Sunday, January 23, 2005
Blood, Sweat And Tears
If I thought I was knackered by the end of yesterday, today hit new heights of blood, sweat and tears. As I write today’s blog entry it as about quarter to nine and I have just eaten dinner after soaking in a roasting hot bath for half an hour. My hands are swollen from various cuts and slashes, my legs and feet ache from overuse and my back is throbbing from straining it over long periods of the day.
My day consisted of lifting huge and sometimes very heavy boxes, cleaning on my knees, washing all the windows (high and low), cleaning the kitchen down to the very last millimeter of granite tile and cleaning the front garden – which consisted of removing all the litter blown in by the recent high winds and trapped in our fence and hedge. It was disgusting. I also cut the hedge which also proved to be a delightful lesson in nature considering all the crap that gathers in it due to our location. Still - the place looks minted now and that's the main thing.
I took a long soak in the bath while dinner was cooking in the oven. I made Marzetti, to celebrate all the hard work we put in over the weekend. It's one of my favourite dishes because it is so easy to make, and it tastes so damn good. It's a mix of pasta, mince, cheese, onion and condensed soups. It goes down best with some garlic bread and a glass of well chosen red wine.
oooOOOooo
Last night I wrote until about 11pm and got through a very tough, 1500 words. All I really wanted to do was put my head down, but with my January To-Do List shouting at me from one corner and my conscience from the other, I knew if I went to bed with no writing done at all the day would be a waste – despite all the hard laboring.
It’s a good story; I just have to tell it the correct way. I figured the best thing under the circumstances was to write the story down and worry about the detail later. That way I would be ensured a good word count and it would give me an idea on the plot in close-up. I have chosen to set it specifically in the US – Arizona to be precise. Don’t ask me why. It is not being written with a particular US market in mind, nor is it being written to fulfill some hidden feeling of belonging to that part of the States. I just thought the story would suit that part of the world. It is called Oasis, and is a tale of tragedy with a humorous backbone.
The start of each month will see me publish my Monthly To-Do List, taken directly from this years GDR 2005 document (click on link on right of page). In order to track my progress I will publish the same list at the end of the month with my achievements met and any goals dropped. I have decided that, should I for example half complete a task I will not add it onto the following month as a ‘punishment’, but will use it to better target my aims for the month to follow. January is going well though, and I am comfortable I will meet all my targets, including the ones added during the month.
My day consisted of lifting huge and sometimes very heavy boxes, cleaning on my knees, washing all the windows (high and low), cleaning the kitchen down to the very last millimeter of granite tile and cleaning the front garden – which consisted of removing all the litter blown in by the recent high winds and trapped in our fence and hedge. It was disgusting. I also cut the hedge which also proved to be a delightful lesson in nature considering all the crap that gathers in it due to our location. Still - the place looks minted now and that's the main thing.
I took a long soak in the bath while dinner was cooking in the oven. I made Marzetti, to celebrate all the hard work we put in over the weekend. It's one of my favourite dishes because it is so easy to make, and it tastes so damn good. It's a mix of pasta, mince, cheese, onion and condensed soups. It goes down best with some garlic bread and a glass of well chosen red wine.
I have now sat down to do the first writing of the day (this!) and I reckon I have about two hours before an overwhelming feeling of tiredness washes over me. Inspiration for a short story hit me while in the bath. It’s not about a bath – or me in it – it just happened that I had the idea while lying in it. I am going to write it tonight, or as much as I can, then complete this blog tomorrow morning. See you then.
Last night I wrote until about 11pm and got through a very tough, 1500 words. All I really wanted to do was put my head down, but with my January To-Do List shouting at me from one corner and my conscience from the other, I knew if I went to bed with no writing done at all the day would be a waste – despite all the hard laboring.
It’s a good story; I just have to tell it the correct way. I figured the best thing under the circumstances was to write the story down and worry about the detail later. That way I would be ensured a good word count and it would give me an idea on the plot in close-up. I have chosen to set it specifically in the US – Arizona to be precise. Don’t ask me why. It is not being written with a particular US market in mind, nor is it being written to fulfill some hidden feeling of belonging to that part of the States. I just thought the story would suit that part of the world. It is called Oasis, and is a tale of tragedy with a humorous backbone.
The start of each month will see me publish my Monthly To-Do List, taken directly from this years GDR 2005 document (click on link on right of page). In order to track my progress I will publish the same list at the end of the month with my achievements met and any goals dropped. I have decided that, should I for example half complete a task I will not add it onto the following month as a ‘punishment’, but will use it to better target my aims for the month to follow. January is going well though, and I am comfortable I will meet all my targets, including the ones added during the month.
Fingers crossed.
Colin 11:21 pm