Lost Cat

I know this is unlikely to be productive, but in an effort to leave no stone unturned, here I am.

Sheeba is a 13 year old Bengal from Concord, California. She is very small, and very loud, and very missing.

If you have taken in a cat that looks like this one thinking she must be neglected, she isn't. She has kidney disease, and we feed her as much as she'll eat, but she doesn't put on weight well. I have no idea what's up with the clumps of hair loss though. Her veterinarian doesn't know either. I asked. She needs her prescription food, and she needs to come home.

If you have seen her, but she ran away from you, that would still be helpful information because we would know what area to look in.

Heaven forbid, if you found her remains after some sort of tragic accident, but didn't want to be the bearer of bad news by calling the number on her collar, PLEASE call anyway. Not knowing anything about where she has disappeared to is more stressful than knowing, and being able to grieve properly.

Any information is appreciated.

Thanks.

Silkmoths - Year 2

We enjoyed raising our silkworms last year so much that we're doing it again this year. Even better, we are using the eggs that our very own moths laid last fall!

Or, at least I thought it was better. Now it looks like I may not have stored them in the ideal way. While our moths laid way more than the 250 eggs we ordered last year, it looks like, at best, only a couple dozen caterpillars have hatched. I guess that ain't nothing, but I'm still kinda disappointed. Looks like it's time for even more research, so I know how to handle our eggs even better for next time.

I've kept the rest of the eggs so far, but they look very dried and sunken, so I'm not hopeful that any more will hatch this year. Almost all of them were the good, black color of fertile silkmoth eggs, but just having fertile eggs appears not to be enough.

Unfortunately, my camera seems to be in it's twilight of life, and I can't get a focused picture of the new silkworms or the non-hatched eggs to share, but maybe I can sweet talk my husband into taking some photos for me with his snazzy camera later on to show off.

As a refresher, for anyone who cares, here are my posts from last years silkworm adventures (so far our silkworms look like the ones from the second link:

Silkworms, Day 1
Silkworms, Day 8
Silkworms, Day 15
Silkworms, Day36
Silkworms, Day38
And Then There Were Two - Silkworms, Day 51
Silkworms, Day56 - Silkmoths!

Moving Backwards

I was playing with the setting here on Blogger a little while ago and found out that I could make stand alone pages in addition to traditional blog posts.

"Cool!" thought I. "I can make a page that links to my published works for folks to go see."

So I set out to collect some links and set the page up. That was a depressing night, let me tell ya. One of my first publications seems to have removed me, and a bunch of older pieces from their archives all together. My one paid, print publishing credit is now out of print. Then there was that local dog newspaper, that doesn't have anything online to send anyone to. All I was left with was my book reviews from an independent arts and culture paper that I wrote over 4 years ago, and just learned has closed down too. Who knows how much longer that archive will be around.

So even though I'm still writing, I haven't published anything in so long, stuff is starting to disappear. They say to be careful because stuff on the internet lasts forever. But it turns out, it sometimes only lasts as long as they want to pay for hosting.

It was a wake up call. I need to get submitting again! So I did. So far, no sales, but some very nice and encouraging rejections. And, naturally, some not so encouraging rejections. That piece I mentioned awhile back that I was very hopeful for was rejected. I almost gave up on it. I felt like I'd sent it everywhere. Thank goodness for the Duotrope submission tracker. It gave me another reality check - I'd only sent it out four times. So out again it went. And I just sent out two other stories tonight. Hopefully, I'll get to make that 'Publishing Credits' page up later sometime this year after all.

Even better. I finished a new story. And - if you can believe this- it's more than 300 words long. I'm a big non-finisher, so I'm proud of this little achievement. So after a little polish, it'll be sent out into the big world of slush piles too. Wish me luck! (Is luck okay for writers? I'm pretty sure I don't need to break anything. Humm. . . )

My Meditation Zafu

I found instructions for how to make a zafu (isn't that a great sounding word?) years ago, but just got my rear in gear and made one a couple weeks back. A zafu is one of those pretty round cushions that are for sitting on while you meditate. I'd read that they are traditionally stuffed with buckwheat hulls, and since I like the idea of being traditional when it comes to things like this, I gave myself the excuse not to actually make the zafu since I didn't have the foggiest idea where one gets buckwheat hulls, but a quick internet search told me they were expensive to ship, so I didn't want to do that.

Enter, my small cat with a personality disorder, Sheeba. She took it upon herself to ruin my sister's buckwheat hull pillow. I needed to fix it, and since you can't exactly throw a buckwheat hull pillowing into the wash, I needed to throw out the stuffing, clean the pillow, and get new stuffing. Now I had a real reason to place that order, and adding some extra hulls to the order helped with the per pound shipping cost so I didn't have to feel so guilty about the purchase.

So at last, I have my meditation cushion. Isn't it pretty?



My youngest wanted to take it for her own, so I told her it was for sitting on to be calm, and I needed it. Every once in awhile I see her sitting on it and she tells me she's "calming down". Maybe I should make more and sell them as toddler "calming cushions" for people who don't like the term "time out."

The State of the Novel

I'm still working on my NaNoWriMo novel, but not as much as I had hoped to. We've had a lot of excitement at work that has taken more of my attention than usual. Things should be settling down now though, so I won't have that excuse to throw around any more. I've only grown my word count up to about 58,000 since the end of November. For three months of work, even three super busy months, that's disappointing.

Now, I'm going to do something that most writing advice seems to frown upon. I'm going to start editing and rewriting before my first draft is completely finished. But I believe I have a good reason to do so. I had an epiphany last week about a problem with the story that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I'd set the story up such that a vital element, the base idea that the novel was supposed to be built on, wouldn't ever happen. At the beginning, I just didn't want it to seem too easy, but now that I'm so far along, I see that the obstacles I put in place will actually keep it from happening at all. So I need some fundamental changes at the start, and I don't really see the point of finishing the first draft before these changes are put in.

A lot of what I've already written can still be used, but obviously a lot will also need to change. As I worked on the revisions last night and started to realize how much would need to be reworked, I was surprised to find that I wasn't sad. It was exciting instead. The story no longer felt stale and pointless. It's going to get back on track. Yea! Hopefully, the new energy I have for the story will translate into speedier progress as well.

While we are on the subject of writing, I'm proud that I have three short stories sent out right now; one with some encouraging feedback so far. It would be great to have a publication to report here soon!

How the Health Thing is Going

The Health thing is trucking along.

Slowly.

I keep reminding myself that slowly is good. I've done fast in the past, and. . . well, since I'm doing it again now it didn't work for the long haul now did it? Down two pounds the last time I checked, which was a week or two ago. More importantly, I'm exercising almost every day, 6 out of 7 at least, and doing more than just walking all the time, but still walking too. Yoga classes two to three times a week, and using the resistance bands I got for Christmas are all giving me a good variety of exercises I hope.

I'm not going full vegan, but I've tried to have a vegan day or three each week. I've learned a new soup recipe that I really love (and will be coming up soon on another podcast review post). The funny thing about my vegan days is that it's easier to walk away from a late afternoon cravings, like for chocolate or something similar because I don't want to ruin my vegan eating day for it. Then the following days, having cheese feels so decadent, I don't want the junk as much anyway. I didn't expect that to happen, but I'm happy.

My Favorite Writing Podcasts

Several of the podcast I listen to (and I listen to a LOT) have said that if their listeners (like me) want to offer support they should blog about them. While I have also donated financially in the past to some of my favorite podcasts too, it isn't something I can do regularly, and certainly not as much as I know these people deserve. So, bogging it is then!

I'm going to break my favorite podcasts into categories. Today is writing podcasts. After about a year and a half of podcast listening, these are the ones that have continued to earn their spot in my over-filled ipod. These are mainly fiction writing podcasts, by the way.

I Should Be Writing - Mur Lafferty talks about her own writing journey, interviews professional authors, and answers listener questions. She is very frank, open, but still encouraging. I like that she doen't attempt to be perfect, but will talk about trying to write while sick, or discouraged, and other parts of the process that may suck. But her message is always: you get through it, and you keep writing.

Writing Excuses - By Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. These are all professional writers who discuss an aspect of the craft of writing each episode. Sometimes they have guests, but often it's just the three of them. The topics they cover are very focused, and often something I didn't even know I didn't know. If you know what I mean. They are also nice short podcasts, usually under 20 min each.

Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing - Pretty much what the title says, although they talk to a lot of fantasy authors too. They have some really terrific interviews, and news of what's going on in publishing.

The Writing Show - I just learned that this podcast is scaling way back on what they are putting out, but the back episodes are still really worth listening to. They cover all kinds of writing topics, and the guests are so enthusiastic, I even enjoyed episodes that were on topics I didn't think I had any interest in, like memoir, comics, and screenwriting.

Pen On Fire - Another author interview podcast. Some talk about the craft of writing, some talk more about their books, but all are fun to listen too. My complaint about this one is that it makes me want to read every book they talk about, and I already have more to read than I have time for!

Dead Robot Society - A group of aspiring writers discuss the craft and business of writing and trying to break in. They are also mainly Sci-Fi/Fantasy writers. I occasionally disagree with some of their advice, but they often disagree with one another as well. They can have some interesting discussions and it's a nice reminder that different writers will have different ways of approaching their writing. They can wander off topic, and get a little silly, but that's fun to listen to too.

Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing - Again, this one is what it says. These are super short, usually about 5 to 7 min long. Some strange grammar rules are explained very clearly.

If you have a favorite writing podcast that I didn't mention, leave it in the comments section. If it isn't one I've already heard, I'll add it to my feed!

The Twelve Days of Crochet

With a little less than 2 weeks until Christmas, I got it into my head to make some Amigurumi dolls for my kids. By some, I mean 4. I don't know why I thought this was a good idea, or that I'd be able to do it in the time I had available (which was late at night so they didn't see me working). But I did. Maybe it was to fight some of the icky feeling I get when I spend too much time in malls and superstores. Maybe it was left over NaNoWriMo, I-can-do-anything feelings, Maybe it was just getting home from the hospital with my kiddo that had her appendix out and feeling all maternal and protective. Making cute things from yarn helps with those types of feeling, you know.

So, anyway, I didn't finish in time. In fact, I'm still not finished, but the last one is almost done. For my oldest, I made a Pokemon with a poke ball. For the younger kiddo, I wanted a Scooby Doo, but could only find a knitting pattern, so I went with Little Red Riding Hood and wolf instead.

For the Mew Pokemon and poke ball amigurumi, I found both patterns at the WolfDreamer: Off the Hook blog. She has a ton of free Pokemon amigurumi patterns as well as some Mario Brothers ones and other cute characters. She also has a WolfDreamer Zibbet shop.

The wolf I found at the Lion Yarn website. They have some free patterns too, but you have to sign up for a free account to get access to them. Yes, I know he doesn't look exactly like a wolf. Something went wrong with the ears I think. So far, most people think he's an aardvark or a mouse. Some see him as a sort of generic quadruped and one could argue convincingly that he is any number of little creatures. Even so, I still think he's cute, darn it! And I believe when he is standing next to a Little red Riding Hood doll, it will be clear he is a wolf. It's all about the context.

I broke down a bought a pattern for Little Red Riding Hood, since the free ones I found weren't quite what I was looking for. That's the one I don't have finished yet, although she is coming along nicely and I'll post my finished doll here when I get done. (Which, if my wrist holds out will be very soon.) To see what she will hopefully look like, the pattern is here.

Hope everyone had a great holiday, and is ready for 2011 to get here.

Go make something!