editing

Wednesday, but don’t look for wisdom.

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acrobat action active adult

Not only can I not do that, but I can’t even totally figure out how it’s being done. Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Sometimes we expect things to be difficult. Some things intrinsically are; editing a book, for an example that is not at all relevant to me in anyway and is entirely hypothetical and stop interrogating me.

And sometimes we expect them to be difficult and they aren’t, like that phone call you’ve been putting off expecting it to take hours, but it’s done in minutes. That’s always fun.

But.

Then there are the things we expect to be easy. And they’re not.

That’s frustrating.

This morning I had that in the form of my workout. I saw the instructor and thought, OK, this shouldn’t be too bad, it will be yoga-ish. Ah, wrong.

It was hard. So hard. Much harder than I expected.

And while I was doing it, I was mad that it was hard. Because for some reason that defies logic, I’d decided it shouldn’t be. Which made it harder.

Workouts are as much a mental challenge as a physical one. Pretty much everything we do in life requires us to get our brains on board, and when we fight it, it just becomes all the more challenging.

Should we assume everything is hard? Should we reserve judgment?

I have no idea. All I know is that my expectations colored my experience. What if I’d gone into the workout expecting it to be at least as challenging as the prior two days?

I guess I’ll never know.

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

 

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AccountaClub Friday, August 31, 2018

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accountaclub-woodCan’t believe it’s the end of August already. This year is flying by, and yet it isn’t. Time is weird, but that’s not why we’re here today.

Please come steep in the irony with me that I didn’t feel like doing my #AccountaClub post today. I didn’t even want to be accountable for talking about being accountable.

At least I’m honest.

This week, I’ve actually made progress with the manuscript I’m editing, I’ve edited every single day. I haven’t been writing, aside from the blog posts, so the editing and writing at the same time is a balancing act I’ve yet to master.

If anyone has any tricks, let me know.

I’m still going strong with the Daily Burn, though. I love it as much as when I started, and I’ve tried to do it live all week. I was a little bit late one morning, so I had to wait for the live broadcast to end to do the workout, but I did it.

So that’s five days, five workouts! I love the live aspect of it, the people in the studio sweating just like I am, sometimes missing a beat, sometimes on the wrong foot. It’s real, and it’s an energizing way to start the day.

I’ve shifted my yoga to later in the day, and now that it has no responsibility for being a source of exercise, that’s made it even better. So physically, it’s all going well.

And that’s my week. How was yours, AccounAbles?

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

Monday comes around again.

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See this tiger? It has eyes. EYES OF THE TIGER.  Work with me here, people. Photo by Flickr on Pexels.com

Having a little bit of chocolate with my Monday morning coffee. Because why not? For all we know, some unseen asteroid may be hurtling toward us at this very moment, or a certain orange despot wannabe might try to change the conversation in a big big big way, and that square of chocolate could remain uneaten.

No one wants that.

Basically, I’m eating it for the universe. And because chocolate and coffee are the BFFs that put all other BFFs to shame.

Take that, Monday.

I’m still wearing my workout leggings because they have flowers and stars and they’re ridiculous and I love them, and why not? I haven’t quite settled into the day, though the morning is nearly over, so let’s not even get started on the week.

I think I’ve finally shaken a very persistent migraine, though, so I score that as win.

And here we are.

Still sticking with Daily Burn, which I love. I’ve started doing the live workouts, and it’s a fantastic way to begin the day, an accomplishment right out of the box. This week, they’re talking about setting goals.

Ah goals.

So my goal today is to do some editing. Some messy, tedious, exasperating editing. If I could handle this morning’s workout, 30 minutes alone in a dark alley with my manuscript should be a breeze.

Happy Monday! Have a goal you want to share? Please feel free!

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

#AccountaClub Friday and #JUkNOWuCanDoIt! June 22, 2018

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Well, it’s that time again, our regular #AccountaClub Friday here and week 3 of #JUkNOWuCanDoIt!, the carry-on from #MAYkingItWork over at Donna McNicol’s blog. I don’t see her update posted yet, but it’s been a tough week for everyone, and hopefully she’s doing well.

So, if you don’t know, Fridays we gather to talk about how our work is going, whatever work that may be. I’ve been editing a manuscript; if you’ve been here at all this week, you probably can guess, given what is happening in the US right now, my attention was…elsewhere.

I did manage my political column, so at least there’s that, but that’s not a surprise, of course, in the context of the above.

How about you? How did it go? And if it’s “badly,” as did mine, that’s fine too.

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

#AccountaClub Friday and #JUkNOWuCanDoIt! June 15, 2018

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Well, it’s that time again! It’s Friday, so it’s #AccountaClub and #JUkNOWuCanDoIt! #AccountaClub is a weekly feature here, and #JUkNOWuCanDoIt! is the fun support group over at DB McNicol’s blog!

So let’s catch up and talk about our weeks. Or week, since we all lived the same one. Probably.

Whatever.

My ongoing goals are to finish a first draft and edit a finished manuscript. I’ve also added a political column once a week over at Medium, it’s an outlet I’ve really needed. And as circumstances demand, I’ve given myself the freedom to write there more often.

The finishing of the first draft is nowhere, as I’ve realized when editing it’s awfully tough to switch gears. But we’ll see if I can get more balance next week.

Political column, check, and the editing is going. Slowly, but it’s happening. I hope I can make filet out of this mincemeat eventually, we’ll have to see.

How’s it going for you?

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

#AccountaClub Friday and #JUkNOWuCanDoIt! June 8, 2018

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So here we are, with Donna B. McNicol’s (D.B. McNicol’s? Which do you prefer?) #JUkNowuCanDoIt (though I don’t know if I can punctuate it properly, it’s a challenge within a challenge for me) which is a no-pressure support group for our work during the lovely month of June. Which just so happens (not that we planned it or anything, winky face winky face) to coincide with #AccountaClub.

How convenient is that?

If you don’t know the drill, tell us how your work is going, or even how your week is going if it’s been that kind of week. And we love good news and progress too! Drop a comment or write a blog post, it’s entirely up to you.

And on to my own reporting.

I’ve definitely been editing. There’s no question I’ve been editing. But it slow-going. I haven’t worked on the first draft, as my mind is on fixing the completed manuscript, so maybe that’s just what I need to be doing.

I wrote an extra political piece this week when the mood struck, so I count that as a bonus. I’m still going to stick to my Thursday opinion piece on Medium, so far it’s working.

I’m not flying, but I’m not standing still either. How about you?

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

Caffiend of Serendipity

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Look! It’s an EAGER BEAVER! By Steve from washington, dc, usa (American Beaver) via Wikimedia Commons.

No dithering about today. That second cup, a half-caff is on the brew. To heck with caffeine intolerance (just typed it as caffiend, which is utterly appropriate, a caffiend I am), entirely different kind of black gold, here I come.

And through the magic of time travel, also known as getting distracted by my very opportune typo and running off to share it on twitter, my coffee is ready. On we go.

Tomorrow is #AccountaClub, our weekly commiseration, and #JUkNOWUCanDoIt over at Donna B. McNicol’s blog, which is a handy extension of #MAYkingItWork! So gather your thoughts on your process this week, we’re all waiting to hear.

As for me, I’m letting this second cup of coffee soak in before tackling the hairier tasks of the day: my political piece, which I’m making a Thursday regular thing, with the freedom to write more if issues arise (Like the Supreme Court Masterpiece Cakeshop ruling); and editing my manuscript, which needs so, so much work.

Slowly but surely. See why I needed the extra caffeine, my fellow caffiends?

Besides, I need something to report tomorrow. Have a magical Thursday.

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

Wednesday and the Red Vine Cleanse

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Well it’s all kinds of Wednesday just Wednesdaying it up, if you know what I mean, and you probably don’t, because I’m not entirely sure myself. It’s a bit of a mood and a bit of an early start. And I’ve been on a four day Red Vine cleanse.

Or that’s what I’m calling my obsessive eating of Red Vines since I found a tub of them at the supermarket (a huge tub. Like if were made of glass, it’s what they would have sold Red Vines out of at the old-fashioned candy store). Obviously I deeply regret my decision to buy them and even more so my inability to keep my hand out of the jar, even though I put them somewhere high and thought I’d be deterred by having to stretch and reach for them.

Says the woman who does yoga every morning.

So that might have been a hitch in the plan.

The temps have cooled considerably, and it’s almost as though we’ve had all our summer in a week, which immediately brings to mind that heartbreaking Ray Bradbury short story, “All Summer in a Day.”

(Go find it and read it if you must, but I warn you, it’s pure paper cuts to the heart. What a writer.)

Though getting up early didn’t agree with me at the time, it seems to agree with me now, I feel sharp and clear. Maybe because it’s chilly in here. No gentle warmth to lull me back to sleep.

So I shall strike while the striking is hot. Or chilly.

Whichever.

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

 

 

#AccountaClub and #JUkNOWUCanDoIt!

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If you’re looking for the #MAYKingItWork wrap-up here you go.

Welcome to the very first #AccountaClub! First, a HUGE thank you to our friend Donna B. McNicol for somehow creating a logo consisting of the contents of my brain. Note, we didn’t discuss the contents of my brain.

She just knew.

Speaking of knew and other forms of that word, Donna is hosting #JUkNOWUCanDoIt this month over at her blog (link in the paragraph above or just click her logo below). It’s like #MAYKingItWork, in that it’s a no-pressure goal support group, only June-ier.

And now we’re back to #AccountaClub.

See how well they work together? What’s that, hypothetical reader? You don’t see because I haven’t explained #AccountaClub?

Right. You have a point.

So #AccountaClub is our Friday get-together where we talk about our week’s productivity. If you’re not a writer, that’s totally fine. Tell us how it’s going, whatever it may be! Take it as accountability or an accounting, depending on your week. Dealer’s choice!

Feel free to blog about it and drop a link in the comments so we can find your post (I’ll update the Friday post with your links) or just write a comment as long as you need. This is friendly, non-pressured support.

Just like #JUkNOWUCanDoIt! See what I did there? Swing by Donna’s for the full details. Why wait until next week? Feel free to start now! Happy commiserating!

 

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

#MAYkingItWork Friday Update: Tools

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Hey #MAYkers! This is our last official Friday in May, though I suggest we gather next Thursday too, for our final updates! Well, finalish.

Because I have an idea I’d like to float around, but we’ll get to that in a second. I mean I could go ahead with it and see if you all notice that I’m not actually updating my progress, but you’re an awfully astute bunch, so I know better.

How was that for stalling? Not bad?

I made progress on both projects this week, though not as much progress as I would have liked. I did spend some energy on a political piece at Medium; I’ve decided political opinion writing is something I’d like to get back into doing. So if you’re interested, you can check out my work there, I’m planning to publish on a more regular basis.

My new stylus has infinitely improved my editing, since it hearkens (huh, I didn’t know there was an e in there. Neither did spellcheck, by the way, it just knew it was wrong. Thanks Dictionary.com) back to my early habits of editing on paper. I’m on my third round with the completed manuscript, and that tends to be slow-going because there’s so much attention to word choice and sentence structure.

The downside is the incomplete manuscript I’m supposed to be reading is also getting edited, even though it’s not time for editing. Hmm. But I’m going forward. Incrementally. Still forward.

And now my idea. I’m really liking this reporting in on Fridays, and since I never, ever let a pun go unpunned or a portmanteau go unported, next Friday, I’ll launch #AccountaClub. (I did warn you. Didn’t I warn you?)

It’s our little accountability club–or mine, if no one else wants to play along–where you can come and brag or whine or whatever you need to do on Friday. We can also think of it as our accounting club, but not the math kind, the kind where we just talk about the week.

So how’s it going?

#MAYkingItWork Updates:

Donna B. McNicol

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.