I did! Really! I’ve got it written down in my planner and everything…

Anyway, I have to say I achieved my goal of having no goals in February admirably. It was extremely difficult, but somehow I managed to accomplish nothing at all.

Ok, actually I got back into an exercise routine (30 min cardio during lunch 3 days a week, an exercise class during lunch, some light weights and ab exercises, regular stretching…) and that’s really helped. The hip/back alignment issue is still there but getting better. I got a couple books on trigger points which helped as well – they helped me find and release muscle knots all over the place that I didn’t know about and which may have either been contributing to, or an aggravation of the problem.

Either way, I’m starting to feel better. It really sucks when you can’t sit in any position for more than five minutes without nerve nibbling shrews running up and down between your back and your ankle. And it’s hard to get a good nights sleep. I’ve been catching up on that too.

I didn’t do any writing but I did do some clay – my favorite batch of Dragon’s Eyes yet. I’ll try to put up pics at some point. I lost about a pound in February, but my clothes feel looser than that, so I think the exercise is helping on that front (and behind) as well.

So, on to March…

My goal for March is decluttering. I’m not a hoarder or anything (except for arts and crafts supplies – and those are IMPORTANT) but we have too much stuff that doesn’t have a place. It might be Spring fever but I just want all this extraneous stuff GONE. No more piles of papers or things that might come in handy someday, clothes that don’t fit, clothes that fit but I don’t like, etc, etc.

And how did I get three whisks anyway? I use one maybe three times a year to make gravy. Do they multiply in the utensil drawer? I really don’t want to think about that. I am avoiding all thoughts of whisk reproduction and I suggest you do the same.

Back to goals… I also want to declutter myself and get rid of a few more pounds. And do a little writing and sculpting, even if I’m not in a regular habit again yet.

I’m not sure I’m going to tackle organizing the studio yet though… That may be a separate month’s project all in itself. The main problem there is that having a clear workspace inspires me. It’s a very good reason to organize, but it means as soon as I have a square foot clear, I think of all these cool projects I want to do, and end up with more supplies scattered around than I had before.

I’ve got an SI alignment issue that acted up the past couple months so that sitting for too long’s been rather uncomfortable. After eight hours at work, the last thing I could face was more. That got me out of the habit of writing, so I didn’t finish my Median draft. Anyone know how to type lying down?

I did a little cleaning and organizing, but not much. That goal is always wishful thinking.

Not too much on the art front either… I did make a few basic word beads although they haven’t been baked or antiqued yet. And I did make a bracelet using a few different beads I had hanging around. I rather like the asymmetrical styles I’ve been seeing. They’re great when you have one or two cool beads. The clay guild is having a Clay Day on Saturday. I think I may make some more dragon’s eyes. They’re pretty popular and I’m out of them.

I did lose five pounds this month. I’m getting back to eating better (Is it possible to have a sugar addiction? If so, I think I need a 12 step program for it.) and my regular exercise routine, so on the whole I’m counting this month as a win.

I’ve decided to have no goals for February. I want to concentrate on health and exercise/stretches so I can get the rest of the kinks in my back straightened out. Clay, writing, cleaning the house… if I get to any of that, great; if not, that’s ok. Sometimes things work better with no pressure.

I always wanted to be a writer. And that’s when I realized that if I didn’t start writing, it was never going to happen. Pretty simple epiphany, huh? But it got me moving.

So, my question for the year is:

Who do you want to be…

Today? Tomorrow?

In ten years?

And this year, I’m going to work on the baby steps to get there.

Writing

• Write every day (or close to it)
• Finish the rough draft of The Median by the end of the month
• Revise my YA princess story Hyacinth
• Submit to at least 25 agents by the end of the year
• NaNoWriMo in November

Art – I’ve been neglecting this for the writing, lately.

• Organize the studio – I do this every so often, but the piles have overtaken me again. I need a clean work space to get inspired and fill it all up again.
• Sculpt a creature that looks like a cross between a tamarin and an anime character (with the big eyes). I want to write a story about them eventually
• Have fun – grab some clay and just play

Life In General

• Declutter/arrange the house so it’s more relaxing
• Eat better (this is what I need to do to lose weight)
• Increase exercise – there’s a gym at work and I’ve been doing some, but I need to do more

Btw, I did pick a word for the year, but I’m not sure I’m going to post it. It’s the right word, and gets me into the right mindset, but I think it’s going to sound sappy and trite if I try to explain it

Winnow

1. to free (grain) from the lighter particles of chaff, dirt, etc., esp. by throwing it into the air and allowing the wind or a forced current of air to blow away impurities.
4. to subject to some process of separating or distinguishing; analyze critically; sift: to winnow a mass of statements.
6. to pursue (a course) with flapping wings in flying.

When I was a kid my family would go up for a week every summer to visit my grandparents, and while we were there, we’d rake blueberries for the family stand.

Then we’d come back and run them through the winnowing machine. A blueberry rake strips the low bush of berries, but that means you get everything: ripe berries, green berries, a few squashed ones from the metal tines of the rake, plus sticks, leaves, and a few spiders.

The winnowing machine has belts and a fan. The green and squashed berries are carried away by the moving belts. Leaves and sticks are blown up and away by the fan. The heavier ripe berries (which is all you want) roll down the belt to be caught in the green quart baskets. And you can’t beat wild New Hampshire blueberries fresh from the fields for taste. The bland cultivated ones around here are nothing in comparison.

It seems like a good word for a year where I want to declutter the house and a few pounds, finish the rough draft of my NaNoWriMo book, and go back and edit another into a final draft and finally try submitting it to agents. I want to take my life and blow away all the time wasters and things that don’t make me happy, and end up with tangy sweet goodness at the end

Other possibles for word of the year:

Savor Mastery Act Complete Completion Baby-Steps Climb Control Refresh Renew Compose Plan Wu-Wei Dream Adventure Brave Concentrate Breathe Declutter If… Joy Create Commit Grow Soar Coalesce Shine Decide Discover Practice Sift Harvest Gather Emerge Refine

And now I NEED a titanium spork. And it’s all her fault. I never knew they existed before.

Coincidentally, I had already written a spork into the future-earth novel I’m working on. I figure if they’re low on resources, why have both spoons and forks when you can combine ‘em into one uber useful, weird looking utensil.

I wonder if there’s a 12 step program for sudden spork cravings, or if I should just give in and get one.

Make that two – one for me and one for Dave.

Then we could have spork fights.

“My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to get your heart carved out with a spork.”

Yeah, that’s how it should have gone.

Isn’t it intelligent to try to escape captivity?

Nakase said that on each of its three escape attempts, the octopus had to climb out of its tank on the second level of a shelving unit and scramble down two shelves to get to the floor. On one occasion the octopus was found next to a drain on the floor, 15 feet from its tank.

Simon said if not detected, the octopus could have successfully escaped from the facility to rejoin its kind in the sea.

“REEF has a flow-through sea water system installed,” Simon said. “If the octopus had found its way into that, it could have easily escaped back into the waters at Campus Point.”

And here’s a recent article on how they can make their own homes out of coconuts. And I can’t help thinking that I really should follow the article’s suggestion and sculpt an octopus purse to start the trend

Next, we’ll find that sea sponges really do live in pineapples. And I’d be fine with that, as long as they don’t have Sponge Bob’s hideously annoying laugh

Reading her story makes me admire her guts, but the fact that she disguised her gender because she made twice as much freelance writing with a male pen name, well– that really makes you think.

I’ve never suffered any obvious discrimination because I’m a woman. If anything it worked in my favor. I was usually the only girl in my college Computer Engineering classes. I did feel a little awkward in a room full of guys when it came time to pick lab partners, but that wasn’t because of anything anybody else did. I feel awkward in a group of strangers anyway…

I’m not a rabid feminist. I’ll stick up for myself and being treated equally, but I don’t think men are evil. If a man wants to hold a door open for me, I’ll say thanks, and do the same for him the next time I reach the door first. I’ve never seen any reason why chivalry can’t work both ways.

I thought we were getting past this sort of thing. Seeing proof that this sort of subtle, unmeasurable, possibly even unconscious, discrimination still exists–based solely on the difference of a name on the internet… it hurts a little.

But I also can’t help thinking that a slightly fictionalized version of this story would make a great movie

I’ve always heard that art sells better with a story behind it, but this is the first time I’ve seen it taken so literally.

You can see the first limited edition up on Etsy. The cool thing (to me) is that the original was made in polymer clay.

Btw, I’d recommend signing up for the story if you like fantasy with a bit of an edge and tiger shape shifters. It’s caught me so far and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

I use something called Page Four. I could just use Word, or any text editor but I really like the way I can break my project into chapters and scenes with Page Four. It allows you to add as many folders and pages/files as you want.

I’ve set my novel up so I’ve got one folder for outlines, world building notes, etc, and then a folder for each chapter. If I want to move a scene from one chapter to another, it’s a simple drag and drop – then I just have to do a little editing on the transitions. It’s come in very handy when I want to restructure a story without getting lost.

It’s a fairly simple editor, without too many bells and whistles, but how many times do you use all the crazy stuff Word can do anyway? It saves files in RTF format and they can be exported as one file into Word if you want, when you get to your final draft. It will also archive versions and you can take snapshots if you want.

You can try it out for free (limited by number of pages), and it’s relatively inexpensive. (Note – I have no affiliation. I just bought a copy awhile ago and really like it.)

Page Four - my NaNo novel

I think I’ve finally figured it out. I had to delete one major scene, and restructure a couple others. I also added a new scene with a grizzly bear and her two cubs. Every futuristic story needs a bear attack, right?

I’m at 58,000+ words right now, although that’s including the deleted scenes – they’re in a cuts folder in case I end up using anything from them. The most important thing is that I’ve been writing again and making progress. It’s back to fun again.