii tried to not look as if he was bothered or even aware of the disturbance he had caused.

At last the docent sighed, bowing low yet again. “Yes, of course. We do have a room to the rear of the dining hall where devotees of the Shieldmaiden may work.” He motioned for them to move toward the left-hand room, keeping his body solidly in the way of them seeing or moving past the curtained archway.

As they began to head on their way, from behind the thick cloth, Alanii heard a clank of iron and a quick cry of distress from a male voice. He turned back to the docent. The man’s expression remained serene. “All is well, sire. Please proceed through the meal hall. I think, if you may, find a few of the men there who might wish to join your men in their devotions.”

Alanii was about to ask what the man meant when Val tugged him by his shirtsleeve through the arch toward the seated diners. “Hsh, Alan. Don’t want to bother no man making his respects to Kéline, now do you?” the man hissed.

Alanii swallowed, glancing back at the curtain in horror.

If you like what you’ve read here, head over to A Round of Words in 80 Days and the WIPpet linky and visit the awesome people who make up these online communities. Many thanks and much love to Kait Nolan and Emily Witt for being our gracious hostesses.. 😀

And…  because they make me smile, and they’re almost faded now…  some tiger lilies that volunteered themselves in our yard.