14 March 2003

Oh, John Scalzi's got it right on: "Yes, I am a workaholic. But I'm a workaholic in a bathrobe, and that makes all the difference."

My manuscript is sitting on the hassock. Soon, my feet will be sitting on the hassock, and my manuscript will be sitting in my lap. This is The Life. Whenever I get particularly stressy, I have to remind myself: hey, here I am, editing my book in my pajamas. Awwwww yeah.

A collaborative effort with Timprov and Rob gave me a working title for the story I drafted earlier this week -- if nobody else has a suggestion after reading it, it's going to be "Väinämöinen and the Singing Fish." There have been better titles in the history of the world. But there have been worse ones. The problem is that fish are inherently punny, I think.

After that, with some help from Timprov again, I figured out some political stuff for Dwarf's Blood Mead, which will help a lot, I think. Right now the politics are important but not particularly pervasive, and I think there are a couple of simple things I can do about that. I think this draft is going to be pretty kitchen sinky, but that's okay -- I can always cut things, especially with help.

After all of that, I felt competent. I mean, I don't usually feel incompetent, and I don't usually run around questioning my own competence. But I was firm and decisive and competent, and it was nice. I cut up peppers and broccoli and mushrooms and even chicken firmly and decisively, and I danced barefoot around the kitchen while my stir-fry was stirring and frying.

(What I really like about long hair, part 312: dancing with it. Where the hair is actually an extra appendage to dance with. Swoosh. Swirl. Etc. Kinda hippie, but that's okay. As long as I keep it well away from the stove, which I do.)

I started reading an Elizabeth Willey novel, upon Philip's recommendation, but it was the third in a series, and the jacket claimed it stood alone. After a chapter and a half, I decided that either I didn't like this book or it didn't stand alone. And I'd rather not form a dislike of it that's unnecessary if it could be good as book 3, so I put it back in the stack and added its predecessor to the later-library list. (It's the only one the current library has by that author.) And I started reading Matt Ruff's Sewer, Gas, and Electric, because Wendy lent me Fool on the Hill awhile back and I loved it, and also because Scott and Ed swear by S,G,&E. So we shall see about that.

Oh, and I finished The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye, and I liked it much better than Possession or Elementals, so Daniel and Wendy were right about that one, too. I liked "The Story of the Eldest Princess" a lot. A lot a lot. The other stories were pretty good, too, but that one was my favorite. I have been updating the page of books you-all recommended when I read them. It's getting kind of big. I may have to make some kind of archives. Dunno. That's not going to happen soon, though. Not high on the list.

I have had a sudden craving for Trader Joe's gorgonzola-walnut tortellini. That's a little eccentric at 9:20 a.m., I think, but they're good. Eventually we'll get more.

As I discovered when I was writing to my dad, my plans for the day are much more extensive than I had initially thought. Mark has the car, so I was thinking there wasn't much I could do but work on the book. Then I added editing "Väinämöinen and the Singing Fish," as much as I can, and working on drafting another short story maybe, preferably something hardish SF (so I don't forget how). Then I started looking at what I need to do soonish, and I added baking banana bread and mint brownies and roasted asparagus casserole to the list. Then paying bills, checking the Visa statement, ironing shirts, folding sheets, sorting laundry, cleaning boots and putting waterproofing solution on them.

It's good to stay busy, I suppose. Keeps one from brooding. And not all of that has to get finished today, necessarily. And adding limpe and Swedish cinnamon rolls to the baking list is wholly unnecessary and possibly counterproductive. I will remind myself of this as many times as necessary.

In the meantime, the Refreshments seem like editing music to me, so on they go. I'm not sure they won't be e-mailing and baking music instead, but we deal with these things. I am so tired, and the Refreshments are not, and that's good. My dreams last night featured some good characters I may keep around, but they also made me feel like I had been beaten with a stick all night. (Mark initially said that this was because he beat me with a stick all night, but he has reneged on that. And I'm not that heavy a sleeper.)

So. Have a good Friday and all that.