Mad Libs

A bad bad day

2013-05-21T01:30:46Z

All my hopes and prayers going out to the people in Moore, OK, especially the children in the school. Please please please let them be all right.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

Because

2013-05-20T03:11:42Z

Because it’s cold and I refuse to turn the heater on in May, May 19th for criminy’s sake, I started a fire in the woodstove.

Because I haven’t actually left town in seven weeks, and I haven’t seen a good friend in I don’t know how long, I went to Butte today and ran some errands and had lunch with said friend.

Because the dogs are dropping hair like a billion dandelions, I vacuumed the house after the kids went to bed. Well, the lower half. Tomorrow will be the upper half.

Because I forgot to run the dishes and the sink is overflowing, I not only ran the dishwasher, but did a slew of handwashing.

Because it rained for the last three days, I haven’t planted the flowers I bought yet. But things are getting green.

Because I went to Butte today, I saw 5 golden eagles. Huge freaking birds and so lovely.

Because I went to Butte with my son, he talked nonstop for about 2 hours before he got tired. I mean nonstop. NON. STOP.

Because I went into Walmart for some protein powder (which I did not find–why do they put so much crap in it? going to the Health Food Store tomorrow. It wasn’t open today) my son forced me to watch a knife demonstration in order to get a free paring knife.

Because I watched said knife demonstration, I bought knives. I’m a sucker.

What did you do this weekend?

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

Rain

2013-05-18T04:16:00Z

It rained today. Still is raining. Well, it did stop for about an hour, but mostly it’s been raining all day. Girlie had to play soccer in it and frankly it was cold. In the 40s. But we really need the moisture. We’re in a drought and this will help all the fields and the feed for animals. Not to mention we’ve already had fires here. Didn’t do my walking though. Slugged out. More soccer tomorrow and possibly Iron Man 3.

Working on something that isn’t coming together very well. It’s very shiny though. So I keep stirring it to see what will turn up. Trouble is, I have to break outside my own expectations for a particular place. Normal behavior in this place doesn’t apply, nor do typical motivations, or typical laws. It’s upside down in a lot of ways, for a good reason, but I keep falling into traditional mental patterns and I have to get out of that. If only it were that easy.

All the purple has vanished from my hair and I need to put it in again. I’ll try to work on it this weekend.

Doing some research for my current WIP. Not sure if I’m getting anywhere. I’d like to go visit the location.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

I swear I did do something today

2013-05-17T03:34:15Z

I’m just not sure what it was that I did do. I did a lot of tinkering on the website, with some help from my web editor who did a tune up on some things, bless her. Makes it significantly easier to do some things. I now have an appearances and FAQs pages, and I they are updated, something I’ve been meaning to do for awhile. I started combing through pages to get some more things updated, though I’m not done yet. There are some consistency things I need to work on that will take more time. I attended my daughter’s recorder recital and my son’s band concert. He wore green: green shoes, green shorts, green shirt, green glasses. Guess what his favorite color is? It rained today a lot, something we desperately need. Soaked the dogs who did not go into their houses while we were at the concert tonight. So now the house stinks of wet dog fur.

Poked at the manuscript some more. But essentially I did a fair amount of website work, and it really doesn’t look like I did that much. How aggravating.

The lilacs have all popped, as have all the trees in town. Smells so amazing outside.

Just saw the news on Grandbury, TX. Oh, hell. What a terrible disaster. Never again do I want to live in tornado country. Feel like I got out of the midwest by the skin of my teeth when I see stories like this.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

Snippet

2013-05-16T05:22:02Z

I’m having doubts. This is the latest snippet. Does it make you want to read forward? Do you connect with Taryn at all? (I know, small snippet, but what’s your reaction?) I know it’s rough, so bear with me.

At the mention of the Brody name, Taryn went rigid. “That’s enough,” she said, pushing abruptly to her feet and collecting up her dishes. “I don’t need to hear any more.”

“What?” was Granger’s bewildered reply.

“I don’t need to hear any more,” she said, then turned around, folding her arms over her wrinkled blouse. “I don’t want to hear any more. Finish your pie and your coffee and get on with you.”

“But— I have to tell you. You’re on the list.”

“List?”

“You know. The List. The Book List.”

He cast a look around the kitchen as if searching for the incriminating book. It lay on the end of the kitchen island, beside a vase of white camelias. The edges of the flowers were turning brown and starting to curl. It seemed like an omen.

Granger’s gaze skimmed right over the book without seeing it. Hard to believe, given that it was bound in wood with traceries of silver curling across it like whisps of mist. Dotting the cover and set into bezels of silver were cabochons of amethyst, tiger eye, agate, moonstone, and a dozen other stones Taryn had yet to identify.

She’d left the damned thing— Taryn let out a quiet sigh. She couldn’t remember where or even when she’d even picked it up, much less actually put it somewhere. It didn’t matter. The book followed her. Silently demanding. Open it. Write in its blank pages.

When gators tanned their own hides and turned themselves into boots, Taryn thought sourly and focused back on her guest. Invader. Granger was eyeing her with frowning sterness, like a father about to give his daughter a lecture. Or so she supposed. Her father had scarecely ever noticed her, much less lectured.

A spider slid down a thread directly above the sheriff’s head. A black widow, by the looks of her. She hung there, waiting silent vigil. If he were to threaten Taryn, the spider would act. She wouldn’t be the only one. A swarm of delicate spider feet tickled up Taryn’s legs and over her lap, climbing up onto the underside of the table. A silent, deadly army. Whether he knew it or not, Granger was in serious danger.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

Where I will be in the next few months

2013-05-15T22:35:59Z

Miscon will take place in Missoula, Montana, from May 24-27. It’s a fabulous little con. Can’t wait to go.

On June 14th, I’ll be at Jayfest at Powell’s Beaverton in honor of and support for Jay Lake, a fabulous SF writer who’s struggling with cancer. There will be a group signing and a book fair. Other authors include David Levine, Phyllis Irene Radford, Devon Monk, Barb and J. C. Hendee, Shannon Page, Mark Ferrari, J. A. Pitts, M. K. Hobson, and Tina Connolly.

On August 14th at 7:00, I’ll be taking part in the SFWA reading series. Laura Ann Gilman is hosting the program, Phyllis Irene Bradford will also be reading. To register, go here.

I’m planning on Orycon, and may be at Spocon. More on those later.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

Weight loss and fads

2013-05-15T21:09:22Z

I was out walking the puppies today (and boy were they rambunctious) and thinking about weight loss. Do you remember Susan Powter and her Stop the Insanity diet stuff? Then there was Richard Simmons. Who doesn’t know him? There was the Jane Austen workout, and oh, what about the guy with the long blond hair hawking all sorts of diet programs and equipment? Can’t remember his name. I think he’s still around. Tony Little? Is that it? Don’t forget Chuck Norris. As for diets, there’s everything from Weight Watchers to Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, Ideal Me, Prism, South Beach, Adkins, Mediterranean, Dean Ornish, Zone, Biggest Loser . . . I can’t begin to think how many there are.

What I was thinking about as I was walking was how our sense of foods has changed over the years. Remember when a calorie was a calorie and it was just reduction of calories and exercise? Then we figured out that kinds of calories mattered. Fat wasn’t that good. And then there were all the cholesterol issues caused by the wrong kinds of fat. Somewhere along the lines the question of carbs came up–bad carbs v good carbs v any carbs at all. Then there was “real” foods v manufactured foods, like high fructose corn syrup. Oh, I also forgot the meat v. no meat question. Oh, and all the exercise questions: aerobic v. anaerobic; walking v something more vigorous; how long to do it and how often?

This raised the question for me–every time some of this comes up, it’s right. The science is right for a lot of it, or so we are told. And then the science changes and either we learned something new, or we were wrong before. I wonder how we know if we’re right now? Not that there’s any agreement. On the other hand, losing weight isn’t a once-size fits all answer. Not only are all our bodies different, but our access to foods is different, not to mention what we like and don’t like, what we’re inclined to do for exercise and not, and so on and so forth. In the end, we all have to find something that works for us and then make it work.

I’ve lost 35 lbs (I first wrote lobs, and thought, yeah, accurate that) over the last couple of years. I still have a long way to go. But my goals are always one pound at a time. I’m not entirely sure why it’s coming off to be honest. I’m not doing anything spectacularly different. I gave up aspartame September 1, 2012. That’s meant a pretty significant change to my sweet tooth. I don’t crave stuff as much. I’ve been trying not to answer my stress and tiredness with food. I’ve been trying not to eat when I’m not hungry. So just because it’s a traditional mealtime, i don’t necessarily eat, or rather, I don’t eat a meal. I’ll have a piece of fruit or a yogurt or just enough to keep my blood sugar steady (I’m prediabetic). I’m reducing carbs, but that’s not really all that intentional. I used to crave them more when I drank aspartame. Now I don’t. I’m working on flavors more. I like food and so I am trying to expand my food palette (had some great Morroccan soup and green Vietnamese curried steak for Mother’s Day). I also love salads, so I spend the time to make something tasty. I’ve also been doing a lot of walking. Especially as the weather has improved. And of course, the less I weigh, the easier walking is. Oh, and another thing I’ve done is shift to a lot more real food. Real butter, real sugar, and so forth. I try to keep high fructose corn syrup out of the house and do my best to cook from scratch as often as I can (though don’t get me wrong–hotdogs happen in this house).

What’s funny is that sometimes my mom will call attention to what I’m eating for being fattening or whatever, and I just have to laugh. Right now things are working. Yeah, maybe I could speed up the process, but since this is working, I’m afraid to change, especially since this is a way of life for me and to incorporate bigger changes might mean that I lose the weight and then gain it back. It seems to me my body wants to lose this weight and is helping me. I’ve lost fifteen pounds so far this year, since the end of June 2012. We’ll see if I lose any more before the year’s up. I’m just really happy to not be gaining it back.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

Tight as a tick

2013-05-15T04:15:20Z

Stuffed myself tight as a tick for dinner. Last night of having my folks in town. Probably don’t need to eat for a few days now. But it was worth it.

My dog has a sore in his armpit (front leg). Every time it start to heal over, something happens and he starts licking and it becomes unhealed and open. I bought gauze and vetwrap today, and I can’t get it to stay on. I wrapped it multiple times. I can’t get it tight enough. Maybe if I shaved all the hair off, it could work, but don’t know that I want to do that (even if had clippers). I’m must not sure how to keep it covered so that I can keep neosporin on the wound. Suggestions? I’m going to keep him out of his harness and walk him off leash. Otherwise I think it adds to his discomfort. This has been going on awhile. The vet looked at it and shaved away the close-by hair. I thought it was healed, but apparently not.

I need cotton sheets. I’ve been using flannel for years, even through the summer, but I need cooler sheets. Time to go looking. I know very little about percale or sateen or thread-counts or whatever. I don’t suppose you do? I know, 14 years in Montana and it’s time to have summertime sheets. What am I thinking?

Got my hair cut today. Much of the purple got cut off, so I”m going to have to do some dyeing. Miscon is a week and a half away. Must look my purpley best, right?

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

A little of this, a little of that

2013-05-14T02:11:19Z

I bought this painting by a local artist Jenny Fallein. She’s married to a poet who taught in my department (they’ve decided to move). It’s a big painting. Like four feet by three feet. Here’s a not-so-great picture of it:

Isn’t it lovely? It shifts color when the light changes. I love it. Today I took it in to see about a frame, which was seriously expensive. But it will be lovely. Oh, it’s of the Missouri Breaks.

I also bought a bunch of flowers today and will plant them tomorrow. Pretties to make the yard look nice for people who are looking. Also it looks like the lilacs will bloom shortly and my lilies of the valley are starting to come up. Pleased about that.

I’m having a good time with my parents. It’s really nice to have them here get a chance to spend time.

I also wrote a few words and keep poking at the WIP with a stick. Also shed another pound. Yay.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

It’s dog shedding time

2013-05-12T02:19:39Z

I’ve not got much news, I’m afraid. School ended, and nothing so far has come from the showing this week. My folks arrived early, so that’s been wonderful. Weather is good. Thought we might get a thunderstorm today, but it didn’t happen. Did take a long walk with the dogs yesterday and today.

I was also mugged by an idea the other day. I thought it would be a short story, and maybe it will be. But then again, maybe it won’t be. It’s very difficult to say at this stage. It’s a story of the dead, but not zombies, not vampire, not ghosts. Yeah, a different kind of dead.

I’m feeling pretty worn out and flat. End of semester/school year blues? Or maybe just the post-showing-hope letdown. Feeling really tired.

I’m getting itchy to go digging crystals at Crystal Park. It’s full of quartz crystals and it’s a kind of treasure hunt. But the road is still snowed in, I think. So maybe in a couple weeks.

It is, in fact, dog shedding time for one of the dogs. The other is waiting to shed until his brother finishes so that they can extend the shedding season. How considerate. I’m seeing some lilac buds on some plants and a lot of leaves on others. Maybe spring is really here.

Roasted a chicken the other night. Turned out really well. Used fresh lemon, rosemary, salt, pepper, and roasted it 300 for an hour and a half, then turned it up to 350. Was juice and tasty and the skin was really crispy.

Want to get some flowers to plant in the yard. Girlie wants to do that, too.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

One day more

2013-05-08T03:34:17Z

And it is one day more for this semester. In honor of that:

We have another showing tomorrow. Hoping hoping hoping!

It was lovely today. Things are greening and growing. Maybe I’ll get lilacs soon. Oh! and the peonies have poked up.

Not much else that’s new today. Got to laugh a bit and enjoy the company of friends and hug the kids and tease them. All in all, good times. I’ll have a post up on Magical Words tomorrow. Exact URL to follow. It’s about writing. Go figure.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

And counting

2013-05-07T03:48:28Z

One day down, two days left of this semester. Did my last faculty senate meeting today. That’s six years out of seven that I’ve served. I’m ready for a break. Kind of interested in a different committee though. Might talk to someone about it.

People looked at the house today but have decided to go with acreage I guess. Depressing. But at least the house is clean.

I wrote a page today on the WIP and don’t like it at all. I think it’s going too slow and that my main character isn’t quite right. She’s a bit cardboardy. At least on the page, though not in my head.

I want to go dig crystals, but I don’t know if Crystal Park is open yet. My feeling is that it should be and the roads should be open. We haven’t had that much snow.

I haven’t planned a book club book for May. I wasn’t sure anyone was up for it. Maybe start again in the fall? What do you think? I’m reading Thieftaker right now. Or rather, I started it, but then got caught up in other stuff and now I have to go back to it.

I keep wondering how my house shows in comparison with other houses. I know it’s old–1917. But it’s in really good shape with a lot of the original woodwork and fixtures. Sure, some of my room paints are on the bold side, but the kitchen is only 4 years old. I know we only have 1.5 baths, but I feel like there ought to be more interest. I just wish I could figure out what the deal is. We supposedly aren’t overpriced, but yet we aren’t getting much looks. And we’ve lowered the price.

Emptied off a bunch of my DVR recordings. Decided I was never going to watch this season of Person of Interest. I also deleted my Havens. I like the show but– well, I want to read more and write more.

My folks are going to be visiting for a few days. I’m looking forward to that. At least the house will be clean for them.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

clean house discoveries

2013-05-06T01:42:57Z

A number of years ago when I bought my first macbook, I got a free iPod Touch. I haven’t used it a bunch, but I did buy this little radio-dock to set it in. That was also a few years ago. Today, I figured out how to dock it and use it. *cue angels singing* The directions had told me to take off the case and set it in a little adapter tray . . . So I never did it. Seemed too much like work. Or maybe could be more like me being a technophobe. Today I used no little adapter tray (The three of which I had not lost in all that time–cue angels again). I just plugged it in and then I had to turn off the little speaker alarm noise, but now I have music, which makes the iPod a lot more useful than it was. .

Why did I need music? Well, for one thing, I needed to clean the bathrooms. Music is necessary for such occasions. But also someone is coming to look at the house tomorrow, so we needed house cleaning music. Plus the kids had to do all the yardwork of scooping dog poop and mowing among some other things. So there you have it. A clean house. Oh, and a clean fish tank. Poor fish. It had been forever since I cleaned it and so now they are happier. The filter is working right again and I changed out the bubble thing, which had become clogged.

I also brushed the dogs. How is it possible that one brother can shed a full dog every week, but the other barely loses any hair? Is he saving up so once the other one is done, he can suddenly turn into a dandelion?

But this mean that my housework for the week is pretty much done. I might go get some flowers and put them in. But certainly I will be writing as much as possible. I have a ton of other stuff to get done this week, too. But at least the house is clean, though looking around I keep seeing little places that need a bit more dusting or cleaning or whatever. Gah.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

Why must the bathroom get so dirty?

2013-05-04T20:58:15Z

I’ve had one of those weeks that’s a combo of busy plus lazy plus mopey plus cold plus mommy plus somewhat constructive. Had one of those weeks?

On the constructive side, which seems to be the most interesting really, I sanded down this spot on the hardwood floor (original quarter sawed oak), where it had worn off the finish too much and then applied this stuff that is not really a finish. It didn’t turn out as well as I wanted. Which is to say that it’s a bit darker. I sanded down enough I thought. I’ve got another spot to try but not sure what I want to do with it.

I also have been getting some writing done. I’m not entirely sure it’s going the way I want. I’m not sure I’m capturing the southern flavor that I want, and I’m not sure my main character is sympathetic enough out the door. But I keep going forward and hoping that it works out. I do like a fair bit of it. Though I’ve introduced a male character that I’m hoping is not a love interest. I had no intention of him being one, at least not for main character, but it’s possible I suppose. I guess I’ll find out when things play out.

Still no one looking at the house. School ends next week. And I have to clean the bathroom. Also, it’s really cold today and I’ve made a fire and it’s popping and crackling. Now I need tea and a nap. Or a nap and then tea. Alas, the bathrooms first.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

Some people take stupidity, hypocrisy, and self-pity to new heights

2013-05-01T04:10:21Z

Got an email from a colleague tonight, which speaks to the title of this post. I won’t say anything about its content here, except what’s in the title, but I have to say I’m struggling with a reply. Which is to say, I’m struggling with not answering. Because frankly, there’s little point. It’s a lot like discovering that the Internet is WRONG and MUST BE CORRECTED. Banging a head on the wall, which only hurts my head. I’m taking note that Karma will take a bite out of his/her ass and trying to push it out of my head. I should note that the email was not to me, but the whole department.

And so, focusing on me and my writing, A snippet from my WIP

Taryn jerked awake, heart hammering against her ribs. She leaped up from her sewing table and stumbled over the piles of fabric surrounding her chair. She caught herself with a hand on the table and froze, her skin prickling. She strained to hear sounds of an intruder, but the thud of her blood through her veins drowned out all else. Her gaze darted across the cavernous room, searching the shadows at the far end where her sewing light didn’t reach.

Misty red and blue light pulsed through the space, turning the massed humps of clothing and fabric crowding the room to threatening monsters. She shivered and straightened her spine indignantly, spidering her fingers across her table to find her shears. Her jaw jutted furiously. This was her house and she’d be damned if she’d let some possum-faced coward slink about in the middle of the night and intimidate her in her own home.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

in search of a project

2013-04-29T20:08:14Z

I need to start a new crochet project. I don’t know what I want it to be. Something relatively easy, but something I can learn to do new. I’m sure I have things in my books or online, but that seems like a lot of work. And I’m feeling lazy. Actually I’m feeling rotten. Semi-rotten. Think it’s sinuses. A massive windstorm has moved in and it’s playing havoc with me. That and I woke up to the stench of dog poop. Turns out Viggo pooped twice in my office. Didn’t look like diarrhea, so not sure what that was. I didn’t hear him telling me he wanted out and frankly, I didn’t sleep well, so I think I would have heard. Was he sick? Was he making a statement? Hell if I know. Meanwhile Voodoo is freaked out by the wind. Keeps wanting to crawl into my lap and under my feet and anywhere else he can hide.

So if you crochet, anybody got any good ideas for something to do?

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

This may sound odd

2013-04-28T19:33:18Z

Today is another day I’m not dying of cancer.

Does that sound odd? I have friends who are younger than I am or same age (I’m 45) who either are managing cancer or have become incurable. Chances are, even managing it, they are still slowly dying of cancer. I am not.

I get sad about being apart from the man and I understand that I’m entitled to those feelings, but at the same time, I have time. I am not looking down the barrel of imminent death. I am not struggling to hold onto things that I love. I need to remember that more and embrace my friends and family and the lovely weather and my body that is getting more healthy every day as I lose weight and can do things with it. I need to embrace the wonderful moments. I need to learn from the suffering and struggles of my friends and embrace what I have and not squander the days.

So I’m off to not squander the day, which is lovely.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

Winner and . . .

2013-04-26T03:52:44Z

adriannem wins the giveaway! Send me an email. dpf AT dianapfrancis DOT com

Boy has made it back to school for one whole day. Yay. Girlie’s birthday is tomorrow. I baked treats today for her class and tomorrow I will bake a cake and also wrap presents and get ready for friends to spend the night. It should be fun. If I can stay awake. (All this after I get done teaching). I think the treats turned out well. I hope the kidlets in her class enjoy them. Girlie sure enjoyed making them with me.

I reached an epiphany on the WIP. I have had a difficult time starting on the chapter. I kept figuring out more details, but something eluded me, something key, that I needed before my head would get committed to writing. Turns out the piece that was missing was place. I had a place, but I didn’t have the terrain, the layout of houses, the specific where’s of roads and etc. I have that now and suddenly my brain said–okay, let’s go then. This is what I’ve been waiting for. Sigh. Why can’t the writer brain tell me things like this in a more obvious way so I know where to focus my energies? Gah!

Anyhow, so a breakthrough has been made and I am inching forward, feeling my way in the gloom. Finally.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

Writing Villainy

2013-04-24T04:18:19Z

I’ve been thinking about villainy. I keep thinking about Tolstoy’s first line from Anna Karenina:

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

What does that have to do with villainy? you might ask. Well, I’ve been watching the coverage of the results of the interviews/interrogation of the Boston bomber, whose name I simply cannot remember. Everybody wants to know why–what drove him and his brother? Why would they do this? What changed them from seemingly nice, normal boys to terrorist murderers? The answer seems to be coming down to radical Islamist ideology. To me, this is no answer. It’s cliche. It goes back to that quote above, only in this case, Terrorists are all alike; every non-terrorist is individual in his or her own way. Doesn’t work, does it? It seems to me that villains should be at least as complicated as non-villains. And reducing this sort of attack down to radical Islamic ideology is, in a word, a copout. There has to be more, even if we never learn what that is.

This brings me to villainy in books. Villainy is as much about who this person is and what he’s willing to do, as it is about what brought him to this point. What was his journey of pain and disappointment, frustration, rage, torture, or what have you? What is individual and unique about this person? Because that’s the heart of the story. Bringing this individual person up against a very unique and individual protagonist. Bringing them into conflict. Especially since villains don’t necessarily or even often think that they are villains. They think they are doing the right thing (even if they are deluded), the necessary thing (even if it is painful and terrible), or they don’t see the terribleness of what they do (like exterminating and entire people to cleanse the world–after all, those people are just vermin and cleansing the world is a good thing, right?).

Then you add in that being Islamic is not by definition a bad thing, even there are those out there who would say it is. It is a form of religion no better or worse than others. So I can’t see how it’s a motivation or an excuse, unless it is twisted into something else. But even if it is so twisted, it has to tap into something in a person to drive them to being a terrorist. There has to be a need or a desire or a hole in a person that that fills. So I wonder, for these two bomber brothers, what was it? I somehow imagine that the older brought the younger in and I imagine that their bond of brotherhood is what mattered to the younger brother more than the religion. I’m absolutely making this up. But as a writer, I think that the two are not alike, they are not similarly motivated, and that something triggered them, and in different ways. I wonder what drove a college boy that everyone liked and admired to becoming a killer. Was he a sociopath? Possibly. But like radical Islamist ideology, that is too reductionist and easy an answer. The writer in me says there has to be more, more that comes from each person.

And to quote from Earnest Tubb: I know my baby loves me in her own peculiar way. Which is to say, everyone has their own peculiar way.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

Should have known better

2013-04-23T01:50:08Z

First an update on boy. Boy has nothing specific wrong with him that the doc can see without going into a lot of tests. We’re going to try an anti nausea and antacid first, in case whatever he has had irritated the lining of his stomach and overproduced acid and the fact that he hasn’t been able to eat that much have created a stew of bubbling horror in his stomach. He has not barfed since about 11 this morning. Here’s hoping there’s no more to come. I found a watermelon at the store when I went to get the prescriptions. Boy had some for dinner along with some yogurt and some sprite.

I have been poking at my other WIP project and had a fabulous idea for the opening last night. I went to sleep without writing it down. You can see where this is going, can’t you? I totally forgot it. Damn it!!! This is a real problem because I’ve been struggling with how to bring together the elements. I’ve also been doing some research about where exactly I plan to set it and I have worked that out, and now I have to make a sketch of my world. But I really needed that way in because I have all these various elements that need to come together. Anyhow, I know better and I could kick myself for not getting up and writing it down. Idjit.

In other news, I’m totally annoyed with someone in my life, enough to work them into a novel and kill them off, or torture them heavily. just saying.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

Two Incredibly Important Things

2013-04-21T17:50:13Z

First, I’m giving away another Amazon certificate. Forgot how much. Like maybe 10-15 bucks. Comment here to win. Say something entertaining if you like. In fact, tell me how much you love the gym . . .

And to go with the that, FUNNIES!

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

Persistance of sick

2013-04-21T04:46:00Z

The boy continues to puke. I really don’t understand. It’s been four days. He tends to throw up every 1-3 hours, though not as much in the middle of the night. Usually he gets up once or twice for that. There’s no fever; it can’t really be food poisoning. I’m guessing it’s some sort of bug, but I’m starting to get a little bit worried. If it’s still happening Monday, I’m getting him into the doc. Anybody encounter anything like that before?

I was up early taking girlie to soccer. Her team tied one game and lost another. I’m really proud of the way she is playing. Really showing more initiative this year about going after the ball, about being in the right spots for passes, and paying attention to the game. Very proud mama.

The day was spent doing precious little after that except going to the store, napping, feeding the kid(s) (boy ate crackers and sprite, but little else), and combing the dogs. One of whom lost about a dog’s worth of hair, and the other of whom lost barely any, but was very happy for the attention. Given how much hair seems to be exploding off them, I was surprised by the latter. The very little bit getting done means that tomorrow will be busy for me. Lots of cleaning because I’m behind. And laundry. Lots of that.

I did introduce the kids to The 10th Kingdom today. We haven’t watched all of it. Forgot how much I love it. It’s been a long time since I watched. Boy loves “suck an elf.” Oh dear.

I really need to have a more exciting life, don’t I?

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

day in the life

2013-04-20T03:20:14Z

Oh man, the older bomber had a wife and 3 year old daughter. That poor family. I hope some answers come out, but I can’t imagine they will ever really make sense or satisfy.

Boy is still throwing up. Day three. I did get real food into him tonight and so far he’s kept it down. I’m catching some sort of headcold though. Blah. Like I needed that.

Seems like the Boston story has eaten up the week. Or maybe it’s because I haven’t accomplished much this week. I have done little on my writing and ended up taking care of boy and sleeping way too much. Think that’s part of the cold. Tomorrow is a long soccer day. I hope boy is feeling up to playing. Girlie’s game is at stupid early. Blech. Gotta be there at 8 a.m.

Damn, boy just threw up again. Gotta go.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

Well hell

2013-04-19T04:13:57Z

I got both very good news and very bad news today. The good news I can share. That’s that the man got offered a slot on day shift. We’ve been hoping for this and we are extremely happy, even though it means a pay cut (he won’t get shift differential). It’s better for him in terms of his mental health and better for us in terms of family life and it’s so very very nice. We weren’t sure he’d ever get on days, and it’s happened before he’s been there a full year.

The bad news is also family related, and all I can say that I have a young relative who appears to have gotten hooked on drugs and it’s quickly led him into very serious trouble. I’m scared for him and his family and I hope to hell that they find passage through these dangerous waters.

In the meantime, my students are working on Twisted Ink, which is now taking submissions, if you know of anyone who wants to submit, or might be interested yourself. The site is being constructed and already we see some serious progress. Anybody can submit, so please spread the word if you will.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

Three days down

2013-04-18T03:16:12Z

Three days into the block. It’s going well. But it’s cold. Tonight will be in the teens. It should be warmer. I’m jonesing to do some gardening and also for the end of the block. Much as I’m enjoying this class and these students–it’s a great group–I’m ready for some time to write full time. And also to see the man, whom I won’t get to see until June.

So a friend told me of this Anton Checkhov quote today:

Any idiot can face a crisis – it’s day to day living that wears you out.

That about sums things up for me.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.