Advent Shenanigans

On the art front, I tried to make a paper sphere out of circular daisy forms, but I got overly ambitious pre-combining them on the computer, and I ended up with a tangle of paper curves instead. Also, the design didn't allow a flat hexagon to fold into a pentagonal cone.   Anyway, I'm trying again with a slightly simpler net that is notched at the vertices so  it will fold more readily.

On the gym front, I met with a trainer Monday and he came up with a new routine for me that will concentrate on upper body strength.  He walked me through it and I think it will more effectively target my chest, back and arms than what I'm doing now.   One possible drawback is that there isn't time allocated for elliptical work.  We'll see how it works out; I'm a little sore in the triceps.  Proper form will be key, as will be isolating my arms so I'm hitting the target muscle groups.

On the writing front.... mostly editing.  I got a story rejection the other day, and I'm waiting for what seems like forever for this one market to even get to a story I submitted way back in July.  ...And, I just got another story rejection Thursday morning.

Back to the gym front, I tried out the new routine Wednesday... and left at the end like I had done it wrong.  I had some difficulty following the sets because I kept losing my place on the rep-sheet.  I remedied this by using a highlighter to highlight alternate sets.  There was also an overhead cable exercise I think was supposed to be a crunch exercise but there was a reverse rope grip I couldn't remember.

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).

Bad Monday, Heros, and the Gym

Monday (11/6) -- I woke up kind of sore all over.  I'm not sure why:  I guess it's a combination of colder weather, and age.  But man, having sore toes and fingers and arms and back and shoulders puts a damper on morning productivity.  Eventually, I took a hot half-bath, which helped quite a bit.   I probably need to visit my doctor to see what's up with my right shoulder, as it doesn't seem to be improving (or at least seems good one day and then sore the next).

Monday also started out with some marketing, during which I got another rejection.  There's this one (well, OK, there's more than one) market that I'd really like to break into, but so far I haven't had any luck with them.  The difficulty is that they respond with a form letter that essentially says, "guess why we rejected your story."  I wish they'd just say, "We're sorry, but we will not be buying your story," because the offered reasons why make me want to pull my hair out trying to figure out which reason is the one.  It gets even more annoying when I look at what they do publish, and it seems as if they do publish stories that are close to what I'm sending them....

I'm thankful that the other story I sent out to another market on the same day did not get rejected, because double-rejections feel like a slap in the face.

I started to read "The Hero with a Thousand Faces," partially for writing research, partially because it's one of those books one is supposed to read.  It's feeling pretty White Baby-Boomer Guy to me:  every man is the hero/divinity of his own story working on being the star of his own personal film.   It's also striking me as Fraizieran in its approach to world culture and folklore.   ...And I'm pretty sure one of of stopping points along the Hero's Journey is the hieros gamos or sacred wedding with the Earth Goddess.

Anyway, the Hero's Journey keeps coming up as a story template.  Often writers' guides will feature Star Wars or Harry Potter or The Hobbit worked into the Hero's Journey and urge writers to think of their own manuscripts in a similar fashion.  I figured that I should go to the source material if I wanted to understand the form, but Campbell's style is fairly ramblely ... and because it's comparative folklore from the 40's, it's more a psychoanalytic way to explain the universality of various folktales, myths and legends than a writer's tool.

Went to the gym Monday (11/6).  35minutes on the elliptical for 340 calories.  Spoke with one of the folks there, and decided that I should either knock off any type of upper shoulder machines or only do them at about 10 lbs...

Went to the gym Saturday (11/5): 35 or 40  minutes on the elliptical for at least 330 calories.  3x12 Roman Chair curl ups.  3x12x20lbs triceps curls.  3x12x10?lbs preacher-bench biceps curls. 

Went to the gym Thursday (11/3):  30  minutes on the eliptical for at 300 calories.  3x12 Roman Chair curl ups.  3x12x20lbs tricepcs curls.  

Little Routines

On the gym front, I suppose I should re-start logging my gym routine.  I've been fairly good about going something like Monday-Friday-Sunday... Sort of.   I think actually reporting it will keep me a little more honest, so...

Thursday:  Went to the gym:  10 minutes and 150 cal on the cable rowing machine.  3x13x60lbs on the pec fly (I feel like I could go up to 70 lbs).  3x13x80lbs on the lat pull-down (a recent increase).  3x13 hanging curls on the Roman Chair (with some side pikes thrown in for fun).  3x12x40lbs bar-bell curls.  Some assorted free weights.


Writing:  The pollen count here has been really bad, so The Family has been taking two- and three-day trips to the coast.  This has been good for writing... but never quite as good as I hope it will be.

I got a rejection Wednesday night and it really bugged me more that it should have -- the market is one of the 25 hardest market to break into, and... it still bugged me because I thought the market and my writing style were a good fit (unlike another market I could name...).

I spoke with a writer friend about finishing stories and she said, A) try to trick your inner editor by putting someone else's name on the by-line, B) write more than one ending / write a bad ending and then go back and fix it, C) mwah-ha-ha! you've got some unfinished stories?  You should see the stack of 'em at my house.

I did go back to one manuscript I'd stopped working on last winter; I can see one problem is that I put too many elements into a short story, and simplifying by taking out the un-needed ghost will help.   The prose is actually not bad, or at least not hopeless.   Now I just have to polish up the ending.

Gym and Writing Reports

Gym Report:  Went to the gym last Monday and again Wednesday night.  Did the typical stuff.  200 cal on the elliptical, 100 cal on the rowing machine, 60 lbs on the pec-fly, 70 lbs on the lat pull-down, 3X12 Roman chair curl-ups, 30lbs bar-bell curls and reverse-pulls, 20lbs tricepcs pull-down.  Sadly (?) I've lost strength staying away from the gym in March, and a short-term goal is to get back to ten pounds heavier on all my weights (back to my January levels).

Writing:  The new work schedule has kind of thrown me for a loop, and I haven't mustered the discipline to write during the mornings or evenings when I actually have some time.  I have been snatching twenty to thirty minutes here and there.

Made the mistake of opening my e-mail Friday morning and found a 3AM story form rejection from a market I've been trying to break into and which I had a good feeling that the story I'd sent them was a good match.  It's frustrating.

Some markets are very competitive, and when I get rejected by them, I'm more likely to move on.  This one I'm going through the seven stages of manuscript rejection.

1. Anger -- "Damn it, this story is perfect for you, why didn't you buy it?" 
2. Envy -- "OMG, you published that string of dissociated vignettes? I mean really, I could..." (opens up web site, reads random story that just happens to be brilliant prose to spite me) "...ugh. 
3. Loathing I --  "I suppose if I don't like the stories in this market all that much, I shouldn't be submitting there.
4. Loathing II -- "Damn this stupid market system that sets editors against writers and writers against themselves.
5. Loathing III -- "I'm just stupid and I can't write."  
6. Singing-Sad-Musical-Numbers -- "Heeeeere's to the Ladies who Lunch; everybody laugh / Sitting in their caftans and planning a brunch on their own behalf."  
7. Caffeine Abuse -- "...And one for Mahler!" (pops another chocolate-covered espresso bean)

Pointy Furniture

I had a dream over the weekend, but the only thing I remember was that I was trying to balance a marble on a table-top that was tipping up and down because someone was underneath it.

On the writing front... not much actual writing.  I've had a very heavy critique load this week, so I've been reading six manuscripts (some of them very long).  I moved my chair and mobile desk around so that the desk and the end table it sits on aren't jutting out into the middle of the living room.  My chair is in a corner, underneath a hook we hang things off of; currently, it's a decorative copper bowl (now dubbed "The Bowl of Damocles"), but in the past we've hung a decorative but sharp brass lamp cover from India or Pakistan or where-ever it was my parents got it when they were traveling overseas in the 1960's.  Since I really don't want to write while sitting underneath a metal spike, I think we'll hang that particular object d'art somewhere else.  I arranged a throw rug over the desk, so it looks much less martial;  I will have to go to the Episcopal Thrift Shop and find a suitable altar cloth.

I've also had two less-than-thirty-six-hour rejections.  So. Yay?

Tree and Wires

Last week we went for a walk along the Willamette River, near where I-5 crosses over it.  I managed to notice some broadcast antenna guy lines framing a tree.  It was so arty it demanded I take a photo, so I did.

In honor of the New Moon, I received two story rejections in about five hours.  Thank you, universe.   I suppose since I send out stories in batches, it's not too surprising that I receive rejection letters in batches, too.   It wouldn't be so bad if only all my rejection letters didn't start with "Dear John."  Oh -- wait...

Late October Rejection

Probably not the best writing session this morning, for various early-morning reasons.  I made the mistake of checking my e-mail before wrting, and sitting in my inbox was a story rejection.  While I appreciate the slush reader took some time to give feedback, at 5:30 before tea it came across as one of the more harsh critiques I've ever received.  Three hours and two cups of tea later, it's not quite so harsh, and I'm consoling myself with the recollection that previous feedback I've gotten from other slush readers was much more encouraging.  Luck of the slush pile, I guess--and I should do a quick re-read for any obvious confusing parts.  

And... yeah.... rejections like this can make me wonder if I'm a mediocre writer who will always struggle to be a B-list author.  An old B-list author.  I think it's time to sing "Smelly Cat" now. 

Word-count:  350 words in 80 minutes.  Plus some editing.  On the plus side, the story (a ghost story based on a photo prompt) has gone from a Very Very Rough Draft to a Very Rough Draft.

Work-out:  Still recovering from whatever GI-track thing is going on.  I will need to do some at-home weight maintenance stuff before my muscles turn to jelly.

Busy Week / Bear Dream

Lots of manuscripts to critique and things have been somewhat busy on the family end here, so I haven't blogged much in the last week.  

I was kind of in a bad place the other day writing wise.  A story got rejected.  Very likely because the market was swamped and the story wasn't what they were looking for.  Yes, I know I'm not the editor, but I thought the story had a chance of selling (or at least garnering a "it was _this_ close" rejection.  But instead it got a form rejection.  

Form rejections are the worst.  I know I should shrug them off.  But I went back and forth fretting with the "I'm just too stupid to be writing" and "Did gay protagonist kissing his boyfriend at the end have anything to do with it?"  

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I had the Bear Dream last night.  In the Bear Dream, I'm usually going onto the north end of the hill where I grew up.  In real life, there's a gravel road and lots of forest... or at least, last I checked several decades ago--it may be more developed by now.  Usually, there's a bear of some sort.  One Bear Dream many years ago, I was shoving Fiestawear plates into snowbanks and the Bear was a Polar Bear.

In this dream, I was travelling by rowboat (or maybe a small sail boat) to a small, rocky island.  It was the middle of the day, and the sun was out.  I think I had a candle or a lamp or something... possibly a glowing quartz crystal.  I got out of the boat and onto the gravelly beach.  The island was mostly bassalt cliffs with many narrow channels.  I knew that somewhere on the island was a Gaurdian Bear, and I needed to be cautious.  As I walked up a slope between two canyon walls, there were lots of lateral shelves in the rocky cliffs.  People had left memorials--silver plates, candels, lamps--within the shelves.  

I think I placed the light I was carying onto the shelf.  There was a break of some kind, and the smallish boat I'd come in had turned into a three-masted ship... and the dream went onto other things.

When I woke up, I couldn't help but notice the similarietesbetween the rocky shelves and the snow banks.  I'm guessing this dream has something to do with personal or family history... or "shelving" things not actively needed.  I'm not sure why the Bear is the guardian, though.

...and now, the Day Jobbe.