Dear Diary . . . day by day

Friday, September 7th, 2001 - Sit down and do it

You guys are all chatty all of the sudden! First of all I get an email from Mom, chiding me about the foolishness of a fingerprinting phobia. This was followed by another, gentler email from Daniel pointing out that if the FBI wanted my fingerprints, they could get them. Yes, of course, but why should I make it easy for them? My point is right now they don't have a file on me and I'd like to keep it that way, you know? Yes, absurd paranoia but that's what I get for reading so much near future science/sociological fiction.
I didn't mention yesterday the mounds of daunting paperwork for becoming a substitute teacher in CA involve about $120 in fees. I think that's what finally sent me over the edge; I'm worried enough about money, I don't need to fork over that much just to have to wait for my paperwork to be processed so I can finally, in November, teach. Bah. Not worth it.
I'm all excited about some writing jobs I've found on the 'net recently, and I've been sending out resumes and crossing my fingers and trying to use "positive visualization". There are also a bunch of admin jobs at the San Francisco Sierra Club, and even though that organization is controversial out here, I think I'd feel good about working for them. So.
The rest of the email I got was a couple of invitations for company on my pending IKEA trip this afternoon. It made me very happy to see that not only do I have friends, I have spontaneous friends. Of course, no one wants to go to IKEA alone; that store is huge and scary and it helps muchly to have a soul besides your own to help guide you out of its depths. Not to mention how annoying it is to have to leave your cart unattended while you run fetch the car.
Anyway, I ended up turning down both offers because a) I woke up late and didn't check email until after noon today and b) I found an old IKEA catalog which showed the kinds of chairs I wanted priced at around $250! I know such office chairs are available from office stores priced around $100, so I declined both IKEA offers (for today; I'm sure I could be persuaded to go next week, since I doubt I'll have a job by then . . . sigh) and headed off to Office Depot.
Office Depot might be further away from me than Office Max, but it's got a HUGE selection and it's CHEAPER; well worth the drive. The first chair I sat in was very comfy and ended up being the one I went with (after making some poor clerk check for me that they did, indeed, have it in stock RIGHT NOW). The only thing I don't like about it is that the arms don't adjust, but it was only $59, has excellent lumbar support and otherwise is reasonable adjustable. I convinced myself I could make arm cushions to make them higher (which I'll never do, but it was enough to get me to buy the chair). That trip, including driving, took an hour. That's just wonderful, considering over half that time was spent driving (and about 8 minutes poring over Diablo II, The Sims and Diablo II expansion packs and talking myself out of buying them). I even had a nice clerk bring it out and put it in my trunk for me and am dutifully waiting until Tim gets home and can lift it out for me before putting it together and trying it out. I do hate being forced into weakness like this, but I'll be good.

Hm, in writing news I got a rejection on "Feeding Time" from Byline magazine last Saturday. By Tuesday I had it back out to a new market, and I also managed to get "Secondary Situation" and three poems into the mail as well. Go me. Everything that is revised enough to be circulating is out right now. Of course, I've at least two stories to revise: "Cat Enchanter", which drives me nuts as I've revised and revised that story and still don't think it's ready, and the Bookstore piece that Tim and I wrote over a month ago. I'm feeling especially guilty about the Bookstore piece, as it should have been polished and sent out so long ago . . . I hate to drag Tim down. Not that he'd let me, really, but still . . .
Anyway, I'm going to bore you all with a bulleted writing list. This is to (hopefully) embarrass myself into completing some of it soon:
Revise "Cat Enchanter" and send out.
Revise "The Ever-After Book Shoppe" and send to Tim for final revisions and send out.
Write the next installment of collab "A Serious Case of Fairies" and send to Tim so he can finish it, revise it and send it out.
Write Indy Guide so I can get paid and pay some bills, dammit.
Scout about and get a few more freelance writing gigs while I'm home.
Start my poor novel; Tim's so far ahead and he writes faster to begin with . . . not that this is a competition, just a motivator.
Hell, send "Blue Chuck" to Tim so he can revise and send out.
Write "Goat Girl", which will be a really good story once it's done, and send it out.
Really, I have so much to do! I'm trying not to feel like such a slacker here, so I think I'll go start at least one of these things so I can crow about it here tomorrow. Or maybe I'll just clean the kitchen instead. The bathroom could use it, too .. .
Have a lovely weekend, y'all!

Exercise log:
Hm. Not too much, really.
Writing log:
A few very witty cover letters for jobs. Suuurre, that counts!
Current Publications:
San Francisco City Guide at EGrad.com. Please note that my original article was twice as long as this one, and I wasn't the one who did the editing.
Under the Daddy Tree an article on Nalo Hopkinson's Midnight Robber in Strange Horizons. Warning: If you haven't read the book, this article will spoil all the plot twists for you; so go buy her book and read it first!
I'm currently reading:
Earthquake Weather by Tim Powers
The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl by Tim Pratt
Okay, so I'm just reading the very rough first draft of the chapters fresh off the 'puter, but damn, it's already good!
Bridget Jone's Diary by Helen Fielding
My PO Box is:
Heather Shaw
P.O. Box 13222
Berkeley, CA 94712-4222

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