Don’t Open Your Sunroof in the Rain and Other Life Lessons

Filed Under: ADD, housework, not-writing, writing

 I've been wrapping up one project and plunging right into another, so my head is almost always someplace else. The thing I love best about my brain is the way it keeps problem-solving for my characters, even when I'm away from my desk and not entirely conscious of the thoughts that are spinning. The thing that annoys me is that when my brain is working out dialogue or checking for flaws in a new plot twist, the other things I'm attending to in autopilot mode don't always get the most careful attention. I imagine my autopilot as a Jetsons-style robot who has a few bugs in her program. Of … [Read more...]

Bass Ackwards: A Stella Story

Filed Under: dogs, German Shepherds, STELLA

Stella has conquered a long list of fears and is generally a happy pup now, but she's still terrified of a spot on the kitchen floor. She's been afraid of the scary spot since she came to live with us.  There's not much to distinguish the scary spot from any other span of floorspace.  At certain times of day there may be a sun patch there.  It's near the stove and she hates the stove, but she finds this spot terrifying even when no one is cooking anything. Leaving the kitchen via the scary spot (which is the only way to leave the kitchen) turns Stella into a Bambi on ice impersonator.  Her … [Read more...]

The Old Preschool Try

Filed Under: conversations

Me: Well, I'm just going to give it the old college try.J: I'm going to give it the old preschool try, which means fake sleeping at nap time so you get the big sticker.Me: Can I post that on my blog?J: Sure. . . wait, does my mom read your blog?Me: You don't want her to know about the fake sleeping?J (laughing): I was planning to take that to my grave. … [Read more...]