Productivity

My cats have a special radar. They can sense when I'm being productive, and they spring into immediate action.

In the foreground is Marvel, and in the background is Wildman. My legs were propped up on the coffee table, so he was using his nails to balance on my knees. Marvel crammed onto my chest between my face and my computer.

Sorry for the quality- taken with my camera phone.

I'm curious- what are your biggest distractions (kids, TV, attention-grubbing pets)? And how to you resist the temptation to set your work aside?

DISA...

...ppointment.

The writing class that I had been looking forward to for months was rescheduled and I won't be able to attend. I got a nice little refund (technically, all I've gotten so far is the receipt, but I'm sure the actual money will come through in the next few days). That's how the cookie crumbles!

I'm going to see about signing up for it again when it's offered in the fall, but for now I'll have to keep meandering my way through this. I'm setting a goal for myself to share my work (at least the first few chapters) with one person by the end of August. I need to do it. Get it over with. Rip the band-aid off, but I'm on the uphill of the roller coaster and I don't want to take that first drop.

Antici....

PATION!

One of my least favorite things about being a "grown-up" is that it gets harder and harder to find things to look forward to. (Crap. I ended that sentence in a preposition. I'm in edit mode, so I'm trying to be better. Let's try that again.)

One of my least favorite things about being a "grown-up" is that finding things to look forward to gets harder and harder. When I was in school, I loved counting down the days to the next break- Spring, Summer, Winter, whatever! And birthdays! Oh how I looked forward to my birthday. Now, birthdays are just another day (except I do get to eat cake without any remorse). And summer feels like any other season in my windowless office.

I get the occasional vacation, but only when I save my days like a Western Scrub Jay hoarding peanuts. So instead I've got to find other things to fill my heart with eager anticipation. And I've found one such thing. And it's writing-related! I signed up for a five-week writing course at Emory. I'm pretty excited, because the class is being taught by a published author whose website describes her as a scientist turned writer, with no formal training (like me!).

Emory also offers a certificate program, which I could decide to do at a later time. It involves something like 40 hours of classes over two years. The grand total is $2000, which is pretty hefty. Not sure I'll do that, but I'm not ruling it out now. First things first, we'll see how this class goes.

I thought about signing up for this for the class for months, but I wasn't sure if it would "do anything" for me. Seems like if I want to write a story, I should just write it. And if I want to edit a story, I should just edit it. But after spending almost three years writing the story and months of editing the same five chapters, I'm realizing that things need to change. I'm ready to learn, and not too proud to admit that I need some help. Maybe the class won't solve anything, but maybe it will. I'm willing to try!

Back to school! If it doesn't work out, then I'll have the end of the class to look forward to. (Crap... I'll look forward to the end of class.)

Smelly Cat

I have been singing the song from Friends for the last few weeks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETQfuzNGT58

On May 27, we decided to foster a semi-feral senior cat from the cat rescue I volunteer with (despite considering myself a very logical person, I occasionally make very strange decisions). He's adjusting very well, and it has been a learning process for all of us.

A little back story: I've known the cat for two years- he was a resident of the room I clean regularly. When I first started cleaning, he was very wild. He'd been brought in as a feral cat. Probably already about ten years old and very much "intact." The group had him neutered and tipped his ear, with the intent being to release him again to live out his life, but he had bad infections in his right ear, which led to repeated hematomas. So, they kept him at the shelter to make sure that he go the care he needed. 

 

In the room, he liked to hang out on the top shelf, a place where most people couldn't reach him. But I'm tall enough to get to the cats that try to hide up there. I was hand feeding one of his friends, and he would take a piece of food from me. But he always let me know that he didn't like it. I remember once he was hissing so much that he choked a little on the kibble.

 

After a year of working with this wild cat, we got to a good place. And in the last few months, he would come to see me when I came into the room. He'd let me pet him without hissing or cringing. Sometimes, he would even reward me with a purr! I wanted to help him turn that final corner- from feral cat to happy pet. I thought bringing him home would be the best way to do that.

He's been in our home for over a month now, and we had a rocky start, but things are going great now. He has his moments, and his first instinct is always to hide, but he sleeps next to me every night (sweet, until you remember that he really smells). The hematomas caused that ear to curl up in what is called cauliflower ear that emits a funky odor...

Which leads us to today. I'm taking him to the vet. He's very food motivated and not familiar enough with cat carriers to be scared of them. I think I'll be able to get him there , but I'm nervous to see how he reacts to the vet. I have a feeling I'm going to have to put drops into his cauliflower ear. He barely lets me touch it now.

He also inspired me to add a cat into my amnesia girl story. Which I have been working on instead of Power Trio... bad!

'Men have forgotten this truth,' said the fox. 'But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.'

-Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Updated Grades (aka 'Editing down a storm'?)

Le sigh. Sometimes I feel like because I'm in my late twenties, I should be a better writer/editor/whatever than I am. Then, I have to remind myself that I have never writing a story before in my entire life (unless you count the glorious ten-page saga, The Magic Ring, which I don't).

In a late night fit of something that is not editing, which is what I should be doing, I am forcing myself to revisit my report card. As you may recall, I got an A in Editing in a previous post, Editing up a storm.

I can only assume I had some sort of inappropriate relationship with the person assigning those grades, because I am not sure it was very well deserved. I've got a mean grader evaluating this time (a less caffeinated me), and here are my new grades:

School of Life
Student: Elizabeth

Thinking about editing while doing something else: A+
Turning on the computer and opening Power Trio: A
Actually editing: C-
Working an a WIP or blog post, so that at least my fingers don't forget how to use a keyboard: B
Editing up a storm: C-
Editing down a storm: What does that even mean?
Going to bed instead of editing: A+

So, maybe I like to tease myself a little bit. But I'll do anything that helps prod me into getting some actual work done. It's happening this week- no more excuses. I made a schedule and I'm going to stick to it. I will finish editing by July 31. Wish me luck.

Night everyone!

Back and better than ever!

Or, okay, maybe I'm back and about the same. But it feels good to get back into in the swing of things. I've picked up a couple new books (at the closing of my favorite Borders- nooooooooo). I'm still editing Power Trio and haven't been quite as successful as I would have liked, but I am finally letting someone else read it. However, that person is my significant other (I know, I know, not a viable critic). But in his defense, he is a writer and a librarian, and I think he secretly likes to hurt my feelings (He told me one of my favorite paragraphs distracts form the scene! How dare he!).

I have definitely been missing reading all of the amazing posts from you all. I'm excited to get caught up. And that direct correlation between writing on the blog frequently and working on my story frequently holds true. It's hard some days to sit down and write, even lately when I've not been so busy, but just typing this makes me want to open my WIP (I miss amnesia girl!). Maybe I'll try to get in a little writing tonight.

I'll also have to give you all an update on my latest animal adventure- I'm fostering a semi-feral cat from the shelter I volunteer at. He's been quite the treat, although I'm not convinced that he's semi-feral. He's definitely a little awkward, but even after 10+ years of minimal human interaction (before coming to our shelter), he seems to crave it. I think he'd really like to meet my other cat, but she's not so into it yet. We'll be introducing them gradual. Good things come to those who take their time.

Haitus

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful weekend and spending some time doing the things you love with those you love. I'm taking a little break from the blog (and my computer, in general), to sort out some personal items and spend some time with those I love. Thank you all for reading, and I'm excited to come back (hopefully very soon) wtih a fresh and new perspective.