Smacked Upside the Head by Teeny Tiny Things

Near the end of January I was congratulating myself on having a pretty good Winter, cold and flu-wise. I had a few bad days but nothing like some years. Then February hit. And I have had three different kinds of flu so far (or three mutations of the same kind) And I feel crappy again today. On the positive side, I HAVE had a day or so between bouts to accomplish some things.
I am particularly happy that I felt well enough Thursday to join Oscar to go see the the Asylum Street Spankers, who are having  a farewell tour. The band is out of Austin,Texas and they sing lots of Tin-Pan Alley, Blues, Jazz.. some of them classics, a lot of them they write themselves. We had a wonderful time. It was the first time in a long time (almost a year?) since we were able to go to a concert together.
I hope the flu bugs will be left behind when February passes. I have things I need to do!

Beautiful old song - You Made the Night Too Long Louis Armstrong

Colours

Bent Dancer

One of the blogs I follow, Attic24, often has beautiful photography. Often those photos are of bright and cheerful colors, whether they be of a current crochet project or an artfully arranged mantle full of flowers and knicknacks.
Today when I popped in for a visit I found a different sort of beauty. The blog author had been away for the weekend to the Cumbrian Lake District, and returned with absolutely gorgeous photos of the quiet beauty winter brings. The photos reminded me of my yearly rambles in the fall, with the grays, silvers and blacks offset by deep greens, soft blues and warm umber and ocher. I still miss hiking, that may never change, but thank goodness I live in a time where sharing another's visual journey helps feed that part of my soul. (photo above was taken in Gaylord, Michigan early March a few years back)

A Miscellaneous Tuesday

We had lots of snow dumped on us the other day, after some really lovely warm (in the 40's) weather. I didn't take photos of the new snow. I am pretending it isn't really there (one of the benefits of being mostly home bound). Weather is still nice in the house, with two new pots of daffodils Oscar brought home.

I am saddened to learn of the earthquake deaths in New Zealand. It is such a small country that everyone knows people who know everyone else. It's as if 65 residents of Ypsilanti died one day. Heartbreaking.

I received 24 (twenty four) brand new books for review today. It's like Christmas whenever a box arrives from Freshfiction. Today's shipment had two especially intriguing books: The Mystery of Lewis Carroll by Jenny Woolf and I is an Other: The Secret Life of Metaphor and How it Shapes the Way We See the World by James Geary

Speaking of Freshfiction, I now have a total of 122 reviews published. I have ten more rough drafts almost ready, and a few more books I am in the process of reading, plus, of course, all those waiting in the wings. And just in case the physical books start to run dry, I am a member of netgalley, via the auspices of Freshfiction.
Netgalley is where many publishers send out pre-published books as pdf files that automatically delete themeselves on the day of publication. In the meantime, because I am an established reviewer I can request any book I want to read, as many as I want to read, and the publisher is likely to say yes and send it along. This means a childhood dream has come true. I will never, ever run out of new books to read.
I grew up way out in the country, the closest library was very small and we only were able to visit every few weeks.
 I read through all the books I was interested in very quickly, and I was never, ever able to carry enough books home with me to last the two weeks until the next visit. I always had a secret dread of running out of books to read. Logically I know I wouldn't run out of books even without Netgalley, one only lives so long, of course, but knowing I have this limitless font of thousands and thousands of books from which to choose whenever I get a hankering is SUCH a powerful joy!

In knitting news, I am almost finished with the shawl sample for Lynnie. 4.5 rows to go, then the bind off. I am making the largest size and here near the end, the rows are approximately 485 stitches long. It takes me a bit more than an hour to do two rows, and my hands generally give up about then. It is a beautiful shawl, but I will be happy when I am done! My own knitting patterns are waiting patiently :-}

Adjustments

I have had very low blood pressure most of  my life. Until this year my average BP has been between 110/65 and 115/70. Imagine my shock to have one  come up 144/88 last week.  It was a big enough difference to motivate me into some lifestyle changes. I have never tried to limit my salt intake before, but that has been pretty easy. We choose healthy stuff  most of the time and I already cooked low-sodium meals for Oscar, I just stopped adding salt to my plate. I have also upped my exercising from 2-3 sessions a week, to daily. And I already feel better (happier, more energetic). All this on the advice of my doctor, who praised me for being proactive. After Dad's stroke, it was not a hard choice to make, and the execution this first week has been easier than I would have thought.
It has been so easy, in fact, I wonder why it took me so long?
Anyway, I feel pretty lucky that these small changes can make a big difference in health.
My blood pressure this afternoon? 117/72

A little joy on a Sunday Afternoon

HUG MONSTER!!!!!!!

I finished a Hug Monster for Sean this morning. I really like how he turned out.
Clare (Natty Knits) has lots of really cute patterns, check out her Etsy Shop! She even has some of the samples for sale, in case you aren't a knitter :-}
(BTW, I managed 3 reviews yesterday)

Procrastination

I often have little patience with procrastination in others, but find myself in the throes of a week-long session of my own. Usually I catch myself starting to procrastinate and give myself a stern talking to: "Get off the stick and just do it!" usually works, but not this time. Even now, instead of writing book reviews I am writing a blog post. Worse yet, there is a deadline involved, if only one I created myself.
Some very good advice drawn from a book on writing tells us to cultivate the habit of writing every day. When I did that, it worked pretty well. Even if all I did was visit each rough-drafted file and add a bit and polish a bit, it was a positive step and made it easier to work on them the following day. Perhaps it is good to take a day off every few weeks, especially if you get tons done and begin to burn out over the time period, but mostly I think it's better to commit to writing every day. I think I took too many days off in a row this time.
Writing the blog SHOULD count, but I think it's best if I count only the work I do on the reviews and my manuscript. So. Enough said. Time to start, and see how much I can get done today.

Weather part 2

Outside

Inside

Soundtracks to Books

Oscar sent me a link to a Youtube video of a band new to me, Within Temptation.
One of my favorite genres is Urban Fantasy, and their stuff is like the soundtrack to some of the best books I've read recently. (check them out, the first song I listened to was Stand My Ground. The video is amazing.)
I have read of authors using specific song lists as they write specific books, it seems to lock their minds into the best mode for the work. They sometimes even have specific songs for specific characters. One book I recently read, Taste Me by Tamara Hogan, includes a song list at the back of the book. Since the main character is a musician, this made a lot of sense (and there are some great songs there).
I really like this idea of using multiple senses as tools for writing. Jenny Crusie makes collages for her books, another interesting method. Of course nothing replaces butt glue (putting your butt in the chair in front of the computer and not moving until you write the thing) but I have been thinking about what other senses might be employed for setting the work mode.
Some authors use specific spaces for writing. Some close themselves into a room with a computer (with no internet access) and no other purpose but writing. Others like to write in public impersonal spaces like coffee shops, needing the white noise effect.Others choose specific times of day.
I pretty much do everything in the recliner, so perhaps I can make the recliner my "writing zone" using sensory tools. Perhaps choosing music I only listen to while writing, or maybe lighting a certain incense. In aromatherapy, scents such as Basil, cedarwood, cardamom or frankincense may help. They also suggest coriander for creativity, but I don't LIKE coriander.  I could also choose to only burn certain candle colors, I suppose or wear a special hat or perhaps hair ribbon LOL.
As with most things of this nature, the most important correlation is not what some site or table suggests, but the connection YOU make with a specific scent, color etc.
I think because I cannot move myself into a specific writing space, perhaps I can change the space around me into a space dedicated to specific tasks when needed.
I think the setting for writing reviews will be different than that for writing fiction, or for designing.
It is something to contemplate. What do you think?

Hope

 The news is hopeful. The doctors are contradicting themselves. At this point the cancer may only be in one organ. Nothing is certain yet, we are still waiting for the oncolcogy consult before being sure, but there is still a chance that treatment may be possible for Faye. Keep those good thoughts coming! She is doing amazingly well after the stroke, already in rehab and moving on her own.

Reading for Life

I have been reading voraciously since I was four years old. I distinctly remember the first word I read. It was d-o-o-r. I still remember the brilliant flash of the moment when I realized combining the sounds of those letters meant the same thing as the wooden-paneled door between the kitchen and hallway of our old farm house on Bunn Road, south-west of Jonesville, Michigan. Looking back it is entirely appropriate that my first understood written word was 'door'. Books have provided me a multitude of doors; doors to knowledge, enjoyment and perhaps most poignantly, escape. I have had a pretty decent life so far, but there have been some terrible patches. One surcease from the pain of those times, when I was physically trapped in grim reality, was reading. It never failed to bring me a measure of ease when I swam into the story and left the harshness behind. By the time I surfaced I was able to face the ugliness again, for a while. It still brings peace, and escape from physical pain although I have some other tools ready at hand that also help. Knitting is one of them, the repetitive motion goes a long way toward softening the bad days. When I am caught up in designing, the rest of the world fades away. And sometimes when I write, the words flow and grow bright between me and the rest the world for a time.
Books however are my first  love, the first time I discovered my mind can take me anywhere the author leads. I think that is why my deepest dream is to write fiction, preferably genre fiction with a kick-butt heroine, fantastic danger, some laughs, and always, always a happy ending. The authors I depended upon for release and relief of stress and painful parts of my life gave me so much, it seems natural to desire to give back and hope some future reader will also be able to find escape, relief and maybe even some perspective from something I write.

Since starting this blog, and even more now  that I am writing reviews almost every day I have felt my skill growing. I feel ready to tackle the first of the books living inside me.Whether it  is published or not, I think I owe it to myself to try.

thank you some more

My friend's stroke has left her with moments of clarity. My greatest wish for her and her family is that any pain is minimal, and that those moments of clarity are often enough that the time they can spend together helps to heal their hearts. A diagnosis of inoperable cancer is so harsh. I can't even imagine the anguish they are feeling. I love them all dearly and my pain is a pale shadow to what they are dealing with. I am blessed that I am 100% certain they know how much I love them. Sometimes that's all you can do. And when it comes down to it, it is not a small thing, to have that certainty of love.