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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“All Afternoon Those Birds Twitter Twit”

  • 23:10 Sure it was cheese, but I didn’t mind the end to #LifeOnMars (US) that much. #
  • 08:27 Unfair: adj. Sunny day off work that I’m spending on campus to attend section & office hrs to prep for midterm T-minus 11hrs from now. Bleh. #
  • 08:38 Odyssey Workshop graduates discuss strong openings (novels and stories) odysseyworkshop.livejournal.com/6949.html #
  • 10:22 Want to read: The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash … by Tara L. Masih – tinyurl.com/ckdypq #
  • 10:33 Breaktime’s over. Crunchtime. Like Alec Baldwin said in GLENGARRY, "It’s f**k or walk!" #
  • 10:33 Study playlist: TORCH: A SIX DEGREES COLLECTION OF MODERN TORCH SONGS #
  • 11:24 SyllabusFail! I’ll never understand why a problem set needs to be due the day *after* a midterm! Feel like I’m spending too much time on it. #
  • 12:13 T-minus 7.25 hrs to midterm. I’m confident that all the necessary info is in my head. Just need to organize it, now. #
  • 12:38 Hard to study when there’s some sort of angry protest going on outside the building I’m in. #
  • 13:11 Going home for lunch and break. Probably won’t need to come back for prof’s office hrs, in which case, I’ve got *plenty* of time to midterm. #
  • 14:18 Walks from bus stops = walks in the sun, so I can’t complain too much. Studying will resume once leftovers are consumed. #
  • 15:43 T-minus 3.75 hours to midterm. Knocking on every piece of wood I can find :). #
  • 16:02 Gonna head back to campus, hole up with a cup of coffee, and review before Zero Hour! #
  • 18:26 Studying over. Screwing off for the next hour, and then it’s showtime!! #
  • 21:51 Totally punch drunk from the midterm. Definitely didn’t get an A, but I think I did a’ight. Treating myself to diner food as a reward. #
  • 22:41 RT @charlesatan Melanie and Steve Rasnic Tem on “I want to write, but life gets in the way.” tinyurl.com/cmjap9 #

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“All Afternoon Those Birds Twitter Twit”

  • 08:06 My skoolbooks have swallowed my soul!! #
  • 08:08 is on page 75 of 256 of Dangerous Laughter: Thirteen Stories by Steven Millhauser. "The Room in the Attic" gets 4* The ending, as a lite … #
  • 08:10 If I brought an ending like the one in "The Room in the Attic" to my genre crit group, I’d probably be asked to leave and never return. 😀 #
  • 08:14 Study playlist: Tower of Power mix. #
  • 09:28 Wonders if April Fool’s Day joke I set up at work b4 I left last night has paid off yet >:) I’m about to find out muahahaha! #
  • 10:16 As often happens with such things, my April Fool’s joke worked a little *too* well. Gonna have to dodge some people for the rest of the day. #
  • 10:16 Ain’t I a stinker? >:) #
  • 13:28 T-minus 1 day to midterm. Then the valkyries can come to take me to Valhalla. #
  • 15:20 Ouch! Vengeance was had by the other department. Payback really is a bitch ;). #
  • 17:23 I just can’t afford to be this tired right now. #
  • 19:36 Guests over for dinner. Too tired to mind. At least there’s food :)! #
  • 19:37 Ooh, and wine–might not be conducive to studying. Or, will it? I think I’ll give it a try. #
  • 20:46 Study plan: bit of review before and during tonite’s GHOST HUNTERS. Then, break for LIFE ON MARS. Then, more studying until my brain bleeds. #

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“All Afternoon Those Birds Twitter Twit”

  • 08:08 Reading Break It Down: Stories by Lydia Davis – tinyurl.com/ck2b4d #
  • 08:09 is on page 59 of 256 of Dangerous Laughter: Thirteen Stories by Steven Millhauser. 2/3 done w/novellette "The Room in the Attic." Creepy … #
  • 08:10 Last night was a *bad* slacking night. Have to try to make up for it today. #
  • 08:12 Study playlist: ABOUT TIME by Steve Winwood. (Closest thing I’ve got to having any Traffic.) #
  • 10:43 RT @warrenellis Just heard from DC that John Cassaday has finished PLANETARY #27. Ravens have left Tower Of London. #
  • 11:40 Wondering why, in this town, do folks ask me point blank who I voted for, yet balk at asking me how much my netbook cost?? #
  • 12:33 I think I’m hitting a mental roadblock in my studying :(. Amazed how fast confidence can turn to jelly! #
  • 12:35 Want to write at lunch, but I know it’d only be to procrastinate. #
  • 14:54 Just have to accept that I just can’t grok how to figure out min possible customer surplus due to price ceilings for now, and move on. 🙁 #
  • 18:01 Someone, please–snap me out of the 1,000-yard stare! #
  • 19:23 Sooo tempted to just bag today, hoping I’ll just pull it together on midterm day (when I’m off from work). Gonna have dinner b4 deciding. #
  • 22:02 Damn you, EASTENDERS! I was gonna go to bed early. #

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“All Afternoon Those Birds Twitter Twit”

  • 08:17 Finally back on the normal AM schedule! Tired as hell, but that’s normal, too :). #
  • 08:18 Unfortunately, skoolwork has to trump processing yesterday’s crit group evisceration. At least until lunch ;). #
  • 08:20 Study playlist: Zero 7, Air, dZihan & Kamien #
  • 08:53 *facepalm* When a problem that should take 3 min. to solve is going on 40, check your math. You just *might* have screwed it up. #
  • 09:38 Graphing the net economic benefit of gov’t subsidies on a market really, really sucks. #
  • 10:15 Taking the boss up on generous offer to let me play hookey on midterm day! #
  • 11:38 Trying to work from my backup portableapps USB drive is a bitch when it’s a bit outdated 🙁 #
  • 13:30 T-minus 3 days to midterm and 2 chapters left to review. Feeling much better prepared this time around. That, or I’m in total denial. 😀 #
  • 13:45 Looked over the crit group evisceration of 2 rewritten scenes–actually, it was more of a couple of minor "tsk, tsks." Will post later. #wip #
  • 15:14 WTF is my intertubes connection so slow? Conflicker worm started a couple days early? #
  • 16:24 Absolutely no clue how I’m going to find the energy for anything after work today. Gotta pull it outta somewhere, tho. #
  • 17:09 RT @charlesatan I interview Strange Horizons editor-in-chief Susan Marie Groppi tinyurl.com/cqsqx2 #

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“All Afternoon Those Birds Twitter Twit”

  • 07:44 Up early to see if I can get something–anything–together for crit group today. No promises, tho :(. #
  • 08:44 First AM I’ve walked anywhere without my skoolbook in a week. Talk about liberating! #
  • 08:46 Caffeine supply, check. Writing stuff, check. Writing playlist (Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings), check. Let’s roll. #
  • 09:57 Progress…so…slow! #
  • 21:19 No time this evening to process crits from group. Tomorrow, maybe! For now, I think I’m just gonna hit the hay. #

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“All Afternoon Those Birds Twitter Twit”

  • 08:20 Stayed home from the jazz show & still managed to stay up too late. Sans studying. Off to a late start this morning–doesn’t bode well. #
  • 08:33 WTF?? Since when did my tweets stop posting w/titles on the website? Oh, since 3/18. #
  • 10:16 Interview with Haruki Murakami tinyurl.com/d23yk7 (If my reading backlog wasn’t so long…) #
  • 12:36 Okay, I’ve wasted enough time today. I can hear my inner drill sergeant screaming, "Let me see your war face!!" #
  • 13:57 Was in a cafe, listening to a trivia ? on the radio re: liner notes. Overheard someone ask, "What are liner notes?" #
  • 20:13 Wings and beer–a decent way to end a day of brain-frying microecon. #

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  • 07:57 Warmth + sun = hopefully less emo today, ‘cos I got stuff to do 🙂 #
  • 07:58 1st pre-work AM all week not spent catching up on missed sleep or in a meeting. And I gotta spend it on skoolwork. Hurts, it really does. 🙁 #
  • 08:05 Study playlist: All TOTO, all morning. ♫ blip.fm/~3h36v #
  • 09:02 *sigh* I really, really don’t want to do the "smart thing" and blow off tonite’s jazz show. Maybe I just need to be stupid once in awhile 🙂 #
  • 09:03 I know, you’re all saying, "*Once* in awhile??" Eh, screw you 😛 #
  • 11:11 Notified about new chapter notes, a problem set for before the midterm, and one due right after?? That is SO not cool!! #
  • 13:35 Gonna enjoy the walk back to work in the sun. I’ll have to fight to stop myself from walking *past* work :). #
  • 14:21 RT @ColleenLindsay RT @newscientist "Pondering the population dynamics of vampires sn.im/eojvc " #
  • 14:56 I need a nap. #
  • 16:59 Yikes, what a *day*. I may miss tonite’s jazz show from sheer exhaustion :(. #
  • 19:34 IMO, one of the most annoying things in life is being hungry while having no idea what you’re hungry for, even as the blood sugar plummets. #

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