Writing, Writing, and Writing. Did I Mention Writing?

Writing, writing, and more writing. I’ve been a busy little beaver over the last few days. Of course, I’m working on my blog entries but I’ve also been working on a new book. (Since the other three I had going were lost due to screwed up life situations) I have the first chapter rough draft finished. I wrote out the plot lines and a thirty chapter outline. I also wrote another article for InMichiana’s November issue. I’ll have an article in the October issue too when it’s released.

I still have an article to write for Inside Granger, but I have a few weeks yet before the deadline. I’ll begin making my contacts for that tomorrow. I figure I’ve written somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 to 10 thousand words over the last couple of days. Is that a lot? It feels like a lot. My fingers are sore. So, I think I’m going to take a break for the remainder of the evening and curl up with a good book.

I’m currently reading “Breaking Dawn” by Stephenie Meyer. It’s the fourth (last) book in her “Twilight” saga. The other two books are “New Moon” and “Eclipse”. I have really enjoyed all of them so far. I’m about 1/3 of the way through this last one and liking it as well as the others. “Twilight” is being made (has been made) into a movie and will be coming out in theatres in November. Yes, I have plans to see it. If you haven’t read it give it a shot. And now, off to the book.

Tagged...tagged like mice...rats

Tagged by Charmi

Six Unspectacular Things About Maeve


1. I love all things Victorian. That includes clothing, home décor, homes, fabric, gardens, books, politics of their era, food, science…you name it. If I had the means I would live in an old Victorian manor complete with a widow walk and the full Victorian décor. Ironically, I own practically nothing that is Victorian.

2. When I was six years old I brought home a huge bouquet of flowers, maybe 70 or 80. My mother asked me where I got them all and I told her Peter G. and Steven A. (both my age) gave them to me. She said “Oh, that was nice of them” and put them in water. What never came up was the fact that I had given each of them a kiss for every flower.

3. I love playing RPGs, role playing games, which many of you already know. I like to go all out for the games making it a special evening for everyone. So, I normally cook a nice dinner (last game was meatloaf, spiced potatoes, corn, with chocolate birthday cake and chocolate ice cream for dessert) and then set out yummy munchies snacks for all. We eat, munch, play and laugh all night.

4. I like crafting of all kinds. I sew, garden, crochet, knit and I’m constantly learning new things. My current interest is decoupage and basket decorating. I plan on learning how to do hat decorating and wreath making. I’m sure I’ll want to pick up other things as well. I find, though, that because I’m so easily drawn to new interests that I leave many projects half finished.

5. I had Coco Crunchies for breakfast this morning after I took two of the kids to their bus stop and walked around the block, and fed the birds. I do this every morning with the exception of weekends (no need for the bus stop) and my breakfast usually changes every day. Sometimes it’s eggs, sometimes oatmeal, sometimes toast.

6. One of my cats has a tendency to cling to my shoulder as if she was hanging onto a tree limb by only her front paws. She does this whether I’m sitting, standing or lying down. It’s as if she's fighting an invisible person who is trying to pry her away from me. She does this so often that my left shoulder blade and shoulder have tiny scars all over them and they always have fresh scratches. She particularly likes to cling when I’m at my computer working.

Meme terms & conditions!
1. link the person who tagged you: Charmi (see above)
2. mention the rules on your blog: (these are them)
3. list 6 unspectacular things about you: (see above)
4. tag 6 other bloggers by linking them:

Greg
Naoko
David
Sally
Mr. Spectacular
And last but certainly not least (although he's already been tagged by Charmi)
The Big Bad (Poetry) Wolf

Vampire Update

Salright, we played last night. It was good. I went out hunting for the first time; it went well. In other words I didn’t kill my prey and I also made my willpower roll which kept me from frenzying. All in all it was good.

On a slightly side note. We realized, as an uptight human lawyer bitch who graduated from Yale by age 20 and was almost a Jr. Partner in her law firm by age 26, that I had never had the deflowering moment take place. What might this mean for a single, pretty yet uppity, vampire lawyer? Simply this, that due to my restorative healing powers even if (when) I lose my virginity by the next day I’ll be a virgin again. Yes, my hymen will grow back now, each and every time, I have a sexual encounter of the intercourse kind. And, yes, we tried it out (role playing people, just make believe…jeez, get your heads out of the gutter).

Harper, the vampire who has been teaching me to hunt, took the liberty of taking me to this well…shall we say…an underground establishment where I was able to select my deflowerer from a fair sized selection of willing young men show chained with golden chains to the wall. Harper actually selected the one for me since I couldn’t decide. By the way, Harper is an NPC, she works at Lady Imogen’s Burlesque show. She’s very, how shall I put this, uninhibited. So, yeah…I’m forever a virgin.

Then the story shifted a bit and I had to go hunt down a clue at an abandoned insane asylum with the other newbie vamps. It was a wicked thing. The whole situation, it was wicked. We ended up falling through a burnt out floor. Everyone but me went through this tunnel like thing they found to look for what we came for. I on the hand took a different path. When we entered the hospital we came across many, many, and I do mean, many rats. They all watched us very closely and moved and did things that just weren’t normal. It gave us the idea that they were being controlled by someone. Then music began to play, no one seemed particularly interested in this which is why they went their way and I went mine. You see, it occurred to me that we’re in an ABANDONED building, no electricity people. Where was the music coming from? I ended up following several extension cords back to our car to find them connected to a power cell and our car battery. Someone was messing with us.

I saw some lights on the second floor and went to investigate. It turned out the perpetrator had attached flashlights to several cats, yes cats. This quickly became a problem for me, as I had previously taken a particular flaw. (Flaws allow you to get benefits in other areas by taking them) My flaw, a horrible, horrible, phobia of, yes, cats. So, of course failing my willpower roll, I went screaming and running away in a fox frenzy of panic. I never really did find out who the perp was. My companions did, however, but that’s out of game knowledge to me, and so I can’t use it. And that’s basically where we’re at. More fun to come I know it. Out of game knowledge, between you and me, the perp is a Maulkavian vampire; they’re the crazy ones and man oh man she’s playing the role well. Fun, fun, fun….yippy, Vampire!

It’s Hard Drive City

Yeah! I’m finally up and running again. It took forever but in the end I got the new hard drive and have basically reinstalled everything I need. I managed to pull up a few things that I had posted on various websites that contained some of the work I had lost when the old drive was torn so suddenly from its young life. So, even though it’s no where close to what I had, it’s not completely over.

I still want to post some pics of the aprons and clothes that I’ve been working on. I haven’t looked into it too far, but I think I may have to buy a cord before I can download the pics from my phone to my computer. Is anyone out there cell phone proficient? Oh, and willing to help? My cell phone is very new to me. The last time I had one it was like 1997 or something so…I’ve been a bit out of touch. I think I may be able to email them to myself if nothing else but I haven’t really explored that possibility yet. I think I would prefer a quick and painless method if possible.


Speaking of pics…I should take some of the garden out back. I recently added a new plot to the yard. This is strictly a show garden, no veggies, well…no edible veggies, ok…maybe there will “technically” be something there that can be eaten but…the main purpose of this spot is for aesthetic pleasure not practical food supply. On that note; I planted some hardy mums (red & orange), some flowering kale, and some black arugula (if I remember correctly). There was already a small lilac bush beginning to grow in the same area. I’m planning on adding some bulbs around the end of the month, maybe some lilies and tulips. I’m not 100% sure yet. Hopefully the spot will be fairly carefree so that when we move the next people won’t have to mess with it if they don’t want to.

I’ve gotten the birds and squirrels so used to a steady food supply that I’m afraid when we move they’ll have trouble fending for themselves so…I’m trying to put some shrubs and trees in the ground that will offer both food and shelter should the next people not offer the buffet they have grown accustomed to. I’ll be adding Bittersweet to the new plot, I know that. I’ve planted some flowering crabapples, a flowering dogwood, and a couple of hawthorns. I think they’ll help. We don’t have any solid plans, yet, regarding a move but we do know one will be coming within the next three years sometime. It could possibly be as soon as next year depending on children’s school situations, R’s job, and the, “I can’t take living in the city any longer” factor. Until then, I’m trying to plan ahead. Yes, I’m consumed by the thought of the innocent little birdies going hungry, laugh if you must.

On that note, I shall call it a day for today. I look forward to being able to write again on a more regular schedule so it would be nice to see all of your smiling web addys show up on my blog log ;-) on a regular basis as well…no hint there…hint, hint…hint.

Temperament

I think that I’ve learned quite bit about my temperament here lately. It seems that when people are tested they can either learn from the experience or they can choose to stew over it and build up that lovely stress maker, resentment. I try to be a learner; sometimes it’s easier than other times. Lately it seems that the tests have been frequent and well…irritating, as tests may tend to be. There is a lot going on in my life right now, as is the case with most people. Of course, it all boils down to how we handle those situations. Are we learners or resenters?

I figure that I’m one step ahead of the tests, though, since I realize that they’re there. You know what I mean? I think that if a person is capable of recognizing the areas or events in their life that pose the biggest stress points, then they are more likely to be able to deal with them. This, of course, sounds obvious; but I think sometimes it is painfully oblivious to people when we’re in the thick of things. I know that I need to take time to evaluate my life from time to time. This means taking an honest look at what is happening. This does not mean taking a negative view on life. It’s not right to look at all the bad and forget the good. An honest “moral” inventory, means also allowing yourself to see the good and to give appropriate credit where credit is due.

Now, I have no intention of airing my dirty laundry or patting myself on the back here. Suffice to say, that we all go through things, and I feel that we all could benefit by taking the time to reflect on our lives, the situations that have brought us to our current point and whether or not we’re happy with it. If we’re happy, then we should understand how we got here so the positive can be repeated. If we’re not too happy with a particular situation then we need to decide the best course of action for correcting the problem in a manner that will have a more positive outcome for all parties involved.

For me, I find that I reflect best if I engage in a creative individual activity. I tend to zone out in the garden, or involve myself in a sewing project. These activities allow me to empty my mind from the squirrel cage mentality that usually drives my thoughts. I find a peaceful, tranquil even, retreat to where my mind empties, as it were, and only the breath remains. It’s meditative and it’s the point, for me, in which I become able to assess my life honestly. I can be upfront with myself and look at things that are bothering me and see the part I played in the problem. Now, while I’m not able to change the actions, or reactions, of others; I am able to change mine. Therefore, if I truly (honestly) understand the role that I played; I can then claim the power of changing the situation, because once I change my role I have introduced a new variable into the equation and the odds of a different outcome increase.

So, where is all of this taking us? Who knows? I mean really. I know that I’m a better person for finding a way to reflect and assess, and that’s about as far as I have the power to take it; the rest is in anyone’s court. But, the end result….and I know you’re expecting some big philosophical answer here, but that won’t happen because it’s no longer in my court….is aprons; yes I said aprons. I sewed four of them here lately, and a new skirt as well. I went on a meditation binge as it were. In the end, I feel more enlightened, more relaxed, more self assured, more confident, and overall better. I’ve taken some pics of them and I’m going to try to get them up on the blog within the next day or two. We’ll see; I’m not sure I have all of the necessary equipment, hopefully I do. If so, you should see them soon.

Comcast is the Devil...and...It's Not My Fault

K…this latest gap in writing really isn’t my fault, I swear. It has been bizzaro world around here lately. Do you remember when my hard drive failed? Well, apparently that was just the beginning of our hardware and networking problems.

A short time ago R’s hard drive crashed as well, and yes, we lost what was on his drive too. I’m over it people; I just don’t care anymore. Perhaps it’s fate calling and telling me that what I write is not intended to be forever. Maybe I need to work on accepting the thought of revision more, or maybe I just need to, oh I don’t know, back things up!

What was really the kicker, though? Comcast! Can you say, “Oh My God! What an Unethical company”? Seriously, I have never dealt with a company who is so terrible with its customer service and so very unethical, if not outright, illegal. Folks, if you have a choice, stay away from them. Here’s what happened.

Around six months ago we switched to Comcast for our Internet and phone service. The idea was that we would have better connectivity so that R and sons could play their MMOs together. Well, we had one problem after another. We were constantly losing our connection; I’m talking at least two times a week. This would require our entire home network to be shut down and rebooted a tedious task, and one that under the proper administration of Comcast should have been unnecessary. So, we ended up having a tech come out twice to try and correct the problem, without success. We finally decided that we should purchase a new router, so we went with a D-Link. Comcast doesn’t support this type of router via their tech support. That in itself would have been ok, but…we were having difficulty getting through to the net. The router was showing that it was working ok, everything seemed to be running and connected, the network showed an established Internet connection, but we couldn’t access the Internet. So, we called Comcast.

Here’s where it gets good folks. The first time we called we were put on hold for 40 minutes just to have the tech get shitty with us and hang up on us. R was trying to explain what was going on, what we had done, but the tech kept interrupting him so R finally said to him, “look, I’m trying to explain to you what’s going on so will you please stop talking?” The tech replied, “sure” and then hung up. Next tech please….we call back, another marathon hold session. When we get through the tech says, “Oh, the problem is that your modem isn’t set up for Internet access, we have it set to phone access only. Let me just flip a switch here on this end and you should be fine. Now, we’ll be disconnected when this happens so I’ll call you right back, ok?” R says, fine and he hangs up. Well, we wait for about 30 minutes, no phone call. R checks the Internet and the connection is completely gone, vanished, so we call back. R gets a hold of yet another tech and tells this one what happened. He explains that the tech was supposed to switch something over on that end and call us back, and that not only did we not hear from him our service was completely disrupted now. (I need to clarify that prior to this, because the D-Link wasn’t working we had at least reconnected the original router and had Internet access again). Anyway, here we are without any Internet now and guess what? The tech says that the last tech cleared our account. “What does that I mean?” R asked. She said it meant that our account was no longer valid and we wouldn’t have any service until a tech came out and set us up as if we were a new account. Of course, we were livid and not understanding why she couldn’t just simply flip the switch in the other direction and turn us back on. So…yes, they screwed us and left us with no service what so ever. That’s when R said, F*** this and a few other choice phrases and asked me to call AT&T. So I did and we switched over.

The story doesn’t end there, though. Here comes the unethical (illegal) stuff. I called to discontinue our service with Comcast. When I got through I stated that I wished to end the service, I was put on hold for 30 minutes while I was “transferred” to a different department. At that point, I was finally able to speak to someone and when I told her that I wanted to disconnect the service and why I was so unhappy with them, guess what…she hung up on me…yes…oh yes she did…and BTW I was not rude with her. So…I have to go through the whole process again. When I finally get through I’m told that it is Comcast “policy” not to end service until the bill is paid in full. So I said, “Well. R doesn’t get paid until the 15th and it’s only the 6th, am to understand that not only are we being billed for the days where we had no service due to Comcast’s inadequacy, we are also going to be billed for a service we no longer want or are receiving because our pay cycle doesn’t coincide with our desire to end this service?” She replied, “Well, we won’t turn the service off until the bill is paid, so technically you will still be receiving the service. We’ll disconnect the service only after we have received payment.” And folks, that was pretty much the end of it. She wouldn’t budge and even though we had AT&T set up and running they refused to disconnect our service and are charging us for it.

My advice…stay away…far away from Comcast!!!

R’s hard drive is still not fixed, my hard drive is still not fixed, but we do have Internet access again. Although, the speed is really not what we need. Anyway, I’m currently using R’s laptop to Blog and such, but it’s not very convenient. Hopefully my system will be up and running again before too long. Until then, though, posts may be a bit intermittent. Bear with me please. And stay away from the Devil Corporation!!!!

Vampire RPG

We had our first Vampire game last night, and let me say, I was not disappointed in the least. It was a load of fun and N ran it like a pro. Yes, N agreed to run a game for us.

The setting is modern day Chicago. We were all killed last night in a BDSM club, very interesting time there I tell ya. Basically, we were all there as observers in the club when a massacre took place. Only six of us survived due to being embraced by the attackers; we were all then abandoned. The club, itself, was being run by the Toreador Primogen who took pity on us, and instead of killing us outright she arranged for shelter and blood. She will now have to be responsible for our behaviors until we are old enough to be turned out on our own.

We ended up with a good mix of clans in the group. All of the Camarilla clans, with the exception of the Nosfurotu, are represented. My character is a Ventrue named Lily. If you’re familiar with the show Angel, an offshoot of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, then think Lilah Morgan. I modeled my character after her. I’m a 26 year old, brunette, corporate lawyer with a bitch attitude. [Lilah Pic] So far, it’s working out well.

The other characters include a Malkavian who in his human life was a famous rock star; a Russian tourist who in his human life was a sort of street thug and has now been turned into a Toreador; talk about messed up. I think the sire of these two guys got things a bit backwards. For anyone who is unfamiliar with the clans the Toreadors are the artists and the Malkavians, well, they’re all insane. BTW, the Ventrue are the business minded clan who brought the Camarilla together and just so happens to have a great deal of sway over the sect. Our other group members are a 4 foot 2 inch Italian mob wanna be who is now a Gangrel and a bald headed short female occult bookstore owner who is now a Tremere. The other two are both Brujah. R’s cousin, who has much more experience with the game than the rest of us, is playing a Brujah Neonate while the rest of us are fledglings. He is helping the Toreador Primogen by guiding us and teaching us in the ways of the vampire.

Other than N and R’s cousin, who are both experienced with the game, I have some experience (I’ve played about 4 or 5 one night games) and the rest of the group is new to the game. So, many of us have no real idea yet as to what the game is going to entail. Which is a good reason for us all coming in as fledglings, think baby vampires. The Neonate is a bit older, but nowhere near the top of the ladder. Usually, but not always, a Primogen is the eldest member of the clan. So there we are, and there you have it. The game has begun. I look forward to giving you more updates and hopefully amassing tons of wealth and prestige for my character along the way.