solitary arts

 So writing has been minimal lately as I've started several home improvement projects.

I made the decision to finally get some new flooring installed as my kitties have not been kind to the carpet. I'm going with laminated wood (which you'd think is cheaper than hard wood, but it's not.) After many talks with my uncle, who builds homes, and different flooring people at different stores the laminate just made more sense for me. However, once I decided on new floors I realized I wanted to paint which also lead to me overhauling both bathroom closets. 

In the past few weeks I have learned how to remove trim, patch drywall, install corner bead and sort of create drywall texture. The texture is not my strong suit but I'm removing the rest of the builder grade towel racks in my bathrooms this week. I wish I'd decided to to that before I'd painted but oh well. I thought I could live with them and I realized I can't. They are just so bulky and white and not at all my style. Who knew you could have a style for towel racks? 

I feel like I should've done some before and after shots. I have some holes in my walls shots from when I took down the first towel rack that was behind a door for whatever reason. 

Also electrical is not that scary once you get a voltage tester. I can now install ceiling fans, light switches and outlets. 

Wish me luck and sanity! :) 

And possibly some writing for the August Fic-A-Day challenge!

 Title: Moonshot | Rating: FR13 | BtVS, Anita Blake | Crossover | 11K | hostile climate - hurt/comfort prompt

Joyce just wants to keep her girls safe and, well, Dawn wants pizza, Buffy wants Dawn to stealing her stuff and Faith just wants a home. A series of short stories in which everyone gets what they want--except Buffy. (Sequel to Many a Mile). 

Moonshot @ TtH
Moonshot @ AO3

Chapter 4 is up and another prompt down. 

 Title: Moonshot | Rating: FR13 | BtVS, Anita Blake | Crossover | 10K | panic attacks - hurt/comfort prompt

Joyce just wants to keep her girls safe and, well, Dawn wants pizza, Buffy wants Dawn to stealing her stuff and Faith just wants a home. A series of short stories in which everyone gets what they want--except Buffy. (Sequel to Many a Mile). 

Moonshot @ TtH
Moonshot @ AO3

Chapter 3 is up and another prompt down. 

 Hello to anyone who might be still reading my journal! I went ahead and signed up for the heroinebigbang and while I feel a smidgen anxious about it I do believe I can handle 10K words by the end of January. I signed up for Buffy Summers as my heroine (I find it the easiest to slip into her noggin so no need to challenge myself just yet). ;) 

However, I've wrote nada this month other than finishing a Faith scene that had been giving my fits. My goal is to get a little written for the 9th chapter of History for Sale tonight. Wish my luck and hopefully I'll come back with an update later this evening. 

Update:
I stayed up too late but I got 1300 words written. They need editing something fierce but progress. 

I didn’t write as much in September as I did in August, but I still wrote some and that counts for something. I managed to update History for Sale over on AO3 and I located my old notes for it so I can now finish the story. The next 2 chapters are written and there are 3 more to write before it’s complete and can work on a different WIP. I’m hoping to participate marginally in NaNoWriMo, but I’m not sure I’ll push myself to write the full 50K. Maybe start with baby steps and go for 25K.

I’ve been writing, but mostly Anita Blake. I’m not sure why either, but it’s words to paper—erm—Word and I’m not going to argue. Hopefully, I can finish the next scene tonight in the Faith centric short. Faith is mouthy and suspicious.

Wish me luck and I hope this finds anyone reading it happy and healthy.

Title: Moonshot | Rating: FR13 | BtVS, Anita Blake | Crossover | 3K | touch starved - hurt/comfort prompt

Joyce just wants to keep her girls safe and, well, Dawn wants pizza, Buffy wants Dawn to stealing her stuff and Faith just wants a home. A series of short stories in which everyone gets what they want--except Buffy. (Sequel to Many a Mile).

Moonshot @ TtH
Moonshot @ AO3

Be good to myself
Finish what I start
Embrace the creative

I know the first month is nearly over but starting a resolution day one of a new year is always dangerous so I’ve given myself the whole month to sink into them. So far I’m doing meh on the first one but the other two are moving along. No writing done (as of yet) but my spare bedroom is coming together. At some point I’ll post pictures (I really should’ve done some before images).

So the life stuff I couldn't bring myself to talk about last year... in 2018 I lost my big brother to lung cancer. He was diagnosed June 15 and passed away on July 13. It was a short, bitter battle and he was only 40. Goddamnit. On August 15 I had to say goodbye to Thea, my sweet gray kitty, and January 5 (2019) I said goodbye to Gracie, my sweet gray and white kitty.

I lost all inspiration when I had to say goodbye to all of them so close together and the loss of my brother is still like an open wound on my heart. Though a small part of me thinks Doug loved my kitties and wanted them with him. The whole family suffered some pet losses after his passing and he loved the animals so it’s the running theory that he’s hoarding them until we get where he is… not sure where that is but I’m looking into it.

So I’ve adopted two new little assholes…erm… kitties. Rupert, the ferocious fluff, and Harpurr Lee, she’d kill a mocking bird. I’ve never lived with a male cat before. Rupert is all snuggles one minute and pouncing on his sister-cat the next. Harper gives as good as she gets but normally voices a complaint so I intervene. Rupert came into my life after Thea and Harper after Gracie.

Work is work and as stressful as always but they’ve been compensating me nicely so I won’t complain. I do fully intend to take a solo vacation this year. I’m thinking Paris… but will likely settle for somewhere stateside.

All and all that’s how I’ve been and why I’ve been so quiet. Hopefully this post is a good turning point and I start writing more. Even if it's just blog posts for now. If you want to see pictures of the kitties I can link you to my Instagram. They are adorable and Rupert really is terribly photogenic.

I’d hoped to get started back up on tamingthemuse  this week. The community had switched to Dreamwidth after the whole LJ user agreement fiasco, but it hasn’t been updated since the middle of August. I was looking forward to the structure of the community even if the words sometimes confounded me.

So I’m going to attempt to challenge myself. I located a random word generator (via a handy-dandy Google search) and it provided me with these 12 words. Over the next 12 weeks I’m going to tackle one a week and write story/scene/chapter inspired by these words. I’m going to go in the order the words were presented to me (no skipping).

Please feel free to join in my madness.

MASTERLIST
1. copper
2. explain
3. ill-fated
4. truck
5. neat
6. unite
7. branch
8. educated
9. tenuous
10. hum
11. decisive
12. notice

My niece is graduating high school tomorrow. I'm proud of her because I know she hates school and this graduation was questionable last year, but she was also just to my knee and in diapers a few days ago. I swear.

I know she'd be incredibly embarrassed by her aunt remembering when I used to call her Stinkerbelle (because my god did her diapers stink) and that my favorite photo of her is of her "reading" the newspaper on the toilet when she was being potty trained way back when.

Now she has a boyfriend. Now she's graduating high school. Now she's considered an adult in the eyes of the law. I'm horrified by these concepts. Not because it makes me feel old (it does a little), but there's this big wide world out there and she's got to learn how to manage it. She barely managed high school.

Can't I wrap her up in bubblewrap and put her in a closet until she's 25 and ready to deal with all the shite that comes with living? (I know that would make it worse, but I'm still tempted.)

Do they sell cards that say "Welcome to adulthood. Yeah. We knew it sucks. But welcome anyway."