Day in the Life of an Idiot

I was reconfirmed as an extrovert on Sunday.

I didn't think that my status had necessarily changed, but I have always gotten along really well with introverts. I like a lot of the same sorts of pursuits that introverts like: reading, napping, reading and napping, quiet solitary walks in the woods, baking,and generally being a homebody.

But, after all the (safe socially distanced!!) social interactions I had on Sunday, I was positively giddy. I was literally dancing around my kitchen. Shawn, meanwhile, announced that all the peopling had tired her out and she would be going to bed extra early.

It started for me on Saturday night. I've been gaming with an on-line group for over a year now. I know campaign stories can be boring, so, suffice to say I had INTENDED to play a much more straight-laced character that session (since my previous one literally went AWOL) but somehow I still manged to be talked into mounting a rescue mission (for my aforementioned character.)  It was wild? I also tend to do this thing for the group, wherein I write a little ficlet about our campaign and share it with our group the morning after. I was in quite the mood when I wrote up Sunday's and so there was much drama.

That started my day off with a bang.

We had scheduled a somewhat impromptu Zoom with some friends of ours who are now living in Oregon. Their friendship provenance is that Shawn used to work with one of them when she was an architectural historian. They were both grunt workers back then, and now our friend has risen to be the head of her state's SHPO (State Historical Preservation Office) and Shawn is, of course, Minnesota's State Archivist, as well as Director of Library, Archives and Collections at the Minnesota Historical Society. So, they went back to it, like two peas in a pod, as my grandmother might say. It was really, really wonderful to reconnect.

That ran right up into my scheduled video call with my folks, who are both still doing very well, I am happy to report. I learned from them that Minnesota had been part of those COVIdiot protests, which, had somehow, previously, escaped my knowledge. I had foolishly thought we were immune to such garbage and am very disappointed in 800 of my fellow Minnesotans.

Of course, just this morning, I saw some yahoo with a "Trump" bumper sticker on their truck. I only noticed them because, of course, they were being a$$holes and not getting out of someone's way as they met coming down our street.

Then, a friend came over to give me another jump. (We both wore masks and stayed more than 6 feet apart.) APPARENTLY, I did not run my car long enough the other day to fully recharge it. So, once the car was up and running, we did a short grocery run, with Shawn sitting in the car while it continued to idle, and then a run to Menards to pick up a new battery, since clearly, we need one. It must have been enough finally, because, this morning, I discovered that my coffee shop is open for curbside delivery again and so I hopped in the car and got us all some divine, delicious coffee THAT SOMEONE ELSE MADE. I had not yet switched out the battery, so I was pleased that the car started and I could wait until the weather was slightly warmer to do that.

Just when you thought I was done seeing people for the day, I got an invite from our friends the Jacksons to play Boggle together and we video chatted while challenging each other on an online site. It was lovely to see everyone again. I showed off the bread I had made that day, but which was different than the bread I made the day before. (I've stopped posting pictures of my bread. Sour dough demands daily bread. It's ridiculous. However, I am now able to make bread from my own recipe based entirely on what kind of crumb I want any given day. Yesterday, no milk or butter because I wanted a slightly more artisan feel to it. Today, for the hamburger buns, all the "softening" ingredients.)

I was actually so keyed up from all that interaction not only did I literally dance around the kitchen, but I had a hard time falling asleep last night.

Oh, and I forgot to report that on Saturday morning to discover that my fic for the food challenge was well-received and I got an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING gift in a fandom that doesn't get a lot of love, but which I absolutely adore, so that also made my weekend extra, extra special.

And! My bloodroot survived the snow!


Image: tiny white flowers poking up from what looks like leaf debris and barren ground...

I was very worried that the snow had killed them. So, these are native plants, and Wikipedia tells me this fascinating bit of trivia that I did not know: "Bloodroot is one of many plants whose seeds are spread by ants, a process called myrmecochory. The seeds have a fleshy organ called an elaiosome that attracts ants. The ants take the seeds to their nest, where they eat the elaiosomes, and put the seeds in their nest debris, where they are protected until they germinate. They also benefit from growing in a medium made richer by the ant nest debris."

I had no idea. That's kind of cool.

 Well, I just spent 3 hours outside working in the backyard. One of the things that I think I hate the MOST about gardening is that often I feel like I put in a ton of work and make no discernible difference.  I have given up and made myself avocado toast. (If I make it myself, do I get the hipster points or not?)

On the up side of all this, It is amazingly gorgeous out (65 F / 18 C) AND I got through a bunch of episodes of the "Amnesty Arc" on The Adventure Zone podcast. Mason got me into it on our road trip down to Chicago. It's a roleplaying podcast, and this particular arc has a kind of contemporary monster-of-the-week vibe to it, like "Buffy" or "X-Files." I have always been an unusual nerd in that I actually enjoy hearing about people's D&D campaigns, even as an outsider. Getting to listen while other people play is actually a step _up_ from that, so it's extra-enjoyable. 

It is Wednesday, so I should report on the things that I managed to read thanks to a fruitful trip to the library:

Again!! (Vol. 1-3) by Mitsurou Kubo : A weird find that surprised me. It's about a loner/loser guy who, thanks to random/unexplained magic, is reliving high school along with another popular girl that he accidentally shunts back through time with him. Loser guy ends up joining the cheering squad, something he secretly wanted to do, while the popular girl keeps completely screwing up her friendships by being too forward with people who technically haven't met her yet. It's kind of a fascinating sports anime, with bonus magic?
 
Chou yo Hana yo / Butterflies; Flowers (Vol, 1) by Yoshiara Yuki : I only read the first volume of this because I don't understand straight people. Girl, if he treats you like crap, walk away. Money (plus a weird connection in your past) does not equal hotness. Respect yourself.

Pluto by Uwasawa Naoki : I read the first three volumes of this one, too, but only because that's all that the library had. I've actually put in a request for as many of the rest as they own. This one is based on the world of Astro Boy, which I have never read or seen, which I suspect makes me a fake fan.I had no idea that a big part of the world of Astro Boy was about robot/AI and human interaction. Pluto actually follows a robot detective that gets entangled in a series of murders of his fellow veterans of the last big war, some of whom are also robots.

Mayonoka no Occult Koumuin / Midnight Occult Civil Servants by Tamotasu Yoouko is my new anime obsession, but I also read the single chapter that's available currently online. I had one of those things I have where something about a side character instantly pulled me in and now I'm completely hooked. The basic story follows Arata Miyako on his first day on a job he thought was 'community relations.' Turns out, that wasn't WRONG, as Arata is liaising with a community, it just happens to be a community that are call "Anothers"--yokai, ghosts, spirits, gods, and the like.  I kind of like this one because: caution tape and paper work feature prominently. Alas, the anime is new enough that Crunchyroll is still locking down new episodes as they come out, so I think there's only 5 that are freely available (6 if you're a subscriber.)

In a few minutes, I'm going to get up and head out to hang out with Eleanor to try to get some work on Unjust Cause done. I also need to start work on my Loft critique. 

At some point, i should probably check in with my library work? I kind of sort of forgot to take hours this month, so that's kind of awkward, also there are some webinar type things that are due that are like sexual harassment training things that are required.  So... yeah.

Anyway, how's by you?

Or something like that.  

I just spent two hours on my yard. Can you tell that I just spent two hours on my yard? Probably not.  Though, you might be able to tell that I mowed the boulevard, if only because the grass had gotten long enough to start to sprout seed heads. But, really, now our boulevard basically looks like everyone else's boulevard, so maybe not?

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person in the world that struggles with basic yard work. 

Though, last night, Shawn and I took a walk around the neighborhood and I noticed that my immediate neighbors seemed to have as many bare patches and rough sections as I do. I do wonder that, given the shift in how my generation feels about going organic and chemical free, if we're going to see a lot more crappy lawns in general.  We're certainly not the only people in our immediate neighborhood to plant front yard gardens.  Several folks a block or so east have entirely shade/natural flower gardens for "lawns."

But, back to my original point, I also have to wonder if some of my frustration with yard work is that I'm kind a clumsy nerd at heart.  Just pulling out the lawn mower was a huge hassle of untangling the electric cord and hauling it around to the boulevard and THE WHOLE THING WAS JUST SO HARD.  Probably other people don't trip over the cords they're carrying. Gods, I do. And, then, like Pig Pen from "Peanuts" I end up tangled in the cords and completely immobilized. (At least that's how I feel.)

On the other hand, it's done now and the yard looks fairly passable. 

At least where most people can see it.

 Yesterday I managed to sprain... my instep? the arch of my foot?... doing nothing more than bending down, while gardening.  I'm doing R.I.C.E.(Rest. Ice. Compress. Elevate.)  It hurt like CRAZY yesterday, but after a good night's sleep and a bunch of ibuprofen, I can put a decent amount of pressure on it now without feeling like I want to scream.

I have no idea what I did. Twist wrong? Step down funny? Stretch?

It makes me feel old. But, I'm going to keep resting it, and if I can feel the same amount better that I did between yesterday and today, I should be back to new (or old, as the case may be) in no time.

This is what I get for attempting to sweep and clear out the front gardens a little.  Lesson, children?  Don't do any more housework than absolutely necessary. You could hurt yourself.

We went to LaCrosse, as we do, over Memorial Day Weekend.  My mother gave me some violets and hosta, which I quick put in the ground as soon as we got home.  I think a lot of my empty spaces are finally filled out.  Hopefully, my next problem (and I can already see a little bit of it in my established sections of the faux Japanese Garden) will be overcrowding.  As far as I'm concerned, that's a good problem to have.  I'm pleased and amazed that I managed all this without spending a penny.  Everything came as gifts from friends and family!  The only thing I'm going to have to buy is compost and mulch.

Our trip was relaxing.  Not much to report there.  We had a lot of "porch time" with my folks. The only excursion we did was to a nearby prairie park.  My mom had wanted to see prairie smoke in the wild and we happened to catch a bunch of it in bloom. 

 I kept up on my tiny bit of gardening every day goal today, at least.  My neighbors at the end of the block were giving away edging rocks. I hauled all of those over to set up a title border at the top of my hill.  As I think I mentioned before, the plan is to give up on trying to grow grass there and plant a deep/dappled shade garden. If I could afford it, it would be neat to do a woodland shade garden with native plants, but that might be asking too much (both of my skill set and my pocketbook).  I can totally do ferns and such, though.

Next step will be buying some dirt from Menards.  Part of the idea of the little rock border at the top of the hill is to hopefully stop all the dirt from eroding down the hill.  

Otherwise, sent in an application to write for Twin Cities Geek.  It's not a paying gig, but they were specifically looking for women to review comic books and since that's something I'm reading, anyway, I thought it might be fun to do it for them.

You?

 ...but it probably won't.

The last few days have been very dreary. There's been cloud cover and cold, moist winds that smell like rain.  Yesterday, it actually sprinkled for all of ten minutes (it even thundered), but when all was said and done, it was a very lackluster show of moisture.  I think my plants would really like some wet.  If it's going to be dark and stormy-looking, I wish it would just commit to the idea.

Weather people are saying it might actually snow. Of course, it'll do THAT, now that every Minneapolitan/Saint Paulie spent the weekend uncovering their various gardens. My luck, the snow will kill the few things that have managed to sprout in my otherwise dead yard.

I think this is the year I give up on grass.  I've been trying to re-grass the top of our hill, under our maple tree for the last couple of years.  I usually have pretty decent luck getting grass to sprout, but it never manages to really take hold and survive the winter.  I think it's time to look at a shade garden for the top of the hill.  Ferns and hostas and stuff like that.  

Usually, my biggest hold up for projects like this is money.  Hostas are surprisingly expensive.  Plants, in general.  So, if you're local to me and you hear about plant sales/giveaways please let me know.  I think this week I might go to Menards some dirt and start prepping the area.  Somewhere in this house we still have a gift certificate someone gave us to Gerten's. I might have to make a trip out there soon to see what they have that might work under the tree.

In other, possibly more exciting news, I'm doing a reading tonight at Magers & Quinn in Minneapolis from 7 pm to 8 pm.  I'm going to be part of a group that's reading from the anthology we were all published in: BOUNDARIES WITHOUT: The Calument Editions 2017 Anthology of Speculative Fiction (link is to the Kindle edition, but it's also available in paperback).  It's sometimes tough to find parking in Uptown, but I usually park in the ramp there behind the square or whatever it's called. Should be a good night. I hope to see some of you there.

For some reason Magers & Quinn could not get copies of PRECINCT 13 to sell, so if you go, you might want to ask them to order a few copies and/or bring your own for me to sign. This has been happening to me a lot--where I agree to be at various venues, and the book purchasers say that they can't get my most recent publication.  The first time this happened, I discovered it was because SONG OF SECRETS was showing up as my latest release.  That book has been completely pulled by the publisher for various and sundry reasons. But, even when I underscore to bookstore people that, no, please get my most recent Penguin release, they can't seem to manage it.  I don't really understand why not. From what I can tell, all my romance books are still available.  It's concerning.  I suppose I should see if I can order some from Penguin for myself to sell (because that's what Magers & Quinn wanted me to do--bring my own for them to sell on commission, but I don't normally keep my own books around, since they SHOULD be easy to order.)

On the other hand, maybe my lack of other books will inspire more listeners to buy a copy of the anthology.  I'll look at it that way.  Besides, I suspect that a lot of people who know me have already bought their copies of Precinct 13 some time ago.  :-)

Tate's newest installment is up!

In this episode, Valentine reveals more about his past and Alex finds herself deeply jealous of someone who died over a hundred years ago... http://www.wattpad.com/48927549-unjust-cause-part-7-kinbaku-and-kitsch

Go get it!

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. I'm actually writing to you from the Blackbird Café in ValParasio, Indiana. If you go to the Wikipedia page I linked to, you'll actually see the block that the Blackbird is on. I also took a few pictures of this place to be uploaded when we get back. Particularly for my friend empty_mirrors, I also took a shot of the vastness of Illinois. She didn't ask to see it, but we were talking about the distances in the US (because it *is* rather unfathomable that we drive for ten hours and don't even really go more than a couple of states in distance.) And, so when we stopped at a rest stop, we happened to be across from a giant wind farm and there's nothing but a whole lot of empty space and the giant turbines spinning in the breeze. It was rainy and overcast, so I hope the picture really shows how desolate and empty that part of the country really feels.

At any rate, we're here visiting my mother-in-law/Shawn's stepmom/Mason's grandma. Mason has this month off, so it's a good time to do our traveling.

One of my favorite things about visiting grandma is that there really isn't a lot to do. I finished reading Ben Aaronovitch's RIVERS OF LONDON/MIDNIGHT RIOT and I'm looking forward to starting MOON OVER SOHO. I also brought along Bleach 60 (which our library finally had and I'm looking forward to re-reading) as well as a couple of volumes of FMA.

My single LEAST favorite thing about visiting grandma is that she has no wifi. So, I have this tiny window to do ALL THE THINGS, when we sneak off to the coffee shop at 7:00 am. I feel bad about it, but it really kills two birds with one stone. Grandma is a Norwegian originally from the Iron Range of Minnesota, so her coffee is... typical of that sort of person. I won't say it's 'bad,' but I'd have to drink three hundred gallons of it to feel SEMI-human. So it's better for all of us, if we get up at the crack of dawn and hang for a couple of hours at the café.

On the Saturday before we left, I had a Loft gig that I knew was going to be... "interesting" to use another Minnesotan phrase from the moment I walked in and they did the classic, "And you are...?" The library had no idea I was coming or where my event was supposed to be held, despite the fact that it was the sort of thing people had to have REGISTERED for (I was expecting three, which was never sterling, but often, with proper signage and walk-ins, you can gather a larger crowd.) But, while the Teen library blushed in deep embarrassment, I found a spot to settle and made sure that the Circulation staff (what I usually am) knew where to direct people. I got two out of the three I was expecting, but it actually turned out all right. They were two boys, a little older than Mason, who really liked the READ part of the "Reading to Write" program. So, we talked books and exchanged recommendations (most of which I passed on to Mason.) We were having such a good conversation, actually, that we ended up going over by fifteen minutes.

But that whole day was crazy, actually, because we were packing to leave, Mason had swimming, D&D, AND it was the day that Shawn and I needed to pick up the wisteria we ordered from the friends of the parks. Alas, the friends neglected to inform us that the plants we'd be picking up were BARE ROOT, so, in the middle of all this chaos, I had to take time to plant FIVE WISTERIA. Of course, it was more than digging holes and plunking things in, because we're actually trying to replace the hops that we foolishly let cover our fence. Hops are... yeah. They grow fast. They spread. So, I spent most of my "planting" time actually tearing out giant, ropy rhizomes. It was fairly insane, so showing up to the "And you are...?" just seemed like a continuation on a theme....

I just want to say a quick "hello" before going back to being head down over the keyboard. I'm trying to finish a fist draft of PRECINCT 13 this week so I can get it to beta readers and off to the publisher before we get into the "omg, so OVERDUE" part of the deadline missage.

I'm at a coffee shop this morning, however, because I have to head back up the hill to collect Shawn. She's got a doctor's appointment to get a vitamin B12 shot. This is suppose to be part of the cure for theright-side numbness that she had that sent us to the hospital all those months ago. Our big plan is, if the medicine doesn't make her sick, to have a lunch date afterwards.

We had a busy/not-busy weekend. We didn't have a lot on officially, but we did a lot of yardwork and we got the boxes of Halloween decorations out of the attic and STARTED putting those out/up. Halloween is one of our favorites, and I like to get creative. We built a garbage bag, leaf-stuffed spider for the front yard, and we started a scarecrow "victim" for her web. We're waiting to put up all the cobwebs until we get a new front door.

We've had a broken screen door for years. Part of the reason we haven't replaced it until now is that part of the issue is the when the spring broke, it took out part of the frame. I'm only SO handy and re-building door frames is out of my pay grade. But, we're going to see if Shawn's brother has the skill set. If nothing else, we're going to purchase the new door. We have a handyman on-call if we end up needing to pay someone.

Mason is taking swimming lessons again. He loves swimming, so it's a pleasant way to spend an hour or so on Saturday morning. I've been usuing the time to plot the novel and/or write to my pen pals (though I forgot to address the envelope this morning!)

That's about all the news fit to print. I had a great time on Friday going to the Occupy Minnesota demonstration at the "people's plaza" (formerly the government plaza) with Eleanor. We mostly did what Minnesotans do best -- stood around drinking coffee and chatting amiably. There was a little reading of declarations, but, generally, it was nice to be part of the movement in whatever small way I could. Because a nice woman gave me a sign that her daughter had made (the organize little fish eating the big one), a lot of people took pictures of my sign and I got interviewed by someone doing a "project" who wanted to know why I was there and what I hoped to get out of it. I said that what I'd like to see is more attention given to the middle class's' struggle by the media and politicians, and later Eleanor told me she was glad I answered that because she would have said, "REVOLUTION!"

I've also been enjoying the picture that's been going around Facebook of "Octopi Wall Street" because the day that Eleanor and I were there it was Cephlapod Appreciation Day.

I am such a weirdo.

I think that pretty sums up everything you might need to know about me, but I was thinking specifically of the fact that, unlike almost every other writer I know, I ADORE the revision process. I think it's the sense of accomplishment I get while I'm going through each page. In front of me today is a big pile of paper. It's a completed (if somewhat flawed) story. I don't have to figure out how it's going to end any more. It's written. I may, in point of fact, need to utterly CHANGE the ending for the novel to actually be any good, but I have a spare, you know?

I like that feeling. A lot.

Even though I know that when I get through this round of revisions another one is on its heels (or waiting in the wings and other such metaphors) -- around and around until publication.

But, you know, I've taken my first stab at it. I hit something. Now I just have to make sure my aim is true and I hit home.

Which is kind of a disturbing image since last night I had a really awful nightmare about discovering a serial killer had been to my house while I was away. And then I became a strange sort of magical-yet-evil house spirit myself who continued the killing spree. It was particularly disturbing because it's one of the first dreams that I remember taking place in THIS house, exactly as it's laid out. Usually, I have a stock stand-in metaphor for my house. It's partly my parent's house combined with this one with bits of other houses or apartments I've lived in or known, and a hotel (or a museum). But it's always generally the same place that my subconscious has dubbed "my house" even though it looks nothing like the place in which I currently reside. So besides being creepily violent, it was also very specific.

Banish, banish, banish!

Luckily, it's incredibly beautiful outside today and I have something I'm looking forward to doing in front of me. I'm sitting on the porch with the windows cracked open. There's coffee in the pot and a cat perched on the head of my chair behind me. The thing that's going to be hard is to stay indoors, when what I really want to do is start mucking about in the garden (even though there's still patches of stubborn snow in our back yard.) We're going to expand Mason's veggie garden this year. I really want to try growing lettuce. The seed catalogues all have these cute little individual serving size minature lettuce varieties and I just adore them. I want to see them growing in neat little rows in Mason's garden.

Ah, hurry up summer!!