Drunken Owls and Other Delights

 It felt wonderful to sleep in until 8:30am, something I haven't done in ages! Granted, I was up until 11pm last night finishing off Shannon Chakraborty's The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, which I'd realized early on was in fact a 'let's get the gang back together for one last heist' caper film, complete with bonkers action and wait-what plot twists, and just enough humor to make it a super fun ride. This new series is a lot less serious than her Daevabad trilogy, that's for sure, but it you loved that, you'll love this one as well.

Meanwhile, we walked to the park today and spent a little bit of time in the botanical garden, harvested some more of the red lettuce (there's still a ton of it left), then had a late lunch at the Richmond Republic, where I had a 10% APV beer that was super tasty and left me slightly spinny for at least two and a half hours. All in all a lovely day to be outside!

I'll admit I've been allowing myself to relax over the last couple of days, partly because my setting up Queen Ophelia's War for Thursday's drop date went so smoothly and quickly. I've earned it, dang it! I'm not entirely sure how I'll go about promoting this one but I'll give it the old college try, I suppose. That's something I'll be working on in the next six months anyway: figuring out productive ways to attract attention to my novels!

As for the day job, I'm doing a few midshifts this week (one as a register jockey, the other as a front end babysitter) with a midweek day off, which I've come to enjoy. the 1-2-1-3 variation on the day job schedule breaks it up so I'm not going full out for five days.


Hope everyone has a lovely week!

 As they often say, weather in San Francisco really depends on which neighborhood you happen to be in. Out here in the Richmond it tends to be a bit cooler than downtown, though downtown can be a bit windy from the crosswinds coming off the Bay. The fog bank always seems to stop somewhere around Presidio Avenue near the JCC before it eventually retreats or burns off by midafternoon. Today my neighborhood had a nice thick fog layer going, but now it's only lingering over the mouth of the Bay, right at the GG Bridge, and the rest of the sky is clear. And it's warmer than yesterday! Not bad for a day off if I say so myself...

Which reminds me: I've been told by our landlady that we'll be getting new rear windows sometime in the next couple of weeks! Which is great because they're both a bit worn out and possibly touched with a bit of water damage on the sills. We of course plan on getting screens for these new windows so we can enjoy the cool air during warm days while the kitties can still perch up there and watch the birds. Looking forward to better working windows!

Yay, I have Sunday off for the first time in weeks! Yay, it's a lovely day with nary a cloud and no chilly crosswinds blowing down the Avenues! I wanted to go to the farmer's market at the other end of Clement as we hadn't gone in months, so we did! It's still kind of early in the season so it's not completely in full swing, but we bought a half-flat of strawberries for snacking, breakfast and ice cream making purposes, along with new tomato plants for the kitchen window (in which we are hoping that Jules does not notice them and/or think they're food). I stopped by the pet groomer's up the street to say thanks to the cat adoption team where we got Jules & Cali and donated a pack of cat treats. Carrying a half-flat of strawberries (six small baskets) plus two seedlings is kind of awkward, so we took the bus home. Nothing too exciting, but it felt really good to get out for a walk and see what's in season!

I spent the afternoon cleaning and vacuuming, and was actually surprised there were only four cat toys (read: crumpled-up paper balls) under the couch this time! The kitties do NOT like the mysterious tall and thin growling monster and hid in the kitchen with A until I was finished. I gave them treats afterwards to calm them down.

And yay, I have tomorrow off as well! I do need to call the Honda garage to set up a time for the recall thing -- I think it's a small computer update thing by the looks of it -- but other than that, I'm probably just going to chill, do the laundry and maybe some more cleaning. And WRITE, because I've been lazy these last few days!! 

It's MLK Day tomorrow so we have another three-day weekend coming to us (or as A says "another mini-vacation") so as with last time, we're spending the days outside and enjoying ourselves. Yesterday we went to the SF Zoo and had a fun time seeing all the critters! Although every single cat was zonked out, and the bears were most likely in winter torpor and snoozing away inside. Can't say I blame them, though. [Side note, the zoo was also full to the brim with kidlets and I was reminded just how exhausting they can be, especially the boys that have obviously never once been told 'can you just calm down and not bounce off strangers for fifteen seconds?' in their lives to date.]

Today's adventure was a walk up to the farmer's market at the other end of Clement, where we stocked up on veg before having a tasty lunch at the Richmond Republic. Noted, the Altamont Nutty Operator stout was super tasty and actually kind of potent for a 5% beer (we both had two). The rest of the day is the usual boring Sunday stuff like laundry, running the various PC cleaner programs and updating the blogs. And tomorrow as planned, we'll be heading to the botanical garden in GGP as the magnolias have started to bloom!

In other news, I've been reading some fun romantic comedy books on A's suggestion -- I'd decided last year that I want to try my hand at that genre this year -- and lo and behold, I came up with a nifty idea whilst lying in bed this morning! A and I talked about some of the plot points on our walk home today and it's sounding like it would be a really fun project, so perhaps this might be something I'll work on next. I suppose my elevator pitch would be "music nerd meet-cute" (slight bit of self-insertion there, I admit). Very curious to see where this leads.

Meanwhile, I supposedly have jury duty this week, although Tuesday's is already saying "nothing today, call back again". Ah well.


Hope everyone has a lovely week!

Geh. I've been thinking again about whether or not I want to keep doing the two blogs. I just haven't felt the drive or inspiration to write them lately. It's weird, because it's not as if I *hate* doing them, or that no one reads them (I know I'm on at least a couple dozen personal reading pages, even if no one ever comments). Occasionally it feels like an assignment, but that's my own fault for falling prey to those thoughts to begin with. It's not as if I'm really running out of ideas, either. Sure, sometimes I feel like I'm repeating myself, but a lot of blogs are like that. I need to remember that I'm doing this for the fun of it, not because Every Post Needs to Be Unique. I do my writing blog because I like sharing what I've learned in the field with other writers. I do my music blog because I'm just a big ol' obsessive music nerd.

Well. I think what I just need to do here is stop thinking so much about its worth and just DO it. Talk about whatever I want and feel like talking about, and stop worrying about it.

Meanwhile, it seems to be getting warmer here in the Bay Area, and I'm all for that. We very rarely get Uncomfortably Hot here, and instead get glorious days in the upper 50s and mid 60s. Occasionally a warm day in the 70s! This means more reason to get outside for a walk at the end of the day and on the weekends! Can't complain about that. It was such a lovely day yesterday we went to the Botanical Garden, and apparently that was everyone else's idea too, as it was filled with couples relaxing and toddlers on the loose! Nice day, though, and it looks like it's going to be like that throughout the week. Woot!

in other local news, they finally opened the new supermarket up on 32nd and Clement. That was an Albertson's a looooong time ago before they went out of business a year before we moved to SF and was empty until 2017 when they split up the building and Fresh & Easy and CVS moved in. F&E went out of business a few years ago, but just this week Andronico's moved in. (They're a sort of upscale Safeway...slightly fancier selection and a little more expensive.) A and I walked up there this morning just to check it out and duly left with many bags of stuff. We'll most likely still stick with Trader Joe's for our grocery shopping but it's good to know we have that extra selection again!

Anyway...it's been a typical Sunday. Errands, brunch, laundry, email and PC cleaning. Yeehaw!

 

Hope everyone has a good week ahead!

...we have buffalo!




Yes, we have buffalo in Golden Gate Park, not too far from us! :)

ITEM: I need to update my current default LJ icon. Obviously Arkham West no longer looks out over the corner of Bay and Stockton. I'll miss the view...but at the same time, I think it's good that I'll have less distraction. The new writing nook isn't much to sing about just yet, since we've only just plugged in a few days ago.

ITEM: Speaking of plugging in...first two days of working at home not too bad. Again, not as much distraction from outside, a LOT less ambient noise, and a better connection adds to that. Now if only my workplace would hurry up and upgrade the server so it's not lagging both here AND at work...

ITEM: I strangely feel the need to pick up where I left off re: The Process of Belief. Now that we're somewhat settled to a degree, I think I may dig out the notes I'd taken and do a bit of writing tonight! Haven't written for a few weeks do the move, so perhaps it's time to start up again...

ITEM: Note to self--if I'm ever going to get anything done writingwise, I've got to stop with the life-altering events like moving and major vacations. :p

ITEM: This damn cold is sort of going away...I hope. It depends on the time of day. Sometimes I'm stuffed up, other times I'm hacking up a lung...and other times I'm totally fine with just a case of minor sniffles. Razzafrazzin' allergies. X(

ITEM: We get to work so early that I really should take advantage of that and do some longhand writing.

ITEM: Still loving that new Editors album. Also? Need to download the Great Northern songs from eMusic, as I found they're on there! :)

ITEM: Did I say that I LOVE how quiet it is in our new neighborhood? That we don't have to crank up our TV or hear skateboarders heading down the street at 2am or worry about rattling windows or idiots throwing shoes through them on Friday nights?

ITEM: fnord.

ITEM: new tag--richmond sf! :)

Nothing too exciting to report...just did a lot of walking, a lot of watching of TV, a goodly amount of eating tasty food, and a lot of picture taking.

( Evidence of the picture-taking hidden below cut )

Hope everyone else had a spiffy weekend!