Ides of Winter

Happy Ides of Winter.

This is the time of year when Mark insists that the angels that have lived on the mantle since the Winter Solstice must go.  As a way to sweeten the deal, he suggested that we replace them with Lava Lamps. 

I thought that only one of the lamps worked, and that a trip to the hardware store to get a special bulb might be in order.  But when I checked, both lamps worked. 

"It's a Groundhog Day Miracle!" Mark said. 

We've had the angels for at least fifteen years.  Mark and I were at a big box store and I saw these and gasped, because they are so horribly over the top.  And I have an affinity for sculptures of angels playing horns, or singing, or holding lamps or lecterns.   Okay, and I would love a house filled with angels (and gargoyles) holding lights everywhere.   (Also, can you imagine a row of these holding up a coffee table?)

Actually, a house of Lava Lamps would be cool, too (especially in Winter). 

Mark made us wait until the day after Christmas, and the big box store had a Holiday Reduction Sale -- which meant we could get two for the price of one!  (I would have gotten four, but....)

Writing Difficult Characters

The time of the Ides of Winter is a rough time.  I'm restless, but not energized.  I can feel the light returning, but I'm not waking up the way I'd like to.  I'm disenchanted with my writing.  And my hair is more irritating than usual, with the result that I want to cut it all back to an eighth of an inch.

Working out:  missed a session Monday, so I went Tuesday after Wordos.  25 minutes on the elliptical for 250 calories (and read a manuscript).  About 5 minutes on the rowing machine for about 60 calories.  Still easing into the dips and chins, 3X6 three times, increasing the weight each time.  Joked with B about the gym's music when Supertramp's "Logical Song" started playing (which is better than "Dreamer", but not by much).  I could stand the music better if they did a rotation out of the 60's and 70's.  Downstairs, 3x12x40 lbs on the pec fly.  12x70 + 2x80lbs on the lat pull-down.  By this time it was pushing 10 PM, so I left early.

Writing:  I am working on a piece with a character who is upset enough with the return of Faeries that he wants to blow up their hollow hill.  It's difficult getting into his head, and I don't want to make him a characature of Ammon Bundy . . . or Timothy McVeigh.  I some ways it might be easier to imply his character through the eyes of his daughter, whom I've started the story with.  I'm getting through this by channelling some of my inner-Eugene-morning-commute grump, and also reminding myself that the villain is always the hero in his or her own head.  The trick will be keeping the story tight and under 5000 words.

Winter Ides 2013

It's mid-winter, or the Ides of Winter. In my personal spiritual belief system, this is a time to prepare for renewal by releasing static, moribund structures. It's also when the first hints of buds appear on the trees and when the frogs start singing in the slough a few blocks from our house.

The personal issue in front of me the last year is a recognition that I don't have infinate amounts of time, that I've got some bad time-use and organizational habits, and that there's so much that I would like to do (if I weren't so tired). If I were doing a tarot reading right now, I'd be pulling the seven of cups, the card of airy-fairy diffused force. In tarot, the sevens have to do with making the best of limited resources. Part of the antidote to the flightiness of the seven of cups is to have the patience and strength to focus on one (or two, maybe three) things, even if the results don't appear right away. It also helps to make good choices.

I'm thinking that the best thing I can do is to gently remind myself of my yearly goals when I find myself thinking, "I'm too tired to do X, I'll just relax a little with Facebook/G-plus/Twitter/Pinterest." If I'm too tired to do X, then I should go to sleep (Mark would add, "Or eat some vegetables and take a walk!")

What are my goals? I want to have more stories in the mail, with the hope that more stories in the mail will result in more sales. I want to take more spiritual pauses to pay attention to the motion of the sun, moon and stars and the connections between me and not-me. And... I need to get into some sort of exercise routine because I want to not puff so much when I walk up the hill and I want to look good naked.

I think that last paragraph is a We Three song...