(a)musings -- online "journalish" thing

"It's simple... so says the Captain. Face forward. Move slow. Forge ahead."
-Guster

June 29 , 2007 - Friday nights used to be hoppin' round here

Geoff is still at Camp Grandma. I think we are going to pick him up tomorrow. As of 8pm, Doug and Jessica are both asleep on the couches in the livingroom in front of the TV. I'm too tired to work on chapter 3 of the novel, so I came up here to plow through some Weblog Reviews (got 4 more done... two of which were "these are useless crappy blogs and no one should ever read them" types of reviews... two were decent). Considering we're only required to do four a month, I feel like I'm hogging up all the reviews lately. But it is fun to read and review the blogs, and then write like a reviewer. Fun, I say! We'll see how long it stays fun, but for right now... yeah. It's fun.

I'm going to go to bed in mere moments, but thought I should just spend a minute and write an update. After all, it has been a week.

Yes, I said chapter 3 of the novel. I have written the first 2 and what I'm calling an "interlude" to go between 2 and 3. I already have decided that there are things in chapter 1 that need to be adjusted, and before I have plot holes that the nerds point at and go "Ha! See? In chapter one she said blah blah blah and then here in chapter seven it is totally different!"

I need to go back and make repairs before I take the story forward. I found that I've read and reread the two full chapters and interlude a hundred times. And then I stopped writing for the better part of this week.

Part of me wants to schedule time to sit and write. And the smart part of me says to sit when it happens. I am not facing deadlines or demands of editors and publishing houses, so I guess that I can just let it happen as it does.

One shouldn't force or schedule what will just happen on its own. Kind of like this here journally thingie here. I write when it comes. That will be the same with the book. Forcing the writing here makes me write crappy, so I bet that will be the same with the narrative arc. Don't want it to be crappy. Want it to be inspired.

Courtney and Jamie got married last weekend, and we went to the wedding and had a damn good time. It was a lovely wedding in a beautiful church. She and Jamie did a handfasting with the monsignor's stole, and that was nicely done... something that I'm sure a lot of people in the Catholic church have not seen done before. Usually at a Catholic wedding we see unity candles and such done... so this was a really nice touch.

And while this photo is blurry, I think it is my favorite one that I took that night. They were moving quickly, and my flash didn't go off, but her face is in focus and she's looking right at me, so it almost looks as if I planned this or used a lensbaby or something... thank heaven for small accidents that result in cool little memories, I say.

Long may you guys run.

Work has been interesting. I think in the last two or three days we've laughed ourselves stupid once or twice just from sheer delerium. That's fun. It is very good to laugh in the office. Our air conditioning has been on the fritz for several months, and we spent the better part of this past week (remember, fellow Boston Area bloggers, that it was record-setting hotness outside so imagine how hot it must be inside!) stewing in our own sweat.

It was rather unpleasant. Luckily, G lives closeby and we took lunch there and went swimming and had a cookout. Good times and a great respite. I posted a photo to flickr and people were surprised... "you get to swim at lunch?" Well, when the boss lives 400 feet away from the building and has an in-ground pool, hells yeah we get to swim at lunch!

Today the AC was fully functional for the first time in an incredibly long time. I was actually glad I had a leftover sweatshirt hanging on my cube hook. Else I would have been complaining about being too cold. And wouldn't that just have been rich.

So work has been okay. Nothing to complain about, and I'm feeling like we're on top of things again. But I've said that before and that damn hell ass boulder has rolled over us down to the valley, and I've had to push it up again... So we'll see how next week goes, seeing as it is a short week.

We're not going anywhere for July 4th this year. It is mid-week, which means we'd have to take vacation time on either end, and I'm saving my final vacation days for the weekend of Linda and Ronnie's wedding in September. I used most of my time in February when we went away (stupid much needed but early in the year vacation!) The kids are both in camp... Jess will be doing Shakespeare with Keri and the rebels, and I'm looking forward to the plays in July and August. Geoff is going to the swim camp nearby and then later in the summer has 3 weeks of cub scout camp to look forward to. I hope we can get away for a weekend or two as time goes by. I don't want the summer to just be a blur and be over with before we know it.

I hate when that happens.

Anyway -- I'm tired. Must go to bed and get a good night's sleep. I was tossing all night last night and just really am not the party animal I once was, I guess.

Nighty night.