Why, yes, I did get a little writing done on Monday. I also during the week off, finished the second draft of “Cannon Fodder” but failed to come up with a better title for it. The working title is both inaccurate and a spoiler, so it really must go.
I also believe I have figured out a treatment for Parker 21s with cracked hoods. If the one I’m using today (and one I sent back to its owner, who offered it up to the cause of mad science) hold up through a whole writing cycle, I’ll try to document the process to share with the world. I should say, though, that the process is cosmetically imperfect… but what is mad science without a hideous offspring which hardly dares show its face?
The still air temperature here, when I left the house (fever broken, sensible periods between toilet-imperative moments), was -35C. This is not a big deal… here. I understand that similar temperatures have been happening in parts of North America where it is absolutely a big deal, the sort of thing schools close about.
Aside– to my knowledge, there has been exactly ONE snow day called by the school system in my hometown in the course of my entire life; to do otherwise is to simply not open the schools for winter.
ANYWAY, since a lot of people will be sensibly not dragging themselves out of the house today, a diversion which might just be good for your brain:
Long before I pitched over sick yesterday, I had booked a week off starting this coming Monday. You may, therefore, not hear from me until the week after.
The output for this week is pretty good, given a Tuesday on which I was called away during writing hour and a Thursday when I am wriggling in the grip of stomach flu/food poisoning/unexpected necromantic curse. If I’d had any warning yesterday, I’d have brought the thing home so I could work on it. But no.
I think I’ve mentioned previous here that I really like the work of Hayao Miyazaki. One of the things I like about his films is that the antagonists are usually not simple, unidimensional creatures. This past week, I found an excellent contemplation of this very point, which I’m going to inflict on you at this week’s film
One of the reefs the novel had grounded on is the villain in it is… vanity prompts me to say “under-nuanced.”
I got essentially no writing at all done yesterday, as I was returning a couple of pen… well, not to the owners, but to Paper Umbrella, where the owners had left them for me to collect; a very obliging shop, that.
Today’s film appears entirely because it happened to pop up on one of the lines of social media I wander through, and it gave me both a laugh and a comfortable shiver of horror. It’s a little raucous, so you may want to turn the volume down before you start.
How did I miss this until now? Probably because I’m ancient and the last time I made a point of watching music videos was about the time Star Trek: The Next Generation was getting over its teething troubles.
The weather has finally noticed that it’s January (brr!) so my thoughts become escapist. How about a nice trip?
To be honest, I’m not sure immersion in the North Atlantic is more appealing than walking to the car, even if the wind will be in my face crossing the parking lot.
You would be correct to chastise me for not bowing to one of the great commandments of writing. The first of the (oh, dear) three stories underway this week took a turn into “Two People Talking in a Room” which can make for a good story, but it’s quite what I’m after. The second is one that frankly hasn’t had time to gestate properly, despite how long ago I dumped the first draft out of my head… so I started yet another today. It, happily, is unrolling in a willing manner, so I should be able to stick with it until it’s ready for someone else to tell me what needs fixing in it.
Here at last, an answer to a long-standing question which has vexed me since I was a child. Not vexed enough to go and find the answer without it running in front of me, so I guess “mildly distracted” would be a better term. In any event, I (and you) need wonder no more:
…and that was, while rather extended, is sensible if slightly unsatisfactory.
