Dude. It's Midnight.

It's late.  I'm tired.

Writing: 545 words.  Not bad.  trying to just write and then worry about exactly what I wrote later. So very difficult to turn off the editor in me. Wow, that sounds like a bad Who song.

I Think I Know Where it Is

Seeing the Rifftrax version of Starship Troopers live in a theater last night made me remember that way back when I was in grad school and first discovered MST3K I decided that they MUST need more writers and sent off a non-solicited resume. Not surprisingly a few months later I received a form letter rejection saying they weren't hiring at the time, and I kept that sucker.  if I can find it I'll post my failure from best brains for all to see.

By the way, I heartily recommend seeing a Rifftrax in the theater. Good fun.  I believe the next one is 'Night of the Living Dead,' scheduled on October 24th. Check out their website. I'm tempted to order a few of their other ones for home play as well - they do popular movies and you just synch up the track for the MST3K lite experience.  You have to provide your own silhouettes.

Writin' - 740 words.  Might do editing instead tomorrow. Might not.  I hope the anticipation doesn't keep you awake tonight.

Let's Go, Rico's Roughnecks!!!!!

Riiftrax of Starship Troopers in a theater tonight.  Oh yeah. If you're a fan of MST3K I strongly recommend attending one of the live Rifftrax showings at some point - it gets even better in a community.  We saw Manos last year and laughed ourselves sick.  Ye gods, I hope there's a Norman short.  Please please please

Writing: 425 words.  I'm happy I got that much done.  It was 48 degrees when I got up this morning and my bed was warm, inviting, and full of wife. I am reaching the point where Things Fall Apart for our protagonist.  Poor dude, but he's my creation to afflict things to. I might take a morning or two off to work on editing a novella for submission.  I did a hard copy edit so it's just a matter of changing things, but at @9000 words it's going to take a little while.

yes, I'm trying to convince myself not to judge myself.  Don't you judge me too.

judgejudgejudgejudge

Because Others Know More than Me

Very cool article on Chuck Wendig's www.terribleminds.com site yesterday by Delilah S. Dawson.about trying to get published the traditional way. Check it out.

If you're going to GenCon, you can find me at the same place I was last year - home. Boo. Someday. Those who are going, have a great/fun/productive/profitable time! Check out REFORM SCHOOL NINJA GIRLS!

Today's writing: 534 words. not bad for finishing one chapter and starting a new one. Was still reeling from watching L devour a Monte Cristo at a reopened Bennigans.  Ate my heart out. ATE IT OUT. Stupid gluten.

Perspective

Without going into details, the last few years have been challenging ones for me. A bit on the rough side, to be honest, and there's been times I've bemoaned my fate and indulged in a little self-pity party, complete with metaphorical cupcakes and confetti.  And then the Universe sends along a little reminder to me to maybe shut up a little.

I was on the veranda of a local bar Saturday night, enjoying a drink with L after having dropped the kids off for a few days with my parents.  An older couple came in and took a nearby table, followed by a woman about my age (45) and a boy in that nebulous tween region.  As soon as they sat down the boy began to act up, but not in a manner of a spoiled child.  It was obvious he was mentally challenged and clear something about the place was triggering him.  After a few moments of trying to settle him down the mother rose and led him back toward the parking lot.  As she made that trip it brought her back past her table on the other side of a fence, and the person I assume was her father asked if she wanted him to order food, or if they should go.  The expression on the woman's face was a mixture of frustration, sadness, and almost hopeless despair.  She looked utterly exhausted and on the verge of tears, so the couple nodded at each other and got up without a word, following her out.  To have to deal with that sort of thing all the time, for even a trip to get a burger with your parents to be an uncertain thing, that's someone who truly has hardships in her life.  Her left hand was ringless and one could make the assumption she was a single parent. It doesn't make my travails any less real to me, but it gives them a sense of scale.  So perhaps I'll bitch a little less, even if it's just to myself.

Writing: 543 words Monday, only 245 today as I got caught up tinkering with some of the phrasing in Monday's stuff.  I know, I know, leave it for the editing process, but I happened to glance at when I started today and I knew I could make it better.  So I did. (I think.)

Surfacing Briefly

Just a quick bit. Word count for 45 minutes: 892.  Today there be flow.  Now back into editing before the kids wake up. 

Small area of concern - last night I barely made it to 10pm before finally giving up and going to bed.  To be honest I started nodding off my 9:30.  I can chalk it up to a miserable day of work and a belly full of mai fun noodles, but I also have to consider that my 5am wake-up time and running on 5 or less hours of sleep a night might be catching up to me.  Stay tuned for all the exciting developments (okay they will probably not be exciting at all).

Humble Pie

Had to scramble together a bio to go along with a story that is coming out sometime soon.  Is there any good way to do that without feeling like I sound like a pompous asshat?  Also, next time I pose for an author photo I should stand by something other than a wall that's even slightly whiter than my teeth.  Ugh.

Today's word count: 544. Not bad given I had to write the bio during my allotted time as well.  I could live without the humidity, though.