Monday, April 18, 2005

Monday and Murder

Alright, so I decided to let the boy live. (For now!) I figured the whole reading in class thing probably wasn't a killing-level offense. (besides, someone might have noticed he was missing from school & called the cops!) It is Monday though and I may feel differently by the time I get home tonight . . . We had a long conversation about focusing on what's going on in class & I think he took the whole thing seriously. He came home Friday night with a Spanish test on which he'd scored a perfect 100, so I think we're moving in the right direction.

The weekend was wonderful. The weather was perfect and I did a good bit of yardwork and sundry exterior projects I've been postponing for just such a loveley weekend! Kept me busy through all of Saturday and a good part of Sunday. Got my grill cleaned, filled and in perfect running order for the seaon (with two extra propane tanks - just in case!) and cooked my first outdoor meal of the year last night. (steak and fresh salad: pure heaven!) Actually, I usually cook on the grill year round but I ran out of propane (hence the two new tanks!) in November and didn't feel like messing with it in the cold, rain, and snow. Now though, I'm ready to grill with the best of them! BTW: just a suggestion, if you're trying to watch what you eat (as I am) DO NOT make the mistake of putting on the Food Network at 10:00 at night to watch the Reno Ribs Cook Off. Oh Lord, I was damn near chewing on the furniture I wanted those ribs so bad!

I did get a very nice chunk done on my GS Edits yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately the add-in chapter I'm working on, which was meant to be a short 2k-3k piece has taken off running on me. (Not, I'm afraid, an uncommon problem for me as Lee and Mel can tell you!) I'm currently at around 7k and going with the damn thing. I'm pretty happy with it but I have to be careful: it's supposed to be a section on the two MC's personal backgrounds but it's evolved into an abbreviated history of the world sort of thing. I'm trying to avoid InfoDump with it & I think I'm okay so far since it's taking place as part of a conversation and not just inserted prose. Also moving right along on the rework of "Fish". Still no new writing yet, but I had to back pedal and do a minor bit of re-write on a glaring consistency error. Somehow along the way I confused the abilities of the two MC's and got them inverted. Major oops!

Just posted 1/2 of my next Chapter for Crit work over on FM. Only 1/2 because (as usual) my chapters tend to run way beyond our set word limit (have I mentioned that I'm long-winded?) I can only slam the ladies with so much painful reading at a time!

Saw a remarkable film this weekend called "This Land is Mine". It's an old film with Maureen O'Hara and Charles Laughton but it was exceptionally powerful. It is set in a Nazi occupied town and deals with the issues of censorship, repression, and freedom through the eyes of a cowardly school teacher. He begins the film as a borderline collaborator who just wants no trouble but by the end he is a completely changed man. I don't know if it's available for rental, I saw it on AMC, but if you can find it, take the time to watch it. It's particularly poignant in light of current issues such as our "Patriot Act". Always beware of the friendly folks who are trying to "Help and Protect" you.

Anything else? Let's see . . . my son had a friend sleep over this weekend, a real nice kid. His folks are good friends of the wife and I. They spent most of their time playing video games, though they did take a break to fill out some (off color) "Ad-Libs" stories that they took great delight in reading aloud to us. I don't remember the last time I've seen two kids laugh so hard as they did when it came out of the story that I carried my wife around "In my butt". (hey, they wrote it not me!) Other than that just getting ready for our semi-annual Court-of-Honor for the Boy Scouts tomorrow night. That's where the boys receive all their badges, awards, ranks, etc. It's a nice ceremony where they are recognized in front of their parents and peers for the good things they've accomplished in the last six months. It's always a fun ceremony. Guess that covers the weekend . . .

Later!

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