Drunken Owls and Other Delights

Thankfully this week at the day job has been busy yet not draining. It's that sweet spot where there's a constant flow of customers but not a ridiculously long line, so time goes by quickly yet the stress levels are low. As I keep saying: I love that this store is well-staffed. I still feel a bit like The New Person but I'm certainly getting along with my new coworkers, that's for sure. Definitely a different bunch but they're definitely more willing to step up instead of slack off. A lot less drama as well, I notice, and that's always a plus.

I am also happy that I have today and tomorrow off, as I've been wanting to relax for the last couple of days due to constantly waking up at night due to congestion. Whether it's on my own or A prodding me because I'm snoring, I keep waking up every two hours or so and it's making me feel sleepy for the rest of the day. It's definitely allergies, so I just need to remember to take some meds before bed next time. That, and I have only two more days to work this week (my stupid early Friday-Saturday shifts), then I'm on a week's vacation! Yay! I was smart and scheduled next week off before I transferred to the other store, so it's not as if they could say no at this time. It did cause a minor kink in scheduling plans for the head bookkeeper (who is also out next week), but they've already found someone to fill in, so we should be good. Like I said -- I love that these are people who take the initiative instead of doing the blank stare of bogglement.

Also on the docket: I really need to eat better at work. More to the point, I need to stop buying the cake slices and the Twix bars and other indulgent stuff and start thinking about what I should have if I'm looking for a breaktime snack or a lunch dessert. I mean, we have a huge produce section and a well-stocked dairy wall so perhaps having a yogurt or an orange instead might be a good idea? Especially since I'll be getting my teeth fixed soon enough. Time to be a bit more wary about my level of moderation, yeah?

Writing? Well, it's...going. Slowly, but it's going. I need to do more with the planning out of where I need to go with it, otherwise I'm just going to run out of steam just like I did with The Balance of Light, and I'd rather not let this novel sit for another couple of years. Perhaps that's something I can work on over the vacation. And in other plans, I've tossed one of my many empty notebooks into my satchel for possible future use at work -- again, get myself into the habit of NOT scrolling or goofing off online. I shall conquer this, as Darcy said.

Springtime is certainly here in the Bay Area, what with the weird rain patterns we've experienced over the las couple of days. We'll have a torrential downpour that lasts about ten minutes, followed by sun, followed by another downpour, followed by sprinkles for a few hours, then cold wind, and so on. I wouldn't mind it so much if a) it didn't put the kibosh on our weekend plans to garden and also go to the cherry blossom festival in Japantown, and b) give me a daylong migraine. Bleh! Even more so that this was a rare week where I had both Saturday and Sunday off. 

That said, we did get some shopping done yesterday (a Total Wine run and a stop at Home Depot for a few gardening and household things) and a walk down to Geary today for lunch today, and a TON of much needed laundry was done. I'm usually not that behind on that, but this last week's schedule was all 11.30-8 midshifts that didn't give me all that much time to work with. Not to mention how exhausted I was by the end of it! Thankfully I will be doing mostly all opens this coming week.

Alas, last week's schedule also didn't give me much writing time either so I didn't get too far. I'll try to rectify this coming week by doing a bit of plotting...I really need to lay down this last stretch of Theadia to get a better sense of where I am and how much further I need to go. I feel like I've really been dragging my feet on this project over the last few months and I really need to get it done and published! [Also, note to self: ask around for someone who might be interested in doing a book cover for it.]


Hope everyone has a good week ahead!

We keep on planning to take a walk down at Crissy Field on the weekend, but lately whenever the day rolls around, we end up changing our plans! This time I'd just been doing All The Walking all week long so the last thing I wanted to do was More Walking. So instead we did a Trader Joe's run (I was woefully out of the hummus-and-cracker snacks I love so much) and then walked the few blocks down to Geary to pick up sushi for lunch. 

As it stands, I ended up doing a bunch of errands today anyway! They were much needed, including vacuuming and mopping the floors and starting the laundry. May as well get them done, yeah? That way I can slack off a bit tomorrow. The only thing I have planned then is to weed the front sidewalk gardens we have. Those are little Urban Garden squares where they plant small trees for beautification. We've chosen to own those little plots to grow things like lavender and whatnot. One of those trees is super dead and we eventually plan to pull it out and replace it with the Ginormous Marigold Bush that's taking over a corner of our community garden plot up the street, but that's another project for the near future.

Meanwhile, Theadia continues apace. I've pretty much streamlined a few things that were bothering me, eliminating a character that didn't work out and having an existing character (one I like better) take over their scenes instead. I'll still need to finish off the damn novel once and for all, but the closer I get to it this time, the easier I think it'll be for me to do it. What will I do after that? Who knows? But I'm not going to dwell or worry about it.


Hope everyone has a good week ahead!

It's not often I get both Saturday and Sunday off, so to me it's felt like a nice extended weekend on my end, which is good considering how busy I was the last five days. The schedule at the new store should be a bit more normal from here on in (hopefully), though I was informed that there might still be a bit of wonkiness until everything is straightened out.

Meanwhile, given that the weather has been quite nice lately here in SF, we've tried to make it a point to head outside for a walk and maybe get some lunch on the way. Today's travels included heading to Blue Heron Lake -- for those wondering, this is the new name for Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park due to its original name being connected with a past politician with some, er, less than savory racial opinions -- where many pictures were taken of the wildlife, and then over to the Music Concourse to get some tasty eats from a Mexican food truck there. All in all, an enjoyable three mile walk, and now we don't feel guilty about lazing around for the rest of the day!

In writing news, I've been squeaking through work on Theadia, though it feels like I'm getting nowhere. Interestingly, several sections where I'd inserted an 'INSERT NEW SCENE HERE' are being deleted when I get to them and instead the ideas I'd had for them are being slotted in and around the surrounding chapters I'd already written instead. Why is this? Well, I think it's because this book is long enough and it began to feel as though these extended scenes were making it feel a bit bloated. And I'm fine with that, really...this helps the story keep its focus on the main characters with minimal distraction.


Other than that, everything is going just fine for the moment. Hope everyone has a good week!

I've been doing a lot of thinking about changing things up creatively. I mentioned this on my Welcome to Bridgetown blog the other day, but I'll explain it a bit more here: I've been focusing on my writing as an almost-daily thing for what, about thirty years now? At least since early 1996 when I bought my first PC and figured that if I was going to make this a successful thing, I was all in, working on something almost every single day. [Not counting the occasional points in time where Real Life Stuff took precedence, of course.] 

Thing is, writing wasn't the only creative outlet I've always been interested in. I of course have a clinical obsession with music, so it only makes sense that I've always felt a bit of an urge to explore making it to some degree. I've started a few garage bands and recorded dozens of incomplete demo ideas over the years, but I've never gone any further than that. I've also had a love for visual arts which unfortunately has not been given much attention at all.

So I was thinking...I'm at a good point in my writing career. It's no money-maker, but I'm proud of the seven books I've self-published (and the eighth one I'm on the verge of finishing). I've learned a hell of a lot in that thirty year stretch. I'm not burnt out, and the spark to do more is still there. But over the last several years, I've had this feeling...as much as I enjoyed dedicating so much time with my writing, I always felt like my other two creative loves fell by the wayside. It frustrated me, because I'd want to write songs or draw something or focus on photography (a newer and unexpected interest) and yet the outcome always fell far below my expectations. I knew it was because I wasn't allowing them enough time and focus, and at first I tried juggling them with my already full writing schedule AND the Day Job, but I've finally admitted that wasn't enough.

SO. 

What I was thinking was that, perhaps once I finish Theadia and prep it for self-publishing, I was going to take a bit of a creative breather and instead shift focus to one of those other outlets. Like I said: music and visual arts. I know enough at this point in my life that I can get away with not having to relearn too many of the basics -- and besides, I'm more of a learn-as-I-go person than a take-classes one anyway. And as always, I love doing things DIY. 

Does this mean I won't be writing? Well, no...just that I won't be writing every single day. If an idea hits me that's worth trying out, I'll give it a go. And I'll most likely be following up on the Trilogy Remaster soon enough as well.

I just want to see how far I can take my other creative endeavors for a while.

The last couple of days at the Day Job were rather hectic and frustrating, given that it felt like I was doing at least four peoples' jobs on top of mine, so today we ended up sleeping in a lot later than expected. That kind of put the kibosh on our initial plans of taking the bus down to the Mission to do some yarn shopping, so instead we did a run to Safeway, a walk down to Geary for lunch, then some house errands. 

One such errand has been cleaning up those small garden plots in front of our house. Both of them have had small trees planted there (though one is pretty much dead and needs to go) but were overgrown with weeds and trash, so we cleaned them up and planted a few small plants, and today we laid down some small pebbles make it look nicer and keep it all from washing away. It's kind of inspired by the same plots that were in front of our old place. We're thinking eventually we'll pull that one dead tree and put some kind of bushy plant there in its place. It looks nice so far!

Also done today: terrifying the cats by doing some desperately needed vacuuming. Sorry kitties!

Meanwhile, it's the start of a new month which means yet another fresh start! I've actually been doing pretty good regarding the writing lately (with room for improvement, of course) but due to Day Job stuff and vacation laziness, I've fallen behind on a few other things. I've also been bad and having "cheat days" on the 750Words site (long story short, I post a blog entry from some years ago and add some current comment to it) instead of actually doing NEW words, so that needs to change. I also haven't been giving myself enough time for the art and music either, so I need to fix that.

So yeah, all told 2026 is doing just fine but I can be better than this. Heh.

I took the first week and a half of the year off from regular blogging, as I've been doing over the last couple of years. There's no real reason behind it other than a nice mental break and not rushing into a new year surrounded by deadlines. Gives me a chance to rethink my priorities and get things in order. I did get some formerly "I'll deal with it later" stuff done, like going through very old paperwork I can shred and things like that. I'm actually kind of missing the deadlines, considering I spent all of December rebuilding and sticking to them, just so I'd have a fresh start come the new year. That's a good sign, I think.

Writingwise, I've been doing pretty good with the Theadia work lately. Writing those 'INSERT NEW STUFF HERE' scenes have been a bit of a chore but I'm reminding myself that these are rough drafts that can be revised later once I do yet another reread. I'm also glad to say that I think I've finally come up with an ending that I'm happy with! This puts me roughly back on schedule, which I was starting to worry about.

But now that this short hiatus is over and done with, it's back to the mines! Even though we're both taking the week of my birthday off (next week!), I do plan on maintaining my creative schedule. Especially now that I have more creative toys I can play with! 

It's been a bit of a busy weekend here, partly because of the chaos of last minute holiday shopping (and a bit of personal frustration) at the day job, and also a planned drive up north to have lunch and trade presents with the in-laws, but somehow I still managed to get a fair bit of writing work done regardless. I suppose that's a good sign that I was able to handle it all without the encroaching stress or anxiety that comes with having a full social schedule!

Some things (like this entry) come a bit later than usual, but digging in my heels and powering through seems to be the best course of action for me. I've written and scheduled the last writing-blog entry, I'm still on top of the daily words, and I've got the next couple of days off where I can write the final music-blog entry, work on Theadia, and also get a serious amount of house errands done as well.

Alas, I will be working both New Year's Eve AND New Year's Day, but from past experience it shouldn't be too painful. Nowhere near the chaos of Thanksgiving and Christmas Eves. Here's to hoping they're both regular shifts!

PG&E seems to be suffering all kinds of power grid failures lately, though, and that is extremely concerning, and I've just received another warning about it a few minutes ago. We've already had the power go out twice already, so I'd rather not have it happen again, thankyewverymuch.

So yeah, I'm going to post this now in hopes that the new year is decidedly less chaotic. I'll definitely be here on Wednesday! See you then!

Unlike last week, the only exciting thing we had on our list of things to do was head over to Costco to stock up. Various meats to put in the freezer in the garage, the cheap $4 rotisserie chicken, paper goods and whatnot...the usual stuff. We usually only stay there for less than an hour tops, considering we know what we're looking for, and it's the crowd chaos that keeps us from staying long. Most people are good about it, but I keep forgetting you need to have the mindset of "I need to go from Point A to Point B so Damn the Torpedoes and GTF Out of My Way". 

I've never gotten used to that. Living in Boston, I learned that everyone understood Other People Existed so you learned quickly how to do the Weave. Navigate the oncoming crowd by making it obvious what your path will be. I got pretty good at it and could slide down Newbury and Boylston Streets at a good clip with no problem. Here in California however, it's sort of an undisciplined meander dead center in the aisle with the expectation that other people will get out of your way or go around. They know you're there, but you're just background noise. Which, you know, fine, but when I'm trying to follow A to the next aisle, the last thing I need is for you to push your cart in my way, stop dead center and abandon it as you walk over to the bags of apples you set your eye on. I know it's a bit of a cultural thing, but it does test my patience now and again...

Anyway! In other news, I believe I have found a solution to a problem that's been bothering me for the last month or so regarding Theadia! In particular, I've been trying to write a few of the WRITE THIS LATER chapters but feeling as though they're not quite working. I knew exactly why: I just didn't have any resonance with the character. The more I tried to write them, the more it felt as though I was trying too hard. Thing is, the scene needs to be in there, so I knew that it wasn't the scene itself but the character. I'd written two chapters with them in it, and was dreading writing more.

The other day while I was at work, it occurred to me: I do happen to have another secondary character that had been seriously underutilized, someone I introduced as a possible connection to one of the leads, and somehow forgot to use them anywhere. So over the last few days, I've been going through those new chapters and changing names (and genders as it happens, so I'd better keep an eye on pronouns!), and that seems to be working well. Hopefully the further I go with this revised character, the better the chapters will be!


Hope everyone has a good week ahead!

It's the day before Thanksgiving which means that today's shift will most likely be super busy and kind of bonkers, so I'm REALLY hoping we're well staffed. Doubly so on Black Friday, because they've been short-staffing us on that day recently, and I'd rather not be run ragged because I had to do three peoples' jobs, thankyouverymuch.

Either way, it looks like I'm back to less than forty hours again, which on the one hand is kind of frustrating but on the other hand it will keep me from overexerting myself and getting sick at the end of the year because of it. I wouldn't mind more hours and I'll probably need to ask the boss about it soon enough, so we shall see.

Meanwhile, am I FINALLY getting some new words down for Theadia again? Yes I am! It took me a little bit to get my mind in the right place for the scenes I need to write, so hopefully I can ride this for a little while so I can fill in all those blanks. And once that's done, I can finally finish the dang novel and get it out there! Woo!