I missed my extended family

Today was further proof that no one's got your back like family, no matter how far they are.  I hadn't seen them since the funeral a few weeks ago but I did get to see them today at church.  I got my hugs, my squeezes, my walks, my defense and a call out for not calling.  I would not change them for the world and I'm so happy to have them in my life...even if you can't talk a certain someone into make dasheen dumplings :(

Writing vent?

I realize now one of the reasons I don't write as much as I used to...more like two reasons.

I used to write all the time, mostly on my dad's old laptop, saved to floppy disc and then continued at school on one of the school computers, until we got a decent home computer.  The computer was always my domain.  Anything went wrong with it, everyone in the house is looking to me to get it fixed.  I kinda liked that.  Everything was still going well many years later, even when the house computer got used to play the Sims 2 more than writing but that was okay.  Either way, my imagination was engaged and I was happy.

And then NanoWriMo 2010 happened.  I knew I was going to be on the computer a lot because I had committed myself to write those 50k words so I informed my mom that I was going to be on the computer a lot and not playing "dolly baby" (as she would call the Sims 2 game).  My grandfather was (and still is) living with us.  I had taken a Sunday to work on my story, and had decided I would be spending the entire day in front of the computer.  Previously, I had taken to writing things out by hand and typing them up before work or during my breaks on the work computer.  On that "lovely" Sunday afternoon, when I felt like I was on a roll, my grandfather calls me from the top of the basement stairs to have a talk.  Really didn't want to because I knew I would forget where I was going in the story but it would be considered disrespectful if I didn't go up those stairs and find out what he wanted.

That's when he informed me I have a computer addiction.  I'm like "what are you talking about?"  Nowhere in the conversation, or any previous conversation, did he even ask what I was doing to actually make an informed diagnosis.  That started souring the idea of being downstairs on the computer, unless he was not around.

The next year, I bought myself a little netbook which worked well, I guess.  I did a bit more writing but due to the cramped nature of the keyboard, it was not comfortable and I soon stopped.  On top of that, the thing is currently as slow as molasses.  I even tried doing yesterday's blog update and was ready to tear my hair out.

Now that I've been out of work for well over a year, I still don't venture too near the computer in the basement very often.  I'm home and I have the time, but so is he.  I spend most of my time in my bedroom, he thinks I am on the verge of clinical depression.  Really?  I just want a job of some sort, a laptop, and somewhere else to hang out and I think that can increase the will to write explanation.

My head right is bursting with ideas for stories and I feel the need to let them out but I never feel comfortable writing when I feel like someone is watching over my shoulder.  It's reasons like this, that I would prefer to live on my own sometimes.  Only thing is that I think I'd miss not seeing the rest of my family on a regular basis.

2/26 done!

This actually happened early Wednesday morning, after I saw the news program about Elmore Leonard; I finished the Tiberius socks!

They just to be washed and they are ready to join the other socks I have knit for this year since January. 

I quickly, after getting a good 8 hours of sleep, cast on for the Istanbul socks for my aunt. The plan was to knit them as a set of anklets. I soon realized I would not figure out how to proceed with this within 30 minutes so I started to knit them as per the instructions and decided that they will be a little longer than anklets. By last night, I was at the beginning section of the heel flap and as of today during "Days of Our Livrs", I was working on the gusset. I think this will be another quick pair. 

Also, I'm using a skein that I had dyed back in March, I think, for the Tosh-a-long. I'm happy that I wrote down what I did to make this skein because I am loving it but since these socks are not for me, I will not be able to reap the full benefits :(

And as a bonus, and a good show of how much progress in knitting I have done since the new year (not the knitting new year), I pulled out all the socks I have knit with the exception of the one pair that I have to my aunt.

That is 5 whole pairs of socks for myself, 1 for my aunt and like a bunch of one foot pairs. This is encouraging :) and I also realized that I need more from the red family in my sock stash.  I do have my red BFFs socks but that was for last year. I think before the year is out, I need knit something with either the blood-orange yarn from SweetGeorgia or the fuschia yarn from Springtree Road. I guess I have a pre selected skein for October and/or December.

I am looking forward to putting all of my socks for this year in one picture and see how high the pile will go.

10 Tips on Writing, as per Elmore Leonard

I was watching the news last night and heard about the passing of an author by the name of Elmore Leonard.  Unfortunately for me, I had never heard of him before this news announcement and after hearing about him, I wish I had.  He was an American author who wrote novels and screen plays for TV and movies.

What interested me most was his 10 Tips on Writing.  And for a matter of record, I am going to post them here (originally copied from an article on The Globe and Mail):

1. Never open a book with weather. If it’s only to create atmosphere, and not create a character’s reaction to the weather, you don’t want to go on too long.

Notice how he immediately gets the focus where it belongs: on character. We read not to learn that it’s a glorious day but to understand how a character feels when the day of her lover’s funeral is the kind of sultry day they loved best.

2. Avoid prologues.

Here, Mr. Leonard immediately breaks his own rule, citing a prologue that serves a purpose:

“There is a prologue in John Steinbeck’sSweet Thursday, but it’s okay because a character in the book makes the point of what my rules are all about.”

3. Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue. The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in.

Amen!

4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said” … he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin.

Amen again!

5. Keep your exclamation marks under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.

Whoops!

6. Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose.”

7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.

Mr. Leonard suggests writers notice the way Annie Proulx “captures the flavour of Wyoming voices in her book of short stories Close Range.” Again, a very sensible recommendation. However, this particular rule is worth questioning. While it is difficult for writers to use regional dialect without appearing to condescend to their characters, there are exceptions. James Lee Burke’s use of Cajun dialect in his Dave Robicheaux novels both brings his characters to life and honours them. I expect Elmore Leonard would give him a pass on this rule.

8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters. In Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants, what do the “American and the girl with him” look like? “She had taken off her hat and put it on the table.” That’s the only reference to a physical description in the story, and yet we see the couple and know them by their tones of voice, with not one adverb in sight.

Again, note that Mr. Leonard always chose exactly the right piece to illustrate his point.

9. Don’t go into great detail describing places and things.

10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

Mr. Leonard concluded his rules by citing his most important rule – the one that sums up all of the rules:

If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

I think I am going to look up some of his books and read them for myself to see what his writing style was like.  All in all, I'm happy to learn from him.

Out in the Garden

I am not a nature girl.  I may like the look of nature but I don't venture anywhere near it if I want to be able to breath the next day.  Somehow or another, my aunt had me standing out in the back yard, in the middle of the garden, holding a plastic tupperware dish as she hunted for tomatoes and raspberries in the mess we call a garden.

Don't get me wrong, we seem to grow a good crop, despite the fact we (as in majority of the household) do diddly-squat to the garden and what comes out of there looks lovely and I adore tomatoes too!  But I'm still wanting to grass over the entire backyard and relegate the garden to the outer portions around the garden.

And here's an actual shot of part of the garden:

My aunt and I barely make it past 5'1" and there are plants out there that are taller than us. I'm afraid I'd get lost out there if I ventured any deeper than I was.

Computer Envy

I am sure I have mentioned many times that one of my favorite games to play is the Sims, especially the Sims 2.  I have not been able to play it in ages since my computer refuses to acknowledge that there is a DVD rom attached to it.

Today, cousin B1 asked if she could borrow my disc for the Sims 3 so she could install it on her new laptop.  I so wanted to tell her "Sure!  As long as I can get complete access to your laptop to play the Sims 2 whenever I choose and fill up your hard drive with as much custom content as your laptop can hold!"  Unfortunately for her, the game could not be found and she didn't want to install the Sims 2 game instead so it continues to sit underneath the computer desk, just waiting for an opportunity to be installed and played with.

Year of Projects: Week 8

I tried so hard! I was hoping to have another pair of socks finished, namely the Tiberius socks, but alas, I just finished the turn heel of the second sock. It should be finished soon though and hopefully it'll be all ready to show next week.

I'm working on getting ahead of the sock knitting game.  Inspiration hit early on this week and I think it works perfectly well with what I had wanted to do from earlier on this year in regards to the anklets situation.  Litloh from Ravelry re-imagined the Spock socks and turned them into a set of anklets.  I've been thinking about either retrying some of the socks I've already done or knitting the newer patterns I received for this month.

I have not been working on the Shapely Boyfriend Cardigan for the past few weeks but something tells me I will be picking it up very soon.  I'm feeling kind of anxious to get it done, along with the Hermione Flip Top Mittens which by default requires the matching hat.  I think I can safely say the mittens and the hat can be my September focus...and perhaps a little purse for my girly-girl baby sister who's birthday is at the end of next month.

Despite the fact I thought I had narrowed down the pattern for the boat neck sweater I wanted to knit to the Summer Scabboard (also keep in mind this sweater is not even for this knitting year), someone from my Tuesday knitting circle got a pattern out of a magazine that looked just like what I was looking for but it was free.  Problem?  I can't even find the name of the pattern in Ravelry or even on the photocopy of the pattern from the magazine...or even the date of the magazine which could help narrow it down severely.  I got frustrated and chose a book from the library at the Thursday knitting circle (yes, I belong to 2 of them) entitled Knit to Fit (I think).  I think I found a somewhat decent replacement.  Here's hoping that it can be knit in the round which is what I'm looking for.

Year of Projects 2013-2014/26 Pair Plunge