far too much writing, far too many photos

runswithscissors


Monday, November 04, 2002

It's been snowing on and off here for most of the morning, coming down heavily during one hour-long stretch, completely wiping away the view up the valley. That let up around 10 a.m. Since then it's come down more lightly, no wind to speak of, small flakes descending slowly, gracefully. Not necessarily what I'm looking for on the 4th of November, but there it is outside all the windows anyway, pretty as all get-out.

Most of the cold weather prep. that had to be done outside, around the house and land, has been squared away. There were a few projects I would have undertaken had the weather remained a bit more user-friendly, but they can wait. (They'll have to.) Inside the house here, the coal stove in the basement has the living space nicely warm, extremely cozy. So cozy I found myself on the couch with a magazine in my lap about an hour ago, reading, snoozing. Just drifting, thoughts on nothing important. The kind of thing I haven't done in a long time. I've been working my adorable little keister off during recent weeks/months, between one thing and another. I'm feeling the need to let the pedal up from the metal a bit, so I'm doing just that.

It's a classic kind of set-up, really. The weather outside cold, wintry. Snow falling, sky uniformly gray, except for, now and then, a dim, blurry circle of subdued light where the sun hovers in the southern sky. A kind of weather that has a deep, stately beauty all its own. Add to that a comfortable, cold-proof living space to hang out in and the whole concept works nicely for me.

The single problem: my drive and ambitiousness tend to evaporate in this kind of setting. And what the hell -- this time of year is tailor-made for slowing down, for going inward. The world outside has gotten darker, the daylight hours getting shorter and shorter, the sun (when it's out) going down behind the trees to the west around 3:30. All the activity of the warm season is a memory. It's easy to curl up for a while.

Maybe I'll go do just that. May as well. The snow has started coming down heavily again. I look out the window, it gets kind of hypnotic. Why fight it?

Later.

*****************

And it is. Later, that is.

It snowed like hell all afternoon. And it is accumulating. This really has to stop.

*****************

Anyone who happens by this foolish journal and checks out an entry on the day it's been posted is reading first draft material. Sometimes that works out fine, other times less than fine. I'm not always my best editor when it comes to first draft material. Usually, though, within a day or two, I've returned to the entry and pummeled/massaged it into moderately acceptable shape, or have at least caught any flagrant misspellings, etc. Usually. Every now and then -- like today -- I'll stop by and take a look at an older entry. Sometimes the entry is fine, always a nice surprise. Sometimes it just needs some tweaking, which I can live with. Now and then -- like today -- it's just rife with disastrous writing, writing in need of immediate remedial work. (Pause for moment of cringing.) The entry of October 29 -- not a good example of my first draft work. Better now, though.

I've said this before and it remains true -- sometimes it's a good idea to let a day or two pass before wading through an entry here. Now and then they need time to ferment and mature.


rws 1:45 PM [+]

Comments: Post a Comment

Links to this post:

<\$BlogItemBacklinkCreate\$>

BLATHERINGS

August 2001
September 2001
October 2001
November 2001
December 2001
January 2002
February 2002
March 2002
April 2002
May 2002
June 2002
July 2002
August 2002
September 2002
October 2002
November 2002
December 2002
January 2003
February 2003
March 2003
April 2003
May 2003
June 2003
July 2003
August 2003
September 2003
October 2003
November 2003
December 2003
January 2004
February 2004
March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
June 2009
July 2009

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .


MORE FOCUSED BLATHERINGS


Travels:
London '01
Pamplona
Italy '03
U.K. '03
Sevilla
Casablanca
Stoke-on-Trent
Barcelona
Québec/Ottawa
Boston/Lisbon/Madrid
Italy '04
Montréal
La Sierra

Events:
Madrid -- arrival
9/11
Emergency Room I
Holidays 2001
Holidays 2002
Holidays 2003
Holidays 2004
Holidays 2005
A neighbor's passing
Madrid -- March 11 bombings
  and aftermath
Emergency Room II
Israeli friend/Madrid Marathon
Madrid -- Royal Wedding
The DELE exam

GONE, a novel:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10

THE BASTARD CHILDREN OF
JOE ROCCO, a novella:
-- Part 1
-- Part 2
-- Part 3

BURBANK SHRUGGED,
a screenplay:
-- Part 1
-- Part 2
-- Part 3
-- Part 4

Short stories:
Murphy's Wife
Another Autumn
La Queja de Una
  Hermanastra Muy Conocida

Autobiography
-- Personal History
-- Hormones On Parade
-- Accidents, Random Mishaps,
    Personal Problems

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .


OTHER SOURCES OF WHOLESOME ENTERTAINMENT

People/Weblogs:
dooce
foxvox
fudge it
fear not
rebekka
bookslut
802online
idle words
madhaiku
wockerjabby
grow-a-brain
rebel market
letting me be
out and about
kung fu grippe
fanatical apathy
baghdad burning
wfuv's music blog
kexp's music blog
mimi smartypants
between the miles
just a hippie gypsy
the impossible cool
tomato can brushes
vermont homestead
sugar mountain farm

Good Clean Fun:
gizmodo
futurismic
postsecret
dave barry
human clock
mcsweeney's
spaceweather
book-a-minute
internet archive
self-portrait day
my cat hates you
out of context quotes
surrealist compliment
  generator
strindberg and helium

Makin' Musical Whoopee:
last fm
stereo8
pandora
soma fm

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .


ABOUT RWS/CONTACT





This page and all its contents copyright © 2001-2011 by runswithscissors unless otherwise noted.


runswithscissors would like to thank everyone who's ever lived for everything they've ever done.



Syndicate This Site


Blogarama

BlogCatalog

Bloggapedia, Blog Directory - Find It!



technorati profile

Subscribe with Bloglines

www.flickr.com
runswithscissors' photos More of runswithscissors' photos