Mel the Klutz (or Auntie Klutz, as I'm comign to be known in some BU circles...) lived up to the namesake on Saturday. Stupid me went up to put on stupid socks because I was getting cold, and then walked down the wooden stairs and went FWOOOM... bouncing down about a half-dozen or so before I landed at the bottom, stopped by the wall.
I'm sore, but nothing's broken. I've got some oh-so-beautiful bruises on my ass cheeks, though. And the only reason I think nothing is broken is because I have all of this padding. The ONE thing that's good about being fat is the padding when I fall.
As I talked about it with Erich yesterday, I seriously think the only reason I managed to keep ON my butt was due to dance training as a kid. From age 12 to 18, I was doing drop rolls as part of dance routines. Instictively, I just landed correctly on the stair, and managed to literally bounce my ass down them. Granted, a bit too quickly for my liking, but considering the alternative...
*shudder*
So I'm sore. I'm walking a bit stiff. And I'll deal with cold feet all winter, because FUCK repeating THAT again.
Ow.
And I still don't know what I'm writing about for NaNo. I'm so fucking doomed.
31 October 2005
26 October 2005
Novel planning
It's now less than a week to NaNoWriMo, and I'm still not quite sure that I have a solid place to start writing. I fully expect to be staring at the blinking cursor line for a while before anything gets on the page screen.
Monday morning's timesheet entering doldrums sparked one idea that I've played with a bit in my mind-- a woman is brought into a psych hospital (for an unknown reason, to be developed over the course of the book), and the story goes through the layers of self-discovery to figure out why she's there, and how she needs to change.
It works-- but can I get 50K out of it? Eh, not sure.
Then Miss Marya (of two other NaNo years) came knocking on my brain, asking if maybe I was up to explore her character a bit more. I told her yes, but not for NaNo. I want to work on developing her stories on a long-term basis and possibly develop them into something publishable. Her stories are moving into a someday, I'm going to publish this... realm, and I don't want to screw around with it for NaNo.
Yesterday afternoon, one of my coworkers and I were talking about NaNo. I mentioned how I just needed to flesh out a couple characters to get myself going. If I put a somewhat fleshed out character in a room (or a park, or whatever) and just write about how they interact with the environment, it will get me started. I'm an environmental writer-- I want to connect to how a character interacts. I'm fascinated by textures and shadows and being so pissed off that a person's vision is blurry. So give me a good character, and I'll make up a story about them...
Anyway, my coworker just stares at me and says (along these lines- not verbatim), "Mel... you really need to write yourself. Do you realize how different your life is compared to most of the stuff that's out there on the market? Everything is about mothers and daughters and someone having some freaky incest trauma in their background. You're a member of a subsect of a subculture that few people know much about (referring to being a female gamer geek, I suppose) and are involved in so many things that most people wouldn't think twice about considering for themselves, but would find just fascinating. It's so different than anything else out there right now. I give you two models for your characters-- yourself and Erich. Discuss."
And I blink.
And then I retort, "but I'm weird and abnormal." (and thinking and boring)
"Exactly! Well, not really abnormal... different," she says.
I ponder.
And ponder some more.
And have a small discussion about this weekend's Forgotten Realms game with Erich.
And forget all about it until tonight.
Would I really want to write about myself? And honestly, would it really be that interesting? (or would it come out like entries in my blog usually do... boring as shit?)
*sigh*
There has to be ONE topic I can write about come next Tuesday...
Divine Intervention, please?
Monday morning's timesheet entering doldrums sparked one idea that I've played with a bit in my mind-- a woman is brought into a psych hospital (for an unknown reason, to be developed over the course of the book), and the story goes through the layers of self-discovery to figure out why she's there, and how she needs to change.
It works-- but can I get 50K out of it? Eh, not sure.
Then Miss Marya (of two other NaNo years) came knocking on my brain, asking if maybe I was up to explore her character a bit more. I told her yes, but not for NaNo. I want to work on developing her stories on a long-term basis and possibly develop them into something publishable. Her stories are moving into a someday, I'm going to publish this... realm, and I don't want to screw around with it for NaNo.
Yesterday afternoon, one of my coworkers and I were talking about NaNo. I mentioned how I just needed to flesh out a couple characters to get myself going. If I put a somewhat fleshed out character in a room (or a park, or whatever) and just write about how they interact with the environment, it will get me started. I'm an environmental writer-- I want to connect to how a character interacts. I'm fascinated by textures and shadows and being so pissed off that a person's vision is blurry. So give me a good character, and I'll make up a story about them...
Anyway, my coworker just stares at me and says (along these lines- not verbatim), "Mel... you really need to write yourself. Do you realize how different your life is compared to most of the stuff that's out there on the market? Everything is about mothers and daughters and someone having some freaky incest trauma in their background. You're a member of a subsect of a subculture that few people know much about (referring to being a female gamer geek, I suppose) and are involved in so many things that most people wouldn't think twice about considering for themselves, but would find just fascinating. It's so different than anything else out there right now. I give you two models for your characters-- yourself and Erich. Discuss."
And I blink.
And then I retort, "but I'm weird and abnormal." (and thinking and boring)
"Exactly! Well, not really abnormal... different," she says.
I ponder.
And ponder some more.
And have a small discussion about this weekend's Forgotten Realms game with Erich.
And forget all about it until tonight.
Would I really want to write about myself? And honestly, would it really be that interesting? (or would it come out like entries in my blog usually do... boring as shit?)
*sigh*
There has to be ONE topic I can write about come next Tuesday...
Divine Intervention, please?
24 October 2005
Missed it, but it had to be done
This past weekend was JournalCon, and despite initially being on the committee (and hosting the webpage), I was unable to go for a variety of financial reasons. This weekend, those reasons became even deeper, and I'm honestly glad I was unable to go-- I would have been washing dishes at the hotel to pay my room fees.
*sigh*
In any case, I'm a bit bummed I couldn't attend. I'll live vicariously through the recap postings, and hope that maybe next year, I'll manage to get there.
Maybe.
In any case, I hope that those who went had a blast, and that the rest of the planning committee saw the fruits of their labors in throwing this big bash. And hopefully a great bunch of bloggers and diarists were introduced to the ongoing JournalCon group at large. :)
****
On the homefront, it was a fairly uneventful weekend. Erich played D&D all Saturday, and I went to pick up the cheese that we were unable to purchase the previous Sunday. The mustard-seed gouda and I have a date tonight after work. :) Other than running the dishwasher through a couple loads of pots and dishes (now more prevalent due to cat food requirements), my Saturday was low key-- exactly what I needed.
It rained a good portion of Saturday, but cleared up for Sunday. We took advantage of the dryer skies to clean out both of our cars. We still had things from our trip down to New Jersey at the beginning of October in the Jeep. Now both are completely cleaned out. Vaccuuming will take place sometime next spring, after the winter's grime has ended.
The cats are all fine. Noby and Elly are insistent on nursing on whatever is available at the moment before going to bed. Apparently we're in that toddler thumb-sucking phase. When up on the bed, one's usually on Erich's stomach or my fleece robe (which Gus also wants to bite and knead).
We have very strange cats.
And I wish I could post photos, but my mom STILL has my digital camera.
*sigh*
*sigh*
In any case, I'm a bit bummed I couldn't attend. I'll live vicariously through the recap postings, and hope that maybe next year, I'll manage to get there.
Maybe.
In any case, I hope that those who went had a blast, and that the rest of the planning committee saw the fruits of their labors in throwing this big bash. And hopefully a great bunch of bloggers and diarists were introduced to the ongoing JournalCon group at large. :)
****
On the homefront, it was a fairly uneventful weekend. Erich played D&D all Saturday, and I went to pick up the cheese that we were unable to purchase the previous Sunday. The mustard-seed gouda and I have a date tonight after work. :) Other than running the dishwasher through a couple loads of pots and dishes (now more prevalent due to cat food requirements), my Saturday was low key-- exactly what I needed.
It rained a good portion of Saturday, but cleared up for Sunday. We took advantage of the dryer skies to clean out both of our cars. We still had things from our trip down to New Jersey at the beginning of October in the Jeep. Now both are completely cleaned out. Vaccuuming will take place sometime next spring, after the winter's grime has ended.
The cats are all fine. Noby and Elly are insistent on nursing on whatever is available at the moment before going to bed. Apparently we're in that toddler thumb-sucking phase. When up on the bed, one's usually on Erich's stomach or my fleece robe (which Gus also wants to bite and knead).
We have very strange cats.
And I wish I could post photos, but my mom STILL has my digital camera.
*sigh*
20 October 2005
SBQ's and Rotations...
Before I get to the stitching update-- why the heck hasn't anyone told me that my layout completely sucks ass? I've now looked at my site on two PC computers, and the tables are completely effed up in IE. Had I never looked at it in IE on a PC (it's fine on a Mac in all browsers), I'd never have known.
So I'll add template completion to my list of stuff to do this weekend... because this is just so, so icky.
Anyway...
I'm behind on Stitcher's Blogging Questions due to weddings and computer stupidity... so here we go...
9/28/05: Have you ever just quit a project while in the midst of it? (We're not
referring to UFOs here, rather projects that you know that you'll never work on again.) Why? What did you do with it - throw it out, give it away, put it away?
I've quit a couple, but I'm usually too stubborn. The ones that I have quit usually just find their way to the back of my stash pile and just rot there. :(
10/06/05: When you have almost finished a pattern and start thinking about the next one to stitch, how do you select it? (a list, most recent purchase, etc.)
A lot of it depends on my mood, honestly. I do have a list of unstarted projects, and several of them are nearly kitted, so I could start them at any time. But if I find a project that I absolutely MUST start right away, I'll probably find a way to squeeze it in sooner. And that gets me in trouble since projects keep getting pushed back.
10/12/05: How do you `non-hoopists' who use a rotation system handle it (as it seems to be lot easier if you are in good terms with hoop)? Do you have several scroll frames? Do you use Q-snaps or maybe something completely different? Or do you just have one or two big projects and others are small enough to be kept in hand while stitching?
I have only one project on a scroll frame at this time. The rest of my projects, I generally hoop. I loosen the one that's on the scroll frame during its "resting" slots in rotation. My other pieces are taken off the hoop and roll up loosely to put in a drawer for storage. If I did have multiple projects of scroll-frame size, I'd probably buy another frame. Getting pieces on and off scroll frames is such a pain in the ass-- I really don't want to try to mess with it all the time.
10/19/05: Do you mark or hi-lite your patterns or can you follow them without any markings? Do you make copies to mark up, or do you mark originals?
I always make working copies, and copy them at about 150% size so the symbols are easier to read. It tends to make my working copies really large-- usually they're on 11x17 paper. But that's okay, because at least they're easy to follow. I highlight sections as I go- usually highlighting at the end of a stitching session or at the end of a specific in-project area goal.
-----
And not an SBQ, but a question from a fellow diarist, which I figured I'd answer in the blog-at-large, rather than in the cramped guestbook...
Kim asked in my haloscan guestbook: You do your stitching in a rotation, no? How does it work? Do you work on only one piece for a week at a time? Or on whichever piece strikes your fancy at the moment? I'm curious about how people handle multiple projects, while giving each its due.
Everyone's rotation varies. Some people are very strict about spending a specific number of hours on each project, and then moving onto the next one once those allotted hours are up. Other people work week-to-week. Others work what's called a "screaming" rotation, which means they pick up whatever piece is "screaming" the loudest to be worked. :)
I have an ordered list for my rotation, and do try to stick to it, giving each piece a minimum of 10 hours. After those ten hours are up, though, I switch to a bit of a screaming rotation on a piece. If I'm feeling in a good groove with the piece, I'll keep going, allowing myself another week or two. If I'm not, then I move to the next piece.
After I've completed a full rotation of every piece, I re-evaluate the rotation. Do I need to flip projects around? If something is finished, what am I replacing it with? Is an important deadline coming up? I fix my rotation, and start again.
Right now, my *official* rotation looks like this. But because I've been so busy, and since NaNoWriMo will get in the way next month, I'm doing a lot of skipping around, and probably will only work a couple of these pieces until the end of November.
1) Elemental Dragons- Fire (finished in one rotation)
2) Egyptian Sampler - completed rotation round
3) Cats on a Staircase - skipped for this round
4) Astrology Sampler - skipped for this round
5) The Castle - working currently. Have done 10 hrs, now doing excess
6) Smoky Mountain Cats -- skipping this round
7) Home is Where the Cat Is-- will bring on commuter train since it's small
8) New Start: Apache Wedding Blessing - will get to work on this in November.
If you're looking to start one (for stitching, knitting, hell... scrapbooking?), check over here: Shakespeare's Peddler. This site is usually referred to anyone who's looking to get into rotation stitching. After that, go over to the Rotation Stitchers board, and get help in the "How to I start..." forum.
Anyway... I need to get to bed. It's 11:30, and I'm very sleepy.
'night.
~ Mel.
So I'll add template completion to my list of stuff to do this weekend... because this is just so, so icky.
Anyway...
I'm behind on Stitcher's Blogging Questions due to weddings and computer stupidity... so here we go...
9/28/05: Have you ever just quit a project while in the midst of it? (We're not
referring to UFOs here, rather projects that you know that you'll never work on again.) Why? What did you do with it - throw it out, give it away, put it away?
I've quit a couple, but I'm usually too stubborn. The ones that I have quit usually just find their way to the back of my stash pile and just rot there. :(
10/06/05: When you have almost finished a pattern and start thinking about the next one to stitch, how do you select it? (a list, most recent purchase, etc.)
A lot of it depends on my mood, honestly. I do have a list of unstarted projects, and several of them are nearly kitted, so I could start them at any time. But if I find a project that I absolutely MUST start right away, I'll probably find a way to squeeze it in sooner. And that gets me in trouble since projects keep getting pushed back.
10/12/05: How do you `non-hoopists' who use a rotation system handle it (as it seems to be lot easier if you are in good terms with hoop)? Do you have several scroll frames? Do you use Q-snaps or maybe something completely different? Or do you just have one or two big projects and others are small enough to be kept in hand while stitching?
I have only one project on a scroll frame at this time. The rest of my projects, I generally hoop. I loosen the one that's on the scroll frame during its "resting" slots in rotation. My other pieces are taken off the hoop and roll up loosely to put in a drawer for storage. If I did have multiple projects of scroll-frame size, I'd probably buy another frame. Getting pieces on and off scroll frames is such a pain in the ass-- I really don't want to try to mess with it all the time.
10/19/05: Do you mark or hi-lite your patterns or can you follow them without any markings? Do you make copies to mark up, or do you mark originals?
I always make working copies, and copy them at about 150% size so the symbols are easier to read. It tends to make my working copies really large-- usually they're on 11x17 paper. But that's okay, because at least they're easy to follow. I highlight sections as I go- usually highlighting at the end of a stitching session or at the end of a specific in-project area goal.
-----
And not an SBQ, but a question from a fellow diarist, which I figured I'd answer in the blog-at-large, rather than in the cramped guestbook...
Kim asked in my haloscan guestbook: You do your stitching in a rotation, no? How does it work? Do you work on only one piece for a week at a time? Or on whichever piece strikes your fancy at the moment? I'm curious about how people handle multiple projects, while giving each its due.
Everyone's rotation varies. Some people are very strict about spending a specific number of hours on each project, and then moving onto the next one once those allotted hours are up. Other people work week-to-week. Others work what's called a "screaming" rotation, which means they pick up whatever piece is "screaming" the loudest to be worked. :)
I have an ordered list for my rotation, and do try to stick to it, giving each piece a minimum of 10 hours. After those ten hours are up, though, I switch to a bit of a screaming rotation on a piece. If I'm feeling in a good groove with the piece, I'll keep going, allowing myself another week or two. If I'm not, then I move to the next piece.
After I've completed a full rotation of every piece, I re-evaluate the rotation. Do I need to flip projects around? If something is finished, what am I replacing it with? Is an important deadline coming up? I fix my rotation, and start again.
Right now, my *official* rotation looks like this. But because I've been so busy, and since NaNoWriMo will get in the way next month, I'm doing a lot of skipping around, and probably will only work a couple of these pieces until the end of November.
1) Elemental Dragons- Fire (finished in one rotation)
2) Egyptian Sampler - completed rotation round
3) Cats on a Staircase - skipped for this round
4) Astrology Sampler - skipped for this round
5) The Castle - working currently. Have done 10 hrs, now doing excess
6) Smoky Mountain Cats -- skipping this round
7) Home is Where the Cat Is-- will bring on commuter train since it's small
8) New Start: Apache Wedding Blessing - will get to work on this in November.
If you're looking to start one (for stitching, knitting, hell... scrapbooking?), check over here: Shakespeare's Peddler. This site is usually referred to anyone who's looking to get into rotation stitching. After that, go over to the Rotation Stitchers board, and get help in the "How to I start..." forum.
Anyway... I need to get to bed. It's 11:30, and I'm very sleepy.
'night.
~ Mel.
16 October 2005
That strange bright thing in the sky
Sun? I do not know of this sun of which the weatherman speaks.
All of a sudden, we have sun... Erich responded this morning as he got up by hissing and pretending to pull a cape over his head.
Vampire, or gamer geek-- I really can't tell what brought that on. ;)
Let me recap the last several days of New England Weather... rain. Nine effing days of it. And Friday night, which was the last full night of it, was the worst of all. It poured all night. We received over 4 inches from Friday night to Saturday night alone. We've received over a FOOT of rain already this month.
Even our basement, a declared dry basement, has a small amount of standing water in it. Thankfully under the oil tank, where nothing else is sitting. We're lucky because only a few short blocks away from our place across the city line in Cranston, we saw this in person on Saturday. These are all on US Route 1. (these photos were taken by others):
Some areas of Rhode Island are even worse, depending on their elevation and proximity to a river. Amazing how something that seems annoying, yet harmless while happening causes so much destruction, isn't it?
This morning, the sun came out, revealing a bright blue sky free of clouds, beckoning everyone to come outside.
And we did go out, despite the blustery winds that threatened us instead. Erich and I headed up to Concord, Mass. for our annual cheese shop trek-- only to find it closed on Sunday (le sigh). We made up for it with a nice lunch across the street and a lengthy wander through an antique store (leading to the purchase of three old books, including a first printing of Bambi and an 1840's printing of Paradise Lost).
We headed back south toward the farm stands in southern Mass. Erich and his dad always talk about The Big Apple in Wrentham, Mass., so we stopped by there to get... apples (duh) and a hot (!!) pumpkin pie. It was a madhouse, so we didn't stay long. I'll want to go back there again at some point when it's a bit calmer (if that is possible).
We also stopped at another stand closer to home, where I bought my obligatory autumn mums to decorate the front step, two mini pumpkins, and wicked cheap, but wonderful looking bell peppers (for 75 cents a pound!!).
And then we came home to wince as the Patriots lost again. (sigh)
Now Erich is curled up on the bed, working on his gaming campaign in a couple weeks. The kittens have been in a serious thumb-sucking mode this weekend and keep trying to suckle on whatever they can find (necks, stomachs, furry blankets, Colley). Last I knew, Elly was going for Erich's stomach again.
It's cute, but a little freaky, too.
Erich's chasing me to get dinner, given that it's nearly 11 p.m. I guess I should stop. :)
All of a sudden, we have sun... Erich responded this morning as he got up by hissing and pretending to pull a cape over his head.
Vampire, or gamer geek-- I really can't tell what brought that on. ;)
Let me recap the last several days of New England Weather... rain. Nine effing days of it. And Friday night, which was the last full night of it, was the worst of all. It poured all night. We received over 4 inches from Friday night to Saturday night alone. We've received over a FOOT of rain already this month.
Even our basement, a declared dry basement, has a small amount of standing water in it. Thankfully under the oil tank, where nothing else is sitting. We're lucky because only a few short blocks away from our place across the city line in Cranston, we saw this in person on Saturday. These are all on US Route 1. (these photos were taken by others):
Some areas of Rhode Island are even worse, depending on their elevation and proximity to a river. Amazing how something that seems annoying, yet harmless while happening causes so much destruction, isn't it?
This morning, the sun came out, revealing a bright blue sky free of clouds, beckoning everyone to come outside.
And we did go out, despite the blustery winds that threatened us instead. Erich and I headed up to Concord, Mass. for our annual cheese shop trek-- only to find it closed on Sunday (le sigh). We made up for it with a nice lunch across the street and a lengthy wander through an antique store (leading to the purchase of three old books, including a first printing of Bambi and an 1840's printing of Paradise Lost).
We headed back south toward the farm stands in southern Mass. Erich and his dad always talk about The Big Apple in Wrentham, Mass., so we stopped by there to get... apples (duh) and a hot (!!) pumpkin pie. It was a madhouse, so we didn't stay long. I'll want to go back there again at some point when it's a bit calmer (if that is possible).
We also stopped at another stand closer to home, where I bought my obligatory autumn mums to decorate the front step, two mini pumpkins, and wicked cheap, but wonderful looking bell peppers (for 75 cents a pound!!).
And then we came home to wince as the Patriots lost again. (sigh)
Now Erich is curled up on the bed, working on his gaming campaign in a couple weeks. The kittens have been in a serious thumb-sucking mode this weekend and keep trying to suckle on whatever they can find (necks, stomachs, furry blankets, Colley). Last I knew, Elly was going for Erich's stomach again.
It's cute, but a little freaky, too.
Erich's chasing me to get dinner, given that it's nearly 11 p.m. I guess I should stop. :)
14 October 2005
Life updates
Lots of things have been swirling lately, so I'm doing a rundown on what's happening right now to clear my thoughts. Hopefully over the course of the weekend, I can actually come up with some writing on a particular topic. This will be a pretty long entry, I think.
WORK: I had a meeting on Wednesday with my boss (Linda) and my cross-site manager to discuss my job. Apparently my cross-site manager was convinced I was missing deadlines and not doing anything. Linda asked me to type up a list of everything I do, both on a regular and special project basis, and bring it with me so our cross-site manager could see how much I'm actually responsible for at the moment.
Two pages, single spaced. Approximately 80-90 things. Nah, I'm not busy. *rolls eyes*
Anyway, that meeting seemed to go well, despite the accusations that had been flying. Apparently I'm FINALLY going to have a backup admin. who will take half of the work-- namely for the Art and Photo people, leaving me to really only have to focus on design. 45 people down to 21. My job will quite honestly start feeling like a cakewalk with this.
There's also going to be a redistribution of duties and some fine-tuning on what systems are outdated now, so I can streamline my job for the rest of the time I'm here. Our cross-site manager agreed, once she saw the list, that there's no way I can keep up, and that something needs to be done to help me get back on track. It's partially my fault, but not completely-- and she's realizing that.
Good. Moving forward...
On Thursday afternoon, I met with the departmental head of Editorial Services, which focuses on copyediting and proofreading. I wanted her input on what avenues I should explore to get into editing so I can put this $100K+ Boston University journalism degree to some actual use. She gave me some very good leads-- several, in fact, although she strongly recommended taking at least a couple of courses to brush up and get the updates on current grammar and editing rules and tighten up my skills. It was an extremely helpful meeting. And while it's going to take some time to position myself in an editing job, I now have the direction to investigate. This is good. :)
So all in all, a tiring, emotionally draining, but fruitful week-- especially after how last week ended.
CATS: The kittens are doing quite well. They've had a relapse of the eye gunk and sneezing. Poor Elly's cheeks are a bit swollen. It's been two weeks since they were off the antibiotics now, and it's probable that they'll need to return to them. We have them going in for their check-up and second deworming tomorrow afternoon. Med discussions will be done. Thankfully, despite the gunk relapse, they're both running and playing like healthy kittens. So I'm not too concerned.
Oh, and both kittens sleep all night in bed with us, curled up and purring. We have a serious case of snuggle cats already. :)
HOUSE: The unstoppable rain this week has revealed a couple things to us. We do have some leaks in the garage roof, leaving us with a thin depth of standing water on the garage floor slab. There's nothing out there to really get damaged at the moment (and we don't park in the garage), so for the moment, we're not doing anything. But roof repair, at least for the garage, is moving up a bit on our timetable, I think.
After three days of shivering because of the wet, Erich and I finally figured out our furnace. Engineers we are not. But the furnace is working (now), and we're using occasional heat just to take the bite off of the chill from the dampness. Once it's warm, the house holds the heat really well, despite having no insulation.
WRITING: I still don't have a topic for NaNo this year. *sigh* Hopefully something will come to me in the next few days.
COMPUTER: Mine's still sick. I've taken over Erich's.
STITCHING: I have some SBQ's to update this weekend. Still working on the Castle, although after last week, I just haven't had the attention span to really do too much. I'm hoping to make a good push this weekend during the Pat's game.
Thus is my life at the moment.
WORK: I had a meeting on Wednesday with my boss (Linda) and my cross-site manager to discuss my job. Apparently my cross-site manager was convinced I was missing deadlines and not doing anything. Linda asked me to type up a list of everything I do, both on a regular and special project basis, and bring it with me so our cross-site manager could see how much I'm actually responsible for at the moment.
Two pages, single spaced. Approximately 80-90 things. Nah, I'm not busy. *rolls eyes*
Anyway, that meeting seemed to go well, despite the accusations that had been flying. Apparently I'm FINALLY going to have a backup admin. who will take half of the work-- namely for the Art and Photo people, leaving me to really only have to focus on design. 45 people down to 21. My job will quite honestly start feeling like a cakewalk with this.
There's also going to be a redistribution of duties and some fine-tuning on what systems are outdated now, so I can streamline my job for the rest of the time I'm here. Our cross-site manager agreed, once she saw the list, that there's no way I can keep up, and that something needs to be done to help me get back on track. It's partially my fault, but not completely-- and she's realizing that.
Good. Moving forward...
On Thursday afternoon, I met with the departmental head of Editorial Services, which focuses on copyediting and proofreading. I wanted her input on what avenues I should explore to get into editing so I can put this $100K+ Boston University journalism degree to some actual use. She gave me some very good leads-- several, in fact, although she strongly recommended taking at least a couple of courses to brush up and get the updates on current grammar and editing rules and tighten up my skills. It was an extremely helpful meeting. And while it's going to take some time to position myself in an editing job, I now have the direction to investigate. This is good. :)
So all in all, a tiring, emotionally draining, but fruitful week-- especially after how last week ended.
CATS: The kittens are doing quite well. They've had a relapse of the eye gunk and sneezing. Poor Elly's cheeks are a bit swollen. It's been two weeks since they were off the antibiotics now, and it's probable that they'll need to return to them. We have them going in for their check-up and second deworming tomorrow afternoon. Med discussions will be done. Thankfully, despite the gunk relapse, they're both running and playing like healthy kittens. So I'm not too concerned.
Oh, and both kittens sleep all night in bed with us, curled up and purring. We have a serious case of snuggle cats already. :)
HOUSE: The unstoppable rain this week has revealed a couple things to us. We do have some leaks in the garage roof, leaving us with a thin depth of standing water on the garage floor slab. There's nothing out there to really get damaged at the moment (and we don't park in the garage), so for the moment, we're not doing anything. But roof repair, at least for the garage, is moving up a bit on our timetable, I think.
After three days of shivering because of the wet, Erich and I finally figured out our furnace. Engineers we are not. But the furnace is working (now), and we're using occasional heat just to take the bite off of the chill from the dampness. Once it's warm, the house holds the heat really well, despite having no insulation.
WRITING: I still don't have a topic for NaNo this year. *sigh* Hopefully something will come to me in the next few days.
COMPUTER: Mine's still sick. I've taken over Erich's.
STITCHING: I have some SBQ's to update this weekend. Still working on the Castle, although after last week, I just haven't had the attention span to really do too much. I'm hoping to make a good push this weekend during the Pat's game.
Thus is my life at the moment.
13 October 2005
Sending warm wishes-
Congrats to Melbernai and her husband on the birth of their first child last week, a beautiful girl. If you're in need of some adorable baby pictures to brighten your day-- pop by her journal!
Best wishes and virtual foot rubs to Minarae as she participates in San Diego's 3-day walk for a cure this weekend.
Entry tomorrow...
Best wishes and virtual foot rubs to Minarae as she participates in San Diego's 3-day walk for a cure this weekend.
Entry tomorrow...
11 October 2005
Moving in a direction
I have a meeting with the head of the copy editing department on Thursday afternoon to discuss possibilities for copyediting-- whether here, or somewhere else she might recommend to start. I'm treating this as a sit-down for idea gathering and recommendations, but did mention that I may be interested in an entry-level position, should one become available.
A couple people in my department, who overheard and gave my boss a bit of retort for Friday's b.s., quietly recommended I talk to copyediting, since it's in-major for me, and they seem to be a bit short-staffed.
It's a start. And hopefully a good option.
A couple people in my department, who overheard and gave my boss a bit of retort for Friday's b.s., quietly recommended I talk to copyediting, since it's in-major for me, and they seem to be a bit short-staffed.
It's a start. And hopefully a good option.
10 October 2005
Work frustrations
Random announcement: If you're trying to get in contact with me via email, please be patient-- both of my computers are out of commission at home at the moment. Hopefully I'll get the PC back up and running by the end of the week.
Friday was a completely shitty day here at work, complete with me losing my shit and crying in my manager's office. Underlying everything is the knowlege that has been milling about for a while, but I just haven't had the energy available to act on it-- I need to find a new job. I need to get out of here and move on. I'm not happy. I'm stuck in a job that is regressing from a higher level admin job of five years ago to something that's becoming more menial every year. And I've been getting the sense that there is some power play issues going on here with our new cross-site manager.
I'd rather leave on my own terms, thanks.
So I'm going to start looking. Calling the temp agencies. Looking at the offerings of other companies. Maybe even take a look at different colleges so that I can work and possibly take classes toward a certificate.
It needs to happen sooner rather than later, and now that I know what I have to do, it's time to kick my ass in gear and get it done.
*sigh*
Friday was a completely shitty day here at work, complete with me losing my shit and crying in my manager's office. Underlying everything is the knowlege that has been milling about for a while, but I just haven't had the energy available to act on it-- I need to find a new job. I need to get out of here and move on. I'm not happy. I'm stuck in a job that is regressing from a higher level admin job of five years ago to something that's becoming more menial every year. And I've been getting the sense that there is some power play issues going on here with our new cross-site manager.
I'd rather leave on my own terms, thanks.
So I'm going to start looking. Calling the temp agencies. Looking at the offerings of other companies. Maybe even take a look at different colleges so that I can work and possibly take classes toward a certificate.
It needs to happen sooner rather than later, and now that I know what I have to do, it's time to kick my ass in gear and get it done.
*sigh*
04 October 2005
Where the hell has this year gone?
My brain suddenly realized that it's October. It's been such a wild year-- one of the few that I honestly can say has been so busy that I just completely have lost track of time. And while it's been stressful, the stress has been so incredibly worth it. Besides little stupid things in life that mean nothing in the long term and are little vents of momentary frustration, everything's going well. Really well.
Erich and I are still recovering from this weekend. I'm somewhat zombified today, staring off into space when I really shouldn't be. BUT... I've been getting some of the soundest sleep the last two nights that I can recall in a couple years. Hopefully I'll start feeling normal again tomorrow after another good night. If not, I'll get through this week and just sleep as much as needed this weekend.
The kittens are doing well. They've definitely grown since we found them, and their development has exploded. We're now at the climb up over everything phase- they love their cat tower, and spend most of the time jumping in and out of the holes and crawling all over it in ways that seem to defy gravity. Noby has also started to do some distance leaps from the cat tower to box tops, and I imagine Elly will soon follow. We've started letting them explore the rest of the house in the evenings while we're awake and home. Both have ventured out into the living room a bit, but most of the time, they're still comfortable spending time in the sunroom. The other cats have wandered in to check them out. We've had some hissing (to be expected) and a bit of batting, but otherwise it's been very peaceful so far.
Mom called me last night. I forgot my camera at her house on Sunday. So photos from the wedding will have to wait until she gets around to sending the camera up to me. (oops). I always seem to leave something at my mom's. It's a running joke with us, as is the fact that I'm almost always sick as hell when I wind up visiting her. She thinks it's because I'm overdue for some mommy love. :)
Erich and I have decided that King Richard's Faire will be a no-go this year. We'd love to go, but at the same time, we know that we really can't afford it this year. If we were to go, we'd be restricting ourselves to just the entrance fee and food. And really... we want to buy stuff while we're there. But we can't afford it, so better to hold off that $100 for entrance and food for the two of us and wait until next year. In the meantime, we'll move that $100 toward doing other autumn things-- like our annual trek to Concord to get sinfully yummy cheeses and chocolates, plus farmstand pies and cider. And we hope to hit a corn maze this year, which we've wanted to do for a couple years, but just haven't had time to do.
I have to admit-- looking at those photos from last year, I wonder when we'll go. The autumn color is nowhere near the color it was at this time last year. Unless it assplodes in the next few days - which it could very well do - it's going to still be fairly green by next weekend. But we don't have any travels planned until Thanksgiving, so we do have plenty of time.
Gotta run... grab lunch.
Erich and I are still recovering from this weekend. I'm somewhat zombified today, staring off into space when I really shouldn't be. BUT... I've been getting some of the soundest sleep the last two nights that I can recall in a couple years. Hopefully I'll start feeling normal again tomorrow after another good night. If not, I'll get through this week and just sleep as much as needed this weekend.
The kittens are doing well. They've definitely grown since we found them, and their development has exploded. We're now at the climb up over everything phase- they love their cat tower, and spend most of the time jumping in and out of the holes and crawling all over it in ways that seem to defy gravity. Noby has also started to do some distance leaps from the cat tower to box tops, and I imagine Elly will soon follow. We've started letting them explore the rest of the house in the evenings while we're awake and home. Both have ventured out into the living room a bit, but most of the time, they're still comfortable spending time in the sunroom. The other cats have wandered in to check them out. We've had some hissing (to be expected) and a bit of batting, but otherwise it's been very peaceful so far.
Mom called me last night. I forgot my camera at her house on Sunday. So photos from the wedding will have to wait until she gets around to sending the camera up to me. (oops). I always seem to leave something at my mom's. It's a running joke with us, as is the fact that I'm almost always sick as hell when I wind up visiting her. She thinks it's because I'm overdue for some mommy love. :)
Erich and I have decided that King Richard's Faire will be a no-go this year. We'd love to go, but at the same time, we know that we really can't afford it this year. If we were to go, we'd be restricting ourselves to just the entrance fee and food. And really... we want to buy stuff while we're there. But we can't afford it, so better to hold off that $100 for entrance and food for the two of us and wait until next year. In the meantime, we'll move that $100 toward doing other autumn things-- like our annual trek to Concord to get sinfully yummy cheeses and chocolates, plus farmstand pies and cider. And we hope to hit a corn maze this year, which we've wanted to do for a couple years, but just haven't had time to do.
I have to admit-- looking at those photos from last year, I wonder when we'll go. The autumn color is nowhere near the color it was at this time last year. Unless it assplodes in the next few days - which it could very well do - it's going to still be fairly green by next weekend. But we don't have any travels planned until Thanksgiving, so we do have plenty of time.
Gotta run... grab lunch.
03 October 2005
Ivanna and Joe
Ivanna and Joe's wedding this weekend was a great time. Both of them looked wonderful-- Ivanna was radiant and absolutely glowing all day. Joe looked fantastic and incredibly relaxed. They were so happy-- and deservedly so. The reception was a great time-- everyone was dancing and celebrating. I chatted with Sarah, one of the other girls in my pledge class of TBS, most of the night. We had seen each other on the night of Drum Corps Finals back in August, but hadn't had much of a chance to chat with the seating arrangements. Sarah has changed in the sense that life has dealt her some really hard events, but she's come through it stronger, and the same person that I knew in college is still definitely there-- just tempered with experience and time. We were seated with three of the other alumnae, who essentially put a shell around themselves for most of the day, which didn't surprise me in the least. *shrug*
I'm looking forward to the stories from the after-party at the hotel bar once I get in touch with various people that continued the partying long into the night. I have to wonder if Ivanna and Joe didn't collapse soon after the reception. I've heard the tales about how so many wedding couples just collapse after the reception ends-- between the emotions of the day, all of the energy spent in preparing for the big day, and then going around to chat with everyone during the reception, I can imagine that I'll just zonk out. I didn't see either of them when we left. Erich had a bad cold, and I was tired, so we left a bit before the reception ended so we could get home before 1 a.m. and try to recover. :)
We did have some trouble hearing the ceremony at the church, sadly. We couldn't hear their vows. But seeing them so happy made up for it in droves.
The reception location was very nice. It was a function hall that seems designed for special event receptions. Outdoors there was a large garden with paths around different plantings, seating areas, a waterfall, etc. By dark, it was very romantic. :)
It really was everything a wedding should be, honestly. Lots of celebration. Lots of happiness. I can only hope mine goes this well!
I have a few photos on my camera, which I'll get up in the next couple of days. We haven't unpacked the Jeep yet from the weekend, though-- so it'll probably be tomorrow night or Wednesday before I get to it. It's probably going to take us until Wednesday to recover from the weekend.
Our drive down was pretty rough, and that set off the exhaustion for Saturday. We left home around 8 p.m. with a plan to drive down I-95 through NYC to Mom's. In perfect traffic, it's about 4.5 hours. I figured with Friday night traffic, we'd be looking at somewhere around 5.5 hours. It ended up being somewhere over 7.
We hit a bit of road repair traffic in New Haven, but it really wasn't a major issue. A couple miles of backup, and then we were back at full speed again.
But when we hit the Cross-Bronx Expressway, things quickly went bad. Sadly, this was after the exit for the Tappan Zee Bridge, which would have allowed me to completely avoid all of the mess. But I didn't get the "expect delays" warning until I was several miles past the I-287 exit, and then I was stuck.
We hit the traffic backup somewhere around 11:30, give or take 15 minutes. And we crawled. And we crawled. It turns out that from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m., they had three lanes closed on the upper deck of the GWB for repair traffic (I don't know what was happening on the lower deck-- but I presume a lane or two was closed there, too). By around 12:45, we still hadn't hit the bridge-- we were still a few miles from it. We turned on the traffic radio, which stated that people should "avoid the GWB toward New Jersey at all costs" (whee... great.) and that the tunnels out of Manhattan were clear.
We take out the map. We find a route. We take Jerome St. through the Bronx, cross over the river, and do the trek lengthwise of Manhattan down Broadway. We were amused at the traffic lights, all timed perfectly in banks of blocks. I think we averaged about 7-10 blocks per light, surrounded by cabbies. And New York was being itself-- markets were still open past 1 a.m., fruits and veggies still displayed on the sidewalk. Flowers remained in containers in front of open corner markets. People were out and walking to or from their evening activities. It was just another Friday evening in NYC.
Sometime around 1:30, we drove through Times Square. After hours of driving in the dark, the lights were blinding, but amazing to peek at from the car. The street artists were out en masse, quickly drawing portraits of passersby. The movie theaters were still open at the Loews. Tourists were taking in the sights and the insanity of all of the brightness from the advertisements. There simply is no way to describe the heart of Times Square at night until you've been there. It literally overloads your senses. Your sight, at least.
Once we'd passed through Times Square, the rest of the trip was relatively easy. As the traffic report had said, the tunnel was clear. We got to my mom's house just past three a.m., where we promptly collapsed to get as much sleep as possible.
I was woken up at 8 a.m. by a combination of Mom's dog, Shanti, barking, and the beep of the house alarm as one of the exterior doors opened (I HATE my mom's alarm system... but that's a vent for another day.). I wasn't able to get back to sleep. Erich was up soon after I was. We chatted for a while. We had coffee. Then my mom was off to work, and we were getting ready so we could leave by 1 p.m. (the wedding was back in NJ at 3).
Thankfully, the trip back on Sunday was uneventful. We listened to the Sox-Yankees game. We got sick of the incredibly annoying Yankees Radio Network announcers, who were positively awful. I can understand an extreme slant of the radio against another team. Particularly with the Yankees, because the Yankees give off the air that they're the only team in baseball that has or will ever matter. And I understand that it's stronger when it's a Red Sox game. No problems there. It comes with old town sports. But the Yankees announcers were complete morons, and I'm in awe that in effing New York their sports announcers are so inept at their jobs.
1) They are clueless about the sport of baseball. They weren't sure who was ever up in their own bullpen, let alone both bullpens. They had no clue on when games in the playoffs start for any team but the Yankees. They actually said "I don't know when the Red Sox start. Wednesday, maybe?" Yet once we got onto WEEI radio territory, the Sox announcers could inform on ALL playoff game dates that had been settled, regardless of team. And they definitely couldn't name any potential starting pitchers for Tuesday, regardless of team (including their own).
2) They were incredibly hypocritical. The male announcer (there was also a woman) was strongly calling the behavior in another game a "disgrace to baseball" because said team wasn't playing to their full potential (having already secured a trip to the playoffs), taking their leading players out of the game early to conserve them for the post-season. (I forget which team it was, honestly). The announcer went on claiming that every game should be played 100%, yadda yadda yadda. Yet as soon as the end of the Chicago-Cleveland game was announced, where it was confirmed that both the Sox and the Yankees were headed for the playoffs, the Yankees start pulling their pitchers and putting random guys to see how they'd do. The Yanks are down 10-1 at this point. But it's not "disgraceful" when the Yankees do the same thing... it's "postseason tryouts."
Whatever buddy. STFU.
And then, the announcers whines about how the Yanks have to go out to Anaheim, and how they've been on the road for a week now, and how hard that will be on the players.
Ugh.
3)How much dead air can you have on the radio? Seriously, dude. There were long stretches of silence. I couldn't believe how bad it was. And on top of that, beyond the whining, no personality whatsoever.
I've never been happier to get to WEEI territory.
Anyway... it was a long weekend. A fun weekend. And now I need a vacation to recover. :)
Back to work...
~ Mel.
I'm looking forward to the stories from the after-party at the hotel bar once I get in touch with various people that continued the partying long into the night. I have to wonder if Ivanna and Joe didn't collapse soon after the reception. I've heard the tales about how so many wedding couples just collapse after the reception ends-- between the emotions of the day, all of the energy spent in preparing for the big day, and then going around to chat with everyone during the reception, I can imagine that I'll just zonk out. I didn't see either of them when we left. Erich had a bad cold, and I was tired, so we left a bit before the reception ended so we could get home before 1 a.m. and try to recover. :)
We did have some trouble hearing the ceremony at the church, sadly. We couldn't hear their vows. But seeing them so happy made up for it in droves.
The reception location was very nice. It was a function hall that seems designed for special event receptions. Outdoors there was a large garden with paths around different plantings, seating areas, a waterfall, etc. By dark, it was very romantic. :)
It really was everything a wedding should be, honestly. Lots of celebration. Lots of happiness. I can only hope mine goes this well!
I have a few photos on my camera, which I'll get up in the next couple of days. We haven't unpacked the Jeep yet from the weekend, though-- so it'll probably be tomorrow night or Wednesday before I get to it. It's probably going to take us until Wednesday to recover from the weekend.
Our drive down was pretty rough, and that set off the exhaustion for Saturday. We left home around 8 p.m. with a plan to drive down I-95 through NYC to Mom's. In perfect traffic, it's about 4.5 hours. I figured with Friday night traffic, we'd be looking at somewhere around 5.5 hours. It ended up being somewhere over 7.
We hit a bit of road repair traffic in New Haven, but it really wasn't a major issue. A couple miles of backup, and then we were back at full speed again.
But when we hit the Cross-Bronx Expressway, things quickly went bad. Sadly, this was after the exit for the Tappan Zee Bridge, which would have allowed me to completely avoid all of the mess. But I didn't get the "expect delays" warning until I was several miles past the I-287 exit, and then I was stuck.
We hit the traffic backup somewhere around 11:30, give or take 15 minutes. And we crawled. And we crawled. It turns out that from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m., they had three lanes closed on the upper deck of the GWB for repair traffic (I don't know what was happening on the lower deck-- but I presume a lane or two was closed there, too). By around 12:45, we still hadn't hit the bridge-- we were still a few miles from it. We turned on the traffic radio, which stated that people should "avoid the GWB toward New Jersey at all costs" (whee... great.) and that the tunnels out of Manhattan were clear.
We take out the map. We find a route. We take Jerome St. through the Bronx, cross over the river, and do the trek lengthwise of Manhattan down Broadway. We were amused at the traffic lights, all timed perfectly in banks of blocks. I think we averaged about 7-10 blocks per light, surrounded by cabbies. And New York was being itself-- markets were still open past 1 a.m., fruits and veggies still displayed on the sidewalk. Flowers remained in containers in front of open corner markets. People were out and walking to or from their evening activities. It was just another Friday evening in NYC.
Sometime around 1:30, we drove through Times Square. After hours of driving in the dark, the lights were blinding, but amazing to peek at from the car. The street artists were out en masse, quickly drawing portraits of passersby. The movie theaters were still open at the Loews. Tourists were taking in the sights and the insanity of all of the brightness from the advertisements. There simply is no way to describe the heart of Times Square at night until you've been there. It literally overloads your senses. Your sight, at least.
Once we'd passed through Times Square, the rest of the trip was relatively easy. As the traffic report had said, the tunnel was clear. We got to my mom's house just past three a.m., where we promptly collapsed to get as much sleep as possible.
I was woken up at 8 a.m. by a combination of Mom's dog, Shanti, barking, and the beep of the house alarm as one of the exterior doors opened (I HATE my mom's alarm system... but that's a vent for another day.). I wasn't able to get back to sleep. Erich was up soon after I was. We chatted for a while. We had coffee. Then my mom was off to work, and we were getting ready so we could leave by 1 p.m. (the wedding was back in NJ at 3).
Thankfully, the trip back on Sunday was uneventful. We listened to the Sox-Yankees game. We got sick of the incredibly annoying Yankees Radio Network announcers, who were positively awful. I can understand an extreme slant of the radio against another team. Particularly with the Yankees, because the Yankees give off the air that they're the only team in baseball that has or will ever matter. And I understand that it's stronger when it's a Red Sox game. No problems there. It comes with old town sports. But the Yankees announcers were complete morons, and I'm in awe that in effing New York their sports announcers are so inept at their jobs.
1) They are clueless about the sport of baseball. They weren't sure who was ever up in their own bullpen, let alone both bullpens. They had no clue on when games in the playoffs start for any team but the Yankees. They actually said "I don't know when the Red Sox start. Wednesday, maybe?" Yet once we got onto WEEI radio territory, the Sox announcers could inform on ALL playoff game dates that had been settled, regardless of team. And they definitely couldn't name any potential starting pitchers for Tuesday, regardless of team (including their own).
2) They were incredibly hypocritical. The male announcer (there was also a woman) was strongly calling the behavior in another game a "disgrace to baseball" because said team wasn't playing to their full potential (having already secured a trip to the playoffs), taking their leading players out of the game early to conserve them for the post-season. (I forget which team it was, honestly). The announcer went on claiming that every game should be played 100%, yadda yadda yadda. Yet as soon as the end of the Chicago-Cleveland game was announced, where it was confirmed that both the Sox and the Yankees were headed for the playoffs, the Yankees start pulling their pitchers and putting random guys to see how they'd do. The Yanks are down 10-1 at this point. But it's not "disgraceful" when the Yankees do the same thing... it's "postseason tryouts."
Whatever buddy. STFU.
And then, the announcers whines about how the Yanks have to go out to Anaheim, and how they've been on the road for a week now, and how hard that will be on the players.
Ugh.
3)How much dead air can you have on the radio? Seriously, dude. There were long stretches of silence. I couldn't believe how bad it was. And on top of that, beyond the whining, no personality whatsoever.
I've never been happier to get to WEEI territory.
Anyway... it was a long weekend. A fun weekend. And now I need a vacation to recover. :)
Back to work...
~ Mel.
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