Yep, that's all takes for me. I just have to pick him up and all of a sudden that screaming doesn't make me want to throw something (inanimate!) across the room...
Actually, he has started to do the really cute little wobbly, unco hugging thing when I pick him up...Cute!
Monday, November 30, 2009
BABY!
I love all this mothering the majority of the time but argh! days like these...
Screaming for no reason...he's been at it all morning. Finally, there is break enough for me to have a shower. Under the spray I start to feel myself again. Hey, maybe I'll get that coffee in and I might just try and get back into my writing. Turn off the water and there it is. The screaming.
Far out, what is wrong with that child at the moment? I honestly have not had a moment to do anything...well, I'll get my foot off the exaggerator pedal for a moment there..I did manage to go to the loo this morning.
Better go and pick him up.
Screaming for no reason...he's been at it all morning. Finally, there is break enough for me to have a shower. Under the spray I start to feel myself again. Hey, maybe I'll get that coffee in and I might just try and get back into my writing. Turn off the water and there it is. The screaming.
Far out, what is wrong with that child at the moment? I honestly have not had a moment to do anything...well, I'll get my foot off the exaggerator pedal for a moment there..I did manage to go to the loo this morning.
Better go and pick him up.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Finding my feet
Oh wow, I just updated my editing function so now I can do this which is what I like doing sometimes.
Chastened
I've been feeling lazy and restless all week. I think it's the weather (muggy) more than anything.
Anyway, I woke up today and felt another lazy day coming on. What to do? What to do? So many things but instead I open the laptop and let the www draw me into her spiralling web and tangents.
How the hell did I end up on a site about Cushing's disease for instance?
The inertia was crushing me. Asa was out in the courtyard doing EXACTLY the task he had set himself for the weekend (I have kind of dismissed starsigns as preposterous but that's a Virgo for you) and Sweeney was having a nap so I decide to take Tilly for a walk. Very rare for me these days. Tilly (the Jack Russell) and I used to be the best of chums but then Pascal came along.* She still gets lots of walks but it's Asa who takes her.
Pascal grabs his scooter, I grab the leash and a couple of Nappy Sacks for Tilly's poo and off we go.
So we've had a lovely walk and scooter ride and almost home when Tilly stops and does a couple of her sloppy best on a nature strip. I almost leave it as they are pretty small and, well, I hate carrying the bag home. Actually, it is precisely this duty which makes the whole walking Tilly thing so unnattractive. But I pick it up which is, you know, the law and we continue..
Anyway, walking, walking, we get to a building site where there is a whole lot of rubbish dumped on the overgrown nature strip. I don't think anything of leaving the bag perched on the top of the pile. There are even some other plastic bags there to keep it company. It's sealed tight. It's even odorised.
But I didn't count on Pascal's ethics.
"Mum, that's really naughty what you just did."
"Well, I'm pretty sure someone will come and tidy up all the rubbish and take the bag with it."
"Well, Mum you wouldn't like it if someone left poo on your nature strip. I'll carry it, I don't mind." Yeah, weeeell, the kids got a point..**
So he scoots back, picks it up and scoots towards me with the cutest self riteous grin and a dangling sinister parcel swaying from the handlebars. He actually took it all the way home and as he put it in our outdoor bin he says.
"See Mum, that's what we should do."
This is not our bin.
This one's for you little man...
*Remind me to tell you about our dog Tilly one of these days
**He does have a point. I would hate finding a dog turd on our nature strip no matter how tightly knotted or nicely smelling the bag was HOWEVER I would not mind someone adding to a rubbish pile outside our unoccupied house. And that's the god's honest truth.
Anyway, I woke up today and felt another lazy day coming on. What to do? What to do? So many things but instead I open the laptop and let the www draw me into her spiralling web and tangents.
How the hell did I end up on a site about Cushing's disease for instance?
The inertia was crushing me. Asa was out in the courtyard doing EXACTLY the task he had set himself for the weekend (I have kind of dismissed starsigns as preposterous but that's a Virgo for you) and Sweeney was having a nap so I decide to take Tilly for a walk. Very rare for me these days. Tilly (the Jack Russell) and I used to be the best of chums but then Pascal came along.* She still gets lots of walks but it's Asa who takes her.
Pascal grabs his scooter, I grab the leash and a couple of Nappy Sacks for Tilly's poo and off we go.
So we've had a lovely walk and scooter ride and almost home when Tilly stops and does a couple of her sloppy best on a nature strip. I almost leave it as they are pretty small and, well, I hate carrying the bag home. Actually, it is precisely this duty which makes the whole walking Tilly thing so unnattractive. But I pick it up which is, you know, the law and we continue..
Anyway, walking, walking, we get to a building site where there is a whole lot of rubbish dumped on the overgrown nature strip. I don't think anything of leaving the bag perched on the top of the pile. There are even some other plastic bags there to keep it company. It's sealed tight. It's even odorised.
But I didn't count on Pascal's ethics.
"Mum, that's really naughty what you just did."
"Well, I'm pretty sure someone will come and tidy up all the rubbish and take the bag with it."
"Well, Mum you wouldn't like it if someone left poo on your nature strip. I'll carry it, I don't mind." Yeah, weeeell, the kids got a point..**
So he scoots back, picks it up and scoots towards me with the cutest self riteous grin and a dangling sinister parcel swaying from the handlebars. He actually took it all the way home and as he put it in our outdoor bin he says.
"See Mum, that's what we should do."
This is not our bin.
This one's for you little man...
*Remind me to tell you about our dog Tilly one of these days
**He does have a point. I would hate finding a dog turd on our nature strip no matter how tightly knotted or nicely smelling the bag was HOWEVER I would not mind someone adding to a rubbish pile outside our unoccupied house. And that's the god's honest truth.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
The weird and wonderful things found out there in Internerd land
The other day Asa found yet another abomination of nature in the garden. We don't like these. They make us shudder.
I heard him yelling and asked him what was going on.
"Don't worry." he says. "It was just some kind of paper thing. Maybe another alien mushroom or something."
"We come in peace"
"I just put it in the green waste bin." He says.
My skin was already creeping and a crawling but I just had to go out to investigate. Inside, on top of our green waste was a weird grey paper spun into a ball. It didn't look that gross at all. Then I picked it up and the heavy weight filled me with revulsion. I dropped it as it was filled with...gahhh... maggots! Writhing maggots! Argghhhh!!
At first I thought the paper thing must have once been alive or food or whatever, then I realised it was actually a hive of some sort. As my thirst for knowledge conquers all I googled 'wasp maggots' and this made me go What the Fuck?:
The actual answers were all pretty straight. One person even explained, in great detail, what the maggots (rather larvae) would eat... but surely Queer Ronnie is taking the piss? Surely? It's bloody hilarious!
In the end I poured boiling water on them. As foul as they were I still felt a bit mean.
I heard him yelling and asked him what was going on.
"Don't worry." he says. "It was just some kind of paper thing. Maybe another alien mushroom or something."
"We come in peace"
"I just put it in the green waste bin." He says.
My skin was already creeping and a crawling but I just had to go out to investigate. Inside, on top of our green waste was a weird grey paper spun into a ball. It didn't look that gross at all. Then I picked it up and the heavy weight filled me with revulsion. I dropped it as it was filled with...gahhh... maggots! Writhing maggots! Argghhhh!!
At first I thought the paper thing must have once been alive or food or whatever, then I realised it was actually a hive of some sort. As my thirst for knowledge conquers all I googled 'wasp maggots' and this made me go What the Fuck?:
The actual answers were all pretty straight. One person even explained, in great detail, what the maggots (rather larvae) would eat... but surely Queer Ronnie is taking the piss? Surely? It's bloody hilarious!
In the end I poured boiling water on them. As foul as they were I still felt a bit mean.
Monday, November 23, 2009
The Roads
I've noticed that there seem to be many more, shall we say, DICKHEADS on the road these days.
I'm sure I've been one too but this isn't about me today, it's all about them.
For instance, just what is with this race to the red light? This guy today could not handle being second or (oh banish the thought) third car behind. Then there was the guy the other day who was going psycho behind another car who tried to make a right hand turn. Granted there was a big flashing sign saying 'No Right Turn' but, wow, talk about disproportionate rage. He was honking, he was yelling - no - SCREAMING abuse. Farken this, Farken that. Just going absolutely nuts for the ten seconds before the guy infront twigged that he had made a mistake and continued on ahead.
"Give him a break. He obviously had a hard day at the office"
It was a real 'eye opener' as they say. I know I would have been angry if I was behind the guy and I'm sure I have rolled my eyes and muttered 'fucking idiot' many a time but, seriously, this guy's journey home or wherever he was going was impeded for about ten seconds (you know what, it was possibly only five). It was so far far away from worth it, it was ridiculous.
Someone told me once that if we all just calmed down on the road, were courteous and didn't speed etc, the traffic would keep on moving, even in peak hour. But of course, that could be a crock and besides, there are just too many people (including moi) in their own little private car bubbles getting pissed off at the traffic. It'll never work...
To quote Carrie Bradshaw when she was faced with a fellow mental road rager: "Oh, you are just soooo busy!"
I'm sure I've been one too but this isn't about me today, it's all about them.
For instance, just what is with this race to the red light? This guy today could not handle being second or (oh banish the thought) third car behind. Then there was the guy the other day who was going psycho behind another car who tried to make a right hand turn. Granted there was a big flashing sign saying 'No Right Turn' but, wow, talk about disproportionate rage. He was honking, he was yelling - no - SCREAMING abuse. Farken this, Farken that. Just going absolutely nuts for the ten seconds before the guy infront twigged that he had made a mistake and continued on ahead.
"Give him a break. He obviously had a hard day at the office"
It was a real 'eye opener' as they say. I know I would have been angry if I was behind the guy and I'm sure I have rolled my eyes and muttered 'fucking idiot' many a time but, seriously, this guy's journey home or wherever he was going was impeded for about ten seconds (you know what, it was possibly only five). It was so far far away from worth it, it was ridiculous.
Someone told me once that if we all just calmed down on the road, were courteous and didn't speed etc, the traffic would keep on moving, even in peak hour. But of course, that could be a crock and besides, there are just too many people (including moi) in their own little private car bubbles getting pissed off at the traffic. It'll never work...
To quote Carrie Bradshaw when she was faced with a fellow mental road rager: "Oh, you are just soooo busy!"
Saturday, November 21, 2009
FINALLY, a moment
What a bloody week, I tellsya!
I think I'm actually going to write this novel. I really do. Yes, it's because I've had a huge jolt of inspiration and also it's because I feel it. I honestly feel it in my bones that I can do it. Yes, I am inspired by stories of bidding wars and HUGE amounts of money and my characters becoming household names. That is the fantasy. But for the first time, I think it's the story that's driving me. My focus has shifted. While selling the manuscript and publicaton will be fantastic, I have stopped seeing it as the only reward. The reward is going to be the finished manuscript.
I think my mojo has come back bigger and better because this week I almost said buhbye to the whole idea. Since I've started to write more I've become much more protective of my premise and characters*, Genies. There I've said it. I want to write about Genies. Do for Genies what Stephanie Meyers has done for Vampires and, need I even mention the other one.**
So there I was, all inspired, researching Genies on the internerd while experiencing bittersweet flashbacks as I found myself on the sames pages I read all those years ago when I first had this idea.
Only the wikipedia page has been updated since then.
Hmmm, seems like someone called PB Kerr has got there first.
Yep, I did feel a bit shattered. And this is where my younger self, say ten years ago, would have given up. Like I did with my series about a dead couple visiting all their old haunts. I was so excited but ditched it when a British series called Shades showed up on ABC. Heard of it? No? (Trusty wikipedia has) So, as you can see, my biggest competitor - the series that made me give up my dream went...kind of nowhere.
I reminded myself of this, so instead of getting all jealous and contrite I started to reseach PB Kerr and his Children of the Lamp series. The more I read, the better I felt.
I felt even better still when I went out to the local shopping centre and enquired about the books in three different bookshops. In the first shop the girl hadn't even heard of the series and they were out of stock in all three. I found the fifth and most recent book in Myer so bought it. Let's just say that PB Kerr's style is completely different to mine. For one, he seems to be aiming for a younger audience and his style is much lighter and more comical.
Also, his books have been out for four or five years (shit, that's how long I've been sitting on this Genie idea??) and is just one of hundreds of young adult fiction series out there. By saying that I hope it doesn't sound like I'm belittling his achievement. I would be on absolute cloud nine to see my book in print.
Though I have to say I'm happy I can't see the potential for it to be HUGE in the way of Harry Potter et al as then, unfortunately, I would feel jealous and regretful and give up.
As it is, knowing there is a similar idea out there has given me the impetus to explore heavier themes. As has the backlash against Twilight.
This has all happened this week. I shall name it the week of cataclysm.
Page two and counting!
*If you dig in my archives you will see the somewhat embarrassing attempt at hiding my precious idea
**This is my fantasy remember. I don't have any delusions of granduer. Really ;)
I think I'm actually going to write this novel. I really do. Yes, it's because I've had a huge jolt of inspiration and also it's because I feel it. I honestly feel it in my bones that I can do it. Yes, I am inspired by stories of bidding wars and HUGE amounts of money and my characters becoming household names. That is the fantasy. But for the first time, I think it's the story that's driving me. My focus has shifted. While selling the manuscript and publicaton will be fantastic, I have stopped seeing it as the only reward. The reward is going to be the finished manuscript.
I think my mojo has come back bigger and better because this week I almost said buhbye to the whole idea. Since I've started to write more I've become much more protective of my premise and characters*, Genies. There I've said it. I want to write about Genies. Do for Genies what Stephanie Meyers has done for Vampires and, need I even mention the other one.**
So there I was, all inspired, researching Genies on the internerd while experiencing bittersweet flashbacks as I found myself on the sames pages I read all those years ago when I first had this idea.
Only the wikipedia page has been updated since then.
Hmmm, seems like someone called PB Kerr has got there first.
Yep, I did feel a bit shattered. And this is where my younger self, say ten years ago, would have given up. Like I did with my series about a dead couple visiting all their old haunts. I was so excited but ditched it when a British series called Shades showed up on ABC. Heard of it? No? (Trusty wikipedia has) So, as you can see, my biggest competitor - the series that made me give up my dream went...kind of nowhere.
I reminded myself of this, so instead of getting all jealous and contrite I started to reseach PB Kerr and his Children of the Lamp series. The more I read, the better I felt.
I felt even better still when I went out to the local shopping centre and enquired about the books in three different bookshops. In the first shop the girl hadn't even heard of the series and they were out of stock in all three. I found the fifth and most recent book in Myer so bought it. Let's just say that PB Kerr's style is completely different to mine. For one, he seems to be aiming for a younger audience and his style is much lighter and more comical.
Also, his books have been out for four or five years (shit, that's how long I've been sitting on this Genie idea??) and is just one of hundreds of young adult fiction series out there. By saying that I hope it doesn't sound like I'm belittling his achievement. I would be on absolute cloud nine to see my book in print.
Though I have to say I'm happy I can't see the potential for it to be HUGE in the way of Harry Potter et al as then, unfortunately, I would feel jealous and regretful and give up.
As it is, knowing there is a similar idea out there has given me the impetus to explore heavier themes. As has the backlash against Twilight.
This has all happened this week. I shall name it the week of cataclysm.
Page two and counting!
*If you dig in my archives you will see the somewhat embarrassing attempt at hiding my precious idea
**This is my fantasy remember. I don't have any delusions of granduer. Really ;)
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