Category Archives: Writing

Art and Culture, Asia, Myth and Story, Writing

Endings

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Samhain                                                    Thanksgiving Moon

Took my final quiz.  Graded my five assignments of others.  The mythology class is over for me.  This week, too, I finished the first revision (not at all the last) of Missing.  And, too, it was just this week, Friday, that all the research I’d done prior to the Terra Cotta Warrior exhibition finally came together and created a good tour, maybe a very good one.

That means three areas where I’ve put a lot of energy over the last three months, since September, have all come to fruition and closure in the same week.  An accident, I think, but it has left me feeling exhilarated on the hand and let down on the other.  Sort of a dip, a consequence of juggling three large balls for a significant period of time, then having them all disappear.  What do I do now?

(Hermann-Hendrich-The-Norns-1906)

Well, I know the answer to that.  Latin.  This whole next week will be focused on translation.  Then, the week after that I’ll turn to learning how to print out my manuscript using the new software, making a few revisions of location and joining of scenes–and, I’ll add a scene I realized over dinner that I need to include.  A result of a change made earlier.

In the last week of the month, Christmas week, I’ll start writing Loki’s Children, Book II of the Tailte trilogy.  Looking forward to that.

Writing

Getting Close

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Samhain                                                             Full Thanksgiving Moon

Picked up Kate yesterday.  She missed the grandkids, but was glad to sleep in her own bed.

Eric, at Armstrong Kennels, said the snow up here on Thanksgiving night was so hard you couldn’t see through it.  Darn it.  I missed it.

(the holly king’s castle)

I’m closing in on the final chapters of Missing.  I was further along than I thought I was.  Once I get to the end, I still have a few things to do.  First, I have a character I’m going to eliminate and that will take some spackling and a fresh coat of paint.  Then, I have scenes that either need to get added to existing chapters or become chapters themselves.  Finally, I have to add location descriptors to the beginning of each chapter.  Not a lot of work, but some.  After all that, I have to figure how to compile the whole thing (using Scrivener) in a uniform format, then print it out.

At that point I’ll read through it again, editing as I go, this time with a pencil.  If it needs drastic changes, I’ll go through a third draft.  If not, I’ll print out a copy, then hand it out to readers.  After them, the third or fourth revision.  Probably one more round of reading, then a final draft.  At that point let the flogging of the manuscript begin.

Feels good to have gotten this far.

Family, Translating Metamorphoses, Writing

TGIM

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Samhain                                                              Thanksgiving Moon

6 degrees this morning.  Looked out my study window yesterday evening and saw two deer walking in the street, taking in the lights and wondering about the neighbor with MS.  The dogs didn’t want to stay outside long.  Too cold.

My goal is to have Missing’s first revision done by January 1st.  The Mythology class ends this week and will free up some time.  It’s load has been manageable, but with the research for the Terra Cotta Warriors I’ve had little spare time.  Missing and Latin have suffered.

Still haven’t located anyone to do our snowplowing.  No notices up on the usual places, grocery store bulletin boards, no advertising.  Odd, but it may reflect the minimal snow fall we got last winter.

Kate comes home today and our house will once again have its full complement of mammals.  This is an inter-mammalian species residence and I’m not counting the mice, the chipmunks, the raccoons, the opossums, the woodchucks, the squirrels and the rabbits though they reside on this property, too.  Many of the latter live under our far shed.

Cooking, Writing

A Quiet Sunday

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Samhain                                                                       Thanksgiving Moon

A quiet Sunday.  Up about 7 with the dogs.  Breakfast, oatmeal and a banana.  Downstairs to write my first pass on the assignment for the mythology class.  After that over to Festival.  Back.  Had two more pieces of pizza for lunch.  I said it was quiet day.

Started the soup, a thirteen-bean soup.  I soaked the beans over night, rinsed them, a bit foamy, added 5 quarts of water (I know. A lot of soup.) and a smoked turkey leg (replacing a ham-hock.  Less fatty, still smoky), brought it up to a boil, down to simmer for 3 hours.  Took a nap.

Got the ingredients for the  last thirty minutes of the soup together:  2 quarts tomatoes, chili powder, dried garlic flakes (ours), an onion, 2 cups worth.  This red onion made me back away from the counter, chemical warfare.  Damn effective.  All into the pot.  Boil again.  Wait.

It’s done.  Cooling.  Supper tonight.  And for many other nights.  A lot of it, most of it, will go in the freezer.  Tired of eating meat, fatty things, over indulgence.  Don’t like it but I do it anyhow.  A puzzle.

Now.  Edit the writing assignment.  250 words is a very tight capsule.  Got to squeeze information in sideways.

Translating Metamorphoses, Writing

At the Desk

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Samhain                                                            New (Thanksgiving) Moon

Moving further into Missing.  Changing P.O.V., cleaning up hanging threads.  Thinking about plot and the next book.

Studying Greek Tragedy last week and this.  They came in threes.  And, if I recall my theatre history, also have three acts opposed to the five of comedy.  I’m working in the trilogy form for the Tailte novels.  Gotta be one of the roots for that idea, right?

(Gustave Dore (1832-1883), “Viviane et Merlin se reposant dans la forêt”)

Translating more of Jason and Medea in Ovid.  Hard going.  Can’t lay off a week and expect to come back fast.  I need to do this everyday when possible.

Cleared the elm out of the vegetable garden and moved the trunk into position to block the dogs from the orchard.  More limbing on the thicker branches, but everything is outside the fence now.  I can handle about 20 minutes of the ax work.  Gets my heart pumping.  Then I finish off on the treadmill.  Mix it up.

 

Great Wheel, Writing

The Fallowturn Moon

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Samhain                                                                      Fallowturn Moon

Went out last night with the trash, rolling a plastic container, two really, down our long sloping driveway.  Night time and a dark sky lit well by a full moon, the Fallowturn moon.  Tonight, when the kiddies are out gathering in tribute from each home at which they arrive at least there will be light.  If the skies stay clear.

I’ve been working on Missing this morning, revising, a lot of taking it from third person to first.  Other adjustments, too.  As I go, other ideas come to me, more distanced from it now, trying to read it as a reader, not a writer.

Health, Weather +Climate, Writing

Wednesday Big Event: Flu Shot

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Fall                                                                      Harvest Moon

Worked on revising Missing this am, then went out with my retired spouse to the local CVS, into the minute clinic and we got our flu shots.  A real treat.  I don’t use them for anything else, but for getting a flu shot, the minute clinics are perfect.

Our dwarf lilac (now huge) has dropped all of its leaves though most trees and shrubs continue to hang to at least a few.  The only other with no leaves at all is the ash in the vegetable garden.  It feels like November, or an old-fashioned October.

When we went out today, there scallop shell cirrus high in a blue blue sky, a bright sun and various shades of red and orange all round, reflected back to us from Round Lake.  A northern fall day.  Just right.

 

Writing

The Curator’s Code

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Fall                                                                              Harvest Moon

I’ve gotten lazy about attributions and I’m gonna fix that.  I will show my source for every photograph I use, not inclusive of ones in my photo files for which I do not have a source.  This means all the photographs or images I use in the future will have some means for you to track back on them as far their original posting allows.

 

(lacma)

 

 

This Curator’s Code, for example, comes from here.

Why Attribute Discovery?

  1. RESPECT & COURTESY

    Every piece of information we encounter was put before us by someone who worked to create it, discover it, or bring it to our attention. Attribution is about acknowledging that labor and simply saying ‘thank you.”

  2. GENEROSITY OF SPIRIT

    Ideas spark other ideas. Attribution lets us give back credit to those who have enriched us creatively and intellectually by exposing us to ideas and content upon which we build our own.

  3. AN INFORMATION GENOME

    In an ideal world, where we all attribute our sources, an information genome would emerge and reveal how information travels on the internet. Understanding that ecosystem would help us evolve and improve it in the long run.

  4. KEEP THE RABBIT HOLE OPEN

    The internet is a whimsical rabbit hole of discovery. Acknowledging where information came from helps keep the rabbit hole open and makes the Web Wonderland better for all of us.

Attribution 101

  • CREATORS COME FIRST

    Attributing your source of discovery should never obscure attributing the creator or originator of the content. For instance, if you repost a compelling poster you found on your favorite design blog, first credit the person who designed the poster, and then attribute discovery to the design blog that brought it to your attention.

  • USE THE UNICODES–OR DON’T

    We’ve proposed two unicode characters for attributing. They’re clean and short, and they help spread the message of The Curator’s Code itself, but they are not the only way to attribute. You can always use words like “via,” or simply hyperlink to your source — the link is the important part.

  • S VS. R

    Part of what The Curator’s Code aspires to do is evolve our thinking about the levels of attribution. “Via” ᔥ tends to denote a direct repost — something you found elsewhere and shared with your audience with little modification or elaboration. “HT” ↬ tends to stand for indirect discovery — something for which you got the idea at your source, but modified or elaborated on significantly when sharing with your audience.

Attribute!Our bookmarklet helps you insert the unicode symbols into any text field, be it on Twitter or the publishing platform of your choice.
Writing

Tote That Paragraph

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Lugnasa                                                                             Autumn Moon

The morning changing point of view, cleaning up word choices, still considering major edits. Through several scenes.  At times this work energizes me, at other times it makes me yawn, want to lie down and take a nap.  Not sure I’ve completely arrived in the land of revision, though I’m making my way through the book, learning as I go.

There is quite a bit to add, the ending needs expansion and then parsing out among the rest.

Just finished reviewing my Aeneid translation.  Scratching my head, not able to clarify some jumbled syntax.  Sometimes I feel I’ve made great progress, then it reaches up and slaps me.  Facility still seems a long way off right now.

Writing

At Play In The Field of The Word

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Lugnasa                                                               Autumn Words

Rare Words

acosmist – One who believes that nothing exists
paralian – A person who lives near the sea
aureate – Pertaining to the fancy or flowery words used by poets
dwale – To wander about deliriously
sabaism – The worship of stars
dysphoria – An unwell feeling
aubade – A love song which is sung at dawn
eumoirous – Happiness due to being honest and wholesome
mimp – To speak in a prissy manner, usually with pursed lips

As an aureate might say, there was an ascomist, a paralian, who, dysphoric, dwaled and mimped until she could sing an aubade to express her sabaistic ecstasy.  Then she was, as he often said, eumoirous.