This post is a little self-indulgent and has nothing to do with MY work or Star Trek.
But I have always been a fan of the old poets, poetry you seldom hear these days, ignored mostly by younger generations. But here are three of my favorites if you care to watch and listen
I stumbled across If I Could Tell You I Would Let You Know when searching for other poems and I fell in love
And, ah, Robert Frost….
This is from one of my all time favorite movies called A River Runs Through it (directed by Redford). This scene is the oldest son, Norman, coming in as he hears his father quoting Wordsworth’s Splendor in the Grass. I love the back and forth reciting.
Anyway, Just felt like sharing some things that move me other than Star Trek! LOL
So for anyone paying attention to my continuing saga of my kitchen redo…
The insurance company suggested someone who came in with a shockingly low bid, and basically that’s who the insurance company decided we should go with. Big surprise, I know.
We signed the contract. The “Project Manager” came today to go over it and even bigger surprise there were many things left off on the low bid estimate so he is redoing the estimate. The soonest they can get started is 3 weeks and since M intends to go see a very sick aunt, well, I’m guessing we are talking about February 19th.
Funny thing is when you google these things you can find that it can take up to 4 months to get your life back after something like this and it’s looking like the 4 months might be it. If you had told me November 07, 2023 when I first discovered water on the floor in the kitchen I’d be waiting for them to start rebuilding sometime in February…well…
There you have it. That’s the kitchen update. Such as it is.
So far I haven’t used much in the Christmas in July suggestions so I apologize ahead of time. I’ll see what I can do for the rest of the month but the two I’ve written so far don’t really. For the most part people suggested actual Christmas stories rather than July stories which surprised me a bit! The two I have done so far are set in July.
That being said I got a private suggestion from someone that I might expand to be a “holiday” story October through December as it seemed fairly complicatedish and cried out for more. So we will see.
Anyway expect the first one on the 3rd.
Very busy few days coming up. Sister’s birthday dinner Friday. Saturday we are going into Hollywood to the famouse Chinese Theater (formerly Grauman’s but same place) on Hollywood Boulevard to meet my nephew and his partner for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and then to see the old man Indiana Jones movie at the theater.
Monday and Tuesday are busy with Independence Day stuff.
And for anyone who cares, yes, I am still waiting on the HOA for the “approval” of my HVAC. I got the neighbor’s okie dokie several days ago but we still wait. I hate bureaucracy. Obviously we can expect not to have air until at least after the holiday, I am guessing mid-July. AND also the stupid ceiling repair as they have to rip that out just to do it. Just ugh.
I decided to delete my tumblr account, so it’s gone. I’d been thinking of it for a while now and just hadn’t gotten around to it. I really don’t get anything from it anymore and those I used to like to see on there are gone themselves, so…it’s history. I had like 280 follows on there but most of them were inactive themselves. I am actually surprised it hasn’t shut down.
Going to sister’s later for a BBQ. Well, we intend to spend the day inside instead of out as we normally would. It’s going to be another 100 degree day. Think we are supposed to have 8 days in a row, which is not normal for us. By next weekend it’s back in the 80s, thankfully.
I’ve gotten Monday’s and Wednesday’s flashes up but still need to do Friday’s. Have no fear, I will get it done.
After posting chapter two of A Heart Needs a Second Chance (cheating Jim story) I had several requests to post again soon to it so for now I intend to keep going with that story. Expect chapter 3 up later this week.
Went to a Fleetwood Mac tribute concert last night. It was fun.
Don’t know if I mentioned this but Luna has jump anxiety. She seriously does. Anyway, I am sure I have told the story of having bought for the brat this luxurious soft cat bed some years back. She refused to go anywhere near it and kept her flat not luxurious cat bed. The nice one sits in the garage.
But recently I got her this scratching post thing that has a top part for the cat to make themselves comfortable (see picture with Luna in it)
She loves it. But cannot or will not jump into it because of that jump anxiety. So she has figured out how to ask us to pick her up and put her in it. Yes, she is incredibly spoiled. But I am thrilled she actually likes it!
I was in a store yesterday and ta da they already were putting out fall. Yeah I was agog, too. I love fall as much as the next one but sheesh
On the other hand look at this cool flower in the garden section of a hardware store
Anyhow because I need to write MORE (sarcastic) I am writing a new song fic/five story thing. It’s being proofed and when it’s ready I hope to post the first chapter soon.
By the time I finish Totally Modern Jim I will have written a post pretty much every day for two months. It’s taking a major toll on me, not going to lie.
And we all know July and Christmas in July will be here soon enough and I know most of you look forward to that.
So…in June it’s going to be Flash Fic Fridays only (the only exception being J’s birthday). Sorry it’s gotta be that way.
Besides in June (at the end) M, sister and I are going to Morro Bay for a few days R and R.
Somehow I have to fit other updates in there too. I need to finish a couple other fics soon as I am getting a bit overwhelmed with my own pressure. And yes I pressure myself.
Let me tell you what I do NOT want to be. I followed a published writer for a number of years. I loved her work from the first story I read of hers and bought every story she wrote. Read them multiple times. She was the type who wrote a series, meaning you’d get couple A’s story in the first book, couple B’s in the next, couple C in the next and so on. I loved all her inter-related stuff and lots of others did too. She was always a bit “flighty” or “eccentric” and at one point she had promised story sequels that never materialized. She announced after one of her publishers went out of business that she was done and would never write those promised stories. Then last year she came back again, wrote a few of those “promised” stories and swore she was going to finish the story most of her readers wanted the most (not me, I preferred another story she had promised to write and it too was in the “queue” never to be written) I got excited again. Bought the stories I had missed and eagerly waited for the others. I checked her site a few days back and once more she has announced she doesn’t intend to EVER write those stories, and too bad so sad.
I do NOT want to be that person. I will never ever write a new story again before I will not finish those that are WIPS. I promise you the stories currently running will be finished. After that, I may quit. Honestly. But we will see. But not before they are all done.
Anyway, this is mostly to say, yes June will be light in flashes but not entirely bereft and I know that will be all right with all of you.
I don’t know the date anymore, but it was several years ago, that M and I returned from a trip to find that sister and Mom had purchased for us our first “Smart” TV from Walmart and left it for us in our house. It was pretty small as far as those things are concerned but we only had a small space in our IKEA purchased entertainment center.
We’ve wanted to upgrade for a number of years now but we had the same old obnoxious entertainment center. This year we decided to get a new one, entertainment center, that would accommodate a bigger Smart TV. So M finally ordered one and we’ve been procrastinating ever since. Today we packed away our DVDs/BluRays and gaming systems so that we could finally put together the new one and get the old one out the door.
It’s a big project but we want that new TV and want this old entertainment center that’s been around since the 1990s, no not kidding, gone.
It reminded me though how many movies and television shows I actually own! Probably thousands of dollars worth. When and if the dang thing is ever finished I will post a picture once we get the new television.
Anyway that’s what’s going around here on a Sunday.
So I managed to not get Covid from my trip a while back to Pechanga so that’s a plus. But this weekend is my great niece’s 4th birthday party. My niece and her husband just moved back to So Cal from Nor Cal and they bought a very nice house in a place called Rancho Cucamonga. Anyway, it’s only family being invited but that thing is everywhere isn’t it?
M’s sister lives in ND and her husband just got diagnosed with it (not to be confused with M’s half sister who also lives in ND whose husband died of Covid in November). He’s miserable but mostly okay with his biggest complaint being his back pain from it. She has tested negative so far.
This is their cat, Mr. Kitty
Don’t be fooled by that cute face. He’s a serial killer of mice and rabbits.
Speaking of cats, here is ours, in her pampered pink blanket she loves
Tomorrow is the last flash for January (I know Monday is January but I explain that in tomorrow’s flash post).
Otherwise, we keep plugging along here. I don’t remember if I mentioned M being laid off last February (got a new job in June) but the old job asked M back you can believe it. It’s more money than the current job, but I have concerns and hope that taking that old job again is the right decision. But M wanted to.
I’m still working from home indefinitely which is the way I like it these days. Have an overnight trip planned in mid-Feb, and then a longer one in March and then relatives come for a visit in April over Easter. So much is going on!
In other exciting news, I may be going to the Star Trek convention this year in Vegas in August. It’s a long way off and anything can change including a certain Spock actor COULD cancel, but right now Quinto is scheduled to be there for the first time ever. Trying not to be too excited because as I said a lot can change in the many months until then.
My updates of current WIPS are going swimmingly and I know you’ve been enjoying them so I appreciate the support.
Spirk (with a small dose of Pinto) 