The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

[Candy_Kane54]

Sorry for being late with the coffee today. I got into my story and lost track of time. We're supposed to get some more scattered showers today. It rained overnight so I don't have to drag out the hose today.

The coffee is brewing and the teapot is hot. There are donuts and cookies on the counter and some home made lemonade in the 'fridge.

I'm really getting into my new story and am going to be over in the corner working on it. If you hear any noise, it's just me and my Muse working things out ...

 

[MrPixel]

Sorry for being late with the coffee today. I got into my story and lost track of time. We're supposed to get some more scattered showers today. It rained overnight so I don't have to drag out the hose today.

The coffee is brewing and the teapot is hot. There are donuts and cookies on the counter and some home made lemonade in the 'fridge.

I'm really getting into my new story and am going to be over in the corner working on it. If you hear any noise, it's just me and my Muse working things out ...

The problem with the forum's system of acknowledging nice posts like this is the "thumbs up" emoji. It's not a "Man, that's cool!" the sentiment is more of a smile and an appreciation for the pleasantries of the moment being expressed, a "Thank you, that's nice" for the feel-good.

More like a . So thank you, CK, that was nice. And I will take advantage of the coffee sans sweets. You know why.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Hey, never let coffee get in the way of a story!
.
.
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Did I just say that? I need that first cuppa.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Another wet and rainy morning. At least it's in the upper 60s and not near 80. I won't need to water the garden today either which means more time for writing. The tomato plants are getting flowers on them so I'll be seeing some cherry tomatoes soon.

The coffee is fresh and hot. The teapot is steaming and full. There are donuts on the counter. I'm going to try to pick some blackberries today but with all of the rain, it might be a little muddy.

I'll be over in the corner writing away before I decide to go pick blackberries. I'm looking forward to Friday night and all of the fireworks shows going on in my neighborhood.

 

[MrPixel]

We had a gully-washer last night - about 2" came down in 20 minutes. Okay, so? The fence installer was slated to be here this morning, with everything finally dry enough for his work. I sent him a picture of the inundation and resulting backyard pond while it was happening. His response was, "We needed the rain, so I scheduled your install for tomorrow. That way, it was guaranteed." At least we have a sense of humor about it.

With the temperatures moderating - 74° now, high of 88° forecast - and the rain passed, I need to get out of this chair and tend to many procrastinated little chores. But the characters beckon.

 

[GrantBricksly]

Well, another Tuesday, another day at our friends house, doing a podcast, while I sit here working on my writing.

Taking a break from writing new stuff, to redo/rewrite/edit Chapters 1-5, as over the weekend, I found a few things I wasn't happy with. But I'm cruising right along with that.

 

[NotWise]

It's Tuesday? Shit!

I did a second pass through Zelda's story, including the third writing of the denouement. The story seems to be in good shape, and the denouement is at least the right idea.

Now I have to go to the office (turn around to the other computer) and get some work done. Board meeting next week.

 

[MillieDynamite]

You sound rather bored with your board!

It's Tuesday? Shit!

I did a second pass through Zelda's story, including the third writing of the denouement. The story seems to be in good shape, and the denouement is at least the right idea.

Now I have to go to the office (turn around to the other computer) and get some work done. Board meeting next week.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

A beautiful sunny morning with the dew shimmering in the sunlight. I had two Downy Woodpeckers on my Hummingbird feeder this morning. They love feasting on the ants that are attracted to the feeder. The hummers are just darting around, not sure what to do about the woodpeckers on their feeder.

There's a fresh pot of coffee brewing and the teapot is ready to go. There are donuts and muffins on the counter. It was too muddy yesterday to go berry picking but I did get a fresh batch pf peaches for a fruit salad.

I'll be over in the corner working on my story. Didn't get a lot written yesterday, but it was tough trying to write an already written meeting from the other person's POV without adding something to the dialogue that wasn't already mentioned in the other story. It shoud go quicker now that I'm in new territory.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Thanks Candy

I'll leave the coffee for a few hours (coming up to midnight here), but I'll pinch a peach, if that's ok. Can't beat a ripe peach fresh off the tree.

We had to get a plumber in to replace a pressure relief valve on the solar hot water roof panel today. I dropped the pup around to his parent's place for the afternoon, and he's absolutely worn out after an epic zoomie session. The damn thing is, he's only seven months old, and he's nearly as big as his dad - 55 lbs. I shook his lead for a walk, and the look he gave me was unmistakable. "You have to be kidding..."

 

[NotWise]

Do you pick the pup up to weigh him?

It doesn't get muddy here--not for long, anyway. Aside from being dry, it's sand most everywhere.

Work in the garden is slacking off. The garlic is harvested. The tomatoes are setting fruit. The gladiolas are starting to flower. Everything else is growing, but some if it's going to be late. I guess that'll mean less time to get sick of it.

I wrote version 3.0 of the denouement for my WIP. I think it finally has all the elements that I wanted. I've put the whole thing through a "final" read. It's nearly done but I'll wait until after the 5th to submit it so I don't get crossed up with the last stories going to the Nude Day contest. I still don't expect it to be a popular story, but if the readers piss on it, then they'll piss on a pretty good story. At least I'll have Zelda out of my head.

 

[NuclearFairy]

I think I'm suffering writers withdrawal. It's been nearly a week since I've had both time and energy to type anything up. On the upside we got the hole under the eldest's bed patched up.

 

[NotWise]

I think I'm suffering writers withdrawal. It's been nearly a week since I've had both time and energy to type anything up. On the upside we got the hole under the eldest's bed patched up.

How did there get to be a hole under the eldest's bed? If they were like my wife or my daughters in their teens, then that might have been an escape hatch.

 

[NuclearFairy]

How did there get to be a hole under the eldest's bed? If they were like my wife or my daughters in their teens, then that might have been an escape hatch.

It's an elderly POS trailer, the floors need replacing. But that's expensive so I just do it one piece at a time, usually as needed.

 

[filthytrancendence]

The muffins are delicious, thank you Candy!

I feel like it's a good sign that I don't even remember how many words I wrote yesterday or the day before. It's not a ton, but it's been quality over quantity lately. Plusways, I'm now in the habit of carefully revising my outline after finishing every chapter and spending time carefully planning out what's about to come after. I'm pretty much never 100% correct up front, but keeping an eye on where I'm going has been invaluable to making sure each part is doing what I need it to. I'm at a point where the continuity splits and re-merges about every other chapter and it's been really fun to figure out small and large ways to drop little setups and payoffs for those splits every chance I get.

Anyways, I'm over 17k words and still no sex. We're officially in very slow burn territory

 

[iwatchus]

Good day everyone. I have paused making forward progress on what is now my first Novel and Novella, about 40K into what I now expect to be around 100K.

I made some good editing progress instead.

After some of the nasty discussions here recently (i am certain one of the guilty parties), I have been thinking about needing to take care of each other. I have battled depression and anxiety my entire adult life, but I am lucky enough to have a life partner who can support me through the dark times. I think many of us here have challenges and at times we all need help.

The support I have been able to give my students is the proudest point of my career. I have interceded when I thought someone was at risk at least ten times. One laughed about ir, it turned out he was just a big fan of Hamlet's soliloquy. But several thanked me within days. Two have come back years later to tell me it is the only reason they are alive. I have never lost one, although one student did attempt suicide (as she was starting to transition). I did not know her as well and I missed the signs of her distress.

Listen to each other, listen to our pleas. We all need each other.

 

[filthytrancendence]

After some of the nasty discussions here recently (i am certain one of the guilty parties), I have been thinking about needing to take care of each other. I have battled depression and anxiety my entire adult life, but I am lucky enough to have a life partner who can support me through the dark times. I think many of us here have challenges and at times we all need help.

I appreciate you saying this.

I know I'm part of the problem, too, sometimes. I know I have a tendency to slip into polemics, and if I let myself get too worked up that can slip into invective. The reason I get too worked up is how much I have personally been hurt, and seen people I love being hurt, by the ideas and outlooks I tend to get on my soapbox about.

I could always be better about knowing when to walk away, or when to refrain from engaging in the first place. So I shall continue to strive for better.

The thing I've learned about depression in my decades of dealing with it is that it's mostly a battle with your own brain chemistry, and suicidality is what tends to lie at the bottom of that neurotransmitter soup. Just remembering that is helpful to me, sometimes. Maybe I won't feel amazing afterward if I force myself to go ride my bike for an hour, but I will feel less shitty 100% of the time, and that is a lot more than nothing.

 

[NotWise]

There's little possibility of a thread returning to positive territory after it's become an argument. You're usually going to do less damage by backing out.

 

[MrPixel]

Oh. Wow. Yeah, I've had an online forum addiction since well before the Internet (Compuserve, if anybody recalls it), and know the winning strategy on getting sucked into an argument is to step away.

Just rolled out of bed. I was up until 0400 studying the music for a performance scheduled for later this month. Rehearsals start in two weeks for Mozart's The Magic Flute, and not just the overture - the entire opera. All 2.5 hours' worth. I seriously question whether I'm going to have the endurance for it.

 

[iwatchus]

Just rolled out of bed. I was up until 0400 studying the music for a performance scheduled for later this month. Rehearsals start in two weeks for Mozart's The Magic Flute, and not just the overture - the entire opera. All 2.5 hours' worth. I seriously question whether I'm going to have the endurance for it.

Do you sing or play? What part or instrument?

 

[filthytrancendence]

There's little possibility of a thread returning to positive territory after it's become an argument. You're usually going to do less damage by backing out.

You're not wrong, but the thing is, positivity isn't the be all and end all. If nobody ever voices an opposing view to something harmful for the sake of staying positive, that's not a healthy community either. But getting into a heated back and forth with people who are arguing just to argue is also counterproductive. It's a fine line, and it's fraught on both sides of the line. Trying to walk the line means I make public mistakes sometimes. That's the cost of learning to do a difficult thing.

 

[OldFloridaGuy]

It’s been too long since I snuck into here for a cuppa joe.
Thanks for keeping the AH open and smelling like fresh coffee.
It’s also been too long since I actually put words into the processor.
Wife and I (plus 2 dogs) have been putting miles on the RV odometer,
just got back to FL from Maine and NH and PA, later this year we head to Seattle and CA, maybe a quick border crossing into Canada.
Life is good.

 

[NotWise]

It’s been too long since I snuck into here for a cuppa joe.
Thanks for keeping the AH open and smelling like fresh coffee.
It’s also been too long since I actually put words into the processor.
Wife and I (plus 2 dogs) have been putting miles on the RV odometer,
just got back to FL from Maine and NH and PA, later this year we head to Seattle and CA, maybe a quick border crossing into Canada.
Life is good.

The modern American Dream, OFG.

 

[NotWise]

You're not wrong, but the thing is, positivity isn't the be all and end all. If nobody ever voices an opposing view to something harmful for the sake of staying positive, that's not a healthy community either. But getting into a heated back and forth with people who are arguing just to argue is also counterproductive. It's a fine line, and it's fraught on both sides of the line. Trying to walk the line means I make public mistakes sometimes. That's the cost of learning to do a difficult thing.

There's a broad range in which people can ask questions and listen to answers, and conversations can remain constructive even when there are disagreements. That's usually how threads can be positive. When that tips into people overstating opposing views points to the point where neither side can possibly be right (which has happened recently) then there's no way to save the thread. It's unproductive and emotionally damaging.

 

[MrPixel]

Do you sing or play? What part or instrument?

Oo. You must have signatures turned off. I play oboe among many other instruments, but it's oboe for this gig. My chops are aching just in the thinking about it.

I was just telling C my realization that this production is being put together by a young man apparently on a post-graduate track, and the enormity of the entire project seems to have the scent of a Masters or even PhD thesis. He's done that to us before, writing a chamber work that was fine on the computer, but a total bitch to play. He wanted live performers for the submission recording. He didn't get a usable take.