Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
16 December 17 December 18 December 19 December	First Draft of “Uncle Bert’s Best Friend”. Various pre-Yule rushing-about chores.	6 manuscript pages, and done. SO MUCH TO DO!	Sheaffer 8C OMAS Arte Italiana Lamy 2000 Parker Senior Duofold	Edelstein Olivine Pelikan Brilliant Brown Diamine Oxford Blue Waterman blue (vintage)

 

Advertisement

 

Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
10 December 11 December 12 December 13 December	First Draft of “Uncle Bert’s Best Friend”.	12 manuscript pages	Parker Senior Duofold Ohto Tasche Sheaffer Imperial Triumph Lamy 2000	Waterman blue (vintage) Herbin Vert de Gris Skrip black Diamine Oxford Blue

 

 

Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
2 December 3 December 4 December 5 December	Second draft of “Grand Finale”. First Draft of “Uncle Bert’s Best Friend”.	Complete at 1935 words 10 manuscript pages	Sheaffer Imperial Triumph OMAS Arte Italiana Parker Senior Duofold Lamy Studio	Skrip black Pelikan Brilliant Brown Waterman blue (vintage) Herbin Violet Pensée

 

Well, that was a week. I was otherwise engaged yesterday; let me hint at it:

Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
25 November 26 November 27 November 28 November 29 November	Second draft of “Grand Finale” Assisting a fallen father My wife’s day surgery (two days) Catching up on the Progress report	690 words Lifted So much waiting You’re soaking in it!	OMAS Arte Italiana Parker Senior Duofold Wing Sung 3013 Lamy Studio Sheaffer Imperial Triumph	Pelikan Brilliant Brown Waterman blue (vintage) Edelstein Topaz Herbin Violet Pensée Skrip black

I had thought to have been here yesterday, probably finishing up on that second draft. Oh, well. For those who are concerned– a long-awaited gall bladder removal was the wife’s lot, and the extension of her hospital stay was an excess of caution on the part of the hospital as she reacted with unusual (lack of) vigour to the morphine. And since we’re in Canada, this all cost a grand total of $2 for parking and $9 for the post-op Tylenol III I picked up from our neighbourhood pharmacy after bringing her home at last†.

And my Dad’s tippiness did him no actual harm. He needed more encouragement than hoisting.

Oh, but look, it’s not only Friday, but Friday right next to my birthday! Let me indulge myself a little–

Ideally, next week will be more normally arranged. My lightness of tone here belies the stress felt, which I’m rather more conscious of now that I’m an official owner of An Depression, and I’d like rather less of that stuff, thanks.

† Full disclosure: The opioid-laced pills would have cost more but for some insurance provided by The Regular Job. Something like $20. So, for those in the US concerned about the insurance industry, take heart– it still has some function in a setting of socialized medicine.

(No) Planes, Trains (Hopefully) and Automobiles

I am trembling on the very precipice of my summer vacation, even as I type. Since I schedule it to coincide with Son’s birthday, I hope the weather will allow us to ride a relatively nearby steam engine; it can run in the rain, but won’t because not everyone is as dedicated as the lad when it comes to this kind of fun. There was a time, though, that catching a train was considered to be worth all kinds of effort…

As is usual for my time off, I’ll likely neglect matters here pretty vigorously. There will be a new story appearing next week on my place for that kind of thing, but that’s likely to be the extent of my attention to my online presence. Domestic bliss and domestic shoveling, some writing, and a whole lot of not Regular Job. There’s apt to be the odd gin and tonic, too.

Today’s pen: Lamy 2000

Today’s ink: Edelstein Olivine

BONUS SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! Regina is over the minimum number of participants for Pelikan Hubs 2019, so there will be one here! Something to look forward to! In fact, looking at the map, Saskatoon will be in on the fun as well this year, and every province except Nova Scotia and Newfoundland-Labrador have a mark, which makes me feel all cosmopolitan and citizen-of-the-world-ish.

 

 

Day	What	How Much	Pen	Ink
25 March 26 March 27 March 28 March	First Draft of “Tiger on my Back” finished Second draft of “A Duty of Upkeep is Owed to Your Neighbours” First draft of “Doting Mother Cradles Her Wayward Child”	Another 609 words. 510 typed words, and we’ll call it done as well. 18 manuscript pages.	Sheaffer Targa Parker 65 Jinhao 159 Pelikan 140	Herbin Poussière de Lune Diamine Bilberry Pelikan Violet Herbin Vert Empire

Yes, I’m back to handwritten drafting, and loving it. Thanks to a power outage yesterday as well as the return of a co-worker from vacation, The Regular Job is pressing upon me a little less viciously, I got a ton of work on the new story. Very gratifying, and horribly suggestive of what’s possible if I… um… abandon my sole source of sufficient income.

Y’know, phrased like that, some of the appeal goes out of it.

Feeling Very Confined

I’m alone at The Regular Job today, which is a constraint on my spirit. A compression, even.   And since this…

…gives a sense of the work-load but suggests there’s others helping, I’m going to go with an educational film this week, about working in confinement.

 

Back to work, then. Row, row, row…

Today’s frantic pen: Pilot L-150MS
Today’s hectic ink: Herbin Vert Empire

This Week’s Pens	Inks	How Much Novel Progress
Pelikan 140 Waterman Super Master Sheaffer “TM” Triumph Parker 51	Herbin Vert Empire Waterman Florida Blue Herbin Lie de Thé Skrip Black	4,685 words typed.

Why, yes, I did let writing come between me and what counts for sports in my world (which is: twiddling my thumbs in a specific way to make pixels do stuff) last weekend.  It has had a useful effect, hasn’t it?  Please don’t say “You’d be done long ago if you’d done that sooner” because I’m exquisitely aware of this.

No forward movement on the site, alas.  There’s a couple of things that I will be trying this weekend, because I need my home computer for several hours at a stretch to try it rather than stolen moments of Regular Job access.  I might have done it yesterday afternoon, which I took off after commiting very few words of novel indeed, except I did that thanks to Mr. Migraine abducting me.  Moaning and vomiting took up the whole time between lunch break and bedtime.

This Week’s Pens	Inks	How Much Novel Progress
Sheaffer Snorkel Sovereign Parker Senior Duofold Sheaffer Taranis Pelikan M20	Herbin Violette Pensée Jentle blue-black Skrip Blue Diamine Evergreen	2,691 words typed.

As a small indication of the sort of time I’ve been enjoying the last couple of weeks; I only just now noticed that the thing I had meant to post last Friday… isn’t. Isn’t up. Isn’t around. Isn’t available. I put the effort into writing one, but there is no trace of it whatsoever. This gives me a slight headstart on tomorrow, since I have a memory of what it was, but to not have noticed at all AND to have it vanish is disconcerting.

I will not put this down to the Mandela effect, as much fun as side-slipping through the multiverse might be, but simply to my own stress-cracked brain. To address this issue, I’m taking next week off from The Regular Job. This may see a dose of writing done, since my son will be in school and he’s the main impediment to writing at home (I love him, and he loves me; his manifests as “you must watch this Annoying Orange video with me again” and mine manifests as submission to that insistence).  However, I may also just sleep for 127 hours without a break, too.  We’ll see how that works out.

One of the minor positive elements to not having sold the novel to anyone yet, nor secured an agent; no deadline.

Tinkling of the Season

Good news, everyone!  A change of location within the Regular Job building, which I somehow failed to moan about here last winter, puts me very very very far away from the radio which produces Offensively Repetitive Christmas Music (with Some Country Versions), with a couple of walls and a ninety degree bend in the building to complete the isolation.  I am blessed with silence, at least as far as seasonal tunes not of my own choosing go.  One of the primary generators of Humbuggery in my life has been shut down, and I am far more able to say Merry Christmas, Seasons Greetings, Happy Holidays, and Gruss vom Krampus without a scowl and a snarl.  Except that last one, because the snarl is traditional.

Since I am thus liberated from woe and light of heart, let me now inflict some of my less classical musical choices on you.  If you choose to listen.  No one will make you press play.

Now get out there and smile at the other people in the shops.  You’re all trying to brighten the world, right?

Today’s festive pen: Waterman Phileas
Today’s reflective ink: Montblanc Racing Green