Word count
17 May 2013 12:58 pm+1000, 24065.
Today's early productivity brought to you by the Cup-a-Joe on King St.
Today's early productivity brought to you by the Cup-a-Joe on King St.
Word count
16 May 2013 04:12 pm+1015, 23065.
Apparently, getting characters to talk about their backstory and have emotions at each other means I get words done. Not finished this scene yet, but I need to get away from the computer.
Apparently, getting characters to talk about their backstory and have emotions at each other means I get words done. Not finished this scene yet, but I need to get away from the computer.
Word count
15 May 2013 04:46 pm+850, 22050
Mishap of the day: Realizing that a character didn't know a particular thing before, so he couldn't think about said thing at a time when he did. So I had to cut it out.
Mishap of the day: Realizing that a character didn't know a particular thing before, so he couldn't think about said thing at a time when he did. So I had to cut it out.
Word count
10 May 2013 04:28 pm+930, 20340.
I'm going to have to find a lot of new scenes to make this a novel. :/
I'm going to have to find a lot of new scenes to make this a novel. :/
Word count
8 May 2013 03:13 pmMonday: +15
Today: +625, 18520.
My writing group liked the Thanksgiving scene and thought I set up the local color very well. The German guy's reaction to green bean casserole got laughs. (green beans + cream of mushroom soup + those little fried onion things from a can -> oven. It's SO 1950s traditional, and I haven't eaten it in years because Ben hates green beans.)
Today: +625, 18520.
My writing group liked the Thanksgiving scene and thought I set up the local color very well. The German guy's reaction to green bean casserole got laughs. (green beans + cream of mushroom soup + those little fried onion things from a can -> oven. It's SO 1950s traditional, and I haven't eaten it in years because Ben hates green beans.)
Iron Man 3 SPOILERS POST
5 May 2013 08:20 pmIf you haven't seen Iron Man 3, do not expand this lovely cut tag. You shouldn't read comments, either.
( no seriously, don't do it )
( no seriously, don't do it )
When the cat's away...
5 May 2013 08:01 pmthe mouse will do pretty much the same thing she'd do anyway. :/
While Ben is off at his college reunion in California, I've been looking for things to do to break the monotony. Being self-employed (technically, after all) and not really ever going out of the house means that when Ben's not here, I literally don't see any other human beings unless I go out.
Thursday night I had sword class, which was normal, and that was fun. Friday I went out to see Iron Man 3 with a friend. Saturday I did my usual grocery shopping and stuff, and it was LA's birthday party, but it didn't start until 10 pm, and after falling asleep on the couch in the middle of the afternoon, I didn't think going out was a good plan. So I did homework and read.
Today I checked out the new Mystery Brewing Public House. It's small, about the same capacity as the Wooden Nickel, and it's quiet (thus far). A couple people were playing some complicated board+card+token game, and there's a game table of some sort (kind of like air hockey? I didn't investigate too closely). My kung-fu-older-siblings (if it were a Japanese art, I'd call them sempai, but I don't know the Chinese word) James and Violet joined me, and we talked about life, cats, tai chi, life, stuff, beer... It was fun. I hadn't ever seen them outside of the context of class or some school-related thing before, so it was nice getting to talk about things other than "am I doing this right?"
Tomorrow I'll do my usual work day things, which is play stupid facebook games for a while then start writing, and I'll pick Ben up at the airport at the appointed time.
This is actually the most successful I've been at not going slowly mad while Ben's out of town yet. I'm an extravert; I need people. If I'm alone too long, I start retreating into myself and not wanting to go out, which makes things worse. So this time, I made plans (though today's plans were tentative), and it worked. Yay.
While Ben is off at his college reunion in California, I've been looking for things to do to break the monotony. Being self-employed (technically, after all) and not really ever going out of the house means that when Ben's not here, I literally don't see any other human beings unless I go out.
Thursday night I had sword class, which was normal, and that was fun. Friday I went out to see Iron Man 3 with a friend. Saturday I did my usual grocery shopping and stuff, and it was LA's birthday party, but it didn't start until 10 pm, and after falling asleep on the couch in the middle of the afternoon, I didn't think going out was a good plan. So I did homework and read.
Today I checked out the new Mystery Brewing Public House. It's small, about the same capacity as the Wooden Nickel, and it's quiet (thus far). A couple people were playing some complicated board+card+token game, and there's a game table of some sort (kind of like air hockey? I didn't investigate too closely). My kung-fu-older-siblings (if it were a Japanese art, I'd call them sempai, but I don't know the Chinese word) James and Violet joined me, and we talked about life, cats, tai chi, life, stuff, beer... It was fun. I hadn't ever seen them outside of the context of class or some school-related thing before, so it was nice getting to talk about things other than "am I doing this right?"
Tomorrow I'll do my usual work day things, which is play stupid facebook games for a while then start writing, and I'll pick Ben up at the airport at the appointed time.
This is actually the most successful I've been at not going slowly mad while Ben's out of town yet. I'm an extravert; I need people. If I'm alone too long, I start retreating into myself and not wanting to go out, which makes things worse. So this time, I made plans (though today's plans were tentative), and it worked. Yay.
Word count
3 May 2013 11:45 am+510, 17120.
Early again, because there's football at noon, and I'm seeing Iron Man at 4:15.
Early again, because there's football at noon, and I'm seeing Iron Man at 4:15.
Word count
2 May 2013 02:27 pm+720, 16610
Early words today because I need to take Ben to the airport and get cat food.
Early words today because I need to take Ben to the airport and get cat food.
Word count
24 Apr 2013 03:29 pm+660, 14030.
Less like pulling teeth, but I know I'm going to have to expand a lot of things later. (Not just in this scene, either.)
Less like pulling teeth, but I know I'm going to have to expand a lot of things later. (Not just in this scene, either.)
So I got the result of my first test in this class back. I passed, barely: 19.5/30 (passing is 19).
I don't know why I did so badly, and the office people won't explain why because it's a Leistungsergebnis and all I can do is read the commentary on my exam, which is shit like "read this section of the book again," and I'm just "Bitch, I was fucking LOOKING at that page when I wrote my answer, why the fuck do you think reading it again is going to help me one fucking bit?"
I've gone between upset-sad and upset-pissed about this so many times, and I'm convinced I'm just too fucking stupid to figure out their vague questions and imprecise definitions. (See also: become more familiar with the terminology and principles of interactive learning... The former isn't exactly well-defined (I had to go to fucking WIKIPEDIA for some shit), and the latter wasn't exactly in the book. So leck mich.))
I feel like I've wasted two thousand fucking dollars.
I need to do a practicum (in Germany, because I don't know of any sites here that meet their criteria), which means another thousand+ dollars for airfare, plus living expenses, plus any fucking fee the site charges.
And I can't learn the way they expect me to. I don't have the ability to guess what they're getting at, I've never taken a linguistics course, the way I learned grammar 20 years ago bears no resemblance to the things I'm reading in this text, and most vitally, I need much more precise, clear explanations of material.
Seriously. I read something, I understand it as far as what's in the text goes, and yay. Apparently I'm supposed to ~reflect~ on everything when I read it so I can teach myself? I don't fucking know.
I'm too fucking stupid to take this class. I can retake up to 3 of the exams (8 total). I'm not terribly hopeful that I can pass at least 4/7.
Fuck all this.
I don't know why I did so badly, and the office people won't explain why because it's a Leistungsergebnis and all I can do is read the commentary on my exam, which is shit like "read this section of the book again," and I'm just "Bitch, I was fucking LOOKING at that page when I wrote my answer, why the fuck do you think reading it again is going to help me one fucking bit?"
I've gone between upset-sad and upset-pissed about this so many times, and I'm convinced I'm just too fucking stupid to figure out their vague questions and imprecise definitions. (See also: become more familiar with the terminology and principles of interactive learning... The former isn't exactly well-defined (I had to go to fucking WIKIPEDIA for some shit), and the latter wasn't exactly in the book. So leck mich.))
I feel like I've wasted two thousand fucking dollars.
I need to do a practicum (in Germany, because I don't know of any sites here that meet their criteria), which means another thousand+ dollars for airfare, plus living expenses, plus any fucking fee the site charges.
And I can't learn the way they expect me to. I don't have the ability to guess what they're getting at, I've never taken a linguistics course, the way I learned grammar 20 years ago bears no resemblance to the things I'm reading in this text, and most vitally, I need much more precise, clear explanations of material.
Seriously. I read something, I understand it as far as what's in the text goes, and yay. Apparently I'm supposed to ~reflect~ on everything when I read it so I can teach myself? I don't fucking know.
I'm too fucking stupid to take this class. I can retake up to 3 of the exams (8 total). I'm not terribly hopeful that I can pass at least 4/7.
Fuck all this.
I'm thinking of starting an etsy shop to sell crocheted things and quilted things and whatnot, but I have no idea about the tax implications of it. If I sell to people *in* NC, I have to collect sales tax (or take it out of the sale price); if I sell to people *outside* NC, I don't.
Do I have to register as a business so I can send the state what meager sales taxes I collect? (I'm assuming I won't sell more than $100/mo.) What's the cutoff for hobby vs business, anyway? The IRS says it has to do with the intent to make a profit. Well, sonny, I wouldn't be selling shit if I didn't want to make money off it. Here is a more plain-English discussion of that.
I don't know, y'all. I just want to make some stuff and sell it to people at more than it cost me to make it.
Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing?
Do I have to register as a business so I can send the state what meager sales taxes I collect? (I'm assuming I won't sell more than $100/mo.) What's the cutoff for hobby vs business, anyway? The IRS says it has to do with the intent to make a profit. Well, sonny, I wouldn't be selling shit if I didn't want to make money off it. Here is a more plain-English discussion of that.
I don't know, y'all. I just want to make some stuff and sell it to people at more than it cost me to make it.
Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing?
Word count
19 Apr 2013 04:37 pm+520, 13540.
I decided that the scene I was going to put after yesterday's scene should be *before* it, so I had to rework parts of yesterday's scene. Fun.
(Also fun: the ridiculous wind gusts and strong sustained winds, and the tornado warning that just ended and watch that goes until 9 pm.)
I decided that the scene I was going to put after yesterday's scene should be *before* it, so I had to rework parts of yesterday's scene. Fun.
(Also fun: the ridiculous wind gusts and strong sustained winds, and the tornado warning that just ended and watch that goes until 9 pm.)
I am grumpy.
I am chronically undersocialized.
I can't afford to host parties as often as I did when I was actually getting paid.
I am an extravert (ESTJ).
I am also apparently a horrible unpleasant person that no one wants to spend time with because I'm mean and horrible. (No really, I've gotten emails detailing exactly how I am a horrible person and that's why no one wants to invite me to things.)
These things are all related.
But apparently when I throw a party, people come (probably because they know I make good food, because I'm a Heinrich, dammit, and we like food*).
But finding time when people are all free is tricky, because, you know, grown-ups and work and other standing plans and whatever.
But regardless, I'm going to try to have people over once a month on a standing basis because if I don't start seeing and interacting with humans other than my husband on a regular basis, I am going to go insane.
*digression: when I was a kid, I used to love these hors d'ouevres my mom would make that are dill pickles (not spears) coated in cream cheese and wrapped in corned beef. I hadn't thought about them until the Xmas party, when mom brought them. I made Ben eat one to feed my nostalgia. If anyone knows of a vegetarian corned-beef-like substance, please let me know.
I am chronically undersocialized.
I can't afford to host parties as often as I did when I was actually getting paid.
I am an extravert (ESTJ).
I am also apparently a horrible unpleasant person that no one wants to spend time with because I'm mean and horrible. (No really, I've gotten emails detailing exactly how I am a horrible person and that's why no one wants to invite me to things.)
These things are all related.
But apparently when I throw a party, people come (probably because they know I make good food, because I'm a Heinrich, dammit, and we like food*).
But finding time when people are all free is tricky, because, you know, grown-ups and work and other standing plans and whatever.
But regardless, I'm going to try to have people over once a month on a standing basis because if I don't start seeing and interacting with humans other than my husband on a regular basis, I am going to go insane.
*digression: when I was a kid, I used to love these hors d'ouevres my mom would make that are dill pickles (not spears) coated in cream cheese and wrapped in corned beef. I hadn't thought about them until the Xmas party, when mom brought them. I made Ben eat one to feed my nostalgia. If anyone knows of a vegetarian corned-beef-like substance, please let me know.
So help me
16 Apr 2013 03:19 pm Long Hidden is taking submissions. Various people on facebook have already refused to talk me out of writing a story about the Silesian Weavers' Revolt (1844). I'm already kind of busy, between this online course and writing a novel, and I really don't need to start another project that involves extensive research.
Though this line of thought has already inspired a derailment into genealogical research, because the place my great-grandfather was born, and probably his parents and grandparents, because 150 years ago people didn't move as much, was one of the towns involved in said weavers' revolt.
(And![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
heavenscalyx has given me pointers and dug up some stuff for me because she's awesome like that. All I could find was the record of Bertha, & Max's emigration (via Bremen, point of entry Baltimore, ship's name Köln) in 1908. (I already knew 1908 and that they settled in Lock Haven, PA, since that's where Grandpa's from. And for some reason, I can't pull August's.)
Bertha's occupation was listed as Textilarbeiter. She was probably a weaver. Something heavenscalyx found was that August was a silk weaver.
There were also siblings listed: Herman (1877-1959), Paul O (1882-1939).
If I knew people's maiden names, this would help. (I think my uncle Kurt has the most information of anyone in the family, so I should bug him. But he never answers his email.) *flail*
This is what I do when I should be writing.
Though this line of thought has already inspired a derailment into genealogical research, because the place my great-grandfather was born, and probably his parents and grandparents, because 150 years ago people didn't move as much, was one of the towns involved in said weavers' revolt.
(And
heavenscalyx has given me pointers and dug up some stuff for me because she's awesome like that. All I could find was the record of Bertha, & Max's emigration (via Bremen, point of entry Baltimore, ship's name Köln) in 1908. (I already knew 1908 and that they settled in Lock Haven, PA, since that's where Grandpa's from. And for some reason, I can't pull August's.)Bertha's occupation was listed as Textilarbeiter. She was probably a weaver. Something heavenscalyx found was that August was a silk weaver.
There were also siblings listed: Herman (1877-1959), Paul O (1882-1939).
If I knew people's maiden names, this would help. (I think my uncle Kurt has the most information of anyone in the family, so I should bug him. But he never answers his email.) *flail*
This is what I do when I should be writing.
Word count
15 Apr 2013 07:27 pm+580, 11270.
My heart goes out to everyone involved in the bombings at the Boston Marathon.
My heart goes out to everyone involved in the bombings at the Boston Marathon.
Word count
12 Apr 2013 04:38 pm+600, 10690.
We have reached the point in the plot where the novella ends. Now to find out what happens in the aftermath, because it's kind of a major international incident.
We have reached the point in the plot where the novella ends. Now to find out what happens in the aftermath, because it's kind of a major international incident.
Word count
11 Apr 2013 03:51 pm+505, 10100.
I broke 10k! There's still 80k to go, but five digits. Yeah!
I broke 10k! There's still 80k to go, but five digits. Yeah!
Word count
10 Apr 2013 03:04 pm+1185, 9585.
I'm about a third of the way through my outline. I'm going to have to find a lot of words. I know I need to have better transitions between scenes in some places, but man.
I'm about a third of the way through my outline. I'm going to have to find a lot of words. I know I need to have better transitions between scenes in some places, but man.
Word count
8 Apr 2013 04:41 pm+380, 8400
A low day today because there was a football match on from 2:15-4:15. (We won, 3:0.)
A low day today because there was a football match on from 2:15-4:15. (We won, 3:0.)
Word count
5 Apr 2013 05:36 pm+490, 8020.
I couldn't get started today for love or money. But I got somewhere eventually.
I couldn't get started today for love or money. But I got somewhere eventually.
