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Tag: life

Smarter Than the Machine

Years ago when a friend bought herself a fancy new car, my favorite thing about it was the backup camera. I’m an aficionado of the “where’s this road go?” school of exploring, you see, and sometimes you need to be able to turn around in very tight quarters. And my usual partner in exploring is really bad at telling me when to stop. She’s afraid she’ll send me and the car tumbling down a mountain, I guess, so instead we get a move like this. I wanted a backup camera. Really bad. My car is a 2007 Corolla. She (my Precious) came with a three-CD changer as part of the stereo. So that led to…well, I don’t like to listen to commercials, and I hate DJs talking. HATE. So I made two CDs of some of my favorite songs, and stuck those and a CD of soft jazz for headache music in, and they stayed. For years. YEARS. Sometimes I’d put a song on repeat, and not notice for a couple days. Once the child and I were headed up the mountain, and halfway up she asked if we could please just turn the music off. She couldn’t take that song one more time. Recently I did something about both problems. I had a new stereo, with screen, put in my car, and I had them install a backup camera. When the tech was showing me the basics of my new system, he told me to “play something” from my…

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Continuing to Create When Life is Trying to Eat You

It has been a time period, friends. My husband has a major, ongoing medical issue that is potentially fatal. My father was chased by a crazy guy with a machete. My cousin died of a drug overdose. The coronavirus might cancel a much needed and much anticipated vacation. That’s on top of the normal, day-to-day issues (I am forgetting to do something for the small, mobile ones, I can almost guarantee it). As one might imagine, my mental state varies widely at the moment, and sometimes it’s a struggle to get out of the house, let alone sit down and write a couple thousand words. (Daylight savings is helping nothing, but it does give me a convenient excuse.) But I am still writing, and I am still drawing, and I think it all comes down to being gentle with myself. Should I have written yesterday, or the day before? Oh, yes, absolutely. Have I? No. Should I feel bad because there was a writing challenge in one of my writing groups that I completely failed at? No. It’s fine. (And also, if I do end up completing it today, I will count it as a win.) If it gets done, fantastic. If it doesn’t, there is always tomorrow. In the great scheme of things, a few missed days isn’t the end of the world. And, like I said, things are still getting done. Not as many, not as quickly, but it’s happening. So giving myself a break isn’t the end…

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Fits and Starts

Did you know that writers are not just brains-in-a-jar? We actually have bodies. I know, I’m shocked too. It turns out that bodies have needs. I’m fairly good at remembering to feed, water, and rest mine (mostly because I turn into a giant grump if I don’t). Moving is harder (see this Awkward Yeti comic). I’m currently trying to establish a daily yoga habit…again. Here’s how it has been going: Last fall/winter: Okay, I can’t stand inaction anymore. It’s too painful (literally). I have to make a lifestyle change. January: Did a “30 Days of Yoga” challenge. It took me slightly longer than 30 days because I missed one here and there, but I was pretty consistent and finished within an extra week or so. It felt great! I was less creaky and sore! More flexible! Yay! February: 30 days is over and I feel much better. Now to keep it up! But I don’t have the challenge to guide me anymore. I have to make up my own yoga practices (or at least make decisions about which online yoga video to follow). This is hard. March: Down to once or twice a week…maybe. But I still feel a lot more limber. Now I don’t have to do yoga ever again! … June: I’m getting kinda creaky. Better pick it up again. Once or twice a week will be enough, right? July: No it will not. Ow. August: 30-day challenge, here I come again! OOPS, I got too enthusiastic. Ow.…

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Back to School AAAHH

I work at a school. Last Thursday, my teachers came back. Next Thursday, my kids come back. My life gets pretty hectic this time of year. I love my teachers, my job, and my kids, but good lork. A conversation from today, in script form: Staff: Our smart board (basically a huge touch screen attached to a computer) doesn’t work. Me, bounding out of my chair to go have a look: Still? I reported it yesterday, and IT said they fixed it this morning. Staff: Oh, no, I hadn’t had the chance to check it today. (A short period of time passes) Staff: Our smart board still doesn’t work. Me: Did it work at all before it started back doing the thing? Staff: Oh, it’s not doing the same thing. Now it just comes up, says “no signal” and goes black. Me: That’s the monitor. The computer is off. Staff: What computer? Me: ~goes into classroom, turns computer on the back of the monitor on~ Time: ~passes~ SAME STAFF, at my desk again: Our keyboard and mouse don’t work for the smart board. Me: Did you check the batteries? Staff: First thing. Me: ~goes into classroom, checks motion of mouse, checks laser is not obstructed, notices mouse is not turned on, turns it on. Sees on/off switch on keyboard is also set to OFF, turns on. Turns glare on staff member.~ Staff: I…Diet Coke, right? Or dark chocolate? Me: Both. Don’t you think? Staff: …yeah. I do. The staff member…

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Best of Intentions

When I came home from work today, as I staggered in the door escaping the 100°+ heat and was met by the cat who must be greeted immediately or Bad Things Happen, the housemate called from her room, “Oh! You’re home. I…had intended to do the thing today.” She said this because I had asked her to do the thing today, as I reluctantly trudged out the door to work nine hours before. “I had the best of intentions!” she assured me. I laughed and asked, “What’s the name of that place, you know, the road is paved with intentions, but I forget…?” and we laughed and I went off to my room and sat down to do the thing that I’m supposed to do tonight at the latest–write a blog post for Turtleduck Press. And that, dear friends, is where my own intentions went astray, because instead of landing on Turtleduck Press, I got a 500 error. Well, blast. I’m not the girl who runs straight to tech support. I know my way around a cpanel, at least more than some. So off I went, looking for advice. Hadn’t touched any permissions or the .htaccess, not blinking likely too many processes were running but I checked anyway, error log blank (really?), so off I went to tech support after all. And as I sat waiting for the lovely tech support person* in the chat to check all the things I already checked, I jotted some notes about the blog…

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KD’s Kitchen Adventures

Often when making small talk with friends and acquaintances, I tell people that I don’t cook. It’s just easier than admitting the truth–that I can cook, and when I have a good clear recipe or some experience with what I’m doing, I can actually cook well. Most of the time, though? I just don’t. I mean, effort. And then you do, and there’s dirty dishes! And people who say they want things like ribs and then you put all the effort and time into making ribs and they don’t eat them. (looking at you, my child…) There are, however, bunches of reasons to cook one’s own food. Health, for one–pretty much anything you make at home is going to be better for you than that same thing bought in most restaurants. All that sugar and salt and nasty stuff they put in there? That’s not a bug. That’s a feature. They are trying to get you addicted to their food! And it works. Oh my yes, it works. If I drive by Burger King and the smoke from the broiler drifts through my car…yeah. I love my Whopper with cheese. They are seven hundred fifty calories, but I love them. Another issue, of course, is cost. A Whopper with cheese (as if I only get a Whopper when BK lures me in!) is now what, $5? Take the family and I’ll spend $25-30 easily. For that I could buy all the fixings for a meal at home, and still have…

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Life!

Oh, friends, I had such plans for yesterday. I was going to go to the gym and do some cycling, because I’d like to do a triathlon this year (though I haven’t found one to do, because so far I have conflicts for all of them). And then I was going to spend a ton of time working on a chapter to send to Siri. Instead I snapped something in my hand and spent four hours at the hospital. And then I came home and mopped the floor, like you do. (I have done triathlons before, the last one in June 2016. I came in 4th and was hoping to try again this year and possibly make the podium, but alas, timing.) (Also I felt like I had to do something productive after not doing anything for four hours, and mopping seemed the least likely thing on my list to hurt my hand.) Doesn’t this always seem to happen? You make plans and life comes along just to laugh at you. I mean, normally the big plans are okay. Maybe because you spend so much more time preparing them. But the daily plans, yikes. It’s an argument against procrastination, if nothing else. And the good news is that my hand is not broken and will probably be fine in a week or so. And the splint I have to wear until then isn’t too itchy. How are you? Things breaking your plans too?

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Sometimes Life Does Eat Everything

I’ve always been one of those people who has believed that there’s always time for creativity, that no matter how much life throws at you you can always eke a little bit in, here or there, that as long as you schedule and try, you can reach your goals. And now I know better. I’m not really ready–nor am I sure I ever shall be–to talk about my current stressors, but let me say that now I understand what people mean when there’s just no more spoons left, when you physically, emotionally, mentally just have nothing left to give. And on one hand, it’s agonizing, to have creative goals and not be able to make any headway on them, especially when I have managed to do so many times before. But on the other, I know that this happens sometimes, that it’s temporary, that life is everchanging and even if I’m only getting to write twice a week it’s still something. And it’s okay. It’s okay. I’m okay. Sometimes this happens, and you just have to roll with it. I am not a failure just because other things in my life have taken precedence. And even the smallest burst of creativity feels so good now. Last week I patched some holes on the smaller, mobile one’s sock monkey (he now has matching bracelets) and it felt amazing even though it took me 15 minutes and is not the cleanest sewing job I’ve ever done. (In related news, I cannot find…

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Soundtracks of My Life

Have you ever thought about if your life was set to music, what would that music be? Or if your life had a theme song? I feel kinda unhinged talking about it, but things for me personally have been a bit weird lately, and I got thinking about it today. What songs would I choose and why? Theme song: War of Change by Thousand Foot Krutch. My Google-fu says this band is a Christian band, but you wouldn’t know it. They’re hard rock, and this song impressed me so much that I went and bought the entire album. These lyrics specifically speak to me: Wait, it’s just about break/ it’s more than I can take/ everything’s about to change I feel it in my veins / it’s not going away / everything’s about to change (I love this video because of all the b&w. But I’m not sure what they’re doing with all the dust and light bulbs.) Adam Lambert’s “Ghost Town” deserves a mention. He’s said that the meaning behind the song (for him, at least) is “Life sucks. Let’s dance!” and if you watch the video, there’s a ton of dancing. (I love all things dance). And kudos to him for more b&w! This next one has a special place in my heart. It’s from Queensryche’s first album with their new singer, Todd La Torre, and probably my favorite song off it. It’s called “In This Light.” (This is a live video, as there is no official music…

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