Saturday Gym

Went to the gym Saturday (4/28):  about 30 minutes and 310 calories on the Nordic Elliptical.  Downstairs 13x(40+50+60)lbs on the pec fly.  13x(40+50+60)lbs on the deltoid fly.  13x(70+80+90)lbs on the lat pull-down.  3x13 Roman Chair curls.  3x13x35lbs barbell curl.  3x13x30 lbs on the triceps pull-down.  3x8 side and lateral dumbbell pull-ups.  


Just as I entered the gym, it started sprinkling; the result was that the rooftops across the street started steaming as the rain met the sun-warmed tiles.

Gym and Rejection

Went to the gym Tuesday(4/24):  about 20 minutes and 260 calories on the Nordic Elliptical.  Downstairs 13x(40+50+60)lbs on the pec fly.  13x(40+50+60)lbs on the deltoid fly.  13x(70+80+90)lbs on the lat pull-down.  2x13 Roman Chair curls.  3x13x35lbs barbell curl.  I had to pick up The Child, so I cut the session short.

Mark has been single-handedly replacing the vinyl floor in our kitchen, the sanding of the underfloor has been the hardest work.  I'm thinking I should get him a Bob The Builder award or something.  The floor looks very nice, and incidentally matches our Denby.  

The weather has been sunny and in the high 70's... as long as it doesn't get into the high 80's next week, I'll be happy.  It's supposed to cloud over and be cooler later in the week.  Although the warmer weather is friendlier to my hands and feet and shoulders and knees, I am hoping that we continue to get rain, as the prediction for the Vally this Summer is for a dry summer (and drought conditions in Eastern Oregon).  The snow pack is way down this year, too.  

Tuesday night turned into an editing night, and then a socializing night.  

Wednesday I managed to set up a table under the shade of the cherry and get some writing and editing in.  OK, and I wrote some bad hikue.  And then I checked my e-mail and saw a form-letter story rejection from an anthology I've been trying to get into for several years.  I know rationally that the story isn't what the editor's looking for, and I know rationally that the editor's not being paid by me to critique my story, but man this is irritating (an abmigious "it's fine but not for me" rejection) and depressing (I'll add this to my pile of "your story is good but not good enough" form rejection letters).

Design, Ink, Gyms, and Writing

Friday (4/13) I was having a bad day... probably fallout from sleeplessness earlier in the week.  So I sat down with InkScape and played with hexagons and triangles and ended up with a cool design.

Saturday Mark and I went to drop off his Rotating Bonsai Watering Table Made from Recycled Materials project at a local venue for Earth Day.  Then we went to the Saturday Market and got healthy vegetables and a few unhealthy pastries.   The morning was still young, and the merchants were still setting up for the Saturday Market, which is kind of more interesting than the actual market.  As we were walking by, I stopped at one booth and then before I knew it, I was getting a henna tattoo.  It's a little lizard on my left forearm.  I have sternly told myself that I will not pretend that I got an inked tattoo on my butt when I go to work Monday.

Went to the gym Sunday:  about 30 minutes and 300 calories on the Nordic Elliptical (I think, there was some craziness with signing up for the machine).  Downstairs 13x(30+40+50)lbs on the pec fly.  13x(30+40+50)lbs on the deltoid fly.  13x(60+70+80)lbs on the lat pull-down.  3x13 Roman Chair curls.  3x13x35lbs barbell curl.  3x13x30lbs on the triceps pull-down.  2x8x7lbs on side and lateral pull ups.

I had to stop in the middle of the Roman Chair curls because I was laughing so hard; there's a song (which I kind of like) with the lyric "I found God in your body."  So the mental image I have is of course a flip on the "sacred homosexual sex" trope, only it's straight allies having the sex and as they're discovering God, they're having this, "No, wait; we have to bring this spiritual gift to our queer friends."  

I'm pretty sure most of the other gym patrons are used to me bursting out laughing in the middle of workouts....

Gym and Tarot Cards

Went to the gym Monday.  25 minutes and 300 cal on the Nordic Elliptical.  13x(40+50+60)lbs on the pec fly.  13x(30+40+40)lbs on the deltoid fly.  13x(60+70+80) on the lat pull down.  Someone was on the Roman Chair.  3x13x35lbs barbell curls 13x(30+30+30)lbs on the tricepcs pulldown.  And then I ran away to pick up The Child.

Did some minor editing on the novel. I was thinking about character motivation, and although I wanted this to be a fantasy action novel, the main problem has turned into how do the characters meet and become a couple -- or in other words, a fantasy romance novel.   So now I have the choice to just accept that this is a romance, or look at it and find greater problems for the characters to deal with and make the novel a fantasy action novel.  The Novel Wordcount is still 40,000. Tonight is a writing night.

I've started a quick three-card meditation with Tarot cards before going to bed.  We'll see how long this lasts.  I'm doing it not so much for cartomancy so much as for doing a five to ten minute inventory of how particular cards may or may not be applicable to my life, and thinking about how to apply the positive aspects of the card.  Mostly it's a way to try to think about my writing and the current characters before I go to bed, and it's had a side effect (well, at least for the last two nights) of having more memorable dreams.  

First New Moon of Spring

Tuesday (4/10).  Went to the gym.  Felt a little rushed.  25 minutes and 300 cal on the Nordic Elliptical.  13x(30+50+60)lbs on the pec fly.  13x(30+40+50)lbs on the deltoid fly.  13x(60++70+80)lbs+8x90lbs on the lat pull down.  3x13x35lbs barbell curls 13x3x(30)lbs on the tricepcs pulldown.   

Tuesday Night Writing went slowly: I had misplaced my keyboard, so I wrote longhand.  Writing longhand results in (mostly) better prose as my fingers don't get ahead of my head and I come up better phrases as I'm writing instead of writing whatever and adding synonyms if the first word isn't write (and editing later).



Thursday  (4/12) Feeling fallow.  The other day I was looking through some pictures of a relative's wedding and there I was, sitting in a pew, with what looked like someone's white purse perched on my head.  Or maybe somebody behind me had a white hat.  I stared and stared at the picture, trying to make sense of what I was looking at when I realized it was my hair:  the combination of the long top and close cropped sides had come together to make me look like some old punk rocker or Blank-Reg from Max Headroom.  Comments from my family involving "your grandma Agnes" and
 "cockatoo" were not helpful. 



Saturday (4/14).  35 minutes and 310 cal on the Nordic Elliptical.  13x(30+50+60)lbs on the pec fly.  13x(30+40+50+50)lbs on the deltoid fly.  13x(60++70+80+80)lbs+8x90lbs on the lat pull down.  3X13 Roman Chair curl-ups.  3x13x35lbs barbell curls 13x3x(30)lbs on the tricepcs pulldown.  2x8x7.5lbs front and side pull-ups.  

Writing this week has gone slowly.  I think I'd call it editing more than anything else.  The project is holding steady at 40,000 words.  I'm at that point where it feels like the piece is more a collection of events with the same characters... and the character motivation and emotions need work.First 



Sunday (4/15).   I came across a Facebook posting from Selena Fox:  a picture of a dark disk surrounded by Celtic knot-work and the phrase "Dark moon. Dark moon.  We attune."  I like that, and I added "sometimes "we attune" feels like "we crave dark chocolate to stave off the feelings of listlessness and depression and to dampen the Call of The Void."  

I suppose that I should look into what it is about new moons that is connected to my low energy / uncreative state  (it's something I've noticed since the 1980's) so I can figure out if it's a circadian rythem or a self-induced placebo effect, or what.

Gym and Sleep Deprived Dreams

Went to the gym Wednesday (4/11):  25 minutes and 300 calories on the Nordic Elliptical.  Downstairs 13x(40+50+60)lbs on the pec fly.  13x(30+40+50)lbs on the deltoid fly.  13x(70+80+90)lbs on the lat pull-down.  3x13 Roman Chair curls.  3x13x35lbs barbell curl.  3x13x40lbs on the triceps pull-down.  2x8x7lbs on side and lateral pull ups.

I felt tired and went to bed early with the grand plan of getting up early to write -- and woke up at 2 AM with a slightly upset stomach.  And sore joints  There was a brief interlude where I went out to look at Scorpio and Jupiter; and Spencer--who was looking in our sliding glass door at Cicero and Smmokey--zipped into our house; and I got a glass of milk; and I moved to the couch so I wouldn't disturb Mark's sleep with my tossting and turning.

I thought about writing at 2 AM... and if it had been a Saturday mornging, I would have.  Instead I let the renaissance music play in my mind's background and observed varous thoughts about work and the novel and my body falling apart and whatever else percolate.

At one point I had a vision of a glowing yellowish-green point which grew into a sphere and filled most of my sight.  Three people were walking through a wood, and then a woman's shoulders and upper head filled the sphere -- it was like looking at an old black-and-white TV (only black-and-green would be closer).  In writing this I've realized that on one level I was replaying the Wicked Witch of the West's cyrstal ball, but at the time I made a mental note to myself that this is how a clairovoant spell would work.  The vision continued, and woman's head multiplied and disintigrated into seperate facial features.  I don't recall what she was saying--there might have been no sound--other than it was vaguely Sybil-like.    

Insert more lucid moments of wondering what time it was at 3:07 AM,  and 3:32 AM, and 4:01 AM and 4:22 AM.

I had been negotating some sort of business deal involving bank loans and stock options while seated in what turned out to be a Victorian Steampunk Sex Museum (Wait, those machines actually still work?  Wait, why are those--  Uh, Ouch! _That_ can't be healthy.)   Our negotiations slowed to a halt.  The proprietess stormed in muttering about keeping the establishment family friendly and turned things off.  A horde of teens dressed in animal costumes was shooed out of a doll house area, and one young man agrily shouted, "Oh my God woman!  You can't get rid of the monsters!"  As he and another glowering young woman stormed by our table, I muttered, "Put the monsters into your head."  

Insert more lucid moments of wondering what time it was at 5:07 AM,  and 5:42 AM, and 6:04 AM and 6:32 AM.

Gym and Miscellaneous

Went to the gym Wednesday.  30 minutes and 300 cal on the Nordic Elliptical.  13x(30+50+50)lbs on the pec fly.  13x(30+40+40)lbs on the deltoid fly.  13x(60+80+80)lbs on the lat pull down.  13 Roman Chair curl-ups.  3x13x35lbs barbell curls.   Had to cut the session short.  

Finished *Palladin of Souls* which feels like it is the first book in a series:  there was a definite sense the characters would go on to do more things at the story's end... but then again, the story felt like it was the second or third boook in a series because of the strong historical sense of previous events.  

The author uses language well, and I'm thinking I want to go back and re-read the book for the prose's structure.  She's able to use compound constructions that read smoothly, which I appreciate as someone who is accused of over-using semicolons.   She also managed to write some fairly racy scenes while edging to, but not over, the line of explicit, graphic sex.  (Note to self, explore animal imagry metaphor and men's physicallity).

  

Went to the gym Saturday.  35 minutes and 310 cal on the Nordic Elliptical.  13x(30+50+60)lbs+8x70lbs on the pec fly.  13x(30+40+50)lbs+8x60lbs on the deltoid fly.  13x(60+80+80)lbs+8x90lbs on the lat pull down.  13 Roman Chair curl-ups.  3x13x35lbs barbell curls 13x(30+40+40)lbs +8x50lbs on the tricepcs pulldown.  2x8x7.5lbs front and side pull-ups.  

The weekend was a fairly laid-back one.  All I wanted to do was lay back and read or work on design.  Or research.  

Fantasy Worlds and Language

Tuesday night was a writing night.  I think I managed 2500 words (Scrivener on the iPad reports word counts in a different fashion from Scrivener on the Mac).  I focused on character emotions more, and rounded out a minor character from a 1D girlfriend to a 2D girlfriend. 

Language bits that are interesting; I was describing a character's proclivities as not Sapphistical, when I realized that this is a Fantasy World and the historical Sappho doesn't exist, therefore, I'd need to come up with a different word.  . . . and as I'm writing this I'm realizing the Island of Lesbos doesn't historically exist, either.  I guess while I'm at it, things can't get erotic, because the pantheon that includes Eros wasn't around.   Bother.

Mentally Composing at the Gym

Thursday.  Wrote like the wind.  Was lucky enough to have J.O. come by in the afternoon and keep me honest about writing (he finished up a short story sequel).  

Friday afternoon.  Felt stuck writing so I went to the gym.  30 minutes and 350 calories on the Nordic Elliptical.  (Closed my eyes and imagined various story settings and character interactions.  Now I've got to write them down....)  Downstairs 13x(30+50+60)lbs on the pec fly.  13x(30+40+40)lbs on the deltoid fly.  13x(60+80+80)lbs on the lat pull-down.  3x13 Roman Chair curls.  3x13x35lbs barbell curl.  3x13x40lbs on the triceps pull-down.  2x8x7lbs on side and lateral pull ups.

Saturday.   Wrote like the wind (sort of).   Got lots of words written, just not as many as Thursday. Went to Dave Bischoff's memorial at Tsunami Books.

Easter Sunday Morning.  Went to the gym.  30 minutes and 350 calories on the Nordic Elliptical.    Downstairs 13x(30+50+60)lbs on the pec fly.  13x(30+40+40)lbs on the deltoid fly.  13x(60+80+80)lbs on the lat pull-down.  3x13x35lbs barbell curl.  3x13x40lbs on the triceps pull-down.  3x8x5lbs on side and lateral pull ups.

More Writing Like the Wind.  Called various family members and wished them a Happy Easter.  Looked at the house and noticed that while it's not exactly trashed, there are a lot of things that should be put away.

Day finished with ~2500 new words, bringing the novel's total word count to about 38,000.  Editing will cut this down quite a bit, as there's a number of back-story scenes that are useful to have as research, but not so useful for the novel's story arc.  And also, there's just... warm up text or notes to myself.  So the novel may turn into a novella.  If I manage to write 10,000 words a week for the next lunar cycle, I'll get closer to the actual word count goal.

What the last four days as reminded me of:

• my word count benefits from focused group-writing, 
• I have a 4PM-ish slump (either a circadian rythem or else five or six hours of writing induced fatigue), 
• I probably could happily write from 8 PM to 3 AM, 
• my word count benefits from preparing maps of cities, countries, buildings, rooms before-hand,
• my word count benefits when I write "[RESEARCH THIS]" instead of taking a quick peek at Wikipedia, 
• I can churn out about 500 words an hour of OK first-draft prose, 2000 words per day is a limit I need to push against because I can double-that with the right prep / scene.  
• there's something to be said for writing at a real desk/table.