A Few Phews!

Phew! Progress!

As I edited in my last post I came up with a revelation that pointed out why I was having difficulty writing. I was randomly changing the point of view of one of the volumes and it was clunky and unnecessary. Once I consciously realized the problem I saw new avenues and began working them tonight.

So I chucked out the 650 words that I had written the last four days and started anew. Unfortunately, I only managed to cannibalize one sentence, so it looks like most of it will go to waste (in a sense). I may be able to utilize some more of the ideas, but I think the writing itself is dead in the water. Tonight I managed 1332 words. Twice the last half weeks output.

I will keep the trashed words as part of my weeks tally. Not all of my words that I count end up in the book. My character sheets are one example. Speaking of which, this week will be a good week to catch that upseeing as I haven't in close to a month. I may need the bonus words to get myself over that 5000 word mountain this week.

Phew! Cool!

The overnight low reached 79 degrees tonight. It's officially the coolest it's been since early June. Roughly 10 weeks give or take. Even when it's rained overnight it has stayed in the mid '80s.

I took a dip in the pool to celebrate. Strangely, I haven't utilized the pool as much as I would have thought. I think this is because I don't like to use it during the day. It's too sunny and hot to be outside at all and even at night the last two months I've used the AC to keep myself cool so there's been little need for me to use the pool. It is indeed a bit odd, but as I have mentioned to a number of friends, this has been one of the coolest summers I've endured simply because every place, including mine, is air conditioned.

Phew! I've got friends!

I have talked to a number of my friends the last week or ten days and it is a relief that I have so many good friends. I'd love to list them all here, but they know who they are, and many of them know each other so there's no need.

Or is there? I suppose I can give the highlights.

Let's see, there's Kim, who would give me a place to stay and work with me so that I can stay there. So as much as I speak of impending homelessness, it is not really going to happen unless I choose to live on the streets.

There's Cullen who has agreed to help me get a proper draft of my first volume ready for a writing grant. He may have his work cut out for him if in the event I am deluding myself that my writing is salvageable.

There's John, who named his child after me and if it wasn't for the fact that he has a wife and kid to take care of, he'd probably lay down in traffic for me if it was necessary. He doesn't know it yet, but he's going to be one of my beta readers. That's the price he has to pay for putting his family first.

I suppose I have to throw Moose in the mix. After all, I probably talk to him 4-5 hours a week on the phone; more than anyone else. He keeps my momentum going by allowing me to brainstorm off him. Though I do 100% of the writing, I would not have made half the progress I have made thus far without his input. He definitely keeps me focused. And if Kim had no place for me to stay, Moose would certainly put me up somewhere. He wants this project to be successfully completed as much as I do.

Phew! Blessings!

I recall a time when I went to church with Rebecca. I was going to give myself the opportunity to pray and give thanks before I flew over the Atlantic. A ritual I like to perform to make sure all my spiritual affairs are in order before performing such a death defying feat, like crossing an ocean.

At one point in the service the priest gave everyone a few moments to pray and give thanks, effectively allow people to count their blessings and so forth. Then he asked people to stand up and say, "Hey," to their neighbor. So everyone around me stood up and began introducing themselves, shaking hands and such while I continued to pray. I continued to do so for some time.

After the service, Rebecca mentioned the incident. I don't think she was offended or anything, but was curious why I continued to pray while everyone else took the few minutes to socialize. I said, "The priest only gave us 15 or 20 seconds to give thanks for all our blessings. I have far too many to recount in such a short period of time."