Maybe she followed me home…

I’m back home now. My trip to Portland was a working trip, but the evenings were my own. I know I missed some things like blog posts, but I did what I could under the circumstances.

I have no idea why the post about Portland Walking Tours posted twice. Could be dodgy hotel wifi, or maybe a ghost followed me home. I am loath to delete one of them, because both got comments and likes. Don’t want anyone to think I don’t appreciate them.

If I have a ghost, it’s a girl, cause that’s the way I want it.

Tour guide Tyler found one of the posts and commented. That was super cool, and so was the link to the ghostly vortex that appeared in one of the parking lots. This; unfortunately, wasn’t on my tour, but it’s cool. I never got actual confirmation as to whether I could share it, but since the link was provided I’m going to go ahead.

“All credit to tour guide Tyler at Portland Walking tours”

Honestly, if you get a chance to go one one of these tours, do it. I had a great time.

Today, I had the privilege of the DMV. My driver’s license is about to expire, so I renewed. I’m not going to go into all the fun involved, because we all have to go through it. It’s nice that Idaho offers an eight year renewal cycle if you pay extra. You can bet your paranormal vortex I did.

Old What’s Her Face went to Nevada to visit her brother today. Left to my own devices, I should probably write something. I’m going to work on Lisa Burton Radio projects, and get a few other things scheduled for next week.

I will spend some time reading, and may pull my novella out for the first editing pass. Then again, maybe I’ll spend some quality time with my X-Box. Hope the ghost girl likes video games.

As predicted…

I didn’t get much done this weekend. It was fun hanging out with my parents, and I even got to finish up my beer tour at Old Chicago Pizza. I earned a really nice hooded sweatshirt.

Last night we ate at The Yardhouse, and there were plenty of good beers there. I ordered the Anderson Valley Wild Turkey Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout. That’s one of my favorites, and I always have at least one when I go there. I was about beered out, so it was mostly to wash down supper. I was feeling adventurous and tried something called vampire tacos. These consist of a small flour tortilla that has been grilled somehow in a blanket of crispy cheese. I have to say they were awesome. If you live near a Yardhouse, you might want to check these out.

After Mom and Dad hit the road it looked as though I might find some reading time. It wasn’t meant to be, because I had a string of interruptions. I managed one chapter, and don’t know if my retention was all that good.

Ultimately, I decided to bag it. My son and I played Borderlands on the X-Box all afternoon. I feel like a slacker, but that’s how it went down.

In bits and pieces, I managed to get some blog things scheduled. I am a guest in a couple of places, and am hosting others here. I think I have a conflict one day, but I’ll deal with that after I figure it all out.

Back to work tomorrow for four ten-hour shifts.

I could have gotten more done. I could have gotten less done too, so I’ll take it and look forward to next weekend.

A good day, if a long one

I stayed up late again gaming with my son. He wanted to game again today, but I told him I had some work to do. I started out at six AM, and didn’t stop editing until one PM. It’s a real joy to have talented friends who can mark things up for me. It looks like I still have the Apple problem that capitalizes any attribution after a question mark. Those were still peppered throughout the manuscript.

Yak Guy is looking pretty darned good though.

I hurried up and cruised through social media after I finished, because it’s a necessary evil. Then I wrote and/or scheduled three blog posts. I did all of that with a bulldog in my lap too. It’s like being a handicap golfer. Frankie is my writing handicap.

Good news; all of my task lists is completely checked off.

Bad news; after my marathon day, I return to the paycheck job tomorrow after having been out for a week. I expect to be swamped until October.

Got some good news about the anthology I’m participating in, so I have to work up some things for it this week in the evenings. Probably not tomorrow though, because I have critique group right after work.

Here is a picture of a fun beer I tried at date night this weekend:

Sadly, I did not see a pink elephant. I kind of wish I had another one right now. I’m tired enough that the elephant might actually show up tonight.

Vacation Update

I skipped my Sunday evening post to honor the guest I hosted. I'm typing this right now with Frankie straddled across one leg. She's the smaller of the puppies and more into cuddling than Nyx is.

Nyx is crashed out on the floor in a typical bulldog pose. Four feet in the air and snoring away. Otto is restless and uncomfortable. His pain medication seems to be helping, but not enough. I think we need to go back to the vet and see if there's more that can be done. I miss my happy-go-lucky dog, and he's more like an old dog that just sleeps all the time.

I've been getting things done, despite my little typing handicap. The Enhanced League is with the formatter, and we've exchanged a few emails. I've been working on blog tour posts, and have four of them roughed out, two as me and two from Lisa so she can distribute her posters. I need more, but it's progress.

I got my critique submissions all printed and worked up. I even put them in the truck so I won't forget them at tomorrow night's meeting.

Somewhere in the mix, I put my final touches on the Story Empire post and it went live this morning.

I got the initial shtick out for a couple of the Lisa Burton Radio posts. First finished, first posted on those. I need to work up a few more of these, because authors all work at different speeds. Some of them are waiting for publication dates and that's wise too. I will massage the schedule to time with their release dates.

The precursory research for my time travel story is done, but I need to do some deeper research. I also did a bit of research for my Fourth of July post. It's mostly a graphic, but I still want a few words.

For the remaining work, I need to finish reading the craft book I've been working through. There is also a novel I'd like to start reading. I need to write more blog tour posts, and a few per day feels like the right pace. I never know how many volunteers I'll get until I ask for them, and I like to be prepared. I'll have my own critiques to address after tomorrow night.

Then there is The Yak Guy Project. I swore I'd never release another book during the summer, but it looks like Enhanced League will come out in July. That might not be so bad for a 99¢ special that deals with baseball, a summer sport. Yak Guy might just have to wait until September, even if I get it ready before that. The challenge is to get it ready now. I can't procrastinate and cause it to come out months later.

I just checked on Lisa Burton Radio, which I track with another living document. It makes a statement about our society, that a nice post called Dear Lisa doesn't get any response. She pulls on her booty shorts and shakes her sign and gets twenty-one and counting responses. I've learned a lot about women in our society from Lisa, and tried to address some of that in The Enhanced League. (Fingers crossed. As a man, I may not have gotten it perfect.)

For the rest of today, I may read, I may write guest posts, I may edit on Yak guy. My son tells me there is an update coming on Diablo III that provides a new character class that we both want to try. It's supposed to come out this week, so I may chuck the whole thing and play video games. I am on vacation after all.

 

Goofed off all weekend

I posted on Friday about my minuscule word count, and how Otto was demanding attention. I also mentioned the eagle, but have no idea what he's about yet. There are some big goings on at work this week, and maybe he has something to do with that.

My wife and I went to Costco for date night. Okay, we went to dinner, but we chose the restaurant based on its proximity to Costco.

I spent a considerable amount of time playing video games with my son. I got an X-Box for Christmas, and haven't really done anything with it. He and I don't do much together, and we both had a good time.

Do I regret not working on my novel? Not really. I spend mountains of time on writing, and if I goof off for a couple of days – so be it. It will all get finished.

The next small project is invading my dreams now. It's screaming for attention, and that's where I have to be concerned. A bunch of nearly complete projects don't help me at all. I need to finish Yak Guy, and the ending should be fulfilling. I'm looking forward to writing it, but goofed off anyway.

I need to hold off on the small projects until I get through the editing phase of two books. I also need to put some thought into my promotions too.

I spent a big chunk of the morning getting our tax stuff bundled up for the accountant. It's always an eye opener to see how much I spend on self publishing compared to what I make. I'm looking forward to a day when I can break even.

I hope all of you enjoyed a good weekend. I did, and I feel like I deserved it too.

The saga of today

I've been waiting for some news all day. It never came, and so the post I had planned will have to wait for another time.

My wife works at a hospital, and her holiday time has to be shared. She got today off, but has to work tomorrow and Monday. My instructions were to entertain Otto, the dog, for a few hours so she could sleep in.

We had some degree of success with what I call poodle time. It involves him zoning out in my lap and leaving my poor wife her one day to sleep in.

I spent a little bit of time playing pumpkin ball, and since the squeaker has been tusked to death, it makes a quiet toy now. (There on the floor in the picture.)

The sun came up, but at five degrees it didn't seem to make much difference. The world was covered in pogonip. This is a Nevada/Indian word for what everyone else calls hoarfrost.

It really is beautiful, and I spotted a great horned owl in one of the trees around town. I couldn't get a shot of him without too many branches in the way, so you'll have to imagine how wonderful it was. The screens at the local baseball diamond were like thin sheets of ice twenty feet tall.

We decided to spoil Otto by taking him to the pet store. He chose a couple of squeaky bones, and a furry football. Then we stopped by Whole Foods and my wife grabbed a pair of lobsters.

Quiet night indoors for us. New Years Eve has been called amateur night by many, and it's a good time to stay off the roads.

I got a new X-Box for Christmas, and we decided to play with it tonight. Not much fun there. Umpteen jillion megabite downloads are required, and it's been pretty useless so far. I've never owned a gaming system before, so this came as a surprise. Then the controller needed an update, then each game needs an update…boring.

I managed a bit of short fiction, and that has to count as my victory today. That's only a writing victory, and the dog, the pogonip, the nice dinner with my wife are bigger victories.

Hope you are all having a nice New Year's celebration, and be careful out there.