“All Afternoon Those Birds Twitter Twit”

  • 08:13 Not STARLOG!! tinyurl.com/clfgzj #
  • 08:15 is on page 113 of 320 of The Drowned Life by Jeffrey Ford. "Present From the Past" works so with the barest minimum of genre elements. 4* #
  • 08:23 Writing playlist: Chet Baker, CHET IN PARIS VOL 2: EVERYTHING HAPPENS TO ME. (Story o’ my life :)) #
  • 09:21 Revising progress is slow; still recovering from my lazy weekend 🙂 #wip #
  • 10:41 Still drawn to #amazonfail. Anything to get Yvonne Elliman’s singing out of my head if any work at all is to be done today. #
  • 11:53 Bad news from old stomping grounds: Dayton Arts Community Faces Struggle to Stay Afloat twurl.nl/jvaf8i (via @NewsHour) #
  • 11:56 Going to saunter to skool with this voice in my head. I really need counseling…this isn’t healthy anymore 😉 ♫ blip.fm/~493t1 #
  • 13:38 Why do I do this to myself? It goes back to childhood. 🙂 tinyurl.com/cmy8vr #
  • 14:30 Sleeves rolled up at work, as the fit is hitting the shan! #
  • 17:37 Hoping some Neko Case will stop the brain hemorrhage from the immense hategasm I feel for my day. I think it’s actually working a bit! 🙂 #
  • 17:47 RT @drmabuse Returned sales ranks for LADY CHATTERLEY’S LOVER, BASTARD OUT OF CAROLINA, FANNY HILL, and BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN #amazonfail #
  • 18:23 Want to read: The Serial Garden: The Complete Armitage Family St… by Joan Aiken – tinyurl.com/cbg8bb #
  • 20:38 Took a slight detour after work for dinner and drinks. Now, let’s see if I can clean up another pg or three. #

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“All Afternoon Those Birds Twitter Twit”

  • 07:53 Gonna see if I can do something constructive with yesterday’s work. #wip is so close to being done, I can taste it! #
  • 07:56 Almost forgot my yearly dedication of "Good Friday" by The Black Crowes to someone NOT very special anymore. ♫ blip.fm/~433sz #
  • 09:37 Despite spilling coffee all over the MS, I got draft 1.99 of the #wip done!! Just 2 or 3 more passes needed to fill in some blanks. #
  • 10:50 Short stories coming back into vogue? God, I hope so tinyurl.com/dbaohe #
  • 12:16 Bright, sunny day is making me feel pretty apathetic to skool. Glad the netbook’s all charged up ;). #
  • 12:19 The only notes I’m taking right now are of the conversation that’s going on behind me. Just *can’t* make up dialogue like this. #
  • 13:29 @verybigjen If they haven’t banned it yet, there’s always the BeTwittered gadget for iGoogle. #
  • 13:40 Gonna take a VERY slow walk back to work. Already know I’m screwed for the last hour of the day as it is. #
  • 16:22 Is it still considered self-fulfilling prophecy if things turn out even *worse* than expected? 🙂 Feh. #
  • 17:27 Still an hour to go but the work crises have more or less passed thanks in no small part to yours truly, working all by his lonesome! Booya! #
  • 17:49 I’m going on a WITHNAIL & I-style bender tonight. Means I’ll miss out on Saturday, but come up smiling on Sunday morning. #
  • 19:04 Will go on the bender *after* I polish up the #wip a bit. I’m just not Hemingway enough ;). #
  • 20:17 Want to read: Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente – tinyurl.com/cesozp #

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“All Afternoon Those Birds Twitter Twit”

  • 08:02 Had fun and learned a lot being camera meat last night. Probably won’t do it again for awhile, tho–I’m too old to stay up late 🙁 #
  • 08:20 Trying to find a writing playlist (read: procrastinating like hell). #
  • 08:21 Ah, of course–80s soundtracks! Writing playlist: FLASHDANCE and FOOTLOOSE sdtks. #
  • 08:54 I just cannot concentrate. Even after shutting down the 80s soundtracks :(. #
  • 09:06 Only thing I have to show for an hour’s work: rearranged the beats of one fraking scene. Someone just shoot me, please. #wip #
  • 10:36 Via a bajillion writer blogs: The Cult of Done Manifesto www.flickr.com/photos/joshuarothhaas/3327763912/ #
  • 10:44 Jim Van Pelt on how to end a story. jimvanpelt.livejournal.com/123189.html #
  • 10:47 Sorry if I’ve put this up before: Odyssey Workshop grads on how to *begin* a story odysseyworkshop.livejournal.com/6949.html #
  • 11:32 Mark Waid on false suspense tinyurl.com/dald4s #
  • 11:33 Yes, it’s just a touch slow at the day job (*knock on wood*), why do you ask? 🙂 #
  • 12:27 RT @ColleenLindsay HILARIOUS take on #queryfail vs. #agentfail… bit.ly/BPSBl #
  • 13:44 MS of the #wip completely marked-up. I can have this thing finished before the weekend’s out!! 😀 #
  • 14:26 Still amazed at the difference between 30 focused min. of writing at lunch vs. 90 scattered, lazy min. this AM. I feel like a writer again. #
  • 16:17 Feeling the 1,000-yard stare w/2+ hours to go at work. But dammit, I will get pages revised tonight! RAR!!! #
  • 17:57 Talked a good game last tweet. Now I’m just feeling like going home and going straight to bed. *whew* #
  • 19:00 By the Power of Greyskull!!! Nope, didn’t work–still exhausted. 🙁 #

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“All Afternoon Those Birds Twitter Twit”

  • 07:56 Looking forward to a 14-hour day today: writing, work, skool, & being camera meat. #
  • 07:57 First thing’s first (after the cafe opens so I can get my coffee): assessing the damage with a hard copy of the #wip. #
  • 08:06 Writing playlist: Soundtrack to THE VIRGIN SUICIDES by Air. #
  • 08:39 RT @matociquala Oh, screw it. I don’t care anymore. This book can suck the chrome off a trailer hitch… [Sums up how I feel about my #wip.] #
  • 09:13 RT @mightymur New blog post: ISBW #114 – Feedback tinyurl.com/c6fuph #
  • 09:15 Believe it or not, through all the RTing, editing progress is being made. Especially since I swapped Air for Bill Champlin on the headphones #
  • 09:28 God *damn*, this story needs work! LOTS of work. Of course, motivation comes whenever I have very little time to follow thru. 🙂 #wip #
  • 11:37 *85% ON THE MIDTERM!!* Need an 83% on the final to keep a B, so I can’t slack too, too much. But it means I can write more!!! #
  • 11:44 Actually, factor in problem sets and attendance, and I probably only need 80-81% :). #
  • 14:18 Could’ve spent part of my lunch writing. Spent it looking over my successful midterm, instead :D. #
  • 15:57 Is this the proverbial dawn after the proverbial darkness? Skool discussion section cxl’ed tomorrow AM. More time to write!!! #
  • 17:38 Looks like I’ll get a bit of a break before tonite’s stint as camera meat. Time to review another couple of pages of the #wip. #
  • 19:41 Just no energy for MS review before I get to be camera meat. #

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“All Afternoon Those Birds Twitter Twit”

  • 07:53 At the backup writing site (read: the site close to home cos I got up late) with a red-eye, Night Ranger on the headphones, & my latest #wip #
  • 08:00 "And it’s hard livin’ life on this mem’ry-go-round" (I luv 80s lyrics!) ♫ blip.fm/~3xdvb #
  • 08:05 "I remember when you learned about love in the back of a Chevrolet / No good for an old memory to mean so much … ♫ blip.fm/~3xdzw #
  • 08:53 Giving myself a headache trying to focus on revision. I’m >this close< to just trashing this story. #wip #
  • 11:22 Glad I got a minuscule amount of writing done. Lunch will be cut short because I’m a needle slu…I mean, to get some blood drawn 🙂 #
  • 12:04 What one novelist’s revision plan looks like www.caitlinkittredge.com/?p=926 #
  • 12:39 Lunch (even w/the accompanying needle) just cannot come fast enough. #
  • 15:43 Really enjoying the Amateur Hour show here at the day job (not). #
  • 17:50 And on top of it all, I’m probably going to be hanging out late at work. I’m stopping for a drink on the way home, & I don’t mean coffee. #
  • 19:01 Got out on time after all, but just barely. And now I’m sitting w/a pint of ale. Day doesn’t seem so bad, now :D. #
  • 19:03 Reading The Lone Star Stories Reader by Eric T. Marin – tinyurl.com/cvv9rr #
  • 20:13 is starting The Lone Star Stories Reader by Eric T. Marin. Skimmed the introduction of the free pdf download. #
  • 22:06 Relaxing to a couple of beers and EASTENDERS. #

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“All Afternoon Those Birds Twitter Twit”

  • 07:53 Note to self: When setting the alarm, make sure you can *hear* said alarm the next morning. #
  • 07:54 Losing a little writing time this AM, but that’s okay–I don’t care that it’s a skool day today :). #
  • 08:33 Gonna try something radical this morning: Work from home at my newly cleaned desk. Gotta resist desire to take pics. #
  • 09:09 Oh, Inbox Zero–you’re *such* a sight for sore eyes. I’ve missed you! We need to see each other more often. 🙂 #gtd #
  • 11:50 First time the sun’s been out all day. Hope it stays out on the hike to skool! #
  • 13:28 Sun did not stay out, but at least it’s relatively dry. For now. 🙁 #
  • 14:26 Today at skool: more cold-war era music videos to illustrate gametheory. Still dunno how I feel about that, being the oldest guy in class. #
  • 17:57 Do I stress about where my profile picture went, or just assume there are status issues and ride it out? #
  • 19:10 @RachelleGardner Thank *you* for the info! #
  • 19:32 Just trying to get some caffeine in me if I’m going to do any writing at all tonite. #
  • 19:52 zomg!! THE LONE STAR STORIES READER available as a free .pdf ericmarin.livejournal.com/168642.html #

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“All Afternoon Those Birds Twitter Twit”

  • 07:59 is on page 95 of 256 of Dangerous Laughter: Thirteen Stories by Steven Millhauser. "Dangerous Laughter" had an great hook but the themes … #
  • 08:05 Took in some very powerful documentaries at FLEFF last night. Will have to blog (not just tweet) about them. Later, tho. I’m wiped out. #
  • 08:14 Need to create some writing space today. I think I’m depressed because I’m not sure how to do it after so long. #
  • 08:30 "When there’s no one left to leave you, even you don’t quite believe you, that’s when nothing can deceive you." ♫ blip.fm/~3uhti #
  • 09:23 Figured out today’s writing plan. I bet it’ll take 1 or 2 or 10 false starts. ‘Cos writing is NOT like riding a bike, at least not for me. #
  • 10:13 Early bird caught the worm! Table w/an outlet at the coffee place. Now I can procrastinate all I want. #
  • 10:19 Website for OUR DISAPPEARED/NUESTROS DESAPARECIDOS from last nite’s FLEFF, soon to be on @IndependentLens tinyurl.com/d9brba #
  • 10:29 Procrastination playlist: The Bad Plus, FOR ALL I CARE. Apropos CD, given the mood I’m trying to fight ;). #
  • 12:41 Writing playlist: Bill Champlin, Robert Lamm, Beckley-Lamm-Wilson #
  • 12:55 RT @jay_lake RT @ColleenLindsay @RachelleGardner on the 10 Things You Should Expect From Your Agent… tinyurl.com/dgdgu9 #
  • 13:59 Ah, the crash of being so wrapped up w/writing that I forgot to eat. Must mean I’m finally back to my normal routines :). #
  • 15:11 RT @Cbarzak @gregvaneekhout because flashbacks are like quicksand, dude. Write a flashforward. That might do the trick! 🙂 #
  • 15:12 You know I’ve been out of the game too long when I stop writing to do grocery shopping. Now, I’m looking at my messy office… *sigh* #
  • 17:38 Count Basie Orchestra vid from ’94. I saw them that year (not at this show, tho). Memories! www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHtNjmTpVAE #
  • 17:39 Office is even messier than before. Don’t ask about the writing :(. #
  • 21:58 Early evening coffee and a cleaner office make for a slightly better mood :). #
  • 22:26 @jeffreyeford Thanks for the add. I’m in the midst of THE DROWNED LIFE and am blown away so far! #

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Tough Love

It’s been a week since the last critique group and I’m only getting around to this now. That’s the problem with this time of year for me, but that’s okay–better to light an inch than curse the darkness, right?

I’m posting this for the sake of completeness (to contrast my failure to keep my scorecards up to date for the past few months).

There really isn’t enough to break down into lists of Win! and Fail! because all I brought to last group–all I could bring, given the life BS I had to contend with that week–were two rewritten scenes. I brought them looking for only two things: (a) to see whether I successfully clarified/improved on the story’s McGuffin (Group verdict: Win!) and (b) whether I could answer the question of what keeps the protagonist in the situation he’s in (Group verdict: A little bit o’ Fail!).

So, I guess I should go and do something with these suggestions now, huh?

“All Afternoon Those Birds Twitter Twit”

  • 08:26 Planned on the farmer’s market this morning but it’s too cold and damp right now. No coffee at home though. Must go out. #
  • 09:11 Tweeting from the diner. WiFi really is everywhere in this town! #
  • 09:14 Today is a day of rest. And by "rest," I mean writing sometime this afternoon before I’ve truly recovered from midterm trauma. #
  • 10:41 Would’ve gotten THE BEST OF CRANK! from the library if it wasn’t missing the 1st 25 pages!! bit.ly/M1a0 #
  • 10:43 Gonna catch some of @FLEFF today. Lurk at a few talks, see a couple of films, maybe livetweet if there’s WiFi… 🙂 #
  • 13:03 Want to read: The Best of Crank! by Bryan Cholfin – tinyurl.com/c49brz #
  • 13:05 You know it’s a small town when you can run into the same coworker at two separate places/events. #
  • 13:08 Nice FLEFF panel. Learned things re: doco film distribution that I didn’t know but which make perfect sense WRT any art distribution. #
  • 13:11 Spending time at local CD fair was a mistake. Luckily, it was only a $15 mistake–could’ve been a LOT worse :(. #
  • 13:24 Reading The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente – tinyurl.com/dmamkq #
  • 13:40 Only came back to the library to mooch WiFi until the next bus. I didn’t mean to check out Series 4 of THE LAST DETECTIVE, honest!! #
  • 17:12 Getting Cassandra Wilson’s latest CD on the cheap at the CD fair was awesome. Getting the latest from The Bad Plus was an epic WIN! #

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“All Afternoon Those Birds Twitter Twit”

  • 07:55 I should’ve slept like a baby last night after the midterm. But I didn’t and for some reason, I feel more stressed than yesterday…? #
  • 08:06 You know, it’s not even the fact that I’ve got to finish a problem set due the day after the midterm. Well, maybe that’s part of it. #
  • 08:29 PTSD is the only explanation for how I’m feeling. Feh. Enuff whining. Gonna listen to the song "Walkin’ on a Thin Line" & move on w/life! 🙂 #
  • 09:17 Problem set done. I’m taking my life back now, thank you very much. Well, after I phone it in at work today. #
  • 11:55 About to do the Bataan Death March to skool. Have 1/2 a mind to skip, but that damn problem set *grumblegrumble* #
  • 14:29 I just feel like hitting life on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper and telling it, "No!" #
  • 16:45 RT @jay_lake #writing io9 on the difference between plot & story… bit.ly/1IVTJw #
  • 18:09 "I’m on a ride and I wanna get off." And I will in a few minutes. ♫ blip.fm/~3sc57 #
  • 19:54 Never fails! When I’m exhausted, everyone wants me to come to their party. O, poor me ;). #

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