Day Late, Dollar Short — ROW80 3/5/12

There isn’t as much to say this check-in this time.  I managed to get some things done, less that I would have liked on writing, but I also started finding a balance to things.  I truly had not calculated in the change that creating a blog-iverse would do to me.

I’m not blaming the change for my lack of fiction writing.  It’s just a change, and if there is any blame (which I’m not sure there is) the fault lies in my inability to adjust to the changes or, more likely, my willing ignorance of the potential for change.  I say “willful” because I knew what I was going in for.  I knew what a drain social media can be; I knew that my list of blogs in my reader feed kept growing and growing but seldom got cleared out.  I knew that I was more than happy to flutter around sites like Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and so many others, looking for that very shiny “next thing” to distract me from actually thinking about the plot holes that had busted my WiPs.

And I don’t think I’m that much different from most people.  Yes, when the car is totaled we still try to find something else to drive as soon as possible, but that doesn’t mean we really want to think about it.  Sometimes we rush into things, just to get it done and over, sometimes we hem and haw hoping that maybe we can use enough duct-tape to hold the old beast together until we have saved up more money or had more time to consider our options…

There’s this cute story here my dad like to tell about his first car.  His brother and he bought a Triumph Spitfire for $35 dollars back when he was in high school.  As he tells it, the car came equipped with two rolls of duct-tape to hold parts on (and one of the doors closed, which I believe, since I once had to wire my two passenger side doors to each other to keep the front one closed) and a roll of fishing line to sew the roof together.  Dad learned to drive on that Spitfire, and between the two of them, they used it for almost two years before selling it.  And if I want to believe the two of them, they managed to get $25 dollars for it, with two new rolls of duct-tape and another spool of fishing line.

Well, I’m trying to figure out how much duct-tape I need, or if I may have to contact a real mechanic to fix things…  or total the beat all together.  Oh, and then there is the writing related stuff.  😉

So what did happen since Wednesday?  Non-ROW80 related things were a wonderful trip out to the Boston area to spend time with family and a lovely children’s symphony put on by the Albany Symphony Orchestra.  Good food, family, friends, good music…  Really, who could ask for more?

Goals and Progress:

Some good stuff happened on the blogging front, using scheduled posts to relieve myself of some of the pressure to make posts over the weekend (especially since this week I had my very first guest blogger posted on A Garden of Delights) and I knew I wasn’t going to go much online work.  I am behind in sending out information for a guest piece I owe, but the brain was refusing to focus lately.  It’s March, the Mabee Birthday Month.  I already know there were be nothing great to post by Wednesday or next Sunday, just some quick pieces and a “Hi, I’m running behind again!”  It’ll do, I guess.

Writing and Editing:

• 500 words a day on my WiPs  Did this, mostly through 750 words.com  Must sign up for Cara Michael’s 500 words challenge, because it’ll put another nudge alongside the personal goal
• Typing 5 pages per week None of this
• Edit 2 full pages a day  Made average of 4 pages a day, but not convinced I like some of the changes
• prepare and post one full blog post per week on each of my blogs  Done in spades

Social Media:

• #teamsprinty and #ROW80 word sprints at least 3 times a week Squeaked in by making another evening sprint
• check new blog posts 1 (one) day a week–Thou shalt not live on the computer! Um, well, it’s your fault, since you are too interesting for me to stop peeking at your pages!  😛
• stop Facebooking and other time killers after 1/2 hour once in morning; once at night Not doing ideal here, but I have cut my time on these things somewhat.
• exception– to return direct messages (I’ll still have email and Tweets on in the background) also not ideal here, since I have my browser on to have Twitter and email active…  hmmm, now I see why my husband says I should stop using an “all-in-one” browser, email, etc. program)

Lifestyle:

• Get out of the house and enjoy life! Doing this!  Plans in the works for visits this weekend (plus several kid birthday parties coming up…)  Another concert this Saturday with a friend, as well.
• Keep dancing! Some, but not as much with twisted knee.
• Take pictures Not doing well here.  Only a few last Friday…
• Hug and savor my family…  especially my family. Oh, I scored BIG on this one; I have the best family.

So there it is…  A check-in, some joy, some things of interest.  Probably nothing you haven’t read elsewhere .  I say this because, after all those posts I’ve read by other ROWers (and my joking insistence that Kait Nolan must have been channeling me for the month of February), I find myself even more convinced that we really are all the same inside.  I don’t know about you, but after years of being the “weird kid” I find it incredibly reassuring.  And with that comforting thought, I leave you with a piece of wisdom by Anne Wayman in the same vein.