Drunken Owls and Other Delights

First off, I'm quite happy that I was able to sleep in this morning, especially after changing the clocks last night. I've been waking up early even on my days off lately (I just have a lot I want to do), but today was a good sleeping-in day. The cats felt otherwise and started climbing all over us when it was clear we weren't up with the sun to feed them, but they forgave us after I filled their kibble dishes.

We made our way up to Petaluma this afternoon to have lunch at a lovely Swedish restaurant downtown, in which I ate an extremely tasty, filling and messy lamb wrap. We got coffee and walked around a bit afterwards, which of course meant stopping at Copperfield's Books, where I finally picked up the new Bob Stanley bio about The Bee Gees. (He's an excellent music writer and I highly recommend his work.)  We were home by late afternoon, and are now chilling with the cats and watching our latest bingewatch, Murder She Wrote. [Noted: I'd forgotten how corny it could be and how star-studded it was, but I'm also impressed that they make an effort to use Maine accents!]

Now? Just catching up on blogging and daily words. I have a slightly longer work week coming up, though they're almost all opens which I love. 

This is the second week in a row that I've got Sunday and Monday off followed by working two midshifts on Tuesday and Wednesday, then three opens of varying lengths for the rest of the week. It's a bit exhausting by the end of the week, but it's not that bad because I get Sunday to do stuff with A and catch up on other things on Monday.

So what did we do today? We drove up to the Petaluma to have lunch with A's brother (and drop off a set of our house keys, something we'd been meaning to do for a while) and did a bit of shopping as well. I was hoping to go to Tall Toad Music downtown to buy some guitar strings for my acoustic but by the time we finished at Target it was getting late, it was far too hot and I just wanted to head home. A and I are so used to the constant 50s-60s and fog these last couple of weeks that going outside in the hot sun was not all that fun.

What was fun was that we finally went to the premium outlet center up there and got some super sweet clothing deals. I am now flush in tees and collared shirts for work and also picked up a pair of nice shoes for super cheap. They also have a place there that's a combination used book nook and cat adoption center, so you can chill out and just play with the kitties there for a bit. They'd just let them out onto the floor when we walked by and got to watch a bit of kitty silliness through the front windows, heh.

[Speaking of cats, that's part of the reason we wanted to drop off the keys -- though we have a cat sitter for our upcoming trip, we felt it might be good for our relatives to have a set in case we're away again, or for emergency purposes. But mainly to ensure that Juli and Cali are well looked after, of course!]

And now I get to chill for the rest of the evening...

Today we drove down to the IKEA in Palo Alto for various home-related things. The weather was quite nice for the most part and we haven't done any major road trips lately, so why not? We may have spent a bit more than expected, but it was worth it. One of the major things was to get new dishes, as we've had our old fiesta ware once since we moved out here in 2005 and they're getting quite worn. We also got a duvet cover in the hopes that this will keep Certain Destructive Kitties from further destroying our comforter, and a few storage bins for the kitchen and Spare Oom. [I bought a standalone wire mesh storage thingie that I can put under my desk as I have lots of space under there. I figure that'll clear up the desk space a bit as well.] On the drive back we took the main surface roads instead and though it took a good hour and a half or so, it was worth it!

Meanwhile, I have been told by the landlady that our washing machine is borked (I think the agitator is broken as it popped out of place when I was using it the other day) but it won't be fixe for another week due to the usual repair team being booked up. Which means that I'll be spending tomorrow morning (I have tomorrow off) heading over to our local laundromat again. The good thing is that I can use multiple machines and it'll take much less time, so if I do it in the morning I'll be back before lunch. Which means I'll have to think of a few writing-related things to do while I'm at the laundromat instead of goofing off online. I'm all caught up with the Trilogy reread, so maybe I'll read What I Have So Far of MU4 instead...? Or maybe go over what notes I have so far? We shall see.

Of course, this also means tomorrow will also be partially spent putting the two IKEA items that need building. That shouldn't take long, however...!

We are both currently kicking back on the couch relaxing after a full weekend of things. We drove down to Watsonville to Gizdich Ranch for some apple picking (as well as looking for actual sunlight, considering how our side of town has been stuck in overcast gloom as of late) (I, by the way, completely forgot to put on sunscreen but thankfully I did not get TOO burnt.)... Watsonville, as you know Bob, is where most of the Bay Area gets its produce, especially strawberries! It's a flat stretch just south of the Santa Cruz mountain range which means the only way we can get there is to drive the PCH or via South Bay highways, either one taking at least two hours. I'm still feeling the exhaustion from all the driving!

We walked up the street for ridiculously large but yummy breakfast burritos so I don't feel *too* guilty for not doing much exercise. I did manage to get the laundry done as well as give the front sliding doors a good wash (they were embarrassingly dirty), and am currently running a few PC cleaners and scanners, which I've been doing on weekends to ensure Spare Oom PC remains in peak health. A, on the other hand, has been cooking all afternoon and the entire apartment smells absolutely tasty!

Anyhoo...not much else to report other than that we are both tired and are probably not going to do much else today other than watch some British TV or something. Heh.


Hope everyone has a good week!

Our weekends are usually reserved for outside excitement -- we're usually holed up all day long during the week that we like to get some fresh air and a good long walk in on our days off. Yesterday we took a drive down to Half Moon Bay for the first time in ages -- mainly to get some sun, which we hadn't seen in our own neighborhood in a good few weeks! It was fleeting but it was worth it, as we were able to get our sunshine as well as some tasty brunch at the Main Street Grill, which we love stopping at. We even bought more plants at a small garden pop-up across the street!

And today was our "get our walking out of the way so we can be lazy for the rest of the afternoon" day. I had a book to pick up at Green Apple (the new Becky Chambers), so we headed up to that great coffee spot on 8th and Cabrillo (there's always a line outside the door, but their Whopper Lattes are SOOOO tasty), circled over to Clement for books and brunch (so happy that Richmond Republic is back open!), then headed home.

Which means it's early afternoon and I have little to do except laundry, vacuuming and catching up on my blogs!

But yeah...our summer doldrums are really kicking in because it stays so overcast and foggy on this side of town. We're both really looking forward to more sunny days.


Hope everyone has a lovely week ahead!

Oh, it's Monday again?  Our weekend kind of flew by, considering the two of us went on a road trip up north sort of as our little anniversary vacation (it's our 12th as of the 28th).  We drove up to the Mendocino/Fort Bragg area and had a lovely time.  It's a LOOOOONG drive -- 230 some odd miles round trip, per our odometer.  It was also stupidly hot at some of our destinations, which we're no longer used to.  Still...lots of picture taking, lots of drinks, lots of tasty food eaten.  And even a few good local radio stations found!

In other news, it's kind of sad yet amusing when an online troll ends the argument with a version of 'you make no sense you're stupid whatever bye have a nice life'.  It usually means I've not only won the argument, but I've also cut off all their avenues for clever comebacks.  FTW!

In other other news...during this weekend I also read what I have of Meet the Lidwells as well as the Secret Next Project outtakes and I'm glad to say I think both are coming along quite nicely.  Both need a bit of correction and revision work, but for the most part I'm really happy with what I've got so far.  I'm really looking forward to getting these out into the world.  MtL is (hopefully) going to drop in September or October, and Secret Next Project will most likely be released next summer the latest.  Suffice it to say, I am so not used to quick turnarounds like this (given that my last project took two decades...!!), but it looks like I can handle this speed and output without too much stress, which also makes me happy. :)

OKAY.  Time to get back to the boring ol' Day Job.  Woohoo. :p

It's been quite the long week here in JoncWorld, busy all around. Work has been relatively calm-ish, not that many clients going off the rails, so I can't complain there. Nothing much to report, really.

We made it a point to get back to heading to the YMCA on a nearly daily basis, as I tend to sit on my duff here in Spare Oom for way too long. The first four days were well taken care of, and by Friday we were twitchy from work issues and decided a walk around the neighborhood was in order instead. We headed up California, cut over around 10th Avenue and walked around Mountain Lake before heading back. They've done a really good job at cleaning up the lake this past year--it was drained, dredged, decluttered, had goats eating the overgrowth (no lie--there's a company out this way that rents out goats for all your de-brushing and de-brambling needs!), and had a lot of the invasive species of plant, animal and fish taken away. Not to mention some serious filtration work, as it's right up against the stretch of Veterans Boulevard as it cuts through the Presidio, and the lake has seen its share of litter and toxic runoff through the years. It's nearly done, but they've done a beautiful job.

Today was a roadtrip up to Santa Rosa, which is always one of my favorite places to go here in the Bay Area. It's a large small city, so to speak, population around 160k, but it's spread out quite a bit. Downtown SR is a neat place as it has a large number of restaurants and shops. On Fourth Street there's Treehorn Books, a veritable Narnia of used tomes (it's good for "oh, I wasn't even looking for this, but I want this!" shopping) and up the street there's a really cool Barnes & Noble that's in a large building straight out of the 1920s, complete with a Jazz-Age style front. And just about a mile or two up the road is Copperfield's, a small local chain that saps our wallets every time we go into one of them. So yes, today was a mini-book crawl. :)

Tomorrow? We're not exactly sure. We may head to Q for brunch or we may go to Japantown, depending on what we're in the mood for. The problem with going to Q is the temptation to stop at Green Apple and buy EVEN MORE BOOKS.

There was, of course, a bit of a kerfuffle online about WorldCon this past week, but as I said on Twitter, I really have no horse in that race, so I'm choosing to not get publicly involved. I do of course have some thoughts about it, but I felt it was probably for the best not to add to everything that went on.

As for writing...? I'm happy in that I managed to get four out of seven days' worth of 750 Words done, considering. The "Townies" idea is expanding in unexpected and interesting directions, turning into some kind of pre- (very pre-) Bridgetown Trilogy story. I figured it would head in that direction eventually, but I wanted to let it expand organically rather than forcing it into a specific shape. That's why I let the 750 lag for a short while, so I could let the ideas simmer a bit. This may or may not expand into the next major project, but we'll see.

Chapter 5 of The Process of Belief was a big pain in the ass and most likely needs another go-through, but I finally got it done early in the week, and jumped in on Chapter 6. That too needed some tough love, but less in the prose and more in the editing department. There's still a lot of stage direction to get rid of, but not nearly as much as the previous chapter, and much easier to clean up. Book 3 kind of feels weird to revise, as it's pretty much Act III in a very long story arc. While it ties in with Books 1 and 2, the overall feeling of this one seems different. There's a hell of a lot more ongoing tension, and I think that's what I'm feeling with it. In a good way, of course.

I also FINALLY finished off the Blogging the Beatles series over at Walk in Silence! Yay! I admit I lapsed a bit on it, but I like how it ended, and that leaves me free to add new posts. Starting this week I'll be working on some new Walk in Silence stuff for your reading enjoyment. I should also be starting up on the Welcome to Bridgetown stuff as well, as I have a few ideas to work on there.

Which brings us to a few other web-related things:
--Will I ever update my Dreamwidth site again? Probably not; I'm thinking I'll copy the poetry posts to a document file and then shut it down, as I just don't use it anymore.
--Will I stay here at LJ? Of course--I have a permanent account. I still check it on a daily basis, maybe comment now and again, though I'm pretty much just at the weekend updates at this point. It'll remain the personal blog. I do have the other one, Scribble Diem, which I haven't updated since May of 2012, so that one I'll most likely close down at some point, as I just don't use it anymore. Maybe create one of those LJ Books and then ditch it.
--Tumblr. Yeah, I haven't posted there in some time, have I? I need to rectify that. Thing is, I haven't taken any pictures worth posting lately. Maybe that'll give me reason to start rescanning my stuff (and maybe photographing some of the larger or more colorful things) and posting those. One of my aims this year is to reignite my love for art, so why not?
--In cleaning up the Joncblogs, that'll mean that Walk in Silence and Welcome to Bridgetown will become my main go-to websites. I will endeavor to post links here and elsewhere so others are aware, of course. I have both connected to Twitter and Tumblr so they'll show up both places.

So yes...busy week. Busy, but productive! And that's what counts. :)

Ah, the long weekend finally approaches. It's been a hell of a week and I've been waiting for the holiday weekend to arrive.

So! What's on tap for the weekend, then?

--Today we're driving down to the Pescadero/Half Moon Bay area, which we haven't gone to in some time. We'll be lunching at Duarte's Tavern (we haven't gone there in ages), and yes I WILL HAVE MY OLALLIEBERRY PIE. We'll head back by stopping at the roadside farmstand (if it's open) and the awesome Ink Spell Books in HMB. I don't believe we had any other plans for shopping, but we'll see.

--The usual errands of cleaning and perhaps a bit of food shopping...nothing too exciting there. Although I really should make a conscious effort to continue straightening up Spare Oom. There are some books we can donate to the library and clothes (and things) we can donate to Goodwill, pictures we should hang, and bins to sort through.

--Downloading. I promised emmalyon I'd download some new albums she's been looking for, so I'll either use eMusic or Amazon for that.

--Writing, of course. Nothing new to report at the moment, but I may have an update at the other writing LJ soon.



Other than that, I plan on sleeping late, doing some walking around the neighborhood, and attempting to relax. Hope everyone has a good weekend! :)

Just got home from the Maker Faire down in San Mateo (not a bad drive, really...it's just south of SFO at the corner of Routes 101 and 92). All sorts of fun was had, many pictures were taken, bad (and good!) food was eaten, and stuff bought. I'd say it was like going to a science fiction con at a state fair. :)

Pix coming tomorrow when I upload them! :)


(PS For the record, I believe we were driving up the Great Highway heading home when the dreaded 6pm rolled around. I'm still here, so I guess all those "I'm going to hell for this" comments of mine really did work against me...O_o )

Okay, so we finally got back around 3:30ish after heading south to Watsonville for apples at Gizdich Ranch. It seems we were a few weeks too late for self-service apple picking, but their store had a good and tasty supply that we bought, along with some raspberries and some apple juice. On the way back we stopped in Gilroy at the outlet store universe they have down there for other things (and where I happened to hear the doofiest version of "La Vie En Rose" ever at the kitchen supply store), and a sidetrip into Morgan Hill for lunch. We got back just in time for the Blue Angels to start today's show, so it was kind of fun sitting in traffic on Great Highway and hearing the WOOOOOOOSHT of fighter planes zooming past overhead. After a sidetrip for grocery shopping at our seaside Safeway, we're back home, tired, dusty, and relaxed. I will upload and may post some of the many pictures we shot today a little later on. :)

And now we have the USC/Stanford game to watch! Should be fun! :)


Also on tap this weekend: more Love Like Blood revision, possible research for Walk in Silence, a lot of football, and perhaps some walking around the neighborhood if this gorgeous weather keeps up!