Home 2015

Year: 2015

Bad Habits are Hard to Break. Good Habits? Not So Much.

They say it takes twenty-eight days to make something a habit. I think that must be for normal people. I wear sunglasses. Not cute little fashionable sunglasses, but big, cover everything, I want to preserve my eyes sunglasses. I rarely go outside without them, and I never drive without them. At home they hang safely on my closet door. On the go, they hang from my neck or sit on my head. When I get to work, I take them off, wrap the cord around them, and put them carefully in the back pocket of my purse, which holds nothing else so I don’t accidentally scratch my sunglasses. Except sometimes, very rarely, I take them off, carefully wrap the cord, and set them on top of my computer tower instead. Pretty much every time I do that, I forget them and have to go back—sometimes unlocking the gate I just locked, unlocking the front door, turning off the alarm I just set… Three times I’ve had over a hundred days in a row on 750words.com and then blown it. Just didn’t write anything one day. Two other times, I was over two hundred days when I blew it! Yet if I drive up a certain street in Tucson while thinking of other things, I may well drive to my old house that I haven’t lived in for two years and not notice until I’m turning into the driveway. In short, I need to find a way to break the habits I don’t…

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Christmas…Then and Now

It’s funny, but when you’re a kid Christmas is like the best day of the year (well, besides your birthday). And it’s magic, and Santa comes, and it’s all wonderful. But as you get older, things change. But the changes aren’t always bad: 1) Cooking. If you’re spoiled like me, you’ve never had to make a full Christmas dinner. But over time, I’ve had to take on some of the cooking for my mom who’s getting older. One year very recently she was too ill to make a Thanksgiving dinner, leaving me to make a very bare-bones dinner for my hubby and I. Everyone who knows me knows I hate cooking with a passion. But cooking with my mom is entirely different. One, I learn things. Two, we spend time together. And that’s really important as I grow older — taking time to be with the people I love. You never know how much time you or any one else you love will get, so every minute is precious. And, it’s all about helping take the load off of her — she’s not twenty anymore, and honestly needs my help. So, being the good daughter I am, I freely give my help. (Someday, it’ll just be me, and I hope those days are in the far, far future). 2) Stress. This may seem like a negative, but it really isn’t. I tend to stress out because I simply care. I care to take the time to pick out good gifts for…

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And Now, For Something From a Galaxy Far, Far Away

GUYS It’s Star Wars week! \o/ I am so excited and I am not really sure how I got here. I mean, I’ve always been more of a Trekkie. Yes, I saw the original trilogy at a young age and I’ve seen them a fair amount of times since then. I even went through a phase in middle school (though, admittedly, driven by wanting to have something to talk about with a friend who was way more into it than I was) where I read a bunch of the EU (now, sadly not canon) novels. (I also saw each of the prequels on opening night, each time, hoping against hope, that it would be a good experience. My parents always told me about seeing the original trilogy in the theaters, especially the first one, with the Star Destroyer coming in from overhead, and I guess on some level I was hoping to recreate that.) So I’ve been kind of following what’s been happening in the Star Wars universe out of a vague, detached interest. It all seemed kind of inevitable, Disney buying the franchise (I mean, they’ve had that ride at DisneyWorld forever, right?) and J.J. Abrams directing the first new movie. (Coincidentally, some members of the Trek community refer to Mr. Abrams as Jar Jar Abrams. Not in a nice way. And I would tell you why but then we’d never get out of here, so you’ll just have to extrapolate.) And then they started filming, and then the…

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The Dreaded Middle

So Kit Campbell and I are working on a secret project for Turtleduck Press. It’s a novel that we’re co-writing, and you’ll hear more about it in due time, after it’s been made suitable for public consumption. In the meantime, though, we’re wading through the first draft. Well, I can’t speak for Kit, but I’m wading. Or wallowing, maybe. I’ve passed the halfway point and am flailing around in the late middle, feeling rather as if I’m trapped in Zeno’s dichotomy paradox. I’m also fighting the deep-seated conviction that the story sucks (or my half of it, anyway — I’m not about to say that for Kit’s half!). However, I’m not the only one. Check this out:

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Last Traditions Standing

I have a very dear and marvelous friend whom I invite for Thanksgiving very early each year–like, in February if not sooner. I always want to get that invitation in early so she can truthfully say “oh, I have a prior invitation!” when asked to celebrations that make her uncomfortable. This year, the invitation went out before we found out that my dear friend has some special dietary needs she is just figuring out. And, also a surprise to me, now she has a new-to-the-city roommate, who also has special dietary needs. The list of things the two need to avoid is rather daunting. Know what, though? I don’t really care.

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Gratefulness

Every year I do a post near Thanksgiving about things I’m grateful for. So, let’s do this! 1. Family. Without my family, I wouldn’t be the person I am or doing the things I do. To me, family is forever and everything to me. They make life worth living. They are a comfort in tough times, and those I celebrate good things with. I have the most amazing family, and every year, I give thanks for them and all they are to me.  2. My job. Those of you who know me and what I do for a living are probably giggling. My job is at best, stressful; at worst, insanity. And this isn’t an exaggeration. It is by far the most demanding, difficult, insane job I’ve ever had. I’ve had people threaten to sue me, cuss me out, treat me like a moron, and threaten to kill me. (For reals). I’ve been at this particular place of employment for almost 15 years. But.

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Death Colds and the Remedy

I am sick, friends. My throat is sore, my voice occasionally meanders off, my ears feel like they might pop–the works. Just a cold, of course, which…why is that something people say? “Just” a cold? Sure, it probably won’t kill you, but you can throw medicine at it until the cows come home and it’ll do jacksquat and you just have to sit in your misery. I can’t really take any medicine right now anyway. Just the occasional cough drop (read: fancy candy) and nose spray. Hooray, nose sprays. So, where’s the relief?

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Small World, Redux

Last week, KD wrote about being stuck in a small world and taking steps to get out of it – to “expand” as she put it. She’s working on not hiding, on being social, on trying new things. She’s exploring. I’ve been feeling much the same – stuck in a rut, coasting along on habits, doing the same things because they’re easy – and I’d like to make a shift On the other hand, maybe November, with winter lurking (hello, 5 PM sunsets), isn’t the best time for a Canadian to try to “expand”. I have another friend who declared she was taking this month to unplug from Facebook and look inward, to honour the night. But maybe there’s a way to do both.

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Burning Bright

Seize the Fire Book 1 The demons come, devouring life and light. Armed with sword and spell, Keepers meet the scourge. Above nations, beyond the law, to be a Keeper is to hold power–but power always comes with a price. To Keeper Apprentice Hiro Takai, Keepers are heroes, risking their lives to battle with sword and spell the demons that would devour all life. His master Eshan is one of the best—skilled beyond his years, and possessing exquisite control over his magic and emotions. Hiro is lucky to be harnessing his fire-magic under Eshan’s tutelage—and even luckier to be his lover. But when Hiro wakes as a full Keeper after his Kindling ritual, everything is wrong. Something is in his mind, bringing him new and amazing power, but it’s not sane. Eshan is gone, slipped away on a dangerous mission leaving only a cryptic warning for Hiro to flee the Keepers—who are now debating if they should kill Hiro or just let him die. No mage is more powerful, more knowledgeable, or more true than Eshan. Hiro knows his teacher can help—if Hiro can just find him. Find him, and save him. Before the Other in Hiro’s mind drives him mad, or tears his soul to shreds.

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Stuck Forever in a Too Small World

  When we were lucky enough to go to DisneyWorld, my family and I had an agreement. We weren’t going on the It’s a Small World ride. We didn’t care that it was quintessential Disney. We’d heard stories of it getting stuck, and if there’s one ride where you wouldn’t want to chance that… So we didn’t do it. A few years ago, budget cuts threatened to take my job from forty hours a week to thirty. It was decided in April—when I came back to work in July, I’d be at 30 hours a week. I was terrified. I loved my job, needed the schedule that gave me the same days off as the kid—I didn’t know how we’d survive. Life, though, went on. I had to do stuff, not hide under my bed. Music helped with that, but at my most terrified, all my songs but one stressed me out more. So I listened to that one song over and over. For weeks, I listened to Adam Lambert sing “Time for Miracles.” People would stand at my desk for one reason or another, realize they’d heard that song three times, give me a funny look and move away… Eventually I was able to expand a little bit. I made a “HALP!” playlist ten songs long—seven other songs and “Time for Miracles” three times over.

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